Nightfall

The steamy atmosphere was almost enough to take control of your senses the second you stepped inside. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, even with the pounding of the darkest industrial goth tracks known to man banging away at your eardrums. You almost felt as though you were gliding slowly through a sea of wicked people. Maybe I was. I was surrounded by the 'enemy', after all.

I made my way to the center of the warehouse, my eyes adjusting to the darkness easily, and soon, even the flicker of the blasting laser lights seemed to settle into a comfortable rhythm that I could see through. There was a smoke machine covering the entire floor in a thin mist, and every now and then, you would see flames blaze overhead for a few seconds before fading away to a dull flame again...giving the entire core the appearance of Hell in celebration. Considering what I was there to do, I felt right at home.

The burn in my bite marks began to change slightly, and it took my attention towards the people around me. I searched the room, spinning in slow circles, and couldn't really pinpoint anything in particular. The signal began to divide itself, and for a brief moment, the pain in my right ankle and calf began to flare up.

"Carolyn..." I thought to myself. And when I looked over my shoulder, I heard a familiar laugh in the distance. Even over the music, I couldn't help but recognize it. It had been haunting me for a long time now. I walked forward a bit further, trying to keep moving through the crowd in the direction of the sound. And through the forest of black leather and spiked mohawks...I caught a glimpse of long brown hair. Hanging almost to the shoulder, on a short squat girl, walking towards the steps on the side of the warehouse. I tried to keep up with her, small flashes of her large form coming into view, her breasts practically blocking for her as she pushed her way forward. Her head was turned my way for a quick second, and I saw a bit of her face. It was her. I was SURE of it! The realization alone caused the bite marks on my legs to almost reopen themselves again, and I had to check to make sure that I wasn't bleeding again. But the sensation in my left thigh had been dulled somehow. Trixie must have gone a different way. Just as well....taking them on one at a time would be much easier anyway. I just wanted to get my saber dirty at this point.

As my eyes focused on her, the both of us wading through the crowd at the same speed, my hatred began to grow to levels of disgust. I remember the look on her face as she held my leg up and sank her fangs into me. I remember the sickening feeling of her 'emptying' me without mercy, sloppy dribblings of blood running down my leg as she chewed at the massive chunk of flesh between her teeth. While Duffy and Spaz were satisfying kills in their own right...their deaths weren't nearly as sweet as this one was going to be. Duffy was hardly a participant at all, and Spaz was just as brain dead then as he is now...if the dawn hasn't burned him to ash already in that ratty old spice shack. But Carolyn knew exactly what she was doing. She took a full bite of me, and she filled her large belly with the life and opportunity that I was supposed to have. She is going to pay for what she did....and I'm gonna make it hurt like hell!

There was a violent shift in the sensations in my leg. A strange shift in my awareness that I couldn't quite explain. It was the only thing to take my mind off of Carolyn's forward movement. I turned to look around me, but could only see the giant moving mass of people as the club began to reach full capacity. This was wrong. Something was different. Trixie was close by, but her movements were so erratic. They moved back and forth in a zigzag motion, I could tell from the sensation. She wasn't going in any particular direction with any particular purpose. Could I have been spotted? Paranoia had already settled in by the time that I had gotten a grip on it. I had only taken my eyes off of the crowd for a second, and I lost Carolyn's location. Shit! My eyes frantically darted through the crowd, trying to find her again. Where the hell did she go so fast???

I reached into my trench coat and took hold of my saber, just in case. The act of being 'subtle' would be wasted if the element of surprise had been lost. Then....I'd still have the rest of the vampires in this place to deal with if they had affiliations with them in here. Hopefully that won't be the case. I looked some more, hoping that the bite marks would give me a more direct link to their location in the room. And it was then that I saw Carolyn near the top of the stairs with a few random vampires that I didn't recognize. She was heading further and further up, lading to a platform that gave partygoers access to the roof. I hadn't planned to have the two of them so far apart. I didn't want to follow Carolyn and give Trixie an easy exit if she wanted to get out alive. But what choice did I have? I didn't want to lose Carolyn either.

