I was going to head to the nearby gun shop with Star to intimidate the owner into lending me ammunition. But Star had other ideas. Ugh. I had to sneak in and steal some items from that shop while no one was looking. Whatever. I head to the hotel we were staying at with my gun, now fully loaded. 

I hear mumblings around me. Something about ‘monsters’ roaming around the town, I catch their stares. The typical staring I get from those fresh skins. I hate it, but it’s not unusual for me.

Arriving there, I watch my bodyguard getting chewed apart by this man in his 30s. “You think you can get away with walking around like you own this place? If you don’t get the hell out, I will put you in a case!” The strange man verbally lashes out at Star. His voice echoes through the main hall. 

The vampire stands there, unflinching. His eyes remain glued to the floor. A crowd forms around the two, watching intently. This peanut gallery of dipshits who are definitely siding with this human. It sickens me. This display just shows that assholes will easily entertain the masses and get their support.

“Hey, asshole! What are you doing with my bodyguard?” I shout over as I push my way through the crowd. 

Star looks vaguely in my direction.

“Who is this bitch? You’re full of stitch,” the strange man responds in his odd way.

What? 

“It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re rhyming,” I say. 

The man’s frustrations grow upon hearing this comment.

“My old man got cursed by a fortune teller after being racist to her,” the nearest teen in his hoodie says to me. Must be his son, he looks fucking miserable. 

The angry man shouts as he grabs my arm, “I don’t want freaks like you littering my inn! You—” 

A woman’s voice calls to the man, “That’s enough, Jack!” Susan enters the main hall, looking like she was busy restocking.

The two start to argue. I’m really not interested in this human drama. Ugh. 

“Star, let’s get the fuck out of here,” I say to him. 

He gives me a confused look as I pull him out of the building. 

He doesn’t resist, of course. Hell, he never used any of his strength during that interaction with that Jack guy.

It pisses me off. That he’d let this piece of shit walk all over him and berate him like nothing, he could just as easily rip him apart. I saw what he’s capable of with that vampiric strength. If only I could make better use of it. Imagine all the problems I can solve with this prowess.

“Why did you stand there doing nothing? That asshole was asking to be taught a lesson,” I question Star. 

Star shifts to the side with a pause. He exhales fog. “I—I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t plan on making people fear me,” my vampiric bodyguard admits. 

I narrow my eyes. “Everyone already does, no matter what you do. That’s reality, Star.”

He turns away from me, probably thinking about whatever I was saying to him. He steps forward. I contemplate joining him, but I don’t wanna cling to him. That coward. That absolutely buffoonish vampire.

You know what’s unfair? Having to deal with a failed brute of a bodyguard who refuses to advocate for himself. Maybe this is for the better. At least I now know I should weaponize his softness. Whatever. I’ll figure out how to get him to crack like that time with the magical boy.

I walk off aimlessly. I go from place to place, looking for a way to get my mind off this stupid shit.

Eventually, I see them. Specifically, that couple from a couple of days ago. Melody and Valeria. They’re playing mini-golf for some reason.

I reach my hand out instinctively, comparing my mismatched tone of colors to that human’s fair color. Her skin is ideal, no marks or scars or anything that’s considered flawed. Her golden hair glistens under the shining light.

I watch the human guide the sword-sheathed vampire on how to golf properly. Valeria always overshoots everything. It’s to the point where they have to replace the ball in between each attempt. 

I should get friendly with them. Maybe. Just in case something happens with Star and I need protection. Yeah, that sounds about right. There’s no other reason to acquire acquaintances than for backup. 

I join them, climbing over the fence to greet them. I swipe some fries from the bench. 

“Oh, wow, haven’t seen you two in a while,” I try to socialize with the two ladies.

Valeria has her hand on her weapon. 

Melody waves over at me, “Oh, hey! We’re almost done with this.” 

Valeria loosens herself. 

“Well, I was gonna ask how everyone’s day is going?” I ask the two. I finish up the fries I had on hand.

Melody answers with enthusiasm, “We had wonderful ice cream this morning!” 

“She had two ice cream bowls. I gave up after one bite,” Valeria answers plainly. 

The human got her ball in the final hole. 

Valeria speaks up, “Can we go bowling now? More people are crowding around us.”

