“Eck, is that a bat?”, I said as I walked into the house at dusk.

“Yes”, my mother replied holding it in her hands, “and you know what that means”

“A vampire…”

“Yes, a vampire. Though I was already informed by the caretakers of the roads, cousins Leona and Marie”

“Ugh”, I complained.

I. Hate. Vampires.

Okay, I love the concept of them; near immortality, the whole sleep all day, up all night thing, and not liking the sun. I completely understand that, but when they come close to town, it's such a hassle to care for them. First of all, they can go in the sun, but choose not to. Why? Well, have you seen a corpse with red eyes in the day? Pretty noticeable by the average human, so it's easier to hide that in the shadows of the night. 

Unfortunately, it makes it troublesome for me because I have to take things to them and meet their demands during their waking hours. So, with the day duties and night duties, I don't sleep.

There's also, the barrel.

Depending on the vampire, the barrel has to carry either freshly drained blood from a pig, or the whole squealing pig itself. And guess who gets to wrangle the pig, transport it, and carry it up and down the steps?

Me.

"Uuugh", I groaned, “Which vamp is it?”

“Mer.”

“Mer!”

Mortimer or “Mer” is a rather young vampire comparatively, so he's more up on the times. He's fun to talk to, and he tells me about his travels. Unfortunately, he likes his blood poured in a barrel mixed with a few fresh cuts of meat. That means I have to go kill some pigs before he gets hungry. Not my favorite gruesome deed.

Cursing every step of the way, I dragged myself to assemble the necessary items to go. I managed to isolate and drug a moderately-sized pig, and put it out of its misery. It was already well into the moon hours by time I loaded the carriage.

“God, it's so spooky outside of town at night…”, I mumbled to myself.

The vampire accommodation is an old watch tower turned “house”.

“Merrr!”, I yelled towards the tower door from the bottom of the steps with a barrel almost more than half my size in width and height.

The lights were on, but no movement could be seen within.

“Mer! Come get this thing! It's heavy!”, I complained.

Still, nothing.

“Ughhhh”, I whined as I braced myself to lift the barrel and go up the stairs. Dragging it one step at a time, I huffed madly trying to muster every bit of strength I had.

"Mer, come on! You have super human strength! You could come lift this with one finger. Come help me!", I yelled at the door, "I know you can hear me!", I grunted.

I finally made it to the second to last step when the door flung open. Light flowed out past a bare-chested figure in an open shirt with flowing, golden-blonde hair.

“Ahhhh, Lady Jylan”, Mer smiled a fangy grin while holding a glass of wine.

“You fiend! You heard me struggling with this!”, I huffed.

He grabbed the barrel, effortlessly lifted it, and placed it inside.

“Well, yes, but just hearing your sensual moans and cries was just such music to my ears”, he chuckled.

Oh yeah, another reason I don't like vampires: they are all sadistic perverts.

Every. Last. One.

I looked at him in disgusted disbelief as he smiled a brilliant white smile, flashing all of his fangs. I tried to calm my labored breathing, and wiped off the sweat with the back of my sleeve.

Mer immediately roared in laughter, "Now you look even more like a tasty treat for me to eat"

“What-what are you talking about!? I brought you raw pig meat and blood!”, I exclaimed in horror.

He laughed again then swiped his finger against my sleeve, and raised it for me to see it. It was red with pig blood. I had just rubbed blood on my face!

Mer leaned down to lick my forehead, “Mmmm, now that's a new taste”

I huffed at him in anger.

“Would you like to come in and clean up?”, he offered.

“No! Because you're being mean to me today!”, I protested.

He laughed again.

Obviously, it wasn't an offer, it was a masked command as he pulled me in to his chest and weightlessly danced us to the table. Tripping me to make me sit, I flopped heavily onto the chair. He had another wine glass and a bottle of wine next to it.

“Here”, he said as he gave me a handkerchief and poured wine in the glass in front of me. “Why not a drink before you go?”

“No thanks, I need to get back before it gets too late”

He smiled as though knowing I'd say that and grabbed a chest from nearby.

"Oh, so you don't want know about the Evergreen Lands of the east?”

I grimaced at this. It's bait, I know it, but damn my curiosity. I looked up at him from beneath my eyelashes. And begrudgingly grabbed the wine glass he was holding out towards me. I looked at it, then at him again, and then sucked my teeth and took a sip

“That's my girl!”, he beamed as he opened the chest with a bang.

In it, was a plethora of mysterious objects I had never seen before. Plants in jars and books in an unknown language. I sat with a look of amazement as he pulled things out one by one. I became enticed with all the wonders of this new world in front of me, but just as I was about to reach for a jar, Mer stopped me.

“Let’s make a deal”, he said.

“A deal?”

“Yes, I’ll let you pick one thing, if you do something for me”, he smiled.

“No!”, I snapped my hand back, “That’s against the Caretaker Code. No personal deals with the occult”

“Hmph, you’re no fun…”, he grumbled, “You didn’t even listen to what I have to say…”

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good”, I hissed.

“Come now, it’s just a simple question…”, he insisted.

I looked at him suspiciously. He innocently put up his finger, signaling “1” for just one question.

I grimaced, then said, “Okay, fine! What is it?”