It was at that very moment, that my inner thigh began to blaze red hot. It was instantaneous, and I had no way to stop the pain. I winced while sucking in air through my gritted teeth. And by the time my mind had worked out that she was close enough to put her hands on me, I felt the sharp edge of a straight razor's blade being pressed against my throat.

"Mmmmm...heya cutie. Fancy seeing you again." Came the female voice, as she pressed her lips against my ear with a sensual kiss. That voice....I could never forget Trixie's voice. 'He's cute, Vincent. Aww...what a waste.' She said. I can remember it clearly. And even with the threat of having my throat slashed with the mere flick of her wrist...I wasn't afraid. In fact, as my eyes turned crimson, the warrior instinct taking over my senses and mental mind state, the burn in my left thigh seemed to disappear. The itch was gone, and I felt a slight grin cross my lips. There was no need to play it safe now. The game had begun...and since she had he upper hand....I was looking forward to turning the tables.

"It's nice to know that at least one of you remembers me." I told her, and she bit down on my earlobe. Gently at first...but she wasn't satisfied until I winced in pain. So she bit down harder.

"It's been a long time, but I don't forget easily. Not a sweetheart like you. I've been watching you ever since you walked in the door, babe. And you know...it's a big improvement. You look so hot as one of us." Trixie whispered.

"I'm glad you think so. Too bad it was a mistake."

"A mistake, indeed. But you know...you really shouldn't have come here."

"I wanted to pay you a little 'visit'. Both of you." I said. Keep her talking. Divide her concentration and gently push her back against the wall. Once the razor is away from my throat, I'll rip her to shreds. < p>"You certainly are a wicked one, aren't you?" She reached around the front of me, her hand lustfully touching the handle of the saber on my hip. "Is all this for me? Hmm? You looking forward to driving this through me, sweetie...hmmmm, that's so sexy."

"I don't know, Trixie...you might like it. Your friend, Spaz, < i>loved it." I told her, and was surprised to see a short pause in her actions. Almost as if a flash of emotion had crossed her mind. Did she miss her playmate? Awwww...how endearing. It must have hurt, but she avoided saying anything about it. She slid the straight razor an inch or two across the side of my throat, drawing blood and letting a warm stream of it crawl down my neck. She took a long, sickening lick of it with her tongue, and tasted it. "Mmmm...this isn't the same blood I remember. You've been feeding. Quite regularly. It's good to know that you've been keeping yourself healthy."

"You have no idea." I needed just a moment. Just long enough to reach up and break her wrist. The rest would be easy after that.

"STOP!" She hissed, and cut me a bit deeper. "If you think for one second that I'm going to allow you to simply bleed me and walk away, you are sadly mistaken, boy!"

"Come now, Trixie...what makes you think I would wanna cause you any harm after the great 'gift' you've given me?"

She whispered, "Being able to 'read'....that's what. And your thoughts aren't so 'pure' right now, honey bun."

Fuck! She was reading my thoughts? I didn't even feel her push her way in. I didn't expect a piece of trash like her would be blessed with such a rare talent in this world of darkness. "You've been cheating." I replied, hoping to buy myself a few seconds to think.

"I'd like to think of it as getting a bit of 'pre game' before the big show." Her tongue took another swipe at the blood on my neck. "Interesting...so you've come here to 'do away' with us? Hehehe, I take it you're unsatisfied with the way we treated you in our last encounter? That's really unfortunate." She said, her free hand now rubbing my stomach muscles up underneath my shirt. "If it's any consolation, I would have much rather kept you as my own personal 'pet'. We could have made beautiful music together, you and I. But a girl's gotta eat. And you were looking soooo yummy that night." I kept my breathing shallow. Calm. But as the edge of the razor blade scratched the surface of my neck, causing the blood to once again dribble down in a second river of crimson, I could feel the turbulent panic of my true emotions bubbling and twisting inside of me. Even if I didn't show it. Don't lose it now, Cylance. Relax. She's already dead....she just doesn't know it yet.

