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Fiction, flash fiction, short stories, short story, story, writing
I always liked the twilight hour. Neither day nor night; too dark for the sunbound and too bright for the moonbound, it’s the only time that’s truly mine.
I like to take a walk at this time, a casual stroll through the streets just to make sure they all know I haven’t gone anywhere.
At first, the only vampires I see passing by are the sunbound. They barely notice me; far too intent on getting home safely before it gets too dark. Sometimes, I say “Good evening” as they pass – just to see if they jump. They usually do.
Nobody else pays them any attention. Why would they? To you, they all look like perfectly normal people. You probably don’t even realise how many vampires you’ve met.
Oh, I’m sure you’ve met some. The tiresome woman you don’t want to be seated next to at a party; the boring guy in the office you try to avoid at the water cooler, the people you instinctively don’t want to spend time with because they’re just so tiring to be around. They corner you and talk to you until you feel as if you’ve been drained of the will to live.
That’s because you have. They’re the sunbound. They gain strength from the sun, and they feed on your energy without even touching you.
After a while, their numbers thin and I start to see the moonbound come out. They really are what you probably think of when somebody says “vampire”, but unless they wanted you to know, you wouldn’t think it to look at them. A few of them cultivate the gothic look, but most of them actually prefer to look mainstream. It widens their hunting pool. It’s easier for them to find new prey in a large, popular club than at a smaller, niche event. You might even have met one or two of them – think about it, have you ever had a night out you don’t quite remember all of?
Anyway, when I see them, I start to head towards home. They wouldn’t try anything for a few hours – I’m much stronger than they are right now – but it’s best to be home before they gather in numbers.
My moment of dominance fades once more when twilight turns into night. They’d all love to be rid of me. That’s just about the only thing both sides can agree on. I’m an abomination; a thing that shouldn’t be. They destroyed those who created me, but I remain.
A creature of two halves; of them but rejected by them. Bound not by the sun or the moon, powered by both, I’m a vampire of all hours.
© Kari Fay
An intriguing premise for a much longer tale.
I can’t say if I’ve ever met any of these vampires that are sunbound, but can bet I’v come across zombies
It is indeed a concept I planned to make into a longer story. Only, I was originally going to call it Twilight Rising, so I think it’ll need a new name now!