by Jen Pretty
Re-Vamping
Las Vegas
Jen Pretty
The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.
—T.S. Elliot
For Anna.
Thank you for your support and encouragement on my journey.
You are a true friend and inspiration.
CHAPTER ONE
“Twenty bucks!”
“I told you I won’t take your bets anymore, Nia.”
“Aw, come on. Chicken?”
“Broke,” Ray laughed as he moved down the bar to deliver a drink.
On Saturday nights, half-drunk college kids filled the city. That’s what’s great about living in a small college town. The nightlife was young, beautiful and flocked to the local hot spots. Ray’s nightclub was large, and the bar ran along one full wall. The opposite end was a raised DJ booth and in between was a sea of bodies writhing and churning like the ocean.
Ray's was closest to the college, and I always got in free, but Saturday night was my favourite.
My victim danced around with a drink in his hand, trying to pick up girls. Cute and soft, like a puppy, his tail flapped so fast his butt wiggled. I was sure he would strike out. The girls who came to a bar like this weren’t looking for a nice boy. Wearing their low-cut tops with their hair swept up, displaying their necks like a fisherman in a market with his catch of the day.
They were dinner on legs.
Very long legs.
I downed my drink and left the barstool to join the wild party girls. They were probably going to hell, but so was I. We might as well enjoy ourselves. Music was the great equalizer, forcing us all to move to its beat in the cramped space between our bodies. The stench of sweat and antiperspirant filled the stagnant air. My sense of smell was, unfortunately, more delicate than the rest of the people in the nightclub, but the alcohol numbed it.
My teeth ached. The sight of that wiggly boy made me ravenous, but I kept losing sight of him. There he was. His sandy hair was long enough it stuck it to his forehead, slick with sweat. Then he disappeared in the crowd. I danced with the girls until I caught sight of him again. He sat at the bar, another drink in his hand. Was that his third? Hmm, college boy might be getting tipsy.
The music changed from deep bass to a sharp pop song, and the silly girls all screamed with glee.
Ugh.
I wasn’t drunk enough for this. As I crossed the room, my nape prickled. A pair of eyes tracked me. Ryan. He was a moron and always had to shop at my club. There were two other nightclubs like this one in town, but Ryan still came to dinner here.
I blocked out the feeling of his eyes on my ass and slid onto the barstool beside my new puppy. I waved to Ray who shook his head when he caught sight of who I was sitting beside. He poured me another drink. Only one type of drink affected patrons like me. Ray kept it well stocked. One more reason this was my favourite nightclub.
“How are you, Nia?”
He snuck up beside me — creepy bastard.
“I’m fine, Ryan. Go away.”
Ray delivered my drink. I picked up the glass and took a long sip.
Ryan didn’t speak again. He stood beside me staring holes into the side of my head. I rolled my eyes and looked at him. He had coiffed his hair in a modern style. He looked like a pale GQ model with sharp teeth. Too bad he was a disgusting blood-sucking old guy and every time he opened his mouth, I heard nails on a chalkboard.
“I haven’t seen you around town this week,” he said, flashing me his teeth.
Like I cared about his long, pointy incisors. I wasn’t a college girl, ready to throw myself at any old, gross vampire.
“That’s because I have been busy and also, I’ve been avoiding you.” I turned my back to him, hoping Ryan would take the hint and leave me alone, only to find my puppy had left.
Damn.
I turned to scan the room, but Ryan stepped in front of me, blocking my view.
“I would like to get to know you better, Nia. Is that so terrible?” He asked snidely.
God, it was fun hurting his feelings. You’d think he was a five-year-old with that pout on his face.
“Nice chat,” I drained the last of my drink and left my seat. I slid through the crowd towards the restroom. Ryan wasn’t likely to follow me there. I was tipsy. The 100% alcohol of the Vampire Fire hit my bloodstream, lowering my give-a-damn meter to zero. I stood next to a giggling girl at the sink and checked my makeup. The girl and her friends were discussing Ryan, of all things. Their list of his physical attributes had me stifling my laughter. Some vampires would take a human home with them, and the popular lore was that it would be the best night of their lives.
Idiots.
I smiled wide and made sure I had nothing stuck in my teeth. When my incisors flashed, the girl next to me dropped her hairbrush in the sink and turned to stare at me, eyes wide.
“Oh my god, I didn’t even know there were girl vampires,” she said. I turned away, satisfied that I looked lovely enough for my puppy. “Wait, can I ask you a question?”
I hissed at her, and she jumped backwards, bumping into her tall friend. The tall girl backed into the last girl in the row who was applying mascara. They were human dominoes.
Laughing as I exited the restroom, I ran right into the chest of Mr. Persistent.
“Ryan, you need to leave me alone, or we will have problems. Go find a nice human to suck on.”
“Just say you will have dinner with me and I will leave you alone,” he replied, giving me his creepy unblinking stare. I bet it worked on human girls.
“That is the opposite of leaving me alone.”
The girls came out of the bathroom, and though the one I had scared was still looking kind of pale, they distracted Ryan, so I made my escape.
I combed the club for my puppy, stalking through the dancing bodies and scanning the dark shadows.
