Survival (#Wattys2015)

18

Before you start, a massive thank you for those 863 reads, it means the world to me

unedited

Cole’s POV

She giggled hysterically and nearly fell off the bar stool. Luckily, although drunk, my reflexes weren’t quite dead and I caught her on time.

“Woah careful there sweetheart” I whisper in her ear and feel her shiver against my hand that has landed on her waist. She sits back upright and smiles at me.

“Whose turn is it to choose now?”

I shrug, having lost count on how many drinks we’ve had already and who asked what.

“What about a cocktail to end the night?” I propose. I don’t want the night to end but she’s totally wasted and I doubt she’ll even be able to walk. Hell if I’m practically drunk and my werewolf metabolism eliminates alcohol quickly I can’t even phantom the state she’s in.

She pouts but nods her head anyway and catches the bartender’s sleeve as he passes near us, “two sex on the beach” she giggles and the barman looks concerned at her.

The bar is a lot emptier than it was when she first arrived. There’s only a group of middle aged men playing on a dart board in the corner, a few teens of about our age around a billiards table nearly as drunk as we are and a few other men around the counter. Hunter, Carlos and the rest have left half an hour ago, or was it an hour? Fuck I can’t remember. How long have I been here anyway?

“Cheers” the girl in front of me smiles warmly and I realise that our cocktails have already arrived.

“Cheers” I mutter back and take a gulp of the colourful liquid. Fuck I didn’t know this shit was so good.

“What are you going to do now?” she inquires and I feel myself attracted to the way her plump lips move, they’re shiny from the recent touch with the cocktail that’s in her hand. I wonder if they’d taste as well as this alcohol mix.

I shake my head and fix my stare back on her eyes that seem greener than before. The fuck is happening? “I’m going to bed sweetheart, and you should do the same” I chuckle.

“Where are you staying anyway?”

“At a hotel, The South Palace… or it could be the South Place or east” Fuck, where was it that I was staying?

“It is the South Palace” she giggles, “It’s a pretty expensive hotel”

I shrug, not wanting to enter in details on how I get my money. I know where she lives, more or less, so I don’t ask back. Maybe she’s the type to be embarrassed on the number of zeros her bank account has, she doesn’t look like it though.

“Well, I think we’ll call it a night then” she lays down her now empty glass on the bar and looks at me.

“Yeah” I agree, asking for the bill. It arrives less than a minute later and three minutes after that we’re on the street.

My watch indicates it’s a quarter to three am, wow time sure flies. Anastasia looks a bit lost, like she’s trying to compose herself to get back home but doesn’t really know where to start. “May I lead you back home” I gentlemanly ask. She hesitates a bit before finally nodding her head. I suppose she is ashamed about her incomes. “Lead the way”

She doesn’t take the same route I did on my first day here, but I’m still able to recognize the suburbs as soon as we step foot in them. The change really is drastic. The street lights go diminishing as we approach the less favourable part of this city until they’re non-existent and the only thing to guide our path is the moon light and my perfected werewolf vision. The houses change too, and even the gardens. From where we started off the houses looked grandiose, their gardens flourishing and green, now they seem to be deteriorating away, no colourful facades, just black or grey or dirty white and the gardens left to abandonment.