Mysterious Beasts of Crimson Origins

Chapter Five

I woke up the next evening with a smile on my face. My pale blonde hair was rugged and I lept in my jeans but my god, I don't remember the last time I woke up with a knot in my neck. Lori was already awake and was waiting at my door with a blood bag. Usually she hates the bagged stuff, and won't go near it, but today seemed to be different. I held mine with both hands and chugged it down in one gulp. Refreshing.

I could already hear the music bursting from downstairs. Red must’ve gotten to work early today. I sniffed my shirt, ugh, I should change. A denim skirt and a red shirt would be fine, as long as any of our less than hospitable patrons slapped my ass. Screw it, I’ll wear what I want to wear. Red was already busy making drinks.

“Good Morning sleeping beauty.” She tested with a smile.

“Aw, shut up.” I elbowed her in the side.

“What took you so long?”

“What’dya mean?”

“It’s 7 o’clock. You shoulda been awake an hour ago.”

“I’ll remind you that I am your boss,” I teased. ‘’I could fire you in a second.”

“Yeah, you could. “ She smirked. “But that doesn't mean you will.” She yawned, tugging at her nametag. “And besides, you’d miss me too much.” She was right, as always. “Do you remember that kid that you hired a few days ago?”

“The one with the blue hair?”

“Yea, that one. Has she even shown up yet?”

“Nope.” I shrugged. She seemed like a cool person, but I guess things don’t work out the way you want them to sometimes. She was gonna be a bartender too. We didn’t really need her, I guess, but it would have been nice to have an extra set of hands.

Today was not a busy day, not at all, a tall woman pulled Red aside for a while and they were talking about something I wasn't involved in. If it was a busy day I would care, but since the only people here were Red, the tall woman, a couple making out in the corner of the lounge and myself, I really didn't mind. Red could do as she wished, most of the time. When Red was finally done chatting, the lady left and she wandered back over to my side.

“Hun?” I looked up. Red was rubbing her arms and smiling dimly. “I think we are out of, uh, tequila. Could ya get us some?”

“Sure.” I answered. She looked nervous, why?  Red was never insecure, she was far too brave to come to anything close. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She pulled her keys from her pocket. “Don’t worry about me, I'm a big girl.”

Her car was in the far corner of the parking lot. She was green 1966 Ford F250, and her name was Lulu. She was old as hell, but she got the job done. The liquor store was around the corner and was barely a trip. I stuck the key into the ignition and turned. Oh, how Lulu purred! Then, I put the truck in gear and took off. The store was empty, which is so rare I nearly pissed myself laughing.

“Slow day, huh?” I chirped to the man at the register. He rolled his eyes and went right back to his fishing magazine. There were only two Don Julio’s left and they were both mine. I ran back to car, smiling. I think I was gonna roll down the windows and take a detour tonight. The lights of L.A. were bright and shining and the wind ran through my hair. I loved doing this. I felt alive again. Smiling, I turned on the radio and burst into laughter. For no reason. I probably looked insane, but I don’t care anymore. My eyes grazed the clock and Shit. Before I knew it, I had been gone for an hour. Shit, shit, shit, shit. What if the place suddenly grew packed? Holy hell, I gotta get back. I parked the car, yanked out the keys and ran. I swung open the door and bolted to the door.

No one was there. Not even Red. Where the hell way she? I expected her to be waiting there at the door for me, making tsk tsk noises through her teeth. Even the couple that was making out in the corner had left. Where the hell was everybody? I gently placed the glass bottle down on the counter and raced upstairs. Lorianna was alone in her room, as usual.

“Have you seen Red?” I asked, clutching the handle of her door.

“Nope.” She rolled onto her stomach. “Have you tried asking Father?” She threw herself into sitting position.

“You’d think he'd know where she is? He never leaves his room.”

“Are you sure she’s not in there with him?”

“Loriana!”

“Aw, hush. You act all innocent, but we all know what happened between you and Cousin Armaund before we left Belgium.”

“nOTHING HAPPENED!”

“Fine, fine.” She winked. “I don’t know where Red is, but could you throw away some stuff for me?” She waddled over to a small basket full of glass bottles and candy wrappers. “It seems I’ve run out of room.”

“Alright.” I grabbed the basket from her chubby finger and walked downstairs. There was a dumpster in an alleyway right outside. All I had to do was chuck this junk into it and then find Red.

The whole alleyway smelled of rotten fish and vomit. Too many drunken fleshies have wandered out here and puked out their wasted money. I threw the basket on the ground, closed my eyes and opened the top of the dumpster. I held my breath, and threw the waste in with the rest of the dump. Opening my eyes, I closed the door. I took a breath and held it again, opening it all the way. There was something in the trash, that shouldn't be there. I could feel it. I shook the trash about, until it revealed something I never expected.

A dismembered head with blue hair.