by Emma Mills
As expected the café-bar was full. Students who had returned from their Christmas holidays in time for the New Year celebrations were all chatting animatedly in the corner. A table of Exodus groupies were crowded round the large circular table near the rear of the space. I recognised a couple of them as they all looked up and stared hopefully at me making my entrance. A young lad in his early twenties definitely recognised me and straight away saw past my bright green eyes. He smiled and lifted an eyebrow, scooting his chair slightly nearer to an available booth.
I smiled back. He was cute, in that fresh, puppy-dog eyes way, and I remembered he had lovely tasting blood - dark chocolate imbued with raspberry tones… my favourite. But first I’d need to check his health profile on the login, another of Sebastian’s recent changes to make Manchester a safer place. He had installed in the club and café a computer system that any vampires living or passing through his city were persuaded… or threatened to use. After you fed you logged the details of location, the name if known and health of the donor when you left them. This especially applied to the groupies who would let vampires feed from them every day if they could. I’d suggested the system years ago after a handful of groupies had died from severe anaemia, but it took two years, for me to forget about it and for Sebastian to decide it was his idea, before he actually installed it. Or rather he had sired his first vampire in fifty years… a programming nerd, in order to set up the systems.
Chris was a good guy. He had been twenty two and a complete computer nerd when Sebastian had turned him two years ago, so even though I was still only seventeen in human years I was no longer the baby in the vampire world, and unlike me Chris was completely under Sebastian’s control. I felt sorry for him, but Sebastian was a decent vampire boss, unlike some I’d come across, and I had to admit that none of this would have been possible without Chris. He had even created an app so you could login into the system from your tablet, anywhere in the country. I logged in and searched for Devon, the boy’s name.
Strangely he hadn’t been listed for over two weeks. I was in luck. I knew Daniel wouldn’t be happy… we had an arrangement that was made when we first made a go of things, where we agreed we wouldn’t feed from the same human more than once. It was to ensure we didn’t form an attachment and also to help protect against jealousy within our relationship. Feeding created certain feelings, there was no getting away from it. It turned you on and fired you up, and if you weren’t careful you could easily mistake bloodlust for the real thing… especially when you weren’t seeing your partner as much as usual! I was aware of all of this, but frankly the way Daniel had spoken to me on the phone pissed me off, and here was sweet Devon. After all, I was in the café-bar and I was logging it down. It was all above board and out in the open. I was doing nothing wrong.
‘Hi Jess,’ Devon said shyly, appearing at my side.
‘Hi Devon. Are these records right? It says you’ve not been in here for two weeks?’
Devon nodded, his messy blonde hair falling into his eyes.
‘Yeah, I was feeling pretty wiped out before Christmas so I took some time out, hung out at home, you know?’ He smiled apologetically.
‘Hey, you don’t need to apologise to me. You know what I think.’
He smiled.
‘Yeah, but if I did what you suggested last time and stopped doing this all together then I wouldn’t be here now, would I?’
I shook my head.
‘Devon, I can’t help what I am. There’s no getting away from it… well apart from death, but you have a choice.’
‘I’d make it once a month if I could make every time with you,’ he whispered.
‘You know I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to Daniel. I shouldn’t even be here with you now,’ I said.
‘I don’t get it! Other vampires have favourites. Dani always meets the same vamp…’
‘I know,’ I said, interrupting him. ‘But Daniel and I made a deal. And I’m different, you know that. My soul, my feelings are more human than others, it would be easier for me to form an attachment.’
‘I don’t see a problem with that,’ he smirked.
I smiled.
‘I do. It’s not healthy having a relationship with one of us; it’s too one-sided,’ I said.
‘What if I don’t mind?’
‘Devon, I love Daniel, okay?’ I said it forcefully and it came out more harshly than I meant. He shrank back and looked at the floor.
‘Look, maybe I should choose another today…’
‘No! Look, it’s fine, I understand. Let’s make this our last time then, and just for you I’ll stay healthy and promise to only come down once a month… I’m busy at work anyway.’
