25

You push the door open and are rewarded with a quick view of two bodies, intertwined, their arms wrapped around one another while their lips are locked together.

With a sudden squeak of surprise, the pair jerk apart, hurriedly rearranging their clothing as you walk into the classroom.

"Gods!" Val snaps, her usually pale cheeks colored with a hint of blush. "Didn't your human parents teach you to knock?"

"Did your human parents not teach you to lock doors?" you reply, stepping aside to allow Michelle to enter the classroom.

"So," Michelle says, "enjoying still being alive, I see?"

"Very much, thanks," Fritz says with a lack of any embarrassment. He raises his left arm, and you see that the limb is now whole again, ending in a bright golden forearm and hand that shines in the light from the gas lamps. "We were just…" He glances at Val for a moment. "Well, we were talking over our future."

"Future?" you ask, frowning slightly. "Bit early to think about marriage and buying apartments, isn't it?" You hesitate, considering everything you've ever heard about property prices. "Marriage, at least," you add.

Val rolls her eyes. "No, life coach," she says. "It's…it's me." She coughs, looking even more awkward than usual. "The, you know, the vampire thing. Whether I want to keep going on with it."

"That's something you get a say in?" Michelle asks, sounding surprised.

The vampire nods. "I was turned," she says simply. "Not born, like Sonia was." She shrugs her shoulders. "What was done can be undone. I could be human again. If I wanted." She glances at Fritz for a moment before saying, "Like he says, we were talking about it."