Let's Go For A Pint (Vampire/Humor)

7.2 The Blood Drive

So my night at Talia's was uneventful. While I considered taking a week-long nap due to my situation of unemployment, those plans changed when Carmen declared she wanted to be a blood donor. Don't get me wrong, but at first I thought she wanted to donate blood to me. Sure, she was fine going to the donor clinic by herself; however, she was nervous. It was her first time donating. She also sighted Draven activity in the apartment and that was enough to convince me to go with her. Also, I could pick up some snacks, you know, like cookies and juice...

Okay, I made most of that up. I learned of the blood drive and convinced her to go. She knew of the blood bank bombing and altruistically agreed to help out. Even with her discomfort around needles. Nevertheless, I had hoped to snag a couple of blood packets, but there was a three-person pack of werewolves in my way. After Carmen went on through into the community building, one of the security guards stopped me from following her.

"Sorry, we can't allow you in," the guard said the moment he stood in front of me.

"I'm just accompanying my friend. It's her first time."

"We're under strict orders to not admit anyone who'll lose themselves over the scent and sight of blood."

Like they're any different. While shamanic shapeshifters had control over their transformations, those who acquire shapeshifting abilities by either birth or a curse did not. When their time of the month comes, the faintest scent of blood can drive werewolves crazy. It's similar to PMS when the hormones mess with your emotions. While none of the guards had tattoos indicating they were from a shamanic order, one guard had a set of claw scars. Good thing the full moon had passed or else things would have gotten messy. No, wait, he wouldn't be scheduled to work the days leading to a full moon.

"I can't go any further Carmen," I told her, jumping up and down to see her. Curse my height.

"Can you do the Bene Gesserit thing to them? I don't want to do this alone."

"These guys are just doing their job. I'll be waiting outside for you once you're done."

And this scene would've ended much quicker if she backed out, but she's a strong woman. She wasn't too happy that I didn't go with her, but she followed the paper signs to the clinic.

So there I was, forced to sit outside the community centre. The benches were wet from the rain that morning, so I ended up squatting next to them. As I squatted there, I reflected on my habits of late. I haven't been hunting in quite a long time. I've been frequenting Talia's a lot and getting my blood there I resorted to stealing packets from a donor clinic. Nothing wrong with stealing blood packets. I call it being a lazy vampire. Then, as if there is a God, a pigeon flew onto the bench.

Then another.

And another.

When I saw the pigeons flocking to the bench, it was the perfect opportunity to sneak in a quick meal. Few people were around to witness and I could toss the dead pigeons into a nearby trash bin.

But something seemed off.

As I was about to reach for one, a familiar yet annoying voice asked, "Shall I get you more, Mistress?"

I looked behind me and Draven was floating there. One more pigeon flew through him to perch on the bench. "I just lost my appetite."

"And you haven't been getting a proper meal in weeks now, have you?" He sat on the empty bench, hovering slightly, with his hands in his pockets. "There are terminally ill patients looking for release but—"

"I'm fine, Draven. I can manage on my own." I stood up from my squat and started to walk away, but he had to follow me.

"Please tell me you weren't planning on taking blood packets from the donation drive. If that's what you want, I can—"

"You can't, Draven. Security is mostly werewolves and they will sense you before you set foot in the room. And besides, a floating blood bag will definitely set off some red flags."

"Hmm ... never considered that. I should ask Mara if I can make objects invisible next time I see her."

As I was about to turn a corner, I spotted some suspicious-looking people. Suspicious as in wearing black knit caps (which may have been balaclavas rolled up), turtlenecks, camouflage printed pants, and army boots. These suspicious-looking people handed off a cooler to a person wearing blood bank issued scrubs. You'd think they'd dress a little more creatively than the typical cat burglar-type outfits. Not a great idea unless you intend to draw attention.

"That's definitely not blood in that cooler," Draven commented, "nor a packed lunch."

"How the Hell do you know what's inside? You got special x-ray ghost vision?"

"Actually, I just opened the lid and looked inside. I figured since I'm a ghost no one would see me take a peek."

"Well, did you?"

"Someone spotted me before identifying what was in there. They probably brushed it off that I can't get the word out."

Yep, Draven's the most useful ghost familiar in the world. Can't catch a glimpse of whatever's in a cooler when he could blindly reach in and phase out whatever was in there. Perhaps he had seen something and held back. "There's a bomb in there, right?"

I turned around and Draven had vanished on me. In his place appeared Carmen who had a puzzled look on her face. "I'm not sure what's going on in that head of yours, but you shouldn't mention the 'B' word when the area is crawling with security guards."

And I'd blame Draven if I'd been charged as a terrorist. "You seem fine."

"Well, that's because I failed the screening test to donate. They said I can return next week to donate but I'm not gonna bother."

"Making me go with you didn't stop Draven from following us."

"You," she corrected. "You wanted to come with me to score something, and you're the only one he follows around."

"Me, right."

"Maybe there's a reason he followed you. The van driver, have we seen him before?"

I examined the driver closely. At that point I couldn't discern if the driver was male or female or whatever, but the face was familiar. "Yeah, he does."

"We should go now," Carmen suggested.

"I think we should."

As we were leaving, the security guards took action. Besides the trio I met, four others showed up and surrounded the van. A fifth appeared with the blood drive worker handcuffed. Eventually people left the building, as I had suspected, because someone tipped off the bomb.

"I feel like having ice cream."

"Yes, let's go for some ice cream," I said as I followed her to the parking lot.

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Guess who's back? Back again? Draven's back! Tell a friend (as well as show your appreciation for this story)! Eminem references aside, have you donated blood before? Plan on doing it in the future? Or maybe blood and needles aren't your thing, but have you considered going into a blood drive to snatch some cookies?

Song featured: "Blood" by My Chemical Romance

Edited: 12/06/2020