Blame the Blood

Chapter 1

Alexa

What are friends? I could say I have two Sarah and Edmund. Wherever Sarah is bright Edmond is gloomy and greasy, I could never understand why they came as a pair but they did. Somehow they had managed to convince me to attend a party... not one of those cool ones where your can drink from a glass and the staff bring you canapé, no. The type where someone's elder sibling or a homeless person buys the alcohol... Classy. But, to maintain friendships what are you going to do?

Edmund was a sandy blond white boy who loved anime with not much going for him other than his brain if he ever used it. Most days he'd just complain about the people at school or complain about his family. He complained bout being bullied when he was younger, but I've never seen it. He'd said the same used to happen to Sarah, about her weight. She's pretty, brunette with pale skin, and big blue eyes but I caught her trying to go on a diet when she was like 14. She was eating only a cracker each school break. I had to put an end to it! I now enforce that every lunch break we all have a full picnic spread, and I make the food too good to let any go to waste.

My only problem is they didn't know much about the world, the truth about the darkness lurking around most, if not every, corner. For instance, Sarah was way too gullible and loving and lovely to even notice if a vampire eyeing her up as a snack was right in front of her. Case and point instead of being at the lame party she was around the corner from it sitting next to a vampire in a park. A dark park. One with only a single bench on a single patch of grass surrounded by trees. I wasn't even that late for the party!

Sarah was perched on a bench next to the vampire, playing with her beautiful thick dark hair, giggling every so often, flashing up her blue eyes towards his 'smouldering' grey ones. Her short floral dress blew in the wind. And Edmund is charging in, completely flustered about something "Sarah! I thought I'd lost you...?" He slowed and shuffled the last few steps. Sarah gapped at his interruption for a moment, as if she'd forgotten he had ever existed. A good second later she beamed up at him, "Ah! Yes! The last bus home, but Ed come meet..." She started, Edmund snatched her away from the stranger cutting her off mid-flow. Dragging back down the path he came from. I had never seen this side of Edmund before, maybe I don't even need to intervene?

The vampire slyly used their distraction of each other as an opening and swiftly blocked their path. "Hey, I'll come too, we were just getting to know each other." He grinned with a sickly smooth charisma, that's one huge tell. If they're that well practised at being fake they're way too old to look like a teenager or an adult. Edmund halted in his tracks, he looked red, and puddles of sweat were dripping down the back of his neck, making patches on his back and under his arms. Even he could tell the vampire's eyes and his smile were wrong.

"Sounds good, only where's Alex too?" Sarah chimed up at him, beaming as if blissfully unaware of the danger. "Alex!" Edmund screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Ouch. Heh. This guy must be something else." The vampire chuckled, a stray incisor escaping his mouth. That's my cue. I walked out of the trees allowing my presence to be seen as I leaned against the bench. "I wouldn't say that wasn't true..." At first sight of me, Sarah squeezed herself from Ed's grasp, and launched herself to bear hug me! Okay maybe we're more fond of each other than I let on, she is a really nice person and gives great hugs. What she would say is a best-friend-forever. BFF I think? Edmund glared daggers at me for some reason. We are all entitled to hug our friends dude.

"Alex, come meet my new friend! Um, sorry what was your name again?" She beamed across to the stranger, not forgetting to whisper to Alex, "Oh my god, this guy is so cute. Can you please get rid of Ed, pretty please Alex?" Knowing her cute begging could work on anyone. Except for me when there's a vampire involved. "Why don't you give me a moment with him first? You have the worst taste in men." I reminded her, having been her friend through many 'boyfriends.'