Dodger awoke with a start. He immediately sat up, breathing ragged as he looked around in a panic, only to realize that he was in his own apartment. Was that all a dream? The cemetery, the boy, the fangs? Was it simply a dream? But, how had he gotten home last night after he had left Claude's place? He let out a big breath, running his hand through his bangs. That's when he remembered cutting his thumb. He lowered his hand to his face, finding no wound there. That seemed to convince him that last night had not been real. Convinced, he set about preparing for his day. He showered, got dressed, and ate breakfast. Then, he set out on his walk to his university, maybe going to class would distract him from that strange dream he'd had.
It was his habit to indulge in a cigarette on his walk to class. Today, especially, he needed one. He found a cigarette easily, the box in the same pocket they always were. But, when he reached for his Zippo, it wasn't there. Now, people forget things all the time. But, Dodger NEVER forgets his lighter. He felt worry build up inside him again. He'd dropped his lighter in his dream, when the boy woke up. And now, he didn't have it. That can't just be a coincidence, can it? Stopping by the cemetery wouldn't do any harm. If anything, it would calm his nerves.
What he found was the police. He first saw the car, and then the officers by the mausoleum he had hidden in the night before. He hurried past, the words 'grave robbing' floating into his ears as he fled the scene of his crime. Last night hadn't been a dream. He really had gone into that mausoleum last night to get out of the rain, he really had opened that coffin, and he really had disturbed the boy laying in it. What's worse, that boy was a vampire, and according to him, Dodger belonged to him. He really was an unlucky guy.
Dodger was on edge the rest of the day. During lunch and all his classes, he was always looking over his shoulder, distracted by the worry that he'd turn around and find himself face to face with a short, adorable looking blood thirsty vampire. His only hope was that the whole 'vampires hate the sunlight' thing was true. This worked for a while, but today was a Wednesday, and his last class ended AFTER the sun went down. He almost expected it, stepping outside and finding the blond there waiting for him. And he was. He found him sitting on a bench at the entrance to his college, waiting patiently. He wasn't wearing his strange clothes anymore. Instead, he was dressed in a black hoodie and a pair of jeans, both articles of clothing a bit baggy over his small frame. Upon spotting him, the boy smiled, standing up and making his way over. Dodger was unable to flee in terror as he had planned. Instead, he stood frozen as the boy drew closer to him, until he was finally standing right in front of him.
"Hello." Well, that wasn't really what Dodger was expecting, it kind of threw him off. But, he found himself responding to the small boy in front of him.
"Oh, uh… hi…"
"You… left this." The blond held out Dodger's Zippo, like a prize. 'Congratulations, you've been chosen to be my personal blood bank.' So, he really HAD been in the cemetery last night. He really HAD been the cause for the vampire's awakening. He was screwed, in short.
"Th…thank you…" Dodger was a little hesitant to reach out for his lighter, like the physical contact between them would unleash this boy's bloodlust. But, he found himself taking the lighter from the boy anyway, shivering on contact, his fingers were so cold! Was it from lying in that coffin? Or would he feel this way forever?
"I apologize for last night; I didn't mean to frighten you. I was a bit out of my head." This kid spoke weird. He was… polite. Weird. Then again, it was weird that he would just show up at Dodger's university. And he didn't even want to know where he got those clothes.
"Oh! No… I wasn't scared you just… surprised me." That sounded really convincing, the shaking was a nice touch.
"Well, that's a relief." The kid smiled and Dodger felt his face heat up. Vampires were supposed to be sexually alluring, right? That was how they found their victims. "By the by… What year is it?"
"Eh? Err… its 2009…"
"Oh, my! I've been asleep for two hundred years?"
"Two… two hundr-"
"Thank you so much for waking me up! My family must be so worried!"
"Your… family?" Wait… there were others like him? This kid wasn't the only vampire?
"I have to get going! Thank you again!" Dodger stood in shock as the blond ran off, waving back at him and promising to visit again soon. He found himself waving back, while a thousand questions flooded his mind. He'd been living in a city full of vampires? Those women in clubs, maybe those gothic kids with the fangs he'd been sure were fake. Could they be vampires? Were they preying on the people living in the city? He hadn't heard anything about bodies discovered without any blood left.
…Oh, God! The governments in on it, too!
In which Dodger becomes paranoid. I'm thinking of rewriting this. I always have so much trouble describing what people look like. Tell me if that actually bothers you. If it does, I'll rewrite it.
