Offer of a Lifetime

It had been two weeks since I said goodbye to my best friend. Fred and I had known each other since middle school. It was quite a shock. He disappeared hiking the Appalachian mountains on the start of his would be world tour he had been on after his dad's death. They never found his body, so it was more of a memorial service than a funeral.

There I was sitting in a cheap hotel room in Paris about to embark on my own journey. We had always talked about travelling the world together. I hadn't been able to join Fred on his journey as I had to care for my own ailing mother.

Actually Fred had been asking me to join him as she started to get better. We talked about meeting up in Paris for a backpacking trip across Europe. I was reluctant to go, but since he disappeared it's all I've been able to think about.

I stood in front of the mirror by the entry way. I still had a hard time believing what I saw. The slicked back hair and clean-shaven face were of course my own style choices, but the high end athletic wear, hiking pants and shoes. That was all stuff Fred had left me. Apparently he was determined not to leave me any excuse not to join him.

I pour myself a glass of vanilla whiskey (Fred's favourite) when someone starts knocking on my door.

When I open the door I don't even notice the glass fall out of my hand and shatter on the floor. I am in too great a shock. Wide eyed and pale faced I stare into the clean shaven, unblemished, classically handsome face that I've always been jealous of. Fred stared back.

"Who.... who are you?" I manage to stammer out.

"Who do you think Jack? You doing ok? You look like you've seen a ghost." He smiles like he just said something funny.

"You can't be Fred. He died."

"But they never found the body did they? Now are you going to invite me in?"

"Prove it! Prove that you're Fred."

His eyes did a roll as if this was some annoying inconvenience. "When we were fifteen you broke the window on your dad's car. He thought the neighbor's kid did it and you let him believe that. You broke it by kicking a soccer ball"

That sold me. Fred was the only one I told about that. "Alright. Come on in." I took a seat on the bed while he chose the chair in the corner. "How is it that you're alive? we buried you. There was a service. Why not go to the authorities or your mom?" A million other questions streamed through my head.

"Heheheh," he chuckled. "I'm actually here to explain all that and more." He smiled so calmly and casually. In comparison I was losing my mind. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

" You remember how after my dad died I decide to do some travelling?"

"You said that you didn't want to waste your life. That you wanted to see the world."

"Right. Well in my travels I discovered something. A way to avoid death entirely." My confusion intensified. "I found it pretty early on actually. I hadn't even left North America yet. You see while hiking the Appalachian mountains I really did hurt myself. Thought I was a dead man until this old man found me. There was a moment where I thought he was gonna kill me. The way he looked at me I swear it was like he was looking at dinner. Then he made me an offer. It was like when he looked in my eyes he stared right into my soul and knew what I was thinking. He said that he couldn't move me without killing me, but he could give me something that would prevent my death. That it would cure me of all ailments and injuries and give me the time to actually do everything I've always wanted to. All I needed to do was make a little sacrifice. I wouldn't be able to go back to my normal life, But I would be able to go anywhere, do anything. No limits. Now I want to make you that same offer, Jack."

That was probably the craziest story I ever heard. "What did he give you?" Fred tossed me a vile of some red liquid. I stared at it for a moment and then I realized that there was only one thing it could be.

"Better than any drug or vitamin. You'll never need to see a doctor again."

"This is insane! And why would you need to fake your death. It fixed you right? So why fake your death?"

"I told you it's way to avoid death entirely. It can be hard to go on living for all time and not have people ask questions. It's better if people think your dead."

"But to just give up everything like that...."

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. I remember you telling me how watching your poor, sick mother in the hospital freaked you out about getting older. Do you really want that? To become some frail old man who needs other people to do everything for him?"

I looked down at the vile of thick red liquid in my hand. "All I have to do is drink it?"

"Well that's step one. Step two is die. You can't become immortal while still clinging to your human life. It's kinda funny if you think about it. Dying to avoid death." He smiled flashing the fangs he now had in place of human teeth. "Don't stress about what your family will be told. There're ways to make it look like you just disappeared."

I thought about my family. About what my mom might think. About what she'd go through if I died. I thought about Fred's mom. How she broke down at the memorial service. I thought about what it would mean to grow old. The frailty, my body turning on me as it ceased to function.

Suddenly there was another knock at my door. "Ah! That will be my special treat." He opened the door to reveal a woman in a skimpy dress. She had on a bit too much makeup and the dress looked like had seen better days.

Fred put his arm around her shoulders and brought her inside. "Well Jack you gonna join me." He brought his head to her neck, but instead of nuzzling he looked like he was sniffing.

"I...."

"Oh come on! What's there to think about. You could have the strength to do whatever you want and all the time in the world to do it." He pulled his head away. His burned with excitement. He lifted the woman up in the air with one arm, his hand around her neck. "No one could stop us." Her face was full of fear. If she could speak she like would've screamed. He then pulled her back in and sank his teeth into her neck. Barely any blood touched the ground.

His strength amazed me. To be able to lift a person in the air like that. I sat there in stunned silence trying to process what I'd just seen.

"Think it over for a minute. I'll go deal with her and when I come back you tell me what you wanna do," with that Fred left taking the now dead woman with him.

I looked down at the vile of blood in my hand, Fred's blood. If I wanted to become like him I had to drink his blood and then die. I understood that now.

I thought again of my family. Of my mom in the hospital, frail and sickly. I took a deep breath. I made my decision.