Candle People

We arrived at the restaurant and it was set up just the way we requested. All the light was from the candles on the table. It was so romantic.

My husband called the manager over.

“I’m Tanner and this is my wife Amy. We’re the ones that called earlier with the special request. Thank you so much for making it all candle light in here. That’s how we met, at a restaurant that used only candles, many centuries ago,” Tanner said and chuckled. The manager, taking it all in jest, laughed as well.

“Of course. We are a classy restaurant after all. What’s the special occasion,” Tom, the manager asked.

“It’s our anniversary,” Tanner said.

“Awe, that’s so sweet. How long have you two been married,” Tom asked.

“So long, neither of us can remember,” Tanner said. The manager laughed, thinking Tanner was joking. We smiled.

“Well, please allow the host to show you to your seats. And if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask,” Tom said.

The host took us to a corner table and placed menus in front of us. We smiled politely and the host walked away.

“I don’t think we need these. We know what we want,” I said.

“True,” Tanner said, but scanned through the menu anyway.

“So, are you enjoying your night so far?” Tanner asked me.

“Yes, it’s wonderful. I loved the spider exhibit you took me too, so many unique species,” I said.

“I know, right? And the Joro spider is rapidly expanding its territory. What a fascinating little creature,” Tanner said and smiled.

“How’s the nightclub doing?” I asked Tanner.

“Great, better then it was last month. Since we got a new DJ, business has really boomed. I’m hoping I don’t have to drive Uber again for a while. How’s the hospital?” Tanner asked.

“Great. It’s so much fun being a night nurse, so many interesting patients,” I said and smiled.

“I’m still waking up. We should order a couple coffees. I didn’t get much sleep last night, the boards were a little stiff,” Tanner said.

“Time to go digging for a new bed,” I said and laughed. The waiter stopped by.

“Are we ready to order or do we need more time?” The waiter asked.

“Two coffees please. Black,” I said and stared into his eyes.

“Yes, ma’am,” the waiter said, then walked off in a trance.

“You’re the most amazing hypnotist I’ve ever seen. All you have to do is stare someone in the eyes, and they obey. That’s a hell of a talent, my dear,” Tanner said.

“Well, he is a waiter. It is his job,” I said and laughed.

“Remember when you hypnotized that dictator and convinced him to resign and give all of his stolen taxpayer money to all of the poor people in his country. That was amazing,” Tanner said.

“Oh, yes. I nearly forgot about that. We should do that again sometime,” I said and smiled.

We sat for a moment, and I found myself reminiscing.

“Remember when you convinced President Roosevelt that social security was a good idea? He signed the bill the next day, August 14th. That was amazing. That’s your talent, the power of persuasion,” I said and smiled.

“That’s very kind of you to say. I guess I have talked a lot of people into doing a lot of things they wouldn’t otherwise have done,” Tanner said and smiled.

“If you say so,” I replied and smiled back.

“See, we’re not all bad. We’ve done a lot of good over the years. We’re only bad when we’re hungry. But we’ve got to eat, after all,” Tanner said.

“Yes, everyone has to eat. We’ve got a right to eat,” I said and smiled. We laughed.

The waiter came by and dropped off our coffees. We each took a sip.

“Are you two ready to order?” The waiter asked.

“Yes, we know what we want,” I said and smiled.

Tanner and I used our amazing lung power to blow out all the candles at the restaurant.

Most of the customers gasped and someone shouted, “what happened to the light?”

We bit into the waiters neck and shared his blood.

I wiped my dripping lips with my sleeve and said, “that was so romantic. But I’m still hungry.”

“Me too. Let’s leave the customers alive though, I want to build an army of vampires,” Tanner said.

One by one, we fed on every customer and staff in the restaurant. We were finally full, and had a brand new army of obedient vampire trainees to work with.