Strength Of The World

I licked the remaining blood from my lips before placing a cigarette between them, staring down at the now lifeless body before me. I poured gasoline over the corpse, taking long drags of my cigarette before flicking it onto the body, watching as flames overcame it. A malicious grin quickly formed and I turned, leaving the scene. I tied my leather cloak shut, ruffling my fingers through my glistening, wavy black hair. I wore a thick layer of eyeliner that made my crystal blue eyes shimmer. A soft layer of dark purple eye shadow blended in perfectly with my pale skin.

As I approached the counter of the same bar I visited nightly, I slipped out of my cloak, revealing a crimson, laced corset and a black ruffled skirt barely covering me. Black high heeled boots formed skin tight up to my knees. I leaned over the counter, glancing at the bar tender and before I knew it he was standing before me. “How about a shot of vodka, and keep them coming.” A soft smile played at my lips as I spoke and he nodded, pouring my drink. I took hold of the small glass between two fingers, placing the rim to my lips. My head fell back as I downed the liquid, a burning sensation flowing down my throat. I slammed the glass atop the counter “Delicious.”

I wasn’t always like this. I use to live like any ordinary nineteen year old, boy drama, fighting with my parents on a regular bases, trying to find a good college so I could start my career in Criminal Justice. However everything I had was taken from me in the blink of an eye.

It was like any other ordinary night, I was tucked away in my bedroom, my nose stuck in the television, my parents downstairs cleaning up after dinner. We had paper thin walls and you could hear anything happening throughout the house. My parents always seemed to be louder this time of night than they were the rest of the day; but this night was different, it was quiet. I pushed the mute button on the remote and looked toward my door, trying to listen for any sort of sound. I sat up from my bed, walking to my door, opening it to peer out “Mom?” I called. No answer.

The lights downstairs were off, which was odd. I made my way nervously down the stairs, my hand feeling around the wall for the light switch. Before I could find it, I found myself being forced to the floor, landing on the palms of my hands. I quickly tried to push myself back to my feet. A cold hand took hold of my ankle, and with one swift motion I was on my back. I used my free leg to kick at whoever had me and tugged fiercely to free the leg they did have. As they dragged me into the kitchen, a thick wet substance soaked my clothing. I could see the outlines of two bodies lying still on the floor beside me; my parents. I let out a loud cry as tears stung my eyes and I began to scream for help.

The hand around my ankle disappeared and before I could move it was replaced on my mouth. They pulled me up into a sitting position and I was now resting against their chest and stomach. Their breathing was slow and calm, as if they weren’t doing a thing. I begin to shiver when I felt their lips ghosting over my neck and I let out a muffled scream into their hand, tears streaming down my cheeks. I tried to jerk away from the person when I felt a sudden surge of pain throughout the side of my neck. I reached up, grasping as the back of their head, taking a fistful of their hair, trying to pull their head away, but it only seemed to intensify the pain. I felt my body weakening and my vision blur.

They moved their hand from my mouth to my side, holding me up now. I could feel my body becoming cold and the pain quickly began to fade. My body was gently laid onto the floor and I was left for dead; or so they thought. I left town that night, leaving everything I owned behind. Our story was on the news for weeks, my parents had been murdered and as for me, sometimes I was a victim, other times I was a suspect. I don’t think anyone truly knew what to believe. As for me, I made a promise that night, I promised that I’d never kill an innocent being, but instead, kill the ones who hurt others.

However I didn’t title myself as a killer, but a hero.

I looked toward the entrance of the bar, watching as a group of four men entered the building. The first man was taller than the others. His hair had been buzzed cut which revealed his gauges. A lip ring was place on the corner of his mouth and tattoos visible on every inch of his arms. The second man was a bit shorter, shoulder length, spiky, black hair, a nose ring that could only be seen when the light hit it just right, and tattoos that covered his arms as well. The third man has short, slicked back hair, lip rings visible on both sides of his mouth, and a, what I liked to call, a bull ring, hanging from the center
of his nose; gauges also in both ears. A tattoo was visible on the side of his neck, but he wore a black leather jacket that covered his arms. The forth man was the shortest, and like the first, his hair had been buzzed. A nose ring fit loosely and tattoos covered most of his neck and his arms.

I’d been to this bar many times before, but I had never seen them. They took a seat at a booth in a dark corner. The men looked over at me and I quickly placed my attention back to my next shot, downing it. I called the bar tender over, leaning close to whisper “Have you ever seen those guys before? The ones sitting over there in the corner.” I nodded slightly in their direction. The man glanced before shaking his head “No, why?” he asked as he filled my glass with more of the clear liquid.

“Just wondering.” I smiled, downing the glass once more. I was beginning to feel my head spin and that was my cut off for the night. I laid a fifty dollar bill on the counter, grabbing my cloak, laying it neatly over my arm. I turned to leave, but came to a stop when the man with the piercings on both sides of his lips was suddenly before me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” A sarcastic smile was placed on his lips.

“You didn’t.” I mimicked his smile, tilting my head some to the side, my eyes studying his face.

He chuckled “My friends and I were wondering if a beautiful woman like yourself would be interested in accompanying us tonight. We’re new in town and would like to get better acquainted.”

The way he spoke wasn’t something you’d hear every day and I raised a brow slightly, looking over at the table of men, I could feel their eyes burning into me. I looked back up at the man before me “I would love to, however I’ve had a long day, maybe next time.” I smile politely, walking around him to get to the entrance. I could sense him following me and I stopped, placing on a fake smile before turning to find him standing just a foot away.

“Look” I took a breath “I will be back here tomorrow night and I will stay and talk and tell you and your friends all about this town.”

“I don’t think you understand” he laughed “We would all like your company tonight. Tomorrow doesn’t work for us.”

My smile quickly faded and my brows furrowed “No, I don’t think, you, understand” I growled “I don’t know who you think you are, walking into my town, demanding things, but let’s get one thing straight…” I trailed off, taking a step closer to him, the side of my nose pressed to his chin as I tilted my head up to get close to his ear “it’s not happening here. So you and your little group of friends can go back to wherever you came from and stay away from here.” I took a step back, looking up at him, a smile replaced on my once hateful glare “You have a nice night.”

I turned, shaking my head as I left the bar. It wasn’t the first time I’d had men try and demand things from me. Sure, my outfit didn’t help, but it was how I got my victims. I unlocked the door to my apartment, dropping my cloak over the back of the couch as I entered. I poured a small glass of blood before walking into my bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, picking up a picture of my parents that sat on my nightstand. Even being dead didn’t make your feelings disappear. I missed them every day. I had searched for months, for their killer, only to disappoint myself when I couldn’t find them. I had stopped searching, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t question myself about every vampire that crossed my path, which wasn’t many. It had been eight years since my parents were murdered, and I’d only come across two other vampires, newborns like myself.

I pushed their picture aside, sliding off my high heeled boots, taking another sip of my drink before falling back onto the bed. It was almost six am and the sun would be rising soon. I slept during the day and came out at night. No one ever suspected a thing; they all thought I had a night job.

“Goodnight mom…dad…” I closed my eyes, drifting into a deep slumber.