Kiss of Tragedy

“Do you believe in vampires?”

Elise sat on the end of the bed painting her fingernails. She shook her head like she was bored and answered drolly, “You have got to be kidding me. Who actually believes in something like that?”

Juliet hadn’t been expecting Elise to be very enthusiastic, but her tone was much less than that. “I guess nobody does.” Disappointed, Juliet got up and headed back to her dorm room.

“Wait!” Elise shouted after her. “Why are you asking? Is some sicko trying to take advantage of you by saying he’s a vampire or something?”

Juliet stopped at the door and thought for a second. Something interesting had happened that afternoon—not what Elise thought—but something. Juliet had been gearing herself up to share the story, but now she was uncertain. She didn’t want to be ridiculed. For her, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and if she told Elise, who obviously would not understand the uniqueness of it, the experience would lose its sparkle. It wasn’t like they knew each other very well. It was their first year in university and Elise’s room was next door to Juliet’s in their dormitory, Lister Hall. It was nice that they got along well enough to support each other through the hectic month of September, especially living in dorms, but once they had settled into their respective grooves, Juliet wasn’t sure if they were very compatible after all. Elise was on the volleyball team, while Juliet was trying to find a different kind of group to join.

“Come on,” Elise urged. “Did you meet somebody?”

Juliet frowned. She didn’t want to tell Elise anymore, but she had to tell someone. The story was like a hundred-dollar bill burning a hole in her pocket. She had to spend it. She sat back down on the bed. “Well, I went down to the Student Group office after class to see if there was an interesting group I could join.”

“Huh,” Elise said, perking up a little. “Did you find anything?”

“Sort of,” Juliet said, chewing on her cheek. “There are a lot more student groups here than I thought there were. So, I was sitting in the Student Group’s office perusing the list.”

“And?” Elise asked impatiently. “What does this have to do with vampires?”

“And this guy came in.”

Elise screwed the lid back on her nail polish. “As I thought. There’s always a guy.”

“Fine. Yes, there is always a guy,” Juliet said, sorry that she had even begun to confide in Elise. She had been absolutely right, the fun of telling the story was lost and she hadn’t even got to the good part. “Yep, that’s right,” Juliet continued, getting up and heading back to the door. “I saw a guy in the Student Group office that was so hot I was reminded of Louis in Interview with the Vampire. End of story. Thanks for listening.”

“Hey!” Elise called after Juliet, who closed the door behind her.

Once safely back in her own room, Juliet locked the door and sat down at her desk. Sometimes no one understood her. No one except her precious laptop.

She pulled it out of her school bag and set it up on her desk. She opened her email and went straight to her blog.

Juliet loved her blog. It was called ‘Moonlight Reflections’ and it was a wonderful place where she could talk about her life without fear of misunderstanding. Her screen name was 01Pearl_Moon. The black screen loaded showing her stunning banner which was a picture of the moon and stark white text on a pitch-black background.

Her last post had been about her fascination with tarot cards. She scrolled to the bottom to see if anyone had commented. She still got comments from her high school friends, but they didn’t visit often since, apparently, they all had thrilling lives outside of their own laptops. However, Juliet wasn’t bothered too much by their inconsistency. Recently she’d begun getting comments from someone new, someone refreshing.

She didn’t know their real name. He or she called themselves ReadyEyes808 and while none of her friends commented on her blog, this person had.

“I have never had my fortune told, but to hear you describe it, it sounds like I’m missing out. I made a blog. Come visit me sometime.” Then the web address was keyed in below.

Juliet had every intention to go visit the blog, but first, she had to write down her experience with the vampire she’d met that afternoon. She clicked to enter her account and pulled up the window.

“Today I saw a vampire. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t introduce himself to me as a vamp, but you should have seen the absolute beauty of this man. I was sitting on the couch in the Student Groups’ office trying to find an occult group to join at my school when this guy came in. His hair was perfectly black and straight. It was just long enough to fall into his eyes, which were also perfect by the way. Everything about his face was fascinating; the way his nose tilted up, the way the muscles in his jaw flexed when he talked, the way he searched for what he was looking for. Now, I haven’t said what made him look like a vampire, but his skin was so pale it looked like he had powdered it. Even his lips were white. If only his eyes were green like Louis de Pointe du Lac, but instead they were brown like blackness had warmed.

“I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn’t rally up enough composure to close my gaping mouth. So, I was staring at him with my tongue hanging out when he turned and looked directly at me. My mouth snapped shut. I wanted to look away, but his gaze was so compelling, almost like he knew what I was thinking (that I was seeing a real vampire for the first time), and it amused him. I think his expression might have been a smile. Then he finished talking to the Student Groups director and headed out, but you will not believe what he did before he left. He winked at me!

“Do you think he thought I was

her post. Yeah, that had done justice to her feelings. Not like

deep blood red. The banner

me prove what I am and where I lie each time I die.” Juliet’s heartbeat kicked up a

“Thank goodness,” she exhaled as she

saw a goddess. I was at work—bored as usual. She was hanging out at the university after hours. My guess is that she was waiting for her loser boyfriend. Who would keep a woman like that waiting? But maybe ‘woman’ is too strong

do you think she’d be interested in me? Nah, I didn’t think so either. Even if she is single,

was surprised at how many people had already commented. There were comments

few people who consistently visited her blog, so she opened the window to send her comment. “You met a goddess today? Well, I met a vampire. Watch, those two will hook up and you and I will stay single. LOL! Thanks

***

Over the next couple of days, Juliet went back to the Student Group office several times. She asked the director if he remembered who

talk to a lot of people, so sorry, I can’t remember,” he

going back there since she had already found a student group to join. It was called the Occult’s Addict and they met every Friday night at midnight, always at a different location. They had an office and Juliet went there

The door to their office was decorated in black paper with papier-mâché skulls attached to it. Lucky for Juliet, someone was home.

She knocked and said,

Juliet as almost unnatural, but at the same time, she couldn’t spot even a millimeter of root to indicate it was bleached. The blond went right to their

“Hello. How can I help you?” he

“I am interested in this

he said, making room for her to enter. “Have a seat,” he indicated a bucket chair covered in an orange and black

the treasurer and

“Who’s the president?”

president and the other one is the vice president. Their names are Fiona and Halona. You don’t have a twin,

“That’s not a

“No,” Taylor said, “But it is more fun that way. Interesting

“What kind of

what sort of things are you interested in, or rather, what activities would

“Tarot cards and horoscopes, eh? You’re a first-year, aren’t you? Please

“I don’t!” Juliet hotly defended. “I’m interested in other things,

“Vampires, crop circles, demons, psychics... you know. Those

something on the back of the club room door. Juliet couldn’t see it from where she was sitting. “Yeah, we’ve got

“I saw a guy

“Is this him?” Rylan asked as he turned his back to the

closed, the poster on the back came into view. It was a black and white picture of the guy she had seen in the Student Group office. He wasn’t looking at the camera. It was

“Has this photo been meddled with?” Juliet asked, getting up

“No,” Taylor

“Is he part of this club?” Juliet continued,

“No. We house freaks, but not his

vampire to join you?” Juliet

Rylan paused. “He wouldn’t want to. None of the people we’ve tried to recruit have ever wanted to