"People are watching, you know?" I said.

"Let them watch. The humans probably think it's a part of the 'act' in this place. And the vampires are probably more turned on than anything else. We may be in a crowded room, baby, but believe me....you are all alone in here."

Crowded room. Crowded room. That's it...

I didn't think about it. I kept my thoughts as well hidden from her as I could. But she was scanning. Sifting through every brain impulse that came to the front of my mind. And I had to be careful. I turned slightly, still in her grasp, and relaxed my muscles a bit to force her to carry more of my weight in her arms. She stumbled slightly, but dragged me back a few steps, holding the razor tight against my flesh. "HOLD STILL!" She said. I smiled devilishly, and she purposely slashed another small stripe on my neck. "Do you think this is a GAME?"

"Actually...I do. I'm having fun, aren't you?"

" Fun? Let me tell you about fun..." She said, and let her free hand reach down to grab the front of my pants. "...I'm going to unzip you now...and I'm gonna stroke this fine piece of meat for you one last time. I'm going to feel you shiver against me in your final orgasm, and I'm gonna lick my fingers and enjoy every last exciting minute of it, baby." Then she leaned closer to kiss my ear. "And then....I'm going to slash your throat, and bleed you in front of all of these people. I'm gonna shower them all with your precious fluids while they dance and cheer me on. And once you're too drained to move any more, I'm going to cut your heart out...and I'm gonna slice it into tiny strips...and I'm gonna chew the pieces whenever my fangs begin to itch." She moved back another step or two, and the crowd continued to swarm around us. She was right...in a place like this where half of the patrons were probably carrying razor blades or something similar...we hardly stood out as anything special. They probably thought it was some flirtatious game that we were playing, and they hardly paid us any mind at all. Good. I was counting on that.

I felt Trixie's hand fumble around for my zipper, and then lowered it down. She reached inside, her fingernails lightly scratching the surface of my skin as she reached into my boxers. "Careful. I'm sensitive." I said calmly. A few people walked by, and bumped her arm a bit. A few more had to squeeze past us to get to the bar.

"You are pretty well built down here, baby. More than I expected from a pretty boy like you. You sure you don't wanna just have a little bit of fun with me before this is all over? I'd just love to lick ya where I bit ya, baby!" She asked with a grin, now starting to stroke me slowly as a few more people absentmindedly pushed their way past us.

I leaned my head back on her shoulder, and whispered..."Not in a million years...you fucking ugly bitch."

Her arms tensed, and I could practically feel the insult traveling through her body as her concentration was broken. The club was rapidly becoming more congested, and more people pushed, bumped, and squeezed through the swelling crowd of people. And then, just as her grip tightened angrily around my meat, I felt someone bump the arm that was holding the razor to my throat. It was only a minor move, but it was all I needed. She could read my thoughts, but being in a room this crowded, she was bound to bump into somebody. What was she gonna do? Scan them all?

The second I felt the blade disconnect from my throat, I reached up to grab a hold of her wrist, and with a sharp downward twist, I snapped it like a twig! She dropped the razor and I forced my head back to hit her across the bridge of her nose. She reeled back a few steps, her hand over her face, and I moved forward to let the crowd swallow me up. I had gotten some space between us now, and made sure to stuff myself back into my pants before zipping up again. She got the jump on me once....it < i>won't happen again.

I reached a hand up to feel the warm wet trickle of blood on my neck. It wasn't too deep, but it was enough to keep it running freely. I've got to make sure that I don't lose too much. I'll need this blood supply to last me for the next few days.

