April 2025 Short Story of the Month

The darkness was thick and suffocating, like a heavy blanket had been thrown on the world. He had to get over the wall, had to get across the border before his parents came looking for him. He would be safe over the wall, and his family could just assume he ran away. They would never know the truth.

Over the wall was where he belonged now.

****

Three Days Earlier

The music pounded through the club. Caleb and his friends sat squished together, bobbing to the noise. They were grinning from ear to ear.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” yelled Caleb. His friends nodded and smiled in response, though none of them understood what he’d actually said. They just kept moving from side to side and scanning the crowded room with expressions of joy plastered on their faces.

Caleb knew this was it. This was the moment. This was the place. Only the coolest, most popular, wealthy, and “it” people got into this club. He and his friends had been trying for months to get in, and today it had finally happened.

Even with the music pulsing through his rib cage, he didn’t believe it was really happening.

“Caleb, hey man. Go get us drinks,” said one of the guys with him.

He nodded. Even at a table, there was no way a waitress was making it through the crowd to their tiny table wedged at the back of the club.

He didn’t even ask what anyone wanted. He figured it didn’t matter.

At the bar, he started a tab on his card. It was the least he could do. They were celebrating him after all. He’d graduated and been accepted to the most prestigious university on an athletic scholarship. His parents were over the moon. His friends were impressed. Getting into the club had been the icing on the cake.

Even carrying the drinks back to their table, Caleb still wasn’t sure how it happened. He replayed the scenario again. Nope. Nothing made it make sense. The bouncer took one look at Caleb and nodded.

“You’re in,” he said in a deep gravelly voice.

His friends had cheered. He nodded, trying to play it cool. Maybe he was putting off an aura of success and the bouncer had sensed it. That had to be it. Nothing else made sense.

The drinks were passed around. Before he was even a third of the way through his first drink, one of the guys said they wanted more. Caleb wasn’t going to let it bother him. He got back up and pressed through the crowd.

Two drink rounds later, his friends started to break away from the table and join the dancers. Even Caleb was considering it. He wasn’t feeling it yet though. He was still nursing his first drink.

Before long, he was the last person at the table. A waitress spawned from somewhere and cleared their cups.

“Another round?” she asked.

Caleb shook his head. He wasn’t going to give these guys more liquor for now.

“Suit yourself,” the waitress responded and then disappeared again.

Caleb leaned back and sipped his drink. He felt like the world was his for the taking. All he needed to do was reach out and it would be his.

He was nearly finished with his drink when the most striking woman sat down at his table.

She had a chic bob that framed her face and drew attention to her almost oversized green eyes. Caleb had never seen anyone with eyes that green. He wondered briefly if they might be contacts. He didn’t care. The green suited her.

She scooted along the bench until she was right next to Caleb. He didn’t know what was happening, but the world was smiling at him.

And then, she was smiling at him. Her teeth were bright white and even in the substandard lighting of the club, they were shiny. Why was he looking at her teeth? He was trying to force himself to focus on her face so that he wouldn’t look at her outfit.

Like many of the girls in the club that night, she was wearing very little actual clothing. Her skirt, if it even qualified as that, barely covered parts that should be covered in public. Her top was little more than a few strings and a triangle of cloth barely covering her small breasts. Her outfit was the same bold green as her eyes. The effect made her look like a character out of an anime.

“This place is amazing,” she said making strong eye contact with him.

Caleb nodded. He couldn’t look away from her eyes.

She smiled at him again and leaned closer. “You and I are going to be great friends,” she said.

Caleb nodded. No argument from him.

She smiled again, even larger somehow. That was the last thing Caleb remembered about that night.

****

The Next Morning

Caleb woke up in his bed, still wearing the clothes he’d worn to the club. He rubbed his forehead before he sat up very slowly. He groaned as he shuffled slowly to his bathroom. In addition to the worst headache of his life, his shoulder was killing him.

He used his non-hurt arm to tentatively touch the spot that was bothering him right where his neck and shoulder met. It stung.

He didn’t touch it again until he was looking in the mirror. His eyes went wide. He took a deep breath. His shirt was soaked with blood. It was ripped too. He didn’t want to, but he took his shirt off to see what was underneath. Even though there was a voice in his head that told him what he was going to find. He was in denial.

It wasn’t a bite. It wasn’t a bite. He kept saying in his mind in the seconds before he got his shirt off.

It was a bite. And just like that, the world closed to him.

He couldn’t let anyone see the bite. He needed to figure out what to do.

He took a long shower, watching the blood circle the drain.

He put a bandage on the wound and put on an all-black shirt. It was out of character for him to dress so somber, but no one in his family said anything as they cleaned up the breakfast table.

“Hungry?” his mom asked.

He shook his head. “I’m just tired.”

His dad laughed like it was a good joke. “Good for you. You deserve a celebration.” He smacked his son on the back.

“Thanks, Dad,” Caleb said, trying not to wince. “I’m going to lay in bed a bit longer.” He rubbed his forehead. “Hangover,” he said with a sheepish grin on his face.

“Course, dear,” said his mom as she handed him a glass of water. “Take some aspirin.”

Back in his room, he pulled out his phone to search how far away the wall was from his current location. He needed to get there tonight. Everyone knew what would happen if he didn’t. He was going to turn, and if he turned on the human side of the wall, he would be killed publicly and made an example of.

Humans and vampires didn’t get along, for obvious reasons. The wall kept their worlds separate. What was one of them doing at the club? How had he not known she was one as soon as he saw her? Wasn’t there supposed to be signs?

Apparently, the tales told to children weren’t all true. They looked just like everyone else.

He needed to think quickly. He needed to start heading that way. He didn’t want to die, and he knew he stood a better chance with the vampires.

He meant to leave before anything happened or he did anything he regretted. Instead, he fell back asleep. When he woke up, he knew it was almost dark. He could smell it. He could smell everything. The trash in his room, old laundry, and the dust on his shelves.

He needed to leave – now.

He didn’t want to risk his parents asking him anything, so he grabbed a jacket. He climbed out the window and landed like a cat in the yard.

He started to walk away from his house, not fast at first. He didn’t want to draw attention. He didn’t need to look at his phone. He knew where to go. As he got away from his neighborhood, full night descended. He moved faster.

As he started to run, he pictured the woman from the night before. He was going to find her. He had some questions, and he needed answers.

The darkness was thick and suffocating, like a heavy blanket had been thrown on the world. He had to get over the wall, had to get across the border before his parents came looking for him. He would be safe over the wall, and his family could just assume he ran away. They would never know the truth.

Over the wall was where he belonged now.