“I should’ve listened to him,” he whispered. “I should’ve stayed inside, or just gone home. God, why didn’t I just go home?” he finished, speaking only to himself now.
The bartender could think of nothing to say, and so refilled the man’s glass. But not his own this time. He waited for the rest of the story.
“They had gone into what looked like on old cool room. Dim, flickering lights, empty shelves everywhere, so I hid behind one. The blonde had the guy against the wall opposite the door, about fifteen feet away from me. She was on her knees, going for it like a champion. Never seen a bitch move her head so fast. Even in the dark, I could see the bloke’s eyes were rolling in his head, moaning, loving every second of it.”
“Who wouldn’t?” the bartender interrupted, with a careless smile, clearly mistaking the trembling in his voice, mistaking it for lust instead of fear.
“I just stood there. I don’t even know why. It seemed like ages to me before I decided to just turn around and walk inside again. What was I hoping to do anyway? That’s when I heard the guy scream.”
“Wow. She must’ve been good, huh?” The bartender forced a laugh. He was already worried that wasn’t the case.
“No…” the man replied, not looking up from his empty glass. “That wasn’t him getting off. I could never have believed a grown man could make such a…howl.”
“You saw what happened…?” the bartender asked.
The heavy man nodded slowly. “I turned around…”
The bartender put his hands on either side of his empty glass. The heavy man was staring as if through the bartender. The bartender pressed him. “Yeah and?”
“She still had him in her mouth, but she was standing up…and he was on the ground.”
The bartender had been trying to grasp what the man was telling him when suddenly, the scene played out in his head. He scrunched his face. “Are you fair dinkum? You’re telling me you saw a guy get his cock bitten off in a nightclub?”
“No,” the stranger replied, finally looking up at the bartender, face pale and hands shaking once again. “I’m telling you I saw her bite it off and hold it up so the blood went down her throat! She was licking at the drips and laughing at the guy screaming on the floor! Salivating! Do you think I’d make this shit up? I know how it sounds but I know what I saw!”
The bartender was stunned into silence by the sudden outburst, and was uncertain how to respond. But upon seeing the tears leak out of the man’s eyes, his heart went out to him. “Look, I’m sorry mate. It sounds like you’ve had a long and stressful day. I mean, I believe you think you may have seen something, but think about it—if that chick really was some kind of a…a—”
“Vampire,” the stranger finished.
“Right. Hence the horror reference.” The bartender clicked his fingers, the man’s earlier question making sense. “But, look. If that was the case, don’t you think the cops would be on to that place already? Hell, you’d think even the army would be. The government too, maybe. She’d never be able to get away with something like that. There has to be some kind of explanation. Yeah, okay, this world and even Sydney has some fucked up people in it, but not real monsters. This stuff just doesn’t happen. Tell me, if you were in my shoes, would you believe me? Or if she really was a nosvetu or whatever, do you think she would’ve let you out alive?”
Struggling for an answer, the man finally submitted. “No. I ran before I could find out.”
“Ok then,” the bartender said, relieved, patting the man on the shoulder. “Look, I’ve gotta do some things out back. Won’t take too long. Then I’ll call you a cab to take you home. My shout, yeah?”
The man gave a helpless nod. This, the bartender assumed, was the best he could hope for.
*
Had the bartender not turned around at that exact moment and left the man alone, he would have seen the shadow appear outside the window. It disappeared just as quickly as it came. The door opened without a sound.
The ground trembled as a truck roared past, causing the lights to flicker briefly and when they came on again, long fingers were slowly crawling up either side of the man’s face like spider’s legs. But he couldn’t see anyone in the mirror he stared into. Just the hands. The owner of the fingers was behind and under him and the bar patron was too fearful to turn his head. Only the thought of screaming entered his mind before his mouth was clamped shut and the blonde creature that he had wanted in the nightclub, that he had seen brutalise and kill the unknown young punk and that had followed him all the way here, revealed herself, straddling him.
“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 Dante is going to be there or not. She doesn’t wanna get her hopes up.”
“Who?” Matt asked.
“Dante. The guy Lauren has been dying to sleep with for three weeks, ever since she and I started going to T,” Alex said matter-of-factly.
“How many times have you seen him?” Matt asked.
“Three or four,” Lauren replied.
“Does he know you’re interested?”
“Yes, unless he’s one of those ridiculously gorgeous-but-stupid types. I haven’t been dropping hints as much as anvils.”
“Maybe he’s gay.”
Alex and Lauren both laughed as one. “No way,” they chimed in unison.
“How do you know?”
“Girls just know,” Lauren replied, and Alex nodded in agreement. “Besides, that hasn’t stopped me before. Anyway, I dunno what his problem is, but tonight’s the night. I’ve decided I am getting laid. One way or another, I’ll be in his bed or he’ll be in mine.”
The TV volume had jumped. Alex saw Matt put down the remote, concentrating on the screen. Something the news anchor was saying had caught his attention. “Authorities are still no closer to unravelling the brutal murder that occurred late yesterday at the Shakedown Bar near Sydney Fish Markets. A baffling case that Senior Sergeant Robert Young described as ‘the worst he had ever seen’. Todd Wilson has more—”
“All right, Musketeers! Let’s go,” Lauren said, finally finishing her makeup and slinging her handbag over her shoulder.
“Wait up. I want to listen to this,” Matt called.
“…violent slash marks across the throat—”
“What for?” Lauren asked impatiently.
“You do realise this happened less than twenty minutes’ walk from where we are going tonight?”
“Do you honestly believe you’re going to get attacked surrounded by people in a club? Grow a pair, Matt. We’re late.”
