This chapter is mostly meant for character and relation development. It was written simply because Randy needs to think, otherwise the story won't ever be heading anywhere. Plus, he and Vivian needs to get a chance to let their relation grow, and I needed to have some time to pass in the story. (I hate doing time gaps. I'd rather have a somewhat slow story, than one that jumps all the time.)
The next chapter will be more intresting, though. That's a promise.
Note that so far, all chapters have been named something with two words in it, each sharing the same first letter. It wasn't even intentionally at first. I just kind of noticed now, and changed the name of the first chapter to match. I wonder for how long I can keep it up o.O
Chapter 4, Seductive schemes
When I open my eyes the next morning, Vivian isn't there anymore. I sit up slowly, yawning and stretching a bit. I lazily look out through the window at my left. It's still raining. Does it always rain in Scandinavia?
I hear a door open and soon Vivian comes into the bedroom, wearing nothing but a towel.
-"You know, I have a question..." He starts as he goes over to a closet and starts to pull out various articles of clothing from it.
-"Mhmm?"
-"So you're like travelling and everything, to find this Serenity, right?"
-"Right."
-"Then why don't you have any luggage?" He asks as he turns to face me, his eyebrows furrowed. Shit. Why don't I have any luggage? Think fast.
-"It got lost." I lie. Vivians face expression seems a bit at ease at this.
-"Aah... At the airport?"
-"Yeah, at the airport."
-"Well that's typical them. Happens all the time, they never do anything about it though. I'm assuming that you don't have a change of clothes, you wanna borrow some of mine?"
-"Yeah, that would be great." I reply. I actually feel a bit relieved, since I've been thinking about my clothing dilemma for a while now.
-"Well, you're a bit shorter than me, but I'm sure I'll find something that will fit you. You go on and have a shower and I'll find something for you in the mean time." I nod and get up, heading into the bathroom.
The mirror is covered in steam, but I wipe some away and look at myself in the mirror. My light blue eyes look tired, but burning with determination. They don't have any of that lively spark that Vivians have. His eyes look warm, nice... Mine look more cold. Dead. I'm rather surpised that people these days are so trusting. Neither Tiina nor Vivian seems to even have started to suspect that I'm not human, even though I've gotten so close to them both.
I know that people will figure things out eventually though, if I stay around for too long. Therefore, I have to leave Vivian soon, before he gets suspicious. The minute he finds out, I'll have to kill him, and I really don't want that. It's not that easy for me to admit that I like Vivian. He's nice and funny. He makes me forget about things, and makes me focus on simply living, and enjoying myself. Most people I've met up until now haven't left much of an impression on me, but Vivian has. By some reason, I know that I'll regret it if I kill him.
I shake my head as I pull off what little clothes I have on, and step into the shower, turning the hot water on, allowing it to rinse away all thoughts.
Once I've stepped out of the shower and dried myself off, I go back into the bedroom and find a pile of clothes for me on the bed. I examine them as I pull them on. There's a rather tight black t-shirt, with a print in white text saying "Keep smoking, I want you to die.", a pair of black jeans and a black hoodie, with what seems to be a band logo at the back.
After pulling all of the clothes on I venture into the kitchen, where I find Vivian sitting by the table, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. I pour myself a cup of coffee as well and sit down opposite of him.
-"There should be at least some food in the fridge, just grab whatever you want." He says, not looking up from behind the paper.
-"I'm not really hungry." I say. He finally looks up at me.
-"Seriously, you haven't eaten anything at all since I met you, which by now is about 24 hours ago. You need to eat something." I bite my lip slightly, about to protest, but I realize it would just make him suspicious.
-"Fine, fine. I'll get a sandwhich or something."
-"Good boy." He smiles and goes back to reading his newspaper. I slowly make myself a sandwich, with the help and instructions about where to find things from Vivian. I sit down at the table again, eating it slowly, not really feeling any taste at all. What a complete waste... I could never explain not eating to him though. I need to get away before he gets suspicious.
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-"What now?" I ask as I stare up at the ceiling.
-"Hm?" Vivain turns around on the couch so that he can look at me as I lay there on my back.
-"What happens now?" I clarify.
