I didn’t mean to call you things . You’re just different and I don’t know what you are, what you can do, what you need...I just want to go home, Jack.”
I grabbed both of Holly’s hands tightly. “Did you have fun with me in L.A. And Hong Kong?”
“Yes I did, but...”
“ ...but what? I’m still that same person. I still like having fun. My looks are still the same, I still like doing the same things you like to do. We’re not that different.”
“ You are, though. A vampire...a fucking vampire,” she yelled as she stood up from the cot. “What the hell, you’re not supposed to be real.”
“ Look, I know the word vampire has all these fantastical connotations attached to it, but in the end, it’s just a word. A word that describes another human with a different set of traits. I still can feel, I still can taste, I still can have fun and…I still can love,” I pleaded with Holly. I slowly got up from the cot and I gently grabbed her hand and placed it on my chest. “Feel that? It’s beating. I’m not dead.”
Holly pulled her hand away and retreated. She crossed her arms and sunk in her chest with insecurity. “What about blood...don’t you need blood to survive?”
“Yes, we do.”
“ How come you didn’t bite me?” she asked.
“ Goddammit Holly, it’s because I like you. I really like you, okay?”
Holly paused and stared at me without expression. I felt my words beginning to slowly impact her. She switched gears after pondering what to say next. “Why didn’t you bite my neck? If it’s true what they say about you, I would have been bitten by now.”
“No, I had other sources...”
Holly gave me an inquisitive look. “...other sources? Like what, other women, men, dead people, cats?”
I briefly closed my eyes and Holly’s questioning had once again put me in a position to lie.
“ Well?” she asked.
She had me tongue-tied. “I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”
“Then don’t.”
“ There was another girl at the time.”
“ Who?”
“ This girl named Cassie...but it wasn’t serious,” I said.
“ So, she gave you blood?”
“ Yeah, but I needed it to survive.”
“ Was it consensual?”
“ Of course, I’m not going around biting necks without permission.”
“ Were you dating her?”
“ No...I mean...yes. Look, it doesn’t matter; I don’t like her like that.”
Holly displayed a look of disappointment. I had lost her. She didn’t take one step closer to me that entire night. For the first time since knowing her, there was a distance between us. The carefree attraction between the two of us was now as dry as a stale saltine.
I tried approaching her but she quickly backed away. Her mascara-smeared eyes stared at me, with emptiness. Holly had made up her mind. I was no longer the good-looking, confident and debonair jet-setter she had initially fallen for, but a liar. I was a liar who was barely surviving in a parallel world fit for freaks. I was one who, due to extraneous circumstances, was destined to never be trusted.
“ I’m sorry, Jack,” Holly said. “I tried, I really tried.”
“ Tried what? Can’t you see why I lied?”
“ It’s not the lies. Please, just help me leave this place.”
I rolled my eyes. The anxiety of loneliness began creeping back into my head. I sat down and began shaking my head. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
Holly responded morosely, “I don’t know. I need to go back home.”
Holly was desperate to leave. If I helped get her out of China, I was afraid I would never see her again. Maybe she could stay a few days more and I could convince her to like me again. However, the longer she was kept in Guilin, the more stressed she’d become—the poor girl needed a clear mind.
“Just stay a little more...we’ll head to Singapore after this; I have some accounts down there,” I begged. I realized that I was as good as dead to the company and my clients. I was unemployed,
I grabbed both of Holly’s hands tightly. “Did you have fun with me in L.A. And Hong Kong?”
“Yes I did, but...”
“ ...but what? I’m still that same person. I still like having fun. My looks are still the same, I still like doing the same things you like to do. We’re not that different.”
“ You are, though. A vampire...a fucking vampire,” she yelled as she stood up from the cot. “What the hell, you’re not supposed to be real.”
“ Look, I know the word vampire has all these fantastical connotations attached to it, but in the end, it’s just a word. A word that describes another human with a different set of traits. I still can feel, I still can taste, I still can have fun and…I still can love,” I pleaded with Holly. I slowly got up from the cot and I gently grabbed her hand and placed it on my chest. “Feel that? It’s beating. I’m not dead.”
Holly pulled her hand away and retreated. She crossed her arms and sunk in her chest with insecurity. “What about blood...don’t you need blood to survive?”
“Yes, we do.”
“ How come you didn’t bite me?” she asked.
“ Goddammit Holly, it’s because I like you. I really like you, okay?”
Holly paused and stared at me without expression. I felt my words beginning to slowly impact her. She switched gears after pondering what to say next. “Why didn’t you bite my neck? If it’s true what they say about you, I would have been bitten by now.”
“No, I had other sources...”
Holly gave me an inquisitive look. “...other sources? Like what, other women, men, dead people, cats?”
I briefly closed my eyes and Holly’s questioning had once again put me in a position to lie.
“ Well?” she asked.
She had me tongue-tied. “I don’t want to lie to you anymore.”
“Then don’t.”
“ There was another girl at the time.”
“ Who?”
“ This girl named Cassie...but it wasn’t serious,” I said.
“ So, she gave you blood?”
“ Yeah, but I needed it to survive.”
“ Was it consensual?”
“ Of course, I’m not going around biting necks without permission.”
“ Were you dating her?”
“ No...I mean...yes. Look, it doesn’t matter; I don’t like her like that.”
Holly displayed a look of disappointment. I had lost her. She didn’t take one step closer to me that entire night. For the first time since knowing her, there was a distance between us. The carefree attraction between the two of us was now as dry as a stale saltine.
I tried approaching her but she quickly backed away. Her mascara-smeared eyes stared at me, with emptiness. Holly had made up her mind. I was no longer the good-looking, confident and debonair jet-setter she had initially fallen for, but a liar. I was a liar who was barely surviving in a parallel world fit for freaks. I was one who, due to extraneous circumstances, was destined to never be trusted.
“ I’m sorry, Jack,” Holly said. “I tried, I really tried.”
“ Tried what? Can’t you see why I lied?”
“ It’s not the lies. Please, just help me leave this place.”
I rolled my eyes. The anxiety of loneliness began creeping back into my head. I sat down and began shaking my head. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”
Holly responded morosely, “I don’t know. I need to go back home.”
Holly was desperate to leave. If I helped get her out of China, I was afraid I would never see her again. Maybe she could stay a few days more and I could convince her to like me again. However, the longer she was kept in Guilin, the more stressed she’d become—the poor girl needed a clear mind.
“Just stay a little more...we’ll head to Singapore after this; I have some accounts down there,” I begged. I realized that I was as good as dead to the company and my clients. I was unemployed,
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