1

“Will you please stand still? You‟re making this too difficult and I‟m not that patient.”

Tynan grunted, making an effort to keep his muzzle slightly open as he stood in the middle

of the hallway, wings spread at his back as if he was about to take flight. He tried his best

not to move a single muscle, except for the slow arcs his spiked tail was tracing in the air

behind him. The green dragon had been posing like that for only three minutes, but it was

getting increasingly difficult to do as his bat friend suggested. He felt the constant need to

move and, after so much preparation, he definitely wanted to see the result.

“I think the paint is finally drying,” Reed noted then, glancing at the dragon‟s wings. The

fruit bat was way shorter than his friend, so he didn‟t really have to bow or crouch to see

the membranous limbs covered in paint. “But don’t move. Last thing I want is having to

clean myself again because you were too impatient.”

Tynan rolled his eyes. The last time that had happened, it hadn‟t been his fault. He felt

tempted to say that out loud, but he was supposed to remain motionless if he wanted his

costume to be perfect. Reed was right, though. He was impatient. The dragon stared ahead,

trying to relax and think about something that would keep him entertained. He couldn‟t

find anything.

And the fake, pointy fangs the bat had carefully placed on his upper jaw weren‟t making

things easier, either. Not licking them, not talking and not moving his mouth at all for ten

minutes was easier said than done.

“You‟re going to look great, though,” the bat assured him, as if he could sense the dragon‟s

frustration. He picked a hand mirror from a shelf nearby and opened it to look at his own

reflection. “I think I should put on a costume, too. It would definitely be a lot easier for me

to pass as a vampire. At least I‟ve already got the fangs sorted out,” he added, baring his

pointy teeth at his reflection.

Tynan gave him a threatening look, as if to say I dare you to steal my costume, Reed. But

the bat giggled and his crystalline laughter filled the hallway.

2

“Don‟t look at me like that! I‟ve already got it planned.”

The green dragon let out a couple sounds, his mouth still open. It somehow sounded like

„thank you‟. Reed frowned, still holding the mirror in his hand.

“Hey, don‟t speak!” he complained. “I told you, you‟re looking good and if you don‟t…

Tynan, let go of the mirror. T-Tynan! Stop!!”

But it was already too late. After a brief struggle in which the dragon clearly had the upper

hand, Reed felt the mirror slipping from his grasp. He squeaked in annoyance, trying to

tighten his grip, but it was already too late – Tynan pulled harder and he managed to take

the mirror from the bat‟s wing, hitting his own muzzle with the back of his hand in the

process. It didn‟t hurt, but there was a cracking sound.

Ignoring Reed‟s glare, the green dragon examined himself, already afraid of what he was

going to see.

“Oh…” he whispered, when he saw that the fake fangs were hanging from his upper jaw in

a completely unnatural fashion, only one end still connected to his actual teeth. Tynan‟s

eyes moved to the bat apologetically and then he saw that he‟d hit one of his hands as they

struggled, smearing on it the paint that was supposed to stay on his wings. The dragon‟s

heart sank as he realized that he had ruined his own costume.

“I can‟t believe it. I told you not to move and look at what you did!” Reed was saying at that

moment, seemingly very cross. “Do you want to go to the party or not?”

“I… I do,” Tynan answered, with a thin voice. “I was just impatient. I‟m sorry…”

The fruit bat looked up at the dragon, still a bit irritated and ready to retort. However, his

expression softened a bit when he noticed a genuine sad look on his friend‟s face and he

understood that there was no need to scold him any further. Tynan was already blaming

himself, his tail now lying motionless between his legs. Reed let out a long sigh, scratching

the back of his head.

“Well,” he began, after a few seconds. “Let‟s try one last time, okay?”

The green dragon‟s face lighted up a bit.

“Would you… would you do that for me?” he asked, honest astonishment in his voice.

“Mhm. As I said, you were looking good. And we‟ve already been doing this for an hour,

so… I don‟t want to let that time go to waste.”

3

Tynan looked at the bat, still amazed. Then his open-muzzled expression turned into a

grateful smile.

“Thank you, Reed. You‟re the best.”

“I am definitely too patient with you,” the bat grumbled, as his friend removed the now

weirdly separated fangtips from his mouth and handed them to him. Reed couldn‟t help

but grimace a bit when he felt some wetness on them, and quickly cleaned them against his

clothes. Then, an idea came into his mind and he looked up again, with a determined

smile. “But I want to make sure this time is the last. Do you trust me?”

That question took Tynan by surprise.

“Well, I… Sure! I do.”

“Good! Then let‟s change things a bit,” Reed suggested, a bit excitedly. “For starters, this

time you get to look in the mirror right now, okay?”

“Oh, sure! Fantastic,” the dragon agreed, still smiling. I don’t get why that would help,

though, he thought. Maybe the bat just wanted to make sure he wouldn‟t fight with him for

the mirror again.

“Spread your wings again. Yes, just like that. Perfect.” When Tynan did as told and he held

the mirror out in front, Reed came up from underneath and tipped his elbow upwards, so

that he would have to look up to see it. Naturally, Tynan‟s head followed the motion, but

his friend stood on his tiptoes and placed one of his wings on the dragon‟s head, preventing

it from moving. “Stay like that. Good. You can watch yourself in the mirror while I work.”

“Shouldn‟t I open my mouth?” Tynan asked. To be honest, looking up constantly to meet

the mirror was a bit tiring, but since the bat had done it on purpose, he was willing to

comply.

“Oh, maybe in a moment. You‟re doing fine,” the bat assured him. His voice had fallen back

into the soft tone he often used, which the dragon favored over his squeaky complaining.

The change in tone made the moment of his mistake feel less personal and more remote.

“Although it does look like you‟re straining a bit.” Tynan‟s whole upper body seemed tense.

Reed rested the end of his wing against the side of the dragon‟s neck. With his other wing,

he held the dragon‟s wrist in place. “Look in the mirror. Can you relax those shoulders?”

“Y… yeah,” the dragon said, still a bit confused about whatever this was.

Reed smiled. He could feel the weight of Tynan‟s relaxed arm, still holding the mirror.

4

“That‟s good. Keep them relaxed. You don‟t have to think about it because you‟re already

doing it right, so just stay like that and keep looking into the mirror. You‟re looking a bit

distant now.” The bat took a short, calculated pause. “Yes, you‟re doing a good job. This is

going to be very easy. And you‟ll look great. You‟ll see.”

“Mhm…” The dragon‟s response sounded distant indeed.

“Good. You‟ve probably realized now that your head won‟t turn. You can try to move it, if

you want, but it‟ll stay like that, as if I was already holding it. Your eyes are completely

fixed on the mirror now and you‟re standing motionless, just like you should.”

Tynan could see his own reflection and notice the changes in his expression in real time.

His eyes, still looking up as he kept his gaze focused on the silver sheet, were actually

looking a bit glassy. His eyelids were still fluttering a little from time to time, probably

because of the exhausting effort that it took to keep the posture he had. He hadn‟t realized

until that moment how tiring that whole thing could be, but still, he kept doing as the bat

said. He‟d been following his indications to make up for wasting his time before, but now

that wasn‟t the only reason. He liked that soft voice and he liked how good it made him

feel.

“Yes, and your mouth can stay open like that. Your jaw relaxing as you keep staring, unable

to move. You can remain completely still now and notice the tension in your eyelids.”

Tynan had already noticed it, but when the bat pointed that out, it suddenly seemed to get

ten times more noticeable. “Your eyes really want to close. The effort of keeping them open

is what‟s making it so hard to remain still like this. And once you close them, it will feel so

good to finally give them some rest. You can even imagine the feeling of your eyes closing,

letting your whole body relax in that position. Shoulders loose. It would feel so, so good to

finally allow your eyes to fall shut.”

Tynan didn‟t even answer at this point. Reed‟s smile got slightly wider, but there was no

way the dragon would have seen that.

“That‟s it.” He dropped the arm. “Down.”

