Free Lengths For Love by CS Patra

That’s the only reason you’re able to talk to me.”
    “So that’s true about everyone here?”
    “Yes. Some of the newer members have a hard time adjusting in the beginning, but they manage. Mr. Augustin and his family make sure they get used to it,” she said. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I rarely leave this place except to hunt bunnies at night. I can’t remember the last time I strolled into town and had fun.”
    The moment she said that, I felt terrible. She hadn’t been able to leave. I had no idea what rules this guy laid, out but I didn’t want Alexis as a part of it. “Not even Jenny is able to leave?”
    “Not even Jenny can go anywhere she pleases. She’s home schooled and will be until she’s able to go to college. Even still, we don’t know if she will go to college. It’s rare to have a vampire as young as her in here. I feel bad that she got turned at such a young age.” She shrugged. “But once you’re turned, you can’t go back.”
    I was baffled by how nonchalant she was by this. “That doesn’t seem fair, though. She’s a young girl. She deserves to have some fun. Yeah, she might be undead, but that doesn’t mean she has to act like it. I swear, on the train, I had to check to make sure she was awake. The girl who took us to her favorite spot is not the same vampire I met on that train. This Jenny is the one I expected to see.”
    “That’s because the vampire on the train is the vampire that Vincent wants her to be. The vampire who took you to town was Jenny. Everyone has two sides to them. Which side you get to see depends on how you treat them.”
    “So I get Mr. Augustin’s full-of-himself side?” I asked. “I never asked him to treat me this way. I can’t remember saying anything to him that got him to be like that.”
    She chuckled. “Oh, he’s always been that way. The best thing to do is just nod and accept what he says. Disagree, but politely. Don’t rattle him in a way that will upset him. And you’ll be on his good side, too.”
    Great. I had come here to be a supportive boyfriend and instead I had to deal with the well-dressed ass that ran the house we lived in. But Kristine kept staring out the window to where Vince was standing. Even from a distance, I could see him smoking a cigarette and looking into the forest. There were couple of younger vampires running around him, though he didn’t seem to mind. Maybe I was looking too far into this. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
    “I still can’t see what’s so fascinating about all this,” I said. “Being a vampire. I mean, sure you’re undead, but it can’t be that great. I never got why Alexis wanted to be turned into one. No offense, but it seems like more trouble than it appears to be.”
    Kristine looked at me and I couldn’t tell if she was offended. “That’s because it is. I don’t understand why she is so fascinated with us. I went to see her in her room and all she could talk about was turning into a vampire. Wanting to be able to roam the night and sleep through the day and never deal with pain. I pity her. I really do. She cannot be going through anything short of hell. But this isn’t the solution.”
    “Yeah, try telling her that,” I grumbled, staring at Vince. He put out his cigarette and was now heading to the forest. “What’s in there?”
    “The forest? Oh, that’s where the stables are.”
    “Stables?”
    “Yeah, we’ve got quite a few horses there. Mr. Augustin loves riding them. Christian’s his favorite horse and he takes him out a lot. And sometimes,” she lowered her voice, “we have to drink their blood.”
    “You... You kill them?”
    “No, you are mistaken! We drink their blood, but not to kill them. It just stuns them for awhile, but they are fine afterward. We even drink from Christian, but don’t tell Mr. Augustin that. He hasn’t noticed anything yet.”
    “Oh. Well, my lips are sealed.” I pretended to zip them up and she chuckled.