Monopoly

After his conversation with Horace, Aurik spent the rest of the day anticipating what he was going to learn when the restaurant finally closed, how he would finally get some answers for the all the strange things that had been happening to him.

The thing that he was most curious about was the need to drink blood, since it was the strangest part in all of this. He had heard stories about monsters that drink human blood when he was a child but it had been years since then and he couldn't even remember what these things were called.

'Is that it? Did I become one of those 'monsters' or something similar?' Thoughts like this crossed his mind every so often and Aurik found it difficult to focus on work.

Eventually, after several hours had passed, the sun had set and it was time to close up for the night. Aurik made sure to hand the keys to one of his co-workers while explaining that he might not come in to work the next day.

He didn't know what was going to happen or what he would learn but he had already expected that things would change based on the way that Horace was talking. Horace even said the words 'among our people' which implied that there was some kind of group backing him or at least that there were others whom he knew that were like them.

'I still don't know what 'we' are but clearly it's a well kept secret. Wait, what if they try to kill me to keep it that way!?' This thought struck Aurik's mind like a bolt of lightning. He didn't have much time to think too deeply about it though, as a car suddenly appeared up the street and eventually came to a comfortable stop right in front of him.

Cars were a commodity that only a very small group of people were allowed to possess, with there being two main prerequisites that needed to be met before you could obtain one. The first was wealth.

Buying the car itself was the cost people who couldn't afford such a thing paid the most attention to but there were many more things that required funds, such as fuel and maintenance, even hiring a driver was often involved in the costs. 

The second was influence. Being an important figure in the government, having a high position in a powerful company, having obscene amounts of money. There were several ways to fulfil this condition but there are only so many positions that exist at one time, severely limiting the number of people who actually manage to do so.

The reason these prerequisites exist is because the government has a monopoly on the manufacturing of cars, allowing them to make whatever rules they want regarding them. Due to the fact that every car in the country was manufactured by the same people, there was very little variation in their appearance since there were no competitors to compete with. Almost all cars looked like some variation of a short limousine with the style of a vintage Rolls Royce.

The back window to the electric powered car opened, revealing the luxurious and surprisingly spacious interior. A man whom Aurik immediately recognized was seated inside and waved his hand while gesturing towards himself.

"Get in." Horace said with the same friendly tone and smile he had used in the restaurant before.

Several seconds passed with Aurik staring at the car with a blank expression on his face. He never expected to own a car in his life and had never even tried to get a close look at one out of fear that he would feel jealous about it later, yet now he was being told to climb inside one?

'Who is this man really...?' Aurik finally managed to shake off his surprise and mustered the courage to climb into the backseat with Horace.

Not even 10 seconds passed before they began moving and Aurik was taking his first ride in a car after over 20 years of life. Horace noticed Aurik trying to hide his excitement and couldn't help but chuckle.

"I still remember when the first cars were made... I was quite excited to ride in one and the first time I did so I had the same reaction as you. I wasn't able to hide my excitement quite as well as you are though." Horace quickly cleared his throat and it was clear he felt slightly embarrassed about something for a moment.

Aurik didn't even notice this, however, as there was something else that caught his attention.

"Did you say you were there when the first cars were made?" He asked with a confused expression on his face.

Horace nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"The first cars were made over a hundred years ago, weren't they? So how..." Aurik didn't finish his sentence, it just felt ludicrous to ask someone who looked younger than 40 how he was there a 100 years ago.

"Here I thought I was starting to look like an old man after my hair started turning grey, but it seems I'm not quite there yet!" Horace smiled widely and laughed to himself. It had been a while since someone had mistaken his age by such a wide margin and he found it pleasantly amusing.

The laughter quickly subsided and Horace went on to explain. "Yes, I was there over a hundred years ago, as a matter of fact I was a teenager when the first car was made. I might look like I'm still yet to reach my 40's but I've already passed 150 years of age."

"150!? How can that be possible!?" Aurik was unable to hide his surprise and practically shouted his question, if he hadn't been sitting inside a car then he would have jumped to his feet as well.

"The answer is simple." Horace said with a calm tone of voice. "I am a vampire, just like you."