Vampire Girlfriend: Tatiana (rough draft)

There are nights where the stars in the sky spread out in the endless ink that it feels like eternity isn’t such a far off concept. I can see it up there, each star a bullet point into the how and why of it all. From my little garage I can understand that my eternity has only begun. I have so much farther to go, so many years, so many lives to lead. Being a vampire, eternity is a game rather than a fairy tale.

For the last few years I’ve operated a small garage at the end of town. I’ve hired a few good guys to run the place during the day, then at night, me and the other members of my brood come out and do the rest of the work. As I said, it’s small. There’s just five of us, seven if you include the day shift. It’s nice, it’s quiet compared to the life I left behind. You could say I ran away from home twice. Once when I was sixteen, and again when I was thirty-five. Although the second time was a bit different, even if I looked the same as the first.

The garage was a means to protect me and my boys. As vampires, we had a certain ‘look’ to us that was hard to hide. So we dyed our white hair, tried to cover our pale skin with grease from work. We looked like the black and white images on the TV screen. So we called ourselves the TV Boys. We worked, we played around on our motorcycles, we just tried to live a life of our own.

On a night where eternity was laid out before me, Henry came forward with a poster in his hand. “Hey, Boss, look at this. We could go when it gets here!”

I took the poster which advertised an upcoming carnival. It boasted an aerial act and lots of performances. “What would you wanna go to this for?”

“Oh, c’mon, Boss!” Henry smiled at me, big and goofy. “It’ll be fun. They never happen at night!”

I chuckled, thinking over the poster. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt. We just gotta make sure to get all our work done before we go.”

“Yeah! That’d be great!” Henry took the poster back.

Although, I had to wonder what sort of carnival was only opened at night. It made me itch a little bit. I’d fallen for a trap like that once before, I really didn’t want to do it again.

When the carnival did arrive, it made me more suspicious. It came up in the middle of a field, but it did so in the blink of an eye. Or so it felt. Henry was excited about it. He’d been talking about nothing else since he found the poster.

At the entrance there was a petite woman who was remarkably just as pale as us. Her hands were so thin and small I feared a finger might snap off when I paid for our tickets.

“You boys aren’t going to get too rowdy now, are you?” She asked. Her dark eyes peered over us, but they fell on me in such a strange way. Something about her reminded me of a porcelain doll and it made my skin crawl.

“No, ma’am! Promise,” Henry said excitedly. The others started filing inside while I felt anchored there to the entrance. I went with them, but I turned, eyeing the small woman selling tickets. She turned, looking back at me. Something about her sucked my soul up through my ass.

I caught up with the boys, following them as they argued over where to go or what to do next. We went down an alley where there were games to play and prizes to be won. Of course, this turned into a competition real quick. They wanted to see who could win the most, get the biggest prize. I was stuck holding the gains. Stuffed animals, wooden toys, things that wouldn’t matter after about a week. It was hilarious to watch, we rarely got this sort of entertainment outside the pinball machine at the bar.

I then saw something from the corner of my eye. Turning slightly, I caught it again. The something was poised at the end of the game alley and it was a woman. She was tall, all legs, and was wearing some kind of wonderful costume to show them off. She was turned away, talking to someone else. Then, just as Henry was walking up to me, she moved and I saw the red paint on her lips. I then saw her eyes as she looked directly at me.

“Boss, look!” Henry stood in front of me. He blocked my view of the woman to show off a stuffed toy. “I got the big one!”

“That’s great, Henry.” I stood up and tried to move around him to see if she was still there. Unfortunately, like the moment, she was gone.

“Boss, what is it?” Henry asked, concerned.

I held back my frown. “Nothing. Hey, haven’t ya’ll had enough of this? Why don’t we go see a show or something?” I handed off the prizes to Henry as I attempted to lead the brood to a show or anywhere else in this carnival. I wanted to see that tall, leggy woman again, but I feared I may have missed my opportunity.

We decided to go off to the main tent to see the big show. The people leaving from the first performance seemed pleased but a little shaken by the event. Me and the boys went inside, taking seats near the front. Henry had grabbed himself some popcorn and was happily smelling it.

“What’d you get that for?” Reggie teased him.

Henry was the youngest of all of us. He’d been made not too long ago. Actually, Henry had been the catalyst for me running away from home the second time around. “I miss the smell of it. My dad had a theatre, you know?”

“But what are you going to do with it?” I asked.

“Just smell it. There ain’t no harm in it. Right, Boss?” Henry looked up at me, giving me eyes that surged the paternal feeling in my gut.

I patted his back. “You can always leave it for the day boys,” I told him.

