Harry was a very large man. He reminded me of Tony Soprano, but it was mainly because of his stature and those beady little eyes that watched you ever so carefully, as if telling you that they knew every little secret you tried to keep, and they knew that you weren't worth shit. His suit was probably more expensive than my mom's house, and he wore it casually, no tie for this man. His shirt was blood red, and it suited him just fine since it probably did a great job of hiding the blood. This was just a predator in an expensive suit, and he knew that you knew, and he was glad.

The predator watched me from his desk for a long moment until I got more uncomfortable than I already was, even though I hadn't thought that was possible. I met his calculating gaze, afraid to take my eyes off of him.

When he put the sword down on his desk I barely stopped myself from flinching, but I think he saw me despite my best effort.

"I hope that Mister Flynn and the Gentlemen treated you well when they delivered my invitation."

It was bullshit, and we both knew it. Anyone who met Mr. Flynn knew exactly what to expect from him.

"Very... um... courteous. I would love to have the opportunity to avoid spending any more time than is strictly necessary with them."

Harry grinned then, humourlessly. "They took a real liking to you. Mister Bryce commented on his excitement about seeing you again. I could call him up if you wanted, rekindle your friendship."

"That won't be necessary. I might just pop in to see him on the way out."

"Are you always this full of shit Bobby?"

"Yes sir, I'm afraid so."

"I don't like you Bobby. Nothing personal, but you're an accident, and I don't like accidents. Too many of them happening these days. " He sighed. "Louise filled me in on what happened with you."

"You've seen Louise? I've been trying to reach her all week."

"She's been sent away for a while."

"Look, I heard her screaming on the phone! I just need to know that she's okay! You have to tell me—"

The look he gave me was less friendly than before.

"You're not here to ask questions or make demands Bobby, so shut the fuck up."

"Can I at least sit?"

"No. "

Okay then, so that was how it was going to be.

"You're here because Louise fucked up and decided to make you into a vampire. That is the sole reason I have to carve out a significant chunk out of day to deal with a loser like you.

"So you're a vampire now Bobby. Big fucking deal. It's not like it used to be in the old days. Back then we were a little more selective about who got the opportunity to become a vampire. It was something you had to earn, and by God you earned the hell out of it. Now, times are changing and we're trying to change with them, so we have a few people like you who don't know the first thing about us or even how to be one of us. Up until a week ago, you didn't know that we existed outside of stories and it was because that's the way we want it to be. Now here you are standing on my goddamn carpet and I don't know if to kill you myself or welcome you... I don't even know if you even deserve to learn how to do things our way."

"Can I say something?"

"You just did. Speak again without permission. Go ahead. Please."

The charming part about Harry is that he never offered alternatives. There was never an "or else," never an option to chicken out, never a chance to run. So I did what I was told to do, and you would have done the same. Anyone would have. I shut the fuck up and listened.

"Well at least you can listen, I'll give you that. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and trust you not to fuck it up."

This just goes to show how well Harry had done his research on me. What works on paper and through facts is easily spoiled by being around me for a couple of days. I hate to say it this way, but I have a talent for disaster, especially when I'm trying really hard to do well, so I could already see how this was going to go.

"Here's a few basic rules for you Bobby boy: do not ever draw attention to yourself and by extension, to us. We vampires do not exist, and we do not advertise our existence. It is how we work and so far it's been working for thousands of years. Do not fuck it up."

I am so fucked...

"Don't go around killing people. That's not what we're about and besides, it breaks rule number one. You start acting like a psycho killer, then Mister Flynn and Mister Bryce will find you. They're very good at finding people. They will find you and then Mister Sinnel will make you disappear. He's very, very good at disappearing people.

"Do not under any circumstances, ever, EVER make another vampire. There is careful consideration that goes into who becomes a vampire and ultimately the decision isn't up to you. You break that rule, then all three of the gentlemen will be coming for you. I guarantee that. Nothing short of death will stop them, and even then I don't think they'll be satisfied.

"You're a vampire now Bobby. Welcome. Now get the fuck out before I change my mind about killing you."

I took the chance to ask about the one other thing that had been bothering me since Mr Flynn has so kindly visited me.

"Look, Mister Flynn took a bag from my place last night—"

"Right. The drugs. Two kilograms of heroin and a lot of unwashed underwear. Okay, I really have to ask: does hiding the drugs in dirty underwear actually work?"

"You'd have to ask Julio, since they're his drugs... and his underwear. Emphasis on his, not mine. Personally I wouldn't want to be touching some dude's dirty underwear so—"

"Get the fuck out of my office. And I'm keeping the drugs."

"Julio is going to kill me if I don't have them. As in literally kill me."

Harry looked at me as if I was stupid and I wondered if I was.

"You're a vampire now Bobby! Figure it out. Sink or swim baby, but you gotta figure out quickly what being a vampire means."

I started to leave, absolutely dumbfounded and mostly freaking out about my impending death, but I had to stop. Something was hurting me inside, and it was named Louise.

"What happened to Louise?"

"I already told you what happened to her."

"And you were lying then. I just want to know what happened to my friend."

Harry watched me for a long moment and finally nodded.

"She was a good friend of yours then?"

I nodded.

"Then she was a better friend to you than you deserved."

It was the past tense that drove it home for me. The finality of those words marking the transition of a person from a someone to a thing, that's something you never really want to hear. Louise had gone from an "is" to a "was" and it was because she had tried to help me. It was because of me.

******** AUTHOR'S NOTE **********

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