Stigmata

The young vampire had fled the RV as quickly as she could without actually breaking into a sprint, blindly making her way toward where she could feel the boys, a cigarette in her mouth. After walking for a while, Vivien realized that while she thought she was drawing closer to the boys, she was actually moving away from the tent, deeper into the RV cluster.

She continued on, pushing through the busses until she felt what she thought had been the boys pass behind her. Viv stopped and stared at the bus she walked past. The faint sound of chanting, which couldn’t have been heard by any human walking past but pricked the fancy of her enhanced hearing; Vivien circled the bus once, and called out to Jimmy again as she walked away, the chants still audible in her mind.

Jimmy, I need to talk to you! Where are you? what the hell is going on today?!

Vivien, where the fuck are you? We’re all looking for you, you dropped off the map! Vivien lit another cigarette and picked a direction to walk in. Her senses were all backward, she had realized that when she walked up to a bus instead of a tent trying to find the boys.

I don’t know, I’m fucking lost. What the hell is wrong with today, Jimmy?!

Stop moving, we’re coming to get you. She didn’t stop, she couldn’t stop walking around and around the bus - the one with the chanting. Her perimeter around the bus grew and condensed as she chose different paths around, but she couldn’t stop walking around it. Vivien, stop walking! Finally, she forced her feet to remain still by completely dropping to the ground, sitting Indian-style with her head in her hands and a cigarette in her mouth.

Get here. Please, get here quick.

“Vivien, I’m here,” A familiar voice filled her head, and familiar arms wrapped around her petite frame; Brian held her head to his chest and cooed sweet nothings into her left ear while he answered the general bolo Jimmy had put out in response to her distress call. “Shh, it’s ok, it’s alright, I’m not going to try any funny business, honey. Calm down.”

The tiny girl rocked into his chest, still puffing on her cigarette as if the smoke was going to sustain her until Jimmy arrived, until someone could fix the day. ‘Cause she sure as hell couldn’t do it herself.

“What’s wrong with me?” And the world went black.

What had to have been hours later, Vivien woke in a strange room gasping for breath with two faces hovering above hers - Jimmy’s and Brian’s. With how often she woke up with faces over hers, Viv couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the guys simply enjoyed watching her sleep… a creepy thought.

“Well, how do you feel?” Jimmy’s question was posed as something of a song, beginning low, spiking high and ending low again. When she opened her mouth, Vivien hadn’t intended on saying anything but a simple ‘I’m fine,’ and yet, the entire debacle of that day poured out like word vomit onto Jimmy’s poor, unsuspecting ears. Finally, Vivien came to the end - where she had passed out in Brian’s arms - and finally turned her light gray eyes to Jimmy’s face.

“We, uh, we figured out why all of that was happening.” The brown-eyed guitarist offered, his arms folded over his broad chest. “Today was - uh, is - the Summer Solstice, and so, uh, yeah. Life sucked today for most Vampires. Something about the way Brian wouldn’t meet her gaze made Viv wonder if he had really been affected by the solstice, or if he had just enjoyed the way she tasted.

“So we decided tonight would be a good night for a hotel stopover, because the venue tomorrow is only a few hours away, and we don’t play until four.” Jimmy interjected. Alright, now Vivien knew the pair were having a private discussion about her - fuck Vampire hijinks, why couldn’t she go back to living in a world where if somebody wanted to talk about someone, they had to wait until the person in question left the fucking room?

“Why is the Summer Solstice so special?” The boys were so engrossed in their mental staredown that neither one of them acknowledged the young vampire. “Well, then, I’m going to need an advance on my paycheck or that snazzy black card of yours, because I’m going down to the bar,” Viv got to her feet, casting about the room for the suitcase of her clothes she was sure the boys had brought in for her; she found it and as she tore into it she could feel the boy‘s stares on her back as if they were trying to look through her to see what she was digging for. “Right, and I’m sure you guys are coming with me. Can I have a minute to change?”

