We Have the Moon
Hey guys, sorry I disappeared off the face of the Earth for a while. I’ve been pretty depressed and unmotivated because, well *gestures vaguely to everything.* Here’s the second installment of my human-monster romance stories. We’re going full Gothic Lesbian Vampire Love today. I hope y’all enjoy. I can’t think of any content warnings off the top of my head, this is pretty tame honestly, but if there’s anything I should add let me know! Read under the cut.
Plink.
It was a light tap, subtle as the wind itself. Nobody should’ve woken up. But Alice did. Subtle, tinkling reverberations made her ears perk up.
Plink.
She lifted her head. Though only the pale moon offered light, she had no trouble seeing. Her eyes were built for picking apart shadows. The room was empty.
Plink.
“Alice!”
Oh. Oh no. Why was she here? Alice scurried to the window. It was covered in a frosty sheen broken up by a few persistent stones. Cracking it open enough for one eye to peek around, Alice spotted a familiar figure standing outside.
Melody. In a prom dress.
It was silver, sleeveless, and dripping with rhinestones. She’d woven matching ribbons into her box braids. “Alice, come down.”
“Go home, Mel. You know you shouldn’t be here.”
“Yeah, and?” Melody asked, indignant.
“Please go home. You must be cold.”
“Guess I’ll just be cold till you get your ass down here. And put on something cute.”
Alice narrowed her eye. “You’re not going away, are you?”
“Negative.”
She sighed. Melody was stubborn enough to freeze until she came down. Might as well keep her from getting frostbite. Alice hurried to slip into a pair of black leggings, a button-up top, and her dad’s leather jacket. Dressed, she opened the window fully and crawled down the side of her house.
Alice wasn’t the beautiful type of vampire. Her skin wasn’t pure white marble; it was pale corpse flesh, showcasing a network of black veins pulsing underneath. Her limbs weren’t perfectly sculpted; they were spidery and knotted and all her joints protruded into bulbs of tendon and bone. And her face did not showcase a haunting beauty, but a ghoulish caricature of something that might’ve been human, once, if you squinted a little. If she were a full vampire, Alice was sure her friend would run home, leaving only a trail of piss and tears behind. But her horror was diluted by the glow of her mom’s humanity, so Melody stayed waiting for her.
“Happy?” Alice asked.
“Yes,” Melody replied, grabbing her arm. “Now come on. I’m freezing.”
Melody’s hand, even kissed by the winter wind, was so warm. Alice’s half-beating heart sped up to a human pace.
The two of them ran through the woods separating Alice’s house from the rest of the town. There was no snow, but a low fog hung over the roots of the trees, whipped up by their legs and soft laughter.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Where do you think?” Melody said.
Oh. Alice would’ve blushed if she’d had the heat for it. The graveyard. Melody always waited for her there, always where the moon was brightest. Never afraid. Ready to play with death. To flirt with it. To dance with it. To go to prom with it.
“I thought your parents said they’d cut off your college fund if you saw me again,” Alice said.
“They did. And if we don’t do this tonight, they will.”
“And what is this, exactly?”
“You’ll see.”
Christ. Always so damn cryptic. As much as Alice was annoyed by it, she had to admit the spark of mystery was welcome. The heartbeat of her life had slowed to a comatose lull since Melody left for college. It had just her and her parents eking out a quiet existence where they wouldn’t be bothered by the townsfolk. The shadows may have been safe, but they weren’t nearly as interesting as humans thought they were.
They arrived at the graveyard. The headstones they grew up around were glistening with ice droplets. In the center was an abandoned, rotting church which towered over the graves. They always sat in its shadow on the hotter nights. The memory of a lingering kiss danced on Alice’s tongue as they made their way up the mossy steps. The front door was held shut by several wood planks haphazardly nailed over it.
“Help me open this, would you, baby?”
Yes, she could, happily. The door, and the boards, caved like paper when Alice kicked them in. No invitation necessary.
Like vampiric beauty, it was also a myth that God held vampires at bay. That implied that vampires weren’t of God. It also implied that the Christian God was the only Holy Spirit around. That was the biggest myth of all.
It was oddly lovely inside. Pews draped in cobwebs decorated the otherwise barren space. The altar at the front was defaced with graffiti, mostly of pentagrams drawn by misinformed teenagers, highlighted by the stained-glass window throwing muted rainbows across the floor.
“Okay, we’re here. Now what are we doing?”
Melody looked towards the altar. A crystalized breath fell from her soft lips. “Getting married.”
“…Huh?” Alice felt her heart speed up even more. It was uncomfortable. How did humans deal with this?
Melody looked to Alice and squeezed her hand. The shifting browns of cats’ eye swam in her irises. “Marry me, Alice.”
“B-but this isn’t… I thought maybe…” she scratched her neck.
“That I’d meet someone?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would I do that?”
Alice took her other hand. “Because they’re human, Mel. Because you could have a normal life. Because, I don’t know, you could grow old together and stuff.”
Melody made an audible snoring sound.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I. That shit’s boring.”
“But your parents—”
“Will have to get the fuck over it. I chose you.”
“That’s a choice I could never understand.”
“But I’m making it anyways,” Melody said. “You in or not?”
Alice bit her lip. Her fang poked into the skin, and a stream of black blood ran down her chin. She had no doubts that Melody was serious. And looking into her eyes, Alice also had no doubts that Melody loved her. Humans couldn’t hide their feelings well even if when they tried. It was kind of cute, really. Their little twitches, jittery hands, hushed curses, even their breathing— it always gave away the truth. Melody’s truth was stark, longing gazes, reaching lips, and a racing heart.
“This isn’t exactly an official ceremony,” Alice said. “We don’t have a priest or a wedding license or anything.”
Melody offered a shrug. “That can come later. Once I’m on my own. For now,” she pointed towards the large circular window above the altar, where the full moon shone, “we have the moon. She’ll be our officiant.”
Alice considered this. The moon. It followed them through their every night. Even when they were apart, even when they couldn’t talk to each other, the moon would know. That was all that mattered. “The moon it is.”
“Great, I already bought rings. Come on.”
The excited, giggling brides ran to the altar and took places opposite of each other. Melody pulled two rings out of her bra. One had a large red gem and one had a blue gem, both oval, a little like class rings.
“I hope these weren’t too expensive.”
“Nah, got them from Walmart. We can get real ones for the real wedding.”
“Think your parents will suspect?”
Melody waved her hand flippantly. “They know I like a lot of jewelry. One more ring won’t set off their alarms if it doesn’t look like a wedding ring. Stop worrying.”
“You’ve been planning this a while?”
She lowered her head. “Since they forced us to break up.”
Alice held Melody’s cheek and stroked it. They had tried to be sneaky, but people in this town never mind their own business. As soon as they found out Melody was going to prom with the local abomination, all hell broke loose. A lot of screaming. Even more crying. They never even got to go to prom. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Melody looked up to Alice. “Doesn’t matter now. Hold out your hand.”
Alice did. “No vows?”
“I think we both know what I’m agreeing to.” Melody slid the red ring over Alice’s finger. Alice slid the blue ring over Melody’s. “Till the end, love.”
“Till the end.”
Their lips met, hot upon cold, life upon death. The kiss was long and lingering. Alice knew it would be their last for a long time. Maybe months, maybe years. It all depended on how often Melody could sneak visits during her breaks. Alice could wait. Once Melody was on her own, they would get their real wedding. After that they had eternity waiting ahead.
Until then, they had the moon. She would know, and that was all that mattered.
