Your Own Human

by Arizona Tape

  “Errrggh?” I spluttered out, not believing my eyes. I thought finding and seeing all the humans would be the shock of the millenium, that that would excite me the most, but I was wrong. After the initial shock, I had to admit they were very vampire-like. When my brain wandered off, I didn’t even notice I was in the company of humans anymore. They were as wrapped up in their own little bubble as any vampire I knew. I feared they would notice me, but I was gravely mistaken. Nobody even gave me a second look. They were all too wrapped up in their own little lives. They resembled us more than I could’ve imagined. But this...

  “Pretty extraordinary, no?”

  “I… This… Fuck. Wow?” I stuttered, falling over my words. In front of me was a enormous fenced area. “Are those—”

  “Yup.”

  “I never even imagined that—”

  “That they would’ve also survived? Yeah, I thought so.”

  “Can we go closer?”

  “Of course.”

  We reached the enclosure and my I felt my heart in my throat, making it hard to breathe.

  “Alrighty,” Heather grinned, placing her hand and her foot on the fence, getting ready to climb over. Quickly, I grabbed her arm in concern.

  “Hold on! Are you sure you should climb over? Isn’t it dangerous?” I asked, not fearing for my safety, but for hers.

  “Nope, not at all. Hop over,” she smiled confidently. I gave her a crooked smile, liking and disliking how comfortable she was in her own world. It was nice she was so sure, but it stung more than I liked to admit. It meant she felt out of control in my world. Maybe she dealt with it by falling for me. The words ‘Stockholm syndrome’ terrified me more than they should’ve, but somewhere, I feared it was the reason why Heather got attracted to me.

  “Ade?” Her sweet voice interrupted my train of thought.

  “Umm… Yes?”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  I frowned. “How did you know?”

  “You have that worried look in your eyes, the one you always get when you’re thinking about something real hard.”

  “It’s not important,” I waved away, climbing on and over the fence. “Let’s go!” I shouted cheerfully, which earned me a concerned look from Heather. I knew she was just letting it slide for my sake, but that she would definitely come back to it.

  “Ooookay…” she muttered, swinging herself over the fence as well and walking into the green meadow. Excited, I bounced behind her, squealing like a happy little kid. Heather turned around, placed her fingers on her lips, and shushed me.

  “Shhhh… You’ll scare them away.”

  I bit my lip and contained my excitement, but it was really hard to stop myself from running around.

  “Watch,” she whispered, taking a couple of steps. She pushed her hand in her pocket and dug something out. I held my breath when the horse trotted towards her, its head bobbing up and down. He sniffed her hand, his nostrils vibrating when he blew out a long breath and his ears turning when Heather whispered. “Steady, boy”.

  He pushed his snout in her hand, his long tongue wrapping around the cube, which he then crunchily ate.

  “Come pet him,” she grinned, motioning me to come closer.

  I approached her slowly, not wanting to scare the horse off. I had no idea how much power had, and even though I was pretty sure I was stronger, I wasn’t taking any chances. Especially not with Heather standing so close to the animal.

  I almost laughed at myself, the sentence sounding so ridiculous in my head. Concerned about a human in the presence of an animal. It was a sentence that could’ve only been said by a crazy person.

  Hey, that was an option I hadn’t visited yet. Maybe Heather didn’t exist, but was I so coo-coo, I made the whole thing up.

  Heather petted the snout of the horse, who seemed to quite enjoy it and I smiled. If I made this all up, I hoped I would never go sane again. This was far better than any reality out there.

  She turned towards me and dug a little cube out of her pocket. “Here.”

  I looked at her, one eyebrow pulled up. “I’m not feeding that dice to that horse. It’s a horse, right?” I asked, hoping I assumed right. After all, I only saw them in books.

  “It’s a horse, yes. And come on, feeding them is nice.”

  “He looks pretty intimidating,” I muttered.

  The horse shook his head, his ears flapping loudly against the sides of his head as he did. He shifted his body, placing his legs wider away from each other and with a loudness I hadn’t expected, he peed. The hard stream splattered on the ground as his tongue sought out one of his nostrils to eat some snot.