-"I don't know. What happens now? What was your plan when coming to Finland anyway?" I close my eyes and sigh. My plan? I didn't have one, did I? When I decided to find Serenity, I didn't even think about the fact that it might take me some while. I didn't think about what to do until I found her. How to manage, how to survive. Living like I did when I was in Sweden, killing for money so that I could afford a new hotel room each night, I got tired of it. I don't want that now. I need something better, something less risky. I'll probably have to stay here in Finland for a while, until I figure out what to d and where to go. Until I get a new lead to follow up. The world seems to be a far bigger place than I ever suspected, and Serenity might be anywhere.
-"I guess I didn't have a plan." I sigh. "I have nowhere to go. I have nothing. I own nothing. I don't know anyone. I don't even know myself! It's just starting to get to me now..." I continue, thinking out loud. Vivian sit up straight, looking at me.
-"You really have no one?" He asks. I shake my head. "Wow, I didn't like, realize your situation until now. You have no one back in Egypt either? No family? Friends?" I shake my head again. Memories of my lifesyle has started to return to me now, bits and pieces of them. But there's still no clues to who I am, or to how I'm supposed to find Serenity.
-"I had been living alone for several years, not seeing anyone at all before Serenity came into my life. Or well... there was someone else." I hesitate. "I vaguely remember a tall man with long, black hair. I think it's an old friend of mine... But that's all I remember. And that was long ago. I don't even know if he's still alive. I don't know his name, and I don't even fully remember his face." Vivian nods slowly at this. I sit up, staring out into nothing. "What am I supposed to do?" The realization just suddenly crashes down onto me; I have nowhere to go, no one to turn to, and nothing to do. If I at least knew someone. Someone I could talk to, and someone who could help me. Someone I could share my secrets with. Someone like me; a vampire. But I don't have anyone like that. I have no one. All I have is emptiness and shattered memories that make no sense.
-"Hey... Hey now..." Vivian doesn't seem to know what to say as he moves closer to me slowly. He puts an arm around my shoulders in an attempt to comfort me. "Look, I'm sure things will turn out okay. You can stay here if you want to. I could help you get a job and stuff, and once you're back on your feet, we can go from there, okay?" I turn my head and look into Vivians concerned green eyes. Why does he care so much for me? He doesn't even know me. He doesn't know anything about me. He doesn't know what I am. Why does he care? Because I'm beautiful? Because he's attracted to me? Or is he just plain stupid?
I bite my lip slightly as my gaze moves from Vivians eyes to his neck. I can see the blood pulsing through his veins before me, and I realize that I haven't fed in quite some time. I had been planning on killing Tiina, but I never got down to business. Vivian is saying something again, but I'm not listening anymore. All I can focus on is his bare neck in front of me. I lean a bit closer, parting my lips slightly, licking them. It would be so easy to kill him. He trusts me so blindly. I can just reach out and grab him, he's just so close... so close... it would be so... easy... to...
-"No!" I snap, pulling away from him quickly, closing my eyes and shaking my head.
-"Randy? You okay?"
-"I..." I stand up, looking around frantically. "I need to go."
-"Where? What for?"
-"I'm sorry, I just really need to get out." I start to stumble towards the door, pulling my shoes on and grabbing my jacket. Vivian follows me.
-"Right. No need to apologize." He tries to sound neutral, but I can clearly hear that he's very confused. "You go do whatever it is you need to do. I'll be at home all day, so if you... well... you can just drop by, you know?" He says, his voice quite and a bit sad.
-"Sorry." I say and quickly leave, before I have any time to think about the fact that his neck is just in perfect height for me to dig my fangs into, that no one is around to witness it, and that I can be gone long before anyone will suspect me.
¤¤¤
I drive my fangs into the neck of my victim again, creating new puncture wounds, biting as hard as I can, pretty much ripping bits and pieces of the flesh from her neck. The blood is running down my throat, down her neck, and down my hands which are holding onto her tightly, not wanting to let go of the sweet source of life. I bite her again, fiercely, digging my nails into her chest. She's as good as dead now anyway, not being able to resist and scream any longer. She just hangs there, lifeless, in my arms.
I toss her to the ground, spitting out a bit of her flesh from my mouth as I lean onto one of the cold, grey walls in the ally. I stand there for a few minutes, my eyes rolling, hands clenching, and my whole body shaking from the ecstacy-like rush of blood. I close my eyes, letting the pouring rain wash away the blood from my hands and face. I'm soaked since long ago, but it doesn't bother me the least, I hardly even feel the coldness against my skin. I don't feel anything at all, nothing but the satisfaction of killing, and the aftermath of my rush.
