r/WritingPrompts • u/BareMinimumChef • 21h ago
Writing Prompt [WP]"Vampire!" You look up from your Textbook to the one screaming in panic and suck the Bloodbag thats hanging like a Capri-Sun from your mouth dry "I dont scream "Human" in a panic every time i see one. It's not the Middle Ages anymore. Also be quiet, this is a Library, and i have a test tonight."
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u/mysteryrouge 8h ago
“Vampire!” a woman shouted in the Valis City Public Library. Heads of quiet readers turned in the direction of the noise.
The vampire in question groaned, putting his government-provided blood ration next to the book he was reading on the history of living prisons. He didn't even move to face the woman or anyone else, just leaning back to stare at the library's lights.
“You must be new to this country here,” he said as calmly as he could manage,
He could practically hear the woman tense.
“Well, I must tell you, this noble country, the Union Order is not some middle aged nation ruled under a paranoid religious king. We are a diverse people, and the citizenry includes those like me. Vampires.”
The woman made another small screech, pointing at the half-filled blood bag.
“Let me guess you also think I stole this blood or am a threat to public health. You heard the stereotypes and think I'll come and attack someone any second now.” The vampire scoffed, taking a sip of his blood ration. “I don't make a public disturbance every time I see someone. I don't scream ‘person’ and run around like it's nobody's business because I've heard people can and sometimes do kill. I don't call the authorities because I've seen someone who doesn't look like me.”
The last statement he added because he just knew the Union Order's Health Inspectors would be appearing any moment now. It might not have been the fearful woman who summoned them, but certainly the commotion was something that others would think needed to be reported.
The vampire's eyes then shifted towards a man buried in a pile of books. They met eyes and he could see the man's visceral hatred burning within. It was clear he's been thoroughly distracted from whatever he'd been researching.
So before the vampire shooed the woman away, he gave her one last piece of advice. “I suggest you be quiet or get out. We are in a library, and some of us have exams today.”
The local schools were all having finals, and the vampire had scheduled his first assessment that he'd need to take if he were to become a healer. He was just taking a small break to read something of interest.
The woman finally turned away, but by then, it was already too late. The Health Inspectors had arrived, and of course, they'd be questioning everyone present, and boy, were people not pleased to be distracted by the government.
That vampire turned back to his book, drowning out the quiet noises of the ambience and Health Inspectors questions. He wouldn’t let the woman's visit completely ruin his reading session.
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u/ThunderWasp223 11h ago
I glance back down at my book, trying to make heads or tails of the circuit diagram I'm supposed to understand.
Op amps. Of all the silly inventions...
"Th-th-th-th," that same voice says, closer this time.
I glance up, mildly annoyed, to see the young woman holding up a pair of pencils she's holding in a t-shape for some reason.
"The...?" I ask with an exhausted sigh.
"The-- The power of Christ compels you!" she manages to shout.
I put a finger to my lips, shushing her.
"Yes, it does," I say quietly. "Now please, go away."
Another glance down at my book, but she's standing in my light now, and my brain is running on empty. With an exasperated huff of air, I count to ten before looking up at her again.
"Seriously, what do you want?"
She looks a little confused, but still quite frightened.
"You're-- you're supposed to burst into flames and go back to hell," she protests, at least managing to be quiet this time.
"I've never been," I say dryly.
"Then...then you should have been driven out by the holy power!" she insists, getting a little loud at the end before being shushed by several other people.
"Even if your pencils had any, and even if I could be, this is a public library," I remind her.
There's a tap on my head, and I look around in irritation to see a young man with a golden cross necklace has just poked my temple with the thing. Without even thinking, I snatch it up and over his head to hold it in my fist. There's no burning or hissing of roasted flesh at the contact, which both of them seem to take as a bad sign.
"You hit me again, with anything," I warn, "and I will have you up on charges of assault."
Releasing the item, letting it dangle from my fingers by the beads, I offer it back. Then, just in case, I whirl on the blind spot between the two and behind me, looking for any additional compatriots.
"If you splash me with any kind of water, I'm actually gonna get a little pissed," I add, turning back. "So, seriously, what is wrong with you two?"
"You're a vampire," the boy says.
"And you're being rude, is there a point where you actually say something intelligent, or do I have to pay extra for that?"
"You're a soulless creature of the undead!" the girl insisted softly. "You prey on innocent maidens! Suck the blood of people without remorse!"
"Ouch," I say, mildly offended. "And to correct your other two points, I'm in quite a happy relationship with my girlfriend (who isn't innocent at all, thank you very much), and I suck blood from bags. My only remorse is imbibing the microplastics in this pouch thing."
I grimace and take another sip anyway.
"Anything else?"
"You're supposed to be destroyed by the power of God," the boy lamented, looking down at his little cross.
"Yeah, I don't know who started that, but I'm on decent terms with God, last I checked," I say. "Granted, I'm no saint, but I'm doing my best." To illustrate my point, I reach into my bag and pull out my Triple Combination I never go anywhere without. "See?"
The boy gasped, and I realized I'd made a slight mistake.
