Chapter Text
Humanity was still adjusting to the revelation that not only did vampires exist, but have existed for quite some time, and it was only recently that they've felt safe enough to be public about it. Vampirism was a relatively rare condition with perhaps only a few thousand people possessing it, but they were making progress in educating the rest of the world about themselves. They weren't quite what the stories made them out to be. The legends were born of fear and misunderstanding, from a time when vampires stayed hidden except for when they attacked humans for blood. Details about them were made up or exaggerated, and in time became known as fiction. But now that vampires have begun showing themselves, their existence was proven and people have learned what they were really like. Many humans have even made the choice to join their ranks.
Mason Hollis, who was turned only a few weeks ago during summer vacation, regularly found himself in the situation of having to explain to curious and sometimes nervous classmates about his condition. He let them know that it was nothing to worry about, he was in full control of himself and it wasn't causing him any pain, but people were naturally paranoid and distrustful, and all the horror stories about vampires didn't help.
Any time the students were outside, people would express concern that Mason would burn, pointing out his strangely pale skin. He would gently remind them that his parents had made him spend his summers playing outside for at least a few hours a day, so he was used to sunlight. Though his transformation had come later in life, it apparently took this into account. It was very difficult for him to get a sunburn, though his skin did get uncomfortably itchy after being in direct sunlight for too long. It was nothing a quick trip into the shade wouldn't fix, and any damage healed quickly. He did feel an instinctive aversion to sunlight, but he knew that was because he naturally wanted to be out at night. It was an easily ignored instinct.
Mason also got asked about blood cravings frequently. Some vampires found it rude, but he was fine with explaining. It was a very interesting and somewhat gross topic, of course people would be curious. So he didn't mind having to explain it once again at lunch today.
“Yes, I thirst for blood,” he said ominously to the group of students, mostly freshmen, who had crowded his table, eager to meet the senior vampire they've heard so much about. He was one of the few in the school and most of the others didn't speak so openly about it. Even though the bite had happened over summer vacation, news had spread quickly on various social media sites and he wasn't really shy about it. He was prepared for the consequences when he asked a vampire acquaintance to transform him.
The younger teens gasped and exchanged awed mutters, and one asked, “Do you ever drink it?”
Mason chuckled at that, and said, “Sure I do, I am a vampire, we need it to stay healthy.”
“Where do you get it from?”
“Well, a lot of blood donation centers in the country have these special programs to provide additional blood to vampires so we don't have to bite people to get it. Donors are encouraged to give as often as they can, because the blood may be sold to vampires and those funds go toward medical research, including trying to develop a possible blood substitute we can use instead. That would benefit both vampires and patients. They're still working on the logistics of those programs, but... yeah, I can get blood that way.”
The others exclaimed, “Wow!” and began discussing it.
“That's so cool!”
“And gross, I couldn't imagine drinking blood.”
“Heh, I can.”
“Jimmy, gross!”
Mason looked around for his friend, but he was still in line. He looked back at his tray and picked up his orange juice.
“But you can still eat normal food?” one of the freshmen asked.
“Sure.” Mason took a drink to show them. “It still tastes fine. I just need blood to stay strong, otherwise I feel faint and start wobbling and stuff when I walk.”
They were amazed and kept pestering him with questions, until finally his friend walked over.
“Hey, shoo, you little gremlins,” Daniel snapped at them. “Before he decides he wants a fresh meal.”
They cleared out, but not without shooting him dirty looks.
“Thanks, man,” Mason said gratefully.
“No problem. People just keep harassing you about being a vampire, huh? I feel like you should just make pamphlets.”
Mason chuckled. “I really should. First bullet point: leave me alone at lunch.”
Daniel sat across from him and immediately began eating. He played on the school volleyball team and though the school year has just begun, they were already getting close to their first game. Daniel was practicing for it often so he always seemed hungry. His additional bike riding outside of school probably didn't help matters.
