“Thought he would never leave,” she whispered. The only portion of the bottom half of her face that was not covered in blood was her ivory white, inch-long fangs. “So you want me do you?” she continued, using her free hand to slowly scratch the side of his head, drawing blood. “That’s funny, ‘coz I want you too,” she said, licking the wounds she had made on his head, before growling, “In the worst way.”
He tried to scream, but she was too powerful. His fear seemed only to excite her more. The beautiful, deadly demon smiled at the new tears that streamed from his eyes, the mucus crawling from his nostrils, sped along by his erratic, quickened breaths.
The vampire grabbed a nearby schooner glass and rested it on his chest, studying him. “So it’s an explanation you’re looking for? I’ve got one for you. What you saw was real. We’re real.” She leaned back and stared at him with a fanged smile. Her iris’ turned black and the man knew her next words would be the last he would ever hear. “And now you’re fucked.”
With that she swiped at his throat with her fingers, the skin ripping open with ridiculous ease as blood gushed from the gaping mass of muscle and sinew. The last image he saw was her triumphant smile as she placed the glass under the flow and filled it to the brim, giggling.
*
“All right, let’s see about that taxi,” said the bartender, coming up from the basement. “We’ll just call—” He stopped short, taking in the sight. The man was still in his chair, staring at the ceiling. His head was only supported by a few rear neck muscles and his spinal cord. His entire front was dark crimson, the same colour as the huge puddle on the floor. The barman, violently sick, turned his head to see the door wide open. He distinctly remembered locking it after he’d let the now-dead man in.
When the police arrived, he was unable to explain why the security camera footage went to static at just the time he was away from the main barroom only to return to normal just as he re-entered the frame. He did not explain to his wife why he was so late that night, or why he insisted she pack their bags to leave the next morning, directly violating the instructions given to him by the police.
He could have explained. To her, to the police. He could have told them the story the man told him before he died. But he didn’t, because he didn’t believe.
He didn’t want to.
Chapter One
Three Musketeers
“You guys gonna take all night, or what? I’d like to get there sometime this decade,” moaned Alex Hensley’s boyfriend Matt Carrington from the other room.
“Be right there, baby,” Alex called. She and her roommate Lauren Henson had admittedly been confined to the bathroom of their apartment opposite the mirror for almost half an hour.
“Make him wait,” Lauren said, her chin on Alex’s shoulder, peering at their reflection. “The view will be worth it.”
Alex smiled, the tip of her tongue between her teeth. “It works, doesn’t it?” she asked rhetorically. Lauren nodded and peeled away to stand beside her, twisting the top of her lipstick. The girls had co-ordinated their attire for the evening. Alex looked like a biker chick, dressed all in black. Two-inch pumps, leather pants and jacket to match, with a tiny black button-up shirt done up just enough so her cleavage was noticeable. Lauren wore almost the same outfit, except that instead of pants, she had chosen a short skirt that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Alex stared at her own reflection, hunching her shoulders and moving them every which way to try to make her bust seem fuller. She gave up when her eyes moved across to Lauren, whose shirt was almost bursting at the seams.
“Wish I had your boobs,” Alex sighed.
“Please. My arse is a balloon compared to yours, and you don’t hear me whinging. We are both hot chicas, baby! Now go out and show ‘daddy’ how nice you look.”
Alex stepped round the corner, mouthing “sorry”.
“It’s about time.”
She hopped into Matt’s lap and kissed him as an extra apology, a cloud of lilac fragrance swelling around them as her long blonde hair fell down over his face.
“Well, I guess I can see why you took so long,” he said, moving his fingers from her hair, trailing them up her thigh. “Man, if the boys in your class could see their teacher now…”
She casually stopped his hands and interlocked fingers with him, winking. “Easy, stud. We’ve got a long night, yet.”
“I kinda wanna stay here,” he said, burying his face into her chest.
“Later…my god!” she exclaimed, calmly removing his roaming hands, but only half annoyed.
“This doesn’t just happen, you know? It takes a lot of work,” a voice called from behind them. Lauren was posing against the wall. Always the attention seeker, Alex laughed to herself.
“Holy shit!” howled Matt, but his attentions quickly turned back to Alex even as he still addressed Lauren. “You call that effort?” Matt scoffed.
“It is when you’re trying to impress a special guy,” Alex said, winking at Lauren.
“Oh really? And who is tonight’s victim?” Matt asked, eyes glued to the TV.
“Fuck off, you,” Lauren replied, poking her tongue out as she applied mascara in front of the living room mirror.
“I love it when you talk dirty,” Matt said, not turning away from the screen as the evening news came on.
“Oh, don’t mind her,” Alex said smiling, getting up from his lap and walking behind Lauren. “She’s being grumpy because she doesn’t know if