I sigh slightly, smirking a bit as I look down at my victim. Not the cleanest kill. I'll have to be more discreet from now on. If I keep going like this, people will get suspicious soon. And next time, I'll have to feed earlier. I can't wait as long as I did now. I'll get too careless.
I take one last look at the woman on the ground before making my way out of the ally, checking so that no one is around to witness me leave. Oh well, no one will miss her anyway, she was a prostitute after all.
At least now I've fed, so now I can think a bit clearer about my situation. I lean my back against a shop window, seeking shelter from the rain. The shop has closed long ago, and there's not much people walking the streets in this weather this late, so I'm pretty much free to get lost in thoughts. I've gotten some money from the prostitute, but not nearly enough at all to be able to rent a hotel room and buy new clothes as well, and right now, I kinda need both. So if I don't want to pick someone random up at a club or something, my best option is to go back to Vivian. If I play my cards right, I'll be able to stay with him without him finding out that I'm a vampire. He has some money, a decent appartment, and he's fun to be around. I could do so much worse. Yes, Vivian will be my best option, by far. Besides, he seems to be fairly intrested in me anyway, and not only in the friendly type of way. I can use this to my advantage... Yes, going back to Vivian it is. ...Though, just how am I supposed to explain my sudden outburst to him?
¤¤¤
I drag my feet out from the elevator, where a small puddle of rainwater has formed on the floor, and slowly walk towards Vivians door. I hold up my hand slowly, hesitating before knocking it softly. The door opens within matters of seconds and I'm face to face with a rather happy Vivian. Once he takes in my drenched and sad state, his smile quickly fades though.
-"God, you're soaked! You must be cold." He grabs my arm and pulls me inside, closing the door as he's starting to pull my jacket off. I kick off my shoes and allow him to drag me into the bathroom where he proceeds with pulling my sweater off. He hands me a couple of towels to dry myself with.
-"Thanks." My voice is quiet, almost inaudible, and emotionless.
-"Shit, you're cold as death! Not to mention pale..." Vivian exclaims as he helps my to dry my back. That's right. I stopped rushing the blood through my veins once I left his appartment. I've figured out how to make the blood in my system run through my veins, heating up my body and making me appear as good as normal long ago. As long as no one is touching me, it doesn't matter if I'm cold or not, but now that I'm here, I need to put my mortal act on again.
-"Viv..." I whisper, forcing his attention to something else than my cold skin.
-"Hm?" He stops drying me off and looks down at me instead. I must looked rather pathetic, sitting there all soaked, my hair tousled and the remnants of yesterdays makeup all over my cheeks.
-"I'm sorry."
-"You don't need to apologize." Vivian says softly as he crouches down so that his eyes are in level with mine. "I'm sure that you have your reasons for everything you do. I mean... I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through, so I'm not gonna judge you or anything. I understand perfectly well that there's a lot in your head right now, and I guess I can kinda understand what it must be like, even though I probably won't ever feel the way you do now."
-"Vivian, you don't know anything about me. I don't understand why you even care about me, but I'm glad that you do. I mean, I guess I can pretty much say that you're all I have now, even though I've only known you for a day. But... You don't know me. You don't know..." My voice trails off, seeing I'm not sure where I'm going with all of this. "I have some secrets, Viv. Some dark secrets. Stuff you're better off not knowing anything about. The less you know, the better. If I start telling you about it, you might be in danger." And not even a word of that is a lie. Or well, the part about me not knowing why he cares is partially a lie I suppose. I think I'm starting to figure him out now. He's just attracted to me... But that's not the point. The point is, I don't even know if there are vampires anymore. But if there are, I bet that they don't want to be known, so if Viv were to find out that I am a vampire, his life could be in danger. At least it would be if things in the vampire society work as they used to... And since I honestly don't know, I can't take any chances.
I look into Vivians eyes, trying to figure out what's going through his head right now. He's smiling a bit as he reaches up to touch my cheek.
-"You are by far the most intresting person I've ever met."
¤¤¤
-"You see, I work at this record store. It's called Rockzone, and it's like a record store for alternative music only. The other guy who works there, Mika, just recently had a car accident. Very unfortunate for him, but rather fortunate for you, since the manager, Eddie, is looking for someone to take Mikas place."
