Jenny, the boyishly slim, jean clad figure behind the bar glanced up at the old tarnished wall clock and yelled out, "Closing time."
For the most part she was ignored, but she banged on the dinged, scarred wooden bar, and the guys grumbled, but gradually got up and slowly weaved out the door.
Linda, the short dumpy waitress, mumbled, "Thank God." She sighed and hollered, "Stefan, check the men's crapper for strays."
"Will do," Stefan cheerfully replied.
"God, my aching back." Linda sat for a moment in one of the better chairs in the old run down bar.
The name of the place was actually 'Bertie's Fine Restaurant and Bar', but that was a misnomer. There was a grill, but the only food available were hamburgers and hot dogs pulled from the freezer along with the frozen buns or bread kept in case someone ordered a grilled cheese. It wasn't real cheese, of course, just that fake stuff that had a year out date. The fryer hadn't worked in years, so there were no fries, only packaged chips. No one in their right mind ate here unless they were really starving and/or really, really drunk. Shots and beer were the staples. A bottle of red and white wine was kept behind the bar in the unlikely event a tourist accidentally landed in town, but it was a rare occurrence. Everyone, staff and patrons, wore jeans and T-Shirts which changed to flannel shirts in winter.
The little seaport town of Shreveport, Maine was off the beaten path. The men worked the fishing boats and were gone from days to sometimes weeks at a time. The wives and kids stayed home; the kids catching the bus each morning to travel an hour to school. The wives traveled the same hour to either work in one of the nearby tourist frequented towns or an hour and a half to the regional cannery.
The bar catered to the local clientele. Everyone in the small town knew everyone else's business. There was nothing to do in this isolated place but gossip. There was no Dish, no wireless, no cell phone connections, and only three TV channels. If a house had a phone it was a land line, and Bertie's even had an honest-to-goodness pay phone which was frequented by the families that couldn't afford to have a phone in their home.
Everyone knew Stefan and Jenny weren't married, but were shacking up. They knew they had moved North cause one of the high falutin specialist doctors in Boston had told Jenny she had both skin cancer and some type of auto something disease that made it impossible for her to be out in the sun. She got a terrible rash, and her skin blistered.
She and Stefan worked the night shift and slept most of the day. They even had one of those cars with the dark windows. She was always bundled up during the day in a hooded sweatshirt and rarely went outside while it was light during the brief summer. If there were any errands to be run in town; pumping gas, picking up and dropping off mail at the small post office, or buying the few things available in the little town market, then she usually stayed in the car.
The townsfolk knew that once a month the two of them took off to go to a doctor in the big city. What they didn't know was that they actually met a contact who sold them outdated blood bags from various hospital blood banks. He was a junkie who needed the money and was compelled to not reveal their names. The townsfolk also didn't know about the big refrigerator down in the basement where they stored their stash. It was kept behind a lot of the junk left by the various former tenants in the old run down rented home that wasn't actually much more than a cottage.
They had come at a perfect time to the small town. Bertie was diagnosed with lung cancer and had one lung removed, and the other one wasn't working that good. He had to take it easy, and Jenny and Stefan needed jobs. He soon found that they were scrupulously honest and hardworking. As an added bonus, Stefan was a good bouncer. He seemed to have a knack for breaking up or stopping fights before they got really serious. When the guys came in after a long haul at sea they were often rowdy and contentious, and brawls used to be common. Stefan put a stop to that and saved Bertie a lot of money formerly spent repairing broken furniture and glass.
Jenny was a fantastic bartender. There wasn't much to do other than pour shots and beers, but she could easily handle the rougher members of the crowd, and there was no drunk she couldn't talk down. She was popular in the little town because she always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. She had the knack of bringing out the best side of people.
Linda and Sue, the two waitresses, soon learned to appeal to her or Stefan when there was a problem. Life was much easier for them when the duo started working. Bertie gradually stopped coming to the bar at all, spending his time at the one gas station in town, sitting outside talking with his cronies, playing checkers or cards.
"I knew it." Linda shook her head, disgusted, when Stefan came out dragging a vomit covered man from the men's room. "For the love of God, you drunken sot, what's the matter with you now, Zeke?"
"My wife left me for that cop she met when we had the traffic accident," the man moaned.
"That was three years ago. Get over it." Linda had no patience with him.
Stefan dropped him on the floor where he continued to whine about his loss.
"I'll take him home," Stefan assured her.
Zeke's mutterings interspersed with their conversation, but no one paid him any attention.