When I finally caught up to my target for the night, he looked dejected like someone had kicked him.
Perfect.
“Hi, my name is Nia,” I said. I slid onto the barstool beside him and crossed my legs. My short skirt rode up, and I let it. His eyes lit on me and traced down my body. His face went from sad to happy in a split second.
God, he was cute.
“I’m Eric.”
“Want to dance?” I asked.
“Yes!” he said with way too much enthusiasm.
Aw.
Taking his hand, I led him to a gap in the dance floor. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and his hands slid down to my hips. We swayed and moved to that never-ending beat. He was taller than I thought, just over six feet, but in my heels, I was 5’10” so he was the perfect height. He smelled delicious, like caramel and springtime. I pet the short locks of hair at the base of his neck. They were as soft as I had imagined.
He locked eyes with me, and I flashed him my fangs. Some people didn’t like vampires, but Eric wasn’t one of those people. His mouth came down on mine, and his soft lips pressed just hard enough that my fang nicked him, leaving a drop of blood behind when he pulled away.
I leaned in and licked the hot blood from his lip.
“Let’s go,” I whispered in his ear.
I took his hand and led him toward the back door of the club. Ray left it unlocked for me on Saturday nights. I pushed the door open and stepped into the chilly night. The rain had slowed, but it still spit drops on us as we stood in the shadows. Eric’s eyes shone in the sliver of moonlight that broke through the clouds. It was still too dark to say what colour his eyes were, but I liked green eyes so imagined they were green.
I kissed his lips and pressed my body into his. He was as warm as the sun. My lips trailed a line down his jaw, and he tipped his head in invitation. I r
elished the victory of my hunt. My teeth throbbed in relief as they slid gently through Eric’s skin, puncturing the vein hidden beneath. His tangy blood sloshed into my mouth, his heart slamming in his chest. As I drank my fill, Eric panted and squeaked. His arms held me to him like he was a drowning man and I was the only thing that could save his life. How ironic.
His body moved against mine, his hot chest sending tingles through my cold skin as his blood warmed me from the inside out.
Satiated, I licked the puncture, sealing him back up like leftovers for the refrigerator. Smoothing his sweaty hair back from his face, I smiled at him, much drunker than I had been five minutes ago and teetering on the edge of dragging him home with me.
He giggled, reminding me of the silly girls from the bathroom, and his humanity, breaking the spell. I took his hand and led him around to the front of the club where a few cabs were waiting.
“Goodnight, Eric,” I said, shoving the now very sleepy puppy into the back seat and handing the cabbie twenty dollars.
Eric wiggled in the seat and gave me a crooked smile before closing his eyes. I shut the door, and the cab drove away.
Taking a deep breath of the night air, the scent of a trash fire somewhere sent me back to my earliest memory.
—
1822 Coast of Italy
Silence had fallen on our village. It had been days since my mother or father last moved. They lay quiet and still in their bed. My stomach growled when on the wind I could smell cooking meat.
I tried once more to wake my mother, but she didn’t move, so I left our cottage to follow the delicious scent. The rocks and sticks stabbed at my bare feet, but I walked on until I found a small group of soldiers. They had set up a camp outside of the village with canvas hung from trees. I watched them all evening and fell asleep curled beside a poplar tree. When I awoke, they had left their tent, so I tiptoed under the canvas and snatched some dried pork and bread before hustling away.
I crept towards town with my food in my fists. The smell of cooking meat pulling me forward.
“I found two more in the cottage north of town,” a man with a piece of cloth tied over his mouth said. The man was tall and muscular, like a giant. He tossed something large, wrapped in a blanket onto the fire before turning away and walking back out of the village.
I took another bite of my stolen meal and crept forward. Another masked man stood to one side of the fire, leaning against a tree. His eyes were closed, and his head rested back on the bark.
I took a few more tentative steps toward the fire. I wanted to see what was cooking in the shallow hole in the earth.
The wind shifted as I approached the edge of the fire pit and smoke burned in my eyes. I rubbed at the sting as my eyes watered, but I had to see what it was that was cooking. When the wind shifted again, I finally got a glimpse of the meat, but it wasn’t pork or beef. Blackened flesh and bones littered the bottom of the pit.
I stood frozen, watching the flames lick up through a bare skull. My heart pounded in my chest and bile rose in my throat as I dropped my piece of bread.
“Hey, Thomas! You are supposed to be keepin’ an eye on the fire!” The giant man with the cloth on his face said as he heaved another bundle into the fire. The blanket burned away, and I caught a glimpse of my mother’s rotting face before she disappeared into flames.
I screamed, and strong arms scooped me up. I kept screaming until the man covered my mouth with his hand and blackness crept in my vision and then took over until the world drifted away.
--
Shaking the memory away, I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I wished Ray had taken my bet. I’d be twenty dollars richer now.
Back inside, the night was still young and so was I. Well, I was still young for a vampire.
I danced with some visiting sports team. Maybe they were baseball players. It didn’t matter. They were fit and good looking.
Ryan popped up behind me on the dance floor. He smelled like perfume and blood so was now staying in my club to irritate me. The cold chill of his body pressed into mine.
