Delilah rose from the edge of the bed. "Then shower quick. I'll be waiting in the living room."
She flashed a quick smiled before disappearing into the hallway, humming along to some song in her head, the beat of which I vaguely recognized, and left me to undress and climb into the shower. I turned on the light and stared at myself in the mirror while I pulled off my clothes, letting them drop to the ground around my feet.
I looked like a wreck; the skin had darkened and puffed up around my eyes, my hair was knotted and matted to the side of my head. Little scrapes and bruises covered my face and neck. I frowned; I wasn't even strong enough to heal the smallest of wounds. I stepped away from my pitiful reflection and opened the glass door, stepped in the shower and turned the water on, hissing as the cold water blasted down on my skin before gradually becoming hot.
. . .
I left the bathroom with my towel wrapped around my body after brushing my teeth and found Delilah sprawled out on my bed.
"What happened to waiting in the living room?"
"I wanted to make sure you were alright when you got out. That, and I picked your clothes out."
"I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself," I said. "What'd you pick out anyway?"
She waved her hand toward the chair in the corner of the room. I followed her hand. There sat a black vest, pinstripe jeans, and on the floor beside the chair were my favorite black combat boots. I nodded approvingly.
"Nice choice. Now let me get dressed."
"Hurry, my dear," she said, tracing her fingers along my jaw as she passed me. "I'm growing hungrier by the minute," she leaned against the door frame.
I dropped my towel to the floor and grabbed my jeans off of the chair and slid them on, then the vest.
"I love how unabashed you are, just dropping your towel like that and traipsing around naked."
I smirked. "It is my apartment after all. And besides, it's not like you've never seen me naked before," I finished zipping up my boots and stood up. "Chains or no chains?"
She pursed her lips. "Chains. No silver, though; wouldn't want to hurt our friends, now would we?"
"Oh, no," I said, and clipped the chain onto my jeans. "Let's get the fuck out of here."
. . .
I locked up and walked beside Delilah down the front steps and into the driveway where her car sat.
"Where's this…party at anyway?" I sat down in the passenger's seat.
"At the Lamb. They rented the whole place out. They were adamant about having you, come, too," she pulled out of the driveway and sped down the road. "Apparently you looked like you could use a night out."
I frowned. "Everyone says that when they invite me out. I mean now, yeah, I agree….but have I always looked that miserable and stressed?"
"Truthfully, yes. Kind of anyway. You always looked so stressed. And when you didn't look stressed, you looked lonely. That's why we'd invite you out all the time."
"Not because you wanted me there, but because I was miserable?" I laughed bitterly. "Tonight should be fun."
"That's not what I meant," she growled. "We wanted you to be happy, Adrian. We still do. So enjoy yourself tonight, will you please? It's been a while since I've seen you happy."
"Yeah…I'll enjoy myself," I said. "Is it vampire only, or will there be humans?"
"There will be plenty of humans. As well as multitudes of vampires. All for the taking," a wicked grin spread across her face.
"I like the sound of that."
I really did. I could feel the thirst growing stronger within me the more I thought about sinking my teeth into the warm flesh of a human, their hot, sweet blood flowing into my mouth…I couldn't help but lick my lips.
Delilah chuckled. "Now there's the Adrian I'm used to; ever the predator."
I smirked. "And the predator's arrived," I said quietly as we pulled into the parking lot at the rear of the club.
The music could be heard from outside, nothing different than any other night. The only thing that was different, was the energies that radiated strongly from the building. So intense they were, it became hard to control myself. My fangs descended as I inhaled, took in all of the scents that soon put my senses on overload. I felt the same high that I had the night I met Eric.
And god it felt fucking great.
"Ready to go inside?" Delilah asked. I nodded.
She opened the back door and held it open for me as she walked inside. I shut the door and locked it and caught up to her. Delilah walked rigidly down the brightly lit hallway with her hands balled up at her sides. Blood dripped from her palms and onto the dark hardwood.
"It's so fucking intense," she choked out. Delilah slowed down and walked beside me. Her eyes glowed brightly. "All the energy…I feel like I might shift."
Muscles in my face and neck twitched as we came nearer to the door that led to the dance floor. I felt my heart begin to race. I know exactly how Delilah feels.
"We'll have to leave if it gets too bad…or at least I will. I'll wind up killing everyone," I said.
"Imagine what kind of shit storm that would cause. Dead vampires and humans," she chuckled and reached out for the door knob.
"Hm. Well, come find me if you can't keep your shit together," I smirked.
"You do the same, Adrian," she pushed the door open fully.
I was surprised at the scene before us. It wasn't at all what I expected given the energy I felt, and I was actually stumped as to how the energy was so high I'd almost shifted when everything seemed so….relaxed. Vampire and human sat amongst each other, chatting, drinking, mingling. No one danced, no one dared to move. Yet, everything felt so overwhelming. I looked at Delilah and she shrugged, seeming as confused as I am. I gazed around the room and met a familiar pair of bright green eyes. Ones that lit up the moment they met my own. The owner of those eyes, Michael Black, a tall, slender 121 year old vampire, and neighbor of mine, crossed the room in a flash and appeared before Delilah and I. He looked delighted to see the both of us. I shared the same feeling. I don't see Michael as often as I'd like, but when I do, there's never a dull moment. I loved that about him. He always kept things interesting.
"I'm so glad you decided to show, Adrian," he pulled me into a tight hug. "I imagine Delilah here had a rather difficult time getting you to come."
She squeezed my shoulder. "Surprisingly, no. Adrian decided to play nice today."
"You really must be ill, hon," Michael laughed. "I heard that human bringing you in. And you throwing up all over the porch. Don't worry, I had Anna hose that down. The girl's such a doll. Does anything you ask with just a little persuasion," he winked and flashed his fangs at me.
Anna is Michael's human. The thirty something year old has been with Michael and Rose for years now.
"I'll have to apologize to her for that," I said.
He waved his hand. "Don't bother. So, are you two ready to have fun?"
"Oh god, yes. It's been ages since we've had a party. Hey, it's not going to be like this the whole time, is it?" Delilah looked horrified.
His eyes widened. "Heaven's no! We just don't want to have all the fun without you," Michael turned around sharply on his heels. "Are you people ready to dance and fuck 'til the sun comes up?" he shouted over the music. The guests hollered and cheered in response. "Get off your asses and move then!"
"He has such a way with words," I said jokingly to Delilah.
She laughed. "I'm going to go find Micah. Have fun."
Alone now, I snaked my way through the crowd in the direction of the bar. I sat on one of the tall black stools and swiveled around to face the guests and leaned my elbows on the bar.
"Can I get you anything, Adrian?" our bartender Frankie, a tall and lanky Hound asked.
"Sure," I answered. "A human that doesn't mind being drained, a good lay, and a new life."
Frankie laughed. "How about a TruBlood?"
"Sounds perfect," I grinned.
He slid me a warm bottle of the synthetic blood and I downed nearly half of it. It did nothing to quell the thirst. It's not what I want. Not what I'm craving.
I want the real thing. And it looks like I just might get it.