The incredibly large building had several wings, all dedicated to different purposes, and she was off to the Race wing today. After a few more hallways, she found the path towards non-emergency services, and her steps quickened now that she knew she was close. Many of the people she passed still had injuries, but they were minor enough that they could afford to wait. Katrina’s goal was the counter meant for non-medical treatment, which existed to help races that needed exotic material as a part of their day-to-day lives. When she found the line, she quickly stepped into place, and sighed in relief.


    Her focus was somewhat distracted, however, when a feminine voice beside her spoke up. “Ma’am, are you in the right line? If you’re bleeding, you should head back towards non-emergency services.”


    Looking over, Katrina saw a Nekomata in bright pink scrubs holding a clipboard, clearly concerned about the bloody towel. She was of middling height, with bright green eyes and a slim build, and her black cat ears twitched towards Katrina as she started talking. “N-no, I’m a Vampire. This is just… keeping me sane while I wait for my turn.”


    “Ah, that makes sense. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask that you let me dispose of it. Hazmat concerns, I’m sure you understand.”


    With a heavy sigh, Katrina nodded in agreement. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight. This shortage is really messing me up.”


    “I completely understand, ma’am. Looks like you’re almost up, though, so you’ll have your rations soon!” the Nekomata said, smiling wide. She pulled on a pair of gloves, grabbed the bloody towel, and walked off. Without even realizing it, Katrina found herself looking at the girl''s neck, wondering what the girl''s fur would feel like as her teeth sank into—


    Stop it, Katrina. Dennis lent you that towel to prevent an attack, and she''s just doing her job.


    She shook her head and bit her tongue, turning away from the nurse. Thankfully, it was only another few minutes before Katrina was called to the window. She slid her donor card under the glass and set her cooler in a small drawer that would transfer it to the other side. The lady at the window, a tall Aelf with a short blonde pixie cut, smiled as she scanned the card. She grabbed the cooler before walking off, leaving Katrina alone at the window and nervously tapping on the counter.. After a few quick minutes, the Aelf returned with a full cooler.


    “Here you are, seven bags of human blood. Please wait until you’re outside the hospital to start consumption, and make sure that all medical waste is properly disposed of. Sign here to accept.”


    Katrina did as she was asked, signing her name as quickly as she could before she opened the cooler to look inside. “Wait, these bags are only 300 mL, aren’t they supposed to be 350?”


    “Rationing guidelines were just updated, and unfortunately they had to cut the portion sizes down.”


    “I… hadn''t heard that. How long will this be in effect?”


    “I wish I could say. Officials are doing everything they can to encourage people to donate, but right now there’s no end in sight. If there’s nothing else you need, could you please step aside?”


    Katrina forced a smile, then closed up her cooler and left the line. She kept her eyes on the floor as she slowly navigated out of the building,


    As if things weren’t bad enough already. How am I supposed to continue like this?


    Stepping outside, she found the cool night breeze had picked up slightly. It tossed her hair around, bringing with it the smell of the Dungeon Camp just a few blocks away. She''d visited once, about a year ago, and had almost lost control when a guild returned from a run with several injured party members.


    Best not to tempt fate again.


    By the time Katrina made it back to the train, she was pleased to see the crowds had thinned slightly. The ride would still be difficult, but at least she wasn''t packed like a sardine.


    Now that there was space to breathe, she noticed that the other passengers were subtly avoiding her, doing their best to lean away or switch spots. She didn''t blame them, their fear was perfectly justified, and at least it made it easier to find a corner seat. With her cooler on her lap, she thought about opening it, but ultimately decided to wait. She hated drinking blood in front of people, though she could never be sure if that was due more to their discomfort or hers.


    Instead, as the smells of the other passengers began to assault her again, she decided to try and distract herself.


    “Status.”


    - - -


    General Information


    Name: Katrina MacMillan


    Race: Vampire


    Age: 25


    HP: 100%


    SP: 31%


    MP: 100%


    —


    Attributes


    STR: 11


    END: 16 (+4)If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    DEX: 12


    AGI: 15 (+2)


    INT: 9


    WIS: 10


    CHA: 19 (+4)


    LCK: 12


    PER: 13 (+2)


    HLT: 15 (+4)


    —


    Racial Features


    Vampiric Curse


    Flight


    Undead Fortitude


    Enchanting Gaze


    —


    Class


    Bard - Path of Magic


    Level: 2


    Progress: 5%


    —


    Class Features


    Inspiring Performance - Guitar


    Bardic Knowledge


    Improved Performance


    - - -


    There was nothing new on her status screen, but she was used to that. Most people used this screen to keep tabs on their abilities, plan out their builds, and make sure they stayed healthy. One downside, however, was that focusing on this screen for too long induced painful headaches, especially for the more exotic races. For Katrina, this was the primary reason she used her Status screen.


    It mentally blocked her vision, obscuring her view of the train car, and the headache helped distract her from the hunger. While she was effectively trading one misery for another, at least the status headache didn''t urge her to kill people.


    She lost track of time as she stared at her stats. The train would stop and start, passengers coming and going, as Katrina focused on holding out. The headache grew increasingly worse, and as it did so, she found it difficult to focus on where the train was stopping. By the time she''d finally had enough, and closed her Status screen, her train car had completely emptied. When she looked at the LED sign over the exit, she didn''t recognize where she was.


