She was the most beautiful girl I've ever met before. I couldn't even dream to pick her up. 

Back then, I was just a new officer at Tissue Patrol Department, whereas she was working as a public relations manager at the main office of Coordinating Council. 

That night I was a bit drunk. "The Ranger" was the only pub at the Base, so it was the usual place to meet friends and make a party. 

When she came in, I was not yet too drunk to dance on a table, but brave enough to do crazy things. That was the only reason why I talked to her. 

And she was amazing! With that little red dress and high heels, with her long dark hair and shining violet eyes. And she didn't even look at me or anyone of my friends. Yes, that girl was as cold as ice. But nothing could stop me st that moment.

I followed her on her way to the bar counter, waited until she had ordered a beverage and said, "I'll pay!"

Then I set down beside the girl and smiled. I thought she would push me away, but she didn't. The girl glanced at me and said, “Well, let's burn up the night, honey.” 

After that we were drinking, and laughing, and dancing and suddenly she kissed me. Her kiss tasted of honey and poison. It was the taste of sin. 

So, we moved to her apartment. Everything was unbelievable, so amazing as it had never been before. 

All of sudden, she bit my neck. That's what it was: she was drinking my blood! I grabbed her hair and pulled her awayfrom.me. Her eyes were burning like those of a beast. Her long fangs were covered with my blood. And she was smiling! 

I screamed. 

"Don't you like this?" she asked. 

"You are a vampire!"

I pushed her away, jumped out of the bad and started rummaging around for my clothes. 

"Don't leave," she said, "I can explain everything."

No way! I ran out of the room and to the elevator. I dressed right in the cabin. I didn't find my socks, but it didn’t matter. It  was ok. I was fine. I was alive. Alive. 

"Holy shit!" I thought. "Does anybody know what this brunette is? She works at the Coordinating Council! How could it happen?! How? I have to tell it to my uncle. I'll do it tomorrow."

*** 

I didn't meet anyone on my way to the dormitory. The person on duty was sleeping and didn't see me slip past him. I took my key and went to my room. 

I stood in front of the mirror, looking at my reflection.I saw the blood on my collar and the teeth-prints on my neck. I washed my face and neck with the trembling hands and I treated the wound with alcohol. I was still terrified, but after a while I was able to think about the situation. "Wow, Archee! You're a lucky devil!" I said to myself. 

I had to drink something to pull myself together, but it wasn't easy to get something in the middle of the night. Finally I knocked on my neighbor Capitan Gunn's door, and he sold to me some of his moonshine. 

I returned to my room, turned on the light. And found her sitting in the arm-chair. That vampire! 

I dropped the bottle and backed away. 

"Is it you?" I asked  hoarsely. 

She chuckled. "Oh, Formless! Don't chicken out, honey. I won't eat you." 

I rubbed my bitten neck. 

She stood up, stretched out and walked towards me. I saw that she had changed her dress. Now she was wearing the black skirt and the blue shirt, but she still looked gorgeous. I found myself staring at her breast under the tight blouse. 

"Hey, dude! She's a vampire", I reminded to myself. 

"My name is Mara", she said.  "Wanna drink?"

She gave me a glass of dark-red liquid.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's a medicine." 

I took a sip and started coughing.  Damn it! It was blood! I threw the glass at the wall and grabbed her arms. I wasn't scared of her anymore. I was furious. 

"Are you nut?! How dare you give it to me? Whom have you murdered, you bitch?"

She twitched and tried to get free, but I held her tight. 

"Don't you want it?" she murmured. "Why?"

"I've asked you a question! Where did you get that blood?"

"There. Don't you really want it?"

"No!"

She looked at my face, trying to read something in it. 

"It's impossible," she whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud," she smiled again. "That was just a stupid joke."

"It was, indeed."

"I'm sorry, I wish I didn't bite you."  she said. "But I was drunk and... "

"Forget about it. May I ask you a question?"

"What question?"

"Does you chief know you are a vampire?"

She made a deep breath and glanced right into my eyes. 

"I am a half-vampire, Archee. I live like a human. And my chief, Kordgan, knows it. Ask him if you don't believe me."

But somehow I believed her. Then she kissed me, and I forgot about my fears. And she didn't bite my anymore. That day she didn't, at least.

The next night I moved from the dormitory to her apartment. I was in love! We spent two happy and absolutely crazy months. I didn't pay attention to gossiping behind my back, and neither did I care about envy of my colleagues. However, I never forgot to wrap a scarf around my neck. 

