EBELE

2:15 am

N's POV

Flames are rising as I still hear the frightful screams from the family. I should leave this before the fire gets closer, but I'm curious to know who or what was roaring in the basement.

Opening the door, there's a strong cold breeze coming from the basement. Even with the jacket, gloves, scarf, and other warm clothes on my body, the coldness overpowers it.

Darkness is all I see when I start walking downstairs—closing the door so that no fire or smoke can come in. As I begin to walk, I hear a feminine voice yelling.

"Hello... Who is there? Please don't hurt me!"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you," I told this being as I made my way to the basement floor.

The scent of this place is foul; it smells like spit, piss, period blood, human blood, rotten food, and death. I see bones and blood spread across the scenery; it isn't a pleasant sight.

But what shocked me the most is witnessing the being. An African-American with feminine features and pointy ears. This person is tied up to a pipe and has a towel covering their body: scars, blood, black spots, and pimples on their face. There's a blindfold on this being eyes.

I don't know what happened to this being or who did all this, but I want to figure it out before the fire starts spreading in the basement.

"Excuse me?" I ask as I reach my hand to touch the being's shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" The being freaked out. I stopped touching their shoulder.

"Sorry. I wanted to know who you are? What happened to you? Who caused all this?" I ask, keeping my distance so that I won't frighten the being.

"My name is Ebele."

"Ebele. I love that name."

"Thanks. What's your name?"

"Njau," I tell the being. This is the first time I ever introduced that name to someone. It feels nice.

"Nice name as well."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"I'm not a woman."

I'm caught off guard by what Ebele told me. This being has a feminine voice and the body of a woman. So my mind thought that this being was female. I thought wrong, and I feel bad for misgendering.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"I'm not a man either."

Now I'm even more confused. If Ebele is not a woman or man, then what gender is this being?

"What gender are you? What pronoun should I refer to you as?" I ask, being as respectful as possible.

"I don't identify as any gender; I'm just Ebele. For the pronoun, you can refer to me as Ebele, They, Their, or Them." Ebele tells me.

"Oh, so you're transgender?" I curiously ask.

"No, I'm not transgender. I'm non-binary, which means I either identify as both genders or I don't. For me, I don't consider myself as a man or a woman." Ebele responds.

I never met a transgender or non-binary being before. I knew they exist in the world, but I never came across one. This is a new experience for me. I wonder if Ebele is a vampire?

"I apologize for diving into your business, but I want to know if you were always non-binary? Also, I want to know if you are a vampire?" I ask.

"It's alright, no need to apologize. Yes, I am a vampire, and I have always been one since my existence. I was originally born as a female, and I lived the majority of my life being a woman." Ebele explains.

"What made you want to be non-binary?" I ask.

"It's not a choice that I recently came up with; I had this elongating feeling that I wasn't a female. Even though I have the face, voice, and body of a female, that doesn't mean I felt like one. There was a period when I tried to become a guy, but I didn't feel like a guy either. So I stopped being a man or a woman, and I became myself." Ebele reveals.

"Also, if you're wondering if I have a dick, vagina, or both; I have a vagina. I could get surgery and remove my feminine features, but I don't have the money or willpower. But that doesn't mean I'm a female or male. Having genitals shouldn't define who I am as a being. At the end of the day, they're just body parts." Ebele added.

"Wow, I respect you a lot for finding your identity. It must not have been easy." I tell them.

"Being an African American man living in America is hard. Being an African-American woman is a struggle. But being an African-American non-binary and a vampire living in the United States, that's like trying to survive a war. You don't know what I've been through when I changed myself." They said.

"What happened?" I ask.

"All of my family members disowned me, I had no friends to talk to, I didn't know anyone who is also non-binary, I have no job or money, and I'm homeless. The only thing that kept me going is the love for myself, hair braiding, and makeup. I was about to change my whole life around by applying to Shani's salon. I don't know if you know it or not, but that's the only black-owned vampire salon in Virginia. I was so close to applying, until..." Ebele starts to break down into tears.

"Until what? What happened? I want to know." I ask, getting worried about them.

"I don't remember what day it was, but I was trying to find Shani's salon because I wanted to apply for a job. But it was a struggle since I had no phone for GPS, no car, and no money for transportation. Plus, I was far away from the place, so getting there was a struggle. But then, this Caucasian family wanted to help me get to my location and trusted them because they seemed nice." Ebele continues to whimper. Even though they haven't told me everything yet, I can feel the hurt and trauma.

"I thought they were taking me to the salon, but they took me instead to their house. I was confused at what was going on, and I told them to take me back. But I blacked out, and I woke up in this very basement we're in." Ebele reveals.

"So Mike Benson and his family did all this to you?" I ask.

"Yes, they all did it. Mike always says that he and his family are God-fearing people, but they torture me like some demons." They cried out.

"What exactly did they do to you?" I ask.

"They tied me up and locked me in the basement for weeks without any food or water. Then, the whole family comes and starts interrogating me, even though I didn't commit any crime. But when I revealed to them that I was non-binary and a vampire, that's when the torture began. They spat and pissed on me. They gave me scars and whipped me. They constantly brought out holy water and the Bible to protect themselves. Mike even tried to **** me, but his wife did not let it happen because she told him that he would automatically go to hell if he fucks a black non-binary vampire." They reveal.

