Blood Bag

Blood Bank (Part 2 Adriana)

I can't believe I'm stood here in a deep red dress, sewn from a pair of dusty old curtains. The material has come up even better than I imagined with a thorough wash and the design hugs every part of me. It's a new feeling, weird, to have my silhouette so obvious, when I'm so used to it being hidden under baggy Refugee clothing. 

Most importantly though, is that in this dark room, lit up only by the light above the bar and a few lazy strobe lights, my dress is almost the color of blood. 

I watch the room around me, deafened by the music playing, desperately trying to spot Kyle. I know that I'll never manage to do what I've come to do on my own. The memory of Kyle himself pinning me in that alley, leaving me helpless and unable to move, is proof enough that I can't do this on my own. Vampires are twice as strong, twice as fast and alone I stand half of no chance. 

As I scan the crowd, flitting my gaze over countless girls in winged eyeliner and ruby red lipstick, I spot a horrendous white T-shirt with a big red love heart and the words I'm a sucker for Suckers emblazoned on it. Before I can even ball my fists in grossed out rage I spot who's wearing it - Kyle. I stifle a laugh, knowing, manic as I feel right now, that I'm in danger of quickly descending into hysterics if I open my mouth.  

He gives me a subtle nod, tilting his head so slightly I'd never notice he had done it if it weren't for that fact that he'd gone over and over this the night before. "You mustn't be seen with me." he had said. "You have to look alone, you have to look like you're there to meet a vampire."  And I am, turning to the bar I wave at the bartender who looks pretty bored. I almost sympathize with him but as he comes closer I can see more clearly the vampire themed tats that cover his arms and the two tiny fangs tattooed on his lower lip.  Jeez, this place is creepy. 

"Glass of water please." I ask fang-guy, ignoring the withering look he shoots me. He comes back with a glass full of red liquid, shocked I go to swing my arm, ready to knock the blood out of his hands but then I catch myself. It's just dye, it's just a joke. It's just this sick place. I turn back to throng of people, scanning the room again, not for Kyle this time but for a Vampire.

 Desperation hangs in the air like a cloying fog, most people are dancing but all of them are looking around expectantly. Giving away the fact that they aren't really here to have fun. They want to see a Vampire, up close, in real life. They want to be chosen. I can't help wondering if this is where Nancy got plucked from. I'd always warned her to blend in, to make sure she never came to harm from the BDA but coming here, she can't have taken my advice that far out of context? I groan internally as I finally come to consider, that perhaps she wanted to be Chosen. She didn't remember life before Lavort, she hadn't see what I had seen. Maybe she didn't share my hate after all, perhaps I'd just presumed she had.  

Starting to feel dizzy, the stifling heat, the lack of fresh air, the thud thud thudding in my head that isn't just from the bass speaker, it's all too much. I press my legs together, feeling the cold kiss of the blade hidden on my upper thigh, thankful for its presence. My spinning head slows, and then stops. I take a sip of water, knowing it will stain my lips red.  

Across the room, the crowd surge's and then falls back, I spot Kyle bracing himself, not so calm now. I think to myself, because between milling heads I can see what we've been looking for. Three human men, two huge bulking brutes and one far more normal sized young man form a shield around a newcomer. I can just make out an unruly mop of brown hair, porcelain skin, shadowy eyes and a pair of lips that only barely conceal canines too prominent to belong to any human. Vampire. 

I glance back at the bar, trying to check my hair in the reflection of the glass top. All I can make out is smudges of red and black. I flick my hair so that it falls over one shoulder, exposing my collar bone on the other side and set about looking appetizing. A picture forms in my mind of me on a platter with an apple stuck in my mouth and I try not to giggle. I can feel the mania setting in, laughter bubbling in my chest and threatening to burst forth in an endless torrent. I'm going crazy, I think and then I slide into the crowd, knife pressing comfortingly into my thigh, as ready as I'll ever be to seduce a vampire. 

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