A Taste of Normal

It took Eliza a few minutes to get ready, having already forgotten where she left her key-card. While she searched for it, she continued to fill the silence, and it was surprisingly pleasant to have a conversation with someone who wasn’t my sire. It certainly helped that I didn’t need to say much and could just let her talk. “Sage and Maddy are both flatting this year, but Jamie is in halls like us. Not Wagner, I think they said Schubert? I’m fairly certain it started with ‘s’ at least. Ah, found it!”

She held up her key-card triumphantly. It had apparently slipped out of her pocket while she was doing something on her bed and gotten lost down the side. My lips quirked in amusement.

“Anyway,” Eliza continued, cheeks a little red, “Sage and Maddy said there was this really good cafe not far from their place. It’ll be a little bit of a walk?”

I shrugged, “that’s fine.” I eyed my thermos flask once more and wondered if I should drink before we left or not. It was probably fine. As long as I didn’t have to deal with any more crowds my Thirst would be manageable. I wasn’t sure how far ‘a bit of a walk’ was, but Eliza didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d be out all night, and if she was I could always make my excuses and head back early.

A bit of a walk ended up being a half hour stroll through campus and then vaguely suburban streets. The sun was still high enough in the sky that it was warm, and a slight breeze ensured it wasn’t muggy. With it being late afternoon, most of the official O-day events had wrapped up and people were either getting settled in or getting ready for one of the dozen parties that were taking place over the week before lectures started proper. Eliza played tour guide and pointed out the sights, such as they were. “That’s Big Gary’s, they’re kinda legendary around here; best take-out in town.”

“There’s a mini-mall down there with a few other food places if you want pizza or burgers instead.” She pointed down towards the main road. “And if you like games, there’s an internet cafe next to a board game place just down that way. Jamie tried to get me into this card game once and brought me to an event there, but it was a bit complicated and I couldn’t wrap my head around all the rules.” Eliza admitted sheepishly. 

I knew we were getting close to the cafe when I once again caught the scent of coffee. More curiously, I could also smell an undercurrent of blood. When we finally turned the corner and I caught sight of the name of the cafe, I almost laughed.

Nox Vitae was the kind of edgy name that a teenage me would’ve come up with for a meeting place of vampires and other supernatural creatures. It was also an absolute butchering of the Latin language; Life of Night. It was located down a narrow close between two other businesses with the sign barely visible from the street. It didn’t want to be found, and I had the feeling that mundane individuals would have a hard time noticing it, which made me wonder how Eliza’s friends had stumbled across the place.

The exterior was plain red brick, just like all the other buildings on this block, while the interior was all dark leather and old wood with warm yellow lights hanging from exposed rafters. Quiet music played from a concealed sound system. At a little after five, there were only three patrons, almost definitely Eliza’s friends. Standing at the register was the single other person in the building and I could tell that he wasn’t human. Not a vampire, though. He gave us a nod as we entered.

Eliza waved to her friends, who waved back, before striding confidently up to the counter. “Could I please have a large flat white and…” she peered into the food cabinet, “an apricot danish?”

I stared up at the menu board on the wall behind the register and frowned. While there were helpful categories like ‘Tea’, ‘Coffee’, and ‘Smoothies’; I still had no idea what most of the drinks on offer were. My time to make a choice slowly ticked down as Eliza finished paying and bounced over to join her friends.

“Uh, can I just get what she had?” I asked. It was easier than trying to force my brain to choose between a dozen different options or trying to decipher what exactly a macchiato was.

“Sure thing.” He tapped away at the register, then switched to a mumble. “You want a shot of the red stuff with your coffee?” To me it was loud and clear even over the music, but the others wouldn’t be able to hear if they were human.

“Uh, yes please.” It was clear what he was asking, and while I didn’t need the blood; it would help take the edge off my hunger. I paid and joined the others at the table they’d claimed. I wasn’t able to sit with my back against a wall, but I was able to angle my chair so I could see the entrance out of the corner of my eye. Old habits die hard.