I threw my fist over my shoulder quick and hard. There was a loud crack as it hit his head. He dropped to the grimy floor, and my laughter echoed over the sound of the music, making a few humans turn our way. Ryan stood quickly, like a mannequin on strings pulled up from above and scowled at me. He muttered something under his breath and stormed away. Probably something rude. I danced a while longer before returning to the bar for one last drink.
“You gonna torment that vampire forever?” Ray asked as he set my drink down.
“I don’t like vampires, Ray.”
With a laugh, he replied, “You are a vampire.”
I touched my finger to my nose and winked at him.
The alcohol burned as it ran down my throat and into my stomach to slosh around with Eric’s blood. Lost in my memory of Eric, I hardly noticed when one of the baseball guys sat beside me.
“Hey, you want to get out of here?” he asked, sitting close to my left. It was a universal pick up line. Humans had stopped using it on each other and saved it for vampires. Vampires took their cue and used it on humans when they ‘came out of the casket’ and the humans bared their necks to anyone with sharp pearly whites.
Bitten by a vampire — it was on everyone's bucket list.
I turned to face the cute sports guy, but he wasn’t as cute as Eric. Besides, I was full and ready to get home. It was Sunday now, and I had to get some sleep before Monday morning. “No thanks, sweetie,” I said, patting his cheek.
I turned back to my drink and downed it before slipping from the barstool and staggering out into the night. I was tipsy on my heels, but vampires burned off alcohol fast, and there were no drinking and driving laws that applied to us. There were few laws governing vampires. We policed our own for major violations.
So, when I started my car and aimed for home, I thought nothing of the fact I was more drunk than usual. I wove through the city streets heading to my apartment in the tallest building in the city. A full eight stories high. The street lights flashed from green to yellow, and I slowed to a stop as I neared the park in the center of town. My head was floating, as if it was no longer attached to my body. My eyelids slid shut.
A honk jolted me back to the car, and I hit the gas so hard the tires squealed. I drove on for a moment longer before my eyelids slid shut again.
CHAPTER TWO
“Nia wake up.”
I tried to bury my head under my pillow but didn’t have one, so I covered my head with my arm to block out whoever was talking.
“Nia,” the male voice said again. “Move your ass, or I’ll call in the Blood Guard. You know how this works.”
I forced one bleary eyelid open.
Did he say Blood Guard? The dingy white of old painted cinder blocks came into focus about a foot from my face. I was lying on a hard, wooden bench, and the cold chill in the air made it clear I was not in my bed in my apartment. I rolled over and gazed in the voice's direction. As the scene came into focus, I made out the general shape and description of Officer Jenkins. He had a long face with a tiny mustache and bushy eyebrows that reminded me of Bert from Sesame Street.
“Hey, Bert. What’s happening?” I asked, straightening my spine and enjoying the snaps and pops of my seized-up joints.
“You know damn well my name is not Bert. Get moving. You have an appointment with the judge.” He unlocked the cell door with a clatter and swung it open on squeaky hinges. I slid off the bench I had been sleeping on and tried to straighten my clothes. My short skirt was wrinkled.
I sifted through what I could remember of the previous night. Cute Eric. I smiled at the memory of his soft hair running through my fingers.
“What are you smiling about, Nia? This is pretty deep shit you got yourself in,” Jenkins chastised.
“I did nothing. I was at the club. Someone must have drugged me.”
Jenkins snorted. “That’s what you said last time.”
&
nbsp; OK, he had me there, but I was pretty sure someone spiked my drink this time. I should have no trouble remembering what happened last night. But everything from dancing with some muscular guys until now was suspiciously gone from my memory.
Jenkins wrapped his thick meaty hand around my arm and led me through the halls of the police station. The musky smell of dirt and stale coffee hung in the air. In the main room, there were desks set up in tidy rows with police officers in uniform at about half of them. All the officers looked away when I met their eyes, except for a young kid. Probably his first week on the job. His shoes shone in the fluorescent lights and his uniform was crisp and starched. As my eyes locked on his, I smiled, baring my fangs just a little. He sat frozen in his chair as I approached. Vampire crime training was probably pretty fresh in his mind. Most cops didn’t like vampires. They thought Vampire Law allowed us too much free run of the cities, but they were too afraid to say anything to one of us. They all knew what happened when a vampire went off the rails.
It was pretty gross.
Cannibalism level of gross.
Jenkins wasn’t afraid of me though. He called a spade a spade.
As we walked by the rookie, I hissed. He jumped from his seat and ran, toppling his chair in his haste.
“You really are a shit person, Nia,” he said as we rounded the corner towards the courtroom.
Now that I think about it, Jenkins might have had a death wish.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not a person then,” I replied.
He shook his head and held the door to the tiny courtroom open for me. I entered and moved to the table where my lawyer, Aaron Whitmire the second, waited. His father was the first Aaron Whitmire to represent me in court. The younger Whitmire was more talented than his father and always got me off scot-free. He was worth his weight in gold.
“Jesus,” the judge muttered. “Lavinia, how many times do I need to see you in a month?”