Under one of the many dimly lit street lights in the city sat a withering pile of ash. Hot cinders had been melting through a pair of clothing left in the pile, the fibers of the shirts slowly fusing together. The wind began to pick up and carried some of the pile down to the gutter. From around the corner stood a women who watched the pile intently, almost hoping it would disappear completely. Shaking her head in shame she picked herself up and went for a walk. The city was dull at this hour but even she knew that some things dared to walk and creep through the alleyways and neighborhoods though not many as blatantly as her. Smirking a bit and turning the corner she found herself back at the gas station only a block from her house that she favored. Food was pointless but old habits die hard and the taste of what humanity had overdosed with sugar this year had kept her coming back. "Hey." She smiled casually at the man behind the counter who looked tired as ever and rubbed his eyes. "Do you ever sleep?" She grinned as she looked over the semi edible gas station taquitos spinning endlessly on the heater. "I don't need a lot of sleep to keep me going. That and I don't get stuck with the graveyard shift like you do every night of your life." He groaned and turned to the wall of tobacco behind him, writing various numbers of the inventory on a large sheet of paper.
Buying a handful of doughnuts and a soda she left the store and finished her walk home, not really worried about the bad diet she had as her body was far more resilient than a regular person. Upon arriving home she plopped into her favorite chair and flicked on the tv having to flip through the channels to find anything decent on because of the early morning. Her home was a quiet large apartment that looked as though it was a hotel room with the half furnishing she had done. The living room had a very simple set up with a couch and tv in one corner and a series of cabinets and bookshelves lining the rest of the walls. Even still there was a large pile of books that were next on her reading list stacked next to the couch. The kitchen lacked silverware, plates, and most importantly a fridge. A number of paintings filled the empty wall space to brighten the place which lacked much light after she cemented over the windows.
As the sun rose she knew what was coming and got as comfy as she could, determined not to wake up with another crick in her neck. The world awoke with the cracks of light shining through the slit in horsetooth mountain and her body relaxed into a softer position. The skin turned gray and wrinkled as her eyes filled with cataracts and pulled her vision to a halt. The bones creaked and churned as they locked into place leaving a corpse where she was.
Memories washed over her as she was standing in the black of her mind waiting for the experiences to take hold. The first to come was the rush of sunlight and an explosion of color as she was thrown back into childhood, shrinking and falling to her old height. Looking up at her parents again she found the grin of her father as he lifted her into his arms that still held such vigor and life. His breath was a very feint beer covered with juice and his chest was warm and safe as he held her close. "Whose that huh?" He cooed at her as he pointed over to his sister who was in the kitchen with her mother who was preparing dinner for the evening. "That's mommy!" She cheered and he laughed and shook his head. "No sweetie. The lady next to mommy." Before she could respond the darkness had once again taken her over and she was falling. The dark cleared slowly and the falling was replaced with the churning of her stomach. Inside of a plane for the first time she watched outside the window at the dark clouds and lights flying by in the night. "Why would anyone travel like this?" She muttered and looked around the people traveling who seemed quite used to the chaos around them, one man still packing the tobacco into his pipe despite the shaking knocking a bit onto the floor. Unable to contain a grin at the show she looked down and sighed at the two books she had already finished during the flight with an hour still to go. Leaning over to a man on her left she smiled and touched his arm lightly. "Excuse me sir, might you know when the plane will be touching down?" The man had a large mustache and seemed upper class with the state of his coat and brand new pocket watch dangling from the breast. "I've no idea young miss now please leave me be." He returned to his own book, flipping one of the pages.
Her slumber ended abruptly as she was thrown back into reality with an icy sheet of cold air meeting her. She rose coughing and gasping for air, falling off the couch and onto the floor. She ripped her clothes from her skin quickly as the sleeping left them usually a little to greasy from the state of her body. Finding a nice set of jeans and a dark shirt she crossed the house and peaked through the eye hole to the door. The sun had already gone down and with that she tested the air outside, deciding to grab a jacket before heading out. She stepped into the night and brushed some of the crumbs off of her coat. A little hungry she patted her pockets to make sure she had her wallet and walked to the street to catch the last bus to the center of town. As she boarded a man was rolling drunkenly on the seats muttering to himself. Interested but not willing to deal with the smell, she looked over him and then returned to staring out the window. Watching as the buildings flew by she couldn't help but sigh as she could think of when this part of the city was still being constructed and how they had changed the layout so many times.
