by Sy Walker
A tall man darted out of the room, and stood right outside the door. He was wearing a jet-black suit that matched his hair. He was tall and muscular, and immediately began moving his eyes to Cindy’s neckline.
“Miss,” said the man in black, when he caught her staring at him for a while. “Can I help you?”
Cindy couldn’t respond. She was confused, searching for words. “Ms. Cindy Nightingale?” he inquired, following her silence.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Right this way,” he escorted her into the dance hall.
The whole house was full of intellectuals, billionaires, politicians, artists, and people of high taste. She wondered if it was obvious to them how bankrupt she was. But she was more confident than she had imagined. She couldn’t help but to look here and there at people, who were standing in small groups, chatting in a gentlemanly fashion, each having a champagne glass in their hands, which they were neither drinking nor putting away.
“Ms. Cindy,” said the man who escorted her, “Ms. Biel.”
“Thanks,” she said after a pause. It seemed as if she had got lost in a strange realm of unconsciousness for a few seconds.
“Hi Ms. Biel,” she said in a shaky voice, trying not to make eye-contact with Ms. Biel for some reason.
“Hi Cindy, you look beautiful. Good to see you in this vibrant dress. It really brought out the true woman in you.” she replied in a friendly voice.
“Thank you, Ms. Biel,” Cindy smiled, pretending as if she wasn’t scared. But she was, for some unknown reason.
“Let me show you around. I mean, let me introduce you to a few people.” she said gently.
“Thank you Ms. Biel, but it’s not necessary for you to focus so much attention on me” she replied.
“Of course it’s necessary.” she eyed her bitterly. “This is Mr. Ivanovic,” she stated pleasantly, and beside him, is Ms. Lamina.”
“We’re pleased to meet you,” both the well-dressed guests extended their hands towards Cindy for a warm handshake.
“Pleasure to meet you my dear, are you from around here?” Ivanovic questioned, in a fine Russian accent.
“Excuse me?” she couldn’t understand what he had just said. He seemed more focused on eyeing her breasts than anything else.
“I asked if you’re from around here, New York that is?” he questioned once again, but this time the accent was soft and simple, to her surprise, he switched from his Russian-American accent, to simply an American accent.
“Well, I moved here about a couple of months ago. I came from a small town in Virginia.” her voice staggered, not because she was confused, but because she was in panic-mode.
“Interesting, while we are so glad you could join us tonight. It’s always a treat to experience some new blood in this town,” he winked.
Cindy began to look around, just to see where she could sit comfortably, so that nobody could ask her questions. The way Ivanovic was looking at her made her uncomfortable.
Ms. Biel was highly involved in a conversation with Ivanovic and Lamina, so she allowed Cindy to sniff around a little bit, till she was done with others.
Cindy felt as if someone was staring at her. Just like her dream. But she looked around, everybody seemed to be involved in their own personal chit-chat, until her eyes came across a tall and startlingly handsome man, with long blonde hair that was brushing his shoulders. He had piercing blue eyes. He had grown a faint French beard, and the rest of his facial hair was finely trimmed, giving him a damn sexy look. He was wearing a dark blue suit, just without the tie. The two top buttons of his shirt were deliberately open. Cindy could easily see the half of his hairless chest, a bit sweaty though, but sexy. Most importantly his eyes were intoxicating and contained a drop of sadness. Cindy immediately realized he was just like the man in her favorite painting in the library.
There was a strange uneasiness in his attitude. He too was holding his glass of champagne, but wasn’t drinking. He seemed to be staring only at her. But why was she feeling a strange burn on her skin, while he was looking at her? She didn’t have the courage to stare right back at him, so she looked at him indirectly, trying not to catch much of his attention. She turned her attention towards Ms. Biel, in order to take a few seconds to relieve herself from the pressure which the handsome man was creating for her.
The moment she tried to look at him with the corner of her eye, he was no longer there. He was gone, as though he had disappeared into thin air.
Chapter 5: Night Moves
She abandoned Ms. Biel’s company to find the mysterious stranger. He had to be the tallest man present in the room, though there were many. She looked in every nook and corner of the huge apartment hall, but there wasn’t any luck.
“Cindy,” said Ms. Biel from behind, as if she had surveillance cameras on Cindy the whole time.
Cindy turned back to look at Ms. Biel. She was astonished to see that her mysterious hunk was right beside her, with an intoxicating smile on his face. She realized that the man was playing her. Cindy ran out of words at the moment.
“This is Cindy, an up and coming star in our city.” Ms. Biel introduced her to the man that was right next to her.
Cindy nodded, trying her best to hide her anxiety.
“And this is Mr. Ionesco,” said Ms. Biel, turning her neck a little to face the unbelievably handsome man.
“Please call me, Adrian,” he spoke in a Romanian accent, as he bent down a little, and extended his hand out of courtesy. Cindy gently submitted her fragile hand in his, which was big and strong. She could feel that. But his kiss was so soft and gentle. She could feel him touching her soul through her hand.
She quickly pulled her hand back, suddenly afraid of the immense pleasure it was giving her.
“If you’d excuse me I am wanted for the dinner preparation,” said Ms. Biel, in a hoarse tone.
