A knock on the door roused Stacy from her cleaning frenzy and she went to answer it. She had no other family, no friends and wasn’t expecting anyone, so she was surprised to see the policeman standing there. She didn’t think he’d really show up, yet he had. Looking up at him, he was much taller than she was, she couldn’t keep the shock from showing.

“You actually showed up!” she repeated her thoughts aloud.

“Well, I said I would, so here I am. May I come in?” he asked, offering her the flowers in his hand and bottle of wine.

“Oh, erm, yes. Please do. May I take your coat for you?” The formality of her question sounded silly to her. Yet, she didn’t know the man; she didn’t even know his name!

“Ah, right, I forgot, we’ve not introduced ourselves, have we?” He knew her name, he’d caught it in her thoughts, but she didn’t know his. Walking into her home he turned back around to her.

“I’m John Andrews, at your service” he said with a rueful bow.

“Stacy Collins, pleased to meet you.” She held her hand out, expecting him to shake it. He did but his touch lingered, one of his fingers rubbing her palm. She felt a shiver of electricity in the trail of his finger, an awareness of another human being like she’d never felt before in her life.

Stacy had mostly put the events of last night out of her mind; another coping mechanism; but as the electricity flowed up her arm she remembered. Looking at him she couldn’t see any hint of the demon she’d seen there last night. Perhaps it was only a trick of the light? Pointing at a seat she waddled back to her own recliner and plopped down. There was nothing delicate about the way she moved, she thought to herself, feeling defiant about the weight still, but acknowledging that it was her own defensiveness that produced the thought. John hadn’t actually said anything.

“Do you want to order food now or do you want to wait? Or we could go out.” He’d like to get her out of the house if he could.

“No, people stare too much when I go out. What would you like to have? There are quite a few places that deliver now.” She handed him a list of menus she had in the pocket of her chair. She was determined that she was going to start eating better but she didn’t know how to cook anything healthy and the takeaway menus were for all unhealthy foods.

“Well, this place, it’s Italian, I know their menu, would you like me to order for us since you may not know it?” He’d heard her thoughts and almost let on, but he brushed it aside. She was so shocked at his words, that he thought he could get away with it.

“Oh, yes, that would be nice.” Not sure what she was going to end up with, Stacy moved through into the kitchen, getting her bottle opener out to pull the cork from the wine glass. She set plates on the table and silverware, looking at the glasses she’d set out for the wine. Should she have wine? She didn’t know this man and there was something very strange happening here. She’d only sip it.

“That’s the door, shall I get it?” John called through.

“Yes please, if you wouldn’t mind.” She walked in to hand him some money but he’d already paid the fellow and sent him on his way.

“Thank you” she said, looking up with a smile.

As she spread the food out, she saw a lot of vegetarian options, all healthy salads and fresh food. It looked incredibly edible. She directed John to a chair and took her own, taking a sip of wine. Taking a bite of one of the salads her eyes closed, her hand going to her mouth as the taste exploded.

“Oh my,” she said once she’d cleared the food, “that is delicious!”

“I hoped you’d like it. Takeaway doesn’t have to be unhealthy.” He ventured into dangerous waters, treading lightly, hoping not to offend but to inform.

“You’ll have to tell me what all of these are called. I love this!” She settled down to eating, watching as he ate his own. He seemed to enjoy his food as well so she didn’t feel like he was eating something special to keep her from feeling left out.

“Here try this one.” He used a spoon she’d placed beside his plate to hand her carrots coated with balsamic vinegar, with cilantro and fresh garlic. She hadn’t put any on her plate, unsure what it was.

Her eyes closed, again, actually enjoying the taste. Food had been her crutch for so long but nothing she’d eaten over the last few years had tasted like this.

“That is gorgeous!” she said, adding some to her own plate.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” He smiled, going back to his own food.

She watched him eating, wondering what the game was. What he wanted from her. He made her feel strange, almost happy, simply with his presence and that made her feel unsafe. People always wanted something from you, from her, she thought and usually the thing they wanted meant she’d end up hurt or broken. She hadn’t had an easy life, especially when she started getting benefits. People could be so cruel, not understanding that their cruelty only made it worse. She didn’t run out and become productive and happy just because they called her a fat bitch and told her to stop feeling sorry for herself and get a job. That didn’t work well at all.

Taking her hand across the table John looked at her, gazing into her brown eyes with his blue ones. “I don’t want anything you don’t want to give Stacy. I just want to be a friend. That’s all I ask for. I don’t have a lot of friends of my own; the hours I keep prevent it. Maybe we could be friends?”

“You could change your hours though. I’m stuck like this for a while. This is what my life is.” She gazed down at their hands, hers swollen from fluid, fat and the stress of activity that she wasn’t accustomed to. She found herself disgusting; she knew he had to as well. For a moment, as she ate and enjoyed the company, she’d forgotten what she looked like.

“Stacy, you have to stop worrying about what I think. You have to do what’s best for you. I’m here for you, not for what you look like. Besides, I’m far from perfect. Are you ready to hear the explanation for last night now, or would you like another glass of wine?”

“Is it that bad?” She asked, feeling trepidation tighten her throat.

“Well, it’s not your average tale, no. Whether it’s bad or not is up to you. But I want to be honest with you from the start, so you know what you’re getting into. You see, I have my own addictions, my own problems that make me an outcast.”