  “Yes. He’s quite scary,” Heather sarcastically said.

  “Unfortunate timing,” I blew out, looking at the peeing animal that was digging with his tongue in his own nose. “Alright, give me the dice.”

  “It’s not a die, it’s a sugar cube.”

  “It’s sugar?” I exclaimed, a little too loudly. Mister horse looked up at me and I could swear he tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

  “Yes, and keep your voice down. They don’t like loud noises, it startles them.”

  “Sorry. Just surprised. This is sugar? Like actual sugar?”

  “Yes. Why are you so surprised by that?”

  “Because we have no organic products left?”

  “Yes… I always wondered if that was true when I read about it, but seeing your world, I get it. The only thing alive on your world are the vampires and the big tree, that partially is still standing cause we’re feeding its roots the needed nutrients.”

  “Ohh… You do?”

  “Yes, we provide it with man-made proteins and vitamins, so it’ll create organic ones on its own.”

  “That explains why the tree is still standing after all these years. I always assumed it was cause it had evolved into a fully independent, self-sustaining life form.”

  “Partially true.”

  “So, you have sugar here. And horses. What else did you bring from the upper world?”

  Heather tilted her head. “Almost everything. I think. I mean, that’s what I got from the books we have down here.”

  My eyes widened. “You have a library too?”

  “Well, not as grand as the one you own, but it has the whole human history?”

  “Eeeep,” I shrieked, startling both myself and her with this very weird sound. Maybe I’d find the missing link down here of the separation between our two races.

  “I’ll take you there later, if you like?”

  “Yes. Please.”

  “But for now, you want to feed the horse?”

  “Yes,” I answered, taking the white cube from her. I rolled it between my fingers and inspected. It was much grainier and harder than I expected. I presented it to the horse, but Heather pulled my arm down when the horse’s head came in. “What?”

  “Flat hand, otherwise it’ll bite you,” she explained, flattening her hand.

  “Oh. Okay.”

  I let the cube roll back into the palm of my hand and stretched it out. The horse sniffled and cautiously swooped in. His slimey and much rougher than anticipated tongue slurped over my hand, picking up the little sugar cube.

  “Eww.” I waved my hand in the air, grossed out. I bowed down to the grass and wiped the saliva off, pulling up my nose. “Horses are blergh.”

  “No they aren’t. They’re nice.” Heather’s words hadn’t even fully left her mouth, when the horse loudly and abruptly sneezed. He shook his head, snot flying out of his nose as it sprayed over the human girl.

  “Eeewwwwwww,” she exclaimed, far louder than me.

  “Hahahaha, horses are, hahahahaha, nice?” my laugh trumpeted over the meadow. “Ooh, the irony. Hahahaha,”

  “Egghh,” Heather bowed down and wiped the snot on the grass, just like I did before. “I’m all covered in snot. I don’t like this. Blaargh.”

  “Do you need to wash up? Also, I wouldn’t mind washing my hands caus
e I can still feel the horse’s tongue. Eww.”

  “Yeah, there’s a trough by the barn that collects fresh water. We can rinse our hands there,” Heather said, pointing to the big looking building up on the hill.

  The horse tilted his head, watching as we walked away. He shook his head again and grazed a little bit more.

  There was a crispness under my shoes I didn’t recognise. I could smell so many different, unidentifiable things. The leaves and the long grass bent under a gush of wind, which got me wondering.

  “Where does the wind come from?” I inquired, looking around to spot vents or holes. We were far down under the surface of the earth. Surely, there couldn’t be a breeze here?

  “To your left, can you see the big green part? That’s our man-made forest, and behind the forest, there is a big windmill that stimulates the air, making it circulate, so the pollen can spread. Oh, and it also adds more oxygen into the air, because the air we get from the upper-earth, is pretty scarce.”

  “Oh, neat.”

  “Yes. And every week, we change the setting a little bit. For example, right now, it’s supposed to be spring, so the settings are quite low, giving a standard gentle breeze.”