*** 

Have I told you that the Tissue is not a safe place, and people can get lost there? They can fall into magnetic anomaly, for instance, or disappear in the Outlaw Zone. It's known that  the Tissue Patrol Department is not a civil organization but a police force. Any one of us can be killed on the job. Sometimes it happens. 

But how could anofficer get lost right at the Base? He went to the pub and didn't come back - how? The Base was a close place. Only Patrollers, Coordinators and service workers lived there. I knew about the accident as much as other officers - just gossips. Nobody told us about the investigation, all the details were top secret.

 If somebody asked my opinion, I would say this:  there was a big and dangerous world behind the high fence of our Base. There lived very aggressive predators with no brains in their heads. If you go outside, you'll die. Noone would do it in his right mind. Then again, if one were drunk and did it on a dare... It was possible. Really. I was sure I was right. 

*** 

That night I came home after duty with flowers in my hands and a small gift for my fiancée. I had been away for some days and missed her so much.

Mara met me in the hall. 

"Darling! What a surprise!"

"Surprise..."

My smile vanished when I saw the man behind her. It was Captain Gunn, he lived next door to me in the dormitory. I didn't have time to ask a question because he yelled and attacked us. His shirt was covered with blood and his eyes were full of madness. 

I pushed Mara aside and took a step towards Gunn. I grabbed his hand and threw him back against the wall. After such a collision, Gunn should lie down quietly and not move. But he jumped to his feet and lunged at me again. I dodged and landed a punch to his solar plexus.

"Hey, dude!" I shouted. "What's wrong with you?"

He didn't answer and attacked me again. His hands were at my throat and his face changed dramatically. His eyes, with vertical pupils, turned yellow. I swear they were brown before! And I saw fangs in his mouth. Holy shit! I tried to escape, but he grabbed me by the throat with his palms and tryed to bite me with his grinning mouth.  So I grabbed his throat in turn, not letting him finish the manoeuver, and smashed my knee into his stomach. Then we fell and rolled across the floor. Eventually the bastard was on top of me. I held him by the neck and didn't let him get to me, but my arms were getting tired. 

"Gunn! Stop it" I screamed. 

But he didn't hear me. He roared and snapped his teeth and tried to seized me by the throat. 

Then suddenly he collapsed and fell.

Mara was standing over us with a blood-covered kitchen knife in her hand. I pushed the body away and crawled backwards until my back hit the couch.

"You killed him!" I croaked. 

"I didn't let him kill you," she replied calmly. 

I was so frightened I couldn't understand what had happened. 

"He was an officer. You've killed the officer!"

"I saved your life!"

I pressed my palms to my temples.

"We have to report the accident," I said and went to the phone. 

Mara blocked my way. 

"No, Archee. We won't."

"Why?" I asked. 

"You are right. We've killed the officer. We will both be deported. At best."

I stared at her like a fool. 

"But what are we going to do with the body?"

"We'll hide it," she ran her fingers over my cheek, "no one will find out what happened. Believe me, darling." 

I nodded obediently. 

 We wrapped the body in the blankets and dragged it behind the fence when night came. Not a bone wound be left in the morning. 

Poor bastard! He went to the pub and didn't come back. 

We returned to our apartment and Mara poured some whisky into a glass. 

"Drink it. You'll feel better." 

I raised the glass to my mouth but didn't drink. "Just a moment," I said to myself, "something is wrong here. I remembered the marks I've seen on Gunn's neck. But that was impossible!  

"Mara. Why did Gunn come to you?" I asked. 

She shrugged. 

"He was looking for you. I made him some coffee, that's all. I have no idea what happened to him."

 I sighed. I was sure that was not all. By the way... I jumped up and hurried to the bedroom. I had already figured it all out, but I didn't want to believe it.

I saw the crumpled sheet with blood stains on it. 

"Oh no! What is this?" I shook her shoulders with all my anger. "What the hell happened here?"

She chuckled cruelly.

"I'm sorry, my darling. I thought you were coming back tomorrow."

"What?"

I felt as if something was broken inside me. 

"I was thirsty and needed some blood," she said. 

"Just blood?" I asked with a stupid hope. 

"Some blood, some sex," she shrugged. 

I grabbed my head. 

"You're an idiot, Mara! He was a blabbermouth. He would have told everyone what you are!"