Taking a deep breath he looked at Stacy, staring at her neck, urging the feeling to make his fangs come out. Stacy watched, mesmerized and unable to look away as his fangs ejected from his gums. That was the only word she could think of to describe it, they ejected from his gums! The action scared her so much she almost broke the chair trying to scoot back.

“What the hell? What are those?” she screeched.

“Stacy, look in my eyes, I’m still John Andrews, do you hear me? Don’t run, please.” He pleaded with her.

“What are you?” She punctuated each word with a thump on the table.

“I’m a vampire.” He hung his head, waiting on the screams.

Instead Stacy started to laugh, deep in her belly. “A vampire? A vampire he says! Oh, okay, where’s the camera? More jokes on the fat chick, eh? This is some kind of trick, isn’t it? You aren’t even pale!”

“No, I use a self-tanner to hide my paleness. Here give me your hand.” She gave it to him and he put her finger in his mouth. “Feel that? They’re my gums. They’re real. Now feel this.”

He placed her hand over his chest, where his heart should be pumping blood. She felt nothing, only a coldness that she hadn’t noticed before. She clenched her hand in his shirt, stunned. She watched his chest but so no inhalations or exhalations. Only a stillness that was unnerving.

She looked into his eyes as they slowly started to turn black. He blinked and it was all gone, as though it had only been an illusion. Nothing showed through. She pushed his lips back open and felt along his gums. She could feel there a protrusion where his teeth had retracted back.

Stacy stared, speechless.

“Oh my...” and then she slumped in her chair. John caught her before she fell; his preternatural strength aiding him as he lifted her and took her to a sofa, depositing her there.

“Stacy,” he tapped her cheeks, seeing the flesh there ripple as he tapped her, “wake up, come on now. You’re panicking me. Wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered, a damsel in distress, but the one causing the distress was also the hero. What the hell, she thought, I am so messed up. I think I believe this stuff. Looking up at him she wondered... What else he could do?

“I can fly, I’ve over 500 years old, I was originally born in a part of the world now called Germany, I’m rich, there’s a ton of things I can tell you, if you just give me a chance.”

“You’re rich?” She asked, completely oblivious to him answer a question she’d never verbalized. “But you’re a copper.”

“I do that because I like giving back to the world. I have more money than I can use, but I have no friends to spend it on or with. I like helping others anyway. I’ve done a lot of bad in my life, I’m trying to pay that back now.”

“But you were eating food earlier.” Her tongue tripped over the words but she managed to get them out.

“I can eat normal food, get drunk, but I get no nourishment from it. It’s a habit. I can even breathe if I want to, I just choose not to. It’s an affectation to please humans and most don’t notice that I don’t breathe anyway.”

“Do you kill? To feed? Does it make more vampires when you do?”

“I used to kill when I fed, I had no control. I barely do now, but I’ve learned. And no, it doesn’t produce another vampire when I feed, it’s not a virus or bacteria that can be transmitted. It takes a special ceremony, a special process, to produce a vampire. None of this stuff about a bite and that’s it. I was made by a female in the 1500s that wanted a protégé, I had no family, no prospects. I agreed. She’s gone her way since and I’ve gone mine. I left the lifestyle surrounding it and I’ve tried to hide what I am, but I want to give back now. That’s why I’m here. I can sense something in you, a need, a calling that won’t leave me in peace. I need to be here for you.”

“I don’t need anyone. People only bring you pain.”

“I’m not people, Stacy. I’m a vampire, not human. Certainly not people, my dear.”

“That may be, but you want something. Whether you admit it or not, you want something from me. It’s what happens.”

“Stacy, how about we become friends first then worry about anything else that may come later? You’re ready to change your life; I’m ready to change mine. Let’s change each other’s lives? How about that?”

“What’s your addiction? Tell me that first.” She sat up on the sofa, not breathing well lying on her back.

“Blood. I have harmed several of my donors, the people that my maker sends to me to feed me. She set it up long ago, they still come. I’ve not killed anyone in 50 years but sometimes, it’s very hard to stop. I also can’t stop. By now I shouldn’t need to feed as often as I do. Maybe once a year, but I need it at least once a week still, sometimes several times a week. I shouldn’t still be dependent like that. I’m addicted to it.”

“Do you want to feed from me? Do you think I’d have more blood so you could feed for longer? Is that it?”

“No, I don’t want to feed from you. I want to only be your friend. I’d like to have conversations with you, help you and see you. That’s all. I don’t ask for anything more than that.”

“Alright, well, I guess we can give it a try. I have a late appointment with my doctor tomorrow but you can come back if you’d like. You can show me more healthy foods to eat. I’m going to discuss with the doctor how best to start losing weight. I think it’s time to come out of my shell.”

“I’ll be here for you, whatever you need, any time, day or night. Well, not so much day. I can come out but I have to cover up. It can be difficult in the summer but the rest of the time, I’m available. I don’t sleep ever, so feel free to call me as well.”

“Alright. I’d like that then. Thank you.”

They spent the rest of the evening watching quiz shows, her favourite kind of programs and laughing about how awfully the contestants performed on most of the shows. He thought she should go on one, but her look of “are you stupid” stopped that train of thought. He left her smiling and happy, even almost hopeful about the future. She didn’t feel so alone but she still held back, just a little, not quite prepared to give up her shell entirely yet.