I could’ve convinced myself that I only had a weird fever dream or something. I’d been tired after staying the entire weekend at my friend’s house, after all. The drive back home had been exhausting and scary, too. It would’ve been so easy to tell myself it was just a dream.

I stared at the backseat of my car. The blue interior was covered in blood.

“How am I supposed to get this clean…?” I sighed before tossing a big blanket back over the seats to make sure no one saw it.

It actually happened. I’d saved a vampire’s life. And I fed him my blood. And now I was eager to go see how he was doing, so I walked around the car, hopped behind the wheel, and pulled out of the parking space.

I still had the address on my navigator, so it was easy to find the right place. I was still a bit surprised to see the laundromat in the corner of the building, even though the blood had already convinced me that last night really did happen.

I got out of the car and walked up to the laundromat. There were a few machines on, but no one was around, so I made my way to the back, to the door that was now locked. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was alone before I knocked.

A short moment later, Mike came to open the door, and he immediately pressed his finger on his lips before letting me in. I nodded without saying a word and tiptoed after him when he started leading me to the end of the hallway. But we didn’t enter the room Sirius had been in last night. He pushed open a door on the opposite side, revealing another hallway. We walked to the end of that one and he opened a door on our left.

I stepped in and my eyes immediately found Sirius. I didn’t register anything else in the dimly lit room. He looked like he was asleep – or dead – as he lay under thick covers in a nice, big bed. I did notice it was an actual bed, not a hospital one.

“I’ll have to go check on another patient. Don’t leave this room, okay? No one knows Sirius is here, and it is for the best that no one knows about you, either,” Mike told me in a hushed voice.

“Okay,” I said without taking my eyes off Sirius, hearing the werewolf leave the room and closing the door.

Sirius looked so handsome… He had more color on his face now, and his lips were red. I put my bag down by the door and quietly approached his bed to stare at him closer. I hoped I wasn’t waking him up, but when I reached him, he sniffed the air and opened his eyes, giving me a little disoriented look.

“Oh, hi,” he said, his lips spreading into a smile at the sight of me. “Is it already afternoon?”

“Uh-huh. Ten minutes past five,” I said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. “You look much better now.”

“I feel much better, thanks to you,” he said.

“You do look tired, though,” I noted.

“I’m going to be tired for a while now.”

I nodded and finally ripped my eyes off him to take a look at the room. It was not a hospital room. There were big, thick curtains over the window, a soft carpet covering the floor, a big TV on the wall opposite of the bed, a big bookcase on the right and a fridge and a desk on the left.

“This place looks nice,” I told him when I turned my attention back to him. “I wish we had rooms like this in our hospitals. It would be so much less intimidating.”

“I like this little clinic. You should see some of the others I’ve been in. Such nasty rat holes… Mike really knows how to make his patients comfortable,” Sirius said, glancing at the room.

“So this is his clinic?”

“Yes.”

“And I’m guessing the laundromat is hiding what this place really is,” I said.

“That, and it’s for extra income,” Sirius said, trying to push himself to sit up, so I hurried to help him by placing his pillows behind his back.

He really was weak… He had a muscular body and zero fat, but he moved like he was nothing but skin and bones. The stitched wound nearly hurt my eyes, and I could see there had been absolutely no improvement.

“So you’re going to stay here for a while, huh?”

He nodded. “I don’t think I can return home anytime soon. I can’t even get out of bed, and I’m sure they’re watching my house…”

“They?” I repeated. “The people who attacked you?”

He sighed and nodded. I was hoping he’d tell me what was going on, since it wasn’t really my place to ask, but I really wanted to know. He glanced at me, and after a short moment of hesitation, he sighed and took a better position against the pillows.

“It is a boring territory dispute. This is a sanctuary for our kind, so fighting isn’t allowed. There is another vampire family who wants my territory, but I refuse to sell. This has been our home for decades, after all. I may be the last of my family, but this is still my home.”

“So… because you’re not selling, they’re trying to kill you?” I asked in a shocked disbelief.

He nodded. “They claim the assassins don’t belong to them, of course. But it’s obvious it’s them. Once I’m dead, they can take my territory, and no one will stop them.”

“And you can’t even go to the cops,” I guessed.

“We have our own cops and own laws, but without proof… And not many cares about an old vampire like me. Their job is to make sure no one is causing trouble with humans, and believe me, they have their hands full. We have a council, you see, and their job is to maintain peace in this city.”

“So you’re alone in this? You just have to hide and hope they can’t find you?” I asked with a frown.

“They do what they can. I am grateful that the council is at least protecting my rights as the owner and they’re making sure no one can steal my territory. Besides, I could just sell it and they’d leave me alone,” he said, his expression turning sad.

“But it’s your home! You have the right to not sell it!” I said, standing up, feeling pissed.

“You are a spirited young human,” he said in amusement.

“I want to help,” I said without hesitation. “There has to be something I can do! My friend’s dad is a lawyer–”

Sirius lifted his hand, laughing lightly. “You are a very odd young human,” he said.

“Please,” I said, sitting back down on his bed and taking his cold hand in mine. “I want to do something. It’s not right that you have to keep hiding in order to survive!”

“That is very kind of you, but I’m afraid they won’t stop until they get what they want,” Sirius said, the sadness returning.

I already hated to see him sad. “Please. There has to be something I can do.”

He tilted his head and watched me closely.

“You really are a strange person,” he said quietly.

“I like helping people,” I shrugged. “And I want to make sure I didn’t save your life in vain.”

His smile turned warmer now. “Well… There is something I could use your help with, but first, I’d need to read your mind so I know I can trust you.”

“Oh?” I said, now hesitating a bit. If he read my mind, he’d find out what I thought about his looks. “I uh… I don’t mind if you do, but… Things may get a little awkward after that.”

“What do you mean?”

I smirked at him in embarrassment. “Well… I’m just saying that you are very pleasing to look at. In a very platonic way,” I said, choosing my words carefully.

He let out a short laugh, looking away from me for a bit. “I… actually hear that… a lot,” he murmured.

“Okay! So in that case, feel free to do whatever you need,” I said, shifting closer to him. “Just… In a very platonic way.”

He laughed lightly, and then looked me in the eyes. “If you don’t mind…?”

“Go ahead,” I said.

He focused on staring at me. He had such beautiful blue eyes…

In a very platonic way.