vEmpire

vEmpire; Chapter One

~Chapter 1~

Chicago, Illinois, 2006

It was a warm summer afternoon in the large bustling town of Chicago. The sun's beams reflecting and shining off of the metal of the tall skyscrapers that clawed at the sky like a tiger's claws tearing through skin. Everyone, mostly the locals, were walking to and fro in order to get to their destinations, wether it be by a cab, bus or even just by walking in itself, one always found a way to get around.

An example of one of these people was a teen by the name of Momo Kaveri, a girl with peach-blonde hair, brown eyes, and who stood at a height no taller than 5'4''.

Momo was the type of local who knew where everything and anything was.. but just didn't know how to get there herself, or how to do so on time. In fact, she was late for visiting her grandmother at the nursing home, and was currently trying to find some way to get there as quickly as possible.

"Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through! Watch out!"

Momo apologized to every person she ran into as she rushed against the current of oncoming pedestrians.

"I'm so sorry ma'am, I'm in a hurry!"

In a race against time, she quickly waved down a cab, which thankfully stopped for her, allowing her to get into it. Before she got in however, she made sure to check and see if it was an authentic cab, and not some freak trying to lure unsuspecting victims, such as non-locals, who didn't know any better.

She's seen WAY to many cases of those on the news at her grandmother's nursing home, as her grandmother was the type who wanted to know all about what was going on in the world, as well as being one who was EXTREMELY protective of her one an only Grandchild.

She would check the daily events on the news in the paper, only to shake her head and say;

What a shame... You can't seem to trust anyone anymore...

She then would proceed to talk to Momo about how her day was a much simpler time, where everyone knew everyone, and that they had a circle of trust as strong as nylon rope.

Momo loved listening to her grandmother talk about her childhood days. It was relaxing to her. She always thought; it must have been nice to not worry about if someone was going to hurt you on a daily basis..

"Take me to Oak Tree Nursing Home on Columbus Drive please! It's urgent! I'm late to visit my grandmother!"

Momo blubbered as she got into the vehicle with her belongings, which was only her purse and journal.

"I'm late for something really important there, and if I don't make it in time my grand—"

The man behind the wheel of the cab interrupted her, seeing as how she was currently and anxious mess.

"Hey hey," he said "Don't sweat it little lady, I'll get ya to where ya need to be in no time a'ite? Now just kick back and rest while I get you safe an' sound to your destination, it won't take long."

Momo began to calm down just a little bit as her driver began to cruise down the road, showing her all the neat sights that could be seen. Even though she's seen the buildings, the tourist attractions and the theaters around town nearly all her life, she always loved to take a cruise around town, whether it be by cab, bike, or just plain walking.

Seeing those sights in her hometown that some people could only dream of seeing every day like she could made her feel like a kid again, back to the day when she remembered first moving to the Big City.

However, recently her grandma has told her vague little stories about living in Poland, too. Maybe she'll plan to go there someday when she's older..

"Whatcha staring at girlie?" A voice inquired.

Momo nearly panicked after being snapped out of her daze, but then she remembered someone was driving her.

"Lookin at all the sights are ya? Yea.. the Chicago sights sure are a thing o' beauty.. But ya know.." he shot a somewhat flirty glance into the rearview mirror towards her, and Momo's blood ran cold.

"There's a more beautiful piece of work, right in the back of my humble car that I have access to this very minute.. all to myself.."

Colour drained from Momo's face and her heart seemed to stop. Was this like what her Grandma was warning her about when it came to taking a cab ride? Did she mistakenly get into the car of a criminal who somehow managed to get a fake authentication license? She began praying to the highest power for protection and strength, and was about ready to tuck and roll out of the car.

Momo was having NONE of that, not today.

However, the driver began to force out a somewhat awkward laugh, as if to somehow calm her down because he could sense she was uneasy from that comment he had made.

"Um.. nevermind that comment I made, dollface... I was just kidding around.. Tried to give ya a sort of compliment to make your day but I ended up being a creep.. sorry about that.." He sounded somewhat embarrassed.

Sensing his awkwardness, Momo decided to make him feel a bit better himself and to hide the fact that she WAS indeed scared by that unexpected remark.

"Oh, uh.. no... It's alright... It was my fault.. you just caught me off guard with the comment, that's all..

Finally, in the span of 15 minutes, the cab pulled into the parking lot of it's destination; Oak Tree Nursing Home, where Momo's grandma, as well as some of her elderly friends, were waiting to see her.

"Um.. Thank you for the ride... I believe I owe you... 10$.. right?"

Momo muttered in a soft and uneasy tone as she gave her driver his pay, but before she could turn around and speed walk into the sanctuary building behind her like she planned to, something unexpected, as well as strange and just downright CREEPY occurred.

As Momo put the cash in his hand, the driver seemed to caress her hand in a loving way, then used his other hand to move her face to look directly at him, and looked directly into her eyes before giving her a seductive smirk and whispering in a deep, gruff voice:

"Anytime, dollface.. whenever you need me for another ride, just ask for Ashton... I'll be there."

Not even a second after that ordeal, he quickly let go of her hands and face, rolled up the window and sped off out of the parking lot and down the road. He was gone now, now Momo could run inside and forget this whole creep ordeal...

But she just stood there in disbelief, and fear...
Were her eyes playing tricks on her, or was it in some messed up way, real?

When he smiled at her, she could have sworn she saw his eyes flash red, and his teeth grow sharp, like fangs...