Upon Reflection

We were out hiking and came to a gorge where the stream became a picturesque waterfall and I said oh look this is a great place for a selfie but she said oh no I don't do that kind of thing and I said come on we can pretend we're young and we huddled together my arm over her shoulder as the other held up the phone but as I tried to center us I could only see myself with one arm draped over empty space and I thought hey what's going on and moved the phone left and right and up and down but no matter what I tried there was only me and she said I'm sorry Todd I meant to tell you at some point and looked up with eyes like ice and that was when I knew she was a vampire. Hold on I said how can this be true when we're out under the sun and she said there are pills to protect us now that we have our own pharmacies and I said oh well I guess there were warning signs like when you recoiled as the waiter brought the garlic bread and the way religious symbols make you hiss but I guess I was just so into you that I overlooked those things but hey I'm only human. Anyway I asked what happens now and she said now I bite your neck and you will have to decide whether you choose to be my undying partner to stalk the living until the sun expands and sets the earth aflame or you decline and I take your blood to satisfy my hunger and leave your pale corpse under the poison ivy. Either way you bite me first and she said yes that's how it goes and her lips curled revealing serpentine fangs that rose up towards my neck just as I snapped the picture capturing my last moment as a living human being capable of reflection.