I could already guess who was who based on the rambling conversation I’d shared with Eliza on the way over, but she introduced me anyway. “Alright, this is my roommate, Leigh. Leigh, this is Maddy, Sage, and Jamie.” She pointed to each of them in turn and they gave me a short ‘hi’ or a wave. Maddy had bright ginger hair in a messy bob that framed round cheeks who wore a loose blouse and skinny jeans. Sage was tall and delicate, with straight back hair she wore down and a floral sundress. Jamie was dressed similarly to me in jeans and an old hoodie, with short brown hair and a side-shave. “As for pronouns, they/them for Jamie and she/her for the rest of us.”

They all looked at me somewhat expectantly. They wanted me to tell them my pronouns, and I didn’t know how to answer them. She/her still felt entirely foreign when others used it for me and I couldn’t bring myself to say it myself.  “Oh, uh, just whatever is fine.” I shrugged and hoped to play my uncertainty off as nonchalance and glanced over at the barista making our drinks. I wasn’t Thirsty, but the mention of blood had me waiting in anticipation for it. When I turned back, it was clear that I’d missed an unspoken exchange of meaningful glances, but I ignored the part of my mind that was telling me they were talking behind my back. It had probably been nothing.

“So, Eliza said you’re from out of town. What made you pick St Albert’s?” Sage asked. A fairly safe conversation starter by any means.

“My s– uh, Amaranth suggested it.” I managed to cut myself off before I called him my sire. “I didn’t have anywhere in mind so I just went with what he thought would be good.” And he’d picked St Albert’s because it was part of a fairly quiet city without any major vampire enclaves. A place I could just be myself without worrying about the politics that apparently came part and parcel with being a ‘creature of the night’.

“Is he like your dad or something?” Eliza asked.

The suggestion that Amaranth was my father was… a little horrifying. “He’s not my dad. He’s more like an older brother?” I said hesitantly. “I mean, Amaranth’s done more for me than my parents ever did, but he’s definitely not… yeah.” They took my bumbling explanation in stride and the barista dropped off mine and Eliza’s orders. I muttered, “thanks,” as he placed my blood and coffee drink in front of me.

It smelled delicious and I took a first, tentative sip. My eyes closed involuntarily and I let out a quiet sigh. While the coffee was definitely more bitter than I’d normally like, the blood was sweet. Two rich flavours that balanced each other out instead of fighting for attention.

I needed blood to survive, and I craved it constantly, but I kinda hated what I’d become. There were good things about being a vampire, sure, and I would be dead if Amaranth hadn’t turned me, but I couldn’t bring myself to thank him for that. The very blood that I needed to drink was a reminder of all the horrible things that had been done to me, and it was a reminder of the monster I’d become.

Sometimes I wish Amaranth had just left me there to die.

Eliza and her friends were all looking at me again and I did my best to drag myself back to the present. I hummed in question.

“Oh, Sage asked if you were planning on joining any clubs this year,” Maddy said. “The four of us are probably all going to join MuSoc. We were all in the school orchestra, and figured it would be cool to keep doing that sort of thing.”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. What sort of clubs are there?”

“Oh, there’s a club for basically everything. Most of the majors have a club or social group of some kind, and if there’s a hobby there’s probably a club for it. BrewSoc if you want to learn about brewing beer or wine, AnimeSoc if you enjoy watching anime and want to chat about different shows. Tramping, baking, volunteering, board games, video games. You get the picture.”

There were certainly a lot of options and it was more than a little overwhelming. “I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it.” And I really would. There was probably the expectation that I’d join at least whatever club was associated with philosophy given that was what I claimed to be studying.

“That’s fair. Club’s day is on Tuesday, and there’ll be booths and such so if you’re not sure which ones you want to join, definitely check it out.” Maddy took a sip of her iced chocolate, leaving a lipstick stain on her straw. “What sort of things are you into anyway?”

“I haven’t really had a lot of time for hobbies.” It wasn’t quite a lie, but time had been far from the main constraint I’d been under. Logically I knew that they were just curious about me because I was the new person, but even this casual questioning made me feel anxious. I only had so many excuses or half-truths I could tell before my story would start to fall apart.

