Fox found the poster buried beneath a pile of adverts outside the main dining hall. It was an artsy little thing, swathed in comforting lines of poetry and a rich baby blue. It came with promises of a safe space for vampires and their bonded pairs, somewhere they could relax without the pressures of an intolerant society weighing down on them. I have to admit, the creator of this poster sure seemed passionate about the whole project. It was made from the poster paper you get from the library, the colors popped and demanded your attention, and the visuals were rather high quality. All around, this was a competent piece of media. Which made the lack of a name, email, or any other form of contact extremely suspicious. All that was given was a meeting place and time, forcing curious onlookers to attend for more details. The allure was too strong to ignore. 

Or, at least that’s how Fox made it sound. I knew he was persuasive, but after ten seconds of hearing him talk about this student org, I started to believe he should exchange the protractor and building materials for a nice suit and lectern. The politician's life was calling his name with how he made me care deeply about something I’ve never given a second thought to previously. He had me believing that this was my one chance to make vampire friends on campus and that having a community of people who understood me would be beneficial to my social well-being… Okay, when I put it like that, he might have a point. 

Needless to say, it didn’t take much convincing to get me to stand in the middle of a hallway straight out of a horror movie in the basement of the MacArthur building. This is my first time being down here and I see why people say to avoid it. The vibes are completely off with this one. It’s strangely deserted and cold, making me grab Fox’s paw a little tighter as we make our way further into the basement. The only sign of life down here is the nearly empty vending machine whose light is trying its darndest to stay on, but its flickering only added to the horror theme. In front of us are a set of double doors with black paper taped over the windows. I know the leader of this club is secretive but isn’t this a bit much? When I look to Fox for some reassurance, he just shrugs his shoulders and plants a soft kiss on my forehead. My heart flutters in response. It’s a bit cliche, but I feel like I can do anything with him here. Go on any mission, conquer every battle, all of those tropes. I never really understood those sappy sayings until I met him. 

Without much fanfare, Fox pushes open the doors. No knock or announcement of our presence, we just walk straight in. Our little show of bravery causes a few heads to turn, but most go back to whatever they were doing shortly after. The only one who seems to pay us any mind is an excited-looking wolf in a turtleneck and glasses bounding over to us. Skidding to a stop, he sticks out his paw for us to shake. 

“Welcome to Club Vampyre! My name is Trenton. You are both first time visitors, correct?”

I nod and shake his paw. Despite his slender figure, this guy has quite the paw strength. He locks onto mine like a vice and shakes it vigorously, using his other paw to enclose it like a trap. He does all this while giving me the biggest smile and as far as I can tell, it’s rather genuine. 

“My name’s Cali,” I offer and his eyes sparkle in response.

“So that’s your name! I see you all the time, but assumed you preferred your space. I’m so glad you’re here now though!”

I awkwardly nod again, jitters running up my arms. I was never amazing at dealing with these types of people. While their energy reserves seemed endless, mine slowly depleted just from being around them. I can feel my social battery already running on low as Trenton moves on to his next victim, shaking Fox’s outstretched paw. 

“Oskar,” Fox says in his signature gruff voice. The wolf beams at him all the same. 

“Now you are a face that I don’t recognize. How have you been hiding from me all these years?” He looks at me and chuckles. “Unless you’re a freshman, but you don’t see many of those hanging around seniors.” Fox laughs with him.

“No, no. I’m not a vampire.” The wolf’s smile slowly fades and I can feel the eyes of the other people in the room on us as they begin to take interest. 

“I’m sorry, but this is supposed to be a vampire-only space,” Trenton says, his shoulders slumping a little bit. With how close Fox and I are standing together, it doesn’t take much to infer that we’re a couple and it seems like Trenton comes to that conclusion a few seconds later. His frown deepens upon this realization.

“I’d be glad to hang out with you and Cali some other time though,” he says, trying to remain hopeful. Fox looks over at me and I nod. This is going to be an awkward conversation.

“Weeeeeee’re, kinda bonded,” I respond. The background chatter dies instantly and a quick glance around the room proves that we’re now the center of attention. People are putting down their phones to look at us. That’s how you know this is a crazy occurrence. Trenton looks between us both before focusing his attention on me again. 

“You two are bonded?” he asks and I nod.

“In college?” I nod again.

“You know that’s a lifelong commitment, right? Not doubting you, of course! It’s just a little early…” he trails off with an awkward chuckle and an adjustment of his glasses. 

Gosh, I hate everyone staring at me like this. It reminds me of all the times I fucked up a presentation or some other project in front of my class in middle school. Sweat starts to run down my paws and my hoodie feels tight against my frame despite being oversized. Instinctively, I begin to fiddle with one of my onyx rings, but that doesn’t bring me any solace. Their eyes are still trained on me, still judging. 

