The Shining Point

A figure ran through the dancing shadows cast by torches lining a narrow corridor. He was almost there. Just a little further and he could find the lever that would allow them to move on and find the exit out of this place. After a few more turns around dusty dimlit corners, he finally arrived at his destination. Stepping forward cautiously, he firmly planted his feet so as to properly grip the lever with both hands. With a grunt and one final exertion of strength the sound of stone grinding against stone could be heard as a door began opening somewhere nearby, but beyond his view.

A sudden and immediate change could be felt. Felt, and HEARD, as suddenly the air was filled with the noisy clamor of clawed feet, struggling for purchase, finding it, and coming straight for his location. He froze, a mere moment of hesitation, as he questioned what to do. In the next second he decided to turn and face whatever was coming, only to be met by a full-grown velociraptor slamming full force into his mid-section.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

The piercing scream coming from somewhere nearby startled the young man as he fumbled to remain focused on the task at hand, in a flash pulling out matching handguns and quickly dispatching not one, but TWO velociraptors that had rushed to attack him as soon as the ancient door restraining them had opened. Within a minute the growls and shreiks of the ancient predators died down as they became still as the stone they had fallen on. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to locate the source of the ear piercing scream.

“You okay kid?” He asked concernedly as he leaned over the arm of his chair to eye the kid who had apparently crept up beside him to secretly watch him play his video game. Turning back to the game he pulled up his inventory menu and found the medical supplies necessary to heal his character. When had he even crept up beside him? Wasn't he watching a kids show in the other room? He’d been so focused on the gameplay he hadn’t noticed the youngster sneak in.

Said boy was lying beside his gaming chair where he had toppled backward in a panic at the sudden onslaught of the two velociraptors. His young child's big eyes wide open and chest heaving in deep breaths, no doubt a result of the adrenaline that was undoubtedly now racing through his little body.

“I’m fine.” The boy replied, heaving a few more deep breaths to try and calm his racing heart before sitting up and asking “Why would you even play something so terrifying? Getting attacked out of nowhere by monsters? In creepy abandoned ruins? That makes no sense.”

Oh, the irony, the young man thought as he paused the admire the young boy's innocent perspective on life before going back to playing the game. After a moment, he answered. “I guess...I like to play games where at least I know the monsters aren’t real.” He finally replied.

The young boy cocked his head and gave him a puzzled look, definitely not seeming to understand, while at the same time looking a bit...impressed?

It’s fine if he doesn’t get it now, he’ll understand when he's older, he thought, reflecting on why he was even taking care of this kid in the first place.

He never imagined the trouble that would be waiting for him after he graduated college. His aunt had moved to Australia years ago, and more or less kept in touch. But then she sent him a long message imploring him to come and help out her beautiful and historic town of Shining Point. She wrote of how their litte town had just lost it's only professional in his field, and endeavors to find other highly qualifed individuals right for their town had yielded no results. But after much consideration (and no doubt endless retellings of his considerable accomplishments at such a young age) the town's council had agreed to invite him to come and help them. She emphasized how they “Could really use a doctor like him”, and how he was “Young, passionate, and full of zeal. Ready to make a difference in the world by helping as many people as he possibly could!” She also offered an incentive of $20,000, to get him started should he decide to quit the clinic he was working at and choose to help them. This generous offer from his aunt, and her passionate plea for help had really piqued his interest.

And, well, he just couldn’t resist.

So he packed his bags and used his “gift” to set up his own practice in the beautiful town of Shining Point, Queensland.

It wasn’t hard to see why people would be drawn to Shining Point. It sat a little ways off the coast, with a lovely tropical climate. And exuded an old established charm that could be felt as one walked down the twisting streets that never seemed to come out where one would expect. Although a bit worn, many of the original buildings and homes still kept an aura of old-world grandeur, and secrecy, alluding to adventures that could only be enjoyed by a coastal town. There was a lot of history here, and yet the old and the new simply flowed into one another, seemingly having no trouble coexisting alongside one another.

It still came as a shock to him when he found out the deeper reason for his aunt insisting that he come. And find out he did, as he stood proudly inside his brand new clinic and welcomed his first patients. The x-rays really should have clued him in, as they were literally staring him in the face. And yet his excitement from this brand new undertaking had him ignoring the tell-tale signs. When he sat down with the patient and they opened their mouth wide to allow him to get to work, his conscious brain finally started cluing in to all the little red flags he'd seen.

His aunt had pleaded and complimented him to no end to get him to come here. He should have known better. But his desire for adventure had blinded him to all the little details that kept nagging at him from his subconscious.

As his hands lifted, tools ready to begin their work, he froze. His eyes shifted up ever so slightly to meet the eyes of his brand new patient. He could feel his scalp tightening and an uncomfortable sweat began to break out under his uniform. Upon making eye contact, the patient’s wide gaping mouth relaxed into a grin, and he could hear the glee in their voice as they said with a wink “We’re so glad you’re here. We’ve been waiting ages for a good dentist.”

