Page 34 of Blood Lust

Fang950: You’re the only one worth talking to.

MoonDance77: Dangerous line. Keep going. ;)

I lean back in my stolen chair in my borrowed apartment and exhale.

This is the only place I feel normal. These late-night IMs, this flickering screen, and the illusion of closeness.

I don’t know how long I can keep the two worlds apart, but for now, it works.

She’ll come into Heroes again. And maybe I’ll pour her wine if they ever give me that promised promotion, and pretend we’re strangers.

Then I’ll go home and we’ll talk for hours online like we’ve known each other forever.

It’s twisted; it’s wrong.

It’s all I have.

Chapter Twenty-nine

AOL IM Chat Window: 11:48 p.m.

MoonDance77: Ever feel like you’re two people?

Fang950: Sometimes.

MoonDance77: One version everyone sees. And one that… hunts in the dark.

Fang950: Been there, done that.

MoonDance77: With your fangs out?

I freeze.

The cursor blinks.

Shehadto be joking.

Fang950: No, not anymore.

MoonDance77: Same. I keep mine tucked away. No one knows I have them.

She types fast sometimes, like she’s dancing just ahead of truth.

Fang950: I keep mine hanging around my neck, on a chain.

MoonDance77: Okay, weird. So... why do you keep saying you understand me, Fang?

Fang950: Because I do. I’ve lived two lives forever. One in the mirror. One in the shadows.

MoonDance77: That’s poetic. Or a confession.

Fang950: Maybe both.

MoonDance77: Then again, what do I know? I haven’t seen myself in a mirror in six years.

I stare at her words like they might change if I blink.

MoonDance77: I’m just joking, of course. Always joking. I’ve lost friends, co-workers, people I cared about. All because I couldn’t be honest. But how can we come clean, Fang?

---