When he smiled at Shane, his fangs looked practically real. “Aren’t you delicious?”
Shane was not expecting to meet anyone interesting at the Halloween masquerade gala, but when a flirtatious man dressed as a vampire begins revealing more and more of his fangs, Shane finds himself a little bit enthralled…
This short story is seductive, incredibly gay, and a little bit thoughtful. While it functions as a standalone, it also happens to feature the protagonists of book three in my upcoming M/M vampire romance series ;)
some character and illustrations explorations for my novel (not a comic) Letters to the vampire queen. ignore the few typos there. this is from a raw pre-proofreading version and is just a placeholder.
so far 150 pages of it have been written, and carrying on until it’s done. I’ll be posting the first batch on my patreon this month. also on my twitch there is currently 6 hours worth of streaming where i just flat out destroyed my vocal chords reading said 150 pages XD
Warnings: s*xual harassment, minor character death, violence, blood, fatphobia/body-shaming, racism, strong language.
BELLS
Something moved behind that dumpster; it definitely was not human.
Shards of glass, broken syringes and pieces of the surrounding rotten buildings crowded the alley. Some segments of a broken fence tried to keep unwelcome visitors away from the abandoned hospital’s yard. Once it held a high status, now it was standing on remaining memories. Fragments of murmurs and whimpers hung in the air, that’s all that could be heard in a neighbourhood such as the Needles. These sounds and the one coming from behind the dumpster.
Bells’ hands clenched the straps of her backpack, or what remained of it, sweating and staining. She was standing near, wanting to dive in and maybe find dinner for tonight. She hoped for a glimpse of luck.
Yet, her feet were cemented in the ground. All she could do was wait.
What if it’s one of those? The sightings became more and more regular. I have no weapon.
All that could be found around were bricks, smashed bottles of beer-
Yes, a brick.
She slowly bent down, rough hand trying to grab it. As soon as her fingers clawed around it, Bells rose to her feet. No sound, no whispers. Putrid was rising, clouding the midnight air.
That’s when it moved. The big, fat rodent made its way out of there with a piece of sausage in its mouth, abandoning Bells.
Damn it.
She got scared by a fuckingrat. Now she will get to eat sleep for dinner. Fucking hell.
“Shit!”
She threw the brick away, her grumbling stomach was not helping either. All she could do was nervously grab some strands of her raven locks. There was no time to waste with childish fears, bedtime stories.
Nightwalkers are not a thing. Get your shit together.
Her hands found the sides of the dumpster quickly and she threw her whole body weight between opened plastic bags. When you find a roof over your head in a place like the Needles, you have two options: eat or get eaten. Some people get to live in better places around Arcpool - the Beetles for the rich, the Tweedles for the middle class and what remains of that stays in the Needles. All of the bad things stay here. That is the order of things.
Arcpool, the unwelcoming house of capitalism, was a city built on the remains of three villages that were the inspiration for the three distinct urban areas.
Doctors, lawyers, engineers and businessmen get to eat wagyu steaks after golf matches in the Beetles. Their wives sunbathe under rays of their own pollution, wearing enough sunscreen to cover their plastic bodies. Kens and Barbies get to rule this city.
Other people have quiet family dinners and watch TV-shows right after church in the early Sunday afternoons. Average lives for average people, that’s the Tweedles life.
The leftovers, like Bells, get to look for leftovers in dumpsters that conquer the Needles.
She used to live at the border between Tweedles and Needles. Nights used to be much more peaceful there, but peace never stayed with her. She lost her job two months ago, her rent one month ago and nothing else could be done. Her roommate bailed on her. Erin, that damned Erin.
Now her hands were filled with an expired, half-opened bean can and a piece of cheese that somehow was spared from the wrath of the rodents. Protectively placing the goods in her bag, she made her way out of that alley.
The street lamps barely worked, which allowed shadows to play around, unbothered in the darkness. They were always whispering unholy things that Bells’ ears chose to ignore. By walking two different streets and turning one corner, the shadows could no longer say anything. The bright red lights of Magnolia Motel invited outsiders in and scared the locals. 3 floors build in the most mysterious ways represented home to many people: drug dealers, drug addicts, prostitutes, gang members and people like the girl that chose to go dumpster diving just to be able to pay for another night. It was one of the few places in this neighbourhood where people actually got clean water and heat, all being managed by Mr. Cho. That kind, yet somehow frightful man, always found a way to keep his motel safe. The biggest investition of his life allowed him to put food on the table for his own family, by wearing a smile and having a hand of steel.
