Vampire Manifesto (8 page)

Miranda took the bottle “I’ll pour the shots!”

“
That still doesn’t mean he wasn’t cute though.” I whispered under my breath.”

Miranda placed the shot glasses all in one line and began pouring, moving the bottle from one glass to the next, in rapid succession until they were all filled.

“
Cheers!” We said in unison, then slammed it down.

Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat. Rinse. Repeat.

I was feeling extremely good. Very happy. The music was excellent, a mix somebody brought down from New York. I stood up, drained the last of my beer, closed my eyes and started to dance, just letting the rhythm flow through my consciousness, overtaking me with its tempo.

Audrey got up and we danced together for a bit, moving in concert with the bass. Seductive and sensual. I felt free. Free from all the madness that can swallow a star whole and crack a planet in half. We were dancing close, her hands around me, touching my stomach. She was soft, delicate and extremely beautiful and so was I. Heads turned and stared. We continued to dance, enjoying the attention. We gave them something to stare at.

That’s when I saw him.

Sitting alone across from us by the bonfire. Extremely close to the flames, to the point that the heat should have made him back up, yet it didn’t. He was watching me, smiling, enjoying the show. The fires light played off his eyes, those beautiful eyes of his; so emerald they named an entire city after it.

I made my way over to him, I wanted to be in his arms, to relive the way it felt when he touched me, but it was so hot next to the bonfire.

David Anderson threw another wood pallet on and there was an explosion of heat and flames as the bonfire arched towards the sky.

“
I have made FIRE!” David screamed in his caveman voice, grabbing fistfuls of sand, throwing them in the air.

I grabbed Ethan by the arm. “Come on. Come with me. It’s too hot here.”

“
Okay.” He replied as I dragged him back towards my friends.

I was so glad he was here. My heart was thumping in my chest so loud it sounded like a drum line being played in my ears. I stopped him suddenly then smelled his neck.

“
You do smell like oranges.” I whispered.

“
Excuse me?” I could tell he wanted to laugh.

“
Nothing. Nevermind.” I replied. “I didn’t think you were gonna come.”

“
I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Was his response.

I continued walking, grabbing his hand, pulling him along until we reached my friends.

“
Everybody, this is Ethan. Ethan, this is everybody.”

“
Hello.” He gave a brief wave before we both sat down.

“
Okay, so he is cute.” Audrey admitted.

“
See, I told you!” I turned to Ethan. “You don’t eat your own scabs do you?”

“
Uh...not since I was four, I think.” He was confused, yet rolled with it.

I just pointed at every one and gave a semi-drunk nod.

That’s when Dave Berger and Aiden came stumbling over, dropping down, kicking up sand everywhere.

“
Look what we brought!” Dave exclaimed, holding a large Philly cigar rolled with weed. “Some of that sticky, icky-icky ooh weee!”

“
Ethan, my man, you made it.” Aiden gave him a pound.

“
Heeey, its Mr. Orange man!” Yelled Dave. “You smoking with us dude?”

Ethan shook his head “No, I can’t. Marijuana kinda gets me, I don’t know, it just kinda gets me paranoid.”

“
I can feel you on that bro.” Dave agreed.

“
If it’s cool, I'd like some of that Vodka though.” Ethan added.

“
Hey, knock yourself out dude.” Dave was already lighting the Philly as he spoke. “Friend of Madison is a friend of mine.”

He poured himself a shot, tossed it back then took another.

I was leaned up against Ethan, his arms wrapped around me protectively, chin resting softly on the top of my head. The moon was out, reflecting its light across the ocean’s surface, a wondrous sight to behold.

They passed the Philly to me and I took two hits and passed it along. “It’s too many heads, that thing is almost done.” I announced.

“
That’s all I got dudes and dudettes.” Dave said apologetically. “Anybody else got some Green on them?”

“
Yeah!” Abigail exclaimed. “I forgot, I bought some earlier at the beach today.”

She checked her pockets. “Ahh, it’s not on me though. It’s in my purse, in the car.”

“
It’s cool, I got it.” I said, as she was about to get up.

“
You sure?” She questioned. “I can run up there and get it real quick if you want.”

“
Nah, it’s cool. I’ve gotta use the bathroom anyways.” I told her.

“
You want me to come with?” Ethan whispered in my ear.

“
I’m good. It’ll just take a sec.” I told him. “Besides, I want you to get to know everybody. I’ll be right back.”

I stood just a little too quick, not realizing how wasted I truly was. Yeah, nobody is driving home tonight. Abigail drank way more than I did and I’ll never give Aiden the keys again.

I headed up to the house, passing Dave Anderson who was passed out on the beach next to the bonfire. Oddly enough, he was wearing a T-shirt that read: “That Guy”.

He opened his eyes staring at me, half conscious. “The Mutant among us may be you!” He screamed before passing out again.

I shook my head and continued up the steps to the patio, making sure I gripped the handrails. I’d seen some posters put up that had that slogan. I thought I was for a movie, but I hadn’t seen any commercial for it yet.