    Shoot. Must have missed my stop.


    She jumped to her feet and ran to the exit, hoping she wasn''t too far away from home. Still, even if she were, she could easily fly back.


    Walking off the train, she briefly explored the small landing before looking to the neighborhood in front of her. She was definitely further away from the city, and the rows upon rows of houses ahead confirmed she was comfortably in the suburbs. As she looked at the neighborhood in front of her, however, something seemed off. She didn’t see any signs of life, and many of the streets were overgrown with foliage. Floating off the ground, she happily took to the skies as her curiosity took hold. It was her day off, she had her blood, and she had nothing better to do today.


    From a higher vantage point, she realized that not only was the entire neighborhood likely deserted, it was more than obvious why. Huge swathes of destruction scarred the landscape, with many of the houses having been completely reduced to rubble. Some of them appeared to have been burned down, others looked as if they’d been crushed by something massive.


    As Katrina kept exploring, she found more and more plant life, to a degree that seemed oddly accelerated. The Change had only been 4 years ago, and she doubted nature would have reclaimed this neighborhood so quickly. Weeds abounded, but so too did bushes, small trees, patches of moss, and all manner of flowers. Vines crept in and around the debris of the many destroyed houses, and there even appeared to be a healthy stream cutting through the memories of previously bright green lawns.


    She flew even higher, above the majority of the two-story houses, and gasped at what she saw. Close to the center of the neighborhood, towering over everything else nearby, stood a massive cherry blossom tree. Its hundreds of branches held aloft a magnificent tapestry of bright pink flowers, and it looked like there were roughly a dozen particularly thick branches all diverting from the main trunk. Each one cradled a unique plateau of leaves and flowers, many of which had fallen and coated the ground with a beautiful floral carpet. The trunk itself appeared to have grown out of one of the houses, this one appearing mostly undamaged apart from the corner that had been destroyed to make room for the tree.


    After realizing that she’d stopped moving, Katrina flew in closer to marvel at this incredible specimen that had somehow survived the destruction of the neighborhood. As she approached, the occasional flower petal would drift by her, some even landing in her hair and daring to bring some color to her pallid visage. She floated between some of the heavier branches, running her hands over the bark, and eventually decided to take a break and finally dig into her blood.


    She settled down on a branch near the main trunk, one that angled up sharply in such a way that she had a wonderful perch to lean against. She breathed in the smell of the tree, happy to be free of the many people that had surrounded her earlier, and opened up her cooler. The seven bags inside were all designed with Races like her in mind, which meant they had small spouts that allowed her access to the blood inside. Essentially, the bags had fancy straws that could also twist closed, should someone not want to finish it all at once.


    Katrina happily pulled one out, opened it up, and began to drink.


    Immediately, she felt a rush of energy surge through her body. The blood was absolutely delicious, and she swore every undead molecule inside her sang with joy. Warmth spread from her stomach to her limbs, and the ravenous hunger that had been hounding her all day began to quiet. While she would have loved to finish the entire bag, if not the entire cooler, she forced herself to stop. She wanted to enjoy what little she had, to draw it out as long as possible.


    Pulling out her phone, she navigated back to her favorite Dungeon news sites. There were a few noteworthy Level Ups, some interesting trades between two of the bigger guilds, but it seemed that progress in the Dungeon itself had stalled somewhat. Currently, everyone was on the hunt for the key to open the next level, but they were often incredibly difficult to find.


    Taking another sip, she switched over to the forums where everyone talked about their builds. Everyone was constantly learning new things about the System, and so opinions were frequently changing about the best way to build certain classes. Katrina mostly followed the Bard discourse, as that was her own class, and frequently dreamed of the day she might finally surpass Level 2. If she ever managed to Level Up again, she would finally gain access to Bardic Spellcasting, which was the specialty of her subclass.


    Not that I’d ever be in a position to use any spells.


    She turned off her phone, setting it in her lap as she leaned her head against the branch behind her. With a heavy sigh, she thought about all the time she’d spent practicing since the Change. How much effort she’d put into perfecting her craft, in the hopes of doing something exciting with her life, only to have everything gatekept by her Race. How was she supposed to inspire a party when, at any moment, she might lose control and attack them? Who in their right mind would put a Vampire in their party in the middle of a blood shortage?


    Katrina sighed, taking another slow sip of blood.


    Her eyes lingered on the beautiful blossoms surrounding her, decorating the thousands of branches of the tree. To her left, a small branch swayed with the breeze, and she carefully reached out to feel it move, her fingers gently brushing against the deep green leaves before reaching some of the flowers. As the breeze picked up, the entire tree swayed, the leaves joining together as they sang in peaceful, aeolian tones. Katrina’s eyes slowly traced over the branches, the veins of this magnificent tree, and soon landed on the main trunk in front of her.


    Curiously, a small collection of cherry blossom petals had gathered in front of her.


    That’s odd, was this here before?


    The petals, and even a few flowers, seemed to be trapped in a tiny bundle of small leaves and vines. The whole collection cascaded down, eventually parting in the middle, as if they were decorative curtains. Underneath, instead of the rough bark of the tree she might have expected, she saw two, bright green eyes staring back at her. Katrina tensed, and her breathing quickened before this stranger finally spoke up.


    “What are you doing in my tree?”