Saying that I am shocked doesn't compare to the awful feeling I have. I knew Mike Benson was terrible, but I wasn't expecting everyone in the family to be cruel. Initially, I felt horrible for judging and harming them. Now, I have no remorse, and they can all burn in hell.

"How long has this been going on? Did they do this to anyone else? What was the purpose of all this?" I question them.

"Honestly, I don't know how long I've been in this basement. It feels like months or even a year. But I do remember that there used to be a seventeen-year-old African-American woman with me. She wasn't a vampire, but she knew how to fight back. There was one time that she got out of the ropes and helped me; we almost escaped. But Mike shot her and tied me back up. Her dead body decayed next to me, and it was the most disturbing and sad thing I've ever witnessed. I don't know the real reason why they do this, but I do know that they hate and are afraid of anyone different from them." Ebele explains.

"I couldn't agree more," I said. I looked at the door, and I see smoke coming underneath. So I let Ebele know what is going on.

"Ebele, we have to leave. Before I came down here, I caused a fire to happen upstairs. Now there's smoke slowly creeping our way. We need to leave before the fire gets us." I warned them.

"Okay. Before we go, can you take off my blindfolds? I want to know what you look like." They insist.

I take off the blindfold, and we made eye-contact. Ebele gasped at the sight of me, which made me wonder if they knew or saw me before.

"I know you," They tell me.

"You do? Where, when, and how?" I ask, confused by what they told me.

"You're the guy that got shot and killed those two officers." They reveal.

"How do you know that?" I ask in disbelief.

"I was there at the incident." They said. My heart and mind are all over the place. I can't believe someone else was at the incident.

"What were you even doing?" Questioning them further, making sure I get all the information they know.

"I was taking a stroll around the area when I overheard and saw two white police officers comforting a black man. I stopped what I was doing, pulled out my video camera, and recorded the incident." They explain.

"I thought you said you were poor and had no money; how were you able to obtain a working camera?" Raising my brows and question them.

"That was the only technology I owned. I had it since I still lived with my family. But when they kicked me to the street after telling my secret, I took all my clothes and the small video camera."

"How much footage did you record? Do you still have the camera with you?"

"I started recording when the officers were making fun of your outfit, and then, I stopped after the thirteen gunshots. Once the neighbor's lights began turning on, I left the premises. As for the camera, the last place I had it was at a church." They explain. Disappointment is on my face. I was about to ask them if I could use their camera to expose those racist cops, but now it's gone. So I ask different questions.

"A church? Why did you go to church? I thought vampires weren't allowed at church or to believe in any higher power."

"I didn't decide to go to church; they forced me. They wanted to baptize me and get rid of all the evilness inside of me, which didn't work."

"Oh. I'm so sorry that they did this to you." I feel horrible and sorrowful.

"Don't feel sorry for me; I hate sympathy. I'm just glad that someone took them down and came to help me."

"Honestly, I didn't know anyone was down here until I heard some roars."

"I only roar when I'm hungry or angry, and right now, I'm both. Do you have any food with you?" They plead.

"No, but I know a place where we can get food." I feel bad for not having food, but they understand.

I notice that the fire is getting inside the basement.

"The fire is here; let me untie you so that we can leave."

I untie Ebele, and they start moving their arms, letting the blood circulate again.

"Do you want me to carry you, or do you got it?"

"I've been tied to this position for months now, so you should carry me."

I carry Ebele upstairs since there's no back door. The fire is increasing by the second, and I run so that I won't feel the burning sensation. Ebele put their head on my shoulders to cover themselves from the smoke.

"Wait... What should we do about them?" I curiously ask.

"Put me down," They reply.

"Why?" I ask, confused about what they wanted to do.

"I need to feast and get my revenge on them."

"But aren't they already dead?"

"I don't care. They kidnapped and tortured me for months. They killed an innocent African-American girl. They made me feel worthless about myself. Also, I haven't eaten for months, and I need to feast on human blood and get my revenge." They explain, rage and tears all over their face.

Feeling terrible, I put Ebele down and let them eat.

"You're not going to feast with me?" They ask.

I haven't eaten human meat in a long time. I don't feel comfortable eating the wife or the kids because I still don't enjoy harming them. But I don't mind sucking the worthless life of Mike. He and George brought me so much pain. I had enough of taking it easy on people. Being nice and respectful can only take me so far before I end up snapping. Right now, I have no patience for racist assholes.

"Let me feast on Mike, while you eat the others," I tell them.

"Don't mind if I do." They said, smiling at me and licking their lips at the sight of their necks.

I sunk my teeth in Mike's lifeless neck. I forgot how sweet human blood tastes. The blood is giving me the energy and life that I yearned for. All the pain I've been through is getting washed away by the blood. Ebele is enjoying getting their revenge on the wife and children.

Honestly, I wish I was feasting on George's neck since he caused all this to happen. But his time is coming, and I can't wait to show him no mercy.

We stop eating and leave the burning house. We are heading off to a safe place for both of us to heal and rest.