Neil and I leave from the speakeasy together. Abby and Martha stick around with Fred, Luis, and Jill, deep in a conversation about Underworlder and human politics. On another day, I have to make time to read up on Underworlder politics in more depth, now that is my world too. I squeeze Neil's hand as we walk down the street outside, even though I almost lose my step on more than one occasion.

"So why was there a mosh pit at a speakeasy?" I say, my words only slightly slurring together. I'm not too drunk, but I'm definitely not sober, kiddos.

"Why not?" Neil says. We turn the corner. "We're not far from that McDonald's, right?"

I grin viciously. "I'm so glad I convinced you to come try drunken McDonald's with me."

When we round yet another corner, there it is: the golden arches. I wish I could still salivate. "It's... beautiful..." I hiccup. "Oh man, my vampire body is going to hate me tomorrow. My mom's meatloaf, booze, and now McDonald's in one night. I really need some blood."

Neil pulls his hand out of my grasp and squeezes my shoulder. "One thing at a time. Let's go."

We enter wonderland. It's crowded with humans, and I'm not sure if it's because I'm drunk or what, but their bloodstreams pound to the beat in my head. I hesitate, looking at Neil. "Oh no... maybe this wasn't a good idea."

"I'll help you," he says. "Just pay attention to me, me and my bloodstream." He takes my hand again, as well as braces his other hand on my arm. I twitch but not because of his touch: I really hear some good blood somewhere nearby. Then, though, I know I hear his own bloodstream closer to me: steady, sturdy, Neil. "Let's take the McDonald's back to your place," he says softly. "Get two of whatever you order so I can try it."

***

Thirty minutes later, we're back at my apartment and chomping on our respective Big Macs. "Ohmuguh," Neil groans, his mouth stuffed with food. He swallows a giant bite. "Why the fuck have I never tried this before?! Humans normally have to give me a second glance before they know I'm a witch!"

I also gulp down a huge bite. "I'm not gonna lie, Neil... I would have no idea you were a witch if I met you as a human. Absolutely no clue."

He chuckles and takes another bite. I don't hear what he says about identifying witches because his mouth is full, but it's okay: he looks cute when he eats, with his cheeks puffed and his nose wrinkled.

After a few minutes, we're finished eating. Neil groans, rubbing his tummy, leaning back in his seat. I lick my lips and, ignoring the slowing thrum of Neil's bloodstream, make my way into the kitchen, so I can open the fridge and pull out a blood packet. "One of these to top off the night," I say, raising it toward Neil. "Cheers."

"Wait," he says, sitting up. He meets my gaze and blushes. "Um, Vick, if you want to... you know... bite me, I'd be okay with that."

"O-oh." God. If I could melt, I would. Neil looks so earnest, so kind—I put the blood packet into the fridge and make my way back over to him. He scoots his chair closer to me. "Neil," I whisper, "I'm scared. I haven't... I've only drank blood packets before."

"I'm just offering." He takes my hand and smiles. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"N-no, I do." His heart is pumping faster. Th-thump. Th-thump. I've tried so hard to suppress my urges for blood so that I can live as close to human-normal as I can, but now... maybe it's time. "I don't want to hurt you, though."

"I trust you." He brushes his thumb over the top of my hand. "You're a good person, Vick. Meeting you and texting you and hanging out tonight... I hope we can continue getting to know each other. And if you're hungry for, you know, fresh blood... I've got that."

His smile lights up the room. He tilts his head to the side, exposing his neck. The seconds stretch, as I just stare at his exposed veins, zeroing in on where it is beneath his skin. In my mind, I picture this tunnel of blood, this essential passage of red. Then, I lean forward slowly, savoring the slowness in this, even as Neil's heartrate accelerates—and so does the thrumming of his vein. I place my fangs overtop his neck. His hand comes up behind and places itself on the back of my head. "Please," he says, and I sink my fangs into him.

The moan that emits from his lips is half-pain and half-pleasure. I begin to pull out because I don't want to hurt him, but his hand on the back of my head holds me in place. "I'm okay," he says. "It's a new feeling... please..."

So, I continue to slurp through my lips. His blood tastes so good, and he's right: much fresher than the blood packets. Coming from a living being, this is blood is decadent, full, and thicker. Neil moans again, gripping the back of my head harder. When I feel I've gotten enough—though, honestly, I could have kept drinking, but I don't want to make him too light-headed—I pull away, licking away the excess red from my lips.

Neil's eyes flutter for a few seconds before he opens them fully. His pupils are dilated beyond belief. "That was... wow," he murmurs. "I've never had a vampire drink my blood."

"I'm sorry." Panic seeps into my body. "Was that—was that too much?"

"No." He leans toward me and wipes a bit of blood off from my lower lip. "I liked it... I would do that again for sure. It was so pleasant... but now it's my turn," he says, waggling an eyebrow.

"Wh-what? But you're not a—"

Neil places his lips at the crux of my collarbone. I hold back a moan, but I do sink into his touch. "O-oh..."

"Is that okay?" he whispers.

I grab his chin and bring his gaze upwards. "Yes."

Our lips meet. He giggles and pulls away. "I can taste my blood on your lips... that's kind of hot. I think."

We both laugh and kiss again. And again. And again.