As the dragon‟s arm groped the air in front of him, a soft sigh escaped his lips that almost

sounded as if he was deflating. His eyes fell shut and his body rocked forward, then

backwards as the arm came to his side, then forwards again as he came to a delicate

equilibrium. Now he was still. Except for the slow, heavy motion of his chest going up and

down with every breath, there was no movement to be noticed. Even his tail dangled limply

between his legs. His maw hung open as if the muscles to keep it shut were gone.

5

Reed took a step closer, admiring his roommate as he stood there, still like a statue. He had

to admit it hadn‟t been too long since he had last used his “skills” to calm the dragon down,

but he had never given him any specific suggestions until now. Watching Tynan in front of

him, frozen and still holding the mirror, was quite a sight. Especially knowing that he‟d

been the one who had caused that to happen.

The bat giggled softly, walking around the dragon and trying to find any spots in his wings

where the paint had smeared off after their last struggle. Then he took the body paint tin

from the shelf behind him and proceeded to fix all those areas where Tynan‟s costume

didn‟t look as convincing. After a few minutes, he stepped back and tried to find other

spots that he might have missed and where the green scales of the dragon still showed.

When he realized that he‟d done a good job, he grinned and went to wash his hands and

wings.

He picked up the fake vampire fangs and replaced the previous filler of the mold. Now that

it was new, fresh and ready to be put in its place, the bat returned to Tynan, who was still

standing in the middle of the hallway, unmoving. Of course, his mouth was still open. It

wouldn‟t be difficult to finish the costume once and for all. Reed licked one of his own

fangs as he squinted, trying to be careful as he placed that last element on the dragon‟s own

set of teeth, covering them.

Then, he stepped back once again and admired his work.

Tynan would definitely not pass as a vampire, but Reed had been telling the truth when

he‟d said that he looked good. The fruit bat‟s gaze moved up to his roommate‟s face and

Reed wondered if he‟d look better with paint on that, too. However, the dragon had

mentioned before that having paint on his face would make him uncomfortable all night,

and even though there was no way he was going to resist at this point, Reed didn‟t want to

do it without his approval. Besides, there probably wasn‟t enough paint left. They‟d had to

fix those wings many, many times.

Ten presumed minutes later, the bat snapped his fingers and watched as Tynan came back

to life, his body slowly regaining movement and his eyes trying to focus on whatever was in

front of him. Reed had carefully returned the mirror to his hand, so the first thing he saw

was, of course, the reflection of those pointy fangs that had been expertly affixed to maw.

“He… hey!” he exclaimed. “Look at that! I never thought it could look so good.”

“I told you, silly dragon,” Reed said, with a soft dismissive laugh.

6

“Thank you very much! This is wonderful,” Tynan said. He was about to hug the bat when

he stopped himself. “Uh… is the paint dry already?”

Reed nodded and the next thing he knew was that the dragon was holding him tight,

almost threatening to break his ribs.

“Hmph… o-okay, that‟s enough! Put me down!” the bat squeaked, although it didn‟t look

like his roommate was willing to do so. “I still have to put on my costume before we head to

the bat lab. Oh, come on… Tynan, let me go!!”

* * *

The first thing the green dragon noticed when they walked into the building where the

party was being held was that the lights were extremely low. After short consideration, he

realized that he should have probably seen that coming – most of the attendees were bats.

But the only lamps he could see stood near the food tables and they were covered with

thick, brownish shades that made the light even dimmer. On the other hand, the lamps

that hung far, far above their heads from the ample ceiling were covered in something that,

at first, the dragon thought were cobwebs – but after squinting his eyes for a long time, he

recognized as ivy. That was not the only unfamiliar element Tynan saw in the room – all

over the tables, he could see carved pomegranates instead of pumpkins.

Those, however, didn‟t make the room any more illuminated. When he mentioned to Reed

that he was actually a bit scared of bumping into someone, the fruit bat giggled.

“It‟ll be alright,” he tried to reassure him. “Besides, you‟re a vampire! You love darkness.”

“I know, but you guys are so small, I‟m just scared that I might actually hurt someone

because I can‟t see,” Tynan admitted, eyeing nervously left and right to make sure that

scenario wouldn‟t materialize.

“Don‟t worry. You‟re tall enough that practically anyone can make you out. And your eyes

will get used to this soon.”

Reed was right. After a few minutes, he still felt nervous about accidentally bumping into

someone, but at least now he could see most of the room, lit by the weak, comforting light.

7

Both walked together to one of the food tables nearby. Most of the attendees – bats and

non-bats alike – were chatting in the darker corners, where sofas and cushions could be

seen if one looked hard enough. Soft clarinet music played from somewhere and Tynan

wondered if the bats were keeping it low because of their sensitive hearing. He took an

inquisitive look at his friend‟s ears, considering the idea, but his attention was soon

distracted by all the delicious food on display. The dragon walked along the tableside until

his eyes met something.

He made his choice almost instantly and, mere seconds later, he turned to Reed holding

two plastic cups filled with what looked like a red liquid in the half-light.

“Want some blood?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and using his best vampire voice.

The bat seemed taken-aback by the question. He stared at the dragon in disbelief for an

instant, and Tynan could have sworn he saw a soft blush in his cheeks, but it was too dark

for him to know for sure.

“You… you know I‟m a fruit bat, right?” he asked, in a thin voice.

“I do. It says there it‟s pomegranate juice,” the dragon reassured the bat, smiling and

pointing to a small sign next to the red, eerie jug. “Seriously, what‟s with all the

pomegranates around? The usual decorations for Halloween are pumpkins, skulls… that

kind of thing. I‟ve never seen pomegranates before.”

“You‟d never come to the bat lab before during Halloween, right?” Reed asked, smiling

back. When the dragon insisted on him taking his cup of pomegranate juice, he shrugged

and raised his hand, in which he was already holding a cup of a clearer liquid. “Sorry,

dragon. I like lychee better.”

“Ah,” was all Tynan could say in response. He felt a bit embarrassed and his tail stopped

swaying back and forth at his back.

“You can have a double ration of blood if you want,” Reed suggested, winking an eye, and

apparently unaware of the dragon‟s sad look. “Anyway, as I was saying, you must

understand that, as bats, we have our own traditions that sometimes overlap with the ones

you have.”

The bat turned to look at the food again. All the effort of trying to make the dragon‟s

costume perfect had made him hungry and he began picking at some grapes from a plate.

8

“Think about Christmas, for instance,” he tried to explain. “It used to be a pagan

celebration before it became that – Saturnalia, I think? Well, the thing is, something

similar happened for bats and Halloween.” He paused to eat one of the grapes and smiled.

“We had our own celebration and over time, Halloween sort of started to overshadow it,

since it was… well, way more popular. But most of us don‟t want to lose our symbols – I

think they‟re pretty cool, by the way! Pomegranates, for instance. That doesn‟t mean I‟m

fond of the juice they make, though.” He took a sip from his clear-colored cup, letting his

eyes wander over the table and trying to decide if there was anything else he wanted to eat.

He didn‟t find anything. “So when we host our own parties, we try to keep some of the

elements that remind us of…”

But he never got to finish that sentence. At that moment, he realized the dragon was gone

and that he‟d likely been talking to the air for at least a short while now.

“Tynan?” he asked, blinking in surprise.

It wasn‟t like the dragon to just disappear and, even though Reed felt a bit embarrassed, he

was actually more worried than anything. Fortunately, it wasn‟t difficult to spot his friend

due to his greater-than-average height and he found him shortly in one of the corners,

apparently speaking with someone. Who could it be?, Reed thought. I thought I was the

only bat he knew.

But as he walked closer, he realized that the bat Tynan was talking to was probably a

stranger. For starters, Reed had never seen them around before – and even though he

didn‟t have the clearest memory, he usually recognized most of the people he had come

across. Besides…

Reed had always thought that dragons were different. They had some kind of aura, a

certain lustre – an invisible something covering them from head to toe, like a cloak. The

bat didn‟t know if it was just charisma, or if there was really something magical about

them, but he could feel that magnetic pull almost whenever he was in one‟s presence. That

even applied to Tynan, despite his carefree, simple attitude. It was always there, with every

movement – no matter how clumsy he actually was.

