Mildred’s sigh carried the weight of one hundred twenty-five years of boredom. Well, to be fair, the first few years had been fun, but everything shiny and new always was.
The moment she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle and traced the feeling to an eagle-eyed blonde who tracked her every move, Mildred prepared for the inevitable.
“Here we go again,” she murmured to herself.
The delightful young man she faked interest in ordered her another drink.
After finishing the gin and tonic, she bid Mr. Tall, Young, and Handsome goodbye and sauntered out of the bar. She walked to the dark alley between the bar and the club next to it—because of course. Every encounter she’d ever had occurred at three a.m. on a Saturday night behind an illicit establishment in a poorly lit alley that reeked of piss. The style of music changed from year to year, but little else. Tonight, some bouncy, bass-heavy racket throbbed through the walls of the nightclub.
Within moments, the nondescript blonde followed.
“I’d give anything to not do this tonight,” Mildred said under the cover of shadows. “Why don’t you take the day off? Let’s share a drink and start the séance tomorrow night.”
“You know tha—”
Mildred slammed her into the side of a dumpster. She grabbed a fistful of ash-blonde hair, digging her fingernails into the scalp, and rammed the hunter’s face into the back wall of the club. Bone-crushingly hard.
The woman crumpled into a heap at Mildred’s feet. Face bloody. Nose bent out of shape. She reached down to squish the hunter’s eyes out, but noticed the woman’s hands fumbling with her jacket.
Mildred jerked out of the way.
A beam of ultraviolet light burst from the hunter’s torch, blazing on the spot where Mildred had once stood. She stifled a yawn.
In a blink, she swatted away the glorified flashlight.
Even the fights now were pedantic. Not a drop of sweat coated her brow.
“Van Helsing’s protégés aren’t what they used to be.” Mildred kicked the woman as she staggered to her feet, sending her sprawling. “The least the agency could do is make these little dances entertaining for me.”
“Wait, please,” the hunter said around a mouthful of blood.
“Ugh, now comes the begging,” Mildred moaned. “At least make it into a haiku or something. I’ll kill you quickly if you turn your whining into a dirty limerick.”
“A new life.”
“You’re pregnant?”
“A new, exciting life for you. One that includes sunshine and warm summer days.”
Mildred scratched her chin and rolled her eyes. This was different. Stupid but different. “Go on. I have eternity, but not all night.”
“The Van Helsing Agency has changed. We’re no longer interested in violence against the undead.”
“We prefer vampire or living impaired.”
“Our scientists have created a new sunscreen that allows vampires to walk in the day.”
Mildred giggled. This was the silliest story she’d ever heard. “Impossible.”
“I can show you.”
“How?”
“I’m going to reach into my jacket. Don’t attack.”
Mildred tensed, prepared for a second UV torch.
Instead, the hunter pulled out a fat, finger-sized tube, then tossed it at her feet. “Rub a small amount on your hand, then use the torch on the spot.”
Narrowing her eyes, Mildred hesitated before picking up the tube of cream. “If I lose my hand, I’ll kill you slowly, stringing out the pain and the intestines from your body.”
She did as told and then fetched the torch. “On the count of three. One, two … three.”
The torch light shone on her skin. Minutes passed.
Mildred quivered, not believing what she was seeing. How could this be?
A tear slid down her cheek, followed by another. “There’s no pain.”
Blisters didn’t cover her skin. Her hand wasn’t melting into ash.
“It’s the dawning of a new relationship between vampire and hunter.” The blonde stood on shaky legs, using the dumpster for support. “If you let me, us, all humans live, the Van Helsing Agency will supply your kind with blood and sun protector.”
The hunter’s words played in the background of Mildred’s thoughts. Starry-eyed, she pictured herself walking down 27th Avenue at one o’clock in the afternoon. The hot sun beating down on her head.
Or maybe the first thing she would do was buy a newspaper at a grocery store in the morning.
I get to act like a human again. It had been so long since she’d seen daylight. She no longer even dared to dream of sunshine.
The new old world was open to her again. There were thousands of things she could do now.
“Yes!” Mildred explained.
“Will you tell your coven?”
“Sure thing—after I test it first. Will I need more than this?”
The hunter shook her head. “That’s more than enough. The number to get more is written on the tube.”
Mildred thanked her, then bolted before the hunter changed her mind.
Dawn lurked a few minutes away. Mildred trembled with excitement and anticipation. Soon, she’d walk out of her house into daylight for the first time in over a century.
She’d spent hours last night making a to-do list.
Happiness overloaded her senses. She’d thought of little else besides the adventures she’d have. The sheer newness of it all threatened to burst her apart.
The sky crept from black to hazy pastels. This was like the first time she’d seen a sunrise with her father—a lifetime ago.
“This is it.” Mildred squared her shoulders, exhaled a long, slow sigh, and reached for the door.
She’d tested the cream with UV lighting to make sure the hunter was telling the truth. It had worked on small body parts. Now was the big test.
Mildred washed away her fears and placed her hand on her doorknob.
“On the count of three. One, two, three, go.” She opened her front door and walked through the threshold.
Sunlight beamed down on her in all of its glory. There were no bruises. No agony. No death.
Laughing, she spun around until she toppled onto her front lawn, dizzy in more ways than one.
The moment felt spiritual. Vampires would no longer be confined to the emptiness of night.
Mildred spread her arms out, inhaled dewy morning air, then burst into flame.
Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” startled the hunter. She put down her binoculars and answered her phone.
“Agent Richmond,” she said. “Yeah, it’s done. The undead creature in case file 182885 is a bonfire right now.”
Song List
Queen – Another One Bites The Dust
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stacy benedict 