Taking a cab felt strange. I wasn't a stranger to it when I was still alive, not being able to afford a car. But now… It just felt off. It felt human in a way that I wasn't. Not any more.
Luckily the driver wasn't talkative. We just quietly drove to Hollywood.
Once there, I could already see the Motel. Paying quietly, I made my way to it.
"Good evening." The receptionist told me. I hardly even noticed it as I made my way to Durbin's room.
Locked.
With a frustrated growl, I yanked it open as if it wasn't. No one there. Yet. Great, I had to wait again. But maybe this was important.
This was it.
The final monster to slay.
What would happen after? What was I going to do with my life?
I absentmindedly pulled something out of my pocket. A business card for the place I used to work… The idea of just returning to my old life evaporated as soon as it came up as I simply tossed it away. That would be impossible. Even if it's just for the practical fact that I was probably fired at this point. So then what? Find out more about vampires? What little I knew about it, I didn't want to. One just left me for dead after turning me into one of them and the other… the one at the diner was just a nosy prick. I sighed before I decided to set this aside for now. Just focus on this last task. And right on time, I could hear the door open as I got up and Durbin, or 'Muddy' entered. I recognized him instantly and rage once more filled me as he looked me over, gasping.
"Good God!" Muddy exclaimed, eyes betraying he already knew why I was here. Or at least that he was in serious danger. I didn't waste any time as I hit him. This sent him across the small hotel room. Right into whoever opened the door. I saw a flash of crimson. Startled light blue eyes. However, instinct had taken hold.
"My work here is done." I said before dashing out of the window of the small bathroom. Someone saw me. FUCK. I had to go. I had to hide. But where? Instinct was taking over as I just… fled.
Home. Or close to it. The place where I worked. Was this so etched into my memory that it was the first place I'd go? Because of course. I shook it off as I headed to the main yard, filled with gutted cars. Almost immediately my boss' dogs started barking from their pens. However, one glare shut them up as they cowered away in fear. In any case, I was safe from whoever saw me at the motel…
I didn't even finish that taught as I saw the door of the small office open. The same person. And now that I looked him over, it was also the same person from the diner. Another vampire. Was he following me?
"Hey!" The other vampire called as I dashed away, in full survival mode. I kicked and pushed some of the junk his way, trying to get him off my tail. He almost supernaturally dodged whatever I threw at him, making me even more on edge. Eventually we got to the empty centre of the yard. No more running…
"No!" I called out as he approached me. "Back off, Vampire. Stay the fuck back! I did nothing to you!" I roared at the intruder now. He just pointed at where he came from with a look of indignant astonishment.
"You just threw a fucking car at me!" He retaliated before closing his eyes and pinching his nose to calm himself down. "Just… just tell me why. Why did you kill all these people?"
"Why the hell do you care? I don't give a damn if you understand." I growled at him.
"Humor me." He simply said, crossing his arms. This only made me more mad. Why did this… this stranger think he had any right…!
"Why? So you can pass judgement on me?! So you can decide if those murderers deserved to be gutted? You'll never know how it feels. NEVER!" This made him back away, holding his hands up.
"I'm not here to judge. I just… I want to understand, okay? This probably wasn't your idea of a good time so… again, why?" This calmed me down somewhat. But it didn't make things better. It just made me… remember. Still, if he wanted to know…
"My family… My children were butchered by small time criminals just looking to rob a house, steal a car, take whatever. No sense to any of it. No plan. No ransom. Just kill them, because… why?" My voice broke. I broke. "Because they were there? In the way?"
"I… I don't know what to say." The other vampire softly said. It hardly registered.
"Not one of them paid. My family dead, my life gone, I'm just supposed to let that happen?!"
"I can understand how that's terrible, but getting I don't think the answer is violent, painful revenge."
"Revenge. Justice. Whatever you want to call it. All I thought about is taking these evil animals, ripping them to shreds and licking the blood from my claws."
"Couldn't you use a less conspicuous way? This might blow the lid on the whole 'vampire' thing." He said. So now he was scolding me?! "Nobody wants that."
"At least I put it to use! How many vampires have used their abilities for a just cause? At least I did something!"
"You certainly did." The sarcastic little shit quipped. "So what's next? What are you plans for the future?" I couldn't help but shrug.
"I don't know. Butchering those bastards was the only thing that made me feel anything since my family was torn from me." An idea was brewing in my mind. "I'm sure there are others out there whose crimes have gone unpunished."
"Going full on Batman, huh? Or Charles Bronson more like." The other vampire said. "You'd think they like that? Your family? Think they'd be proud of you? Seeing you like this?" This hit me like a brick to the face. As if a part of me that I had buried suddenly woke up again. My family… My daughter. My wife. My son… They'd be… they'd be horrified.
"No… God no!" I exclaimed, holding my head. The realization was starting to hurt. To physically hurt. "It's got to stop. I can't live like this." I looked up at the other one, who looked somewhat uncomfortable but I could see a gleam of sympathy in his eyes. "You're right. Oh God, you're right! I'll never do it again. I swear! Forgive me!" I didn't know who that last sentence was meant for. The person in front of me? The people I killed? My family? I didn't know. I just… I just… I stood there, almost numbed by the realization of what I had become, a hand reached my shoulder as the other vampire looked at me with compassion.
"Go live." He said, before turning and leaving. I was... once again... so lost. Go live? How? I-I had nothing anymore. Not even my rage, which I was now so ashamed off. What else was there for me? What else could I do? These questions kept plaguing me as I left the junkyard. I needed to leave. This place. This city. Humanity altogether.
