15. Luke

Igot back into the swing of my regular life pretty quickly after my weekend tryst with Xander. It was hard to keep quiet about my new friend at work, but fortunately, I didn’t work around enough people to risk spilling my secret too often. I knew that if I told my workmates about him, they would have the same reaction I did when I first saw the vampire.

It made me angry to think about how people saw vampires as a whole. It wasn’t fair, and I understood that now. But there wasn’t much I could do about it, so I kept my mouth shut and pretended nothing had changed. I couldn’t spend one weekend with a vampire and suddenly start proselytizing the merits of them to everyone around me, could I? Xander wouldn’t have appreciated it anyway. He preferred to live his life in the shadows, and I totally got his reasoning.

On Tuesday early in the morning, right after I got home, I received a notification on my phone. It was from a number I didn’t recognize, and for a moment, I thought it might be Xander.

“He doesn’t text, though,” I said to myself, furrowing my brow.

Reading the text only confused me further:

Thank you for opting into text alerts from Monsters’ Sanctuary Library! You have 1 book ready for pickup.

“A book? That can’t be right. I haven’t ordered anything from there in months. And I didn’t opt into text messages.”

I tried to think back to the last time I went to the library. It was on my date with Xander, of course, but I barely said as much as a hello to The Librarian before meeting my mystery date. I knew I didn’t order a book or sign up for anything while I was there.

With a sigh, I slipped my shoes back on and shuffled out the front door. I was tired and wanted to go to bed, but I decided it would probably be best to walk over to the library first and see what kind of book they had available for me. The only answer I could think of was that someone else ordered it and they accidentally placed it under my name, which I would have to sort out with The Librarian.

I walked as quickly as my tired bones could muster over to the library, wishing I had Xander’s speed-traveling abilities to make it easier. Of course, Xander couldn’t be outside at this hour, so maybe I didn’t want his abilities after all.

“Hi!” I called to The Librarian as I walked in.

They were manning the front desk, reading some fantasy novel while they waiting for customers to come in.

“Good day, Luke,” The Librarian said, sitting straight and closing their book after slipping an intricately carved leather bookmark between the pages. “How have you been?”

“About the same as the last time you saw me on Saturday,” I told them.

“I take it the date went well?”

My cheeks flushed and I looked down at the floor quickly to hide their change in color.

“Yeah, yeah, it did. Thanks for finding me a date.”

“I’m so pleased to hear that. Now, tell me, what brings you in on this fine Tuesday morning?”

“I guess I have a book in.” I shrugged, stepping closer to the counter. “I didn’t order anything, though, so I think it might be a mistake.”

The Librarian nodded sagely. “Mmm, I see. Well, let me find it for you and we can take care of things from there.”

I waited while The Librarian retreated to the back, coming out only a few seconds later with a thick, black book tucked underneath their arm.

“That thing looks like it weighs a ton. I definitely didn’t order that.”

“Oh, are you quite sure?” They set the book down on the counter with a resounding thump.

A cloud of dust rose from it and I coughed, waving the particles away from my face.

“Uh, yeah, I’m positive.”

They turned it so I could read the spine, which had text embossed in gold lettering. I squinted to read the fancy script, narrowing my eyes when I realized what it said.

“A Complete History of Vampirism?” I looked up at The Librarian suspiciously.

“Indeed,” they replied. “Would you like to check it out and take it home? I’m not sure anyone else has come in recently looking for a book such as this one.”

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I’m telling you, though, I did not order this.”

“Don’t worry, it will be our little secret.” The Librarian winked and handed me a form to fill out so I could take the book home.

I should have been more irritated that they chose this book for me and made me come get it when I had no idea before today that it even existed, but those ancient yellowed pages were beckoning to me, and I was curious to find out what the contents had to say.

Xander was a fascinating creature, to say the least, but it was hard to ask him questions without overstepping my boundaries. This book might have the answers to some of my curiosities, and maybe I could even do a better job of respecting Xander and his past.

“Here you go.” I handed the form back to The Librarian, who filed it away in a cabinet while I picked up my book.

It was somehow even heavier than I expected, probably from the pounds of dust hiding inside.

As I trudged out of the library with that thing nestled between my arms, the last thing I heard after the jingling bell was:

“Thank you for coming in and enjoy your book!”

When I got back to my place, the mail had been delivered. I checked it, knowing full well I never got anything important, only to find a letter nearly identical to the one I’d received on Saturday.

My heart began to race as I set the book on top of the mailbox and ripped the beige envelope open. I scanned the pages of handwriting hastily, ignoring the sweet sentiments for the time being while I looked for the only thing that mattered:

I hope to see you again this upcoming Saturday. I shall await your reply with great excitement and until then, know that I am enjoying the memories of our first date.

That was what I cared about. He wanted to see me again! I was pretty sure Xander already knew exactly what my answer would be, based on the tone of his letter, but I had every intention of sending him the reply he was waiting for, albeit less fancy than his letters always were.

With shaky, fumbling hands, I tucked the letter inside my massive book and nearly ran inside, making my way to the depleted stack of printer paper on my desk.

I wrote down an answer quickly. Ignoring my disgust of my handwriting long enough to get the damn thing finished, before inspecting it. It was ugly, sure, but it did what it needed to do – it told Xander that yes, of course I would be there on Saturday, as soon as the sun went down. I wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity like this.

Now I had to play the waiting game, getting through the rest of the workweek without going insane from the anticipation of the weekend.

I should have gone to sleep immediately, as it was getting late for me and I had to be up again this afternoon, but the vampire history book was calling me, and before I could control my impulses, I cozied up on the couch and cracked open the book, unable to put it down all through the morning and into the afternoon.

Sleep was a thing of the past. Xander didn’t need it and right now, neither did I.