The bat who was talking to Tynan had that kind of aura, too. Maybe it was how their white

fur stood out in the shadows, catching some of the warm, dim light coming from the lamps.

Maybe it was the long coat they were wearing, red and fancy – probably part of their

costume, too – but which seemed to suit them perfectly. Or maybe it was those big green

eyes that turned discreetly towards Reed as he approached them.

9

It was then when the fruit bat spotted Tynan‟s second cup of pomegranate juice, out in the

hand of the other bat, and he immediately guessed what was going on.

“Hey.” As he approached the two of them, Reed realized that they had stopped talking and,

even though he knew it was silly, he couldn‟t help but feel a bit embarrassed. “I was in the

middle of an explanation.”

Tynan turned to look at him. He looked… as absent-minded as usual, he supposed.

“Oh. Sorry. I got lost when you started talking about the planets,” the dragon admitted,

giving him a smile.

Reed was about to ask what he meant, but his gaze met the eyes of the other bat. They

looked much brighter up close.

“Oh, hi!” the other bat gave him a wing and a smile, greeting him with some excitement.

His two pointy fangs showed and Reed thought they rivaled Tylan‟s fake teeth. “My name‟s

Nyeogmi. Hope you don‟t mind I stole this from you.”

“I‟m Reed.” The fruit bat shook Nyeogmi‟s wing and tried to smile back. It took him a few

seconds to understand they didn‟t mean the cup of juice. “And it‟s okay. It‟s difficult to get

him to stay in one place.”

The white bat raised an eyebrow as if questioning that statement, but they didn‟t say

anything.

Tynan didn‟t speak again either and, after a few seconds of silence only filled with the soft

clarinet music, Reed got the weird feeling that he‟d definitely interrupted something. But

there’s no way he knows this bat, he thought again. Knowing how he usually is, he would

have told me.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” he asked, trying to break the uncomfortable pause.

He expected Tynan to answer but, for some reason, he didn‟t even react until Nyeogmi

began speaking.

“We were just… I was telling your friend here…”

“… Tynan,” the dragon said, as if he‟d somehow forgotten to introduce himself. That’s very

like him, Reed thought.

10

“Sure! I was telling Tynan that his costume is great. I like it a lot,” the white bat said, still

smiling. They took a sip from their cup and grimaced. “Ugh. But this is the worst blood I‟ve

ever had.”

“It‟s pomegranate juice,” the green dragon informed him. There was a distant tone in his

voice and Reed didn‟t think it was normal, even for him.

In fact, he‟d heard that tone several times before.

“I like his fangs,” Nyeogmi continued, pointing at the dragon‟s maw. “Very beautiful.”

Then, they turned to Reed. “What is your costume, by the way?”

Reed‟s gaze moved down to his own clothes. He hadn‟t had much time to prepare for the

party because he‟d been too busy keeping Tynan from ruining his costume. In fact, he‟d

seriously considered going to the party without a costume, but he had managed to pull

something off in the last minute. Now he was wearing a white lab coat, a surgical mask and

a few other props in his pockets, to make the whole thing more specific. Fortunately, the

coat had been made for bats – if that hadn‟t been the case, he would have struggled with it

and would have probably needed to make a few holes here and there.

Nyeogmi‟s eyes moved to the mask and they smiled.

“Are you an evil surgeon?”

“Er, no.” Reed had figured from the beginning that most of the attendees were going to get

it wrong, though, and he didn‟t blame them. He pulled a relatively big toothbrush – which

he had stolen from the dragon – out of his pocket and gave the other bat a weak smile.

“Evil dentist,” Tynan intervened then. His voice still sounded a bit distant.

“What? No. I told you! I‟m just a regular dentist,” he said, a bit shocked that the dragon

wouldn‟t even remember that.

There was a brief silence.

“Oh.” Nyeogmi‟s ears lowered down for a second, then perked up again. “Yes. You‟re right.

That‟s scarier.”

“Told you,” Reed teased, turning to the dragon beside him. There was no reaction, and he

began to worry a bit.

What kind of bat are they?, he wondered, shifting his attention to Nyeogmi again. They

definitely weren‟t a fruit bat, he knew that much. Maybe a spectral bat? But Reed quickly

11

disregarded that possibility since their nose didn‟t have the right shape. Of course, he could

have asked, but he was feeling a bit self-uncertain already and he didn‟t want to make it

any worse.

At least that unknown bat seemed pleasant enough. Their red coat was probably supposed

to be a costume, too, he still thought, and it definitely made them look like a vampire. That

explained why Tynan had walked off to greet them and, knowing that the dragon was so

touchy about his costume, he imagined how their interaction had probably gone.

He let out a long sigh.

“And I‟m sorry if Tynan bothered you,” Reed apologized. “I think he expected to be the

only vampire around.”

“Oh, is that so?” Nyeogmi asked, seemingly interested. “Let me guess – this isn‟t the first

time you‟re wearing this costume, right?”

Tynan nodded vigorously, but that was the only proof that he was listening to the

conversation. Reed looked at him in disbelief. Why hadn‟t the dragon told him about that

before?

“Well, this time I helped him,” he mentioned, trying to smile. “For the sake of accuracy, I

guess.”

But Nyeogmi wasn‟t listening to him at that moment.

“So you‟ve been wearing the same costume all these years?” He turned to Tynan, with a sly

grin. “You must have a thing for bats.”

“Yes,” the green dragon admitted. It sounded distant and automatic once again, and Reed

frowned.

There was something odd going on. He‟d known Tynan for quite some time now and he

couldn‟t imagine the dragon admitting something like that without blushing furiously. And

he‟d been awfully quiet, when the usual thing was for Reed to ask him to calm down

several times in every conversation. He‟d met somebody new – why wasn‟t he speaking like

crazy? Why were all of his answers so short?

He glanced at his friend and realized that his tail wasn‟t moving at all. His shoulders

looked heavier than usual and his stance was relaxed and a bit unstable, almost as if a

breeze of air could make him collapse. The dragon‟s eyes… were looking glassy, slightly

unfocused.

12

Reed had seen that before, but he was still surprised.

He moved his eyes to the white bat and realized that they were looking back at him with a

charming smile, almost as if they knew he had just reached that conclusion, at that specific

moment. Those big, green eyes seemed to fill the whole room for a second and the fruit bat

shivered. How…?

“Did you…” he asked, but then he had to stop and clear his throat. “Did you hypnotize…”

“Yes! Oh, wait. You mean him. Yes, I did,” the bat answered casually, tilting their head.

Reed had the feeling that Nyeogmi was waiting for him to ask if that was possible. He

believed that the other bat wanted him to question that, to doubt it. Did they want him to

be a skeptic? That was what he thought.

But the question in his mind was completely different. Tynan hadn‟t been with Nyeogmi

for so long. And they weren‟t in a very private place – even though the green dragon was

suggestible, he wouldn‟t have fallen for anything with a total stranger. He just couldn‟t

understand how that could have happened.

He gulped.

“How… how did you do it? It was so fast,” he asked, and his voice sounded really low and

fragile for some reason.

Nyeogmi‟s grin widened. Reed got a better look at those big fangs and shivered again.

“It was easy. Here, I‟ll show you.” Their eyes moved to the dragon for a split second and

then returned to him. Being under the bat‟s gaze again felt like being held down by an

enormous paw. “Go on. Ask him if he‟s a vampire.”

“But he‟s not a vampire,” Reed argued. “He‟s only wearing a cos…” A flicker of green.

“Tynan, are you a vampire?”

The sentence came out automatically and the fruit bat was a bit surprised about how

natural it felt.

“You know that I am,” Tynan answered, moving for the first time in minutes and raising an

eyebrow. “Why ask?”

“But…” he began. He could tell Nyeogmi was grinning mischievously at his words, but he

needed to make sure. “You‟re a normal dragon, Tynan! Are you sure you‟re not just

wearing a costume?”

