Excerpt: Darkness of a Half-Life

She walked out of the garage, the night finally fully blanketing the city. She breathed in the air that seemed to sting her face. She was never really bothered by the cold; in fact she rather enjoyed it. She didn’t walk back to the apartment but to the local Bar. No one knew the name, so they just called it the Bar. It was more of a café with a bartender. It had live bands every Friday night, so she would be just in time for tonight’s show. Walking in, she was buffeted by the sound of cheery voices and the Dave Mathews Band, and the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke. Okay, so it was a bar, but Lauren would never be let out of the apartment if Kathryn knew she was hanging out at bars.
She walked over to the table where Marcus’s roomies were seated. They were an interesting bunch. Jess was wearing his leather trench coat, much like Lauren’s, and his favorite AC/DC shirt. Lauren has always had a slight crush on him. Okay, more than a crush, but if she admitted to that, the others wouldn’t let her live it down. Ever. The others were Mark, the guitarist of the group with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, Chris, the actual emo of the group, with dyed-black hair and brown eyes (ya gotta admit, his hair is sexy), and Ryan, the partygoer of them, with short brown hair and deep green eyes. Lauren was the only girl of the group, not that she was complaining. Lauren hated most other girls; they were too fixed on getting guys attention and starting drama. Most were also backstabbing bitches who don’t give a shit about your feelings, just the fact that they were the center of the universe. The only female friend Lauren had was Stef, and she was a lesbian. Lauren sat down between Jess and Ryan, Jess smiling at her and Ryan slapping her shoulder.
“Hey, what’s up?” Ryan asked her, taking a sip of his drink.
“What else? School’s a bitch, mom’s a whore, and the only thing to do around here is beat the shit out of dickless lowlifes. Other than that, my life’s peachy. Yes, I said peachy.”
The guys laughed, but all of them became serious when the “dickless lowlife” comment sunk in.
“Wait, so you beat the shit out of some guy? I gotta hear this!” said Chris, leaning forward. He wasn’t really a true emo, but he certainly acted like it most of the time. He also looked the part. He was a skinny white boy; there was no other way to put it. His brown/red hair was the typical emo style, with his bangs sweeping over his face. He was wearing his skintight long-sleeved shirt with black and blue stripes down the arms, with a blue tribal rose design on the black torso. It was also a plus that he was flamboyantly bisexual. Lauren liked being able to size up guys with him, as well as girls, as Lauren was bi herself. She almost dated Stef a couple years back, but both decided it’d be like making out with their sister, and as experimental as they were, they weren’t into incest. Lauren lit a cig and told her story, an amused smile playing over her lips at the dumbfounded looks on the guys’ faces.
“So he just crawled away? No more fighting or anything?” Asked Mark, awe in his voice. Lauren shook her head, blowing smoke rings.
“What a pussy.” Stated Ryan, shaking his head. Partygoer Ryan may be, but he doesn’t really talk much. It’s an awkward group, but they were friends all the same. They all agreed and Lauren stole a sip of Jess’s drink. It tasted like a mix of Coke and maybe tequila. He was only 19, but the bartender’s known him for most of his life, so he got a bunch of freebies, not that three years was a lot here. Ryan put his arm around her shoulders and lit a cig.
“So how’s Marcus? I assume you talked to him before coming here.” He said, taking a drag on the cig.
“Yeah, he’s fine. Cleaned my knife and warned me to be careful. He fully believes that fucking vampire crap.” Lauren replied, putting out her own cig in the ashtray. The guys looked at each other and Jess chuckled, a hint of uneasiness in his voice.
“Yeah, you know Marcus. He’s a bit nuts.” Then his face darkened and he took a sip of his drink. Lauren looked at him suspiciously, noting that this was the first thing he’s said to her since she arrived. She suddenly felt uneasy and shifted in her seat.
“Yeah… So, I just wanted to stop by and have a smoke and update you guys… I should go…” She said, standing up. They looked up at her and Mark cocked an eyebrow.
“You might want to watch your back… I mean, for that guy you beat up.” He said, his eyes saying there was more, but Lauren didn’t really press the matter. She said good-bye and walked out, welcoming the silence of the city. The lack of noise settled around her and lay over her ears like a blanket. Since this wasn’t one of the better places to live, it wasn’t really that busy. She started off, not knowing or caring where her feet took her. She wanted to think. Why were the guys acting so strange when she mentioned Marcus’s unneeded concern? Why did Jess’s face darken like that? Why did she suddenly feel so uneasy like that, almost claustrophobic? What else was lying behind Mark’s eyes?
No, the biggest question was whether they believed in the vampires Marcus had cautioned her against. No, no, that’s ridiculous. Vampires were the images of fiction, nothing more. Suddenly, she found herself on a dark street she didn’t recognize. The streetlamps had long ago gone out. She looked around and tried to retrace her steps to no avail, she was too deep in thought to pay attention to where she was going. She swore she heard someone chuckle behind her and she spun around. She saw no one. Drawing out her newly polished knife and unfolding it, she called out;
“Who’s there?”
