Three, two, one, a cascade of explosions erupted. I ripped a seat from the floor and tossed it at the window. The glass wouldn’t break. I punched my fists into the glass over and over, tong tong, tearing the flesh from my hands, but the glass stayed intact. My eyes started to tear from the frustration. My strength couldn’t save me now. I was trapped inside an exploding ship. “I’ve got to find a way out of here, I refuse to die here you hear me!”

The glass finally cracked when an explosion went off in the cockpit. My body was thrusted into the windshield. Oh my gods is this how I die? The glass broke and I was sucked into the vacuum of space. The breath left my lungs. I choked on the non-air trying to breathe. The tears in my eyes evaporated and so did the saliva on my tongue. The blood from my wounds boiled into steam. Adrift in space unable to change direction. I was stuck suspended just like in the prison cell I’d been broken out of. Fear swallowed me whole, I’m not ready to die. An image of Brandy floated through my head. Lost opportunities plagued me. I could have confessed to Brandy. I could have done more for the rebels. I could have done more with my life. Instead I was going to die. Oh Brandy, I’ve loved you for a long time, but I couldn’t say anything because I was afraid. I’m a predator afraid of my own heart. The void enveloped me in its silent embrace. The space station and the ships docked to it were in my view. I wondered if Captain Guthrapali was safe. I’d failed my mission as a guard. I couldn’t even guard my own body. Stars burning brightly just as it was in my prison cell, I was once more isolated from the universe. Death is coming to claim me.

The debris from the ship jettisoned past me. If I use the debris to change my angular momentum, I can get to that ship. I quickly kicked against debris to change my trajectory to another ship. I pushed against one piece to jump to another and slowly made my way towards the freighter. I bumped into the hatch and tried to claw my way in. The momentum pushed me away from the ship, but my claws anchored me to the ship. Again, I was too weak to get past a barrier. There was still a pilot onboard, and he opened the hatch for me when he noticed me outside. The air in the ship exploded outwards nearly sending me off the ship. A bit of cargo flew past me in the wake of the explosive decompression. My claws had a good hook on the hull, so I managed to stay attached to the ship. I detached my claws and hooked them into the door of the hull. I slowly clawed inside as the air left the cargo hold. I crawled inside gasping for air. The door to the hull closed and the room repressurized. As soon as I could breathe again, I coughed and collapsed on the ground. Thank the gods I can breathe again.

The pilot of the ship came over to me to check on my health. He knelt down, his brown hair spilling over into his long face and his deep brown eyes held my own. “I can’t believe you’re alive. I was watching you since you tried to break the window of the ship.” 

I was barely conscious as I said, “Dr. Faust, I need Dr. Faust.”

“I’ll get you to the medical bay. Don’t worry.”

He said nothing about getting me to Dr. Faust, “I need Dr. Faust.”

When I next opened my eyes, I was in bed. The light in the room came from the stars in space. The stars were moving so I assumed we were on a ship. The wall was made of indestructible glass. "Ah you're awake." An old man sauntered over to me with high cheekbones and a surly smile. He had gray hair and sharp brown eyes that looked me over, he was wearing the white cloak of a doctor. 

"Ela you've been out for one day and under close guard since you were found on the verge of death. The virus has spread throughout your body. Your burns from the explosion were third degree. You’d lost a lot of blood. We have you on a course of antibiotics and synthetic skin grafts to treat your burns. As for your four broken ribs, cracked spine, and the breaks in your skull, those have been treated by nanos. You’re also wearing an orthopedic brace to help align your spine."

"Is the virus gone?" I trembled as I asked.

"We did the best we could to counter it. That involved modifying your DNA with human sequences."

I shuddered which caused my wounds to ache.

"Look, this is tough news. You're probably wondering why you haven't healed. To put it plainly you closely resemble a human now on the genetic level."

My mouth dropped in shock. I touched my fangs to make sure they were still there. They were, thankfully. "You’ve ruined me. How am I supposed to live? I need my strength." Like this I was useless to Brandy and the rebels. What would I do if I was kicked out? I had nowhere to go.

"You'll need to see a geneticist to fix your body and fresh vampire DNA. Your superior senses including hearing, strength, self-healing, and speed are gone. You no longer need to drink blood. For now, you will just have to cope with the changes. There may be some psychological changes as well, I’m not sure this is hardly my area of expertise. If you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to." The doctor made his way towards the door and left. I could hardly believe my fortune. 

My body went cold with the news. How could I be mostly human? I checked my genitalia. Yep, everything is still intact. Could I still reproduce? If I did what would my child be? Forget the next generation, what about the last? My mother will be so disappointed in me. I became prey. She would be furious. I have descended into becoming one of the very creatures we hunt, no they hunt. I’m not a true vampire anymore. Who am I now that I have fallen so low? My skills are to hunt and fight. Now without those skills I’ve become obsolete. Everything that makes me who I am is gone. Brandy will have no use for me. I don’t want to be alone again.

I got up from my bed and looked out the window. The stars hung like useless tealights. My wrist com began vibrating. I took the call.

"Hello?" I said in a tired voice.

"Hello Ela?"

"Yes?" I said, glad to hear Brandy's voice.

"I'm so glad you picked up. I heard what happened. Are you ok?"

"I'm alive." I said, upset that my DNA had been modified.

"Which is a miracle. I mean you floated in the vacuum of space. You survived a ship being sabotaged to explode."

"Don't worry about it. I fought for my life and won, that is the way." I liked that Brandy was concerned but I didn’t want to be coddled. On my day off I’d head to Doctor Faust to get my vampirism back. I didn’t want Brandy to see me weak. The ship did an FTL jump. My guess was that Captain Guthrapali either borrowed a ship or bought a new one since it was clear we were no longer on the space station. 

Brandy sighed on the line then said, “Get home safe Ela. I'll see you soon."

"I will, bye." The line dropped and I found myself wishing Brandy had come too. Not that I wanted her to get into any trouble on the space station. I just missed her. I sat down on the bed and stared out the window. For the first time I found comfort in the stars because it meant I was going back home to Brandy.