As soon as the boys were gone from the room, Vivien changed into one of the many baby doll dresses she owned but so rarely got to wear - a poofy skirt with a short hemline and a deep neckline was not appropriate backstage attire for a technician; if she had ever done a sound check in one of her baby dolls, the entire audience would have gotten a view that would have made Britney Spears blush. The dancer added a pair of heels and ran a brush through her hair before she sauntered out into the hallway where the boys waited.

Arm-in-arm with her two of her five favorite vampires, Vivien proceeded to the bar as if she were actually leading the way for the trio (in reality, she had no idea where she was going, having no recollection of even arriving at the hotel in the first place). After an elevator ride and a few moments spent wandering about the lobby as if they owned the place (but couldn’t remember what hotel of theirs they were in, duh), Brian, Jimmy and Vivien seated themselves comfortably at the far, secluded corner of the Hotel’s bar. As soon as Jimmy laid down that black plastic card, the group commenced drinking.

“Three shots of that lovely Peach Absolut I see up there, dear sir,”

“Wow, is that all for you Viv?” Jimmy pried, with an eyebrow raised.

“I figured the three of us could take a Solstice Shot, and what better Solstice Alcohol than Absolut Premium Peach Woad-kuh?” The redhead shrugged and grinned as the bartender delivered the shots. “For me, just keep those coming, please.” The boys placed their own drink orders - Guinness for Jimmy, and a round of tequila shots for the group on Brian’s behalf. The guitarist in question grabbed for his shot glass first, holding it aloft while glancing at Jimmy for a toast.

“To the beautiful daughters of Hellewise, hopefully their Solstice has been better than ours.”

“But only the beautiful ones,”

“Brian!”

“That includes you, Viv, please remove the stick from your ass,”

Rolling her eyes, the youngest vampire clinked shot glasses with the boys and tossed her own shot back, enjoying the lovely tingling sensation of the alcohol sliding down her throat.

“You know, it’s actually rather early,” She commented, as she set down the now-empty shot glass. “We could probably find something fun to do here tonight rather than sit at this bar.” The other two men looked at her incredulously.

“Like what?”

“Well, I can think of a few tattoos I want,” Especially now that she knew that ink wasn’t permanent on Vampiric skin. While it caused a good deal of discomfort for a while, a vampire could absorb the ink into their bloodstream where it would eventually leave the body through various means. She had been told that the process might take a few days, but aside from the pain it was completely harmless and fully effective.

“Oh, yeah? Do you have designs, drawings, plans? What ‘cha gonna get?” Really, Viv was going to have to change his name from Brian to doubting Thomas or something.

“Yeah, I do. Which is more than you can say for some of your tattoos though, right Haner?” Vivien sighed and gulped down her second shot before her hands shot into her trademark oversized purse. “I’ve got a few things in mind. They’re… right… here!” The dancer smacked what appeared to be a two-pocket folder that was stuffed with drawings; Haner’s hand beat Jimmy’s to the red folder and began to leaf through it - he nodded at the things that he liked, and pursed his lips at the things he disliked.

“You want to get all of these? At once?” Jimmy leaned far over the bar in order to catch a glimpse of the artwork as Brian turned the pages over; he snatched the occasional leaf of paper to stare at the design and modify it with a pencil which Vivien supposed had been produced from his ass.

“What do you think I am? Crazy?! But it’s only 7:30, and we’re already drinking, so I think if we found a suitable shop nearby, I could probably get two or three easy ones done.”

“Such as?” Viv reached for the folder, and picked out three drawings to arrange in front of her; the boys stared as if they were at an art gallery opening.

“See, these two are just text, and this one’s a simple flower. Simple enough, right?” Over Vivien’s excited red head, the boys exchanged a glance and sadly shook their heads. “And since you guys have been covering my living expenses - what there is of them - I can totally afford a few tats at the moment!”

“Isn’t she adorable, she thinks she’s getting three tattoos and paying for them, Brian.” The unusually calm drummer ordered another round of shots for the trio, and patted Vivien on the head gently. “I meant to talk to you about this little wage pool we have - since you’re a member of our family now, we’ll add your cash to our bank account and get you one of those ‘snazzy black cards.’ What do you say?”

“Where do I sign, and when are we leaving?”