With that she left Cindy and Adrian together. They stared at each other in eager anticipation. Cindy felt the blood rush throughout her body, and could see that her nipples were rising through her dress. Adrian eyes flashed, then quickly looked down in restraint.
“So, what is your relationship with Ms. Biel?” Adrian asked curiously.
“Well, to be honest I clean her house. I work on acting in my spare time.”
“I am sure you are very talented, I noticed you immediately. However, I must warn you that perhaps you should pursue another day job. Ms. Biel is not to be trusted” he said with concern.
Cindy was immediately confused. What is going on here?
“I have to go, I’m sorry,” she replied, and ran towards the bathroom.
There was already a woman in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror. She was about her age, but the way she was applying lipstick, seemed as though she had been doing that for ages.
“Hey,” said the girl, while looking straight into the mirror.
“Hi,” Cindy replied, she was breathing heavily.
“I like your dress.”
“You didn’t even look at me,” Cindy turned the tap on.
“I don’t have to,” she replied.
“You’re wearing a nice lipstick,” said Cindy, trying to return the favor, “What color is it?”
“BLOOD-red,” she emphasized the word blood and turned her neck to look at her with an uncanny look on her face.
Cindy turned the tap off, and exited the bathroom in haste.
She saw Ms. Biel, standing with Adrian where she had left them before. She decided to listen to what they were saying. So she slowly moved around the hall, and hid herself behind a massive white pillar.
“I think it’s time to take this party to the next level,” said Ms. Biel, with a naughty smile on her face.
“What have you arranged this time, Ms. Biel?” he inquired hastily, as he emptied his glass.
“Well my dear boy, it’s a virgin that we’re going to get for this small party.”
“I’m sure that everybody is going to love this treat
of yours too, like always. You’ve always had a great taste.”
“You always know how to flatter people, Adrian,” she raised her glass, and then brought it close to her lips.
“Where’s it?” he inquired out of great desperation.
“Not it, she. We need to respect our food.”
“Okay, where is she?”
“Right behind the pillar, trying to listen to what we’re saying,” she sounded confident through her pursed lips.
Adrian’s faced immediately changed when he realized who Ms. Biel was talking about.
“That girl deserves to live. She’s no food for us. She’s no food for me.” his face started to get harder and harder, and his eyes turned dark red.
Cindy had no clue about what was going on over there. But she was sure about one thing that she was in grave trouble. She made a run toward the main apartment door. But a strong wind blew the door closed.
She put her entire strength to pull that door open, but it didn’t even move an inch. When she turned her back, she found each and every guest staring at her with blood-red eyes. Cindy was heavily sweating, and her heart starting throbbing once again. She wanted it to be quick, whatever that was about to happen at that very moment.
“I’ve been hosting parties for our society for many centuries, and for every occasion, I had something special. This time, I’ve brought a virgin, and you know that virgins are hard to find these days. Please have a taste and pass her on, so that everybody could celebrate this communion.”
She felt the room fading, her heartbeat was getting slower and slower, and her blood pressure was dropping with every goddamn second. She fainted.
Chapter 6: His Own Kind
Cindy was half-conscious, lying helplessly on the floor. She could hear what the people around her were talking about, but she couldn’t do anything about it. Her nightmare was turning out to be real and grotesque. Every guest was looking at her viciously, as though she their dinner. Ivanovic made a run towards her, but Adrian shielded Cindy. “Nobody touches the girl,” he said angrily.
“You’re a fool, Adrian. Step aside.” Ivanovic threatened him. His eyes turned dark and red. His long fangs clicked down. And he eyed Adrian.
“You’re making a mistake,” said Adrian, “leave the girl and I’ll let you walk away.”
“So, are you threatening someone of your own kind for this… for this worthless food? You’re better than that Adrian.”
“You could get anyone you want. It’s in your power. Why can’t you spare this one girl?”
“If you have any respect for your race, you would step aside, this very instant, and let us all have a merry night. Besides, this girl is special. Virgins with this level of development are rare in New York.”
“I’m warning you.” Adrian yelled at the man.
Ivanonic pushed Adrian aside, using all his strength. Then he advanced towards Cindy with a lightning quick pace. But before he could sink his long ruthless fangs into Cindy’s tender flesh, Adrian grabbed the man’s head with both hands, and yelled as he ripped his head off. He sunk his long fingernails in the man’s skull and raised it to show every individual who was in power.
Everybody started looking at each other with a look of astonishment on their faces. Ms. Biel couldn’t believe what he just did. She walked toward Adrian.
“How dare you kill one of our kind?” her tone was harsher than ever, “all this for a petty and worthless human girl? Your father would be ashamed of you.”
“He would be more ashamed of you,” said Adrian with a cold look on his face.
Cindy could barely hear and see what was going on, in her pitiful state. Adrian came around her, and picked her up gently in his strong muscular arms that were bathed in cold blood. Everybody moved aside to give him way, as he walked right through the crowd.
Adrian could sense everybody hissing behind his back as he walked. He turned around, eyes red, and fangs out. “Do we have a problem?” he inquired. But there was no response. It was pin-drop silence in the hall. “Do we have a problem?” he inquired once again, but this time he was louder.