She heard the chuckle again behind her, swinging around, she found herself face-to-face with two ice-blue eyes. She fell back in surprise keeping a grip on her knife. From what she saw, the man standing in front of her was tall and thin, short hair, and those eyes. They seemed to glow. For the first time in quite a while, she was truly frightened. He reached down and grabbed the front of her coat, pulling her to her feet. One hand kept her from running while the other stroked her hair once. She tried to pull away from his touch.
“Who the fuck are you? Let go of me!”
He laughed and pulled her closer, their lips barely centimeters apart.
“I’ve watched you for quite a while, little Lauren. Your nightly walks are long and far spread, never quite the same. Yes, I have followed you.” He added, seeing in her eyes furious questions. He then pulled her even closer into a powerful kiss. She was stunned. Who the hell is this guy? His tongue slipped through her lips and she felt herself give in. When her own tongue slipped past his, she felt unnaturally long and sharp teeth. She snapped to reality and remembered she had a knife in her hand. She thrust it into his side and he pulled away suddenly, letting go of her. She backed away as he pulled he knife from his ribs and wiped it on his shirt, acting as if nothing had happened.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Ah, well. I should have seen that coming, especially from you.” The man said, folding the knife and putting it into his pocket.
“Who, what, are you?” Lauren’s voice was smaller than she had wanted and she mentally kicked herself. The man was upon her with inhuman speed and he pressed his lips to her neck. She jumped and tried to pull away, but powerful arms had her immobilized.
“I think you know what I am, Lauren.” His lips whispered against her neck, sending shivers down her spine. “If not, let this show you.” She felt him open his mouth and his teeth scrape against her neck. Jesus fucking Christ, He really is a vampire. Shit, shit, shit. She thought, again trying to pull away. Just before his teeth penetrated her skin, however, a familiar male voice rang out.
“Let her go!”
It wasn’t very heroic, but it took the vampire by surprise, making him let go of Lauren yet again. She took her knife from his pocket and ran toward where the voice came from. She ran right into Jess’s arms.
“Lauren, you alright?” He asked, holding her close.
“Yeah, but I don’t think he’s happy.” Almost on cue, the vampire yelled out in rage. Jess grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he ran. They ran hard, taking random turns, the vampire on their heels the whole time. Finally, they came upon The Bar and ran to it. It was when they got to the door that they realized the vampire had stopped following them. Lauren leaned against the wall, panting, Jess following suit.
“Well goddamn… Marcus… Was right…” She said in between breaths. Jess just nodded. They stood there hearing the muffled sounds of the bar’s activities that seemed inhuman after what had just happened. After a few minutes Jess stood straight and looked at Lauren whose eyes were closed.
“Come with me.” He said. She opened her eyes and nodded. He started off toward, she assumed, his apartment. She followed him, keeping a tight hold on her knife. When they got to his room, he ushered her inside and locked the door behind them. He turned on the light and they both sat on the couch.
Lauren sat there in silence for a few minutes then threw her arms around Jess’s neck. He held her, noticing she was still shaking.
“Thank god you came…Thanks…” She said, tears welling up. Since he wasn’t used to Lauren in this state, he was silent and rubbed her back, trying to calm her. After ten minutes of this, she sat back, wiping her eyes in a slightly annoyed fashion. “Sorry, not used to being scared shitless by what are supposed to be myths.”
He shrugged. To her, he seemed a little too calm. She was just attacked by a goddamn vampire, for Christ’s sake! One who obviously knew her somehow, and had some kind of obsessive, creepy thing for her.
“Well? You’re in all of this somehow, I can tell. No one would be this fucking calm, Jess.” She said, tears gone, replaced by frustration.
He looked at her, his eyes holding something more than pity and sympathy. “Lauren... We’ve warned you about them. We knew it was a matter of time before you came across one for yourself. I’m sorry that it happened in such a violent fashion.”
“That’s why you followed me.”
He sighed. “Yes. You should watch yourself from now on. Those things aren’t scared of knives, or combat boots, or trench coats. What they’re afraid of, I’m afraid we’re running low on.” Suddenly, there was pounding at the door and Mark’s voice came through it.
“Yo, Jess! You there? Is Lauren with you?”
Shaking his head as if to rid himself of a bad visual, Jess walked to the door and opened it after undoing all the locks. Mark, Ryan, Marcus, and Chris were all standing there. Lauren stood quickly and sincerely hoped she wasn’t blushing, and that the fact she had been crying was hidden.
“Hey, guys... Um, what’s up?” She said, trying to act nonchalant. Okay, so they find her at Jess’s apartment after they had left the Bar not too long ago, they had every reason to suspect what was no doubt going through their minds right now.
“Hey, Lauren, we were looking for you. Seems Jess found you first. There’s been a problem, uhm, it’s about Stef...” Said Ryan as they all walked in the apartment. Her blood went cold as ice.