The itch my thigh came back to me, and I knew Trixie was close. I didn't expect her to recover so fast. I spun around, looking through the crowd, hoping to catch sight of her. I pulled the saber off of my hip, and held it tightly, prepared for anything. And then, in the darkness, I saw a flash of her face in the strobelight. She held her hand up, and snapped her wrist back into place, moving her fingers to let me know that it worked. She was bleeding from the nose, her face giving me a look of rage. It looks like the end of our 'foreplay'...it's time to get serious now. Then, in a flash...she was gone. I lost sight of her completely. < p> I scanned the crowd again, looking in all directions...and could only see her for a quick second or two before she disappeared on me again. She was on my right! No...wait...on my left! I didn't know she could move so fast! The music pumped louder, the lights became more dizzying. And as the burn in my leg got hotter, I felt the pain of a large knife being sliced across my arm! I grabbed my arm and turned around to see.... nothing. The crowd began to jump up and down in time with the beat, and the confusion made it hard to see. It was then that I felt another gash cut into the back of my leg! And a few seconds later, I was cut on the back of my neck! Where the hell WAS she??? Finally, the game came to a momentary halt...and I saw her standing about ten feet in front of me with a smile. As the crowd provided her with the mania she needed to stay concealed, I saw her slowly raise two large hunting knives above her head. They glistened brightly with the lights flickering above, and looked sharp enough to cut through almost anything. She took a truly sensual pleasure out of showing them to me...before she vanished right in front of my eyes!

The crowd began to jump and dance all around me as the party hit its peak, and I saw small flashes of Trixie dancing right along with them...knives still raised high in the air...waiting for the opportunity to take another hidden swipe at me. I backed up a bit, hoping to get a good look at her before she was able to get close enough to attack. But the mass pushed back, keeping me off balance, leaving me almost no room to move on my own. Suddenly, I felt a slash slide across my face! And before I could turn around to see where it came from, another went across my shoulder blade. I kept spinning in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of her...but there was too much commotion going on around me. Then...the blade stabbed me in the right side! DEEP! I felt the still sink into me with little resistance, my abdominal muscles spasming around the knife as my brain attempted to quickly process what had just happened. I was almost nauseous from the pain, and my stomach caused me to nearly double over on instinct. I looked down, and I saw her hand give it a merciless twist as she yanked it out of me! The bloody walls of muscle closing in on the exit wound left behind.

At that point, something came over me. It was more than a mere panic. More than a sudden jolt of emotion bursting out of its guarded prison. It was pure, unrestricted, insanity. A survival instinct that surpassed anything human, and suddenly called off all bets on walking out of this place alive. I didn't hesitate. My eyes were glowing so hot that I could see it reflected on the shirts of the people around me. No more games. < p> I drew my saber, and with a few wide motions of my arms, I began to slash wildly at the dancing crowd around me! The blade cut through their clothes and drew blood, causing it to splash on the face of the dancers next to them. There was a pause in the commotion as they began to realize what was happening, and a building moment of hysteria began to build around me. I am sure that I had slashed at some humans by mistake, but most of my strikes were aimed at the vampires on the dance floor. No kill strikes...just gashes deep enough to let them know that I meant business. They would heal eventually. And any human seeing a vampire's chest split open with a saber was sure to run in the opposite direction. The giant mosh pit spread out around me with screams as I spun myself around, striking out at any revealed flesh that I could find. Blood stained the steel and spattered against me as the circle widened, and the party public reacted to the sudden assault with a fever! Soon, people were running away in terror, the bodies scattering in every direction. And once they spread out thin enough, I caught a glimpse of Trixie...trying to find more cover. I rushed her instantly and grabbed her by the arm before she could dip into the crowd again. She attempted to stab me again, but I was able to block and dodge easily this time. Even with my muscles twisting themselves up tightly around my wound, my hunter's instinct kept a majority of the pain at bay for the time being. We traded blows for a few moments, when she left herself open, and I landed a harsh kick directly under her throat, knocking her back on her ass! She rolled back to her feet, attempting to defend herself, but it was merely a delay for the inevitable at this point. She was weakening fast. Running out of tricks to play. The best she could do now is prolong her agony by fighting back.

She stabbed forward, swinging at nothing but air as I frustrated her with my ability to dodge her every attack. And when she lunged forward, and got close enough...I pushed the long end of my saber into the side of her chest...sinking it all the way in to the handle!

