Bill The Vampire - 01 by Rick Gualtieri Page A

going on, Sally ran downstairs to fill up a backpack with my week's blood rations. I was still pretty much fucked, but, nevertheless, I felt like some of the weight of the previous evening had been lifted from my chest. Sure I was still dead, but once I was back in my own place, I was pretty sure I'd be able to clear my head and think my way through this mess. Maybe not the being dead part, but some of the rest of it was sure to resolve itself.
     
    By the time Sally came back upstairs, she told me that the sun had set enough for it to be safe to go out. One good thing about the city, the buildings provided plenty of cover from direct sunlight, especially around dusk. She gave me my wallet back and assured me that copies had been made of my IDs before I could get hopeful of the contrary. She also gave me her cell number with instructions to call if I got myself into any messes ( oh yeah... I got a phone number! Who's the stud? ).
     
    In actuality, I had a ton of more questions. So far some of the stuff I thought I knew about vampires was true, but just as much turned out to be utter crap. Ignorance of my condition could come back to bite me in the ass. I mean, what if I turned into a bat accidentally and couldn't turn back? What if I discovered I couldn't cross running water while my train was barreling under the East River? What if I got home and discovered I couldn't enter until Tom or Ed invited me in? I wouldn't put it past them to make me sleep in the hall while they laughed their asses off.
     
    Unfortunately, though, now wasn't the time for twenty questions. Freedom had been dangled in front of me... well, okay, not really freedom, but a week long furlough, at least. I wasn't about to risk screwing that up because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Trust me on this. I've fucked up enough things in my life by being unable to shut it when I should have. I was going to have to be mindful to not screw up my death in a similar fashion.
     
    Fortunately, Sally seemed to be sincere about letting me go. Don't get me wrong, the bitch lured me to my death. It was going to be a while before she was getting any friend requests from me. Still, whatever her motivations, she was either directly or indirectly helping me out now. I'd have to remember that and maybe cut her some slack in the future. A small voice in the back of my head was telling me I was only doing so because of how she looked. If she had been an ugly chick, I probably would have staked her ass, myself, and rolled around in the ashes to celebrate. Maybe. Hey, I never said I wasn't shallow.
     
    She walked me to the door and held it open. “Remember, you're back here at the end of the week, no later than Saturday night. If not, there will be people looking for you, and they won't be friendly.”
     
    “Yes, Mom.”
     
    She sighed and began to close the door behind me before adding a quick, “Good luck.”
     
    I was going to need it.
     
    * * *
     
    To say that the short walk to the train station was trippy would be an understatement. Since most of my undead life ( is that an oxymoron? ) had so far been spent either preoccupied or unconscious, I hadn't realized how much my perceptions of the world had changed. Everything seemed sharper. I could overhear the conversations of the people around me ( no small feat in the city ). The smells were all sharper and more pronounced ( not entirely a good thing ). Best of all, everything was crystal clear, even the deepest shadows didn't seem to daunt my eyes. I had a flash of insight and took off my glasses ( dinged up, but miraculously unbroken after the last twenty-four hours ).
     
    Fuck! Still nearsighted. That figures. However, I could apparently see pretty damn well in the dark now. I just still needed my glasses to do so. Oh, well, win some, lose some. I wonder if vampires can get LASIK.
     
    I don't know if it was the elation of being free, that I had just recently eaten, or just an overall side effect of being a vampire,