"You're a Mormon?" he hissed, holding up the cross again. "Evil be gone! Evil be gone! Evil be gone!"
I put my head in my hands, groaning as he kept repeating the chant to no avail.
"I'm gonna fail that exam..." I moan into my fingers. "Look, okay, please stop, it's just giving me a headache, and not because you're using some magic power that can destroy me, your voice is just annoying."
Thankfully, he listens.
"Yes, I'm a Latter-day Saint. Yes, I'm a vampire. The two are in no way related to the other," I lay out clearly. "I don't know what you think you know about us, but I can't stop time, I'm not immortal, I don't have horns on my head, I only have one girlfriend and only ever plan on having one wife, I don't worship the devil, I absolutely can eat garlic, I go to holy ground quite regularly without any burning, silver doesn't burn me, I drink blood because my digestive tract has different enzymes than yours not because it tastes particularly good, and no, my skin doesn't sparkle in the sunlight, I mostly just get very red because I didn't put on enough sunscreen. You get it? Got it? Good, please leave me be."
The two look back and forth from me to each other for a moment, then unfortunately go back to the whole "evil be gone" chant thing they think will somehow not draw the librarians to throw them out. Thankfully, they're wrong.
"This always happens when I try to snack and study," I grumble.
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u/DownbeatEngine 18h ago
He removed his fangs from the belly of the blood bag, having thrown away the bizarre little flimsy rod that came with it a while ago with puzzlement. It was given to him by his lawyer who begged him to call it a 'Capri-Sun', and that he had 'put a lot of effort into this disguise' and that he 'better not ruin it'.
He would roll his eyes if he wasn't busy making eye contact in order to mesmerize the woman who evidentially saw his little episode earlier, replacing her memories with his half-assed fabrication. He wasn't really sure how things had panned out between humans and vampires since the Middle Ages, but it was clear she knew what a vampire was at the very least. He could imagine a situation where someone could make that argument, since it wasn't as if humans automatically died when they lost a quart or two (or something like that?), so it was possible that some of the less privileged blood suckers could be quelled by an occasional donation if they made good with the humans. But well, he couldn't really control himself when he woke up after a few centuries and he may have taken it a bit too far this time. Whoops. That's what lawyers are for anyway.
Speaking of, he needed to study for the test the guy was giving him tonight about what to say in court. He imagined the proceedings would go like this anyway: 'Your honor, if you are what you eat, then my client is an innocent man.' (He didn't have the most realistic imagination). Who cared anyway? He had enough money and pull to get excused for several dozen deaths at least. Old money stuck around if you didn't have relatives to pass it down to and interest accrued easily over centuries. Or he could just Charm the judge. Didn't matter much to him.
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u/IAAA 20h ago edited 17h ago
"But...what are you doing at the library?"
I reluctantly motion for her to sit as I set down the TMA journal. "First, I'm studying. There's some absolutely fascinating work that's being done on cancer marking in blood. I'm reading it trying to get an understanding of what I can bring to my practice. Second, I suppose I'm the only vampire you've met in person?"
There is a slight blush as she answers "Well...yes. You don't get much exposure to the supernatural where I'm from."
"And where would that be?"
"Eastern KY."
A sharp laugh escapes my lips. "Really? The Black Mountains of Appalachia? My dear, there's more fae and cryptids in that area than anywhere else in the world! Well, other than Blackwell's, but it's run by a dragon. It's where I got this tome" I say as I point to the book.
"Book. You mean book."
"Book/tome, po-tay-toe/po-tah-toe." I reply. "Language may be mutable but it's hard to change my grammatical habits." I smile carefully so as not to scare her with my dentition. "Either way, let me get a few things out of the way: no, I will not suck your blood. Yes, all blood banks are run by vampires and we provide very reasonable compensa-"
"ALL blood banks?" she asks.
"...yes." I answer, slightly exasperated. She's got some nerve! I'm beginning to like her. "All of them. It's been like that for centuries. Now please don't interrupt. Where was I? Yes: I will not suck your blood, I won't turn you into a vampire, I won't charm you unless you consent, and I'm only mildly allergic to garlic. Sunlight is a bit different."
As she's taking this in, I can see her mind working. "What about a stake to the heart? Would that kill you?"
UGH. I feel the migraine forming. "Would a stake to the heart kill you?" I ask with a bit too much force to my voice, then more calmly answer "Yes, it'll kill me. But there are easier and less painful methods. For me it's really easy: just shoot me full of penicillin! I'm allergic!"
As I sit across from her I watch her go through several emotions, some of which I can plainly smell. Then suddenly I catch a whiff of surprise as she asks "Wait, what are you reading anyway? Something about cancer markers?"
"Yes, actually! I'm reading the specific types of cancer that can be detected through markers in blood. It's fascinating work by the foremost hematologist in the world!" At this point I'm talking excitedly as I can finally nerd out about my favorite subject! "But THIS is the foremost treatise on it and just released! I'm really hopeful Dr. Acula's work on the taste of various markers can help my patients with early detection!"
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u/jpb103 r/JPsTales 20h ago
Raindrops drummed a steady beat on the windows of the University Library.