  “That’s really nice.”

  “Yes.”

  We walked some more and I enjoyed the breeze playing with my hair and the scent of the grass. I inhaled deeply and felt my lungs expand. A strange tingle played at the back of my head as a rush of energy flew through my veins. I took another deep breath and for the first time since I was down here, I noticed how my limbs weren’t as heavy. Not just that, my head was clearer than it’d ever been before.

  I didn’t have much more time to think as we reached the top of the hill and I could smell fresh water. A little trickle of water fell into a big tray. There was even a little tube running down with a faucet at the end. How quaint.

  “Wait here,” she smiled, skipping into the open barn and returning with a bucket. She placed it under the tray and filled it half way up with clean water. Her muscles tensed under her shirt as she moved the bucket between us. She bent down to wash her hands and whipped her hair back so it wouldn’t get wet.

  “Hang on, let me help you,” I offered, quickly washing my hands so I could hold her hair back.

  “Oh, thanks,” she smiled, bowing further down over the bucket so she could wash her face. “I’m done.” She shifted her body and stood back up. I released her hair, watching it cascade down her back. A waterfall of golden blond hair.

  She dried off her hands on her shirt, and wiped the water droplets off her face. She swung her head back, making a stray drop roll down on her cheek. Before she could even wipe it away, I cupped her cheek, wiping the little drip away. A smile appeared and she briefly rested against the palm of my hand.

  I couldn’t help but stare at her, how beautiful she looked like that. Her blonde hair wavy in the springy breeze, the pinkness of her lips, the little freckles scattered over her face, her thick eyelashes, her cute nose. She opened her eyes to look at me and it stunned me right in my tracks. The dark blue ocean in her eyes, the flecks of silver like stars in a dark night sky. Strands of gold decorating her eyes like little christmas decorations.

  She was so awfully close, a softness visible in her eyes. One I hadn’t seen in frankly, anyone. I parted my lips slightly and bowed forward, watching her carefully. She stared back, and just when my breath warmed her bottom lip, she closed her eyes. I swallowed a lump in my throat and pressed my lips on hers, sealing in our breaths, making her lips curl up in a smile.

  One of my hands found her waist and I pulled her closer. I placed my other hand on her nape, relishing in the soft feel under my palm. For a moment we disconnected for a breath of air and to gaze into each others eyes again, but then our lips met again in a kiss.

  I nibbled on her bottom lip, hoping she’d grant me access, but she pulled away, leaving me a little lost.

  I’d been alive for so long, yet I was still terrible at reading people and getting my shit together. I wished I had it all figured out by now, but I was barely an adult. I didn’t have a clue on how to judge if someone was into me. I just coughed and awkwardly scratched my back.

  “I… Ehmm… I think we should talk?”

  Chapter 6: Talk

  Oh oh… Here came the talk. Fuck. I had enough previous relations end with the ‘talk’. I knew how this went.

  I really like you, but I think we’re going too fast. I think we’re not that good of a match. I think it’s best if we take a step back, maybe see some other people for a while.

  Like it was less painful that I could start seeing other people?

  I really like you, but I just don’t feel like I’m in love with you. I think it’s better if we’re just friends.

  Yes, I surely want to stay friends with you, after you crush my heart.

  I really like you, but…

  That was always how it went.

  “Oh… Err… Okay. Yes, sounds good. Talk. Hmmhmm… Yes,” I stammered, defeat already settling in. I hated the talk.

  “I really like you,” she started, making my heart sink. There went my shot with Heather.

  “But?” I said, awaiting the dreaded conversation.

  “But… Ehmm… Well.”

  “Fuck,” I gasped.

  “What?”

  “There really is a but.”

  “Yeah… I just don’t know, ehmm… Well… Where this is going.”

  “Oh?”

  “I… Eh.” Heather stared at the ground, her cheeks red. She reminded me of the shy human I first met. She stuttered, not daring to look me in the eye. She looked exactly the way I felt, which for some odd reason, calmed me down.

