ALL NOVEL 50
TW: Brief discussion of Suicidal Ideation. Please take care of yourselves.
Christian’s mom drove us in the large crossover-SUV their family used. I was grateful to have some semblance of leg room despite seven of us in the vehicle at once.
Christian had claimed shotgun and did his best to appease Lee’s insistence to pick a song after every single one that came up on the shuffle. She was that kind of super hands-on DJ.
Scarlet and I were in the far back seat, but that was okay. There was enough privacy for us to hold hands in peace.
The trip to the theme park took around an hour. The tall, brightly colored rides were visible before we left the highway and twenty minutes later, Christian’s mom dropped us off at the entrance. We each took our turn thanking her for the ride as we climbed out. She was pleasant and gave us a kind smile and little wave before she pulled out to join the traffic leaving the park. Our group was left to enter the long line to get tickets. It was only forty minutes or so to get them, get our bags checked briefly and enter the park.
All of us had been here before except for Scarlet who seemed a little intimidated at all the spooky decorations that had been painstakingly arranged and tacked down to every surface possible. Areas were roped off with caution tape instead of the usual black belt-things that the kids loved to play with. Spider webs blocked off other entrances and paths and adorned every streetlamp, and last but not least, they had a large collection of fall foods advertised: spooky-shaped cookies, pumpkin hand pies, turkey legs and candied apples. I was certain we would find Scarlet something she would enjoy munching on, especially since there was a candy shop that sold homemade fudge and other chocolates. Lee eagerly grabbed a park map on our way in and spread it out on a concrete barrier, planning the route we’d take through the park and discussing which rides to circle back to because they were good enough for that.
Scarlet took my hand, striding with me to stay in the group. I could tell she was scared of some of the bigger rides; the ones we had to crane our necks to see the top of. I hoped she’d be okay after nightfall. During the day the park was set up so little kids could enjoy it, but once dusk hit it warped more toward a haunted house vibe with people dressed in scary costumes and buzzing fake chainsaws roaming about, not to mention the constant screaming. It could be a lot even when you were expecting it.
I let the others choose our plans, just happy to be with my girlfriend… I realized this was probably going to be the only time we had something vaguely resembling a date. I would have to sneak off with her for a bit at some point to share some passionate kisses or something. My brain already started to fantasize about it, in a mostly platonic way. Sure, I had those feelings too but I wasn’t ready to jump into that kind of relationship with a girl I still didn’t know a lot about.
Maybe today would be a good time to learn some more about her, too.
I opted to make that my primary goal of this pseudo date as we followed the others into the line to ride the Thunderbolt. It was the park's tall, bring-you-up-really-high-and-then-drop-you-very-fast ride that made my stomach lurch in dangerous ways every single time. Scarlet squeezed my hand as she witnessed the dozen or so people riding it scream as it did its plummet thing.
“Is this safe?” she asked. Her hand trembled gently.
“Yeah,” I said. “Relatively.”
“Nobody’s been decapitated here this year,” Sierra commented dryly.
Lee elbowed her hard. “Don’t scare her,” she said. “Only people being dumb get injured on these things.”
Sierra shrugged, “It's true.”
“You won’t get hurt unless you don’t listen to their instructions,” Lee explained. “And even then it’s not likely. Not impossible, but you know.”
Scarlet pushed some of her hair behind her ear contemplatively and then blinked up at me. “Will you hold my hand?” she asked.
I took her hand in mine with a gentle squeeze. Lee looked almost embarrassed at the display.
“You’re gonna give us all cavities, being that sweet,” she grumbled, and headed back over to where Elias and Christian were putting their foreheads together to see who could push the other back. Christian, being taller, was winning this competition, but not by much as he had quite a pained look on his face.
We waited in line for the Thunderbolt and Scarlet squirmed uneasily as soon as she sat in the seat. I reached over to reassure her then let the employees come by to check out restraints.
She looked pale as the ride shuddered, then lifted, bringing our feet far away from solid ground.
I squeezed her hand again, feeling a bit braver than usual. Elias whooped loudly as we got to the top. Scarlet had her eyes closed, gripping my hand tight enough it hurt.
And then my breath left my body. The world rushed back toward us as I felt weightless. Scarlets hand gripped mine that much harder, my joints straining from the pressure. But I held on until the ride lurched back up and she loosened her grip, gasping. She smiled, then laughed.
"That's crazy," she said.
I returned her smile.
"Are they all like this?" she asked.
“Some are, some aren’t,” I managed as the ride slowed to a stop again, halfway up the tower.
This time when we dropped, Scarlet and I both laughed, the terror being replaced by the exhilaration.