He smiled his signature lazy smile, his sea green eyes looking into mine. I glanced at his neck and could see his pulse. I swallowed as saliva pooled suddenly in my mouth. One last time I told myself. I nodded and smiled and we walked to an empty booth.
I felt the magic tingle on my skin as we scooted round the table, placed so that to the average human inspector it looked like a regular booth, but was far enough away from the couch seats that it didn’t get in the way.
‘Do you want a coke?’ I asked, as I logged in on my tablet and paid for the booth.
‘Sure, thanks,’ he said.
‘Better get you a nice fat muffin as well,’ I said smiling. ‘Don’t you always get a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit at blood donor venues?’
‘The double chocolate ones are my favourite,’ he said, the shy smile edging back in.
I nodded and added the coke and muffin to my order. We sat back and waited for it to be brought to the table. I should have thought to get them before because now we sat awkwardly waiting with nothing to do.
‘Errm, so how is work?’ I asked, trying to break the silence.
‘It’s fine, tough, but I enjoy it.’
‘I think you’re amazing. Being a trauma nurse must be so hard. You’re helping to save lives every day.’
‘Not always,’ he said with a frown. ‘Sometimes it feels like all I’m dealing with is a steady stream of drunks and twisted ankles.’
‘You know… Oh Hi!’ I said to the Sally, one of Sebastian’s staff, as she stepped through the invisible barrier and placed our order on the table.
‘Enjoy!’ she said with a grin, as she stared at Devon and smirked at me.
As she disappeared from view I turned my attention back to Devon and swallowed again.
‘You know, you’re the most polite vampire I’ve ever met?’ he said. ‘Let’s get it on, come on. This is what we both want, okay, so just bite me already.’
I laughed. He was funny and cute. He would have been the perfect boyfriend if I was still that human girl. I looked at his neck and felt my fangs grow.
‘Neck or wrist?’ I asked, as my fingers drifted over the tiny timer button under the table.
‘Neck obvs,’ he said, scooting closer. He raised a hand tentatively and lifted it towards my mouth. I moved back a little, surprised.
‘I want to see, first,’ he said.
I rooted myself to my seat and let him gently lift my front lip up to expose my fangs. He breathed out, eyes glazing over slightly. He was close enough to kiss and I could feel heat washing through my body, as I leant towards him and stroked his cheek. I cupped his chin and gently turned his head away from me and slightly backward, so that his neck was pushed forward, his veins bulging slightly. I leant forward and bit down hard, pushing the table button in.
Hell-fire! This was what I needed! His blood burst into my mouth, exploding like popping candy and after the initial second of pain as my fangs had slipped into his skin, he relaxed and let out a moan of pure pleasure. I sucked hungrily, feeling every drop of blood as it slipped down my throat, energising, burning, tantalising. Two minutes of pure pleasure. It went in no-time and I was soon dragged out of my haze of thirst by the alarm, too high-pitched for human hearing, but instantly annoying for vampires who might be about
to fall into a feeding frenzy, which was all too easy if you were drinking blood as delectable I was. For a split second I wanted to snarl like a caged animal and drag Devon’s body through the café, out of the door and into an alley where I could satisfy my hunger fully, but along with most vampires I had been taught how to quash those animal instincts. So savouring one last gulp I reluctantly retracted my fangs and pulled away, watching mesmerised as the skin instantly healed, leaving nothing more than a tiny blemish.
Devon, whose eyes had been closed, opened them blearily and leant forward, his emotions showing clearly on his face. He was going to kiss me. I slid back gently and, reaching out, picked up his coke and pushed it towards him.
‘You should drink; you need the sugar,’ I said, breaking his daydream.
He nodded and took it.
‘Thanks, I really needed that. I hope I didn’t take too much?’ I asked.
He shook his head.
‘It was great. Wow! I’d forgotten how good it felt. No wonder it’s so addictive.’