13

Tynan gave him an incredulous look.

“Are you okay, buddy?” he asked. He even sounded a bit worried. “I think you had too

much lychee juice.”

“Yeah. Good thing we don‟t drink that stuff. Blood‟s much better, anyway,” Nyeogmi noted,

still looking at Reed with that I-told-you gaze.

“Right!” Tynan exclaimed. His tail swished back and forth excitedly. “It‟s warm…”

“… and savory, right?” Nyeogmi added. He lifted the tip of his wing and the dragon‟s eyes

quickly fixed on it. As it rose, Tynan's snout rose too. When it fell, Tynan‟s head bobbed

back down. That continued on as the bat spoke. “And savory.” Up. “And consistent.” Down.

“And piquant.” At that point, the dragon was nodding eagerly and energetically, a wide grin

on his face. “And how does blood taste, vampire?”

“So, so good!” the dragon answered, licking his fake fangs.

Reed couldn‟t help but chuckle at the ongoing situation. He was still surprised that the

other bat had managed to hypnotize Tynan so easily, but it seemed that was the case.

Fortunately it didn‟t look like Nyeogmi had any bad intentions. Besides, the idea of the

green dragon thinking he was a vampire for real was cute and… slightly appealing.

“This is amazing,” he admitted, turning to look at the white bat, who had already earned

his admiration. “But you still haven‟t answered my question. How did you do it?”

“How did I do what?” Nyeogmi asked, calmly. Their eyes seemed to pulse for a brief

second.

Reed opened his mouth to answer, but the words never came out. He stood there, trying to

remember what he‟d been meaning to ask, but it felt like it had vanished from his mind.

“I…” he muttered. “I… guess I don‟t know.”

“And Tynan‟s a vampire, right?” Nyeogmi asked. There was a hint of a smile somewhere in

their face, and that alone should have made Reed realize there was something odd going

on, but he never really identified it.

“Yeah,” he answered, shrugging. That was obvious. One only had to look at his roommate –

notice the big, black wings and the pointy fangs – to know that he was definitely a vampire.

“And you want to keep looking into my eyes, don‟t you?”

14

That was another question with an obvious answer. Those green eyes were the most

beautiful thing Reed had ever seen, so why would he want to look away from them? He

could feel his head locked in place, staring at the calming, pulsing color that seemed to be

filling everything around him. Even Tynan seemed to fade away as the fruit bat basked in

that perfect sensation, unaware of anything that wasn‟t Nyeogmi‟s fascinating gaze.

He let out a soft sigh and answered.

“Yes…”

“And you want to sleep and obey, don‟t you?”

The question seemed to come fast, but the answer was still so, so obvious. Despite that,

Reed allowed himself to sink into the green for another few seconds, enjoying the numb

feeling spreading all over his mind and body. Yes, he wanted to do that. Sleep and obey. It

sounded so wonderful that he simply couldn‟t understand how he wasn‟t doing that

already. And those eyes. Life before he‟d seen them seemed to be no more than a blur at

the back of his memories.

He wanted to give in. He wanted to give in and do exactly what the other bat told him so,

so badly.

“Yeess…”

And just like that, the room and the people and everything around him seemed to melt into

the soothing, perfect green.

* * *

Waking up felt like trying to rise from a pleasant dream. There were no details or

memories for a while, but he knew that things had happened, and he had enjoyed them,

and they had been good. There were noises somewhere pulling him away from the calm

slumber, but he wasn‟t sure what they were. In fact, Reed – that was his name, now he

could remember – wasn‟t sure what anything was for a few wonderful minutes. It had felt

so good to drift in that state that the bat – that was his species, now he could remember –

barely fought back and instead let his eyes come open naturally.

That happened after a while.

15

The light helped clear his thoughts, but it still took Reed a few seconds to remember and

understand what had happened. The white bat at the party – they must have been a

vampire. He was pretty sure by now, maybe because that had been the last thought his

mind had seemed to form before he was plunged into deep sleep. What had Nyeogmi done

with them? Reed didn‟t know, but he knew that something had happened. The fact that he

couldn‟t remember exactly what didn‟t make him too nervous, and the fruit bat guessed

that the vampire bat had made sure he couldn‟t feel that way.

That idea didn‟t worry him either.

He looked around and realized that he was back in his room. The blinds were down, but a

few shy sunrays coming through indicated that there was probably natural daylight

outside. For a few seconds, the half-lighted room reminded Reed of the party.

But that wasn‟t the only think that struck him as odd. As he lay down on his bed, he could

see Tynan‟s bunk bed – which rose a few feet away from his nose – shaking, almost as if

they were in the middle of an earthquake. There were a few weird noises coming from the

dragon‟s bed and Reed remembered then that he‟d heard those noises in his dream, urging

him to wake up. It almost sounded like… growls.

Still a bit dazed, the bat sat up and rubbed his eyes, then stepped out of bed and squinted,

getting ready to ask Tynan why he was angry at his mattress.

What he saw was enough to keep him quiet.

The dragon was still in his costume, judging by the black wings and the pointy fangs, and

at that moment he seemed to be holding the pillow tight against his body, biting it

repeatedly. He had his eyes closed and didn‟t seem to notice Reed‟s presence next to the

bed. In fact, he was so focused on sinking those fake fangs into the pillow that the bat

doubted he would have seen him anyway.

“Uh… Tynan,” he asked, a bit surprised. “What are you doing?”

The dragon‟s body tensed and he froze momentarily, his maw still closed around the

pillow. His eyes moved in slow motion to Reed and the bat thought there was something

weird about them. Maybe he’s still hypnotized, he told himself.

“Mmff… No-nothing.” The green dragon opened his mouth, letting go of the pillow, and

gave the fruit bat a faint smile. It looked as fake as those fangs. “I was just, you know, er…

having one of those wet dreams?”

16

“Ah.”

Reed didn‟t buy that excuse for a second, but he couldn‟t help but think that if that had

been the case, then the pillow between the dragon‟s arms could have been a helpless little

fruit bat. He tried not to blush at that idea.

“You sure? It looked quite intense,” he insisted.

Tynan chuckled. Reed remembered right then how bad the dragon was at lying, something

that he‟d only seen him do a few times. It had never turned out well for Tynan.

“Yeah! No worries. Everything‟s perfectly normal.” And then the dragon added quickly.

“I‟m a perfectly normal dragon.”

Reed raised an eyebrow, but decided that it was better to leave it at that. He rubbed his

temple with his wing, still feeling a bit dizzy, and then walked to the blinds and rolled them

up. Just like he‟d thought, it was already midday in the streets and lots of people could be

seen walking outside. Whoever that was, they made us sleep for a long time, he thought,

with a smile.

He was about to ask Tynan if he wanted some coffee when he suddenly noticed the dragon

was by his side. Those wide wings seemed to almost cover him for a second and the bat

noticed that those fake fangs looked pointy and white and ready to sink into his next

victim. The dragon was so close – and he‟d approached him so stealthily – that if he‟d

wanted to bite Reed, then the bat would have been unable to fight back. He felt his cheeks

turning red again.

But then, the dragon‟s hand reached for the blinds‟ cord and dropped them with a snap.

Immediately after that, Tynan‟s body seemed to relax a bit and he went back up to his bed,

where he lay down and gave his pillow an amorous look.

Reed only had to think for a second to understand what was going on, but he still found it

too unlikely. He decided he needed to check, so he pulled the blinds up again, glancing at

the dragon. His body immediately tensed once the light from outside caressed his scales

and Reed could have sworn he almost flinched. Then, as if what he‟d done had been a

completely normal thing, the fruit bat left the room and walked to the kitchen to get some

coffee. Before he walked through the door, however, he could hear an annoyed groan at his

back.

