by C M Thorne
He gulped his drink down and coughed a little, “I am going to need to be more buzzed for that.”
Dinah chortled, “Come on now! It isn’t that bad!”
“Says you!” He laughed and shook his head. “I’m not used to drinking, Di.”
Becca and Lizzie came back to the table with a tray of shots and four new full sized drinks. Becca grinned and put the tray down, “Okay, we have a couple sets of shots to get us really going.” She nudged Cal’s shoulder. “And then some fun drinks that are mostly alcohol.”
Caleb looked over the shots, “What are all of these?”
“Four shots of tequila, four of whiskey, and four of vodka,” Becca waved her hand over the shots as she listed off the shots. “And,” she smiled, “we have Long Iced Teas, since chasers are for babies.”
Lizzie shook her head, but said nothing, pursing her lips in judgment. Dinah glared at Lizzie and rolled her eyes. “Anyway,” Dinah huffed, “which shall we have first?”
“Easiest or strongest first?” Becca looked to Caleb, raising her delicately arched golden eyebrows.
“Hmm,” he looked over the drinks before just picking an order. “Vodka, tequila, then whiskey?” Cal offered with a shrug.
“Sounds perfect,” Dinah rubbed her hands together eagerly while Becca disturbed the shots around in front of everyone. They each grabbed their first shot and raised them up. Dinah cleared her throat, “To our little brother’s birthday! May he feel free to be himself!” She winked at him as they clinked their glasses together, tapped them on the table, and knocked them back. The vodka went down smooth and warm, but he winced a little as he set the glass down.
“My turn!” Becca cried out as she picked up her tequila. “To our little brother finally being twenty-one and being mere weeks away from graduating!” They all clinked their shots once more, tapping the table and them knocking them back. The tequila was good, but it still made him screw up his face and pucker his lips. He shook his head as he let the warmth spread throughout his body.
Lizzie grabbed her Long Island and took a long drink before scooping up her last shot. “Guess I have the final one then, huh?” Lizzie smirked and met Cal’s gaze. “To Caleb! Congratulations on being twenty-one and I wish you luck with the end of school. May you always do what’s best for you.” She raised the shot.
Dinah pursed her lips a little as she raised her shot, looking over at Cal with a disbelieving look on her face. They clinked, hit the table, and tossed the whiskey down. With the last shot, the lingering chill of the spring evening lost its bite and Caleb wiggled as his belly warmed.
“Alright, thank you guys,” Caleb smiled through tight lips, still trying to make sense of Lizzie’s toast. “Shall we polish off there drinks and go dance?”
“Woo!” Dinah yelled, grabbing her drink. “There we go! Getting in the spirit!” They clinked glasses and started drinking.
Becca laughed and followed suit, leaving only Lizzie to shake her head and delicately take her straw to sip her drink. Caleb gulped down the last of his Long Island and set the glass down a little too hard on the table, causing him to laugh a little deliriously. Dinah giggled at him as she set her own empty drink down.
She slid off of her chair and grabbed Caleb’s hand, “Let’s go dance!” Dinah pulled him out of his chair and he was surprised by how fuzzy his head had become.
He rocked a little on his heels and swung around to look at Becca and LIzzie. “Are you two coming?” Caleb asked them.
“In a minute,” Becca laughed. “We will finish up our drinks and come find you guys.” She waved her hand, “Go! Have fun!”
Caleb tightened his grip on Dinah’s hand as they walked back inside. The music was being spun by a DJ near one of the bars. It was a mix of two popular songs mixed with a deep bass. Dinah pulled them into the middle of the dancefloor, dancing around other people. Once they were in the middle, they danced while still holding hands. Caleb closed his eyes and danced, enjoying the tingling warmth spread throughout his body and the way the loud music seemed to move through him.
