Vampire Weekend

by Mike Chen

There’s one rule we vampires live by: Never reveal your true nature to a human. Which made sneezing blood during band practice kind of a problem.

“Cool, cool, no worries,” I said despite the onslaught of emerging worries.

The trade-off for living longer was a weird schedule, inconvenient sustenance, and living with a bunch of deactivated internal organs.

For me, blood was sustenance, like a slice of toast. For Aunt Laura, it meant far less.