“I guess not,” he turned around once again and walked toward the exit. The door was jammed. He kicked the giant door so hard that it cracked into myriads of tiny pieces. But before he could exit, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Adrian,” said Ms. Biel.
He turned his face a little to listen to what she had to say.
“Don’t come back,” said Ms. Biel with a cold look on her face.
Adrian walked down the staircase with Cindy cradled in his arms. “I wanna go home,” said Cindy unconsciously. He ran toward his Porsche at lightning fast speed, which was just parked right outside the building.
He reached for a clicker in the inside pocket of his coat and unlocked the car. Then he opened the back seat door and slipped Cindy right into it. He took his seat behind the wheel, and started thinking what to do with her. First he thought that it would be best to drop her at her home, but on second thought, he realized that every bloodthirsty vampire in the neighborhood was looking for an opportunity to tear her into shreds, so taking her to his secret mansion in the Hamptons was the best thing to do.
He started the Porsche and drove her all the way to Montauk. As the gates opened to his mansion he breathed a sigh of relief, he was sure they had not been followed. He picked her up and took her straight into his bedroom, furnished with an ornate bed surrounded by tapestries. She was still unconscious. He had to wait for her to get up, so that they could talk about what had just happened. Adrian knew that he had gone too far, but for Cindy it felt oddly necessary. He felt a strange draw to her unlike any other human woman. He could see her life had been difficult and he wanted to protect her.
Adrian was popular, for being the most cold and ruthless vampire in New York. But even he himself couldn’t have thought a girl like Cindy, could plant a seed of conscience in him.
Adrian sat on the edge of the bed, and stared at Cindy for hours. Cindy had been out for a long time now, which was making him anxious. The biggest problem was that, if the girl is conscious again, how would he be able to make sense to her, of what just happened in Ms. Biel apartment. What would he tell her about his identity? If he lied to her, then their queer relationship would be established on untruthfulness. But if he told her the truth, she might lose her cool, or make him swear never to see her again.
Cindy’s hand moved. Adrian’s thinking-time was over. He had to do something he had never done before; tell a human woman the truth.
Chapter 7: The Truth
“Where am I?” Cindy recoiled the moment she opened her eyes, “who are you?” she inquired in an anxious tone. “Please don’t hurt me,” she insisted. She covered herself with a blanket.
“Hey… sssshhhh… relax. I’m not going to hurt you at all,” he answered. He picked up a glass of water and extended it to her.
Cindy shook her head, and slowly started remembering just who Adrian was. She took the glass of water out of a mixture of fear and appreciation.
“Look, I know that I’ve no right to bring you here without permission, but I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s something that you should know,”
“Know what?”
“I know that all this would seem a bit weird to you and I could understand that, but you need to calm down so that I could tell you everything,”
Cindy’s hands were shaking like a dry leaf. So was the glass she was carrying. “I’m a vampire,” said Adrian, as charmingly as he could.
The glass in Cindy’s hand fell into her lap.
“What?” she asked astonishingly.
“I’m a vampire,” he repeated, “and the party in which we were was a party of elite vampires across the globe.”
“This can’t be real. I must be dreaming.”
“Okay then,” Adrian raised his wrist in front of her. His shiny white fangs clicked down, and he sunk them right into his own ski
n, leaving two massive holes that were bleeding cold blood.
Cindy’s eyes widened, but this time she experienced no fear.
“Look,” he emphasized.
The blood sank right back in his wound and it healed immediately.
“Pretty damn cool, right?” he chuckled.
“What do you want from me?” she whispered.
“Your hand,” he replied, with a sweet smile on his face, “could you give me that?”
The memories of his protection were coming back to her and filled her with feeling of calmness, and confidence. “You know what they say about vampires?”
“Well, I’m excited to know that,” he got up and walked right towards a glass shelf that had the best scotch in the world.
“They say that you’re the dead,” Adrian started to laugh.
“It’s not funny,” she said.
“Well, to me it is, because if I’m dead, then how am I talking to you? That doesn’t make sense,”
“You’re supposed to be dead, but you’re not, and that makes you the undead. You neither belong among the living, nor the dead.”
“I’m impressed. Do you research on vampires often?”
“Not exactly, I read what I get my hands on for paranormal theatre. I always thought that vampires are interesting and I wished them to be real. I didn’t know that one day, I’d be abducted by one.”
“So do you feel afraid?”
“No, I’m not, not anymore, which is surprising. I should probably get my head examined.”
“No, you’re perfect, just the way you are,” he poured his favorite bottle of scotch in two small glasses. He gave one to Cindy, and held his glass high.
“I don’t drink.”
“Neither do I, but it’s a special occasion and I’m sure that you could make an exception, knowing that you’re with a vampire. What do you say girl?”
“Well, I guess I could try it. For once.” She raised her glass.
“Cheers,” he said in a vibrant manner.
“Cheers,” she said, and drank the glass, letting the amber colored liquor fill her senses.
“I don’t believe this is happening to me. You can’t be a vampire at all,”