I look around to confirm. There’s quite a scene now. Humans are looking at us with disgust, amusement, and confusion. Their faces are a mixture of those expressions. I know we’re magnets for freaks like them, but I guess I realized that being around a fellow queer creature would magnify that effect until now.

“Sure. Sable, do you wanna come, too?” Melody speaks. 

Valeria exhales a deep fog. 

“Yeah, sure,” I say. 

Melody curls her pointer finger in front of her chin. “Oh! Why don’t you bring in that Star guy, too?” 

We pause for a moment.

“Star?” I say a bit befuddled. 

“Yeah, it’d be the four of us!” Melody excitedly yells. 

“Oh, I guess I can bring him along,” I say. 

After that interaction between him and Valeria, I’m not sure how well they’ll get along. I can tell she’s not a fan of the idea when she sighs with that same fog that Star exhales. Whatever. Anything to get them to like me.

We walk off, looking around for my bodyguard. Still, I feel the stares of the locals. Just hundreds of eyes are monitoring us. At least, if anything happens, I’m with a vampire who looks like she’s actually willing to kill someone. Someone with a spine. Melody is really lucky to have Valeria.

We eventually find Star. 

“But I wanna look for Dr. Wess,” Star says. 

He tends to fuck up names. Although Dr. West is one of those names that he can get right half of the time. 

“Just hang with us. Come on, live a little,” I say to convince Star. 

He reluctantly agrees. We drag him to the nearby bowling alley.

Entering the entrance, many heads turn towards us. The usual variety of goers that you expect. However, my eyes rest on a man in blue. I should not be surprised to see a pig in this town. I can’t worry too much about it. Besides, I have two powerful vampires with me.

“Well, I gotta go to the girls’ room. Could anyone else handle the papers?” Melody asks.

I glance over at Star, who is staring at a nearby arcade cabinet. 

“Err, sure,” I confirm.

The two women head to the restroom. I notice something left behind. 

“Hey, don’t fuck this up, Star!” I shout over at him to focus. 

“Huh, what do you want?” He responds. 

“Go write our names down. Here, this should be enough money for whatever and also snacks for yourself,” I tell him as I hand him money. 

“Did you just turn me into an errand boy?” Star inquires in the same flat tone he always has. 

I pause, surprised by this response. 

“Erh! Yes…?” What was that? 

He simply replies with an “Okay.” 

As Star handles the papers, I look over at what I assume to belong to Melody. I turn to see the cop. He’s not paying attention to what I’m doing. I snatch a sparkling silver brooch. 

It reflects nicely — it’s got a very sun-like shape. I can see why she would hide this. This kind of shit sells crazy if I haggle it with the right person. I pocket it. I’m a bit of a kleptomaniac, but I’m not materialistic, if that makes sense.

Everything is sorted, I’m first to go. I read everything on the board. Of course, Star got all our names wrong. According to him, our names are Mable, Mallory, and Valorant. Fun stuff. I score decently, but something rips with my arm after my second roll.

Shit! Wendy didn’t stitch me well enough. I should’ve— never mind the thought. I don’t need to have that consciousness right now while playing with ‘friends’. Hell. I’ll work on fixing it while everyone takes their turns first.

Melody goes after me. With each roll, she always manages to reach the gutter ball. If I weren’t so busy with stitching, then I would’ve commented on it. The two vampires stay silent. I slide my needle through my body as I grit my teeth to endure the pain of fixing myself. 

Valeria chugs from a plastic bottle. The red liquid inside catches my bodyguard’s attention as he steps in with a ball.

“What’s that?” He quietly says Valeria before throwing the bowling ball. 

The force of it is so light that the ball goes on forever. 

“Hm? It’s blood,” Valeria says matter-of-factly. 

The ball continues to roll, remaining in the center. 

“Why do you ask?” The vampiric woman continues. 

The shining orb continues strolling. 

My bodyguard shifts before answering, “I… I was wondering what kind of blood that was?” 

The sphere resumes at its snail's pace. By the time this thing stops, I’m going to finish stitching myself.

Valeria pauses before responding, “Oh? It’s type O.”

I watch Star’s body stiffen. He holds himself, covering his pits intensively. His teeth tighten. A single sweat drips from his curly mess of hair as his body turns away from the other vampire. His eyes glancing over from me, then at the ground. Shit. Well, in better news, I’m fully fixed.