Fox clasps my paw in his and squeezes. It doesn’t take away all the nervousness, but it reminds me to breathe and that’s just what I need right now. These are the people I’m supposed to be comfortable around, right? I won’t ever reach that point if I’m this freaked out by a valid question. Taking a deep breath, I steel my resolve and prepare to do something I would have never done previously. Standing on the tips of my toes, I reach up and plant a kiss square on Fox’s cheek, rubbing his shoulder as I come back down flat-footed. His dark fur lightens with a blush. 

“He’s the one,” I smile.  

Looking back at Trenton provides little to no clarity. He’s stuck staring at us as if he’s a video game character that’s been paused mid-action. The wolf sternly bites his lip, arms crossed in a tense concentration. His eyes are as piercing as Fox’s. Maybe it’s a vampire thing, but it feels like he’s trying to read my thoughts or something. You can practically see the gears turning inside his head, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. The rest of the room watches as well, waiting to see what he’ll say. Finally, Trenton breaks out of his trance and that jubilant smile returns to his muzzle.

“Well, even though I said bonded pairs were welcome on the poster, I didn’t think we’d actually get any!” As he laughs to himself, the entire room breathes a collective sigh of relief. I was starting to sweat there too. Maybe there’s more to Trenton than the happy-go-lucky wolf he presents himself as. 

“I’m happy for you two!” he squeals, enveloping me in a hug before I can say anything. It’s the same treatment as the pawshake from earlier. His arms lock around my back and squeeze, threatening to snap my bones like glowsticks. When he disengages, it feels like all the air has been vacuumed out of my body. A little wobbly, I need a step to regain my balance. The few audible giggles in the background don’t go unnoticed though and Trenton pauses.

“Oh, you’re fine with hugs, right?” he asks, giving me a cheeky smile. Well, if there’s a darker side to him, he does a good job of hiding it. I can see why he leads this club. Just from these first few minutes, I’m already tired and want to go along with whatever he says. He could pass me a contract that ships my soul to the devil and I’d sign. 

I go back to my default, nodding along until he moves on to Fox. As the two strike up a conversation, Trenton seems to be intrigued by what being the bonded member is like, I finally get a good look around the room. The theming is a bit all over the place. It’s part sophisticated coffee bar/lounge and part nerdy game area. Large tables with different board games stacked on top of them fill out the left part of the room. There’s a TV with different consoles plugged into it and even an arcade cabinet on that side as well. The right side is filled with different types of couches and chairs. The people over there are actually pouring drinks and seem to be working on some type of project as there are several papers splayed across a wooden table in the middle. All of this is bathed in the natural moonlight coming through from the windows in the back. It’s… quite refreshing. 

“So, do you two know what we do here?” Trenton asks. When I shake my head, he grins and clasps his paws together.  “Perfect! I’d love your insight on our little mission here, Cali. I’m sure you’ve heard of John Polidori?” 

“No?” I question. His eyes widen and he puts a finger up, darting to another side of the room. I look over at Fox who says that he’s an author, but Trenton returns before he can say anything else. In his paws is a tiny red book that’s definitely gone through some wear and tear. The pages are brown, aged, and look like they’d crumble into dust if you flipped them too strongly. On the cover in bold silver lettering reads, ‘The Vampyre’. Trenton hands the book to me and I take it carefully. 

“This is the first significant work of vampire prose in the English-speaking world. There were plenty of poems before this, mostly written by,” he looks over to Fox, “the Germans, but this right here was big. This singular short story gave birth to the majority of negative vampire stereotypes that haunt us today. It created a mythos. One that cast us as the all-powerful villain in this cosmic play, a supernatural malignant force that left death in its wake, tearing apart families, and most importantly, societal norms, one by one. Now as much as I would love to have superpowers, I think we can both agree that the ideas written in here,” he lightly pats the book in my paws, “are misguided at best and downright malicious at worst. I’m sure you know how we’re still reaping the consequences to this day.” 

I look down at the book myself, seeing the faded pages in a new, judgmental light. I didn’t know that this was the reason people saw vampires as evil creatures. Or, at least this was the well those ideas were drawn from. Now that I think about it, I don’t really know much about vampire history at all. After I turned, I just kind of accepted this new reality and tried to live as normal as possible. When I look back up at Trenton, his eyes are sparkling with hope. 

“What we do here, is strive to change these miscast stereotypes and take back our image in the public sphere. Other people don’t get to write our story for us. We vow to shape our future one page at a time.” 

He finishes his speech with a fist against his heart as if saluting his valiant cause. I look back over at the papers spread across the coffee table, the people writing away on their laptops in the corner, and finally understand.

“So, you’re a book club!” 

Trenton freezes and Fox tries to hide a snort with his paw. I’m not sure what’s so funny though. They read and write books. Isn’t that what a book club is? The wolf slowly readjusts his glasses and looks at me with a newfound understanding as well. His smile takes on a warmer tone and he places a paw on my shoulder.

“Y-yes, we’re a book club. Would you like to join?”