Visual Kei

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but when we got there, it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. We stood outside a nightclub called The Maxx, and I tugged at the skimpy outfit I had to wear. It really sucked. I glared at Seheon as he chuckled.

“I’ll get you back for this, ass,” I snapped, pulling down the leather miniskirt so that it actually covered my underwear.

“It had to be convincing,” he said with feigned innocence. “This is about as realistic as it gets.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Let’s just be done with it.” I walked unsteadily in the high heels I was forced to wear, feeling the awkward difference in weight distribution and balance. How did heroines wear this shit in anime and movies?

A man in front of the club gave us some wristbands when we paid the cover charge. Looking at him, he seemed human enough. He waved us through and we entered the booming, flashing club. People were dancing everywhere. At tables, on tables, on chairs, in cages, on the floor, hanging from poles… it was a cluster-fuck. I stared at all the sweating, writhing bodies. I knew what dance clubs were and I had assumed they were sleazy, but this was something wholly different. It was both vulgar and wonderful. There was an exciting, euphoric sensuality about the place that made it easy to get lost in the laser lights and booming bass. I was impressed, actually.

The movements weren’t fluid enough, were too jerky and uncontrolled to be vampire dancers. I turned to Ray, about to tell him that the mission had to be a fluke, but he shook his head, cutting me off. “Back rooms.” Before I could say anything more, even if to mention how surprised I was that he could always tell what I was thinking, he grabbed one of the cuffs on my wrist and dragged me through the crowd. Seheon followed from behind.

We reached a door leading into what I assumed were the back rooms. The hallway was completely black and at the end, it opened up to a wide room lit only by black lights. Ray led me through the hallway, careful to avoid bumping me into things. When we emerged, it was as if it were attached to a whole second building. Beautiful figures of varying shades of perfection lounged around the room, ranging from nude to covered in layers of clothing. Each wall had a small fountain with grisly contents, and the middle of the room had a large fountain with steps leading into it. Several vampires lay in it, draped over its sculptures with their human playthings. It was horrible, but it was beautiful, too. I couldn’t look away from it.

A piercing shriek shattered the vision. I looked over to find Seheon holding up a pretty female vampire, a long, thick sword protruding from her back. She writhed on the blade, trying to scratch and bite at him desperately. He twisted it and her scream echoed painfully through the room like the screech of metal against metal before she twitched weakly, eventually falling limp in death. With one of his shoes, he slid her off his sword and turned to face the other vampires. They were frozen in place, their faces alight with outrage and fear.

A tall, aristocratic vampire appeared behind Seheon, setting a gloved hand gently on his shoulder. He turned and smacked his hand away, backing up toward us. The vampire’s eyes focused on me, offering his hands toward us cautiously.

“Why have you come to shatter our peace?” he asked coldly, scanning our faces individually. “You are not mortal. What quarrel have you with us?”

“We represent The Oni. You have become too involved with mortals, and are living in a way that is dangerous to the continued separation and preservation of the two worlds. There is to be no compromise or diplomacy,” Seheon recited as if he’d practiced every day. The sword in his hand dripped blood on the tiled floor.

“How have we involved ourselves overmuch?” the vampire demanded, gesturing to the room. “We have isolated ourselves to a single room which is guarded to keep humans from entering, other than our thralls. These humans here offer themselves to us, demand to be made one of us. We give them that which they desire before they meet their pitiful end. They are paraplegics, drug addicts, the outcasts of society, and we take them in and offer them a purpose. They have no lives, no lovers, no friends. No connections.”

“That does not excuse what you do. You have needlessly involved humans, bringing them into the forbidden world that they can never be allowed to be a part of.”

“Seheon . . .” I began. He ignored me.

“No more words,” Ray said, drawing two handguns with silencers. I gripped my own semi-automatic, unfamiliar with its weight or how to shoot it properly. Before I could try and figure it out in my head, Seheon moved to stab the leader. As if on cue, the vampires charged us. Ray’s gun flashed in the strange lighting and a few of them crumpled before me. I balanced my handgun as best I could, aiming at one crawling up the fountain. He crouched, hissing as he readied himself to spring. My shot connected with his shoulder, tossing him backwards and knocking him from the fountain. A thick spray of blood shot up from the basin as he sank to the bottom.

I whirled, kicking at one that had scraped its nails down my thigh. It flew backwards, but steadied itself while in the air, landing deftly and pushing from the ground to come at me again. This time, I stepped aside and brought my elbow down on its back. It skidded across the floor, leaving a trail of blood. Ray nodded to me once, fending off more. I looked back at the body, noticing with displeasure that there was a bullet hole at the base of its skull.