Mid-way through the song, Becca and Lizzie came out onto the floor. Dinah and Caleb broke hands as they all started dancing in a circle. For some reason, they all started laughing and he swore Lizzie actually seemed to be letting loose. He closed his eyes and smiled, moving to the music, which was faster and had a distinctly pop feel to it. It felt good to be solely in the moment, letting the alcohol take his mind off his worries and insecurities. The song changed over and a strange feeling washed over him. Someone was watching him. He opened his eyes and looked around the dance floor.
He changed his tempo to match the song while scanning the dancefloor. No one seemed to be even looking in his direction, lost in the music. He then looked up and found the eyes that were trained on him. In the VIP area, a large dark haired man was reclining back on a deep hued purpled couch, surrounded by other people chatting and drinking. Even from afar, Caleb could tell that the man was fiercely attractive, rugged but beautiful. His clothes were dark and unassuming, making the allure of the man purely based on his natural looks, not anything that he was doing or wearing.
Caleb slowed his dancing down as he lost himself, locked in the man’s stare. He swore his eyes seemed to flash as the strobing lights shone in his direction, more like an animal’s than a human’s. His heart beat faster, in time with the music and then faster. A sheen of sweat beaded along his brow as he felt lost in the man’s gaze. Caleb figured that the man must be a vampire. No human Caleb had ever seen had beauty the way this man did. Strangely, he did not feel himself fill with the same distress or panic he usually felt when thinking about vampires, or even hearing about them on the television. His heart pounded at the man’s looks, not the probability of him being a blood-sucker. He felt awkward looking up at such a beautiful man and he wanted to look away, but he couldn’t.
He noticed that those around the vampire seemed to be under the same kind of enchantment that Caleb found himself under. They all watched him and attempted to make conversation, trying to pull the vampire’s attention to them. To Caleb, this vampire seemed like a dazzling flame attracting moths to his beauty, while remaining entirely indifferent to them. What about him drew this creature’s attention to him? He felt that he had stopped moving to the music and was just standing in the middle of the writhing bodies, staring upward in some sort of trance, yet he could not will himself to do anything else.
Someone bumped into Caleb, nearly knocking him over. Dinah and Becca caught him and pulled him back to them. He shook his head, rubbing his eyes and sighing, “Jeez!”
“Are you alright?” Dinah asked, speaking loudly and slowly over the loud music. “You seem a little out of it.”
“I am fine,” he smiled at them timidly. “I was just…” he trailed off, looking upward to the vampire. Only he was no longer there, leaving a very obvious hole on the couch. Those left behind seemed annoyed and were looking off away from each other, conversation seemingly halted by the absence of the beautiful vampire. Caleb looked around, but didn’t find the man anywhere else.
“I am okay,” he smiled again. “I think I need another drink.”
Becca broke out into a devious grin, “Perfect! Let’s go!” She pushed them off the dance floor as a song with a deep, wall shaking song pumped through the speakers.
CHAPTER 2
It had been a week since his birthday and all Caleb could think about was the vampire from the club. The angelic being’s dark stare was burned into his mind, distracting him at school, at work, and at home. He was losing time, massive chunks of it, lost in the memory of being in the club, surrounded by so many people, yet feeling like he was the only one that existed while caught in the vampire’s eyes. Dinah’s text earlier in the day had been the only thing to pull him out of the haze he had fallen into, and that was partially due to the fact that she was going back to the club with some friends and had invited him to come along. Caleb had leapt at the opportunity and spent the res
t of the day in his room, tearing through his clothes.
“I wish you wouldn’t go,” Lizzie huffed, standing in the doorway to his room, fiddling with a tress of her golden brown hair.
“What?” Caleb glanced back at her from his spot kneeling in his closet, groaning his disappointment at his shoes, which all seemed not good enough for him to wear to the club.
Lizzie pushed away from the door and plopped herself down onto his bed, “That club is nothing but bad news, Caleb.”
“I don’t want a lecture,” Cal shook his head and stood up. A dark shirt caught his eye and her ripped it free from the closet, tossing it onto the pile next to his sister for consideration. “What do you think about that shirt?” Caleb asked.
