"… What? …"
It took a few minutes for him to get his head together. For a moment, he couldn't even remember his own name.
Vince Noir… He sat up, trying to remember where he was, and then realizing he didn't have any idea to begin with. His head hurt and so he didn't particularly want to think, but he looked around and tried to work out his location, anyway.
It was dark, so he didn't expect to see much. For a second he didn't, but his eyes immediately adjusted and he could see with amazing clarity. Still, he didn't recognize his surroundings. He was in a long alley near nothing he was familiar with.
There was a burning feeling in his throat. Taking this into account along with everything else caused him to wonder for a moment if maybe he might have been drinking the night before.
But no—a memory came to him, hazy at first, but it grew clearer. He was running. Running… from someone?
He strained to remember more but something else became more urgent—his hair. It was so tangled than he could feel the knots against his head. He reached up to touch it, slightly afraid of what awaited his hand…
It felt matted, like something sticky had dried into it. Vince whimpered as he stood up. He had to see his reflection, even though it might kill him to see himself. He walked around searching for anything to see his reflection, when he noticed a disgusting scent. He walked further but it followed him even after he was out of the alley. Was it coming from him?
It smelled a bit… like death.
Eventually Vince came across a puddle. As he saw his face, a warm feeling erupted in his stomach, washing through his body. He was even more beautiful, but so pale…
He fell suddenly to his knees over the puddle, with a harsh thud and an outburst of shock and pain, and stared hard at himself. He wouldn't have been able to see it, not normally, but his suddenly unnaturally powerful eyesight revealed that he was covered in dried blood.
He stared at himself for what seemed like forever, although it was probably only a few minutes, pulling a dried mix of blood and his own hair from his head. He could believe what he was doing, but he continued, anyway. Another memory was coming to him. It was blurred, like he was blind. He saw himself as he ran. He tripped over his own feet and a few seconds later, he saw no more…
Across the street, he saw a building with a clock that showed the day's date. There was absolutely no one around, and every light was out in the neighboring houses. He ran frantically across the street and read the clock.
September 4th, 1:33 AM.
He read it again, to make sure he hadn't been seeing things. It was September? It couldn't be.
He placed a hand on the window, playing with his hair. He saw his reflection again. His mouth hung open, and he noticed something else: two long, sharp fangs where his canines used to be.
He shut his mouth and put a hand over it. He tried to forget and focused again on the date.
He stepped back in shock. If it really was September, then it was months after the last time he knew what was going on; going out to buy some Hula Hoops. Was that when all this started?
He immediately thought of Howard, Naboo, Bollo… Would they be worrying about him? Who was he kidding? He was VINCE NOIR. Of course they would be.
He went to find out where he was, but first, to get himself cleaned up. He walked away from the building, hand still covering his mouth.