The Evening Street : RADIODUST

7: Wooden Cabin - Shoes

The waiter returned, placing down a check. Alastor skimmed over the receipt and paid for the expresso, leaving cash on the hand of the waiter. He took a stand and Angel followed behind.

As Alastor and Angel left the quaint café and into the vibrant streets of New York, the pair had fallen into pleasant silence. The pair passed a variety of people : wary mothers pushing strollers, hands tiring at the constant grip; children laughing absentmindedly, treading on the sidewalk's edge; office-workers carrying bags, worrying about the future, and vagabonds begging for coins, rattling their iron cans. People's lives appear charming when backlit by a city landscape.

"So Al, what brought you to New Yawrk? You're obviously not from here. " Angel said.

"Is it that obvious?" Alastor tried mimicking Angel's accent.

Angel winced. "Smiles, you're cute, but not that cute. You need to work on that."

"I will...To be honest, my mother fell in love with my father under New York's starless sky. She insisted that I should visit and see the beauty of a real city."

"That's sweet, your mom must be a real romantic... But, why are you visiting whore houses instead of seeing da' classic New York sights?"

" Mon mere found him unconventionally. Also, I visit those houses for mere curiosity, remember what I told you on our first night about testing my non-existent libido? Yes, well, going to those places is a curious investigation for me, as in: why do people work this way? Why do people crave these acts? Other than that, I do like dipping my toes into museums, Ms. Oppeheim's furry cup was an uncomfortable delight."

"A furry cup?"

"Yes, covered in fur! Imagine drinking from that."

Angel made a face.

"Don't be so , mon ami. It's like drinking cattle's blood straight out of the jugular," Alastor said.

"Sorry what? Drinking blood straight out— I do a lot of shit but, that's nasty."

"Actually, blood is a delicacy, when taken out and prepared with caution, it is delicious!"

Angel grimaced.

"Did you actually eat that stuff...what about all the diseases?"

"That is a problem my future shall worry about, but for now, no issues!"

Alastor laughed at Angel's horrified expression.

"Angel, I'm very clean in preparing anything I eat, or touch generally. Rules of sanitation have been ingrained into my very head. You, mon ami , should try out some cattle blood."

"Can't believe I'm talking to a fuckin' vampire."

A few more steps of idle chit-chat and the pair had found themselves in the movie theater. Alastor had charmed the employee, gaining two movie tickets for half the price.

Alastor and Angel sat beside each other. Angel crunched on popcorn and slurped from his Coca-Cola, while Alastor cleaned his glasses. Gunshots rang through the movie theater as suddenly, the main protagonist' innocent sister collapsed. Her hair tainted with the pooling of her blood.

"Rosanjela!" Angel squeaked," No!"

The main protagoist rushed to her sister's side, trying to revive her. The damage had been done.

Alastor snorted, "Oh she had a death flag marked on her since the first second she started spilling out her backstory."

"Shut up asshole. She was the only good one." Angel's voice was strained. From the light of the projected movie, Alastor could see giant globs of tears drip down Angel's face.