Whiskeytown

Being a long time I know, I know. Let's get down to it.

From the Diary of Mavis Dracula, September 28, 2013

Today I become 119th. I used to long for my birthdays, knowing Dracula would set up a big party and invite his adopted brothers. But now? I'm alone, nobody to go to. It's also... the date of Johnny's departure. One more year without him. (A single teardrop stains the page) Funny thing about faces: I can barely remember what Johnny looks like, yet I vividly remember my first sunrise, the kiss at the birthday party, the pool party...

I arrived here yesterday. Ireland, if the map doesn't lie to me (or if I read it correctly. I still have trouble with it). I'm supposed to be someplace called Dublin. The streets are lit tonight, yet there is a gloomy feeling about the general place. I'll not be here for long, I hope, but it's certainly an interesting place to nose around. Maybe it will help my mood.

-Mavis

The vampiress tucked the book away on the small pack she carried, which had replaced the old suitcase she fled with months ago. She sat on the edge of a not-so-tall building, overlooking a small part of the city. The sun had set an hour ago, and the young girl had seized the opportunity to explore the new environment. She lowered herself discreetly to street level, using her ablity to walk on the walls. The alley she landed on was poorly lit, with only a couple of bulbs to...

"Well, well, what we got here. Check this out, Thumbs"

Mavis froze when she heard the male voice. She turned around to face a muscled man, dressed poorly and dirty, with wild eyes and a malicious expresion on his face. The girl wasn't impresed nor scared, having dealt with bad people ever since she started traveling on her own, vampire strenght always giving her the edge she needed to end the brief conflicts.

"Looks like we get to have some fun tonight" a second, harsher voice joined, belonging to a thinner but older-looking guy, just as badly-dressed as the first one. They slowly began cornering Mavis, making her back away until her scape routes were blocked. The vampiress felt slightly nervous, not willing to fight these guys, who were obviously too crazed and on something to control themselves.

"Stop right now. I don't want to hurt you" she said in a firm voice and stone-faced demeanor. She was resolved not to let them do anything to her, but she was still debating wether to hurt them or not.

"Oh, you hear that, Thumbs? Little pussy-cat is gonna use her nails! Oooh, I'm so scared!"

The alley ended with a wall to Mavis' back, and the situation solved on it's own: fight of flight. Mavis was ready for anything, but not for what came next. A third man joined the scene, but instead of threatening her he expertly delivered a double-punch on the large guy, knocking him out cold. The newcomer stepped into the dim light, enough to make out his outfit, but his face remained obscured due to a high-neck trench-coat he was wearing, complemented with a brown beret. He swiftly dodged strikes from Thumbs, blocking the third one and kneeing him in the stomach. Something thumbled to the ground from inside the doubled-over man, the stranger looking at it and then grabbing him by the neck.

"I thought we were clear about what would happen if I caught you both with this shite again, pal"

Thumbs just looked blankly at him. The stranger adressed Mavis brief and tersely.

"You should leave, lady. Me pals and I are 'bout to have a whale of time. Won't we, Thumbs?"

Mavis could barely understand the heavy accent, but she understood enough to go away and mind her business. As she quickly exited the darkened alley she heard four loud pops and muffled screams, the stranger emerging a few seconds later with a hand on his pocket and a cigarret on the lips. He seemed to look up to Mavis and froze as he fished for his lighter. They held their gazes for a moment and then he broke off up the street at a leisure pace, leaving the vampiress both shocked and in wonder.

Who was that guy?

When on the road to sweet Athy,
Hurroo Hurroo
When on the road to sweet Athy,
Hurroo Hurroo
When on the road to sweet Athy
A stick in the hand, A drop in the eye
A doleful damsel I heard cry
Johnny I hardly knew ya

Gee, thanks. Just what I needed, Mavis thought, a glass of beer in her hand. She had discovered the soothing properties of alcohol little time after she began traveling (and the mandatory hangover after drinking too much), and how it helped her to cope with her zing's abscense. The song's lively metal chords did little to lessen the sting that the lyrics caused to her. She sipped from the glass, trying to bury the memory again, focusing instead on what had happened just a couple of hours ago.

Had that guy...

"They ain't dead, if that's what bothers you, lady"

The voice, familiar enough, made her turn to the table behind her. The stranger was sitting there, whiskey on his hand and reading a local newspaper (old, even if it was from that day). Mavis could only wonder how could someone hurt others and be so calm about it.

"How?"

"How can I do it, how did I get here or how do I know what you are thinking?"

"Uhm... nevermind" Mavis said, returning to her drink. The stranger stopped reading the paper, folded it and left it on to of the table, turning to look at the hunched girl.

"Well, lady, in that order: I've done it for a while, I happen to have legs and I read minds."