She SHRIEKED in horror, and instantly jumped back away from me, the metal still lodged just beneath her armpit. She couldn't even move, the pain seizing her senses and rendering her helpless. I marched forward, and she tried to dislodge the saber from her body before I reached her, but it only came out a few inches. She used her other arm to stab at my eyes, but I ducked underneath, and used my fist to punch the saber back into her chest again! She spun around to slice me again, but as I ducked under, I grabbed the handle again, and gave it a brutal twist...her screams becoming a satisfying symphony of pain. She could hardly breathe at this point, tears smearing her make up and bringing black runny circles to her eyes. I toyed with her, flinching with my hands, making her think that I was reaching for the blade to push it in deeper. She jumped and twitched...backing up from me, her face full of the kind of fear that I was sooooo hoping to see tonight. I smiled...almost giggling at the sight of her. All of that time spent, mulling over her untimely demise...and the best she could give me was a few tears? No, my dear...that's not good enough.

I caused her to flinch a few more times, until she almost had her back to the wall. At which point, she attempted to kick out at me with her foot. It was a laughably desperate attempt, and I spun around to sweep her one sturdy foot from underneath her...causing her to fall down on the handle of the saber, and drive it even further inside of her, the blood pouring from her wound in copious amounts. I have to admit, it made me happy. "Please.....Please....." She whimpered, her bottom lip quivering as the tears ran freely in rivers of black mascara. "...Don't. No more.....please...."

I smiled for a moment, and walked over to a nearby table to pick up some of the drug needles that I had seen earlier. I got about four or five of them in one hand, and walked back over to where Trixie was laying. I squatted down in front of her, pulling the syringes back and filling them up with air...

"You were right, Trixie. This was fun." I told her. "But...I want to make sure that your friend on the roof doesn't miss out on the festivities tonight. So I'm afraid I've gotta go get her 'involved' in our little two year reunion party. But first...?" She pleaded with me, her eyes silently begging for me not to do it. But I was far from mercy at this point. This is....afterall....my purpose. I violently < i>slammed all five needles into her chest, and squeezed the air into her bloodstream. She gasped and curled her knees up to her chest as I removed the needles, and playfully tossed them over my shoulder. I stood up, and looked down on her twitching body as she felt the terrible ache of the air pockets, traveling through her veins, painfully making their way towards her heart. She whimpered and sobbed, unable to speak at this point. "Aww, come on, Trixie...buck up. You know, very few people get the chance to truly appreciate the agonizing pain of a massive heart attack." I said to her. "You see, the air bubbles in your system are going to do a lot of permanent damage when they get to their destination. My guess is that your heart is gonna pop like a fucking water balloon. And...I may not know from 'personal' experience, but....I'm thinking that it's gonna hurt. A LOT!" I used my foot to lightly lift her cheek from the dirty floor. And then I reached down to quickly snatch my saber out of her chest...wiping the blood off on her shirt. It made her wail like a baby. "I'm sure that even a healthy little vampire vixen like you can't live without a working heart. Isn't that right?" She couldn't do anything but convulse as her body twisted and awaited the inevitable, her eyes rolled back as far as they could go. "But don't worry, Trixie. I'm not gonna let you live long enough to starve to death. I suppose I could spare you that much, huh?" I got down on one knee beside her, and whispered..."No...I'm going to steal your mind away from you. Your mind, your soul, everything. I'm going to leave you just as dead inside as you left me. No more pain. No more worries." I told her. "But not just yet. Right now...I want you to FEEL it! I want you to SUFFER! And I want you to know that three more of your friends are coming to join you soon! Believe it!"

It was then, that her chest seemed to cave in slightly. Her body locked up for a moment, lifting her hips clear off of the ground, and a series of powerful seizures attacked her body from the inside.

"I take it my little friends have made it home, huh? Well...I hope you enjoyed this dance tonight, bitch. You'll...understand if I don't call you later?" And as the last of her convulsions hit their peak, I placed my hand on her face...and let the shadows loose. Just as I felt the teeth marks on my inner thigh disappear. The nightfall was hungry for her, devouring her mind twice as fast. And all I had to do now...was get to the roof.