Chapter 6: Vampires Don’t Drink Blood, They Love Cola

(Part One)

No wind, but Cola’s silver hair dances wildly.
Each strand seems alive, greedily drawing invisible energy from the air.
Her red eyes glow faintly.
A crimson inverted cross slowly forms on her forehead, its fluorescent glow flowing like blood, as if freezing the air around her.
Blood-red patterns creep from where she bites—

Gulp, gulp…

She swallows hard.
The girl’s body visibly loses its blood-red hue.
This is the key step of the First Embrace—draining the other’s blood.
The blood condenses into a small mass inside Cola, then mixes with her blood essence before being injected back into the girl.

The girl’s shriveled body begins to fill out.
Her skin grows even paler, almost luminous.
Her wounds vanish at a visible rate.
Her stopped heart starts beating again.
Her stomach and chest heave violently, then she coughs out air, her breathing steadying.

“Phew… she’s alive…”
The crimson cross on Cola’s forehead fades.
The blood-red patterns on the girl vanish too.
The First Embrace drains Cola’s energy completely.
She’s exhausted.

But she can’t leave the girl here.
If that man wakes up, she’d be in danger.
Walking out with her would look weird, though.
Cola can’t carry her—not with her small frame.
Using vampire powers would be too obvious.

“Let’s see… fly… fly… how do I fly?”
Cola tilts her head, tapping her temple, sifting through a mess of inherited memories.
It’s like flipping through a move list—names alone don’t explain what they do, and the process is a hassle.
Luckily, flight’s a basic vampire skill, so she finds it quickly.

Flying’s simple: manifest wings, then think about rising.
Modern vampires also need a cloaking trick to avoid detection.
To normal people, it’d look like a weird, fast-moving cloud.
Crimson light gathers behind Cola, but instead of the grand wings she imagined, they’re tiny—like two fans.

She glances back, muttering skeptically, “These tiny wings can really get me airborne?”
Doubts aside, she imagines rising.
Her body lifts off, slowly ascending.

“It actually works… anti-gravity, huh?”
Cola smirks, struggling to hold the newly Embraced girl.
With a whoosh, she shoots into the sky.
Oddly, the girl feels light in flight, like some force lifts them both.
Cola weaves through clouds, her earlier exhaustion replaced by excitement.

“This is what flying feels like?
Like a dream—so awesome!
Clouds are cool… ugh, cough, cough…
Pfft, a mouthful of dust!
Ugh, I’m beat.
Flying’s exhausting.
Where’s a train station?
Home’s close…
I’ll push through…”

(Part Two)

Cola wakes to something fluffy tickling her cheek.
Opening her eyes, she’s disoriented, barely recalling how she got home.
Morning breeze lifts the white curtains through the open window, sharpening her fuzzy memories.

Last night…
She flew home.
Her first time entering through the window.
She was so exhausted she collapsed and slept.
As for the girl she turned into a vampire, she was just… tossed aside.

“Ah!
Right, I saved someone!”
Cola bolts upright, feeling something slide off her.
Glancing over, she sees the girl sleeping soundly, a slight smile on her face, like she’s having a sweet dream.

“Phew… looks okay.”
Cola sighs, then realizes she slept with a cute girl.
Her face flushes red, and she whooshes off the bed to the floor.
She always dreamed of sweet-talking a girl into bed, but now that it’s happened, she’s pure as a saint.

“Mmm…”
Maybe her movement was too loud.
The girl stirs, slowly opening her eyes—not red, just normal dark brown.
She blinks groggily, then sits up in panic, dragging out a long “Ehh?”

“You, you, you… who are you?
Where… where am I?”

“Stop, listen first!
I didn’t do anything to you, I swear!
I’m a gentleman!”

“Eh?”
The girl blinks, clearly confused by Cola’s meaning.

“Ahem!”
Cola coughs awkwardly, backing up to the window.
She lowers her head, feigning depth.
“Do you remember yesterday?”

