Love Bites

Making the most of life

Mr Hardicre was droning on and on about the importance of the study leave they were about to embark upon so Tasha let her mind wander. The importance of school seemed laughable to her now, like seriously, what was the point? The clock seemed to take twice as long to move, she watched as each painstaking the minute crept round the face. When the bell finally rang, heralding the end of their penultimate day at school, Tasha was snoozing quietly at her desk. Her arms folded on the grimy table top; pockmarked with obscene graffiti and a multitude of names carved deep into the wood by former inmates; her head resting snugly on her arms.

"Tasha!" Simon hissed, poking her with his pen.

"What?" She sat bolt upright and looked around dazed and a little confused. Mr Hardicre scowled at them from his desk, which rested on a raised dais to one side of the smart-board. Affording every pupil the luxury of being able to see him clearly, not that the kids actually wanted to look at him. Balding, with a pair of glasses he'd clearly owned since the eighties and more nose hair than nose, he was not a pretty sight!

"Come on," Sarah said, pulling Tasha to her feet whilst Simon gathered up her things. Sarah smiled over sweetly at Mr Hardicre as they made their way out, he just continued to scowl.

After her sister had died, her parents, in their wisdom, had moved Tasha to a new school in the next town over. They had thought a new beginning, a fresh start, was what she needed. Away from the memories and the "bad kids" she'd been with when it had happened. Tasha hadn't put up a fight, she blamed herself completely for Alice's death and would have walked on broken glass if it had made her parents happy again. However, what Tasha had not expected was her friends reactions. She had never seen them again. Not once. They hadn't called or visited her in the hospital, they weren't even at Alice's funeral. That had hurt, they'd been friends forever and they just abandoned her. She'd heard from another friend that Marnie was having counselling over what had happened, and that Luke and Claire didn't want to hang around with someone with that kind of hang up. She'd reached out to Kyle a few weeks after she'd moved. Nothing heavy, just a 'hey, I still exist' kind of text. She'd watched the speech bubble with the three little dots bobbing up and down for a minute, holding her breath. They stopped but no message came through and when she tried again in the vain hope he'd pluck up the courage to actually press send this time, she'd been blocked.

"What time is your appointment?" Dana asked falling to step behind her, with Simon and Sarah flanking the other side.

"4:15pm"

"Damn!" Simon cursed "I have to be at work for 4:30pm, I wanted to come and watch you squirm" he laughed. 

Simon was tall, sandy haired with an impressive athletic build. He was the lead singer and guitarist in a band and nearly every girl at school wanted to be his, but he never played on it, never took advantage of his elevated school status. When he wasn't on stage he was happy just being Simon. He said that Tasha, Dana and Sarah were the only ones who understood that. Their group of friends also included Anson, the drummer in Simon's band, "The Tempest". He too, was popular. He had a plain, guy next door kind of face but was one of the most genuine people Tasha knew. Dana was the "pretty" one, petite with bleached blonde hair and perfect skin. She had a quick temper and she and Tasha clashed sometimes but the argument never lasted long. That left Sarah, Tasha's closest friend. Sarah, with long, poker straight ink-black hair, of which the bottom three inches were dip dyed electric blue, ripped punk clothing and several piercing she screamed goth, and she loved it. Her nickname was "Morticia" and she played on the stereotype. Only her real friends knew how sensitive she really was; a strict vegan and a member of PETA she never would have bitten the head off a live bat a la Ozzy, but she didn't let be known outside of their circle; that would ruin her image. Tasha herself had changed recently, she'd shed her clean cut, girl next door look for a more quirky, alt look. Not quite as obvious as Sarah, but definitely a change. She'd dyed her own mousy brown hair "mystic violet" - so the box said - and was opting for more baggy black jumpers with more holes than strictly necessary and black cargoes, they matched her mood.

"So who is coming?" Tasha asked her friends.

"Oh I wouldn't miss it," Sarah said happily rubbing her hands together with glee.

"You're a sadist Sarah, a damn sadist," Simon shoved her playfully "I have to go, good luck today okay."

Tasha nodded and Simon gave her a brief kiss on the cheek before vanishing down the hall. A group of girls nearby scowled at her and turned away disgustedly. She could hear their furious whispers, see them throwing dirty looks in her direction. Tasha laughed, amused that her friendship with Simon could cause such animosity. 

"Problem?" She asked, narrowing her eyes and taking a few steps towards them, Sarah right behind her. 

They laughed nastily, "Freak" the ringleader, Jessica, spat back but they soon scurried away with a squeal when Sarah hissed like a savage cat at them. 

                                                                                               ***

Cal crouched in the undergrowth, shielded by trees. On the other side of the path he could just make out Marcus, also crouching to keep out of sight. They had been hunched behind the shrubbery for only a short time when Cal heard footfalls on the gravel path, and the distinct jingle of a collar and lead. He waited until the footsteps were almost on top of him before signalling to Marcus. 

He stepped out onto the path in front of a young woman walking a small dog. She gasped in shock, her free hand flew to her rapidly beating heart, the sound of which made Cal ache with hunger. Then she laughed nervously and went to side step Marcus, he too stepped to the side blocking her path once more. She tried the opposite way but found Marcus in her way again. The polite smile she wore faded from her lips, her face paled a little and she began to back away, Marcus silently advanced on her. She turned to run and found her escape blocked yet again by Cal. She dropped her dog's lead, and the animal stood yapping at the scene frozen in front of it. 

Quick as lightning Cal and Marcus pounced at the same time, Cal grabbed her hair yanking down, exposing her slender neck. Marcus snatched her wrists up, holding them tight. Together they bent their heads and pierced her soft flesh, her screams echoed off the surrounding hills and rolled back down at them amplifying the sound. The screams only heightened the pleasure they felt as they fed, her fear only serving to pump her blood faster into their mouths. The screams quickly gave way to whimpers then silence. Cal felt the girl go limp in his arms, but he did not stop drinking. Only when they had drained her completely did they raise their heads. The yapping dog had vanished, long since scared away. Satisfied Cal and Marcus dropped the body to the hard earth, they weren't concerned about getting caught. The idea was laughable, everyone knew vampires never got caught.

                                                                                                 ***

 "Are you sure about this?" Sarah asked for the zillionth time.

"Never been more sure," Tasha told her pushing open the door. "Hi, I'm Tasha Gionetti," she told the woman behind the desk. "I have an appointment at 4.15pm." 

She checked on a computer next to her, then nodded. "Take a seat Dave will call you through shortly" Sarah thanked her and pushed Tasha towards the sofas in the window. Tasha's nerves grew the longer they waited.

"Tasha?" A friendly man appeared and looked at the two girls. Tasha stood up, "Follow me."

Tasha and Sarah both followed him into one of the smaller rooms off the reception area. 

"So, this is the design I drew up from your requests. Happy?" She looked t the design, three feathers tied together with a trailing ribbon, the central stalk of each feather, in beautiful writing bore the word, Mum, Dad and Alice. She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "Had a tattoo before?"

"No," Tasha admitted feeling nervous.

"Don't worry it'll be fine, we're doing this on your left shoulder, right?" Tasha nodded. 

"Before we start," Tasha said taking a small pot from her bag. "Can you mix the ink with these?"

"Ashes?" 

"My dad's" Tasha said quietly, back handing a tear from her cheek.

The tattooist nodded and smiled at her, "Of course sweetheart, it's more common than you think." Tasha sighed, relieved that he hadn't though her strange. Sarah squeezed her hand and didn't let go as the tattooist set to work.