When it got dark, I waited for a couple of hours, for the flow of people outside to slow, it was maybe eleven when the streets completed calmed down. Jacob had come a couple of hours earlier to ask if I wanted any food, to be safe I shouted through the door as politely as I could that I didn't. I had never been this long without any blood, I guess I hadn't known what hunger was before then. I didn't realise how easy my life had been in the vampire city- I know it's going to get a lot harder, and if Greythorn Alley is just a rumour, I would have to leave. Tonight.
I watched the street from my window, and listened to the sounds of drunken men downstairs, their slurred words, footsteps, even their heartbeats. Beyond that, I listened to the sounds of those next door and across the street. A man washing the dishes, a couple going to bed, a mother singing a melody to her crying daughter; satisfied that I could avoid being seen, I propped open the window with one of the thicker books, then with my bag slung over my shoulder loaded with the flasks and a couple of notes, I jumped.
My feet hit the ground silently, I backed up against the building, melting back into the shadow, becoming almost invisible as I flitted, building to building down the streets, until I reached the forgotten alley, completely immersed in darkness. For a second, I hovered at the entrance, I'm not sure what I was thinking then, what I was trying to accomplish by hesitating, but something nagged at me to stop. With a grumbling stomach, I pushed that feeling far away and stepped inside.
My eyes were adjusted to the dark, but the alley was shrouded in the darkest of shadows so that even moonlight failed to rest. It was truly a desolate place. There were damp marks rising on the exposed brick work, and if the buildings were ever anything but a horrid grey complexion, they were now the colour of faded ash.
I tip toed down the alley, leaving the safety of the street behind and watching the building carefully. Though I'm sure I wasn't in any danger, I could feel my heart thumping uncomfortably in my chest. Despite his doubtful convictions, Jacob was right about the pub. The building at the end, concealed by a dark wooden door shrouded in dirt, was- or at some point was- a pub. The sign hanging above the door was so faded that its name was illegible (even if I could read enough English to decipher it), and hanging by one hinge so that I had to bow my head to enter.
My face concealed by my hood and giving failed attempts of controlling my heart, I summoned enough courage to push the door. More solid than it looked, I tugged a couple of times before it gave in to give enough room for me to slither through the gap.
Inside was a strange scene- or rather it was too normal and too weird. The strange were oddly mixed with the ordinary in a chaotic mess. While there was a well-kept fireplace in the centre wall and comfortable looking sofas surrounding it, but there was also old rusty weapons hanging from the ceiling. The room was too well lit for a pub, there were electric lights hanging from the ceiling and candles lighting the tables. But what was most notable was the emptiness, the room was frozen in time; the air itself was still, and despite the fact the entire place was lit up as if business as usual, there was not a single person there.
Breaking the barrenness, theres moment to the back of the room; behind a curtain from a hidden room, a tetchy looking man limps past me and behind the bar, without looking once in my direction. He signalled me to come over to the bar, and too nervous to sit, I stood awkwardly behind the stalls.
"Well?" he asked roughly, leaning on the side of the bar finally looking at me in the eye. His face was aged, but his hair was still dark and thick. The impatient expression he wore made my heart race even more, and I almost stumbled as I spoke.
"A glass." I said. Hoping that he would understand and that the story I was told was true- my life depended on it. I could feel my heart throbbing in my chest, and blood rushing to my face. I also felt hungry, the kind you don't want a vampire to feel in a dark alley.
"A glass of what?" the gruff man asked.
I hesitated, but then decided that as my face was covered, it was worth the risk. "Blood." I answered.
He grumbled something I couldn't hear. "I don't like it when I cant see a customer's face." He growled. But I stood frozen at his empty bar, making no move to remove my hood. He waited for a couple more moments, then decided to relent. he went behind the bar to the mini fridge where he brought out a thin glass containing a certain red liquid. "Just the artificial stuff, I don't sell the real stuff. I aint that dark." He says and when I nod that its fine, he pours me a glass.
With shaking hands I reach for the glass, and when I put it to my lips and something strong hits the glass; red dripping down my face and onto my shirt, I release that with a moment of uncontrollable hunger my fangs had protracted and broken the glass. Shocked and embarrassed, I turned away from the barman.
I could feel the barmans eyes on me, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." I stumble.
He gave a confused expression, "Its ok, I've seen a lot a vamps through this town, its not the first time one of them got themselves a little too hungry." He pours me another in a fresh glass. Gingerly I set down the broken glass. Carefully this time I set it to my lips and hungry gulp it down, he refills it twice more before the vampiric instincts subsided and fangs retracted.
"Thank you." I thanked him, then put the flasks out of my bag and onto the bar, "could you also fill these please?" I asked him. "Sorry I broke your glass." I added.
He took out a fresh bottle and filled each of them to the top. "You know, with all of the vampires I served, I've never met a vampire as polite as you… next time tell me your name and I'll forgive ya."
I relented, "My name is Shion but please keep that to yourself." I begged him.
