Scarlett Kisses

Chapter 1: The Nest

Chapter 1

The Nest

I made it back to our nest just before dawn. The group had set up camp in a dilapidated old house on the outskirts of the city about 5 years ago. Since then, no one had really done any work to the place, and it was starting to get unbearable for those of us who still held on to some semblance of humanity.

As I stepped down off the landing and into the main room, I was forced to step over bodies of fellow nesters who had beaten me back and had already laid down on make-shift pallets. By sunrise, bodies and blankets would cover almost every inch of the floors on the main level. These were the newbies, those who had recently been turned and didn't care about where they slept, just about where they would get their next score. It was disgusting.

I was lucky. I had my own room upstairs. As one of the oldest in the nest, I'd been given my pick of any room on the 2nd floor, so I'd picked the largest one and made it my own. At least I had a bit of false privacy there. Vampires could hear through the walls and floors with a bit of concentration, so privacy was an illusion. One was never truly alone around our kind.

The only other room that was occupied by a single vampire was just to the left of mine, at the end of the hall. That was the room where Tavin stayed holed up during the sun hours. He was old, much older than me and he ran this house and all those in our "Nest" as we referred to it.

Vampires could be rogue, which meant that they didn't have any set rules to follow about where they hunted or stayed, but it made them dangerous and greatly increased their chances of being found by slayers. It was always safer to be part of a nest, even if you didn't always agree with the ruling of the Pledge, or nest president.

I had been lucky, since Tavin had taken me under his wing. He knew that I would follow the rules he set down and he mostly left me to myself. I was a bit of a loner, since I didn't want to feed on innocents. It took longer for me to find prey and I'd often go weeks between a meal, which made me weak and grouchy. I had nothing in common with my fellow vamps, so I refused to run with the rest and Tavin had accepted that. Everyone knew that I was exempt from common missions, like supply runs or perimeter checks. They didn't like it, but they knew better than to say anything.

I slowly trudged up the final stairs and crossed the hall into my room. Once I stepped inside, I  closed the door tightly behind me and locked it. I turned around and forced myself to ignore the calling of my comfortable bed, one of the few luxuries I allowed myself and went over to my attached bathroom to wash all this heavy eye makeup off.

I could feel the pull of anxiety in my stomach, the tale-tale sign that light was approaching. My windows, like all the other in the house, had been sealed securely when we moved in, so I didn't have to worry about the light getting in. I still felt that draw of unease as it neared though and it made me yearn for slumber.

After I had successfully gotten off all the makeup, I took off my hunting clothing and tossed each piece onto the padded armchair, not bothering to hang them up. I climbed into my bed and as soon as the first rays of sun cast their light upon the tree tops, I slept.

The next evening was a busy one for our nest. It was a mass hunt night, which meant everyone except those left to guard the property, would travel to the next city over to feed.

I came out of my bedroom door and in my rush, almost ran into Tavin. He too was heading toward the stairs as silent as a wraith. No matter how often I saw him, I was still shocked each time at how young he appeared. I had guessed that he was around 500 years old from the stories that he had told, but he didn't look a day over 17. His smooth boyish face would never change, I knew. I didn't know if he shaved every day or if his facial hair just grew slowly, but I'd never seen him with any facial hair. He had bright golden eyes, like the rest of us and dark brown messy hair. Tonight, he was wearing jeans, converse and a white jacket. If it hadn't been for the small amount of purple tint showing through just below his eyes, you would never guess that he was one of the undead.

"Tavin, are you going on the hunt too?", I asked him.

"Yes, I think I need it. I've been without too long and I am starting to feel the effects.", he said, while eyeing my outfit. Before I could say anything else, he said "I know you too well to ask if you are coming along with us, but you seem to be dressed for a fight. Have special plans for this evening?". 

One of his dark eyebrows had inched up, telling me just how curious he was about my wardrobe choice. 

"No, I saw a few unsolved cases in last week's paper down in Morrison. It's just a few minutes run from here. I thought I'd go check it out." I told him.

He eyed me for a moment and I assumed that he was debating asking me to come with the group, but after a moment, he shrugged and took off down the stairs, two at a time. I followed less enthusiastically and made my way into the frat party going on in our living room.

Once the group had taken off out the front door, I turned and went out the back, heading on foot in the other direction. Vampires were fast, like super fast. I could move so quickly, that a human couldn't even see my movements. I could run for miles at lightning speed without even feeling tired, so long as I'd fed recently, which I had. So, that is what I did. I ran all the way to the next town over, where I could begin my search.

Morrison was a quiet little country town just past the suburbs of the big city. Their police station had been floored when two unexplained deaths had popped up a few days ago. The citizens were scared, believing their small town to be overrun with psychopaths. Of course, it didn't help that the police had no leads. The bodies had been "Left at the site of the crime", the paper had said with no attempt to clean them up. So, my first stop was at the local police station.

I walked into the quiet little office, barely sparing a glance at the monitor over the doorway that showed the live security feed. I knew I wouldn't be there. I walked with purpose up to the little bald man sitting behind the counter. I hadn't made any noise with my entrance, habits of being a vampire, and he sputtered out his coffee when he saw me, quickly sitting up straighter and placing his hands on the desk before him.

"May I help you, Miss?" he asked, only adding "On your way to a costume party?" after taking in my outfit choice, tight leather pants and a black crop top.

I leaned on my arms and peered over the counter catching his eyes with mine. I didn't speak and after a second of holding his gaze, I saw his body start to relax. His arms moved down to rest upon the desk and his mouth opened just a bit, revealing the tension that had left his body and it was then that I knew that I had him.

"Now, tell me everything you know about the murders", I cooed. 

He did.