“Excuse me?” Lizzie responded.
“If you’re going to be in here,” Caleb answered, looking back into his closet, “the least you can do is help me settle on what to wear.”
She picked up the dark button-up and appraised it carefully, “I like it. It would be nice with a tie. Quite conservative.”
“Perfect,” he rolled his eyes. “Hard no then.”
“I am only partially joking,” Lizzie tossed the shirt aside.
Caleb rooted around in his closet, feeling panicked that he wouldn’t have anything decent. “Maybe I shouldn’t do a button-up this time,” he raised his voice as he was practically inside his closet, face buried amongst the shirts.
“Just cover up,” Lizzie sighed and stretched out. “No need attracting unwanted attention in a place like that.” She raised her arms above her and studied the back of her hands as if there was something fascinating about them. Normally, she was quite pale, but winter had left her even more so, close to a glowing shade of ivory.
Cal looked over his shoulder at her for a moment before speaking up, “I doubt my clothes will make a difference in attracting attention, Lizzie.”
“Oh, don’t start with me,” she sighed, propping herself up on her elbows.
He shook his head and turned back to his closet. He tossed clothes around once more before pulling out a black v-neck he had not worn in years. He tugged the shirt he was wearing off and pulled the black shirt on, finding it to be a little small. Glancing down, he saw that it hugged his body more snuggly than any other item he had ever worn. His father would not approve.
“What do you think?” He turned to LIzzie, who had laid back down with disinterest.
She looked over at him, arching an eyebrow as she sprang upward. “Not the worst,” she finally answered after a long moment. “It is a little tight, though.”
“Is that bad though?” He asked.
“I mean,” she paused with a smirk, “your body is fine, if that’s what you’re asking. It isn’t a completely crazy choice, so I suppose it’s a viable option.”
“Viable,” he breathed out with a slight laugh, shaking his head.
“What?” Lizzie shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”
“Nothing. That’s fine,” Caleb groaned, turning to look at himself in the mirror on the back of his bathroom door. It looked nice enough with the dark, straight-legged jeans he had decided on. He sighed and nodded, turning back to his closet and his shoes once more. He picked a nice pair of black shoes. Becca had bought them for him for his high school graduation and he was certain he had not worn them since.
His phone chimed on his desk and he scooped t up to find that Dinah had texted that she was out front. “Time to go,” he looked over to Lizzie as he pulled the shoes on, not bothering to untie and tie them up again. Becca would cringe if she had been there to see him, as she could be quite the lecturer on how to treat nice clothes and shoes. He grabbed his wallet and keys to the house from his desk, not waiting for Lizzie as he stepped out into the short hallway off the living room that all four bedrooms were off of.
Rounding the corner, he looked out the front window and saw Dinah’s car idling in front of the sidewalk. Opening the front door, Caleb waved to Dinah to let her know that he was coming, as he stepped outside. “Okay,” Caleb turned, letting go of the door as Lizzie came up behind him, “I will see you later!”
Lizzie hung onto the door and called after him, “Be careful please!”
“I will!” He called back as he crossed the lawn. H was halfway across the long front lawn as he saw his father’s car round the corner and pull up close to the house. Caleb cursed under his breath and walked faster, but his father was pulling into the driveway. The plan had been for Dinah to get him early enough that they wouldn’t have to cross the pastor’s path, but he was home early. He reached Dinah’s car and was reaching for the door handle as he saw his sister’s eyes widen. He looked back as his father’s door slammed.
“Caleb David Bishop!” His father’s deep voice rang out. “Where are you going?”
“I am going out with Dinah, father,” Caleb answered, opening the door and half stepping into the old sedan.
“Young man, your sister is not in a place to be a good influence,” his father replied loudly, using his pastor voice, as if he was trying to get people to hear him without a microphone. “She is lost in sin and darkness. You shall not go with her to be seduced by that life!” He was marching slowly toward the car as he continued, “You and Elizabeth need to help me bring your sisters back to the Lord’s grace!”