He nodded, "With the honour of a barman."
Every other day I took the same trip to that bar in Greythorn alley, and each time it was empty, and I wondered if I was his only customer. But with short conversations, I slowly got to know the barman, I knew that he's lived in this town all his life and one mishap resulted in this nocturnal life of his.
"Barman, why do you run this place?" I asked him, "The rest of the town hates vampires, so why do you help them?" I asked.
"As how most tragedies begin, it started with a woman. I met 'er in a bar in the evening and we hit it off, and I tried to find her the next morning but I check all the inns and I couldn't find her. That evening I found her in the same place as the night before as if no time had passed. This went on for about a week before the first death. It was before the blood defect ten years ago, a vampire attack was un'eard of in this town- that was the stuff of cities." He took a sip of whatever was in his glass at the time and continued. "the parents of the girl that was murdered were outraged, but no-one else seemed to care all that much. The girl was a nuisance that stole little things from the market. It was a sad ending for 'er, but there weren't nothing to investigate. Now I look back on it, I can't believe there weren't more of an outcry. A week later there was another death, and people started to get suspicious. Wary of strangers, but by this time, me and this mysterious women weren't strangers no more. I fell for her hard. One night, maybe four nights after the second death, she didn't show and I was worried. Both of the victims were women, and I was worried that she was next, so I went looking for her. This time I found her, with blood dripping down her chin in a dark alley... I told the mayor, I ran all the way across town to tell 'im. There was a man hunt, half the bloody town was part of it, and she was killed. No-one knows how to successfully kill a vampire, so she had the lot, holy water, garlic, stake, and finally burnt alive. I imagine she would 'ave suffered quite a bit."
"She was the killer?" I asked.
"No. I killed the women I loved; I assumed because that she was a vampire, she was evil and had to be the killer. But, three days after they butchered her, there was another death..." he trailed off in thought.
"So what happened?" I prompted.
"Wasn't even a vampire. Just some human sod who made it look like it. Found out about her, didn't like it and wanted to get rid of her."
"You're right, that really is quite tragic." I started at the remaining blood in my glass, and couldn't bring myself to drink it, his story had left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Don't tell me I put ya off ya food?! 'ome on, drink up!"
I sighed and downed it in one gulp.
"You're not crying under that hood are ya?" he asked mockingly.
I chuckled, "I'm not crying." I put the money on the bar and went to leave.
"Hang on Shion! There��s something I forgot to tell ya! There was an older vampire here yesterday after you left, asking about a young run away, the son of someone very important in the vampire city. I told 'im I knew nothing but watch out."
"Thank you. I'll try." I say before heading out and weaving in and out of the streets, with the stealth of a cat and pinpoint accuracy. After all the time I made this same journey, I could make it even with my eyes closed.
Despite how well I slept at night now, after hearing someone was finally pursuing me, I spent hours lying in the bed, staring at the darkened ceiling, wondered who'd they'd sent, and how long my human life would last. I'd always known that it was only a matter of time, but deep down I was hoping that my father would let me go. But my time was more precious than it ever was before; I had to experience what it was like to be human before it's all snatched away again. The sun had broke the horizon before I lost consciousness to sleep. It was a restless sleep, filled with foreboding dreams.
I'm in an abandoned building, the ceiling's high and made of glass so dirty that little light can pass through it. My heart is thumping in my chest, I'm spinning on the spot, looking for someone. I'm being chased by someone I can't see, I start running. Noise behind me- footsteps. I turn, almost tripping as I run, but there's no-one there. The sound echoes across the walls. The buildings stretches on as if i'm running on the spot. I glance behind me again: nothing. In front of me i'm trapped. From no-where are a corwd of people dressed head to toe in black. I skid to halt, then turn on the spot, only to find I'm surrounded, "what do you want?" I scream at them desperately. They press in from all directions, the room spins, and I cover my head with my arms to protect it as their warm bodies push and shove until im at the edge of the room, pressed against the grimy glass panels. I fight against the mass of bodies, struggling to breathe against the relentless force, until... smash!
Im thrown through the glass, cutting long slashes into the flesh on my arms, and tossed to the floor on the outside. The sunlight bears down on me, warning the blood on my arms, then... i'm screaming. The sun- it hurts! My skin is boiling, burning, melting! I struggle in the dirt, dragging myself along, trying to reach the shade, but a force hits me in the stomach causing me to roll over and over. Through liquefying eyes, I see human forms taunting me from above, jeering in my pain and yearning for my death.
-Monster!
-Burn!
-Damn vampire!
-Die!
BANG! Bang! Bang! Huh? Pale walls, a wardrobe, a bed side cabinet? The sun isn't burning anymore, the lingering pain from the dream disperses; I blink a couple of times, searching my room as if to ensure its real. My arms have no cuts or burns- I know it was a dream, but my heart refuses to relent, it thumps in my chest as if I'm running a marathon. BANG! I jump out of my skin at the knocking at my door.