The tent began to fill up. Already I was nervous, I wasn’t so used to being surrounded by so many humans. Ever since I was changed, I’d been told to stay away from them. Aside from who we wanted to feed on, I was not to be around the mortals. But then again, my maker was extremely old fashioned as well as being extremely cruel.

The woman from the entrance suddenly walked by me. Chills went up my spine as she did. She turned, looking at me before she went backstage. Something was off, but maybe I was the only one who noticed. Maybe I was making it up.

The lights went out completely and then a stage light snapped on. A man stood dead center on the stage, but I hadn’t even noticed someone walking. He was tall and grand looking, with long red hair flowing out from his satin top hat. He whisked off the hat and bowed to the audience.

“Welcome, everyone. My name is Mr. Faire, and I am so glad you are here. Welcome to the carnival. My carnival.” His arm swept up so his hat was flat to his chest. “Tonight, I am so glad you could join us for a very special performance. Like most of my shows, I try to plan it around a story. I’ve always been a lover of fairy tales. Knights, princesses, evil magic, and the triumph over it, I love it all.” He tossed his hat behind the curtains then took a few steps back as a violin began to swell. Mr. Faire swept his fingers along his temples and through his long hair. “Let us take you all back to once upon a time.” His hair came off, a wig, and as he tossed it up, rose petals streamed from both his scalp and the inside of the wig. Roses then cascaded down from the top of the tent as the lights all turned back on into a rosy hue to focus on a woman on the stage.

It was her! The woman I saw outside the games alley. She was wearing a ragged dress and a wrap around her head. A broom started dancing all on its own across the stage, sweeping up the lake of rose petals. The leggy woman danced out towards it, moving about the stage as more brooms came to join her, sweeping up the roses which she kicked about with her beautiful dance.

“Is this it?” Henry groused.

I hushed him and gave him a warning look. “Just watch!”

The woman took hold of a broom, spinning around until she was lifted from the floor. The brooms continued to sweep while she levitated above the stage. A hoop came down which she sat upon, throwing her body around it, dripping down over the edge. She moved so beautifully, her body was a work of art.

She landed back upon the stage, holding a broom while the others faded behind the curtains. The doll-like woman came out, dressed all in black and looking quite severe. A dance began that looked like a fight. Despite the size difference between the two, the leggy woman was pushed around, shoved, knocked to the floor where she remained. The doll-like woman went off.

The leggy woman still held onto the broom which lifted her up again. Fabric rolled down from the ceiling and she clutched onto one. Using the fabric she rolled herself up in, she fell down and swept from strand to strand while animals came out upon the stage. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, though. She was amazing! Remarkable! I was breathless by her beauty, but the way she danced in the air on the fabrics stole my heart from my chest.

The show was remarkable, ending in an aerial dance between the leggy woman and a prince. The curtains closed and the crowd applauded, although not to the uproar it deserved. As the tent emptied, I remained there, wanting to show my gratitude to the performers.

“C’mon, Boss, let’s go.” I brushed Henry off.

“You guys go.” I stood up from my seat. “I uh...I think I have something I wanna do.”

The boys left and I lingered for a while. The doll-like woman came out on stage and she looked down at me. “Show’s over,” she said sternly. “There isn’t another.”

“Wait,” my voice stuck in my throat, making it crackle. “I was wondering-”

Her dark eyes narrowed upon me. “What? Do you want to meet someone?”

I nodded wordlessly.

She rolled her eyes. “Backstage isn’t for guests.”

I swallowed hard. This woman was small but mighty intimidating. “But I just wanted to tell the main dancer-”

“Ms. Tatiana is exhausted. Why don’t you go along with your friends?” She wagged her fingers at me.

“I want to thank her for the performance,” I managed to spit out. “It was beautiful. She was so amazing, I-” I stopped again from nerves. “I don’t get to see beautiful things often.”

“Coraline?” Mr. Faire popped out from behind the curtain. “Good, you’re still here.” He then saw me and smiled. “Hello there! Did you enjoy the show?”

“Very much.” I glanced at Coraline then back to him. “I was hoping to congratulate the main dancer actually.”

“Tatiana?” Mr. Faire asked. “She’s a bit exhausted right now. But I could send your regards if you’d like.” He takes paper and pen from inside his jacket. “Here, write a note and I’ll give it to her.”

“Mr. Faire,” Coraline started to scold.

“It’s just a note of admiration,” Mr. Faire placated. “If the fellow says anything untowards, I’ll throw the note back into his face and then throw him out on his ass.”

I wrote a brief note for Tatiana. Knowing her name filled me with excitement I had not felt since I was a boy. “Dear Tatiana, my name is Eugene and I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the show, but mostly you. I don’t get to see many beautiful things in my life, so seeing you and how you danced reminded me of how much beauty there is that I cannot see. I wish you a life as brilliant as you’ve made me feel. Your new admirer, Eugene.” I passed the note back to Mr. Faire, who looked it over briefly.