-"And..?" I question, not seeing where Vivian is going with all this.
-"And that someone would be you." He clarifies.
-"Viv, I don't know anything about music."
-"Yeah, sure you do. Besides, you don't have to know that much to be able to work in a store. And you'll learn quickly, I know that for a fact." He continues, probably referring to when we were playing drums the other night. He kept claiming that I was a very fast learner, managing with things that took several tries and lots of practice for others. "Besides, you need the money, right?"
-"I suppose so." I agree.
-"Then it's settled. Tomorrow is Monday, which means that I'll be working, so you can come with me and we'll talk to Eddie. How does that sound?"
-"Great." I say, but I don't sound too enthustiatic, which Vivian notices.
-"I know things aren't looking so great right now, but it'll change, you'll see. After rain, there's always sunshine. And it can't rain all the time, right?"
-"It seems it can here at least." I state grimly.
-"Oh come on, it's just been raining for three days straight. It's just three days, not forever." What would you know about forever?
-"Well it's been raining ever since I got here." I point out. Vivian just smiles and shakes his head.
-"Come on, this is my favorite store, I'm sure we'll find some nice clothes for you to buy here. Cause you do need some clothes, right? I mean, don't expect to get your luggage back from the airport any time soon. For all we know, it can be on it's way to Hungary as we speak." He starts to pull me away across the street, dragging me into a store.
-"Viv, I really can't afford-"
-"Well I'm paying. You can pay me back when you get your first salary." He cuts me off, smiling.
-"I haven't even gotten the job yet, Viv."
-"Oh, you will. No worries. Anyway..." He starts as he goes over to a rack of sweaters, going through them, looking for something nice. "Did you lose anything of importance with your luggage?"
-"I'm not sure. I haven't thought about it yet I suppose."
-"Well think about it now then. Anything you're missing except for clothes? Wallet? Cellphone?"
-"I have my wallet..." Well, I have someones elses wallet at least. "But no, I don't have a cellphone."
-"Oh, we need to get you one then. So that I can get a hold of you if you decide to run away like that again." He smiles and hands me a sweater. "Here, try this one on."
¤¤¤
-"Don't worry about the cash register for now. We'll both be working for the first week, so you have plenty of time to learn how it works before you'll be here alone. For now, just try to learn which section has what kind of music so that you can help customers, okay?" Vivian smiles at me from behind the counter and I nod slowly, smiling back at him. Getting the job hadn't been difficult at all, since Eddie seemed to be a nice guy, and any friend of Vivian was apparantly a friend of his as well.
Vivian has told me to pick out a CD that I want to listen to, so now I'm going through the different sections, searching for something to catch my intrest. My gaze stops at a CD that reads 'Blutengel' on top. Judging from what little german I know, I come to the conclusion that it means 'Bloodangel'. Perfect. I take the CD with me back to the counter where Vivian is just finishing helping a customer. I hand him the CD and he looks at it and smiles slightly.
-"I went by the name." I explain.
-"I know this band, they're pretty good. This is one of their best albums, if you ask me. 'Seelenschmerz'. It means 'Soulpain', you know." He turns around, taking the CD out of its cover and pushes it into a small stereo behind the counter. Soon, the first track can be heard through the speakers. "Next CD is my pick." He smiles.
-"Is this what you do all day?"
-"When I'm not at home, asleep, or at band practice, yes." He nods. "It's not as bad as it seems. Besides, I can do some selfpromotion here as well. I usually play some songs that the band has recorded, and sometimes people want to buy our demo. So I'm spreading the wonders of our music, which is all good."
-"I see." Does this sort of a life only seem boring to me? Maybe I need to lower my standards a bit. Besides, what did I do that was so amusing when I was last alive? I had her... I didn't need anything else then. But I don't have her now, so I'll need to change my ways. I'll need to adapt to the way to world is today, and to the way my life is today. I can't expect the world to meet my demands, just like that, can I? Things have changed a lot during my years of slumber. The world has changed, and so do I need to do.
¤¤¤
-"I'm going out." I declare as I get up from the couch. "I just need to be alone for a while, okay?" I throw Vivian a look from over my shoulder as I walk towards the door. He nods his head, seeming to understand. Or at least seeming to think that he understands, since I know that he most definitely doesn't understand anything at all. He thinks that I'm actually going out for a walk or something, which is best for the both of us. If he knew what I'll really be doing... Better not go there.
