My wife is a vampire

My wife, Lea, is a vampire. <br><br>Now, I know what you’re thinking… this is the plot of Interview with the Vampire, right? But this isn’t a fictional story, and I’m not a teenage girl with no friends who falls deeply in love with a century-old, sparkly bloodsucker. I’m just a regular guy, who fell for a girl who just so happens to drink blood. It’s not weird, I promise. Well, it’s a little weird, but it’s fine.<br><br>We met in college, Lea and I, in a film studies class. I remember she showed up late, wearing sunglasses in the dark lecture theatre, and I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I was smitten. <br><br>After the lesson, I approached her, pretending to be suave, and I asked her out to a movie. She said yes, and we’ve been together ever since. We got married on a beach in Maui when we were in our mid-twenties, surrounded by our friends and family. It was beautiful. We were happy. <br><br>It wasn’t until a few years later, when we were vacationing in New Orleans, that I found out about Lea’s little… condition. <br><br>We were on Bourbon Street, drinking and laughing, when Lea excused herself to go to the bathroom. She had been gone for maybe ten minutes when I went to check on her. She wasn’t inside, so I figured she must have gone out the back for some fresh air. As I stepped out into the alley, I saw Lea, her fangs buried deep in the neck of a young man.<br><br>It was terrifying, to say the least. I wanted to run, to scream, to cry, to do anything except what I actually did, which was to stand there, frozen in place. <br><br>The boy Lea was drinking from didn’t seem to be suffering. In fact, he had a look of ecstasy on his face, and his eyes were rolled back in his head. I figured he must have been doing some kind of fucked up drug, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that my wife was drinking his blood. <br><br>Eventually, Lea noticed me standing there. She withdrew her fangs from the boy’s neck, and let him slide down the wall to the ground. She stalked towards me, her eyes glowing bright red in the dark, a wicked grin spreading across her face. <br><br>We didn’t speak as she dragged me back to our hotel room, and I didn’t resist as she pinned me to the bed, her hands tight around my wrists. <br><br>Then she told me. <br><br>She was a vampire. She had been one for centuries, since long before I was born. She had fallen for me, and had chosen to spend the rest of eternity with me. But she needed to drink blood to survive. <br><br>I won’t lie, I was horrified. I didn’t know how to feel. But as I looked into Lea’s eyes, I knew that I still loved her, no matter what she was. <br><br>I told her it was fine. That I didn’t mind her being a vampire, as long as she promised not to hurt anyone important to me. <br><br>She promised, and we made love for the rest of the night. <br><br>After that, things were a little different. Lea would go hunting at night, while I slept, and she would come back with red lips and red eyes. It wasn’t until I woke one morning to find her next to me, a long wound on her chest, oozing blood, that I realised just how fraught her life was. <br><br>“Be careful,” I said, as I kissed her forehead. “I don’t want to lose you.”<br><br>Over the next few months, Lea got more and more reckless. She would drink to excess, and pass out in the middle of the day. She would hunt during the day, and get caught in the sun. She would bring home men for me to feed on, and I would chew their flesh while she laughed. <br><br>I didn’t like it, but she seemed happy, so I went along with it. <br><br>One day, Lea went too far. I woke to the smell of smoke, and the sound of sirens. I ran downstairs, and found Lea, ablaze in the kitchen. I beat out the flames, and called for an ambulance. <br><br>It took months for her to recover. She was burned over most of her body, and her skin fell away in sheets. When she was finally able to walk, she was a disfigured monster, with melted plastic skin and no hair. <br><br>I stayed with her the whole time. I fed her, bathed her, and wiped her. I took her outside on sunny days, and held her hand as she screamed. <br><br>It was hard, but I couldn’t abandon her. I loved her, no matter what she looked like. <br><br>Slowly but surely, Lea got better. Her burns healed, her skin grew back, and her hair regrew. She still has scars on her arms and torso, but you can barely see them. <br><br>She’s still a vampire, though. She still needs to drink blood to survive, and she still hunts to get it. I just hope she never gets caught. <br><br>After everything we’ve been through together, I don’t think I could live without her.