Before I could turn to see it, a female vampire tackled me, her teeth bared in blind fury. I held her back, but she snapped at my face and neck as if feral. Bracing one stiletto against the floor, I flipped back and threw her off me with both hands. Grabbing my second gun, I shoved the magazine into place and shot at a vampire lunging at Seheon’s back. It passed through his neck, blood spurting forcefully from the hole. He collapsed, gurgling, and I noticed with pleasant surprise that it had actually gone all the way through him and hit another in the temple.

“Lucky shot,” Seheon called smugly. I glowered at him. As I regained my footing, I felt pain scorch across my back from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Gritting my teeth, I turned around and pistol-whipped the vampire that had scratched across my back. I ignored the pain, but I couldn’t ignore that the skinny straps holding that stupid top on me were severed and the garment hung loosely over my breasts like a poorly-tucked napkin rather than silk. Without waiting for her to stand, I brought my heel down through her neck, deftly untying the heel and leaving it there, embedded in her throat. I untied the second shoe, also, using my right hand to ram it through the ribs of another that had tried to attack Ray.

Ray had returned his guns to their holsters and was fighting with his fluid, almost lazy movements, using their own speed and strength against them. Empty cartridges and used bullets were scattered underfoot. I turned to see Seheon tossed into one of the walls. The vampire leader smoothed his jacket and his eyes met mine for a moment.

“Why, hello there young lady,” he said, smiling almost gently. He bowed and began to walk toward me. “You are quite the beauty. It’s a shame that you’ve gotten yourself involved with these men here—you would have made quite the vampire.”

I said nothing, eying his movements nervously. The gun in my hand shook uncontrollably, even as I tried to steady it. He smiled, his eyes not in the least bit afraid.

“You don’t want to kill me, do you, sweetheart?” His dress shoes tapped against the floor. One step. Another. He was so close to me now. The gun danced in my fingers. “Put the gun down, and we can salvage this situation. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Justice?”

The gun felt awkward in my hand, shaking and twitching. I swallowed uncertainly, feeling trapped in my own body. I knew I should pull the trigger. I knew I should kill him. My finger tightened on the trigger, and I pulled it back—

The barrel clicked.

No goddamn ammo.

The vampire laughed in triumph, grabbing the gun easily and tossing it aside. I stood, transfixed by how much of a bitch fate was. His stepped even closer to me, our noses almost brushing. I could smell the blood on his breath, could see the flecks of gold in his inhumanly green eyes. His hands shot out and clutched my arms and he grinned, showing off his teeth. The gun clattered to the floor several feet away. Suddenly, Ray was on his back, tearing him away from me. With efficient calmness he shoved the barrel of one of his pistols into the vampire’s mouth, releasing two shots before any of us could move. Saying nothing, he stood from his position crouched over the vampire’s body, and faced us both.

Seheon knelt beside the body, checking it extensively. I faced Ray. He said nothing, but his eyes flashed disapprovingly as I stood beside him. Now that the battle was over and the adrenaline was disappearing, the gouges on my back and legs were stinging. My green silk top was blotted with blood and my skirt was torn in places. With how skimpy it was, one would think it would be difficult to tear it, but the vampires had found a way. I made a face that Ray must have seen because he swept my hair up and away from my back, tying it back with some gauze bandages. His fingertips skimmed the wounds gently, but it still hurt a bit. I flinched as he touched them, and he looked at me with a slight tinge of concern in his ice-blue eyes.

“That bad, huh?” I asked, clutching at the loose top now sitting uselessly unbound on my chest. Ray just looked at me, but I could tell that it looked pretty gross from the look on his face. “Do you mind bandaging me up when we get back? I can’t reach that.” He nodded solemnly, turning away to holster his gun again.

Seheon offered me the gun I’d dropped. “Let’s go. No need to stick around.” I took it and tucked it into the waistband of the leather skirt. They waited for me to retrieve my ridiculous stilettos from the bodies and re-strap them. Even though we were beat up and I was bloodier than a rare steak, people in the night club didn’t seem to notice or care. They seemed so human, but how could a human ignore that?

So this is what I get to look forward to. Fighting for something I don’t really believe in, not allowed to ask questions. Afraid to know the truth for fear I’ll have to fight against people I agree with.

I didn’t really care about humanity right then, I just followed Seheon and Ray back into the cold night air, relieved to be away from vampires and the smell of sex.