Chapter Nine #2
“Yeah,” Karim said slowly. His eyes flickered to Luis curiously. “Neck or wrist, depending on preference.”
“Isn’t that… kind of intimate for a bar?”
“It can be,” Karim said. “There’s a nurse present though, and antiseptic is used before we bite them, so it’s pretty professional. It’s not like enjoying a glass of wine in your living room. The antiseptic always leaves a weird aftertaste.”
Luis nodded. “I hate antiseptic,” he admitted, “bad sense memories associated.”
“Yeah, wish we could do without,” Karim said.
“Why don’t they do it with a syringe?” Luis asked. “That would eliminate the aftertaste.”
“Well,” Karim leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table.
It made the dark button-up shirt strain over his arms. “Our saliva helps the wound heal, so direct contact is better for humans. And yeah, we could just lick it after a syringe use I guess, but medical equipment costs money, and most bars don’t want to shell out more for supplies.
The Blood Dispensary Permit already costs a fuckton.
It’s cheapest and easiest for all participants if we bite them. ”
“Oh, right,” Luis said.
Karim stared at him. “Do you not know how it works?”
“Not really,” Luis said, heat on his neck. “Sheltered, remember?”
Karim’s brows came together. “Right,” he said, but with a tone like he was concerned maybe Luis didn’t know anything.
That wasn’t far from the truth. “So, your saliva heals wounds?” Luis continued. He might as well if Karim was going to judge him anyway.
“It’s nothing miraculous,” Karim said after a beat.
“Like we can’t just lick a major wound and fix it, but it certainly does enough for small things.
There’s a bunch of papers on the science, something about the enzymes.
” He waved his hand. “A lot of vampires actually work with hospitals in the Fluid Exchange Program. You can exchange spit for human blood. I think they bottle it–the saliva–and sell it.”
Luis made a face and Karim laughed. “More than you wanted to know?” He teased.
“No, I–” And then a thought occurred to Luis. The crook of his arm was still aching from the blood draw earlier. It was a small wound. Literally a needle prick.
He wondered…
“What are you thinking about?” Karim asked. The question came softer, and Karim’s gaze on him was heavy.
What was his face doing? Butterflies swooped dangerously in Luis’s belly.
“Nothing,” Luis said quickly.
But Karim smiled, all fang, like he knew anyway. “You’ve got no poker face.”
Yeah, Luis was aware.
Out of his periphery the back curtain moved and Julien appeared.
Thank god.
##
Days later Luis lay awake, staring at the ceiling.
His thoughts kept circling that conversation in the bar with Karim. About what happened behind that curtain.
Curiosity had its teeth in him. Was a bite better or worse than a needle?
Luis reached for his phone. He pulled up an internet browser and started typing.
‘Vampire Enzymes,’ were the marketing term used for vampire saliva.
Guaranteed to heal small, surface level wounds within twenty-four hours! a website advertised.
Luis scrolled down and saw a price. The ridiculous, richy-rich-skincare level price.
“For .05 ounces?”
He couldn’t believe it for a moment.
Then he remembered some of Cassie’s skin care. It’d been ridiculously expensive like that. Luis had gone shopping with her plenty of times, had learned that serums could make a big difference in skin spots or wrinkles, and the price reflected that.
So yeah, a bottle of ‘enzymes’ that could heal a wound in a day? Expensive.
No wonder there was a program to trade saliva for blood. It was as good as liquid gold.
Luis read the whole page and then stared longingly at the ‘add to cart’ button. He could buy it to try, but then what? If it worked, a tiny tube like that would only last so long. It would be expensive to keep buying and keep treating himself.
He could afford it, probably, but it was still a lot of money. A lot of money for a small bit of comfort.
But.
There was another way to get vampire saliva.
That was really the thing. He could buy ‘enzymes’ that would help his treatment wounds, but if he let a vampire bite and drink from him directly, he’d get the task done and there’d be no wounds at all as Karim told it.
No needle, no lasting pain. It was a two-bird-one-stone solution. Luis was already giving his blood to vampires; this was just less steps.
Less needles.
His mother would be furious if she found out, but did she have to know? He’d moved out so he wouldn’t have to live by her rules anymore. He’d been driving Karim and Julien for a year, and his mom didn’t know about it. He could keep this a secret too.
The guilt itched, and he rubbed his hand over his face. He was too old to still feel like this. She shouldn’t still have this hold on him, shouldn’t still make him so afraid to make decisions in his own life.
What would it be like not to have to use a needle twice a month? To not have his arms ache and have the sickly, nausea sit in his stomach from having to remove his own blood.
Better? Worse?
Luis didn’t know, but the curiosity was overwhelming.