‘Devon! You promised me!’
He grinned.
‘I know!’
‘We need to work on getting you a girlfriend, someone to keep you occupied,’ I said.
He took a huge bite of his muffin and shook his head.
‘Ungg gruh hngg!’ he mumbled.
I snorted.
‘Is that a yes or a no?’ I asked.
He shook his head quickly as I smirked.
‘Oh, that’s so good! I’m not sure which is best, the bite or the double chocolate muffin afterwards.’
‘See! You can come here and have a muffin next time you want to hang out, so no need for you to lose a pint of blood. I’ve got to go, got a party to organise… Are you okay? You’re feeling okay?’
‘Jess, I’m fine. Stop feeling guilty!’ He grabbed his coke and stood up, edging round the table.
I nodded.
‘Okay then, bye. Oh, by the way, have you got an invite to Eva’s end of year bash?’
He shook his head.
‘I’ve heard about it… I mean everyone has, but I don’t know Eva that well.’
‘Here you go then, consider yourself invited,’ I said, digging around in my bag until I found one of Eva’s crumpled invites that we’d handed out weeks before. ‘But be warned, anyone found enticing a vampire or feeding from a human is thrown out by Eva herself… and you don’t want to get on her wrong side. There’ll be witches, angels, humans and sometimes members of The Council turn up, so Eva is really strict on Sebastian’s secrecy code.’
He grinned. ‘Will your boyfriend be there?’
‘Hopefully, yes. I told you already…’
‘Ha! Got you! Jess chill, I’m sure there’ll be lots of other hot chicks there, and let’s face it, you look a little young for me now.’
‘Smart Ass! Right, I’ve got to run. See you tomorrow, then?’ I asked.
‘Sure.’
Chapter Three
‘We were wondering where you’d got to!’ Brittany said, as I walked through the cellar door from the underground garage into the hallway.
Luke was just behind her, lugging several long wooden planks across the original parquet floor.
‘Hi Luke, erm, shall I help you with those?’ I asked, wincing at the high pitched scratching noise.
‘What’s bothering you most, the noise or the potential damage?’ he asked, grinning.
After ten years Luke had developed an uneasy truce with Daniel. They got on, and they even backed each other up if threatened. I knew they trusted each other implicitly, but they didn’t exactly like each other. I shook my head and left him to it, knowing it would amuse him more for me to stand there stressing out.
‘So Brit, what’s the plan?’ I asked, following her into the kitchen.
‘Ooh, you look better,’ she said, ‘…and back to being a teenager. You looked at least ten years older when you eventually dragged yourself out of bed. What the humans would do for such a beauty cure!’
‘Hmm, so the party… we’ve got twenty-four hours before Queen Eva lands and gives us a rollocking for not getting it right!’
‘Don’t fret Jessie-Jess. While you’ve been sleeping in a vampire death sleep and feeding from poor unsuspecting humans, I have been coming up with a plan!’
‘Brit! You know I went to the bar, and I always get permission first!’
Brittany shook her head slowly. ‘Wow, you’re sensitive today! What’s up? You know I was joking?’
I sighed.
‘I know, I think it’s just this Daniel thing. Something’s going on and I bloody wish I knew what it was!’
‘You don’t think he could be cheating, do you?’ she asked quietly.
‘No! Of course not! It’s only been this last week he’s acted any differently.’
‘It could be a new thing… Sorry, don’t listen to me! I’m being stupid…’
I thought back to how irritated he sounded with me and how Eva had suddenly wanted to get off the phone. But I was sure we were both being silly. Daniel had always adored me. His love had been unwavering and constant.
‘We’re being stupid. I think it’s a work thing, but he can’t tell me because Eva and Sebastian won’t let him… because I won’t go on Sebastian’s payroll. It’s probably all a scam to get me so intrigued and pissed off that I agree to sign Sebastian’s bloody fifty year contract. Well I won’t do it! I’ll do jobs for him freelance, on my terms. He can lump it!’