As the bat heated some coffee in the microwave, he thought about it. Apparently, Tynan

still believed he was a vampire. Nyeogmi had probably forgotten to restore him to normal

17

after having their fun with him, whatever that might have been. Or maybe they‟d just

decided to leave him that way. Reed wasn‟t entirely sure. For some reason, he felt a bit of

sympathy towards the vampire bat – maybe they‟d planted that sympathy somewhere in

his mind, too, but he highly doubted that. Were there any other things in the dragon‟s

mind, stuff that he still hadn‟t noticed and that Nyeogmi had decided to keep hidden for

now? He guessed he‟d find out in time.

One thing was certain: the dragon had been deeply susceptible to the vampire‟s words last

night. Things felt hazy and blurry when Reed tried to recall what had happened exactly, but

he knew that much. Tynan‟s mind had been in Nyeogmi‟s hands for good. The vampire

could have changed, and added, and erased anything they wanted. He hadn‟t been so

suggestible, had he? In fact-

The microwave beeped loudly, warning him that the coffee was already hot and scattering

those thoughts away. The fruit bat sighed.

He had to fix Tynan‟s situation, of course. No matter how cute – and hot – he found the

fact that the dragon thought he was a vampire now, he couldn‟t simply leave it like that.

Nyeogmi might have their tools, but he also had his. Maybe he could sort out what the

other bat hadn‟t.

He drank the coffee slowly, trying to think of different ways to approach the situation, and

when he finished he walked back to his room, determined to help Tynan.

Once he walked through the door he noticed that the dragon had dropped the blinds – this

time completely, so that no light came from outside. But he barely had time to process that.

The strangest thing he had ever seen was there before his eyes.

Tynan was hanging upside down from the upper bed, tail curled around one of the rails

that was there, supposedly, to keep him from falling off the edge. His wings were folded

around his body and his eyes had come closed, but at Reed's entrance, they opened once

again. Reed still thought there was something weird about them, but he wasn‟t sure exactly

what.

“You‟re back,” Tynan said, then. His voice sounded slightly calmer. Once he‟d uttered those

words, he closed his eyes again.

“Yeah, I just went to drink some coffee,” Reed said, trying to give him a smile. However,

the unusual sight made it difficult for him to concentrate on his task. “Look, I‟ve been

18

thinking about it… and I think that after such an intense dream you should probably try to

relax a bit.”

“Oh?” The dragon opened one of his eyes, looking directly at Reed. He froze in place.

“Relax?”

“Y-yeah,” the bat said, taking a deep breath. It took him a huge effort to step closer and he

could definitely feel his cheeks warming up. It’s not the right time for this, he reminded

himself, feeling a bit guilty. Besides, he’s not a real vampire. He’s simply wearing a

costume. Get over it. “I think that you‟d find it really easy to relax if you could just find a

specific spot and let your eyes rest there, no need to move them. Don‟t you think?”

Tynan chuckled. Reed thought he‟d never heard him laugh like that.

But what happened after that surprised him even more. The dragon loosened his tail‟s grip

on the rails and flipped in the air, landing on his powerful, clawed feet and standing up, a

bit intimidatingly. Reed gulped and looked back at his roommate, as he stretched the wings

at his back. The room seemed to get even darker as soon as he did that and, for that reason,

the fruit bat found himself looking at the only thing that seemed to glow in the shadows.

Tynan‟s golden eyes were way more mesmerizing than Reed remembered them being. For

the first time since he had woken up, the bat thought that maybe he was wrong – that

maybe the dragon had indeed become a vampire.

But he tried to get rid of those thoughts. That couldn‟t be.

However, once Tynan‟s eyes had lowered and stared deep into his, he felt a soft tingling

sensation going down his spine. Suddenly, he wasn‟t so sure.

“Alright,” the dragon answered, with a calm smile. “I think I found the spot that I‟d like to

look at.”

Reed knew that something was happening, but he refused to believe that this was what it

was. It had to be a lingering suggestion, a command whose effects Nyeogmi had forgotten

to wipe off – he kept on repeating that to himself, even though he couldn‟t look away from

Tynan‟s eyes and something told him that this was wrong, very wrong.

“Yes, well, once you are focusing on that particular spot…” Reed began, feeling that he was

very focused on Tynan‟s eyes and shivering, “… it should be very easy to let yourself go and

relax a little…”

19

That was a weak induction and he knew it, but he couldn‟t really concentrate. Not when the

dragon‟s beautiful eyes were staring at him like that, not when he felt himself letting go and

relaxing a little.

The fruit bat inhaled sharply and realized that the dragon was much closer to him than the

last time he‟d checked. How and when had he gotten so close? Reed could feel his breath

blow past the thin fur on his face – not as warm as it usually was, he noticed – but that was

all he could think about as the dragon took one additional step and finally stood next to

him, their bodies almost touching.

His eyes were so big and close and beautiful from that position. Their mesmerizing gaze

was probably not as powerful as Nyeogmi‟s had been the night before, but it was still

fascinating, and Reed found himself wanting to stare back for hours.

“You‟re looking so sleepy,” the dragon said then. His voice felt like a caress right behind his

ears and Reed let out a soft sigh. “So calm and vulnerable.”

He had to be a vampire. The fruit bat‟s mind, which was still trying to resist the magnetic

pull of those golden eyes, managed to reach that conclusion just in time. There was no

other way the dragon could have made him feel like that. There was no other way that gaze

could have felt so good. Reed still didn‟t know how that could have happened – and in his

current state, he couldn‟t really care about it – but he knew that the dragon that stood in

front of him wasn‟t an ordinary dragon anymore.

His cheeks were red and warm, and he shivered again.

“You want me to bite your neck, don‟t you?” Tynan asked.

It was a question, but it almost felt like a statement. Reed found himself nodding slowly,

his mind lost somewhere beyond the beautiful eyes. The dragon grinned, revealing once

again those sharp-looking fangs. The fruit bat didn‟t think they were fake anymore. They

looked extremely real as the dragon leaned closer, wrapping his big wings around Reed's

smaller frame and drawing his maw to his bare, vulnerable neck. There was another breath

against his skin and he almost moaned at the tingling sensation. The need to feel those

fangs pierce through his skin was too powerful and Reed could find himself recreating that

future moment over and over, wishing it would happen already.

The fangs rested against his neck and his body tensed for a second. Then, his skin broke

like paper and the tension melted away. He felt like a candle under a flame, muscles limp,

wings dropping to his sides as the dragon held him and his breath heaved outward.

20

It felt even better than he had anticipated.

Then the dragon‟s maw closed around his neck and he felt suction. His body shivered

weakly and he felt the warm blood escaping, little by little, and a low, pleasured growl

rolling in the dragon‟s throat. Reed squirmed – not out of pain or fear, but because it felt

right to squirm – and felt the imperious need to moan, but it felt as if he wasn‟t capable of

that anymore. His body was not his. Just a little snack for the green dragon – and a happy,

little, hazy snack he was.

Reed wouldn‟t have been able to tell how long they were like this for. He felt the blood

exiting him slowly, consumed by the green dragon who kept growling in appreciation.

Tynan's arms tensed a bit more around his body and Reed guessed he was running out of

blood now, because his body felt heavier and colder and everything was fuzzy and full of a

dense mist that made it difficult to see and think. He hung there, completely limp, as he

felt his senses fading, and soon the only thing that remained was deep, submissive

happiness.

He drifted in that space for some time. Still held by Tynan‟s arms and wings, the fruit bat

let his mind wander from one simple thought to another, failing to understand any before

it seemed to melt away. That state must have been what happiness felt like, Reed thought.

He wanted to stay like that forever.

But his wandering conscience clung to a particular thought and it wouldn‟t let go. It was

almost the same as the rest, but unlike the rest, it was insistent, and even though the bat

tried not to let it ruin that wonderful experience, he soon found himself unable to be rid of

it.

He opened his eyes a bit later. Tynan was still holding him close, fangs buried deep in his

neck, but the dragon apparently noticed that his prey had woken up and pulled his maw

away from the bat slowly, almost tenderly. Reed blinked a few times, focusing on his

roommate‟s eyes.

He felt… different.

