Today is my last day as a human. I'm in the bed I share with Irene. I don't know how I got to my apartment, but of course, I know Agnes took care of that. In fact, I know Agnes knows what's happening here right now. I now know her eyes are on me, even though it's not night and she can't walk freely around the city. I don't know how she does it. Her vampire body isn't here, as it's daytime and that's impossible. But somehow, I know she can be wherever she wants, observing and interfering in whoever's life she chooses. I suppose I'll figure out how she does it later, once I'm reborn and become a creature of the night. Soon enough, I'll have an eternity to figure out all the great powers a vampire has.
God damn, I feel awful. I feel like a giant stomped on me and then kicked me into a wall with a monstrous force. Damn, I am so, so sick. A moment ago, Irene woke me up with shakes, shakes that made me scream in pain. She didn't know how the hell I got back to the house either. She told me she didn't remember feeling my body collapse onto the bed. She said she had never slept so deeply in her life. Irene told me she woke up with that smile, the kind that shows you've had a pleasant dream, but that smile faded when she saw me beside her. I was there, completely wrecked. Irene said to me: "Holy shit, you look like someone with a seriously bad hangover and who's also been stabbed in the stomach. No, worse, you look like a junkie going through withdrawal and just had his spine broken." I smiled, and my whole face hurt, then, aching, I said: "You sure know how to make good analogies, my little angel."
Irene asked me what the hell was going on, and I told her the whole truth, in detail. I told her I was going to turn into a vampire very soon, maybe as soon as night fell. At first, Irene looked at me completely confused and skeptical, like I had said the biggest nonsense anyone could say without being drunk, but when I showed her the marks of Agnes' fangs on my neck, her face changed in the blink of an eye. She stopped looking at me like I was a rotten madman, the kind who's fully convinced they've been abducted by aliens because they had a dream after binge-watching three episodes of The X-Files. I made sure to clarify to Irene that I didn't need to lie to her. What did I gain by doing that? I told her: "You know well that I only say and do things if I'm going to gain something of value from it. And come on, if this were a lie, I'd only end up in a madhouse. And, hell, there's nothing of value in that place, only people who are useless in this world." At that moment, Irene started crying. And here we are, me lying in bed, and her sitting in front of me, crying.
"I don't want things to change," she says. "I want everything to stay the same. You writing your book, me studying, and us having great sex together, and sure, once or twice a week, going to the estate to kill the people we hate so much."
I try to sit up to hug her and offer comfort as she cries, but, damn it, I can't. I'm completely wiped out. I can't even lift my head a little. I can barely speak. I say:
"Nothing is going to change, pretty girl. I promise."
"How can you tell me nothing's going to change, Zico? You're going to turn into a damn vampire. If that's not a huge change in our story, then tell me, what the hell is?"
"Yeah, it's a huge change and all that, but I've already planned what we'll do to stay together without this affecting our lives. Look, when I become a vampire, I'm going to turn you into a vampire too."
Suddenly, Irene's tears stop like someone hit a button to make it happen. Irene looks at me, surprised. She looks at me with that happiness that starts to bloom in someone who's just learned they've won the lottery and still has to process it. Irene, with a silly tone that makes her look like an innocent peasant who's just discovered she's actually a princess, says to me:
"A vampire! Can I also be a vampire? Are you serious?"
"Of course, babe. And you know my word is stronger than oak. Tell me when I've lied to you. You can't because I've never done it. And come on, take this for granted. You'll be a vampire."
"Oh, I love the idea. I love it, I love it. Jesus, vampires are the best of the best. Vampires are the princes of the supernatural world. Well, that's what I've read in novels. But hey, most of all, vampires are gorgeous. Yes, I want to be a vampire."
Irene smiles from ear to ear. She wipes her tears with both hands. She keeps smiling and then throws herself at me and hugs me, and I grunt in pain because I feel like she's going to break all my bones. Irene pulls away from me and says:
"Oh, sorry, sorry."
"It's okay. But don't hug me again. Let's wait until night. Once I'm reborn, we can celebrate a bit, and then, of course, I'll turn you into a vampire."
"God, the same thing's going to happen to me, right? I can already tell tomorrow I'll be the one looking like complete crap."
"If you've figured that out, I think you're quite the Sherlock Holmes."
"You're an idiot. I'm just excited. But look, if I have to suffer like you to then become a dazzling vampire, I'll endure whatever's necessary. I, for the sake of being more beautiful, am willing to do anything."
"I know, pretty girl. I know."
"Hey, Zico."
"What?"
Irene looks at me intently and starts crying again. I say:
"What's going on?"
"I love you," she replies. "I love you so much."