"I didn't kill anyone, Ash! I swear!" Chloe adamantly defends herself at the visitor room table, propping herself up with her arms.
It's been a while since I've seen her and I can't help but smile at how cute she is compared to when I last met her. If I remember correctly, Oscar, her brother and my best friend, told me Chloe had gotten in trouble and that he'll really appreciate it if I could look out for her on his behalf while he's stuck in Toronto.
"Dude, it sounds like you want me to babysit your sister," I told him plainly over the phone.
"Ah shit, you got me there," Oscar laughs, "Oh, I know! How about I get you that new drawing tablet you've been saving up for as a little incentive, eh?"
"A little incentive? I know you're not exactly strapped for cash, but isn't that a little much?"
"Trust me, Ashtyn. You'll be glad I did after you have to put up with my trouble-making little sister," Oscar jokes.
I sigh, "Alright. Thanks."
"Anything for my new sister-in-law," he laughs.
"...Wait, what?"
He hung up after that.
"Alright, alright," I placate Chloe, "Finish your blood pack first before you continue your epic tale, please."
Chloe obeys and squeezes the Capri-sun style Type-O blood pouch to her lips, gulping down its contents. She continues her retelling of the story of how she ended up in the Demi-Human ward of the Barrie Mental Health Centre.
"Like, I was going through so much shit already!" Chloe slams down the empty blood pouch on the table after wiping leftover blood from her lower lip, "If that security guard wasn't such a fuckwit, I wouldn't have gotten so freaking pissed off!"
"Right," I chuckle.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Chloe crosses her arms, pouting.
"Of course I do," I say half-heartedly.
Oscar informed me she has a bipolar disorder, something she has been treated for, but I can't say for certain she took her meds that day.
I find it more interesting that even vampires aren't immune to mental health disorders.
Apparently, Chloe is also a recluse, hence why I've barely seen her despite knowing Oscar for such a long time. Oscar and Chloe are vampires of the Robinson vampire family. When it comes to vampires, they're of Afro-vampiric descent, meaning their skin is darker than the majority of other vampires.
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Oscar's dad, Romel, looks almost exactly like Blade from Marvel Comics. Oscar though, is nowhere near serious to be a Blade. He has the personality of an extrovert who tries to make everyone in a room laugh, which is what I found odd about our friendship, because we're like complete opposites.
Originally, I thought the reason why I was here instead of Oscar, Chloe's older brother, was because he was too busy with his big city shenanigans. But apparently, Chloe has also been looking forward to me visiting her. I was actually a little surprised because I haven't interacted much with her since Oscar invited me to hang out with him and his girlfriend last month.
Chloe actually wasn't this talkative when we first met. In fact, I could barely get her to say a word, and most of the time she wouldn't look at me for whatever reason, so I thought she hated me.
"Quick question," I get Chloe's attention, "Do you know how long you're going to be in here?"
Chloe shrugs and focuses her attention on her right fang by poking it with her finger.
"Are you at least making friends here?" I look around at the several hospital flyers in the room. One of them says, 'Don't be mean to your fellow demi-humans!' with an obnoxiously happy graphic of two demi-humans, one demon and the other vampire, hugging each other. Professionally, as a graphic designer, it was serviceable. But personally, it made me want to roll my eyes.
"Of course!"
"Oh? Do tell," I encourage.
"Like just yesterday, one of the girls here, Rachel, taught me how to invade the security cameras here to get access to some amazing drugs at a steal!"
"Let me rephrase that: Are you making friends that won't make you end up staying here longer?"
She thinks.
Well, I see this is already going to go swimmingly, eh?
"Hey, I have a question?" I ask.
"Yeah?"
"Wouldn't you rather Oscar be here instead of me?"
She's a little surprise by my question, "Actually, I asked Oscar if you could come here instead of him." Chloe sheepishly says this while avoiding eye contact with me, flustered, "You're just like, really cool and all, you know?"
Either I belong in this place as well, or there's a chance my best friend's crazy vampire sister has a thing for me.
"I kinda wish I could be more like you, Ash," Chloe sits back down into her seat at the table, a storm cloud of sadness over her head.
"Me?" I'm actually surprised myself because I'm the last person who would consider myself cool.
"Yeah!" she gets excited, the storm cloud now evaporated, "You're like an adult adult who gets everything done, ya know?"
"I assure you, I'm barely managing my life right now," I laugh. It constantly feels like the world is going to shit and by some miracle, and a wealthy friend, I'm hanging on.
"No, Ash! You're really awesome! And everyone loves you!" she says before getting sad again, "No one really likes me. I'm too weird." Chloe plays with one of the many curls in her hair.
"Hey, you're not weird."
She looks at me with a sheepish innocence that tells me she doesn't believe my words.
"Then do you think-"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think you would ever go out with a girl as weird as me then?"
This time, Chloe has shrunken in her seat, avoiding my eyes completely as if awaiting a terrible fate.
"Well..."
Now I'm the one looking for something else to preoccupy my mind while looking for a response, by touching the frame of my glasses.
Admittedly, I don't have any problem going out with her, whether short or long term. Even if she's a little...unstable.
And I'm bi(sexual) anyway, so her being a girl isn't the issue for me.
It's just that with Kayden's, my ex-boyfriend, passing six months ago, I'm not sure how right it would be for me to start a relationship so soon.
However, then I had an idea for a non-committal answer, while I get to know more about Chloe.
"Tell you what: If you get out of here soon, we can go on a date. How about that?"
"Really?!"
"Sure."
"Um..."
"What's wrong?" I was unsure of her sudden hesitation.
"But what if you don't want to go on another date with me?"
"I assure you, my standards are not that high," I laugh, "If anything, just leave it to me. I have a few date ideas of my own."
"Okay!" she nodded, "Do you promise?"
"I promise," I smile.
End of Chapter 1
[Main Character Notes]
Ashtyn Afonso (Protagonist)
Sex: F Gender: Fluid - She/They
Race: Human-???, Caucasian-Portuguese
Age: 26
Employment: Graphic Designer
Personality: Ambivert
Chloe Robinson (Partner)
Sex: F - Gender: Cis - She/Her
Race: Vampire, African-American
Age: ???
Personality: Introvert
Employment: Unemployed