The bus pulled into the downtown transit station and she walked off of the bus and headed towards the square. With the start of the weekend the regular college kids flocked to the bars and various clubs that filled the city making it almost a challenge to weave through the mess of drunks that littered the sidewalks. Having lost a portion of the shine that the town once carried after being named highly as a place to raise the children people were so eager to shelter, the tourism brought even more political controversy and was stimulated with the legalization of pot. Now double the population in the last five years, some three hundred thousand people stretched across the small borders. Packed with apartment complexes and garages closely the city had started to grow weak from supporting the growth. Looking up at the famed hotel on the corner, a man stood underneath the sign throwing up loudly onto the doormat.
Walking down the main street to window shop at the local bars for potential fun for the night. Finding a decently crowded and dark space behind a noisy door she slipped in between the mass of bodies and let nature take its course. The groups here were large and friendly leaving few to wander alone among the tables lining the walls. With a bit of luck she found her place among the bar and ordered a the shy pretty smile she kept for special nights like this, soon a seemingly nice boy sat two seats distance from her. Turning her presence into liquid fascination the room seemed to pull to a halt as eyes paused and drinks were set down when the attention shifted to only for a split second the eyes in the room danced over onto her and then back to their original position.
With another nudge of personality the room was lit with the need for passion. Unable to look away the young man sipped his drink slowly, his eyes running over her multiple times almost undressing her as she smirked back at him. Nervous and eager he accidentally spilled his beer down his front lightly and could barely find the napkins as his eyes were too busy to look around. She let out a light giggle and his face turned to pure ecstasy. Pushing once more into is emotional stability she found what she was looking for and brought it to the surface. Within moments he seemed almost more aggressive and lifted his drink to come sit with her still not minding the stain that was setting into his shirt and left him reeking of beer. He watched her more intently now and eyed her body as she turned to see what he wanted.
"Hey, are you all alone here?" He asked in all seriousness with clear intent to get a little more personal with her. "And what if I'm not?" She asked flatly, knowing he wouldn't be turned away by her cold words. "Then why not fuck whoever that is. You're too good to be here with some loser, and with looks like that you can't settle for some usual guy here." She grinned knowing she had sunk into his skin and pulled at the cut in her shirt a little. "What would we even do?" She asked coyly hoping he was more creative then the usual men she lured. "Don't ask," he whispered. "just give into the night and lose where you are." Enjoying the bold moves she didn't usually see she rose and ran her hands down her front. "Don't bother keeping me waiting then."
Eager to see how this young one would hold up to her standards she ran her fingers through her hair and then down her chest to tease his curiosity. Almost a little to dominant he grabbed her by the wrist and looked into her eyes. "You can stop the with the teasing, you have my attention and it's not going anywhere." Leading out of the bar and down the street she could feel his pulse rising in his grip as they got closer to an alleyway close by. Favoring a dark corner he pushed her against the wall to tear into her clothing, his hands finding quickly what he wanted as he ran them across her chest. Letting out a high pitched giggle of surprise she pushed on hand downwards hoping to get a little fun out of this boy before the night was over. His fingers slipped up her dress and across her panties and he closed his eyes to savor the feeling. Gripping his head in one hand she pulled his hair to get him closer to her lips. "Maybe next time."
Ripping into his skin violently she shook the neck to rip the holes a little more open though her teeth did all the work she needed. The flow was only impeded by the frantic and excited lapping she started. Feeling the air begin to leave his lungs she set him on the ground moaning in want for more. She licked the wound sadly hoping for more but knowing she couldn't leave the dead in the streets with the way the humans were these days. Disappointed and now tipsy she straightened her dress and cleaned the dirt off the back. After leaning down to check his pulse she left him there with the hope he would fill the night with horny memories and forget all about the pain. The alcohol from his blood now mixing with hers as she walked the world spun ever so slightly and she had to lean on a bench to catch her breath. "You are so sloppy." She groaned and looked up at the jeans and hoodie of a women in front of her who lightly clicked her tongue ring on her teeth as she waiting for a response. "Fuck off. Don't you have corpses to fondle or did you just miss me?" She laughed and kicked the dirt around still waiting for her friend to stand up right. "Ugh. I taste whiskey and piss." Her friend helped her to her feet and held her arm as she swooned trying to make sense of how much the man had to drink before she drank it a second time.