“What about music? Got any bands you like?” Maddy asked.

Before I could think of an answer, Sage raised an eyebrow in my direction. “What are your thoughts on Girl in Red?” Maddy giggled into her straw while Jamie rolled their eyes and Eliza went a few shades of pink brighter. 

“I haven’t heard of her before, sorry.” I knew that I was missing something, but didn’t have a clue what. “Is she popular?”

“In certain circles,” Maddy said with a snort. “She’s asking if you’re gay. The Girl In Red thing is a meme, but not all of us are chronically online, internet poisoned gremlins.”

“I take offence at being called a gremlin. I’ll have you know that I’m a full fledged goblin.” Sage lifted her head in mock regality.

Unfortunately the banter didn’t continue, and Eliza especially seemed to be waiting for my answer even if she wasn’t looking directly at me like everyone else was. I didn’t have one. “Uh, what’s a meme?” I asked instead of delving into that kind of introspection.

“How do you not know what a meme is!” Maddy almost shouted and the others were all looking at me with similar levels of disbelief. “Have you been living under a rock the last decade? Please tell me you at least know what the internet is.”

“I know what the internet is,” I said a little more defensively than I intended. It was that thing I used for homework back when I was still fifteen and struggling through high school, but usually only with parental supervision.

Maddy pulled out her phone and brought up an image with some text at the bottom in bold, white lettering. “Okay, so this is a meme. They’re funny little images that people share on sites like reddit or discord. They’re like jokes, but most of them have a bit of context that comes from the image that they use. A while back there were sort of templates like Actual Advice Mallard, or Good Guy Greg, but these days they’re almost always more abstract, oh, and don’t even get me started on Loss.”

“What’s Loss?” I asked, not understanding the can of worms I’d just opened. What followed was a half-hour long lecture on some obscure comic that aired on a website which was bad for reasons I didn’t quite understand.

Thankfully the rest of the conversation that followed wasn’t focused on me and I could retreat behind my drink and just listen. Sage and Maddy complained about one of their new flatmates, Eliza blabbed about a show she’d started watching, and Jamie kept to the same companionable silence as me. The other three talked enough for all five of us. It was nice, and reminded me of the handful of sorta-friends I had in high school I’d hang out with at lunch.

“Oh, are you guys going to the fresher’s party tomorrow night?” Maddy said excitedly.

“Uh, probably,” Eliza said with a mouth half full of danish.

“I thought you said you weren’t a party person?” I asked with a slight frown.

Sage snorted, “did she really say that?”

Eliza’s reddening cheeks was answer enough. “I meant, like, I didn’t want parties in our room, not that I didn’t like parties in general. Parties can be fun,” she mumbled, embarrassed.

I was relieved that she didn’t want to have parties in our room. It might’ve been large by my standards, but it would feel crowded with more than just us there, and I really didn’t want to deal with strangers in my space. Not to mention the noise. “Too much noise for me,” I said.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll go either, Jamie said. “I think Declan is going and I really don’t want to deal with him, especially if there’s alcohol involved.” That comment drew a collective grimace. I was tempted to ask who Declan was, but could also see that it was not a pleasant topic so I left it be.

Things petered out after that. We’d all finished our drinks, and Jamie needed to head back to campus to ensure they didn’t miss out on dinner which started being served at six. Eliza went with Sage and Maddy to eat at their place. An offer was extended to me, but I declined. While I could eat, and still enjoyed it, I didn’t feel like intruding and could really do with a few hours to myself.

“It was nice meeting you, Leigh,” Sage said as we parted ways.

“Uh, yeah, likewise.” I returned her wave a little awkwardly. “I’ll see you later?”

I breathed a sigh of relief when I was alone and took my time heading back to Wagner Hall. That could’ve gone a lot worse. I’d managed to survive my first real conversation and I was on my way to making friends. A small smile crept onto my lips. Maybe Amaranth had the right idea about all this.