There was no way to tell what exactly had changed, but he wasn‟t himself anymore. Or

maybe he was, but not the same way he‟d ever been himself. Those beautiful eyes didn‟t

feel so abysmally powerful anymore, for some reason.

And he was cold.

21

“Are you okay?” Tynan asked, then. He didn‟t look particularly worried and Reed knew

that the dragon would have done exactly what he‟d done again and again, unable to resist

his thirsty impulses. He could understand that, now. As soon as Tynan was done asking,

the scene would repeat itself.

“Yeah,” the bat answered, quickly. That thought. He couldn‟t get rid of it. He had to let it

out. “We need to go to the bat lab now.”

The green dragon looked back at him, surprised.

“What…?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why would we do that? It‟s still daytime out

there…”

“We need to go to the bat lab now,” Reed repeated, as if it was obvious. “We‟ll walk in the

shadows if necessary, but we have to go.”

“Why?” Tynan insisted. “It doesn‟t make any sense. The party‟s over, remember?”

Reed tilted his head. The reasoning behind that argument didn‟t seem to apply.

“We really have to go to the bat lab.” The more he said it, the more he realized it was true.

Reed couldn‟t understand why Tynan didn‟t share his impulse. “We need to.”

“And I‟m telling you, we don‟t,” the green dragon answered, firmly. His eyes seemed to

pulse for a second, then his expression softened. “Wouldn‟t you prefer staying here and

cuddling with me? I think we could have a good time together. In the dark.”

That proposition might have felt really good under any other circumstances and Reed

definitely felt something suppress his natural impulse to blush. He would have loved to do

that, and he would love to do that – but only after they‟d come back from the bat lab. Why

was Tynan making it so difficult? Couldn‟t he see that they had other important things to

do?

“No.” He shook his head. “We have to go now.”

Tynan looked slightly annoyed and his eyes narrowed into slits. When they opened, they

were pulsing again rapidly and this time Reed could tell what was going on.

Somehow, his mind didn‟t seem to react as vulnerably as the last time he‟d focused on

Tynan‟s gaze. In fact, now he felt he could hold it easily and even… answer back.

Unbeknown to him, his own teal eyes had begun to glow and pulse, too.

22

“Just think of how good it‟ll feel,” Tynan was saying at that moment. “To stay here with me

and be calm and relaxed.”

Heh, I can see what you’re doing, Reed thought. And I’m sorry, dragon, but I was better

than you at this even before I became a vampire.

The realization came to him so fast that it almost distracted him, but it was a natural

conclusion to reach, after all. Somehow, Nyeogmi had turned Tynan into a real vampire.

And now that the dragon had bitten him, it only made sense that he had turned into a

vampire, too. Was he a vampire fruit bat, then? He tried to get rid of those thoughts.

He had a dragon to hypnotize.

“That‟d feel soooo good,” he replied back, letting his face fall into a dreamy, calm

expression. Reed pictured the kind of face that he had when taking a hot bath. “I‟d love it

so much. Just the two of us, deeply relaxed and staring into each other‟s eyes. So…” He

made a short pause and yawned, ears rolling back and pointy fangs showing briefly, but

never fully closing his eyes. “… sleepy.”

He‟d never tried something like that, but he was confident it‟d work. Tynan hadn‟t been so

difficult to hypnotize when he was a regular dragon – his new vampirism probably hadn‟t

changed things too much.

And he was too proud for his own good. Tynan was already grinning a bit, thinking that

he‟d overpowered the smaller bat just with those simple words. But even then, Reed could

tell that his trick was working – the dragon‟s slightly tense demeanor had disappeared and,

basking in his self-confidence, he‟d allowed himself to relax more. Having the dragon lower

his guard was all Reed needed.

“Yes, so sleepy,” Tynan repeated. “You‟re going to feel so good when you fall back into my

arms, right? It‟s so good to stare into my eyes and just relax more and more.”

“Mmmhm…” the bat muttered, letting his weight shift a little between legs. That caused his

body to sway, although probably Tynan wouldn‟t notice it until later. “So… relaxed… Eyes

are so beautiful to stare at… I want you to hold me and feel your chest as you breathe in

and out calmly…”

“That‟s it. You‟re looking so sleepy,” the dragon noted. This time, when Reed yawned

again, the bat could see him fight the urge to yawn too. Tynan‟s eyelids trembled for a

second and he knew he was on the right track. “Such a sleepy, relaxed bat. Let all those

worries fade away and just stare.”

23

“Yeeeees…” the bat accepted, with a weak, squeaky voice. The swaying of his body was

much more noticeable now, and he could tell that Tynan was following it almost

unconsciously, golden eyes slowly moving left and right as he tried to entice the fruit bat. If

the dragon had known it wasn‟t working, maybe he would have stopped, but it was too late

for that now. “So… hypnotized. I‟m… floating…”

“Hmmm… yes…” Tynan said. At this point, Reed knew that no matter how confident and

relaxed he‟d made Tynan feel, the dragon had probably realized something wasn‟t going

according to plan. Last time, it had been much easier for him to put the bat under his spell,

so now he was probably wondering what was wrong.

But Reed wasn‟t going to let him think about that. He yawned again, his body shivering like

a leaf in the wind, and this time the dragon‟s tall frame joined him in a long, deep yawn.

When it finished, his eyelids fluttered a bit before dropping down for a second, then

coming open again. They remained in a bit of an intermediate state, and it was then when

Reed knew he had to push harder.

He forced a change to take place. He wasn't exactly sure of how it worked, but the rhythm

had changed, or else the pattern. His eyes were pulsing differently now. It felt natural. This

new way of looking and using his eyes would help Tynan relax even further, he thought,

and as soon as he noticed the dragon had begun swaying too, his maw slightly open, he

knew that his hunch was correct. Amplifying his new vampiric powers wasn‟t difficult.

After a few more seconds of exposure, the dragon's tongue lolled out loosely. His beautiful

teal eyes had melted Tynan like butter.

He kept on pushing deeper and deeper, sweeping each and every thought in the dragon‟s

mind out of view. It was like sweeping off cobwebs. Soon, his roommate‟s mind was

completely clean and empty, just like he wanted it to be, and then, it was the bat‟s turn to

grin and admire his work.

“Good. Now, you‟re going to come with me to the bat lab. Right, Tynan?”

It took the dragon a few seconds to react, but finally, he nodded slowly.

Reed would have probably enjoyed the situation far more if he hadn‟t developed that

powerful urge to go back to the bat lab, but he still loved to see how compliant and cute

Tynan looked as they descended to the ground. He had managed to hypnotize him in the

past, of course, but he‟d never been able to put him in such a deep, mindless trance. If that

was one of the perks of being a vampire, he thought, then he was willing to embrace his

new status. The memory of Nyeogmi came back to his mind – he had the faint idea that the

24

vampire bat would be waiting for them in the bat lab, but he wasn‟t completely sure how or

why he knew that.

If the need to go there immediately hadn‟t been so strong, maybe he would have found out.

But instead, he grabbed Tynan by his arm and dragged him towards the door, taking a

sunshade from the wardrobe near the entrance before exiting to the outside. The green

dragon followed him like a zombie, eyes glassy and face completely relaxed, but with no

objections. The sun was annoying at first, but once they stood under the parasol, keeping

close together so that its shade would cover both of them, it became easier to walk in the

streets.

Meanwhile, in Reed‟s mind, that singular, insistent thought to reach the bat lab kept on

repeating, over and over. He simply followed, and Tynan followed him.

* * *

Surprisingly, in barely a few hours, the bat lab had been deprived of its festive atmosphere.

Now that everything had returned to normal, the building had recovered its usual

appearance and Reed was surprised the party had taken place just the night before. There

was no ivy hanging from the lamps in the ceiling high above, and no pomegranates to be

seen in the ample hall. The silence was absolute and only Tynan‟s rhythmic heavy steps

broke it. Even though the building was open to the public, no one seemed to be around. All

the offices that could be seen from the hall, conveniently separated by big glass windows,

appeared empty and dark.

Reed knew almost instantly that they were alone. Mostly, in any case.

He wasn‟t entirely sure where they were supposed to go, but he followed his instincts. The

fruit bat knew there was someone waiting for them – or at least, that was what he‟d

deduced – and again he recalled the feeling that he knew exactly who, but at the same

time, he wasn‟t sure. Maybe his impulse to go there had been exactly that, an impulse.

Maybe he was just overthinking it.

Still, he guided the zonked dragon towards the darker, narrower corridors in the building,

hearing the echoes of their steps. They reached the stairs and began ascending slowly –

then, when they reached the top, they turned a sharp corner and found a peculiarly old-

looking closet. While Tynan stood agape behind him, Reed opened the heavy doors and

25

slid through the gap. The dragon followed him without hesitation, although he had to

crouch to fit through the narrow space. There was a hidden set of stairs leading up to an

attic, and then to the bat student housing. The fruit bat didn‟t know why this was the place

he had decided to go, but he knew that it was the place where they were supposed to be.

The room at the end of the stairs looked like… an attic. It was dark and a bit dusty, but

there was no one around. A few beds could be found across the room, but Reed knew that

wasn‟t where bats usually slept. He looked up.

A white shape was hanging upside-down from one of the poles along the ceiling, designed

to hang from. As soon as the fruit bat fixed his eyes on it, it moved and dropped from

above. A bat landed elegantly on its feet.

Once Reed met those green eyes again, he couldn‟t help but shiver.

“Oh, you‟re looking good,” Nyeogmi said, as a way of greeting them. Their eyes moved

between Reed and Tynan, as if admiring a piece of work they felt particularly proud of. It

reminded Reed of the way in which he‟d gazed at the green dragon, just a few minutes

before. This felt the same, except he was the one being gazed at. “Look at him! So sleepy.

You‟ve been having fun, hmm?”

“Well, it was the only way to bring him here,” Reed explained. When those green eyes

focused on him again, he felt a satisfying warmth shoot down his spine, like he was being

rewarded. He knew he had to ask. “Did you bring us here?”

“In a way, yes. I guess I did.” Nyeogmi shrugged. They smiled and their white, pointy fangs

poked out their mouth.

Reed wanted to ask what they wanted, but for some reason he thought that wasn‟t

important. As if the vampire bat had read his thoughts, their grin got wider.

“Are you going to bite us?” Reed ended up asking instead. The question felt awkward for

some reason.

“Bite you? I‟d never dream of that,” Nyeogmi answered. Reed could tell they were lying and

also that they wanted him to know that was a lie. Those words made him think that maybe

both Tynan and he had been bitten already – they couldn‟t remember a thing from the

previous night, after all. That idea sent a shiver down his spine. “Besides, I‟d say you

already had your fair share of being bitten, didn‟t you?”

26

Reed brought a wing to his neck unconsciously and blushed a bit, remembering the feeling

of Tynan‟s fangs breaking his skin.

“You didn‟t bite him, though,” Nyeogmi noted.

“Yeah,” the fruit bat admitted, turning to look at the green dragon. His eyes narrowed and

then filled with a longing gleam. “I didn‟t.”

“But you want to, don‟t you?”

Reed could tell immediately that there was a suggestion hidden in those words. The

vampire bat had been sneaky at other times, but not when being direct seemed to favor

them, and if they had intended to hide their suggestion, it would have been hidden, Reed

thought. But in any case, it didn‟t matter because he wanted to bite Tynan‟s neck right

away.

“Yes,” he agreed, nodding. “I‟d… I‟d like that.”

“Oh! Then, let‟s see what he has to say about that, don‟t you think?” Nyeogmi turned to the

green dragon and his eyes flashed for a split second. Even though this time they weren‟t

pointed at him, Reed felt that tingly feeling spread through his body.

Then, Tynan woke from his deep, prolonged slumber and looked around, seemingly

confused.

“What…” he asked, rubbing one of his eyes, still trying to get rid of the sleep. “What are we

doing here…”

“Reed was telling me how bad he wants to bite you,” Nyeogmi explained, still smiling.

There was another suggestion in those words and Reed felt it clicking in place perfectly

well. His longing gaze at the dragon‟s neck got slightly hungrier.

“Does he…?” Tynan asked, turning to look at him. He still looked a bit sleepy, but he was

quickly becoming aware of his surroundings and how they‟d gotten there. “Oh. Yeah. It‟s

written all over his face. Even I can see that.”

“But you don‟t want him to bite you, do you?” Nyeogmi asked.

Reed decided it would be a good idea from that point onwards to simply ignore the fact

that every single time the vampire bat spoke, they were being manipulated. He preferred it

that way. It felt better if he didn‟t know, too.

27

“Not really,” Tynan answered. The lack of excitement on his face coincided well with that

idea.

There was more green, somewhere.

“That‟s a shame. But you‟d really like to bite him, right?”

Tynan nodded.

“Hey, wait,” Reed protested. He could see where that was going. “He already bit me!”

Nyeogmi turned to look at him and shrugged. The fruit bat could tell they were teasing

him.

“That need of his has no relationship to any rule or schedule. Does it, dragon?”

“N… no…” was all that Tynan could say.

The fruit bat moved his eyes from the dragon‟s neck to his face and he realized that his

roommate was practically salivating. He‟d only look any hungrier if he licked his fangs…

which he did, a few seconds later, making Reed shiver.

Still, he wasn‟t going to let Tynan win. He wanted to bite the dragon‟s neck and it was his

turn to drink some blood now. No matter what Tynan or the other bat said – he‟d

hypnotize them both if needed, but he wanted to feed. He needed to feed.

“This time I decide,” he said slowly, focusing his eyes on his roommate‟s. “You‟re going to

let me bite your neck, dragon.”

“No,” Tynan answered. His voice still had a slightly dreamy tone, but more than that it

sounded as if he was really, really thirsty. Those golden eyes seemed to light and they

glowed: alluring, but Reed had already anticipated it, so he felt nearly unaffected. “You are

going to let me bite your neck, bat.”

“You guys look so hungry,” Nyeogmi noted. For some reason, and even though Reed felt as

if he was still staring at those beautiful green eyes somewhere, he almost heard their voice

as if the vampire bat was far, far away. In a different room, even. “Wonder for how long

you‟ll last before you lose control.”

“I‟ve hypnotized you once and I can do it again,” Reed said then. He could hear his own

voice and it was slightly hoarse and eager and strict. The powerful sensation in his eyes was

back on again – he knew he was using his hypnotic gaze as much as Tynan was using his.

“Don‟t try to fight me. You know I‟ll win.”

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“Oh, are you sure?” The dragon took a step closer. His chest was soon in front of the fruit

bat‟s face, forcing him bend his neck and to look up into those golden eyes. They were

glowing more aggressively now, and Reed could feel their effect taking hold, but he saw

weakness in Tynan‟s expression: a look of uncertainty and a willingness to look for far too

long. “Last time you got lucky. I‟m not going to let that happen again.”

“Last time I didn‟t bite your neck,” Reed said, calmly. “You don‟t know what it feels like. I

bet you‟ll love it.”

There was a momentary pause and Tynan‟s face seemed to relax for a second.

“Y-yeah…” he said, his glowing eyes faltering for a moment before returning to their usual

brightness as he collected himself. “But you know, that‟s why you‟re going to let me do it,

bat. You already know how it feels and you love it.”

It was Reed‟s turn to feel his strength waver. Yes, he knew how it felt, and the memory of

that blissful moment in which Tynan had bitten him after mesmerizing him with those

beautiful eyes was enough to destabilize him for a while. He stumbled and fell right on the

dragon‟s chest, who closed his wings around him, making him feel so small and vulnerable

that his resistance almost melted away.

“You love it,” Tynan repeated. The fruit bat noticed that his maw was way closer now – the

dragon was leaning down to bite his neck. That prospect didn‟t sound so terrible after all.

