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Bradley’s feet felt incredibly heavy with every step she took. She had no idea how she had ended up in this situation. As a matter of fact, she didn’t remember anything about the last few hours at all. She was walking around a dark and humid alley but had no idea how she ended up there or what she was doing. It was strange, and she was scared. She needed to find Laura, but she didn’t even know where she was. This was not the city she was used to…or was it? It kinda looked like the New York she was used to but just…different? It was darker and foggier, and she could’ve sworn she saw a giant hound running into a…cemetery? She kept walking fast, almost running. She had no idea where she was going and was very dizzy.
“Bradley! Bradley, stop!” a familiar voice said, catching up to her. Was that? Could it be?
“Where are you going? Come back!” Yeah, she would recognize that voice anywhere. Even wherever the hell she was.
“Laura!” Bradley said, stopping in her tracks and turning around to look at her girlfriend. “Thank God you’re here!” Bradley wrapped her arms around Laura and released a sigh of relief.
“Are you okay, honey? You bumped your head pretty hard. Does it hurt?” Laura caressed Bradley’s cheek and gently rubbed the blonde’s forehead.
“I…I don’t know,” Bradley replied. Something was off. Laura looked…different. She looked like Laura but perhaps a bit younger. She was significantly more muscular as well as if she spent her days running around chasing bad guys and lifting weights. Her eyes, however, looked the same.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Laura asked.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re looking at me for the first time,” Laura replied. The blonde was acting strange.
Bradley didn’t reply. She just kept staring at Laura, studying every single feature. She had memorized every single wrinkle, every single crease…this Laura looked different. Her eyes were sombre as if she had seen terrible things.
“Stop it! You’re freaking me out!” Laura playfully punched Bradley in the arm.
“I just…you…” Bradley didn’t know what to say. She felt like she was going insane.
“Me, what, honey?” Laura asked, wrapping her arms around the blonde’s waist. Bradley didn’t reply and closed her eyes instead, shaking her head.
“So that bump really knocked you out, huh? Who would’ve thought!” Laura said, laughing and grabbing Bradley’s hand. “Zombies and hellhounds are not an issue, but trees are a menace! Immortality sure works in odd ways.”
Zombies and hellhounds? Immortality? What the hell was Laura talking about? “Laura, I…I feel really strange. Can we sit down?”
“Oh, are you hungry? Do you need to feed? You know what? Let’s go home. I bet feeding will help you shake this thing off.”
Laura grabbed Bradley’s hand before she could even answer and dragged her through the streets. What the hell was this place? How could the streets look exactly the same yet so different?
“Where are we going?” Bradley asked.
“To my place. You’ll be okay, don’t worry.”
—
Bradley walked into the familiar brownstone and sighed in relief. At least Laura’s home still looked and smelled the same. Except for…
“Are those crossbows and stakes?” Bradley asked. “When did you get those? What do you need them for? They’re not great decorative pieces, you know…”
“Sit down, honey,” Laura said, ignoring Bradley’s questions. “I’m going to drink some water before you feed. I’m parched and don’t want to feel too lightheaded after.”
Why did Laura keep saying feed? It was the strangest thing in the world. “I’m not hungry, but you know I could always go for pizza. With mushrooms and balsamic glaze!” Bradley said, her eyes widening and shining in excitement. She wasn’t hungry, but pizza always made her feel better.
“Pizza? What are you talking about?” Laura asked as she came back into the living room with a glass of water and wearing a tank top. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’ll feel better after you feed. Here.” Laura moved her hair to the side and exposed her neck, getting closer to Bradley.
“Here? Here what?” Bradley asked, not understanding a single thing.
“Do you prefer to feed from my arm instead?” Laura asked, reaching out to Bradley.
“Feed from your arm? Laura, what the hell are you talking about?” Bradley asked.
“Bradley, stop fucking around and just drink some fucking blood,” Laura said, feeling as annoyed as she was worried. They didn’t have time for this! Not with fucking Cory preying on them like a hawk.
“Drink blood?” Bradley asked, jumping off of the couch.
“Well, that’s what vampires do,” Laura said, her annoyance almost disappearing.
“Vampires?” Bradley asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Bradley, are you for real?” Laura asked.
“Are you trying to prank me? Is this one of those hidden camera things? Is this a segment for the show?” Bradley asked.
“What show? Bradley, you’re scaring me.”
“Okay! Ha ha ha! You got me! Everyone come out now!” Bradley said, laughing and clapping.
“Bradley, stop!” Laura pleaded. “Please, just drink some blood. You’ll feel better after.”
“Did Cory ask you to do this? Is he behind this bad prank?” Bradley raised an eyebrow, looking around. She was still expecting a camera crew to come out any minute.
“Why would he be behind anything? Please, don’t say that motherfucker’s name out loud again. He’s like Beetlejuice.” Laura was worried. Could vampires suffer from amnesia? “What is the last thing you remember?”
“I remember shooting a segment for the show in Central Park with Alex and Daniel.”
“Shooting a segment? With Daniel and Alex? Why?” Laura had never been so confused.
“Well, maybe because they’re my co-hosts?” Bradley asked as if it was obvious. In all fairness, to her, it was obvious.
“Co-hosts? Where?”
“On The Morning Show! Are you messing with me, Laura?”
“What Morning Show? Bradley, you’re scaring me.”
“You know what? Nevermind. I must be drunk. Yeah, that’s what it is. I just need to slap myself, and I’ll get back to normal!” The blonde slapped herself hard, but nothing happened.
“Bradley, please listen to me. You need to feed. I think you might be delirious. Come on.” Laura said, placing her arm on top of Bradley’s mouth.