“Yesterday…
Oh!
A man with a knife charged at you…
Right, you’re the girl cosplaying a vampire!”

“First,” Cola raises two slender fingers, “you died yesterday.
Second, I’m a real vampire.”

“Ehh?”

“You got your throat slit, then stabbed a dozen times.
Enough blood on the ground to dye fabric.”

“It’s… like that…
My throat hurt, the air I breathed was burning…”
Her eyes widen.
“Is this hell?!”

“No, no!
You’re not dead!
I saved you!”

“Eh?”

“I’m a vampire, okay?
Don’t let my looks fool you—I’m strong.
So, I, uh, turned you into a vampire to save your life.”

“Ehh—”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t watch you die.
You saved me.
I’m not that heartless.”

“Ehh—”

“Hey, is ‘eh’ all you can say?”

“So cool!!”

“Huh?”

“For real, I’m a vampire now?
Do I live off blood?
Steal from hospitals?
I’m so thirsty… is this blood thirst?”
Her eyes sparkle at Cola.
“Hey, do vampires only move at night?
Die in sunlight?
No shadow in mirrors, no image in photos?”

“…Pretty much like normal people.
Sun’s just annoying when it’s strong.”

“Eh?”

“I told you, I’m a strong vampire.”
Cola puffs out her chest proudly.
“Vampires I sire don’t have those weaknesses, got it?”

“Wow—that makes you… like a vampire duke?
You look my age, but are you hundreds, thousands of years old?”

“Ahem… don’t ask about age.”
Cola plays mysterious.
“If anything, I’m a vampire prince.”

“Then what am I?
A strong vampire too, right?”

“Uh… your powers haven’t awakened.
You’re maybe D-rank now.
Grow slowly, you might hit B-rank…”

“So—I’m a vampire viscount?!”

“You read too many vampire novels…”

“Isn’t that how it works?”

“Eh… close enough.”
Cola shrugs.

“But I’m so thirsty!
Do I need to suck blood?
Or I’ll die?”

“…Thirsty?”
Cola pauses, then opens the fridge, stuffed with all kinds of Coca-Cola—plastic bottles, cans, glass bottles, vanilla, cherry…
All Coca-Cola.

“Eh?
No blood?”

“Thirsty?
Drink soda…”
Cola rolls her eyes.
“I’m not into blood.
Drinking it yesterday nearly made me puke.”

Muttering, she grabs a bottle, twists the cap, and chugs.
Some spills, sliding from her lips to her collarbone, then into her clothes…

“A Cola-drinking… vampire?”

“Cola’s great.
No hurting anyone, just costs money.
Well… hurts the wallet a bit.”

“Pfft… what a weird dream.”

“Huh—you think this is a dream?”

“It’s not?”

“Of course not!
Bite yourself and see.”

“Ow, that hurts!”

“Did you have to bite that hard…
You’re bleeding.
You don’t have much blood yet, so drink some Cola to recharge.”
Cola tosses her a bottle.
“If you’re fine, you can go home.”

“Eh?
I don’t need to follow you?”

“Follow me for what?”
Cola blinks.

“Don’t Embraced vampires become their sire’s servants?
You don’t need me to serve you?”

“Serve me for what…
Ahem, nothing to do anyway.”
Cola rolls her eyes.
“No such rule.
Live your life normally.
If you kill anyone, I’ll sense it and come end you humanely.”

“Oh~ we’re good vampires!”

“That phrase sounds so contradictory…”

“But, wow, vampires are real!
So magical!”

“Uh-huh…”

“And Cola really quenches thirst!”

“No sh*t…”

“Hey, revered ancient vampire prince!
What’s your name?”

“Just call me normally…
I’m Cola.”

“Eh?”

“Coca-Cola’s Cola.
Didn’t I say yesterday?”

“Your real name?!”

“Yup… want to see my student ID?”

“Student ID?!”

“Stop freaking out…
So, what’s your name?”

“Yuezuki Liuli!”