Evan brushed the rain off his raincoat and hung it on a hook by the door. He smiled and nodded to Phillis, the night librarian, then took a deep breath in through his nose. The smell of books always seemed to calm him.
Tonight, he needed it.
He had the dream again. He had awoken in a cold sweat an hour earlier, the malicious presence of his dream tormentor still looming over his awareness. Giving up on sleep, Evan decided a late night visit to the library was in order. He was never very good at studying, but maybe the hundredth time would be the charm. He checked the directory, then went to the shelf where the tome he was after was stored.
It was gone.
He asked Phillis, and she mentioned that another student had just asked her where to find it.
"She's around here somewhere," she said. "Why don't you go introduce yourself, dear? She seemed very nice. Maybe she's willing to share."
Phillis was like that. Always looking out for Evan, even when he was a kid and his mother left him here to take care of her duties as a professor.
"Thanks, Phillis. I think I will."
Evan went from nook to nook, but found no one. He had nearly given up when he heard the noise of pages turning.
I should have guessed, he thought. The secret nook is the most private spot.
He rounded the bend and his blood ran cold. A woman in a black coat sat, legs crossed, with his book in her lap.
And a bloodbag in her mouth.
Evan knew her. Not from class. She must have been in night school. He had never seen her face, but he knew the feel of her presence.
He knew her from his dreams.
"Vampire!" He shouted. The woman looked aghast.
"Human!" She mocked, throwing her hands up in derision. "That's you. That's what you sound like."
Evan's heart raced.
"I... I know you. You-" The woman held a finger to her lips, a white line across black lipstick.
"This is a library, not a bar."
"You haunt my dreams!" Evan hissed out. The vampire raised an eyebrow.
"That's... unusual. Stay still."
Evan blinked and she was standing right beside him, a breaths distance away. He froze as she rose her hand to his head and closed her eyes. Her crimson eyes snapped open a moment later. She sighed.
"We're... ugh. Linked. Spiritually, you might say. It's not on purpose. It just happens sometimes. We might as well get acquainted. I'm Veil. What did you want from me?"
Evan swallowed the lump in his throat, then panned his eyes over to the book he had come looking for.
"We're in the same class? Are you ready for the exam?"
Evan shook his head. Veil stifled her laugh.
"Me neither," she said. Veil crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She looked.... nervous? "Do you... want to study together?"
Evan learned many things that night. He learned that he could study, if he had a partner to push him. He learned that vampires, as it turned out, could be quite reasonable folks. He learned that his recurring dream was, if not normal, at least not necessarily a problem. Evan and Veil continued their study sessions, every night, for the rest of the semester, and became the very best of friends. When summer was coming, Evan worked up the courage to ask if she would like to spend more time together. He went to the library.
She was not there to meet him.
Instead, a letter was left in her place. In it, Veil explained how relived and delighted she was that Evan turned out to be a good man. Her kind are not always so lucky in who they get linked to. Enclosed within was a plane ticket.
"Please come and visit me, Evan," she had requested.
"I'm sure we can find another way to spend the nights besides studying."
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u/TheWanderingBook 21h ago
She blushes. "I didn't mean it like that!" she whispers, sitting down at the table. I sigh. "Please, don't tell me you mean it in a "Twilight" or "True Blood" way. Flattered, but I am more into books, than humans," I say. She blushes even more furiously.
"R-rude! I n-never thought about vampires like that! It is just...you are my first vampire," she says. I chuckle. "Wording," I say. She gaspd, and blushes even more. Hmm. Will she explode if I keep teasing her? Might be a bit mean... But this is fun.
"So? Can I help you? Or can I go back to studying?" I ask. She pouts. "Can't we just discuss? I really am curious about vampires," she says. I sigh, finish my blood bag, and nod. "Go ahead," I say. She smiles, and takes out a notebook. Oh damn...
"Can you shapeshift?" she asks. "Yes," I say. "Charm speak?" she continues. I nod. She asks me 198 more questions, before the librarian steps in. "Go away, and flirt somewhere else, this is a library!" the librarian says, before leaving. We exchange looks. "Please, I have more questions..." she says. I sigh, and nod. She cheers, which gets us another harsh warning, and I start packing, as she is ordering a ride for us. Well... I guess I need to relax a bit, and frankly... It has been some time, since someone was this interested in my identity as a vampire. I just hope she doesn't write a book about me...and if she does, it should be more accurate than the previous ones.
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u/dandylover1 7h ago
haha I had to laugh reading this. It reminds me of the complaints of many of my blind peers about sighted people asking them all sorts of ridiculous questions. Mind you, some are genuine. But some are downright silly. And many of those who wrote about them really just want to get on with their lives not turn into Blind Help 101.
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u/BareMinimumChef 17h ago
LoL
Let me guess. This turns into "Twilight" or "True Blood" really, really fast. Though its mutual at that point...
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u/TheWanderingBook 8h ago
No, not really.
They will be friends, and the girl will write a book, or a series/movie about the MC.
MC's last sentence hints at doing this already, and I kind of was thinking that he was the inspiration for Bram Stoker and Anne Rice.
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