08:45 PM.
Inside the Hotel Laurens, June.
A white-haired young man with aviator shades walked across the corridors toward the counter of the Hotel. He was wearing a slim dark overcoat with a dark suitcase in his hand.
He came and paused in front of the counter lady and lowered his shades.
Her eyes were fixated on the computer before she noticed the man. The young lady looked at the man's face and smiled.
"How may I help you, sir?"
For a few seconds, the man simply stared at the young lady. She waited for a reply, but the smile she kept on her face gradually turned into an uncomfortable frown.
"S – sir? How can I help you?"
Jamie smiled.
"The Marriott Club. One night. How much?"
"Oh…" the lady's lips thinned. She realized she wasn't dealing with a usual hotel customer.
Her long fingers danced across the keyboard as she selected the list to enter the new special customer's name.
"Are you a VIP member? Do you have the membership?"
"No, just for the night. Make it quick, please. How much?"
The lady looked at him again. "Ugh, one night… Can I get some ID? Or –"
Jamie sighed, pulling out his wallet and showing it to the lady. She gazed at it and nodded.
"Jamie O'Connor. One night. That would be —" She entered the details into the computer. "1090 bucks."
Jamie paid the woman off by the card as quickly as he could.
"Thank you for the service, sir. You can find the club right on the last floor. I sent you a message on your phone. Put the combination in the elevator and you'll be taken right to it."
He nodded to the lady and hurried down the corridors toward the elevator. The next people in line came and stood before the counter lady, half confused about what they'd heard.
The lady at the counter gazed at the customers right in their eyes as her pupils shifted into a bright orange.
Then, she slowly whispered, "Forget."
"How may I help you, miss?" The gentle voice of the lady came back to normal.
Jamie looked over his shoulder and smiled as he heard this. However, this was a case for another day. Today, his mission was to hunt vampires.
Not memory razors.
…
The elevator moved downwards, way below the ground floor when Jamie typed in the combination for it.
He even had to make sure the old man walking toward the elevator was not able to make it through the doors so only he'd be able to enter the Marriott Club.
"You have arrived at the Marriott." A robotic voice announced inside the elevator.
The elevator doors opened wide and Jamie stepped out into the club.
The blue lights flashed and some smoke arose from the entrance. Two buff-looking guys with sunglasses were standing at the entrance.
Jamie raised his ID to their faces before they could say a word.
The two guys nodded and stood back, allowing him to pass into the club.
The music was loud, the lights were flashing everywhere and the people were going crazy. It seemed the club had just opened and everyone was starting to get in the game. With all the hopping girls and boys, it was easy for Jamie to be overlooked.
However, the same went for his target.
It would be hard to catch the vampire too.
"First thing's first," Jamie said, pulling off his shades and hanging them around the t-shirt collar.
He moved through the dancing people with a tight grip on his suitcase. Before he could do anything, that case had to be hidden.
He stood before the bartender and gave a bright smile to her. She smiled back.
"What are you having today, handsome?" She asked in a flirtatious manner, leaning against the counter.
Jamie raised his suitcase over the counter and placed it on top of it. The pretty counter lady stepped backward in shock.
The young man grinned at the lady.
"Would you please hold this case back at the counter for me? It's kind of urgent, I might say. That's about all I want from you," he nodded.
"Ugh, you want me to safe keep it?" she asked, grabbing the box.
She instantly dropped it to the ground beside her counter, realizing how heavy it actually was. "Whoof… God, it's heavy."
"Pretty much." Jamie pulled a chair and sat in front of the lady.
She raised her eyebrow and gazed at Jamie's face. "So, you came here for what…? Oh yeah. Also, I need some payment for safekeeping your case. You should already know that –"
Jamie pulled out 200 dollars out of his wallet and handed it to the lady. "Should this suffice?"
"That'd be great," the woman hurriedly grabbed the money and pushed inside her bra.
Then, Jamie simply crossed his hands and looked down to think about the situation one more time. But before he could start to plan it out, the woman asked another question.
"You sure you don't want a drink? Or anything else from me?" She slid a strand of her blonde hair behind her air.
Jamie raised his eyes and gazed at the girl. She had a pretty face, but she was obviously a hooker.
"A glass of water, if you're feeling generous."
She bit her lip, staring into Jamie's blue eyes. "If you just pay up another couple of dollars, we could go back there and you know… do something to cheer you up. After all, you're here after a stressful day, aren't you? A man should enjoy himself. You don't have to be looking so gloomy with me –"
Jamie raised his finger, shutting the girl up.
"Shut up. I'm here to do some shit. And I need to stay focused. No drinks, no BJs. Generous? Go get me a cup of water."
The pretty counter lady's face shifted to an annoyed expression. She backed away, shrugging.
"Fine, you gloomy bastard."
Jamie crossed his fingers and began to fix his train of thought. The advice Uncle Jimmy had given to him once long ago came back to his head.
"Remember, little maggot. Whenever you're on the job, you don't drink. You need to stay focused. Good in the head. Only then, you'll feel that kill fresh in your hands. When you're drunk, you can't have that feeling as fresh as you do when you're focused, boy. Understand?"
He smiled. His thumbs kept tapping away rapidly on his hand.
It couldn't be too hard to look for the vampire lady. Usually, vampires tend to get very lusty at clubs.
They are very horny creatures. The horniest girl in the club could possibly be the vampire Lacie was referring to. After all, she didn't exactly tell him her appearance. j
Yet, he already made a plan for it.
There was a metal cross hanging around Jamie's neck. It was the Helsing cross.
Vampire blood has a high attraction to certain types of metals that have the highest attraction powers.
Every Helsing cross was made with the metal with the highest abilities of attraction. Vanadium.
He grasped the cross and kissed it.
"Tell me when you're ready," he whispered to the cross.
Suddenly, cheers came from the front of the club. Everyone started to scream and clap.
"Woohoo, lovebirds! Let's go!"
"SAY YESS!!!"
"Lovebirds?" Jamie said, turning over his shoulder.
The words reminded him of a time when someone shouted those exact same words at a party he had thrown when his girlfriend was still with him.
Behind him, one guy was down on his knees, proposing to a beautiful girl. She was too shocked. Her hands were covering her mouth and she was almost in tears.
The images of Holly came back to him. The future he had imagined with her. The ring he had brought to propose to her. Everything came back to Jamie's head.
It hit him like a bullet through the head.
"Oh, shit…" He rubbed his temples, turning away from the proposing couple.
"Here you go, gloomy." The counter lady placed the glass of water before Jamie.
He grasped it and gulped it down instantly.
"Wow, you're thirsty."
Breathing out, Jamie gazed into the blonde girl's eyes again. He couldn't clear the thoughts of his broken girlfriend once again. It was all rushing back to his head – at the worst possible moment.
So, he had no choice.
"Fuck it. Get a bottle and a glass. We're drinking on the job."
The blonde girl grinned. "Finally."