Mortality

XII - Vampire Territory

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On the night of your senior prom you practically asphyxiated yourself trying to find the right dress. You dragged your poor mother from store to store for four days and nearly drove each other bonkers in the process before finally settling on a purple gown with too much glitter on top that your date didn't even compliment. You swore you were going to get married in your pajamas after that disaster because so much fuss over a dress you were going to wear once simply wasn't worth the stress.

But this is worse. This is a thousand times worse.

You spend two hours destroying your closet. This top with those jeans, this skirt with this shirt, mixing and matching and throwing things together like you're a fashion student instead of a drama one and your room looks like a hurricane paid a visit by the time you've reached your breaking point, sitting cross-legged in the middle of your bedroom floor with your head in your hands.

You can't help but think that Jade is not having this problem. She'd look incredible in anything. She'd wow you to death if she showed up wrapped in Walmart bags. She's a Vampire. They don't need the extra help like Mortals do.

And that's what you are. An ordinary, not-glowing, not-flawless Human who desperately needs a good outfit to further your appearance just by virtue of your Aliveness.

What if she is, though? What if she wants to impress you, too?

You scoff at the very idea that someone as old and as suave as Jade could possibly want to impress the likes of you, a toddler - no, an infant - compared to her. She's seen things you can only dream of and read about in books. She's been in the company of millions of people from several generations and there's no way she hasn't seen a more beautiful man or woman. You likely don't even register on the scale.

But why, then, would she agree to go out with you?

You suck in a cold breath. Go out with you? Phrasing it like that implies something. Go out. Like a date. You had somehow convinced yourself that you just wanted to hang out, but no one wants to just hang out with a Vampire. With someone like Jade. No, your interests go further than that, as scared as you are to admit it. How could anyone blame you, really? All anyone would have to do is look at her for five seconds.

It's more than that, though. You feel your chest tighten. It's not just the fact that she's so gorgeous she's deadly - it's the way she grins at you in the moonlight, and licks the corner of her lips, and talks to you in that smooth, controlled tone of hers, and, well, jeez, she agreed to go out with you.

Her intentions could be sour. You know that. But you could say that about anyone you meet, really. You're not sure what kind of ulterior motive she could have - if she wanted to kill you, she had a perfectly good opportunity to do that six months ago. You're not rich. You're not famous - yet - and there's nothing you have that she could possibly want. So it has to be you, right?

You like to think so.

Heart thudding, you shift through your clothes again, one by one, and finally, painfully, come to a decision. The top is violet and ruffled and to counter the night's chill you sport a black, long-sleeved button up with it, a pair of midnight jeans that spill over your hardest-to-walk-in boots. You end up hating it when it's all thrown together but it's almost 8:30 and you really don't have any time to drive yourself completely crazy.

Your dad stops you at the foot of the stairs. He's immediately suspicious - "Why are you dressed like that? What boy are you seeing?" - and he's so defensive about something so Human that you almost start laughing. If he only knew. You could tell him and your mom where you're really going and who you're going with but your dad would sooner lock you in a tower and your poor mother would probably have a heart attack. As understanding as they act when it comes to Vampires, they're still confused and scared of them and look at them through a different lens. They went through the hell following the big Reveal, all of the riots and parades and death and the night becoming something to be afraid of. You don't see Vampires that way. You never have. Your first real impression of Vampires on a personal level has been Jade, and even though your initial meeting was one of the scariest moments of your life, you can't help but think of it as a positive one, too.

You tell him you're going out with Cat and Robbie before planting a kiss on his cheek and leaving. You haven't eaten since before you called Jade because you were positive you'd only puke it up out of nerves and now you're feeling pretty grateful for keeping your stomach empty because you can feel it knotting inside of you in the worst way as you navigate the streets as safely as you can under the circumstances. The Hole comes up on you too soon - lit up like a star and the parking lot is packed, the street is loaded on both sides, and you have to park at a closed pharmacy almost a block away. Your phone tells you it's 9:04 when you come hustling around the corner of the Hole, pausing in the shadows to peek out at the front entrance, saddled with two female guards that are practically candles against the darkness. You can hear the music thrumming through the cement walls. There's no sign of Jade or Andre, but you can see a group coming from the opposite direction of mostly Vampires but with a few, average looking Humans, too, laughing and smiling and climbing the stairs to the door where the guards check IDs before letting them in.

It's really no different than Human clubs, but this is Vampire territory. This is a part of their world that few Mortals get to experience. This is stuff you've only seen in movies so don't freak yourself out, okay, just keep breathing and stay calm and don't make an idiot out of yourself when she gets here and -

"This looks familiar," a cold breath whispers in your ear, goosebumps racing across your flesh. "Except my hands aren't around your neck this time."

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