Mason didn't finish his food, not in the mood for it. He just looked at his phone, scrolling through sites and making small talk with Daniel, who was more than happy to take the food he didn't want. At one point, Mason's eyes lingered on his friend's neck, examining the fading bruise on the right side.
“How's the bite feeling?” he asked.
Daniel paused and looked up. He shrugged, rubbing his fingers over it. “Fine, I guess. Doesn't hurt. But it never really does.”
“That's good.” Mason was glad it wasn't painful. Though blood was available for purchase, his parents weren't vampires and weren't always comfortable getting it for him, and his allowance hardly allowed for him to get much himself. So when he had a craving, he often drank directly from a human. The one human who had agreed to let him feed on him? Daniel Vigil, his best friend since kindergarten.
Mason had been anxious when first turned, and when the hunger pains started, was afraid he would lose control and bite someone. But that never happened, because Daniel had comforted him and told him that if he ever had that urge, then bite him instead.
Mason had asked if he would seriously let him feed on him, Daniel had replied that he would. Mason had taken the offer. It had been awkward at first, but Mason did enjoy it, and both were getting used to it. Daniel claimed it didn't hurt at all, though Mason has wondered if he was just trying to be tough about it. Feedings were usually performed every few days, and Mason was always very careful not to turn him. He knew there was more to it than just biting and drinking, but he was still nervous sometimes. But he was hungry today, and kept looking at the other's exposed neck, acutely aware of the blood pulsing in his jugular.
Daniel glanced up, meeting his gaze. “Your eyes are getting dark.”
Mason rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I'll take care of it later.”
“Alright.”
When they finished lunch, they went to their classes. Mason had to endure a few taunts, but he was used to it. It was no worse than what he had endured growing up before he was a vampire. Most of what they had to say was unoriginal anyway, so he didn't even give them the satisfaction of a response. When someone progressed to throwing a ball of paper at him in the hallway, he simply batted it away with barely a glance. With vampirism came enhanced reflexes and he was quite proud of his. They made video games so much easier.
He got through the rest of the day with no mishaps and met up with Daniel in the parking lot, where they leaned against Mason's car.
“Got time for me to come over today?” Mason asked.
“Sorry, there's no practice but my mom wants to go shopping and she insists I go because Dad can't and she doesn't want to be alone.”
“Wow. You tell him to go with her.”
“It's fine, he's gone with her a ton of times, but he's working late today and can't make it. I don't mind going.”
“Alright. Well, before you do, mind if I feed real quick?”
“Nah, go for it.” Daniel first glanced around, then bent his knees slightly so his shorter friend could reach his neck. Mason still couldn't get used to how pleasing it was, to have a human listen to him and let him bite them. He knew it was a part of his vampiric instincts, but it was kinda unsettling. He tried not to dwell on it, though.
He slid his sharp fangs right into the tender skin. Not much, just enough to get twin trickles of blood flowing. He lapped up the blood, humming softly. It tasted so much better fresh. The blood that came out of a bag carried a slight taste of the material and while it was adequate, he was aware that it could be better. He preferred this.
Used to the procedure, Daniel had his head tilted back, holding his phone up so he could see it and texting one of his other friends. His free hand held onto the back of Mason's head, idly stroking his hair.
Neither was really sure why he did it, but Mason didn't mind so he didn't bring it up. He just chalked it up to a side effect of the bite.
Once the blood began to clot, Mason removed his fangs and licked over the wounds, waiting for them to close. Then he cleaned off the excess blood and made sure none had gotten onto Daniel's collar.
The other had to struggle not to laugh. “That tickles.”
Mason stepped back. “It really doesn't hurt?” He asked this nearly every time he fed, but it was hard to wrap his head around it.
“No. I don't know what it is, but... I can feel how sharp your teeth are, and it's startling when they poke in, but it's not actually painful. The first time you did it, it kinda hurt. But now it doesn't. Maybe I just got used to it or it's magic or something.”
