Cold Blood is Thicker

Charlie was not the type of vampire who liked to simply kill for food. He was a true predator who liked to play with his food before he ate it. When the seven walked into the restaurant, all eyes were on them. Nine pairs of eyes to be exact. Charlie’s own had selectively scanned the area, trying to find which person would be the perfect meal. He figured that the two obvious prostitutes would be no good, and none of the three bikers would either. Two younger men at the back of the room caught his eye, however. Neither of them looked much older than nineteen. Young blood was always the best. They were likely two college students with free spirits and optimistic views - the perfect meal.

“Lookie here,” Charlie said arrogantly with a smirk. “What a quaint little place.” He suddenly grabbed Orri’s arm and pulled him along to a table. The rest of the vampires followed, receiving many strange stares. Gage had followed along with Charlie, grinning maniacally as he sat beside him. Gage had the same makeup as the previous night – at least Orri assumed it was makeup. Orri sat across from the two, unsure of what to do or say.

“Who are you freaks?” came a loud, booming voice from the front of the restaurant.

Charlie and Gage turned around on the booth to face the speaker. He was a rather large man with a handlebar moustache, biker attire and a scar across his forehead.

“Hey look, Chah-lie,” Gage said, his voice suddenly laced with a heavy Brooklyn accent. “We bein’ addressed as ‘who’ suddenly.”

Charlie and Gage looked at each other, bursting out into loud, hysterical laughter. Orri had no idea what was so funny. They turned back around and looked at Orri. “This is called toying with the victim,” Charlie whispered maliciously.

“What’s wrong with you?” the same biker yelled back.

Gage suddenly got up, facing the man at the front of the restaurant. “Manic depression, that’s what!” he spat angrily.

Charlie’s eyes went wide in an, “oh-shit-now-he’s-done-it” expression. He knew Gage hated being asked that question.

“I didn’t want your life’s story, you freak.” The biker stood up, and so did his two friends.

“Oh, shit, look! Bikers, I’m so fucking scared!” Gage’s eyes were suddenly full of rage. He quickly walked up to the bikers, fists clenched. If he didn’t have heightened strength, he would truly be crazy. It was a surprise that none of the staff had moved. There was only a waitress and a single cook in the back. Gage was suddenly right in front of the three bikers.

“You’ve got some nerve.” The first biker raised his fist, but Gage grabbed his wrist, digging his nails into the man’s skin.

“Yeah, I do.” Gage smiled savagely, baring his pointed eyeteeth.

The biker winced at Gage’s patronising look. The faint purple scars on Gage’s face seemed to bulge out in his anger.

Cain, Charlie and Foks were now standing around Gage, staring at the surrounding bikers and prostitutes. Gage easily lowered the man’s wrist, not breaking eye contact. Suddenly, the biker’s fist came flying at his face. Gage acted quickly, dodging the punch and letting Cain grab his arm where she sunk her fangs into the man’s wrist. He cried out in pain, but none of his friends or the prostitutes moved. As the biker was temporarily stunned, Gage took a chance to pull out a switchblade that was concealed in his pocket. Without hesitation, he ducked behind the biker, yanked his head back and slit his throat. Nobody moved as the biker fell to the floor and Gage knelt down to his neck. Gage proceeded to drink the ex-biker’s blood, though most of it was running onto the floor. It was a gruesome sight, with Gage loudly sucking on the blood. Cain had joined Gage in drinking blood from the victim’s wrist. Nobody mortal dare move, but a soft female voice broke out.

“W-who are you people?” the waitress stammered, her face completely pale. “What do you want?”

Charlie only smirked, looking at the young woman. He looked back at the vampires and nodded. It was a terror-fest after the nod; all of the vampires simultaneously jumped up and onto the remaining victims. Charlie instead hopped up over the counter where the cash register sat and grabbed the waitress. She screamed, but he didn’t try to kill her. Instead her turned her around, facing Orri, who had not moved. “Come on Orri, she’s for you. Can’t you do it? You’re starving and I know it.”

If Orri could be any paler, he would be. The display of carnage at the front of the restaurant made him want to vomit. He just stared at Charlie, his eyes full of terror. His bottom lip quivered, and he looked into the waitress’ eyes. She mouthed the word, “help” but Orri only looked away.

“Orri,” Charlie said firmly.

“Get your filthy fucking hands off her!” The cook was behind Charlie, knife in hand. “Let her go, you sick fuck!”

Charlie’s eyes darted around for a second. He looked at Orri with annoyance, but let the waitress go only to take the cook by the wrist. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Charlie then opened his mouth, clamping his mouth on the man’s neck. He heard the knife clatter to the ground as he drained the man to death. The waitress screamed again and jumped over the counter. Out of impulse, Orri grabbed her from behind by the waist, pulling her into him. He bent his head down to her neck, trying to find the courage to bite into her.

“That’s it Orri,” Charlie said, malice heavy in his voice. “Just bite her. Drink her dry, you can do it. You’re hungry, and she’s so perfect.” Charlie had leapt up over the counter again, stalking the two other young men in the back of the restaurant. They hadn’t found an exit door yet.