“Nothing will be thrown this evening,” he said brightly. “I’ll give this to her right away, young man.”

“Thank you.” Coraline was still looking at me. “I’ll leave now, I suppose.”

“Yes, you will.” Coraline watched me until I was out of the tent. I don’t know why she was so scary. I found the boys back in the game alley, competing over who is the best shooter. After a while, we all decided to head back home. As we went to get into the car, Henry nearly jumped back out. He pointed across the lot.

“Look at that old Cadillac!” He gasped.

“Whoa! That’s a V16, that car must be almost thirty years old,” Jimmy remarked, equally as awed as Henry.

The hood was up and someone was bent over it, trying to look inside. “Looks like they’re having trouble. Just a second, fellas.” I wandered over. “Do you need any help? I own the garage in town, maybe I can see what’s wrong.”

Tatiana rose up from behind the hood and my lungs shoved themselves into my throat. She looked me over with rose colored eyes then stepped around her car. “I don’t want to be a bother. It looks like you’re going home.” Her voice was husky and low, but sounded timid at the same time.

“Nonsense.” I approached her. “I’d love to help. After your performance tonight, I’d be honored to help you.”

She smiled shyly, ducking her head down. “Thank you.”

I came up to the hood and looked inside. “Beautiful car you got.”

“Thank you,” she murmured again. “I’ve had it for a while.”

“What sort of trouble has it been giving you?” I moved closer under the hood, taking out my handkerchief to clean up a spot so I could see better. But the dim light from the street lamp was barely enough.

“It’s been having trouble starting,” Tatiana replied. “And sometimes when I drive, it sputters and sort of-”

“Kicks?” I asked. I looked up at her and there was a moment. Sparks flew, breaths stopped. I looked at her, her pale skin, her red eyes. She was like me.

Tatiana’s eyes narrowed and she took a step closer to me. “You look familiar.” Her fingers reached out to touch my hair but she quickly recoiled. “I’m sorry,” she caught a breath. “Uhm, yes, it kicks.”

“No, I’m sorry,” I chuckled. “You’re very beautiful and I don’t know how to handle myself around pretty dames like yourself.”

Her smile was small and restrained as she tried to hold herself back. “Not much different as to how you’d handle anyone else.”

I bit the tip of my tongue to keep from going to mush. “I can fix your car up at my shop. I usually work nights, so if you wanted to bring it then-” I hesitated, not wanting to come off as too eager.

“At night?” She tilted her head to the side. “Isn’t that an odd set of hours to work on cars?”

I smiled. “I guess. But it’s the only time I can.”

Tatiana chuckled. “Okay then. I can try and have it brought over tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is perfect.” I closed the hood of the car. “I’ll see you then.” I walked back over to the car and dramatically fell against it. “Boys, hold me up, I think I’m in love!”

They all started laughing. “Get over yourself.” Jimmy pulled me into the car and we drove back home.

The next evening, just as I was finishing up business with the day boys, that beautiful red Cadillac V16 pulled up at the garage doors. I approached with caution and excitement to see Tatiana again. Instead, the doll woman stepped out.

“You’re the boy from last night,” she remarked. “You work here?”

“I own it.” I tried to hide my disappointment, until the passenger side opened. Tatiana was there after all! I smiled then looked at Coraline. “It’ll be an easy fix, ma’am.”

“I just want to make sure my girl isn’t getting fleeced,” Coraline sniffed. “I know how you boys just love to take advantage of-”

“Coraline,” Tatiana chided gently. “She’s protective of me,” she told me.

“You don’t need to worry, ma’am,” I said happily as I looked at Tatiana. “We don’t charge like a lot of other places do, and we make sure to itemize and explain all our work.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, young man.” Coraline huffed.

“If you ladies would like to wait in the office while I figure this out, you’re welcome to. Or do you have someone coming to pick you up?” I asked.

“We’ll go to the office,” Coraline said.

“Actually,” Tatiana spoke up. “I’d like to see how you work. It might be nice to know what to do next time it starts acting up.”

“You sure?” I rounded the car to open the hood. “Pretty girl like you shouldn’t have to worry about lifting a finger.”

Coraline’s eyes rolled as she stepped closer to Tatiana.

Tatiana giggled then looked to Coraline. “I’ll be fine. Go sit down in the office.” The two of them whispered while I started to look over things. I wish I had worn my nicer coveralls, but I wasn’t thinking. Then, she was beside me.

My whole body jumped in attention. “Hello!” My voice cracked.

Tatiana came close. “You’re a vampire, aren’t you?”