When I reached the top of the stairs I realized there were still people up here, not as much as before, but enough. People I knew from school, one way or another. No unknowns or anything like that.

I took it slow as I made my way around the side of the house where it was darkest, rounded the corner with practiced ease and found myself out front by the garage, which was completely empty at this point. I went inside and made a beeline towards the bathroom, which wasn’t as clean as I hoped, yet nowhere near as disgusting as I expected.

Thank God for the little things.

I put some toilet paper down around the seat and sat down, grabbing one of the porno mags that were in the rack in front of me. I flipped through the pages, never really stopping a one, until the very end.

“
Those can’t be real.” I said to myself aloud.

I finished, wiped myself and then put the magazine back, washing my hands briefly before staring at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot red and just mere slits, courtesy of the marijuana. I made a pose, frozen frame style, then applied a little touch up make up. Some eye liner and eye shadow, little lip-gloss and some fresh foundation. I made another snapshot pose.

Yup, I look good bitch.

I made my way out of the bathroom. There were already a couple of people passed out on the couch. Few others were playing video games. I went into the kitchen and checked the fridge. Krispy Kreme donuts on the top shelf.

Yahtzee!

I grabbed two. Ate one immediately, then grabbed another. They were sooo good. The two I had in my hand, I placed on a napkin and threw them in the microwave for ten seconds.
White Room
by
Cream
was playing somewhere upstairs and I danced along waiting for my donuts to be done.

Ding!

I pulled them out and took a large bite. Even better warm! I opened the fridge again and checked for beer. Nothing but Bud Light, but it would do the do. I grabbed a bottle, popped the top and took a large gulp as I headed out the kitchen door into the garage, making my way down the driveway towards my car.

I could still hear the music, it was the guitar solo at the end and I continued to dance while I finished my donuts and drank the rest of my beer. I was at the car soon enough, fumbling for the keys, so I could pop the trunk. I really wish I had some Twizzlers right now. That would perfect.

“
Open the door and get inside of the car.” Someone said from behind.

“
What?” I asked, turning around to see who was talking to me.

It was some guy. He was dressed in black. Black jeans, black combat boots, black jacket, everything was all black. He was holding a gun and it was pointed directly at my head.

I dropped my beer. “Oh shit.”

The guy struck me with his free hand across the face, knocking me backwards. “I’m not going to ask you again.” He explained.

I began fumbling for the keys, dropping the donuts. My lip was bleeding; I could taste the blood on my tongue. Metallic and salty. It was hard for me to concentrate, I was shaking so badly. Where the hell is everybody? Why isn’t anybody else out here? Why did I have to come by myself? Ethan wanted to come. Abigail wanted to come. I didn’t have to come by myself.

Oh God, I’m going to die.

“
Now!” He demanded in the harshest of whispers.

“
Okay, okay.” I managed to reply. I couldn’t find the keys. Where the hell were the keys? I was too drunk and to high focus. God, why am I even here? I should be at home studying for...for something! I shouldn’t be HERE though; I should be anywhere else BUT here!

“
If you don’t open the door, I’m going to put a hole in your skull then open it myself.” He struck me again, harder this time. I fell backward against the car and tumbled to the ground. He was standing above me, still pointing the gun at my head.

There was a sudden movement behind him. Everything happened so fast; I barely witnessed it at all. Someone grabbed his wrist and spun him around, twisting the gun from his hand, while grabbing him by the throat, throwing him against the side of the car. He fired the gun once, shooting the Man in Black in the leg.

“
Run.” The Guy said to my attacker.

“
You...you shot me!” The Man cried out, holding his wounded leg as he tried to stop the bleeding.

My Savior pressed the barrel against the Man’s forehead. “And I’ll kill you.” He proclaimed. “Run.”

The Man in Black scampered off into the darkness.

The Guy with the gun stared into the distance, watching, as if he could still see the Man in Black even though he was no longer in eyeshot.

“
You okay?” He asked, finally satisfied at whatever he was looking at.

I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared. Paralyzed with fear, like a Buck caught in oncoming headlights.

“
Hey...hey, everything’s fine now.” The Guy said, ejecting the clip from the gun. He bent close, offering these things to me as a show of peace. “He’s gone now, he can’t hurt you anymore.”

I took them from him slowly; the gun was so heavy in my hands. A car drove past us on the street.

“
You’d better put that away, before a Cops see it.” He bent down slowing, picking up the keys to the car from the ground. No wonder I couldn’t find them! I had already dropped the stupid things.

He opened the trunk.

“
We...we should call them.” I stuttered.

“
Call who?” The Guy asked.

“
The Cops.” I replied. “Report what...what just happened to me.” I was shaking so badly that I could barely form a coherent thought.

“
Yeah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” The Guy said. “May I?” He reached for the gun slowly.

I hesitated at first, not sure if I should give the weapon back to him, but I did anyway. If he really wanted to kill me, I would be dead by now.