December 31st
It was New Year’s Eve, and Gabriel was spending it with his new favorite person, Father Alvarez.
Gabriel and Father Alvarez stayed together in an apartment on the southern end of New Springfield. When Gabriel arrived, he was greeted by everyone in the building. They were all family. He would never be alone.
They waited for them in the apartment lobby, and Gabriel was so overwhelmed. He had assumed that they were all murderers, thieves, and whores. They were, but they weren’t devoid of emotion.
He was the youngest member of their family, a baby, and they coddled him since he had arrived.
Gabriel and Father Alvarez went to the New Year’s Eve party the residents of the apartment were hosting. It was a ‘ BYOB’, event. Gabriel couldn’t understand why everyone was talking so often about the BYOB event, and all the friends they would bring.
He was sure that meatsuits aren't allowed in the building. It was their only rule.
When he and Father Alvarez arrived he learned what BYOB stood for.
Bring Your Own Blood.
Gabriel stood in the doorway, watching people getting eaten and sucked dry. Loud music played on the speakers, and Gabriel tapped his foot, watching, drooling. He wasn’t scared.
He was shy.
"What’s wrong Gabriel," Father Alvarez asked.
Gabriel softly said that he was nervous because he really liked everyone there, and Father Alvarez had to ask him to repeat himself. He couldn’t hear him over the screams of the most popular meal that night, a virgin.
"What’s so special about virgins anyway," Gabriel asked.
Some blood spurted out of a nearby jugular and got on his face. Gabriel licked his lips and considered joining in, but he didn’t like to share his food. Before he changed, it was the same way.
Sharing is how you get germs, after all.
"They have a lower chance of having diseases," Father Alvarez explained.
"Makes sense, Father Alvarez."
"You don’t have to call me that anymore. Just call me Carlos."
Carlos rolled up his sleeves and loosened his black tie. He had worn a purple shirt, but he worried the stains wouldn’t come out. Carlos wasn’t against sharing. He used to be against these sorts of BYOB events, but now he didn’t care.
Life was too short to worry about those kinds of things.
Without a care in the world, Carlos took another bite from the arm of some poor woman that had already passed out, and his entire body shook, excited and scared. Father Alvarez wasn’t there. There was only Carlos, a man that wouldn’t deny himself any more pleasures if he wanted them.
Gabriel was still shy, and he didn’t bring his own blood, so he stood there, waiting for someone to bring in more takeout. Suddenly everyone stopped. They stood up. Gabriel knew who it was before he opened the door.
It was Momo, and she had bought four meatsuits.
Gabriel finally didn’t have to share.
Gabriel couldn’t sleep by himself anymore. It was too difficult. He didn’t really sleep, per se. They all had habits left over from before. They all said the word before, knowing what it implied, never wanting to say the words human.
Gabriel’s habit was sleeping.
He liked to pretend, they all had things they liked to pretend to do. So he and the others would pretend to sleep during the day, especially the younger ones that couldn’t go out during the day.
This morning it was him and Carlos, and Gabriel thought nothing of it when they slept together. They all shared beds, rooms, bathrooms, everything. Gabriel didn’t want to share his food, because it was the one thing he had left that could be his.
While pretending to sleep, Gabriel was tired of trying and rolled over, to look at Carlos.
"Wake up," he laughed.
Carlos pretended to stir awake, gave a fake yawn, and they all laughed. Carlos laughed, Gabriel laughed, the walls, the voices in his head laughed. The neighbors joined in too, and soon the entire building was in an uproar.
Pretending to be a meatsuit is so much fun!
"Fa- I mean, Carlos, what are we going to do? I’m bored."
"I know you can’t do much now since you’re young, but at night there’s a lot to do!"
Gabriel sat up and pouted, and then all the voices in his head doted over the baby. He had become spoiled from all the attention. Carlos noticed and told them all to stop, but they wouldn’t. They told him he was too strict and needed to lighten up.
"I want to do something fun," Gabriel groaned. "All we do is eat and pretend."
Carlos sat up too, scratched the short black hairs on his chest, and sighed.
"You’re right, but I’m afraid to take you out too early. Too much food is going to cause you to make a scene. "
"I don’t really like eating that much, I’ll be fine," Gabriel lied.
They all knew he was lying, and soon the building started laughing again.
How silly! Not eating? Everybody needs food, even the meatsuits do!
"It’s not always like this," Carlos said. "Lately things have been different with dad gone…"
No one in the family didn’t like where the conversation was going, and they tuned out, off to find something else to do, like fuck or eat.