"Little Mercy all alone and drunk in the streets." Now almost heaving she gripped the bench again. "Why are you out of your grave huh?" Sighing with boredom and looking around her friend shrugged. "This town is already completely boring without living in the dirt. I wanted to see some sites and maybe catch a little food." Standing finally and wobbling a little as she walked she looked over to the girl and admired the five new piercings she had acquired since their last meeting. "I'm game." They waltzed slowly through the town eyeing certain people and wondering if that might satisfy Sylvia's craving. When no one stuck out among the usual drunks, homeless and others running around hopped up on various drugs the walk began to lead them to looking for a more formal place to hunt. Catering to the college life of the town the fancy restaurants were either close to the city limits or too high class for anyone who wasn't one of the lords of the damned to get into.
Settling for a nice Asian buffet they ordered drinks and pondered how much they were willing to eat if only to have to deal with a human system later. A man sat alone at a table and Sylvia's interest was clearly perked as she stared. "Later, first lets eat. Just keep an eye out for him." Serving as much as they wanted they began to demolish the food in front of them while Sylvia continued to stare. "So how are your buddies in insanity?" asked Mercy. "That's unfair and you know it. Their fine, creepy and boring. I'm starting to run out of books though." Mercy couldn't help but giggle as she knew the library in her home that she shared with the others was more expansive then most in town. Word around town is there's a new opening as a lackey."
Nervous now she lowered her silverware and glanced around the room to make sure no one had taken to looking over. "Another war in the streets?" asked Mercy quietly. Shaking her head sullenly as if this was bad news that public bloodshed hadn't happened she looked down at the table. "The hounds under Douglas said he got into a rough talk with Virgil after the last meeting down by the safe zone by Harmony." Horrified at the thought of a clan leader clashing with Douglas she sipped her drink quietly. "Whose going to take his place?" Sylvia looked up at her and stared blankly. Spitting her soda across the table and beginning to cough Mercy was stunned. "No. I won't." Sylvia rolled her eyes for what felt like the six hundredth time as she threw her hands on the table in frustration.
"You are getting older the more you deny yourself any of the rights that come with building this town." Having heard this speech before by the other people in power she shook her head. "I've no need to get into these politics. Need I even remind you of my very blood?" Letting out a hearty laugh Sylvia looked over at the man again to make sure he was still there. "Are you going to tell me that no Toreador in the history of the clan has worked for a political position? If you don't do this even the fledglings of the god damn eighties are going to step all over you. You wanna throw your personality all over the world? Then do it to better yourself."
Seeing the man beginning to leave Sylvia rose and left Mercy with her piles of food and thoughts. In a few minutes Sylvia returned and wiped the corners of her mouth nervously. They ate quietly only exchanging remarks over the quality of the food tonight and when the meal was through were out on the street around looking in every direction for inspiration on where to go next. "What time is it?" Sylvia pulled a long pocket watch from inside her coat and clicked it open. "Quarter to two." The alcohol was still humming in Mercy's blood though not as strongly with the settling of the greasy food. "Let's hit the Cat." Sylvia shook her head. "I can't been coffee into the crypts anymore. Something about the place just soaks the smell in and makes everyone a little sick of it." Mercy shrugged. "Why not just crash at my place. I'm sure its just as cozy as your dirt cavern." Smiling for a moment Sylvia considered it. "Got cable? I've been dying for some shitty tv." "I have netflix." Nodding and starting Sylvia yelled back. "That'll do."
As the morning began to soak the town in its light blue haze the apartment echoed with the two friends purging the filth from their insides almost as a punishment for daring to enjoy the human world again. Sylvia leaned over the tub retching and lightly smacking her chest to help the food along. "Ugh why do we do this?" She grumbled. Laughing as she puked as well Mercy pulled her hair back another time and wiped her mouth. "How else would we remember what it's like. Who knows, this could be the liquor or the food for me." She chuckled before the next wave hit her. As they finished both laid on the floor and panted slightly. "Coming to the surface and spending all morning throwing up with me was an interesting tactic to get me into the political scene." Sylvia nodded. "Well the alternative was blackmail." Hoping she was kidding but unsure of how much the Nosferatu really had on her she shook her head. "I don't handle blackmail well."
The sun peaked over the mountains as they crawled into the living room. Sylvia grabbed a few pillows from the couch and curled up by the tv. Pulling herself up and onto the couch Mercy stared at the ceiling exhausted and curious. Her thoughts drifted slowly to the prince of Lamier county who hadn't paid a formal visit since she was a child.