Everytime Bells would come back late at night, he would silently sit at the reception. His eyes could be focused on six different tasks at once, yet he could always see right through her. Maybe he was an intuitive man or maybe he learnt this ability by having three daughters. The smell was bearable, but Mr. Cho’s stare was not. Even his hearing could hear right through her. There was something peaceful about this old, scary man that owned a motel in the worst neighbourhood imaginable.
“Arriving late again?” his stare didn’t leave the papers he was signing.
Bells turned her heels, right before walking the first couple of steps.
“Didn’t know there was a curfew.”
“There isn’t.”
“Then why are you asking me that?”
“A poor, old man is not allowed to be curious, Miss Bells?”
“I didn’t say that. It’s just none of your business.”
“Nothing that happens in here is ever my business. Why would something that happens outside could ever by my business?”
He was right, nothing was ever his business. Just the motel, not actually what happened inside of it, considering the people that lived there.
“I don’t know. A poor, young girl is not allowed to be curious, Mr. Cho?”
“Good night, Miss Bells.”
“Night’.”
That memory was now replaying inside her imagination like a broken record.
In front of Magnolia Motel, six shadows dared to stand tall. Cigarette smoke came out of their breaths. They were no longer afraid of the crimson lights, because the two O’s and magnolia flower were out. The lights inside the upper floors were out as well. The wooden door was unhinged, leaving the reception unprotected. Leaving Mr. Cho unprotected. The reception’s lightbulb was throbbing in despair, trying to breathe during its last moments.
It went on. It went out. It went on. It went out. Images of light and dark were playing and replaying, it was like sitting in the front row at the cinema. Mute films were filling the silence. Everything was reflected in Bells’ eyes; blue turned red. Bloody handprints stained the walls, red waves coating the baseball bats held by the strangers.
Just red.
Mr. Cho was coated in red, sitting at the unwary reception. Or what remained of him. It was the first time she saw his eyes not looking down at that desk. His lifeless orbs were staring right through her.
They were red.
The reception was red.
He was red.
“That fucking gaffer thought no one could ever get through a fucking plastic safe.”
“Bet ya’ ass that it’s made in China,” they all bursted in a laugh. The only one that didn’t laugh at first had a sudden smile creep on his face. It revealed his golden teeth.
“Wasmade in China, Remy. I fucking smashed his face into it.” He brought the bloody bat a little too close to his subordinate’s face. Remy could only stare at the hammered nails that decorated the dirty weapon.
“Yeah, boss, you are right! Always right!” another one approved.
Remy shook his head, the boss was always right. Especially when someone as feral as Goldie was your boss.
“Should we play rugby with his head?” the tallest asked.
“After you do it, send it to his family.” the boss replied and finished his cigarette, his gaze catching the figure staring at them.
Bells was standing too close to this whole scene. She saw it all. And they saw her too, turning their heads in unison like crows. The mute film turned into a play of tragedy.
Her legs were no longer cemented like before, because they weren’t creatures of the night that wanted to chase her down for a drip of blood. They were humans and she knew how cruel humans can be. They were monsters.
“Get that bitch!”
Bells’ sneakers were burning over the pavement. Her body moved impulsively between dumpsters, storming the way she came before. It was like a sickness infected Lotus’ Motel and it was now spreading everywhere. Structures were dancing under the throbbing of the street lights, inside the girl’s brain everything was going upside down. Shadows were following, running after her. No, men were chasing her.
Eat or get eaten.
She sprinted through the familiar alley. Her breath was shaking, her heart was close to jumping out of her chest. Her fingers found the wire fence of the hospital. Trembling, she climbed the safest part of it and jumped over. The steps were getting too close. An echo of bats swinging in the air was scratching her ears.
“There she is! That fat bitch fucking climbed it!”
“Let’s tear it down.”
“We are gonna cut ourselves!”
“Jay, are you crazy? She’ll escape us!”
“You really think that?”
Their voices tuned out as Bells picked herself up and tried to find a way around or inside the hospital. Her clothes were filled with mud, half of her belongings were lost during the chase, spread around the streets like gingerbread. Her incoherent breaths were not getting any better. All that her eyes could find were hammered pieces of wood, no possible entrance. She grabbed one, finding some of her last strength. She had to tear it down. She had no weapon.
Why did I leave the fucking brick there?