“Laura, stop this vampire crap.”
“It’s not crap. Please. Do it for me.”
“Well, if I’m a vampire, why can I see myself in this mirror? Am I not supposed to not have a reflection?” Bradley asked, pointing at her reflection.
“That’s a stereotype,” Laura said, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, then. If I am Nosferatu’s daughter, shouldn’t I have fangs?” Bradley asked, opening her mouth and revealing a pair of sharp fangs. Her blue eyes were inside a ring of a deep shade of grade…so scarlet, it was almost maroon.
“What…Laura…” Bradley couldn’t breathe. She tried to say something more, but she just screamed instead. A loud, gut-wrenching scream.
“Bradley, honey, please calm down,” Laura said. “Baby, please drink some blood.” Laura once again placed her arm on Bradley’s mouth.
Bradley felt something taking over her. The blonde couldn’t explain it, but she felt the uncontrollable urge to drink Laura’s blood. It was bigger than her. She bit into her girlfriend’s arm and drank until her thirst was gone. It felt strange yet good. She loved it and hated it at the same time.
“This isn’t real. This can’t be real.” Bradley said, wiping Laura’s blood from her mouth. She kept repeating those words like a mantra, rocking back and forth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Bradley said, crying and gently caressing Laura’s forearm.
“You didn’t hurt me. You’ve done this plenty of times. You still don’t remember?” Laura asked. Bradley didn’t reply. Instead, she just shook her head as her crying turned into sobbing.
“Is that why you have the stakes? Because of me? Are you afraid of me?” Bradley asked
“Of course not. I could never be afraid of you. The stakes are for protection against other vampires who aren’t as…nice as you are.” Laura said.
“So I’m not a monster?” Bradley asked, almost whispering.
“Of course not, my love. You would never hurt anyone. Especially not me.” Laura said, kissing Bradley’s forehead.
“Good,” the blonde replied.
“Honey, why don’t you lay down and try to relax? I’m going to call Cybill. She’ll know what to do.”
“Cybill? Is she the one behind this?” Bradley asked.
“Cybil is the most powerful witch. She’ll know what to do.” Laura replied.
“Witch?” Bradley asked, even more confused.
“Just lay down, honey. Close your eyes. Don’t think about anything. Everything will be alright.”
Bradley nodded. “Could you please lay next to me and hug me? Please? I know you have some calls to make, but just for a little bit?”
“Of course,” Laura said as she lay next to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her. “Everything will be okay.”
As she lay in Laura’s arms, Bradley thought how wonderful it was that the brunette could make her feel so safe even in this weird ass place.
—
Bradley woke up abruptly. She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep. It must have happened while she was waiting for Cybil to fix the fact that she was a vampire. Did vampires even sleep? Well, they must sleep because she had definitely been sleeping. She looked around, and everything felt…the same as before again. As if she was finally back where she was supposed to be. Was the whole vampire thing a dream? It had to be. Vampires don’t exist. But it felt so fucking real.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Laura said, sitting on their bed with two cups of coffee. “Did you sleep well?”
“I had the weirdest dream last night…” Bradley said, taking the cup of coffee that Laura handed her.
“What was it about?”
“You and I were living in a monster-infested version of New York!” Bradley said. “Zombies, hellhounds, vampires…they were all real!”
“That sounds creepy,” Laura said, intrigued by Bradley’s dream.
“It was! And I think you were some sort of monster hunter! This place was filled with crossbows and stakes,” Bradley continued.
“Oh, I would definitely be a hunter in a monster-infested world. I’d be pretty fucking good at it too.” Laura said.
“And I think Cory was Beetlejuice, but I’m not sure.”
“Beetlejuice? Like say his name three times and he’ll appear?” Laura laughed.
“That wasn’t the craziest part of all, though. I was a vampire!” Bradley said. “And I drank blood from you!”
“What? And you didn’t turn me into a vampire too?”
“No, I was a different kind of vampire. The kind that doesn't turn people into vampires. I could see my reflection in the mirror too.”
“So you were a vampire, and I was a hunter, but we were together?” Laura asked.
“Yeah! Romeo and Juliet got nothing on us!” Bradley said, laughing. “The last thing that happened was that you were calling Cybil to help me.”
“Cybil Richards?” Laura asked, confused.
“Yeah, apparently, she was the most powerful witch in the world and could help me.”
“Help you become human again?”
“No. Somehow my being a vampire wasn’t an issue. She was going to help me remember.”
“It sounds like quite the dream, honey.”
“Yeah, and it felt oddly real. I woke up feeling exhausted too.” Bradley yawned. It felt as if she hadn’t slept all night.
“Well, you know what? Someone once told me that dreams were windows into other universes,” Laura said. “Maybe you got a peek into one.”
“You think maybe there’s a universe in which I’m a vampire, and you’re a vampire slayer?” Bradley asked.
“Yeah, why not?”
“For real?”
“Sure. Maybe there’s even a universe in which we have a kid! Or one in which we started out as friends who fell in love with each other. Maybe, there’s even one in which I was an architect, and you hired me to build you a sex room…” Laura said, raising an eyebrow.
“Now you’re just fucking with me,” Bradley said, rolling her eyes and gently punching Laura in the arm.
“I definitely think the multiverse is a possibility,” Laura said, getting more serious. “And I like to think we somehow find our way to each other in every single one of them. And if different choices lead to different outcomes, then my heart breaks for every version of me that didn’t end up with you.”
“Mine doesn’t.” Bradley wrapped her arms around Laura’s neck and leaned in to kiss her. “Because I know we’ll end up together in every universe.”