He excitedly sat in the chair to my right. Bracing himself to ask, nervously moving his jaw to form the words. This was very unlike his usual confident self.

“H-How is, your mother? What is she doing these days?”, Mer asked with wide eyes like a puppy.

I was taken aback and needed to collect my thoughts. Is this a trick question? Looking at him in silence, I tried to find words that wouldn’t possibly bind me to him in some underhanded deal.

“Sheee’s… uh managing the estate and tasks while Grandmother is busy with the Caretaker outposts…”, I answered unsure.

He sighed in relief, “Is that so? That’s good…”

He lowered his eyes to his glass and grew silent. I wasn’t sure what just happened, so I just took another sip of wine and stared at the table.

“Well, as promised, you may take one thing back with you”, he mumbled.

I scanned the table, so many glowing plants and gems, I didn’t know what to pick! I stared at them hard until I pointed at a green gem suspended in a jar.

“This. What is this?”, I asked.

“You’ve always had a good eye for the rarest of rarities”, he chuckled, “It’s a growth stone, the key to the Evergreen Lands staying evergreen.”

He opened the jar and took out the stone. In his hand, he held a small plant and placed the stone close to it, which caused the plant to grow rapidly. Pulling it away, the plant stopped growing.

With a look of amazement, I shouted, “Yes I want that!”

“Hmm”, he thought about it.

“You promised!”, I protested.

“I did, didn’t I…”, Mer said, placing the stone back into the jar, “Well, here you are, for your hard work”, he smiled.

I beamed as I clenched the jar in my hand before putting it in my pocket.

“Look at the time… it’s best you head back now before the witching hour”, Mer stated as his eyes flashed bright red.

I chuckled nervously and finished the wine in one gulp, handing him the glass.

“Th-thank you”, I said with a slight bow, standing to leave.

As I opened the door, there was a feeling of danger. Mer slammed the door shut from behind me, stopping my wrist as I held my dagger to his throat, and pinned my back to the door.

“M-Mer! What are you doing? I will kill you!”, I growled, threatening to slit his throat with my other dagger.

“You forgot…”, he said as he pulled my wrist to his mouth, “…about your sleeves”

He put my sleeve in his mouth, sucked the blood from the cloth, and let me go.

“You’re fast. Your mother taught you well…”, he smiled as he opened the door, “Goodnight”

He pushed me out and loudly locked the door behind me. I huffed in disbelief and descended the stairs. By the time I reached the bottom, the adrenaline began to wear off and my legs turned to jam.

“Oh, I’m tired… Do I really have to do this for the rest of my life?”, I moped as the carriage inched towards town.

I sluggishly entered the house and made my way to the kitchen for a post-midnight snack to ward off the wine effects. As I approached the kitchen doors, I heard voices. Through the crack I could see Mother and… Mer!

“You shouldn’t be here Mortimer”, Mother lectured.

“How else am I going to see you, if not come to you?”, he cooed, “You send your girl in your steed. Why? To avoid me?”

“You think too much into it, Lord Florian Mortimer”, Mother jabbed.

“Hooo, I love it when you say my name coldly. Sends chills down my dead body!”, he giggled like a schoolgirl.

I stood there awkwardly, unsure if I should leave or interrupt.

Mer…likes Mother?

“You know… your little one doesn’t trust me… What have you taught her about me in those books of yours?”, Mer continued.

“It’s not about you, per se, just general knowledge to let our girls survive another day in this service”, Mother stated, unmoved, “Can’t have them entering blood contracts with every sweet talking occult, now can we?”, she smirked.

Caressing Mother’s cheek, he smiled and agreed, “That is quite true”

He leaned in to kiss her, but Mother stopped him. I clasped my hands over my mouth to stop my squeal of excitement.

“When are you going to become my bride?”

“I have children”

“They’re old enough to fend for themselves now, so that excuse won’t work this time…”

“Florian”

“You know I would do anything for you, my love”, he hummed, “I’ve waited this long and I can wait another century, but human life doesn’t last”, he warned.

My mother sighed the deepest sigh her body could let out. Mer stepped back as though he was giving up and about to leave.

“Your girl, Jylan, how old is she now?”

“23”

“Then I’ll give you a few more years to think it over. Remember to bat me if you need anything”, he said as he dematerialized and disappeared.

With a look of stress, Mother rubbed her eyes. I couldn’t contain myself any longer and burst into the kitchen.

“You had a courtship with Mortimer!?”, I shouted.

Mother jumped, then sucked her teeth angrily at me.

“Heavens forgive me for raising such an insolent wretch of a daughter!”, she yelled, “Ever heard of privacy?!”

“Well, yes, but this is the kitchen, not-”, I tried to explain, but something flew past my head and landed somewhere in the darkness of the hallway.

“To bed! Now!”, she growled.

“But!”

“Now!”, she roared.

“But I’m hungry…”

“Sleep it off!”

Mother slapped my forehead and pushed me out of the kitchen.

“I have some things to do in the morning. Stay here until I get back!”, she ordered as she stomped down the hall.

“Why is she mad at me? I’m not the one keeping secrets”, I thought.

Begrudgingly, I marched to my bedroom and washed up for bed.

“Was it because she had us that she couldn’t be with Mer?”, I pouted under the covers as I fell asleep.