“Calm down, babe. Jeez,” Alex said. “The place has only been open fifteen minutes anyway.”
Lauren had already gone out the door and headed down the stairs.
“My dad’s mate owns that pub. I hope he’s ok,” Matt said.
“Surely you would’ve heard something if he wasn’t?” Alex asked, scratching his forearm absently.
“Yeah. Fuck it. Let’s go.” Matt switched off the TV. “She’s a bitch when she’s on heat, ain’t she?”
Alex smiled apologetically. Matt responded with a half-hearted scowl. “Will you ever stop apologising for her?”
Alex leant in and kissed him. “Probably not.”
Matt took a deep breath. Alex guessed he was contemplating what to say, but whatever it was, he shook it out of his head. “Did you say fifteen minutes?” Matt asked, checking his watch. “How stupid do you have to be to open a place so late, only to close it before dawn? I mean, how do they make any money?”
Alex smiled again. “You’ll see.”
Chapter Two
The T Club
“Christ almighty!” Matt exclaimed as the cab pulled up opposite T.
“Told you so,” Alex said.
The line to enter T was a hundred meters long. Two bouncers guarded the door at the start of the line. Neither held a clipboard or seemed to be engaging the waiting throng with friendly banter like he was accustomed to seeing. Stereotypical “big black guys” usually seen at bigger joints, like hotels and the casino. They reminded Alex of the British palace guards that are forbidden to move.
Both of them were barrel-chested, with their hands folded in front of them and as still as statues. It was a cool night, and the club was like a beacon of light compared to the surrounding streets.
“Looks like right here is the best place to get you three in. I’ll have to go around the roundabout and come back otherwise,” said the cab driver.
Matt handed the guy two red twenty-dollar notes. “Thanks, man. This will be fine.”
The three got out and waited for the traffic to thin before they crossed the street. Finally spotting an opening, they hurried towards the club, several car horns beeping at them. Alex distinctly heard “lucky prick” shouted to Matt from one of the passing cars, and couldn’t resist a wave. Matt and Alex headed to the end of the line before Alex realised Lauren wasn’t with them. She was in fact, heading straight for the bouncers.
“Babe?” Alex called.
“Watch this,” Lauren mouthed. Lauren made her voice go girly as she approached them. “Excuse me, we are friends of Dante. Could we maybe cut in?”
Alex had seen Lauren’s sweet-little-girl act before, usually reserved for traffic cops when she got caught speeding. It seemed so fake, but to this day, she had never received a ticket. Whether Alex liked Lauren’s act or not, it always seemed to work for her.
Not tonight, though.
“Yeah, yeah. Everyone says they are friends of Dante’s. End of the line.”
“Oh, come on,” Lauren tried again, flipping her hair and flashing her smile. “We’ve never had to line up before. You can’t let us in…please?”
“End of the line, sweetie.”
Alex watched as Lauren’s whole demeanour changed from sweet to sour. She had known Lauren for years and she was the sister she’d have chosen, if family members could be selected. But Alex wasn’t especially fond of Lauren’s pouty attitude when things didn’t go her way.
“Sweetie? What’s your problem?” Lauren barked, as if the bouncer had personally attacked her.
Alex took her by the arm. “Come on, hun.”
Lauren let Alex lead her away, but still yelled at the bouncers. “Don’t even know a good customer when you see one? You two deserve a fucking raise!”
“Loz, shhh. Don’t worry. If he’s not here, we can come back another night.”
“Bullshit! I want cock,” she retorted, walking side-by-side with Alex along the line, not bothering to lower her voice. Alex heard Matt click his tongue in contemp
t.
“Don’t worry, darl. You can have mine anytime!” shouted a guy in the waiting crowd, grabbing his crotch as she passed.
Alex and Lauren found the speaker at the same time and looked him up and down. Bleached blonde hair, open shirt, baggy jeans, tanned to perfection, complete with a full sleeve tattoo on his right arm. A surfie.
“When you find it, let me know,” Lauren retorted and Alex couldn’t stifle a snicker.
The surfie’s mates laughed and cheered. Even he smiled and clapped her comeback.
Matt trailed behind the two girls, hands in his pockets, shaking his head. “The future of Australia. What a douche.”
“Yeah, pity. He was kinda hot,” Lauren replied.
Finally, they approached the end of the line. It was so long, Alex thought they would be lucky if they got in at all.
“So what do you think his tatts meant?” Alex asked.
“Who knows? But they were cool weren’t they? I bet they were tribal, maybe family too. It’s so hot when guys get inked with things that mean something special to them.”
“I dunno. It was a bit much for me. I like little ones here and there. Matt has bet me he will get one after our first kid is born because I have to go through labour. I still don’t reckon he will do it though.”
Alex squeezed Matt’s hand in apology but he was staring at sports scores on his phone.
A woman directly in front of them caught Alex’s’ eye. She was no more than four feet tall, leopard print boots, black stockings, white mini skirt, red top and yellow leather jacket. Alex didn’t think she’d ever seen an outfit so ridiculous, but that wasn’t the strangest thing. By the grey wisps in her curly hair and noticeable crow’s feet around her eyes as she stared far off in the distance, Alex decided she must be pushing seventy. Just as she was going to point her out to Matt, she turned to look at her, eyeing Alex up and down from head to foot also.
“You shouldn’t go in,” the woman said.
“Uh…You think so?” Alex asked.
“Yes. He will like you, but he will never love you. You shouldn’t go in.”
Night Walker (Undeadly Secrets Book 1) Page 2