The Result of a couple of Rough Days...

Nel's Bad Day!

I stood in the shadows.  It had been a long and hard day and my patience was wearing thin.  My usually peaceful and undisturbed slumber had been well and truly wrecked by the development company that had decided to put their new housing estate on the lovely, open space beside my quaint little block of flats.  I guess I was going to have to get used to it; they weren’t exactly hurrying with their work.  Or I was going to have to find somewhere else to sleep during the daylight hours. 

Now I was exhausted and irritable and that was affecting my judgement.  My strength was low and the need to feed was getting stronger.  I watched the last few people hurrying home, shuffling quickly along the sidewalk, trying to ensure they weren’t the last person out at night.  They didn’t want to be caught by the likes of me.  This time of night made them all jumpy, they didn’t own the night anymore, darkness belonged to the vampires. 

Now this wasn’t my style.  I had sources.  The club; my club, I had people there that trusted me, that let me feed.  I didn’t have to resort to this.  I didn’t have to stoop to their level; shadow dwellers, that’s what most people called them.  They were right.  That’s exactly what I was doing now; lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right unsuspecting victim to walk by me.

I surveyed the stragglers.  A waitress just finishing work, tottering quickly down the path in her sleek black heels.  A couple hurrying home with their last minute groceries, hand in hand as they cast weary glances towards the shadowy shop doorways.  A tall man carrying a briefcase and wearing a very expensive looking suit, his shoes echoing in the silence around him. 

I was getting bored.  This wasn’t appealing to me as much as I had expected it to with the mood I was harbouring.  I was just debating heading for the club when a rustic, spicy scent drifted past me.  I looked up to source the glorious smell and laid eyes on a tall dark haired man dressed entirely in black.  My instincts told me he was a bouncer and they were rarely wrong.  I listened to the scuff of his shoes as he drew closer and concentrated on his uniform.  The badge on his arm confirmed my suspicion, and the red writing across the left of his chest told me he worked for Hell’s Circle; a club barely six blocks from mine.  I remembered seeing the bouncer’s out front of the building on my way to The Basement a few times, but I'm sure I would have remembered a scent like that.  I watched as he passed by my shadowy hiding place then stepped out onto the path behind him. 

He turned immediately at the sound of my heeled red boots on the concrete.  His face showed the surprise of seeing me their, I was sure he’d thought he was alone on the streets.  However I was also sure that this, seeing me standing in front of him, was exactly what he had hoped wouldn’t happen on his way to work.  I surveyed him as he stood looking at me.  A slight sheen of sweat had started to bead on his forehead and he was clenching his fists where his palms had begun to go all clammy.  Typical symptoms.  I'd only ever found one person who’d not reacted this way, and they’d been worth keeping around. 

“Can I help you miss?”  A deep voice accompanied the thick muscled body of the stranger in front of me.

A typical question though.  "Let’s try and pretend that I don’t know what she is and hope that I'm mistaken and that she’ll go away."  So predictable. 

“Let’s not waste my time or yours,” I nodded to the badge on his arm, “We both have somewhere to be.”

I smiled then, baring my fangs and advancing on him as he backed himself up against the wall; the look on his face telling me that he couldn’t decide whether to scream and run or just stand and take it.  Fear won.  He stood still as I placed my hands on his chest and pressed him to the brick wall behind him.  He tried to speak but I pressed my finger to his lips before moving the collar of his shirt out of the way. 

“This will only hurt a bit.”  I whispered as my lips grazed his neck.

I sank my fangs into the tender pink flesh of his skin and pierced the vein.  Drawing the warm, sticky blood straight from the source was the most enjoyable act any vampire could take part in.  Some liked their victims to be scared; the fear making the blood pump faster.  Some liked their victims unconscious so that there was no force necessary.  Usually I opted for sexually arousing my victims, causing their hearts to beat faster, therefore making their blood pump more quickly.  Plus that way they enjoyed it too.  Certain humans found the act of giving blood to a vampire a highly sexualised act and got pleasure from taking part in such activities; to me that was a much better way of feeding that frightening the life out of someone. 

Tonight had been different.  As I made my way to the club after letting the bouncer go, I evaluated my night.  I would have been just as satisfied with one of the bar staff at The Basement, or even one of the regulars.  Most people that went there knew I owned it; knew what I was.  Why had I chosen to act like this tonight?  Had I actually gained anything from it?  I pushed open the heavy black door to the club and stepped inside, the red glow instantly surrounding me in familiar warmth.  I think I’d stick to my territory from now on.  Shadow dwelling just wasn’t my thing.