  Gently, I took her hands in mine. “Want to sit down?” I proposed. The grass tickled my legs in a weird and unusual sensation I wasn’t used too. I let my hands glide over it, examining it, surprised by how soft and itchy it was.

  “That’s far more ticklish than I thought it’d be,” I muttered, plucking one little blade of grass and smelling it. “Ohh, that’s a nice smell.”

  “Yes.”

  “So, what do you want to talk about?” I brought the issue back up. I needed to know what Heather felt, or not felt, for me.

  “Well… Ehmm… I like you.”

  I held a grin back. “Yes, I know you like me.”

  “No. Yes. I mean. Well… Like like you.”

  “But?”

  “But, I just, don’t know if you… Feel the same?”

  “Oh,” I sighed, scratching the back of my head in confusion. Heather didn’t know how I felt? How was that possible? I thought it was obvious and clear that I was into her.

  “Oh?”

  “You don’t know how I feel?”

  “No, you’re confusing.”

  “Huh? I thought I was as subtle as a door.”

  “As a door?” Heather frowned.

  “Yes?”

  “What’s so subtle about a door?”

  “Nothing, that’s the point, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose… That’s so beside the point!”

  I grinned sheepishly. I did stray from the original topic. But to be fair, there weren’t that many things you could use for a metaphor for subtle items. Oh well, at least it was technically correct.

  And then it hit me. The words I should’ve been concentrating on. Heather liked me. Heather. Liked. Me. Heather liked me! She liked me! Me!

  Giddiness spread through my insides, a grin tugging the corners of my mouth up.

  “You like like me?” I smiled, trying to pull the corners of my lips down, but the grin broke through on my face.

  “Don’t laugh.”

  “I’m not laughing.”

  “Yes you are, I can see it. It’s not funny.

  “It isn’t.”

  Heather’s mouth fell open. “So stop laughing!”

  “I’m smiling cause I like you too, silly,” I chuckled. She really did like me. How the hell I got Heather to like me,
I didn’t know. But she did. But the biggest mystery was probably how I fell in love with her. It’d been so long since I even let someone in, had thought about another person romantically. And here I was, gushing over a human that made my eyes sparkle and my tummy flutter.

  The look on Heather’s face changed. “Oh.”

  “Yes, that’s why I’m smiling.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “But… I’m human?”

  “Yes, and I’m vampire. So what? I’ve been interested in you from day one.”

  “Yes, but not romantically.”

  “True, but fairly fast. I don’t know… There was, is something about you. I mean, I did kiss you in the beginning, didn’t I?”

  “To be correct, I kissed you, remember.” Heather chuckled as she waggled her eyebrows.

  “Yeah, and after that, I’ve been watching you. You’re beautiful and I just… You… I like you… A lot.”

  “Why?”

  I snorted. “Because you’re smart. And funny. Witty. I like your blue eyes, a lot actually. They remind me of the ocean. The dark blue? It makes me calm. And sometimes they look like the night sky, filled with twinkling stars. It’s soothing…”

  “Oh…”

  “Yes. And there’s something else about you. I don’t know what, but it draws me in. The way you look at stuff and the way you walk. How you’re so casual, yet so sweet. I don’t know, I get tingles in my tummy when you touch me. And how at your age, you’re about as emotionally mature as I am. It’s fascinating. You’re fascinating.”

  “Oh.”

  That was the second ‘oh’. Maybe she wasn’t that into me and I made her feel awkward. Damn. I scratched the top of my head and chuckled nervously. “Yeah so… You like like me?”

  She shook her head in amusement. “I do, yes.”

  “So why do you like me?” I returned the question, trying to cover up my confession.

  “I don’t know… I just like the way you talk and how you’re so gentle with me. And you’re a calm person. I like how you have that calm vibe, it makes me feel less stressed.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Yes. And you make me feel safe too. Very safe actually. Not because you’re so very strong, but because you seem so protective over me. I’ve caught you watching me many times, checking over my shoulder to see if no one will run into me. And you touch my hip when you think I’m too close to the edge of your balcony. And when people talk to me, you step in front of me, shielding me.”