V is for Vampire

“Mother fucker!”

Dan sat bolt upright, gasping for breath and sweating like he’d just run a marathon. Then he leaned over and puked his guts up on the floor.

“Oh my fuck… shit. Fuck!” He coughed and spit, grabbing the side of the bed, his bed he realized, and tried to breathe.

“What the hell!?” He slowly calmed down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. It came away covered in vomit and red. “Shit!”

Looking around, he saw he was back in his small, grotty apartment. “How the hell…?” Dan had no memory of how he’d got here.

He sat back down and swung his legs over the side, stepping in his own puke.

“Oh great.”

Limping over to his small bathroom, he staggered in front of the wash-basin and turned on the water. Then he saw his face in the mirror.

His face looked like something out of a horror movie. The white of his eyes a startling contrast against the dried blood covering his skin.

He looked down at his naked, scrawny body. There was maroon all over him. He was covered in the stuff.

“Jesus wept! What the hell?” Shaking his head, he wobbled over to the shower and turned it on, not even waiting until it warmed up before plunging into the cold stream.

The icy water jerked him awake as no amount of coffee could have ever done. Gasping for breath, he scrubbed frantically at his body, a red torrent of liquid swirling off him and down the inefficient drain, which failed to keep up with the influx, so he was soon standing in a pool of diluted blood.

Finally he managed to get most of it off him, and he leaned his head against the wall, trying to calm down as he stood in the by-now warm jets of water.

An image screamed through his mind, like a picture illuminated for a moment by a bolt of lightning. A black face, eyes and mouth open wide, a look of absolute terror etched onto it.

Then it was gone.

“Oh god, what was that? What… how?”

Turning the water off and grabbing a towel, he emerged from the shower, slowly drying himself as he tried to remember the events that had led up to his sudden and shocking awakening.

It was no good; his mind remained silent on the subject.

The small room he lurked in when not out looking for opportunity was a mess. Even more so than usual even. His blood soaked clothes were scattered over the floor, and it looked like someone had rampaged through his meager belongings, scattering them madly about in an insane frenzy.

Being careful to avoid the puddle of vomit, which stank, Dan sat down hard on the bed, and then promptly stood up again, retrieving the thing he’d sat on with one hand before resuming the position.

It was the photo of the fat bitch that crazy guy had given him. He looked at it in distaste. He’d planned on walking out on Dmitri and never looking back. Now he fondled the photo, which had bloody fingerprints all over it, more thoughtfully. Dmitri had said this woman was the head of some organization, and she was his enemy. Maybe she’d pay for information about him? Or maybe he’d stick her with Little Mick and then demand money from Dmitri for her body.

Screw what happened last night for now, that could come later. His first priority was money, and fast, or Snake would be sending his collectors around. There was an opportunity here, if he could only figure out a way to exploit it.