Bells didn’t have a chance to turn around on her own, because one of them grabbed a handful of her dark hair. She screamed out of her lungs.
“Y’all hearing this bitch? She thinks somebody is gonna hear her,” he started to laugh as he yanked her even harder. She struggled to escape his grip, but the bat that came too close to her throat stopped her. The nails were digging in her neck.
Their leader bent down, grabbing her whole face. “You are a feisty one, aren’t you?” His golden teeth shone even in the darkest time of night. She stopped for a moment like a wild animal facing the headlights of a car. She shook her head obediently.
”No? How come?” It was silent for a second.
You ugly ass bitch.
Then she bit him.
“Fucking bitch!” his other hand glued instantly to her left cheek, leaving her with a red mark. “She might have given me rabies. Do what you want with her, Cho’s blood is already all over me.”
Goldie stepped back in the shadows and started cleaning his hands with a dirty napkin that was not doing even half of its job.
“Damn, Jay, I do love a fat bitch. Wonder if I could start with her toes first?”
He swung his bat around like a dog moving its tail, having a taste of his fantasy on the tip of his tongue.
“Remy, you fucking weirdo! Don’t talk about feet.”
Jay, the one that held her, moved her around like a puppet, allowing Remy and the others to spit on her.
“I wanna undress her first.”
“Ha! She doesn’t deserve the nice guy treatment!”
As the men were bickering, Bells’ eyes started to fill with tears. Her face was now a mix of shame, spit was coating her eyes.
“Aww! Is the fat baby going to cry? Are you gonna cry now? You worthless fucking cunt!”
No sound came out of her lips. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to scream again. She wanted to. She wanted not to be afraid of them. Instead, her attention was grabbed by the lifeless head that rolled out of the shadows. No sound came from him either, no more at least. Goldie’s teeth stopped shining, no more greedy smiles.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
“I DON’T KNOW MAN, I DON’T KNOW!”
They all jumped back.
“No, no, no, no, no!”
The four remaining rushed to check what happened while Jay was still holding her firmly. That was when the night’s smoke moved around them. It was huge, it clouded everything. It was above everything.
“I can’t get his gold teeth, I want his teeth! I’ve always wanted them!”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“What the fuck is tha-”
Something ripped Remy’s head out of his body, only with its teeth. Only with its teeth. The corpse fell on the ground, leaving the others stunned, no time to react. A flood of crimson started to drown them. Screams of terror were mixing in with the thick midnight air. The bats became worthless pieces of wood, they didn’t even have time to properly swing them around. The sounds coming out of them left mixed feelings inside of Bells.
Why is a part of me not feeling bad for them?
By second, they all fell down like feathers. Jay’s grip started to lighten, he could no longer keep on the brave appearance, not in front of something like that.
“YOU KNOW WHAT? HAVE HER, I DON’T NEED HER!” He runned towards the only exit, but a flash of nothing stopped him. His bat fell out of his hand.
It grabbed Jay by the neck, lifting him up. It didn’t even bother to use its teeth on him, it just choked him until his voice could no longer phantom the night.
The harshness of Jay’s hands was still ghosting Bells’ body as she cleaned her view with the back of her hoodie. It was a mirage, it had to be. He fell like the others, just a feather touching the ground. She fell too, but not like them.
This time she didn’t scream. She was too afraid to. She was holding herself tightly, trying to seem invisible in front of danger.
Only if she could be part of the ground now. Or soon she would be.
This time, Bells’ whole body was cemented, a rock at the bottom of the ocean. But the smoke, the shadow of shadows started to become the outline of a man. Or of something that resembled a man. She heard about them; bedtime stories, the monsters hiding inside her closet or under the bed were never supposed to become real. She always believed that monsters were actually humans and creatures were creatures. She never thought she would ever get to see one of them in her lifetime, what remained of it at least. Her blood was boiling in her veins, it was preparing itself for what was about to come.
Nightwalker.
Yet, he didn’t even bother to come closer. Thoughts could only dream of wandering around the fields of her mind. She caught his cold gaze for a split second. Sharp dark eyes stole a glimpse of her soul.
Then he faded in the harsh, putrid air. He came in as smoke, he stayed as the thunder of a storm and he went away like a summer breeze. Feathers and dirty posters moved around Bells, circling her like wolves. Her eyes were clear now, one even caught her hazy attention:
Looking for blood donors. Fair price, good payment. At the X Mansion.
If interested, please contact the following phone number:
