Life, Death and Afterlife: The Tale of a Vampire

So here I am, on my doorstep, with one of my best friend staring me in the face and telling me that she knows I tortured her. Uh-oh. I have three options. One. Lock her in the basement and thoroughly enjoy eating her tonight. There's a chance that she will either pick the lock or phone the police to say that she's been kidnapped. Two. Ask her to come inside, slit her throat and throw her in the basement. People will notice that she's missing. Plus, I am currently "human" and feel remorse. Three. Explain to her that I'm a vampire. Hell no. Telling her means telling all my friends.

"I'm coming in," she says, "I have a feeling that you're hiding something."
"No." I can't let her know.
"Why not? You're just proving that you have something to hide. Either let me in and tell me or watch me ring the police."
Oh. Blackmail. I should have seen that coming a mile off. This is Sunset Shimmer. She knows how to blackmail someone with ease.
"No?" she asks.
"Come in," I mumble, quietly planning how to force her into the basement and push the sofa down the stairs so that she can't escape.

She sits on the sofa and asks me to come over. Reluctantly, I sit at the other end.
"So," she says, getting straight to business, "I remember being attacked at night on this street. I remember being thrown into a wall. I remember waking up in a basement with the walls spattered in blood. I remember staring at a creature. It had bat-like wings and two curved horns on its head. It looked a lot like a hairless cat. Its claws were cutting my arms and legs. It used its mouth to throw me into the wall again by my T-Shirt and knock me out. It's strange that I remember being in a room whilst the torture goes on and then waking up in the street where the monster attacked me. Then you just happen to find me. You carry me in such a way that the police can't do DNA tests on my clothes because they know your DNA is on there. Admit it. You're a monster."

I have nothing to say. My mouths opens but I can't think of anything that might defuse the situation. I make no noise, but tears stream down my face as I realise everything she said is true. I kill other people just because I want to, because I can't control myself. Even when I appear human and think like a human, I am a monster who cannot control itself. Yes. I am an it. A thing. A monster. A beast. I killed my own auntie! What kind of niece is that?! I am evil. I should crawl in that basement, lock it and never step outside again. But what happens if I get hungry? I'll never die because I'm already dead, and my beast instincts could take over...

She shuffles up the sofa and wraps a scarred arm around me. I smile through the tears.
"I have a voice inside my head," she tells me. "I have an inner demon. I have murderous rages. Although I don't eat other people. That's a new one for me." I laugh, despite myself. "So, what's it like being a monster?"
I think hard before I speak. "It's difficult. I can smell blood. Every day that I go to school, I can smell blood in other people's veins. I have a drive to get that blood in whatever way I can. Some days it's all I can think about."
She pauses before saying, "Vampire. A beast that pretends to be human and eats other people. Known for drinking blood. How come you eat vegetables then?"
"I always have. I can't eat animals. I guess it's part of being an animal. Plus, vampire taste buds tend to prefer human." I sniff. "Go away, your blood smells so sweet! Adrenaline!" She shuffles back to the other end of the sofa. "Thanks. I was going to lose it there."

We sit in silence for a bit, then Sunset asks a question that I wasn't expecting.
"Remember when you attacked me? Could you taste that I wasn't really human?"
"Hmm," I say, "I - I think I could. Your blood wasn't as nice. You were - sour."
"You mean like those sour sweets you can buy at Sugarcube Corner?"
"Yes. A bit."
"Yeeeewwww. By the way, we're going to be late for school."
I look at the clock. "Yay. School. No blood. No meat. Pretending to be vegan. I can't exactly eat someone's flesh for lunch, can I?"
I really did not need to hear that."

We walk outside and I notice that something is wrong. The sun is setting instead of rising. About half of it is below the horizon. Sunset looks at me.
"This is bad," she says. "Fluttershy, go somewhere that you can't hurt anyone. Now."
Why?
"Why?" I question.
"No sunlight. You'll turn on me." I realise too late that I left the house without the keys. I am locked out. I feel myself growing and all of a sudden I spot someone down the street who is actually human and I can smell that they have a cut and all I can think about is blood. Blood. Blood. I watch them with mild interest as the rain begins to fall and a crescent moon appears between the clouds. I snarl as the person walks away.
"Fluttershy," Sunset says cautiously. I growl at her for distracting me and look at the human. He stares at us as Sunset walks in front of me. She holds out a hand and tells me, "No. Bad girl. I can find a way to help you if you don't attack anyone. I see something in her eyes. Something that is rare to see in the eyes of Sunset Shimmer. Hurt. Not hatred. Not fear. Hurt. Hurt at what I am about to do. She tells the person to leave slowly. I want to tell her that I am starving. All I manage is a whimper. I fight against the urge to attack the person. I turn back into a person and find myself on my hands and knees, the tears running again at what I am. I curl up and wish that I was still a small girl, that my parents and my auntie and I were still alive, that I had never turned into this thing. I could do anything to wipe myself from existence. I just lay there weeping, doing something remotely human. Then I realise that I have a heartbeat and a breath in my body and weep with joy and guilt and apologise to those people whom I killed. I hug Sunset, and we both decide that we need a day off school. We clean the basement and I lick some blood and it tastes disgusting. I am human. I am human. The sun returns to normal. I am human.

But that night, I become a beast again and lock myself away, cleaning the blood off the walls of the basement with my tounge and cursing everything that led me to my demise as a person. The fact is, I have a beast raging inside me and it will never go away. I have adopted a new philosophy though. There is no point in wishing that I am something I am not. I am a vampire. I am a beautiful vampire. I have human friends and help other humans. I help other animals like me. The vicious ones who need a bit of friendship to fight their greatest enemies: themselves.

I am who I am, and I am proud of it.