What if it was better? What if it was so much better, and he couldn’t go back to the way he was doing things now.
Could he lie to his mother forever?
##
A week later Luis’s red blood count came back on the edge of being too high, and he found himself finally looking the Blood Donor Program up online.
The first thing to come up was the government website. On it were a list of requirements to become a freelance donor. He scanned through them quickly, and then clicked over to the search bar for finding places near him looking for donors.
When Luis put in his zip code, a few health clinics and several of the bars they frequented came up.
Luis nixed the idea of going to a clinic immediately. A sterile environment full of healthcare equipment would be almost as bad as a hospital.
He started looking through the bars.
Each bar listed had a drop-down tab that showed a calendar of days they had open donor spots on. Most had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday fully booked.
If Luis wanted to do this anytime soon, then he’d have to go midweek.
He blew out a heavy breath. Was he going to do this? The website said it was easy to sign up. He just had to fill out the forms and submit a copy of bloodwork from within the last three months.
Luis had just recently gone for a checkup. His online medical portal had all of that.
Still, he hesitated. For days Luis kept the tab open on his phone thinking about it. In idle moments he’d stare at it, daring himself to book a date.
It was only after another Friday, a regular one where Luis just took them to the bar for drinks, that he realized why.
He was waiting for someone else to make the decision for him. He was putting it off, procrastinating to the deadline. Waiting for Later Luis to deal with it.
His mother had dictated so much of his life, and now, out on his own, he dragged his feet to make decisions. He was scared of fucking it all up, choosing wrong. At least when his mom made him do something, he didn’t have to feel bad that he’d chosen wrong.
It was cowardly, what he was doing. He was an adult now; he needed to take the reins of his life.
Luis made a sound of frustration, and picked up his phone again. He opened up his texts and typed out a message. He hit send to Julien before he could stop himself.
Luis: Hey, I won’t be able to give you blood this week, but I’m still available to take you to the bar as usual. I hope that’s okay.
It was late at night, so Julien’s reply came quickly.
Julien: Of course, that’s fine. Is everything alright?
Luis: Yeah.
Julien: Are you still coming for dinner on Friday?
Dinner was an exchange for his blood, but if he wasn’t going to be giving them blood…
Luis: You don’t have to make me dinner since I’m not able to give you blood.
His phone pinged a few seconds later, but the text wasn’t from Julien.
Karim: Julien is worried we’ve upset you.
Luis: I’m not upset. I just don’t want you to go to the trouble of dinner when I don’t have anything to exchange.
Karim: It’s no trouble. Don’t be stupid.
Karim: What’s going on with the blood btw, are you okay?
Luis considered lying, but what would be the point? There wasn’t anything wrong with what he was thinking about doing.
And maybe they deserve to know why his blood wasn’t available. Why it might not be available in the future.
Luis: I’m fine. Just thought I’d try the Donor’s program this week.
Immediately there were reply bubbles.
Karim: Why would you do that?
Luis frowned at the text.
Luis: Because I want to. Is that allowed?
Karim: You’re not going to some seedy bar are you?
Luis could practically hear the tone. His fingers were hitting the keys before he could think it through.
Luis: That depends on if you consider The Last Drop to be seedy.
He hadn’t made a decision on which bar, but he supposed that bar was as good as any. He was at least very familiar with it.
Karim: Hm.
Hm? What the fuck did that mean? The phone pinged, and he swiped up the screen without looking, but it was Julien again, this time in their group chat.
Julien: I’ll be revoking Karim's phone privileges if he doesn’t quit harassing you.
Karim: Tell Jules I’m not harassing you.
Luis opened the separate text with just Karim.
Luis: You kind of are tho.
Karim: When are you going?
Luis: going where?
He sent it just to be irritating.
Karim: to the Renaissance Festival
Karim: to the bar, idiot.
Luis: Wednesday, why?
He didn't have an appointment, but he didn’t want to say that. Didn’t want to seem like he hadn’t committed yet.
Karim: What time?
Luis: WHY?
Karim: just tell me.
Luis scowled at the phone. What was he up to? His phone pinged before he could send another reply, but the text was from Julien.
Julien: I’ve taken his phone. Thank you for notifying us of the change in plans. I hope you have a lovely week, and we will see you on Friday.
Right. Okay. So that was settled then. Luis’s fingers tapped the edge of his phone. He felt… strangely disappointed by the outcome of the conversation.
What had he wanted out of this, Karim to tell him no? To demand to have his blood?
Luis: Thanks, have a good week. See you Friday.
Well, he’d made the choice. It was time to commit.
Luis opened the browser that had the application, and started filling it out.