"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Leo, I agreed to marry you!"
"Polly, I hope you won't judge me because of an event that was entirely out of my control."
Polly sat on the modern white sofa, and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "Does it even matter if I judge you? Let's say I accept everything you've just told me. If what you say is true, you're a vampire! We can't get married."
Leo frowned. "Why not? I'm still the same man, capable of love and loyalty."
Polly shook her head. "We can never have kids. Or even go on the Caribbean cruise I've always wanted to experience with the man of my dreams."
Leo nodded. "I can't father children. But I do have many friends and connections. I can arrange for us to adopt as many children as you want. You are correct, I can't sit on the beach in the sun. But I can purchase a yacht, and we can walk on a different beach every night until you grow bored of the tropics. Please don't be hasty to throw away what we've built over the last six months."
Polly nodded, and took his gloved hands in hers. "Give me time to absorb everything you told me. I just don't know what to think right now..."
Leo bowed his head, eyes closed. "That's all I ask. I will now wish you a lovely night."
Leo stepped out into the cool night, and sighed. "She's going to leave me, just like all the others did when they found out. I'm doomed to remain alone."
"There's always the other option," rumbled a deep voice from everywhere and yet nowhere.
He stiffened. "Nardo. I told you to stay away from me. What are you doing here?"
A neatly manicured bush swayed gently. "I'm here to make sure you don't spend the rest of eternity looking for love and companionship."
The vampire glared at the bush. His voice, barely a whisper, held nothing but hate. "If you go anywhere near Polly I'll hunt you to the ends of the Earth!"
The bush remained still. "Don't worry, I would never harm her. I just want you to be happy."
Leo bared his teeth. "And I know exactly what you think I need to be happy. You're wrong!"
The bush neither argued or moved.
Leo snorted. "Don't bother me again. I'm serious about what I'll do to you. You never could win an argument anyway."
He grinned as he strolled down the sidewalk. "He's as much of a coward as he is a jerk."
A plastic trashcan beside the curb chuckled. "Let's just say I know when it's not worth trying to reason with you. We're going to have to agree to disagree."
Leo walked on, then stopped in front of a small home with a for rent sign tucked behind the porch swing. He patted his pocket. "My wallet. I left it again..."
He turned around, and soon found himself in front of Polly's tidy little house. He glanced around before ringing the doorbell.
Polly opened the door, and frowned. "What's wrong? I wasn't expecting you so soon."
He looked at his shoes. "I'm sorry, I forgot my wallet."
She stepped aside. "I haven't seen it, perhaps it's in the couch cushions."
As they entered the living room, her phone rang. She checked the screen, and her eyes lit up. "Excuse me, it's my mom. We're planning on having a Sunday brunch in the botanical gardens this weekend. I hope her plans haven't changed."
After she was gone, he began feeling through the cushions. He easily found the wallet, wedged in the corner. A throw pillow began to laugh, at first almost inaudibly. The pitch slowly rose until it was almost ear-splitting.
Leo grabbed the pillow, shaking it at an inhuman speed. "You can't be in here! She never invited you in," he shouted, just as the pillow disintegrated into fluff.
A shape slowly took form in front of Leo. It was a mirror image of himself. Nardo grinned evilly. "Have you forgotten so easily? I'm a part of you. I can go anywhere you can. And there's nothing you can do about it."
Leo stepped forward, his eyes glowing red. "You're not a part of me. I banished you centuries ago. You are evil. Psychotic. You're the reason I agreed to be Turned!"
Nardo bared his teeth. "You think I'm a monster, but I only want what's best for you - for us."
Leo bared his teeth, mirroring Nardo. "There is no us. Leave this house or I will destroy you!"
Nardo took a step back, and feigned a sympathetic expression. "I don't think you can. Or that you even want to. On some level you like the idea that I'm traveling the world while you search for what you call a normal life. I'll never understand you. You could live like a king, yet you seek the mundane, boring life of the average human."
Leo stepped forward. "I don't seek an ordinary life. I seek love. Passion. Loyalty. Joy. All of which you know nothing about."
Nardo sneered. "What if you do find those things in Polly? Her life is so short. She'll be lucky to have another seventy years."
Leo set his jaw. "I'll enjoy what time she has. We will be happy, and you will leave us alone."
Nardo laughed, looking at the wide-eyed young woman in the room. "My pleasure!"
Nardo was suddenly replaced by a bit of pillow fluff, which floated slowly to the floor.
Polly stepped forward slowly, walking on her tiptoes. "What's wrong? I heard you yelling, and when I walked in you were destroying a pillow."
Leo frowned. "Did you see anyone else?
Polly shook her head. "No, just us. It was almost like you were having an inner battle."
Leo sighed. "Unfortunately he's very real. He's a spirit - I guess you'd call him a ghost. Whatever the term you choose, Nardo is a fragment of myself. He's the dark side of my human part. I agreed to be Turned in order to purge him from my body. Most of the time he leaves me alone, but when he does come around he makes life miserable."
Polly stiffened, then sat. "This is a lot to take in... I never imagined that there could be a way for a person to remove a part of themselves. I'm terribly exhausted, do you think you could excuse me for tonight?"
Leo nodded. "I found my wallet. I'm sorry for bothering you again."
With his eyes down, he quickly left before she could get up.
A few minutes later, had he returned, he would have witnessed a strange sight. Polly sat in her living room, staring into space and gesturing with her hands.
"Anna, are you able to leave me the way Nardo did Leo? If so, do it now! I've always thought we were doomed to inhabit the same body for our entire lives."
A female voice replied calmly. "I never considered whether or not I had the ability to leave this body. Perhaps I should try to join Nardo. Together we could make sure things are as they should be. We really do know what's best for you two, and ourselves, you know."
Polly became pale, and covered her mouth. "Please don't."
Anna chuckled, then suddenly her presence was completely gone...
Cover image made in Canva using Magic Studio AI image generator
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