“Maybe.” There was a lot Mason still didn't understand about his condition. He'll have to ask one of his vampire friends about this. He was part of a forum that has so far been very helpful every time he had a question. They should have an explanation.
They said goodbye and Daniel went to get in his car. Mason wiped his mouth off and looked to see if anyone had noticed. He was getting some looks but mostly everyone seemed concerned with going home.
Ignoring the stares, Mason got in his car and headed home.
There wasn't too much homework for him to do, so he got it over with quickly, briefly spoke to his parents, and then went to hole up in his room. Opening his laptop, he went onto the forum and browsed through the choices, before going to the vampire-related questions subforum.
He checked up on a few threads he was following, then searched to see if there was anything similar to his question. There wasn't, so he opened a new thread.
Biting Doesn't Hurt? he titled it, with a question mark emoji. He thought over how he wanted to explain, then began typing.
Hey guys, I'm pretty new but I've made a few other posts and you've been really helpful so I'm sure you can help me with this too.
My friend and I have an agreement that whenever I'm hungry, I can feed on him. I never take too much, since he's an athlete at our school and I don't want to mess up his performance. Anyway, he says that it doesn't hurt when I bite him and I find that weird. Is it supposed to? It hurt when I got bitten, quite a lot in fact. It only got worse when the guy dripped his own blood in to turn me. Anyone got an explanation?
It's no big deal, I'm just curious.
He read over it, then nodded and hit submit. He had no doubt that it would be answered in minutes; the forum got very high traffic. Unfortunately, this inevitably brought trolling and just plain hostility, but it was usually handled quickly and those who weren't too annoying were usually even allowed to hang around as long as they stayed on topic.
Mason browsed some other threads, lingering on the magic section. He hasn't had much luck with any of these vampiric powers he should have, but apparently they varied depending on the person. One needed to drink blood often to keep up energy for it. Mason wasn't too worried about it. He'll figure out his powers eventually. Many vampires took a while to find their exact niche.
He got up, reading an instruction guide for levitation. It was a basic power that nearly every vampire had, so he was determined to at least get this one. With focus, he managed to float a couple inches up, but he quickly grew uncertain when his feet left the ground, which was enough for the magic to fail and drop him. He stumbled and caught himself on the edge of the bed. It was a start. He sat down again.
Once he had checked everything he wanted, and attempted levitation a few more times, he went back to his thread. It had already gotten a good number of hits and a couple responses. He opened it.
Your boy's a masochist, bro, said the very first reply.
Mason rolled his eyes and scrolled down. One of the older members of the community, who has given him a lot of help, had replied too. Ignore him ^ though he might be a masochist, idk, I'm not here to judge. But even if he likes it, it should still hurt. I mean you're biting pretty deep into his neck to get to the vein, it's like getting a shot and one of those in the neck would definitely hurt. Maybe he's just trying to make you feel better.
Mason considered that. Maybe Daniel was lying so he didn't worry, but he seemed sincere when he said it was painless. He was always honest with him about other subjects, why would he lie about this? He wrote back, Could be. Is there any way for it to be painless, though?
The responses generally seemed to agree that it shouldn't be, but maybe his friend was just tough, and the mild anesthetic in vampire saliva was enough for him to not feel pain. Mason decided to leave it alone and go back to reading other topics, mostly about vampiric abilities. There were several, varying from person to person, and apparently one's personality and skills had influence on what powers they had. Mason has attempted many different abilities but so far the only one he was able to do was levitate, and that was only for a few moments.
Mason watched some videos of people demonstrating how to do various types of magic, and felt envious that some rare individuals even had elemental manipulation. He would love to be able to control fire.
Once he was bored of browsing, he turned on his TV and decided to just play a game until dinner. He would have plenty of time to figure things out. Vampires may not actually be immortal, but they certainly had very long lives, and he planned to make the best of it.