Table Manners
By Tanith Lee
When a young girl is forced to attend a mock ball, she meets an attractive man who has the wrong notions about his eternal lifespan and supposed need for blood.
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Plot Summary
After her father forces her to attend a mock ball, Lelystra meets a man named Anghel and recognizes right away that he is a vampire. When he charms an unsuspecting girl into following him outside, Lelystra interrupts them right before he can drink her blood. Lelystra summons a stag from the nearby forest to scare the girl away, and Anghel believes she is a vampire hunter who has discovered him. She gives him her father’s business card and explains that he is someone who can help him. After some questioning, Anghel claims that he only became a vampire a few months ago due to a family gene, and he has never killed anyone. He can also shape-shift; he turns into a dog and runs away from Lelystra before she can explain everything. Lelystra is actually a young vampire, too. However, through research, Lelystra's father knows that they are super-evolved humans rather than vampires. The need to drink blood and hide from the sun is a psychosomatic illness. When a vampire tastes blood, it makes them aware of their super-evolved gene, but it is not necessary for survival. People like Anghel unconsciously manifest the need for blood because they have been brainwashed into believing they are vampires. Lelystra regrets that she let Angel go before she could explain the truth. To her surprise, after she returns home, she meets Anghel on the rooftop of her father’s office. He explains that he called the number on her father’s business card and has become a patient. He will adjust to normal life, and he can now go in the sun without blistering. He thanks her for saving him from his own insanity, and they share a passionate kiss on the rooftop.
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