Orri went back to the waitress, who was struggling in his grasp. He noticed that he was much stronger than he was before. He tried to bite into the woman’s skin, but hearing her struggling grunts and whimpers, he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take her life. His stomach was twisting around in his stomach from both hunger and sickness. He was famished, but he just didn’t have the courage to drink blood from a person.

“Remember what they said about you Orri. Remember what they think of you.” Charlie had already taken one of the two young men, the other left shaking in a corner. “Remember they hate you. They think you’re a freak.”

Orri still couldn’t do it.

Charlie was suddenly behind Orri, mumbling things in her ear. “They don’t want to hire you, they don’t want to fuck you, they don’t even want to look at you. This is what you need, this is what will fulfil you. It’s your revenge against the world.”

Orri’s mouth opened and his fangs touched the woman’s skin. She drew in a sharp breath, suddenly holding still. Orri could smell the sweat on her skin and the tears spilling down her face.

“That’s it…”

Orri closed his mouth.

Charlie let out an angry huff. “For fuck’s sake, what are you, a coward?” he shouted. “You’re nothing but a miserable wreck, Orri, you always have been! You’re completely insecure and you just take the fucking abuse over and over again! No mortal ever liked you, so fuck ‘em! This is what you need to do to survive, Orri. You better fucking learn how to do this soon, or you’re gonna die.”

Orri’s hands had clenched together in fists. He felt his vision go fuzzy and his head get spacey until he finally plunged his fangs into the woman’s neck. She yelped, but Orri tasted the blood, and a new wonderful feeling went through him. He felt on fire then, and found himself starting to drink harder and more viciously as the blood poured down his throat. He drank and drank until the woman was dead and the blood flow slowed. He dropped her to the floor, suddenly being overcome by guilt. He breathed heavily, his eyes wide in shock. The rest of the vampires had torn apart everyone else apart, and they were all smiling at Orri.

Charlie’s shrill laugh echoed through his ears. “’Atta boy,” he said, putting a hand on Orri’s shoulder. There was still one more person left in the restaurant. “You look like shit, I think you’re good for tonight, darling.” Charlie faced the back of the room where the last person was. His face was frozen in fear. “Gage,” Charlie said cautiously. “Finish this one off and then start the fire.”

“With pleasure,” Gage murmured, walking quickly towards the other man.

Orri looked away, starting to feel sick. He felt dizzy, but Charlie had grabbed his arm and led him outside the restaurant into the cool air, wiping the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. Charlie got to the car, opening the front door. “Get in,” he said to Orri.

“We’re leaving them?”

“Yeah. They’ll catch up. There’s cars right there.” As both of them got into the car, a loud howl could be heard. Charlie started the car and quickly drove off into the night. Orri caught a glimpse of everyone else standing outside with different objects on fire. No doubt they were burning the evidence.

“I’m so proud of you.”

A few minutes of silence had passed as the car drove down the winter road. Orri looked at Charlie for a moment, but then continued to stare out the window. “I feel sick.”

“It happens. I know you’re the first one to kill on the first night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Even Gage couldn’t kill on the first night.” Charlie’s eyes shifted over to Orri for a moment, but then back at the road. “Do you feel good about being crazier than Gage?”

“No,” Orri answered bitterly.

Charlie chuckled.

“How can you just do that? You drink blood like it’s a game. Do you have any morals?”

“Trust me, Orri. I’ve been at this for over a hundred years, if I don’t have fun, I’ll go crazy. And I think whatever morals I ever had have disappeared a very long time ago. That’s why I screw whores, take drugs and burn things down.”

Orri cocked an eyebrow at Charlie.

“Well, I haven’t really done prostitutes for a while. I kept getting crabs.”

“I thought vampires don’t contract diseases.”

“Crabs are a parasite. Vampires to vampires, you know? Only, any parasite I’ve ever dealt with has basically dropped dead drinking my blood. I’ve had a tick on my ankle that just sort of fell off dead when it barely got anything.”

Orri nodded passively.

“So, I wouldn’t drink a fellow vampire’s blood. If it’s toxic to other blood-suckers, I wouldn’t trust it.”

There was more silence afterwards. Orri felt his hunger satisfied, and even his guilt was letting up a bit. He would have to continue doing this every night for the rest of his life – which would be forever. He would need to deal with it quickly. He could never see himself taking the pleasure in killing that Charlie did. He would simply feed how he needed to and that would be that. It was survival.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Charlie would occasionally glance over at Orri who never looked away from the window. He felt a wave of grief looking at Orri, and the look on his face in the reflection of the mirror was painful. Charlie bit his lip and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Suddenly he pulled over to the side of the road, almost losing control on the slippery shoulder. Orri looked over at Charlie who was staring back at him.

“This is insane,” Orri said, his voice monotone.

Charlie nodded slowly. His eyes drifted back to the road as a car passed them. Not a muscle twitched in his face. He seemed to be contemplating something – something that required his full attention. After a long silence, he spoke, his voice cracked and hesitant. “I think we should find somewhere to crash.”

Orri didn’t say anything, but the car moved forward back onto the road. He had no idea what Charlie was thinking about, but it didn’t really faze him as the prairies resumed zooming by the window. He leaned an elbow against the window and his head against his hand and closed his eyes.