Based on the prompt symbiosis from livejournal user ysabetwordsmith.
“We’re evil to them,” Issac growled, curling his hands around a glass of whiskey that he wasn’t drinking. “Just because we need blood to survive we’re evil.” He tightened his hands. “They don’t think that leeches or ticks are evil just because they need blood to survive.”
“The simple answer is to make them need us just as much as we need them,” Nick answered calmly. “What do we have that they want?”
“Nothing.”
“Think again.”
Issac glared at him. “If you have some smart idea then just tell me, Nick. I’m really not in the mood for guessing games.”
“Money, Issac. The one thing that humans need more than anything else is money and I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of money that I don’t really have a use for. Loaning money from us will be easier than going to a bank so I expect we’ll have a lot of customers. When they can’t pay the money back we give them another choice. They, or one of their relatives, can become a blood donors until they pay back all the money that’s been borrowed.”
“That’s not going to work for long. As soon as they work out that we’re loaning money to get blood they’ll stop coming to us.”
“I think you’ll be surprised at the lengths some humans would go to so that they can have enough money to buy everything they think they need. If we make it a good experience for our donors they may even stay after the debt has been paid off.” He slid a piece of paper over to Issac. “There’s a hotel up for sale and I thought we could set it up as a home for both vampires and their donors.”
Issac glanced at the piece of paper before looking back at Nick. “Do you really think it would work?”
“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t.”
“Is this the sort of thing you did in your village?”
Nick nodded, remembering the mess he’d made of things there. “We have to make some strict rules to stop vampires from killing humans, even accidentally. If word of a death gets out then we won’t be able to keep even one donor house up and running.” He smiled. “I hope that it’s something that we can make work all around the country and then the rest of the world.”
“You’ve always thought big.” Issac stared at the paper. “A hotel in a small south coast town could be the beginning of a new phase of vampire life.” He looked up at Nick again, smiling. “I think you might have found the answer to all of our problems.”
“We start slowly Issac,” Nick warned, knowing what his friend was like. “Start with buying the hotel, doing it up and the loans.”
“You’re in charge.”
Nick laughed. “We both know that you’re going to end up taking over at some point, so let’s not pretend now. All I want is a safe place to live and get blood. You’re the real leader.”
Originally published at dreamwidth.org as kajones_writing.
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.
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