Read minds. That got Mavis' attention.

"Read minds?" she said, returning her gaze towards him, "but... humans can't read minds"

He laughed, more like a scoff or a dog grunt, but obligued for her.

"Who ever said I was human, young lady?"

A monster?

"Are you..."

"Yes, I am, tough some people would arguee that I'm just a "gifted" lad. Flippin stooks."

"But how? You look so... human"

"Anyone with something that shouldn't have is a monster in the eyes of the world. Some just happen to be unlucky."

Mavis cringged a bit at the dry remark, knowing it to be true. Humans tended to be... judgemental, even among themselves.

"Alas, I sense that there's something else bothering you... somethin' more... let's say, personal"

The vampiress' temper flared, and her eyes became red for a moment. She stood up, smacked her hand on the table in front of the guy and stood face-to-face with him.

"Don't push it, "pal""

He was unmoved by her outburst, looking her straight in the eye. His stare was so cold that Mavis backed away, and the patrons of the pub returned to the activities they had stopped. He softened his expresion, allowing emotion to come back to his face.

"Why don't you sit and cool down? Pat, two Pints of Gat"

Mavis felt unsure, being in the same table with a guy. He's kindda handsome.

Wait, what?

It caught her off-guard, thinking of him as handsome, of all things.

"Well. Now that you are less ticked, is it something you would like to talk about?"

"Yeah, right, no offense, but I don't go about telling my personal life to strangers. Specially not those whose name I don't now."

The guy laughed.

"Alright, it's only fair. Padraigh O'Donnell, at your service, young lady. Do I get the honor of knowing your name?"

Mavis chuckled slightly at the mock chivalry, and realised it was the first time since...

Johnny.

"Wait, if you can read my mind, I'm sure you know what's the matter"

"Ah, yes, but that would be cheating, wouldn't it?"

The smile on Mavis' face widened up a bit.

"I'll tell you what, you tell me about you and I tell about me" she declared, crossing her arms over her chest. The beer arrived almost at the same time.

"Fine. I'm 28 years old, I like to read and a good beer. That cuts it?"

The vampiress laughed softly, which in turn made him laugh the same.

"No, of course not. How did you grow up, relatives, you know, that stuff"

"Can't remember much of it. I've been hit in the head way too many times."

"Well... how about what happened in the alley?"

He shifted, ever so slightly, uncomfortable about the issue.

"Yeah, that. I used to do oddjobs for the IRA..."

"The what?"

"Sorry, the Irish Revolutionary Army. They are one of the sides battling it out for the "liberation of the Irish Motherland". I don't buy any of it, but it used to put the bread on my table. Anyways, the guys at the alley were not only trying to harm you, they also dealed drugs. We don't like that business in here, it's disgusting, and back in the day we.. used to punish them by knee-caping them"

"That sounds horrible" she said, slightly shocked

"It is, but it was also efective. In the end, I refrained from staying in on that business. Way too many people killed with no apparent reason, and to know that I was somehow involved on it... it made me sick. Today I run a shipping company, I move stuff in and out the island. And here I am"

Mavis was half-way through her glass when he finished.

"It... sounds like an awful story. Mostly"

"It is true, unfortunately. But it's in the past" O'Donnell answered, sipping from his own drink, "Now, a deal is a deal, lady"

"Mavis. My name is Mavis"

"Mavis... that's a beautiful name." she blushes slightly at the compliment, unused to them after a year of lone trekking.

"Yeah, moms usually pick good names", they both laughed slightly at the remark.

The vampiress and her savior spent the best part of three hours in the pub, sharing drinks and listening to each other's stories and experiences. Mavis could do nothing but be amazed at what her companion had lived in such a relatively short life. Padraigh (or "Paddy" for short, according to him) seemed like a person that had seen it all. When they were finished, they felt like they had known each other since they were little.

"Thanks for the drinks" Mavis said as they exited the pub, light rain now pelting on the street.

"Anytime" O'Donell answered, "Are you staying in-land for long?"

"No, not really, I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow"

"Well, that's a shame. I was hopping you would stay longer." He fished into his coat and produced a business card, which he presented to Mavis, "If you are ever in town again, or if you need anything, you can give me a call."

She took the card, gazing slightly away from him, blush in her face.

"I will, I promise."

After saying good bye, Mavis had climbed back into a building, looking for a hole were she could sleep as a bat. The night was giving way to the day, yet she couldn't take her mind off what had happened that night. Was she falling for another guy? No, it can be. I have already zinged!

But what if it's not a zing?.

Is it necessary for me to have a zing to like somebody?

Is it right?

She remembered the first song she had heard on the pub, and she strangely found the answer to her questions in a single line of it.

Johnny, I hardly knew ya.