"He wouldn't. One more missing person."

"What did you say?" I cried. 

"Don't pretend you don't understand, my sweet boy. Did you really think I could leave that crazy vampire alive?"

"Gunn wasn't a vampire!"

"But he turned into one."

I sank back into the nearest chair, exhausted. 

"I don't get it." 

"The bite of a vampire turns a human into a vampire," she explained. "A secondary vampire. A stupid and predatory bloodthirsty beast. That's why I don't leave anyone alive." 

"And what about me?"

My question sounded stupid.

She hummed. 

"You are the fast runner, that's why I didn't kill you that night. But I came after you later. I had some blood to lure a new vampire and a silver knife to kill it."

"So why didn't you?" 

"You hadn't changed," she explained. "You were the first person to remain yourself."

"So what?" 

"How could I kill you? You're the best partner for me. If you stay with me, I don't have to kill, I don't have to hunt, I don't have to hide. It's absolutely safe."

She tried to take my hand, but I wouldn't let her. I backed up and leaned against the wall. I felt sick and couldn't believe what she was saying. 

"Archee, just try to understand..."

"I don't want to!" I shouted, "I can't! I was in love with you! But you... You used me."

"That's not true!" Mara said with tears in her voice. 

"It is true! Just tell me. How many... How many people did you murder during the time we were together? 

"None!" she said, moving closer to me. "There were none, I swear! Only Gunn, but he came to me himself."

"You're lying!" I slapped her face.

She flew back to the wall and fell down. I stared at my hand and couldn't believe what I had done. Mara raised her head. Her eyes were full of hate. "You're dead," she said and attacked me with all her fury. She scratched my face and pounced me with her fists. But I pulled her down and pinned her arms to the floor with my hands to keep her from reaching my face. She tried to twitch, but I held her tight. 

I licked the blood from my lip and said, "And now we'll go to the Supreme Coordinator."

"You're not going to do that," she hissed. 

"Oh, I surely will."

"No, you won't. Otherwise, everyone will know that you killed Gunn out of jealousy."

"It was you! You killed him!"

"It's word against yours. By the way, you helped hide the body! You're a collaborator."

"I don't care."

"You're a fool!" She said with a mocking smile. "Do you want to ruin your career and your life because of jealousy? Okay. But what about Colonel Igan? What is he guilty of?"

"She knows what to say!" I thought to myself, "It would be a terrible shock to my uncle. After this, he will never speak to me. He never liked my girlfriend. Besides, I don't know how this story will affect his career. I can't let my only relative down like that."

"You see, I'm right," Mara said.

"Yes, you're right. Then I'll kill you myself." 

"You will not do that. You are not brave enough."

I swore. She laughed. I left her and went to the kitchen. There was emptiness in my soul. I fell on the couch and drank half a bottle of whiskey. 

Mara came into the kitchen a quarter of an hour later. She was wearing the strict pantsuit and her hair was  braided. Her face was cold and I couldn't see any emotion in it. She had nothing in common with the crazy witch who had attacked me a few minutes ago. 

"I'm leaving," she said. 

"It's your apartment."

"I'm leaving. I won't come back. It will not be safe for me to stay at the Base."

I wanted to ask her where she was going, but I didn't. It didn't matter anymore. 

"I'm sorry," she said. 

"It couldn't go on," I replied. "Goodbye, Mara."

She came to me and looked into my eyes. 

"Will you kiss me goodbye?"

I remembered Gunn's crazy eyes and her cruel words, "Some blood to lure and a silver knife to kill..."

I pushed her away, "Don't touch me, you bitch!"

She froze for a second and her pupils went vertical.

"We will meet someday, Archee. Never turn your back on me!"

***

 The next morning I was on duty and heard the latest news. A soldier from my squad was telling the story to two patrol squads.

"Last night Curt was walking home from a date. And it jumped on him. This beast. It has huge fangs and crazy flaming eyes! Curt wasn't fazed and hit it with all the power of his hand-shocker. The beast went up in smoke! You'll never guess what it was! The vampire! How could he hide for so long?"

"Who are you talking about?" I asked. 

"It was Lieutenant Skrell, the officer of the third squad. He killed so many people. But now he is dead."

I left our office and walked away. I couldn't believe it. Skrell! He was my best friend. My only friend. Poor Skrell...

I raised my head and yelled, "Mara! You're a bitch! Why didn't I kill you? Why?!"