“Well,” I wiped my hand down my chest. “Aren’t you too?”

She smiled softly. “Your hair is black.”

“I dye it,” I choked for a second. “All of us here do.” I was breathless under her gaze. She was a hair taller than me, which I surprisingly enjoyed.

“Greasers, huh?” She giggled. “I was surprised. I rarely see my own kind outside the carnival.”

“Yeah,” I turned back to the car. “I was told when I was created to avoid humans. So it doesn’t surprise me a lot of us still hide away.”

“Why don’t you?” Tatiana asked.

I hesitated with telling her the real answer. I didn’t want to seem like I was too weird or too pathetic. But I don’t know, talking to her, I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted her to see me. All of me.

“I got lonely,” I told her. “I realized my mistakes and how suffocating it all was.” I was still focusing on the car. I was too nervous to look at her directly.

“That’s why I joined the carnival.” She leaned in closer, making my hands jump. “By the way, you wouldn’t happen to be Eugene too, would you?”

I jumped and hit my head on the car hood.

“Are you okay?” Tatiana gasped.

“No. Yeah! I mean-” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m fine. I’m Eugene too, but-” I couldn’t get any of my words out right. I had to laugh at myself. “You got my note.”

“It was very sweet. Thank you.” Tatiana said softly. “Sorry, I should let you work. I’ll uhm...I’ll be quiet again.”

“No, it’s alright. You can talk. I told you last night, I really don’t know how to act around pretty girls.” I leaned back inside. “I’ve actually never met a lady vampire before.”

“You haven’t? That’s remarkable.”

“My maker wasn’t fond of women in the slightest,” I told her. “He was rather put off by them in a lot of ways.” I checked the car’s oil, all the fluids. “I’m fond of them myself. I’m not really picky when it comes to the people I’m around.”

Tatiana began to smile when a whistle rang out through the shop. “Hey, Boss! Where’d you find the legs?”

“Go back to the hell hole you spawned from, Reggie!” I snapped back at him. “We got a lady here!”

“Hello, nice lady!” Reggie called out.

“Ignore them,” I huffed. “I’m sorry.”

Tatiana looked out across the garage then placed her hands on the car. She watched on intently as I worked. “Can you fix it?”

“Oh yeah, of course.” I wiped my hands on my front again. “It’ll just be a day or two is all. I gotta order a part, but that should be it.” I closed the hood on the car.

“That’s good to know.” She sighed with relief. “And yes, we’re here for two weeks. So you have time to fix it.”

“I can give ya’ll a ride back to the carnival, if you’d like.” I offered, if only to spend some more time with her. Then again, there was Coraline to contend with.

“That’d be nice, thank you,” Tatiana took the offer. I think she wanted the same thing.

I drove them both back, although Coraline sat between us. She was acting like a mother, but she was so small and looked like a kid. When we got back to the carnival, Tatiana hesitated leaving. While Coraline walked to the entrance, Tatiana came back to the car. She hopped inside and came close to me. For a moment, there was no air inside. It was all sucked out. Tatiana was close, her hair fell onto my arm, then her fingers.

“Come with me,” she said. “Let me show you the carnival from the other side.” She took my hand into her own. “You won’t be lonely here, Eugene.”

I took her offer, letting her lead me inside the carnival where the lights felt like the stars had fallen from the sky. I let Tatiana take me into the eternity I had only seen in the heavens. In her grasp, I didn’t just understand eternity, but for the first time in my immortal life, I actually felt it.

“Are you the only vampire here?” I asked her.

“No.” She opened a gate into the employees only area. “There’s six of us here.” She smiled back at me. “Like there are six at the garage.” She took me through the tents that served as the living quarters. People were standing around, only they weren’t people. There were fairies and creatures I had never seen before. Things from fairy tales I only had an inkling that they existed.

“This place is-” I stood still as she opened up a tent.

“It’s a sanctuary.” Tatiana tossed her coat inside then came back to my side. “For creatures like us. I wanted you to see it, since you said you were lonely.” She smiled brightly at me. “I wanted you to know.”

My maker had kept me secret for so long. He kept the world secret from me. Much like my father before him did as well. I had only started knowing the outside world, the people in it, myself most of all. It felt overwhelming to see that here, in a carnival of all places, was a world of its own. I had ran away to save myself, then again to save my friends. Why couldn’t I have found this place before?

“What would you like to see first?” Tatiana asked me.

I looked at her, breathless but thrumming with excitement. “Can I see you?”

Her expression was astounded and sweet. She held onto my hand again and came close. She smelled so good, I was around grease and men all the time. Which had its own charm, I cannot lie about the side of myself. But this was something else, something I’d be kept from. “Come, I’ll show you the dressing room. It’s the best place to see all the sides of me.”