‘Well said! Now let’s forget about them and get down to business,’ Brittany said, pulling forward some printer paper from where it was scattered on the table.
I looked at the various pictures Brittany had printed off. They were all images of apocalyptic scenes - some zombie apocalypse, some WW3, some natural disasters… all of them grey, burning, desolate landscapes.
‘Cheerful, isn’t it?’ she laughed.
‘Oh well, at least it’s better than that French bordello theme she chose the year before last,’ I said. ‘I am not the kind of girl that thinks fancy dress means dressing like a hooker. Give me a gas mask and black cargo pants any day!’ I said.
‘So, are you girls going to stop yapping and actually do something? Or do you need to leave it up to the men to do the heavy lifting?’ Luke asked, standing in the doorway, two battered wooden planks under his arm.
I took the bait - he knew how to wind me up every time. I darted across the kitchen vampire style, sped past his smirking face, snatching one of his planks as I passed, picked up some nails and a hammer and raced to the front door. I stepped outside with the plank and turned to face inwards. Lifting the plank up easily in one hand I raised it high across the front door and banged the nails into the doorframe on either side. Ducking under the plank I darted back in, grabbed the other and repeated in the opposite direction. In total it took me less than one minute.
‘Um Jess, how exactly are people going to get in to the party?’ Brittany asked, from behind me.
I shrugged.
‘Eva wanted realistic. This is what I’d do in an apocalyptic situation… secure the doors! I’ve put them high enough that people can still use the door, they’ll just have to duck under. We should do the same with all the other ground floor doorways.’
Luke nodded.
‘Good plan, Superwoman. Seeing as you’re so super-strong and all, how about Brittany and I carry on with the set and you do the hammering?’
I smirked.
‘Did it hurt your dainty little hands?’ I asked, grinning back at him.
‘Yeah, it did a bit. Give me my angel-sword any day over a bloody hammer! Come on Brit, you grab that end.’
They picked up the set piece and disappeared into the front room, leaving me with the wood. I didn’t mind; it was fair enough. After all Brittany and Luke were both human-born, so their genetic code didn’t help their strength or pain thresholds, unlike me.
An hour later we were all sitting in the kitchen again. All the lower level doors
had planks nailed across either the top or bottom halves of the doorframes, so that in order to get in or out of any room you had to either duck or climb over them. The backdrop we’d collected was in place in the front room and looked pretty impressive. It was a floor to ceiling painting of a bunker with actual LED lights embedded within it, which could be plugged in to make the lighting in the fake bunker flicker. We had draped grey, holey sheets over any furniture that couldn’t be removed and stored in the garage, and I had brought in some old grocery crates and boxes to use instead of chairs.
‘It’s good, but not good enough,’ I said. ‘We need some artistic input. I thought you said Caoimhe was coming over?’
He frowned and looked at his watch.
‘She should be here. She was just dealing with something at the office.’
I looked at Brittany.
‘She’s not the only one. Daniel’s acting weird too, and Eva… although less so.’
‘I’m sure she’ll be here in a minute. Is everything okay with you and Daniel?’ Luke asked, looking directly into my eyes, as only he could. Our history went way back, to when I was human and he was my boyfriend. Sometimes I thought he could read me better than Daniel.
‘We’re fine,’ I said, shaking it off.
‘So, I was thinking… maybe we could do something interesting with the gas masks,’ Brittany said.
‘Well, Eva just said to have them near the front door, so that guests can take one as they come in.’
‘But some people won’t want to wear gas masks all night, so I propose we put half of them in a crate by the door and the other half we can use as decoration. The house looks empty now we’ve taken all the furniture and ornaments out. Most of the rooms are too plain,’ she added.
‘Oh! Remember, we’ve got those red light bulbs we bought last week. I’ll go and grab them. They’ll really transform the atmosphere.’
By the time we had finished it was gone nine and Caoimhe still hadn’t shown up.