Scarlet excitedly looked over the selection of sweets in the candy store. As usual, she was most interested in the chocolates. Off in one of the corners, Elias was setting up the plushies to be very obviously uh… having some adult hugging time. Christian was keeping watch as he did so, looking sheepish.
Lee and Sierra had opted to go to the haunted house that was still a bit too much for me, despite the fact that I was quite a bit older than the last time I’d been in there. Christian was also a bit deterred, and Elias stuck with him. I heard the two of them snickering about their plushy love when Scarlet turned back to me.
“You like candy, too, right?” she asked.
“Uh, occasionally,” I agreed.
She made a gesture to the shelves and displays of the small shop. It was busy, with lots of people roaming about. “What’s your favorite?” she asked.
“Favorite?” I repeated. It wasn’t a question I had ever considered. What was my favorite candy? I looked around, even browsed a few of the shelves but finally settled on a small plastic bag labeled as “Green Prince Frogs” in ornate lettering. Being a theme park, it was geared more to attract children, but I rather like gummies and I also liked the artificial green apple flavor they had. I showed them to her and she picked the bag up out of my hand
“Gummy candy?” she asked. There was a quizzical look in her eyes.
“Well yeah, I like the chewiness,” I explained.
She nodded, and then practically pranced to the checkout counter, gummies still in hand.
Before I could react she had purchased the gummies and held them out to me with a shy grin. “My brother gave me some money,” she explained, putting the candy directly into my hands as I processed what just happened. “I wanted to treat you,” she said.
“Uhm, but… don’t you want some chocolate or something?” I asked.
She held up a packaged chocolate covered apple she’d gotten from a stand earlier. I hadn’t paid much attention to it since Lee and Sierra had gone with her.
At that moment Elias threw an arm around my shoulder, startling me.
“What’s up nerds?” he asked. “Are you guys all set?”
I struggled to put words together.
Scarlet bounced on her heels. “I’m all set,” she told him.
Elias glanced to Christian, who was still looking sheepish as their handiwork was still visible behind him.
“I wanted to hit the chair lift before it gets too dark and they stop doing the human torch shows,” Elias explained.
Scarlet tilted her head quizzically.
“Uh, they put people in fire proof suits and then drench them in alcohol or something and set them on fire,” I explained. “You can see it from the chair lift so you don’t have to be down in the crowd to enjoy it.”
She nodded. “Let’s do it then,” she said, taking my hand. She gazed up at me, adorably.
Elias and Christian led us to the line for the chair lift. It was long, and a lot of couples were waiting to get one of the small carriage things that forced you to sit close to each other.
The boys went first, getting swept up by a bright red chair, while Scarlet and I got the chair behind them, which was a bright and cheerful blue.
Scarlet swung her legs happily as the chair shuddered, then gently swayed as it carried us over the pedestrians below. From here, the paths and roads split apart buildings and greenery, and led to the busy ride areas. The rides themselves still towered over most of the park, only the shorter, Tilt-and-Whirl and Twister types were short enough the chair lift went over them.
"Did you have fun?" I asked Scarlet. The carriage behind us had a couple skeletons dressed in wedding garb. It made things feel a bit more private. Christian and Elias were similarly having a chill conversation and I couldn't make out exactly what they were saying. Surely they wouldn't hear us either.
Scarlet looked up at me, smiling again.
I couldn't help but feel my face smile back.
"I really wish," she said. "We didn't have to go separate ways."
My smile faded as she turned to gaze away from me. In the distance, an amphitheater was packed as a black figure blazed, the air shimmering with the heat.
"I know it's uncomfortable but… I have to ask, how… when…" I took a breath to get the thought straight in my head. "How many people do you need to… consume… from month to month."
She turned back to me, all at once ashamed and scared. "From what I understand, a vampire can go a while without consuming human blood. Demetrius… well, Demetrius told us that if we didn't feed off of a good amount of blood we'd get pretty sick. And… that it was fatal to not feed within six months or so."
She looked at the people beneath us. I followed her gaze to find Sierra and Lee laughing along with one of the actors, who'd just finished chasing another group of teenage girls off. He was dressed like a serial killer, a knife dripping with fake blood in one hand.
"But…" I realized. "Did you end up staying in the asylum without any human blood longer than that?" I asked.
She nodded. "I thought I would die." A complicated expression came over her face as she stared without seeing. "I kind of waited for it. But… apparently even a very limited supply of animal blood can keep me alive, just miserably so."
I at once felt sad and also relieved. She wasn't quite the monster I had been treating her as.
"I don't know why I didn't die. I wanted to…" she rubbed at an eye, then looked shocked that there was liquid on her hands afterward. "I mean, what kind of life is it to sit around in the dark, waiting for the next fool to wander in just to kill to survive."
