Your name is Kira and you just wanted to have a quiet life. Now why does this sound familiar?

This confused me as well. I’ve buried both my grandparents in the last 10 years and the only thing we had to pay for was the spot at the cemetery and the headstone. There are no fees to keep them in the ground.

Where I live there are no permanent graves anyway. They get dug up after 25-30 years to allow room for future deceased. The remains (if there are any) then get cremated and you’re allowed to take them. I think it’s a good system because most people tend to forget about graves, especially when the generations tending to them die off.

Purple was an exceptionally hard pigment to make throughout history. The Romans made purple pigment from a specific type of sea slug that was needed in large quantities. It became synonymous with wealth because of the labor intensive and expensive extraction methods. Emperors later wore it to show their godly status. I guess Miffy pictures itself as immortal royalty in the same way, though the Cheshire Cat is also purple and has big yellow eyes and otherworldly abilities just like Miffy, so maybe there’s a connection?

I didn’t even think about that. I thought his eye color changed when he ‘turned’, but it could also be that the dad put two-and-two together after seeing what Nick looks like.

I got the feeling that his wife was possibly made a thrall just before they moved into the house, so that Nick could live in the attic and she could keep him a secret. I don’t think vampire blood can sustain another vampire, so Kerry needed to collect her husband’s blood when her own wasn’t enough anymore. Had Kerry been a vampire, I don’t think Nick would’ve regenerated like he did, since undead usually do not have any flowing blood.

Ben told his dad a couple of times that he could see a monster around the house, at one point even inside his own bedroom. I think Nick infected Ben during one of these nightly visits, whereafter Kerry had to make him special cacao laced with her own blood to satisfy him.

So in short, Kerry was the thrall, Nick a vampire and Ben got infected (maybe because he was smart and Nick wanted to use him later). Our protagonist was to be kept as livestock while the rest would live off his life insurance money.

What we all need in our lives.

Hmm, the HR lady at your job was complaining about Post-COVID cutbacks but at the end of the story you claim this all happened 5 years ago. Are you sure that shot hit you in the abdomen and not somewhere else? Those post-it notes you’re seeing again might just be an illusion.