The pastor stopped midway to the car, hands on his hips, a sure sign of his anger. This was not good. He wanted to say something back to his father, to placate him, to appease him. He was only finding his own fear and anger rising up however and before he could stop himself, his shaking voice called back out, “I don’t know if I believe in that! Not like you!”
His father grimaced, face falling as he looked down at his loafers. “That is disappointing,” he spoke softer, voice defeated. “Come inside so we can discuss this, Caleb,” his voice grew firming, looking back up at him with a hard gaze.
Caleb shook his head and sat down into the car. “I am forbidding you from leaving!” The pastor’s voice shot back up. “You need to pray on your sinful words and your trials of faith!”
“Father, I d-” Caleb was cut off by the slamming of Dinah’s car door.
He whipped his head around as she came around the front of the car. He stood back up and stepped to intercept her. She put a hand up to stop his, face red and fuming. “Your children are all adults now, Pastor Bishop!” He had never seen his sister so enraged as she yelled at their father, “You don’t get to micromanage everything in our lives! Leave Caleb alone!”
“Bethany,” the pastor shook his head, voice firm and level as he used Dinah’s first name, “you are adults, I know this. And you and your sister have made it abundantly clear that you do not want the life that I have made for you.”
Dinah clenched her hands into fists. Nothing riled her up more that defending her siblings, except perhaps when people called her by her first name. She had gone exclusively by her middle since high school, and only their father ignored this preference. Their father continued, “It is not too late for you though. The Lord forgives. He will redeem you, if you allow him back into your heart.”
“Unlike Rebecca, right?” Dinah spat baak. She whirled around, practically flying back into the car. “Get in the car, Cal!” She barked.
“Caleb!” Their father roared, coming forward as he slipped back into the car. “You will suffer the consequences of this, son!”
Without thinking, he slammed the door as his sister pulled away from the curb. “Don’t worry about coming back, Cal,” Dinah nodded as she clicked her seatbelt on.
His heart was thundering in his chest as Caleb looked back at his father on the sidewalk and Lizzie running out to him. What had he just done? His father would not let something like this go. His punishments had not lessened as his children had grown older, though he no longer spanked Caleb with a belt as he had done when he was a child and had seriously transgressed against his father’s rules. The fear of his father was still there, however.
She glanc
ed into the backseat and Caleb realized that three of her friends had piled into the back and had silently been audience to that showdown. “I am really sorry about that,” Dinah apologized. “My dad can be…”
One of the girls spoke up, “Families can be difficult. It’s alright.”
Dinah turned back and smiled at her friends, “Thanks.” She settled forward and continued, “I really don’t like to get that angry, but he is the one person who can bring it out in me.”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair nervously, “What did you mean, Di?” He felt sick, heart still pounding away as he tried to calm himself.
“What?” she glanced at him.
“You said I don’t have to worry about going back there,” he answered quietly. “What did you mean by that exactly?”
“Oh, um,” she squirmed in her seat a little, glancing over at him. “I really should consult Erica about that first.”
One of the girls from the backseat poked her head in-between the front seats, numerous long black braids swinging around as the car jostled. “Yes?” She laughed. “We have something to discuss?” Erica asked, her voice amused, velvety, and surprisingly deep for a woman.
Dinah glanced at her nervously, “I mean, do you mind if my brother crashes with us for a bit? I am afraid I just blew up that situation with our father for him.”
“No problem,” Erica shrugged and leaned back.
“Are you sure?” DInah sounded skeptical, glancing up into her rearview mirror.
“Of course,” Erica answered without hesitation. “It isn’t a big deal. We have some space and I’m all about helping out family of those I consider family.”
“Awe, Erica!” Dinah gushed. “You’re my family too!” She laughed and Erica reached forward to squeeze her shoulder as she laughed too.
Caled glanced at the woman he didn’t know, swallowing against the massive lump that had formed in his throat. “Thank you,” he finally managed to speak, softly and shakily. “You are very kind.”