Linda sighed. "Well I better get up off my butt, or we'll never get out of here." She put her hands on the table, using her muscular arms, developed from years of carrying beer mugs, to heave herself up.
"How could she leave me for that bum?"
Jenny replied, "Take off Linda. We'll clean up."
"I was always good to her."
Stefan spoke up. "I agree. Take off."
Linda hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"I miss her so much."
"Yeah, we're sure," Jenny replied.
"Thanks guys. My back is killing me. I'll make it up to you." Linda gratefully went behind the bar and grabbed her pocketbook. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Bye." "See ya."
Thankfully Zeke passed back out so Stefan and Jenny didn't have to listen to him anymore. They worked quickly and efficiently, Stefan bringing all the tankards and empties to Jenny to wash or pack up for recycling. He quickly wiped the tables and put the chairs up so he could mop the sticky beer splashed floor.
Jenny emptied the cash register and packaged up the IOUs and locked them in the safe. Bertie couldn't be bothered with credit cards and still allowed guys to run up tabs when they came back with an empty boat which meant no pay. They always paid them off when the fish were running, and they could make some money.
When they were done Stefan pulled Zeke up to his feet. "Hey, Stefan." He blinked owlishly, managing to slur out a greeting, before passing out again.
Stefan slung him over his shoulder while Jenny just shook her head in pity.
They turned out the lights and closed the doors. No one actually locked a door in this town. They all knew each other and as broke as some of them were, they considered each other neighbors, and neighbors didn't steal from neighbors.
When they got to the boarding house where Zeke rented a room, Stefan opened the front door depositing him in the hallway. He didn't want to disturb the rest of the renters, and the woman who owned the house was used to finding Zeke on the floor. Since he paid his rent on time and didn't cause any other problems then occasionally puking on the floor, which he cleaned when he sobered up, she never complained.
Stefan and Jenny walked hand in hand to their small rented cottage about a mile more down the road. It was a beautiful night with a gorgeous full moon. The briny smell of the ocean was heavy in this town, and as vampires they could feel the salt in the air. Stefan, in particular, loved the smell of fish and the lonely cries of the seagull. This quiet life suited him.
As they passed the various run down homes and apartments, they commented quietly on the townsfolk who were still awake. Their vampire hearing made it seem like they were in the room with them.
"Crap, Gracie and Tommy are fighting again." Jenny was concerned.
"Don't worry," Stefan assured her. "He was so drunk when he left it won't be long before—" He didn't need to finish the comment as they heard him slump to the floor. "See," Stefan teased.
Jenny chuckled and then her eyebrows rose as she picked up moans and groans. She and Stefan exchanged amused glances as they passed an apartment shared by a young married couple. It had only been a year, and they had been apart for two weeks and were anxious to make up for lost time.
They passed a crumbling old, seagull excrement smeared statue of Jesus Calming the Sea of Galilee. Sailors were a superstitious lot, and there were pennies and other coins surrounding the shrine as well as notes attached to it. Jenny, paused briefly in front of it, while Stefan patiently waited. She had done this every day for the two years that they had lived in this town, and he was used to her little quirk.
As they approached their cottage, they both stopped at the door sensing an intruder. They looked at each other without speaking. They quietly backed up, and each one picked up a wooden stake left as a precautionary measure on the edge of the small front lawn kept carefully mowed by Stefan. The stakes didn't cause any comments because all the yards in town were filled with litter or equipment or some type of miscellaneous junk.
They nodded to each other and then burst into the cottage. One light was on in the living room next to a shabby comfortable armchair that Damon was ensconced in. A glass of their whiskey was in his hand. Stefan stopped when he saw him, but Jenny nearly staked him. It took both men to stop her from thrusting the stake through his heart, and it was only deflected at the last moment to rip through his shirt and make a shallow gash on the right side of his chest.
"Jenny," Stefan protested. "It's my brother."
Damon hissed at the sting as he fingered his ripped shirt and then swore.
Jenny looked defiant for a moment before grudgingly saying, "Sorry, didn't realize it."
Damon's eyes narrowed at the, to him, obviously insincere apology.
Stefan looked at her astonished.
She shrugged. "He caught me by surprise."
Stefan held on to her for a moment longer, waiting for her body to relax, before releasing her. He then turned his attention to his brother who had sat back down in the chair. Hands on hips, he demanded, "How did you find me?"
"What? No welcome brother? Haven't seen you in two years now, but it's still great to see you?" Damon's lively sarcasm hadn't changed as far as Stefan could tell. "Missed you and want to give you a big hug!"