***

Neil sleeps in my coffin, but I can't bring myself to rest for the duration of the night. I stay awake even as the sun rises: in the past months, I've at least been able to nap a little bit here and there. But now, I'm awake for longer periods of time. I try not to watch Neil sleep (I will not be Edward Cullen), but when he snores I can't help but smile.

Instead, I mull over meeting Kalki.

Yesterday was insane and felt like a million years happened in one go. Not only did I see my parents again, but Kalki almost killed me and Abby. Then, after that—somehow, though I suspect it was Abby and I needing to take the edge off—we had a beautiful evening with new friends. It was fun. I do wish that Kalki, though, can be a part of that in the future.

Renouncing my human life didn't make me feel better: instead, it just made me depressed. Maybe that vampire that turned me didn't plan to turn me—in fact, I think he was just trying to lure me in to drink my blood, maybe even drain my body and leave me for dead, but he fucked up: he made me into one of his kind. He injected me with the vampire formula. I resented him for that, and a part of me always will, but I must move forward. The alternative is hating undead life, and I don't want to do that. Not anymore.

I leave Neil a note before I head out:

Hey! I promise I didn't pull an Edward Cullen, but you are cute when you snore. ;) I have an old human friend I promised I'd meet for coffee. Stay as long as you want—I'll be back soon. <3, Vick

The heart emoji seems just right. Neil and I still have a long way to go, if our relationship continues.

I make myself some blood tea from the blood packet I didn't drink last night. (What? You try ordering blood tea at Starbucks. The human baristas can't handle boiling human blood, I guess. Can't really blame them.) As I wait for the blood to boil fully, I pull out my phone, searching through my contacts for Kalki's old number. When I find it, I compose a message:

Vick: Hey, Kalki! This is Vick. Is our old Starbucks a good spot? I'm ready to meet up whenever you are.

Kalki responds almost instantly.

Kalki: See you in twenty.

I sigh. Their message is a bit cold, but I hope our in-person chat goes better.

The kettle screams. I pour my blood in a tumbler and head out.

***

When I push open the door to Starbucks, I spot Kalki immediately. They don a yellow, flower-patterned dress. Their brown skin looks sparkly, and I know they have put their glitter on their body today. With blue eyeshadow and white platform boots, they look amazing. I can see their classic caramel macchiato drink in front of them too.

I collect myself and head over. Their head snaps up, eyeing my every movement from the door until I pull out the chair and sit across from them. "Hi, Kalki. You look incredible today."

"Thanks." They nod. Their eyes flicker to my tumbler. "Are you going to order?"

"Actually, my stomach is a little upset this morning." I grimace. "I ate too much human food yesterday."

"Oh..." They trail off, but then they say, "You can... eat human food?"

"Yeah." I chuckle, brushing my hair behind my ear. Today I put a zebra-printed headband on, but I missed a chunk of strands, evidently. "But I'm okay. So I brought my own, uh, tea from home."

"Ah," they say.

Silence thickens between us. They don't seem particularly thrilled to be here, but they did agree to meet me. I take a sip of my hot blood tea and swallow. "Kalki, I really am sorry about not telling you I was still alive—well, sort of alive. Sort of not."

"Undead," they say.

"Undead," I confirm, sighing. "I was... I was going on a date that night."

"I remember." Their voice is softer. I chance a glance at them, and their eyes aren't so guarded and cold.

"This person... he just turned me." I don't cry, but my heart gives a loud thud. Huh. That's getting slower by the day too... "A-anyway. I didn't have a choice. And he abandoned me. I was all alone. Those first days were awful, but then—then I met Abby. You know Abby—"

"Yup." Their lips pop the 'p.'

"Well"—I look at them—"that was so terrifying, to be on my own. And that same night, the Underworld was revealed to the human world. Underworlders have always lived in the shadows of it, but now they could be open and free. It's... it's probably for the best. But even with that happening—I convinced myself that none of you would love me anymore." I take another sip of my tea, Kalki watching me. I gulp the hot blood down. "And now that I know your family has a history of being hunters... I'm sort of glad I didn't."

There is more silence between us, and though it's heavy, it's not suffocating. Finally, Kalki sighs and brings their hands to their head. "I don't hate you, Vick. I wish you had come to me about that because maybe I would have rebelled against that family service, you know? Maybe you could have been the example for my family."

"Still can," I say. Our eyes meet. "Kalki, I missed you. I tried to shove all my feelings about my family and you and other friends down, to convince myself that because you all thought I was dead, then you all had to be dead to me."

"Vick," they say, sniffing. "We all love you. Present tense. You are an amazing human being—I-I mean, now you're an amazing vampire—just as you are."

"Vampire fledgling," I correct. "At least, that's what my friend Abby is always reminding me of. I'm still learning."

"We all are." Kalki raises their coffee cup to me as the sun shines in through the windows. "Cheers, Vick. Let's get back to where we left off as friends."

As the sun hits the side of my face, I ignore the tingling sensation and raise my cup. "Thank you, Kalki... I missed you." And suddenly, as I shift in my seat to avoid the light, Kalki's eyes flash to the side of my face.

"Oh, let's move tables," they say.

"I'm okay," I say, but I wince: the tingling is turning to a mild burning sensation. "I have my hood, I can pull it up."

"Nah, come on, Vick." They stand up. "I wanted to go sit in those cozy armchairs anyway."

They turn their back and head over there before I even stand up. I smile, though: they've always been a good, kind, and considerate friend. I should have known that they would accept me as a vampire-to-be too.