Chapter 8: Vampire Bite

Hiro stood face to face with Mary Anne in the middle of the alley. While he was a bit surprised to see her, she didn't look surprised at all. "Hiro, I need to speak with you."

Hiro blinked. "Okay, but can we do it at the café? I mean, we kind of have to head home now."

"I know that. Just follow me." She turned around and started walking deeper into the dark alley, so Hiro blindly followed.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Was her answer.

"Get where?"

"Just be patient."

The two of them were silent for a little while, until they reached their destination. They had come upon a dead end. No one was around but them, so it seemed to be the perfect place to talk in private. "Alright, what's gong on?" Hiro asked.

Mary Anne took a deep breath before she continued. "As you already know, the country has gotten far worse in the last few months. Not just this country, but the entire world as well."

Hiro nodded, urging for her to continue. "Things are about to get a lot worse. I know that soon, a war will be breaking out. Possibly some sort of World War 3."

Hiro's eyes widened. "Really? I didn't think it was that bad."

Mary Anne nodded and continued. "Let me ask you this. When the war truly does happen, would you want to survive it?"

Hiro blinked upon being asked that strange question. "Of course I would want to survive it. I'm still young, you know."

"Are you sure?" She had a certain seriousness in her eye. "Yes, I'm sure."

Mary Anne sighed. "Alright then. you said you wanted to survive, so you will. I like you, kid. I'd want you to survive."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, before Hiro knew it, Mary Anne had swiftly pinned him against the wall. He didn't know what to do when he felt two long teeth pierce the skin on his neck.

He started losing consciousness as his vision became blurry. Soon after, his eyelids started closing and he could no longer retain consciousness. Hiro fell asleep on the ground. Mary Anne sighed. "I'm sorry, Hiro."

Hiro later woke up in his own bed, inside his own shared bedroom. Tadashi was gone, which Hiro found a bit strange, since the military was prowling out and about, warning everyone to stay inside their homes. Hiro stretched and sat up, finding it strange to see that the lights were off and the curtains were closed. He stood up and walked over to the curtains to open them, but once he did, he did not like the sensation that seemed to burn his skin.

He closed the curtains immediately and started rubbing his skin. He walked over to the light switch and he expected it to burn his skin. He was susrpised to find that it didn't. Artificial light didn't hurt him, so the sun must have been the problem for some reason. He walked over to the full length mirror and noticed that his skin looked a lot paler. It almost looked grey and undead.

He couldn't help but notice two tiny holes in his neck. Suddenly, memories of what had happened crashed down on him. He remembered being bit my Mary Anne, and then fainting afterwards. He started to put it together. The bite marks, pale skin, the way the sun felt on his skin. Hiro didn't want to have to think this, but what else was there to think? Hiro would soon have to accept the fact that he was now a vampire.

Hiro got back into bed and curled up underneath his blankets, not ready to accept this fact. If he truly was a vampire, how was he supposed to live with it from now on? What would he say to Tadashi, or Aunt Cass, or the rest of the gang? He didn't know what to do in a situation like this. Since he was now a vampire, that meant that he would constantly have to drink human blood to survive, or something like that.

These vampire shows kept changing the rules on what a vampire was supposed to do. One thing was for sure though, living as a vampire was not going to be easy. Did that mean that he would have to sleep in all day and be awake all night? Did it mean that he could turn into a bat and fly? What about the others? Would he end up sucking their blood to survive?

This was all too much for Hiro to take in all at once. He really didn't want to have to tell anyone about this newfound secret, but sometime later, he knew that he would have no choice in the matter. He would just have to accept the fact that he was no longer human. How could he have been so stupid? Mary Anne was a vampire the entire time and he had no idea.

Well, Hiro did confirm that he wanted to survive the war, but this was not what he had in mind. Yes, he could survive the war, since vampires were supposed to be immortal, but the rest of his family would eventually die, and he would have no one.

He didn't even know what to do about the war that Mary Anne had foretold. If it was another World War, then there would be nowhere that he could run from it. War would literally be everywhere.

He at least had to do something to protect his family from all of that warfare, and he would also have to do something to try and save his immortal soul. Keeping the secret from everybody close to him was not going to be easy, but he had to at least try.