"Yeah," I agreed, awkwardly. I reached over and pulled her close, letting her head rest on my shoulder.
"I don't want to leave this place." She sniffled and I rubbed her shoulder soothingly.
"You… don’t have to. If you can hold off on drinking human blood for some time, I'm sure we'll figure something out. I'm not old enough to run a blood drive but I'm sure between the five of us humans that know and care about you, we could supply your need."
She shook her head. "The human body isn't very good at replacing lost blood quickly. Demetrius, Blacke, and I had to find somebody every few weeks to keep from feeling sick. So it would be too much for you guys."
I thought for a long moment. "And there aren’t any other vampires who've tried to settle down with a human and know a way around this?" I asked.
She wiped her eyes again. "I've only ever known my brother and Demetrius. Never met any other vampires."
That meant she didn't have any more answers than I did, unless her brother or… whoever Demetrius was knew something they weren't telling us.
With little hope of this conversation resolving the problem at hand, I decided to move on to my next one. Maybe it was a bit less heavy but to be honest I really didn't know.
"So is Demetrius the one that changed you?" I asked. "You know, made you a vampire."
She shook her head. "No. My brother and I were… co—cobaye they called us. Uhm. In the konzentrationslager."
"The… what?" My brain disliked both of those words. I didn't know what they meant exactly, but “konzentration” definitely sent a gross feeling through me.
"In English… guinea pigs," she explained. "They called us guinea pigs."
"But… what year was it?" I pressed, starting to realize how different Scarlet's and my world was.
"Nineteen… thirty-nine."
I ran my hand through my hair as my brain tried to remember dates and words from history class.
"So you're a… holocaust victim," I put together.
"Holocaust… you mean the shoah?" she asked.
"Is that another word for the… you know the things the Nazis did to the Jewish population?"
She nodded.
It showed how little she had interacted with the outside world since whenever she got out of that situation. It was pretty standard and common knowledge to know the gist of what the Nazis did during the holocaust. Including the fact they performed inhumane experiments on people.
"So the Nazis made you a vampire?"
She nodded. "They made me drink another person's blood and it made me very sick and when the symptoms settled down, I was still sick, but in a different way."
I looked down at the flaming men down in the amphitheater, now directly beneath us. "I'm sorry you had to live through that."
She was quiet for a long moment. "It was a long time ago. They kept us and treated us a bit better than the others. We were a success and they wanted to keep us alive so they… fed us blood and normal food and water. When we had a chance, we escaped into the general population and hid there until we were freed. I think all the other cobaye like us were killed." There was another pause. "Demetrius found us shortly after and he taught us what we needed to know." She shifted uneasily. "We didn't understand what had happened to us until then. Only that we were sick and getting weaker. He fed us blood and explained it all."
"And you've had to drink blood ever since," I filled in.
She nodded. "We owe Demetrius a lot," she said.
I made sure to hug her a bit closer now that I understood how much and how long she had suffered.
We stayed together like that for a little while, me holding her as we looked down at the park below. In front of us, Elias shouted "HEY HOT STUFF," to one of the flaming people down in the theater. Christian then rocked their carriage trying to shut him up.
Scarlet gave me a small, still shy smile. "I really like you," she said. "And I like this little life I could have here, and I don't want to leave but it's more important to me that you're safe and not in trouble with the polizei because of me."
I pet her soothingly. "I know, but I want you to be happy. If that means I need to make some sacrifices, I will." I wondered a bit if maybe I could become a vampire myself and go with her. But that would be crazy and unfair to Mike who didn't need to lose another family member. And I'd miss everyone I'd leave behind too.
Instead I'd have to make do with what little time I had left with her. I kept her in my arms for the rest of the chair lift and took in her smell and the color of her eyes when she gazed up at me and all of the fine details of her face and hands. She was so underweight when we'd first met, and she was still skinny now, but there was life to her. Her hands rested on my cheeks lovingly as she pulled me close for a long kiss. It was sweet. Her lips were soft and she whispered sweet things to me while I tried to find words to return the affection.
The others gave us space even after the chair lift was over and we were back in the throngs of people. Christian and Elias seemed content to be in their own world while we held hands and dreamily followed them to meet up with Sierra and Lee, who took one glance at us and opted not to disrupt the quiet calm we had going for us. Scarlet kept next to me for the rest of the night. She was happy.
As soon as we got home, she fell asleep in my arms and I held her close. She was what mattered to me now and I was going to find a way to make this work. I didn’t know what it might entail, if I’d have to give up my humanity to do it or if I’d have to leave home or change my entire life plan, but I was going to do something so we could stay together. One way or another.