Change or Die

Alexa Emerson was your ordinary bartender, working at Johnny's. Her mother died when she was younger and she and her father didn't really see eye to eye, therefore she only visited him during special occasions. She had no siblings.

She didn't live a luxurious life, but didn't really see the need to. Her small apartment was perfect for her and her job covered enough for her to have three square meals a day. Sure she got lonely, but she had her co-workers. They were nice enough and offered to hang out with her during off days.

They would often tease Lexie about the strange birthmark she had on the left side of her neck. It was shaped like a bat and if you looked really closely, you could see the letters S-Y-N on it, too. Actually, her birthmark was like a cloud. Everyone would say they saw different shapes but no one could see what the other person saw.

"No, it looks like a boat."

"Fuck off! That's totally a bat."

"A boat? A bat? Seriously. It's a tent with wings."

"...Whatever."

Those were only a few comments she got about her odd birthmark made my her co-workers and, sometimes, her regular customers. With the dim lighting of the bar, you couldn't really see it unless she put her hair up.

Unless you were a regular, Lex didn't recognize ordinary customers. However, a group of five men caught her attention one night and she could not stop thinking about them since. Maybe it was because of their size and heavily tattooed bodies... And the fact that the three girls with them seemed so innocent and small in comparison to the boys.. It was a very weird sight. She had her hair down that day and only took their orders. One of the other workers served the drinks.

What an odd group...

A few nights later, as she was walking home alone, like always, a rough hand grabbed her from an alleyway and she was slammed against the wall.

"Hello, darling."

Alexa thrashed about and tried to kick the man. She missed, though, and earned a slap on the face.

"Let me go, dammit!"

A knife was suddenly in her line of view and she immediately stopped all movement, staring at it, eyes wide.

"One more word and I'll slit your throat, got it?"

She didn't respond. She didn't need to. She felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes. The man started to undress her, top first. She was glad she chose the shirt with the buttons that always pissed her off when she tried to undo it as the guy was having trouble cutting it even with the knife. She suddenly found her strength and screamed as loud as she could.

"I thought I told you to--"

He was cut off while Lex stared wide eyed as a small blurred figure tackled the man to the ground, ecstatically screaming, "Dead body!!"

What the..?

"Hey, you okay?"

Looking up, she saw two of the five guys she had met at the bar. One was wearing aviators, even though it was nighttime, tattoos covering his arms. The other was very tall with long straight hair. He, too, had a sleeve of tattoos hiding his skin.

"I.. Uh.." she gulped before talking again. "Y-yeah.. I'm fine.. Thanks." She rubbed at her eyes, trying to stop crying.

"No problemo." The tall one said, offering her a hand to help her up. "Charlie, get back here!"

She smiled at him in thanks, believing she heard a distant voice cry out, "Make me!" and gladly took it, fixing her clothes and dusting herself off. She felt a bit hot, with sweat beading on her face, so she reached into her pocket to pull out her hair tie and fastened her hair into a loose ponytail. The man who helped her up looked at where 'Charlie' ran away, muttered an 'I'll be back' and ran after her. It was now just Lexie and Aviators.

"That's an interesting mark you have there," Aviators commented, suddenly seeming a bit more alert.

"Huh? Oh.. Yeah.. It's a birthmark or something. I've had it my whole life."

"Oh, that's not a birthmark."

Alexa raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really?" she said slowly. "Then what exactly is it..?"

"You," he said, ignoring her question, "need to come with us. And stay with us. Permanently."

She was getting scared again. First she almost gets raped, and now her saviors turn out to be a bunch of kidnappers who want her because of her stupid birthmark. Great.

"Matthew, what are you doing?" a soft voice came from behind 'Matthew.'

"Oh, some guy nearly raped her. But, Libby, look at her neck."

"Matt, we don't feed from--" she cut herself short, once she saw what he was talking about. "Oh my.."

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on?"

"Sorry, but it'd be best if you came with us." Libby said.

"Woah! What makes you guys think--"

"You don't really have a choice.." Matt shrugged.

What have I gotten myself into?