5. Moving On

Remi had gone a bit off the rails, there, for a while. He saw that now. The whole burning-up-in-the-sun-for-your-star-crossed-lover thing had been a bit extreme. But still, he’d got something off it: he was finally given the sign he’d needed. Grim had brought him back. He cared. Now it was time for Remi to honor him. For the rest of his life, he vowed, he would honor Grim. And the gift he’d been given made it so much easier. Don’t worry, Grim. He’d still move on insofar as he could. Promise.

For the next months, Remi lived with the Vatores. Lilith didn’t seem to like this—or him, for that matter—much, but Remi didn’t care. It’s not like they’d ever gotten along, anyway. Well, there’d been this thing when he hosted a party dressed as a rocker vampire once… dressed as the rocker vampire he knew he was.

For a moment he’d thought he might get Lilith on his side, after all. But no. She still didn’t care for him.

For a while, he got along great with Caleb. More than great, sometimes. But altogether great. He provided him with a really nice home, and in return Remi promised to adhere to Caleb’s diet. God, how he hated that diet. He didn’t know how Caleb did it. Those plasma bags did nothing to quench his thirst. And the thirst, in turn, made him agitated. Irritable. And an irritable Remi wasn’t a whole lot of fun, he admitted himself.

And so he and the Vatores started falling out more and more. And the more they fell out, the less Remi cared about the diet they’d prescribed for him. You see, it was all a sequence of events. The first time he drank again, he kindly asked permission. But she wouldn’t give it to him, and so he was forced to compel her for a more… satisfactory drink. No, he didn’t feel guilty about it. Why would he? He was a vampire, now. He had his needs. And it’s not like she died or anything.

When he found out how one of his friends, Anita, had been looking at him a lot lately, he decided to take advantage of it. He’d invite her to parties every night, and every night she’d be more than happy to accompany him. And they’d have fun, too. It’s not like he only invited her to drink from her. Really. Although he did just that, every night. But hey, it was better than to simply attack some random person on the street. Not that he never did that… oh, shut up. He didn’t need to justify himself.

Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before Caleb found out. It still took him surprisingly long. But when he did, boy, was he angry. Remi forced his expression into one of perfect innocence, lower lip protruding in a pout, batting his eyelashes.

But alas, it didn’t work. Caleb still kicked him out.

So from thereon he was a poor lowlife again, who lived on the streets off of small loans and his guitar. How unimportant that diet seemed now.

One night, when he’d just woken up from a peaceful slumber under his favorite bridge, he saw the most beautiful woman in this whole universe and beyond. At first, he thought she was an angel. The way she looked, pale and fair, the way she walked with such flair, the radiance that emitted from her. He gaped at her as she walked past him, this angel, this goddess. She shot him a contemptuous look and walked on. He followed her. When he finally gathered the nerve, he called at her.

She turned around, perfect features screwed up into a frown. Searched her pocket and threw a dollar at him. “There you go. Now please, leave me alone.”

He bent down to take the dollar, still mesmerized. When he finally regained his senses, she was long gone.

A/N: Unfortunately found that once again I’m lacking on screenshots, which, annoying… but it also means that for now, this mysterious stranger’s appearance can be left completely to your own imagination. 😏