I enter the by now darkened street and start to make my way into town. The rain seems to finally have stopped. I'm thankful that Vivians appartment is only in the outskirts of the town, so it doesn't take long before I'm in town, walking down the neon-lit streets.
Finding a victim isn't at all difficult, as long as you know where to go. I can do this, I still haven't lost my touch. Oh no, I'm as good as ever when it comes to stealthy feeding. My seductiveness is just to die for. I smirk at my own joke as I set my eyes on a woman with black and red hair, standing on her own outside a club, smoking. She looks up and meets my gaze, almost as if she could feel my eyes on her. I keep eyecontact for a short moment before I slowly start to make my way over the street, towards her. Once I come up to her, I don't say anything. I reach my hand out and take the ciggarette from her and take a whiff from it. Inhale, exhale, and toss it away. All without breaking eyecontact even once. I grab her neck, pulling her close to me and whisper in her ear.
-"I want you." I can hear that she chuckles slightly, and I know that she's smiling, even though she's shivering at my touch.
I take her hand and pull her with me, leading her down the street and into a dark ally. She follows obediently, not saying a word. I push her up against a wall, put a fingers over her lips, motioning for her to stay quiet before softly sinking my teeth into her neck. She gasps slightly, but other than that, she is quiet as she lets me drink her blood. I don't need that much, since I fed properly yesterday, so I know that I won't have to kill her. I stop, licking the wound, stopping the bleeding and closing it, before I pull back and look at her. Her eyes are closed, but she opens them slowly and looks into mine.
-"What-" She starts, but I cut her off by once again putting a finger over her lips.
-"You will walk back out to the club, have an other ciggarette, and then you'll continue with whatever it was that you were doing before I arrived. You will not remember any of this." I say, my voice firm. I look into her eyes, which by now look almost drugged, as if she's in some kind of a trance state. My own eyes are burning with determination, demanding her obedience. She gives me an almost invisible nod before walking away, out from the ally and disappearing into the crowd that has formed outside the club now.
I smile to myself, amused at how easily people are manipulated, before I head back to Vivians appartment again. No, definitely haven't lost my touch. I still have my killer charm.
¤¤¤
-"I'm tired." Vivian yawns and stretches on the large couch. "We should go to bed, since we need to get up fairly early tomorrow. We're supposed to open the store at 9, and before that we need to make som preparations, so we'll need to be there at 8. Meaning that we will have to get up at... uhmm... 6.30-ish. Ugh, that's early." He groans as he sits up, turning the TV off. I get up as well, figuring he is probably right, and follow him into his bedroom. We still haven't felt energetic enough to clean the couch for me, and Vivian doesn't seem to mind sharing his bed with me anyway. As for me, I don't care if I sleep on the floor, the couch or in Vivians bed. As long as I have somewhere to sleep at all, I'm satisfied.
-"Randy?"
-"Yeah?"
-"What are you thinking?" I roll over onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. From the corner of my eye I can see Vivian looking at me.
-"That I could've done so much worse."
-"Yeah, you could've done a lot worse." He agrees and I can see that he's smiling. "At least I'm nice."
-"And hot." I add. Vivian raises his eyebrows, he looks surprised to hear me say something like that. I turn my head to look straight at him.
-"Really?" He questions, sounding a bit sarcastic, as if he thinks that I'm only joking.
-"Really." I assure him as I stare into his eyes, which hold a lot of doubt.
-"Why are you saying that all of a sudden?"
-"Well I can take it back if you want?" I say, my voice slightly annoyed. Perhaps he's not as easily fooled as I thought. I guess I underestimated him.
-"No, I didn't mean it like that." He starts. "It's just... You haven't said anything like that at all to me before. You haven't even taken any of the stuff I've said to you seriously, so when you suddenly-" I cut his ramble off by grabbing his neck and pressing my lips against his.
-"Shut up and kiss me." I whisper as I break the kiss for a moment. He smiles and obeys. Just need to play my cards right, convince him that I'm being serious. Then I'll have him eating out of my hand in no time. I'm sure he'll be useful.
I still have no idea if my chapters are too long or not. They're each about 5-7 pages in Word, but they seem a lot longer when posted here. It's because of the layout. I hope it doesn't bother you as much as it bothers me.