"Why don’t you try something you’ve never got the chance to do," Carlos said. "How about a bucket list?"
"Isn’t it too late for that, aren’t we already dead?"
"No! You are never dead until you stop trying, Gabriel."
Carlos smiled, his large white fangs inviting instead of terrifying. The teeth that used to scare Gabriel were now another way for him to find friends.
Gabriel wanted to find others to be friends with outside of the family because there was nothing new to learn about each other. They knew each other's likes, dislikes, favorite blood type, and even favorite veins to puncture.
There was no fun in the herd of sheep without a shepherd, and with Santos gone and Nymphadora busy, they kept themselves occupied with the banalest of pleasures.
Food and sex.
Gabriel didn’t mind hearing their thoughts about eating. It was their drug, their reason to exist, and it was the one thing they could all agree on. He didn’t like hearing their thoughts about sex. He never had sex before, but from all their vapid thoughts about it, he had learned so much in the short time he had been living with the others.
Many of his new siblings had no qualms about who they had sex with, and Gabriel could know who they were doing, where, and what. With no sleep, it was even worse. There was no escape.
The family that greeted him, after a few months was now starting to crush him under the weight of their overbearing love. Everyone in the building could hear Gabriel’s thoughts, wishing he was alone. They all chastised Carlos for not helping him enough.
"Fine! I’ll do something about it," Carlos shouted, out into the air. With one quick swipe of his nails against his skin, his wound opened. Gabriel didn’t need to be told. He hoped that whatever Carlos had was the good stuff.
All the oldest siblings told Carlos to stop, that what he was about to do should only be used in emergencies, but Carlos was impatient. Taking care of the newborn baby was pushed onto him, and Carlos was exhausted, trying to stop Gabriel from eating the birds that landed on the window ledge.
Ever since Gabriel had turned, his personality had changed, and not for the better.
Carlos’ blood wasn’t as good as Santos’s, no other kind of blood would ever compare, but it was better than the meatsuit Gabriel had last night. Carlos waited patiently but pulled away once Gabriel tried to drink too much.
"Kids… so ridiculous," Carlos complained.
Gabriel didn’t say anything, instead, he looked at Carlos, and he heard his complaint booming inside his head. Gabriel expected everyone in the building to chime in, to continue to spoil him, but no one did.
There was complete silence. The radio was off.
"They’re gone…" Gabriel whispered.
"I don’t recommend-"
Gabriel hugged Carlos tight, almost breaking his ribs. He wasn’t used to his newfound strength or anything in his new life, and Carlos was worried he might accidentally kill him if he did any more favors.
Once Gabriel let go, Carlos clutched his abdomen, and Gabriel ran off, to go get dressed. He wanted to talk to someone! Anyone! Never hearing their thoughts or what they killed or who they fucked.
Gabriel took a very long time trying to find clothes that weren’t bloodstained. He rarely rushed with anything he did now. There was plenty of time when eternity was your lifespan. Groaning and grunting, Carlos looked at him disapprovingly, telling him all about you’re forty years too young to go outside young man.
"You’re not even the oldest one here! You can’t tell me what to do, Carlos."
"I’m 201. That’s old enough. You’re staying here."
Gabriel continued to ignore his complaints and got dressed. He couldn’t find anything without blood on it, so he got the one with the least. A pair of blue jeans, a red shirt with a few specks, and some black socks turned inside out.
As Gabriel was walking towards the door, something strange happened. He stopped. He couldn’t move a muscle. His joints were rigid, and his muscles twitched.
"Gabriel, come here, " Carlos said.
Jerking and twitching, his body moved and swayed, with long movements like a marionette. He screamed and Carlos snickered, giving new commands.
"Behave today," Carlos said.
Now Gabriel wanted nothing more than to stay indoors. No need for outside. Why leave, when there are perfectly good things to do inside, like listen to the same music for the 15th time, hear the same jokes Jorge from down the hall, and best of all, eat?
By the time whatever Carlos had done to Gabriel had worn off it was 8 PM. The voices all came flooding back into his head, and everyone was asking what he had been doing, with whom, if he had any food, please tell us you have food.
Gabriel took the elevator upstairs from the lounge room, where they all liked to discuss whatever inane topic that would keep the boring march of eternity somewhat more pleasant, and up to the 7th floor.
He swung open the door so hard it fell off its hinges and begged for it all to stop.
"Are you-"
"Yes I’m sure," Gabriel screamed. "I don’t care if I have to do whatever you say, just make it stop!"
From that night on, Gabriel and Carlos would be separated forever from everyone else, in more ways than one.