“Y-you‟ll love it, too,” he insisted, intensifying his gaze. The dragon looked just as

fascinated as he must have looked. “You‟ll love it…”

“But I really want to bite …” Tynan was taking brief and shallow breaths now – his chest

going up and down erratically in excitement. “I want to bite you…”

“I want to bite you too.” Reed hadn‟t noticed up until that point that he was really excited

too. His heart was beating faster and he wanted to feel his fangs sink into the dragon‟s neck

so, so bad. Then, at the same time, Tynan‟s gaze was making it seem as if being bitten was

actually a good option. And it was. He knew it was.

But he wanted to bite the dragon. But he wanted to get bitten. His mind struggled to find a

middle point, but it couldn‟t.

It was then when he felt his fangs caressing the dragon‟s neck and, at the same time, the

dragon‟s big fangs caressing his own. He shivered, and he gasped, and he felt as if the rest

of the world was fading. His legs shook but fortunately the dragon was there to hold him.

29

He had a feeling he was holding the dragon too. Bite, bite, bite, bite. The need was so

powerful that he couldn‟t resist it any longer. He was so, so thirsty. Maybe he could let the

dragon bite him but he‟d bite him back. There was no way he could fight that urge.

The dragon‟s neck was so close and so appetizing. He could even feel the dragon shiver as

soon as his fangs touched the exposed scales. And of course, as soon as those big vampire

dragon fangs parted the fur on his neck, he shuddered and gasped and felt almost as if he

was about to melt. He was ready. He was so ready for that to happen.

He‟d bury his fangs in the dragon‟s neck and break the thin scales and then suck all that

blood and feel the same done to him, and then…

“Wake up.”

It felt like being pulled out of a dream. The powerful obsession to bite quickly receded and

was replaced by the usual, less aggressive feelings that a normal fruit bat experienced.

Reality seemed to settle around like water after a long, torrential rain. Reed had to blink a

few times in order to get used to it, and it was only then that he really noticed where he

was, what he was doing and, probably, that he‟d been hypnotized into all of it.

His eyes wandered to Tynan, who at that time seemed to be struggling with the same

feelings. Of course, if Reed was right, the green dragon had been hypnotized for a while

longer. Although, to be honest, time had seemed to become irrelevant in that state. The

dragon‟s eyes, in any case, looked completely normal now. So did his own eyes, probably.

At least, that powerful, sparkling feeling around them had disappeared.

Nyeogmi was smiling, right in front of the two friends. Their head was slightly tilted and

their cute fangs were showing, and Reed thought that they looked like an adorable vampire

bat again, rather than a mysterious force that couldn‟t be fought. They could have probably

gone back to being just that if they wanted, the fruit bat thought, but at that time it seemed

they had decided to look and feel like a friend.

And Reed realized that they didn‟t need to use their hypnosis for that.

“What… what is this…?” Tynan asked then. His voice was still a bit dreamy and confused,

and it was obvious he still hadn‟t figured out what had happened since the party at the bat

lab.

It was then when the dragon noticed that he was holding Reed close to his body and he let

out an embarrassed gasp, gently pushing him away. The fruit bat looked down, a bit

30

embarrassed and already missing the touch of Tynan‟s body against his. He could tell the

dragon was blushing and, after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, he looked up.

Nyeogmi winked an eye at him.

“The two of you have been a lot of fun since yesterday,” they explained, casually. “Are you

guys feeling alright?”

“I feel like I‟ve been dreaming for a long time,” the green dragon groaned, rubbing his

temple.

“Well, maybe that‟s what‟s happened,” Reed suggested, his eyes still fixed on the vampire

bat. They were still smiling.

“The two of you make adorable vampires, you know? I could get used to seeing you like

that forever,” Nyeogmi admitted. For a second it seemed as if they were going to lick their

fangs, but they didn‟t. “It‟s such a shame I couldn‟t let you drink each other‟s blood. You

know, mostly because you don‟t have vampire fangs and that stuff. Besides, you need to be

a real vampire to know how it‟s done.”

“I am a real vampire,” Tynan argued. Then he frowned and reached for his fake plastic

fangs, removing them easily. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I‟m not. It was just… difficult to tell a few

seconds ago.”

“Sounds like someone enjoyed this very much,” Nyeogmi teased, a sparkle of joy in those

deep green eyes.

Tynan smiled back. Reed, however, was still trying to understand everything that had

happened. It shouldn‟t have been that hard, but the gears in his mind were turning slowly.

“So, we were never vampires?” he asked. “And when Tynan bit me…”

The green dragon‟s tail swished a bit violently at his back and he looked really flustered all

of a sudden. Nyeogmi gave him a knowing look.

“I made you think you were vampires,” they explained. “You didn‟t actually get to do all

that cool stuff you thought you were doing.”

“I see,” Reed whispered. He didn‟t want any of them to notice, but his cheeks were feeling

slightly warm and he hoped darkness would hide his blush.

31

He wouldn‟t be that lucky, though. He already knew that there was something Nyeogmi

knew, and if they hadn‟t spoken about it yet, it was only out of respect. Reed wasn‟t sure

how much longer that‟d last, though.

“Man, being a vampire was awesome!” Tynan exclaimed then. He looked really excited,

although the fruit bat thought he was blushing, too. “I felt so powerful and cool. This has

definitely been the best Halloween ever.”

“I‟m flattered!” Nyeogmi chuckled. Reed liked the sound of his laugh.

“And honestly, this wouldn‟t have been possible if you hadn‟t helped me with my costume,”

the dragon said, turning to the fruit bat with a thankful gaze. “It was the best vampire

costume I‟ve ever worn.”

“It was pretty good. I‟ll admit it,” Nyeogmi noted.

Reed tried to think of an answer for a few seconds, but nothing came to his mind. He just

nodded, feeling all kinds of warm on the inside. That wasn‟t due to hypnosis. He knew that

much.

“And you guys are pretty cute together,” the vampire bat said then. “You should definitely

talk about it.”

“Talk about… what?” Tynan asked.

When he finally understood, his whole face turned red and his tail squirmed again. He

opened his mouth and tried to say something in response, but the vampire bat was still

looking at him with that clever smile and he looked away, flustered. His eyes met Reed,

who was flashing a similar shade of red and looking to the floor in embarrassment. After a

few seconds, the green dragon did just the same.

They both remained silent for a while.

“But yeah, maybe I‟m intruding,” Nyeogmi intervened, with the kind of amused tone that

indicated they clearly knew what they‟d suggested and why they‟d done so. “Would you

guys like me to take you home?”

“Take us home?” Reed asked, looking up for the first time in a while. “Do you… Do you

have a bat-car or something?”

32

Nyeogmi chuckled softly. Tynan looked up, too, and Reed could tell for the first time that

he‟d been blushing as well. Well, maybe they’re right, the fruit bat thought. Maybe we

should talk about it.

“I don‟t need a car for that,” Nyeogmi assured them, still smiling. “Watch!”

There was a flash of beautiful green and Reed felt himself falling, falling again under that

deep spell. He barely heard the calm sigh by his side, but the last remnants of his conscious

mind guessed the dragon had been hypnotized… just like himself. It felt so good, though,

that he didn‟t think he could complain.

“Sleep,” the vampire bat said, then. That single word was the best thing Reed had ever

heard. It went through his body like the warmest touch and he could feel it easing any

tension, any embarrassment, any worry that he might still have. Maybe there were hidden

suggestions behind that word, but Reed couldn‟t care any longer.

His hand searched for Tynan‟s, found it easily and squeezed it. They both looked at each

other for a second. If they had been more awake, maybe they‟d have noticed how zoned out

each other looked, but at that moment, their minds were far, far away, sinking in a pool of

blissful, fascinating green. Even Nyeogmi seemed to disappear as they stood there, looking

at each other without really seeing, holding hands. Time seemed to freeze, but just for the

shortest second.

Then, they turned and began walking home slowly, their hands still clasped together. And

as Reed walked through the dark corridors, sensing the tall presence of the dragon by his

side – and as Tynan felt the bat‟s caring tenderness watching over him, they both had the

same thought, at the same time.

They were happy.