And so started his adventures at The Shining Point Dentistry, for vampires.

“I’m hungry.” The simple statement brought the young man out of his reminiscing and back into the present. I guess he's fully recovered from that scare earlier. He thought. Quickly going over the contents of his kitchen inventory in his mind, he decided he could also use some sustenance. Pausing the game, he involuntarily gave a big yawn as he stretched while asking “What did you have in mind?”

Undaunted by his seemingly unprofessional child care skills, the kid’s eyes lit up with a hopeful expression on his face. “Peanut butter and jelly?”

Now the professional dentist in him winced. It wasn’t the heartiest meal he could provide, but it was simple. At least this kid wasn’t old enough to take after his parents. He gave a mental “thank you” (as well as a silent gesture to Heaven) that vampires were born and not made. Because as it turned out, there was some kind of genetic mutation that caused "the change" as a person grew older. Not every child born to a vampire couple, even if both parents were vampires, carried the mutation. Since most families tended to be mixed, you never knew what your child was going to be until they started to hit puberty. This lead to a much closer family unit than he would have expected. It also meant that every vampire was born and raised with the understanding of what it meant to live and be human. They were once human themselves so they understood human needs which meant every child was showered with love and parental affection.

He started pulling out the sandwich ingredients as the boy hopped up on a stool in front of the kitchen island. He couldn’t help but notice the happy little smile that now played on the boy’s face in anticipation of such a treat. Eh, they’re only little once. He thought. At least he was asking for a sandwich and not his neck. Sliding the sandwich over on a plate wide enough to catch any jelly that might drip down, he went about prepping his own meal of chicken and rice.

After the initial shock of finding out vampires were real, and that he had essentially been manipulated to set up shop to cater to them specifically, his aunt finally came clean and told him the full story. The short version? She had met and fallen in love with a man who turned out to be a vampire. It didn't take long to notice that Australia's rise in sugar consumption wasn’t just affecting the health of humans, but every vampire who depended on them. Every human was taking in such large unprecedented amounts of sugar that the vampires themselves were getting tooth decay from their blood supply. Not that they were going around hunting humans. Times had advanced. They had blood banks, butcher shops, and there was always the option to hunt local game. And since the normal human members of their family still needed regular human food, they all had relatively normal social lives. But although eating regular human food wouldn’t kill a vampire directly, they could still slowly starve to death without their “regular” diet.

After finding out about the unexpected yet dire need for a skilled dentist, his aunt began helping with how to help bring in someone both skilled and trustworthy to help their cause.

So now here he was, acting as baby sitter. This kids' parents were still a relatively young mixed couple. The dad was human and had been in an accident so the mom was taking him to the hospital for some emergency treatment. His house was actually quite close to theirs so she had stopped by on the way to ask if he could take care of their young child “just for a few hours”. It was his day off, but he really couldn’t say no, knowing their plight. So here he was, feeding and entertaining a 5-year-old until some of their other relatives could come and get them.

And hopefully that's them, he thought, as he noticed a rugged and dirty Land Cruiser pulling up in front of his house. He went to a small cupboard and pulled out a little black notebook, courtesy of the dentists that had come before him. It contained medical information crucial to a dentist who's main patients were vampires as well as how to operate in their society. After being thrust into this secretly open world of vampires, the journal was a Godsend as it explained much of the rules that had allowed them to keep their identities secret and still live alongside humans for hundreds of years. He learned how they operated, and if there was any real danger to him being involved in their day to day lives. There were notes going back several decades on who in his patients' families was vampire and who was human, and most importantly, who was dangerous and who wasn't.

Although vampires didn't age too differently from humans, they DID tend to have slightly longer life spans, stronger immune systems, and were immune to pretty much any poison. Which certainly gave them an edge whilst living on the deadliest continent in the world. But as you would expect from any people group, there were always a few that would tread a slightly darker path. He needed to know who to avoid, even if they were family to some of his good patients.

The people from the Land Cruiser made their way to his front door. They seemed pretty young, early to mid- twenties. Turning around to follow his gaze the kid suddenly gave an excited shout. Then jumped down from the stool and ran to open the front door, excitedly yelling “Cousin Donny! Cousin Cheryl! Cousin Lachlan!”

Okay, at least he KNOWS them. Makes my job easier. He thought.

Amidst the hugs and tuffling going on around his front door, he extended a hand and moved to introduce himself.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Neil Simmons. Thanks for com-”

“Ah perfect!” The first cousin interrupted. “We needed one more person to act as bait! You smell pretty healthy. How do you feel about tight dark places?”

Wait? What?! He thought frantically.

Without waiting for a response “Cousin Donny” flashed what was probably meant to be a disarmingly confident smile as he gave Neil a wink and a hearty clap on the back. Neil immediately felt his stomach drop. Then he felt a slight “pinch” at the back of his neck as his surroundings went dim. He vaguely heard the kid shouting joyfully about going on another adventure with his cousins, but his only thought before everything went black was, Oh no! Not AGAIN!