The Village Cafe Page 2

making me jump.

  “So which is which?”

  “Helena has the blond hair and Eraina the brown.” Thomas finished. Nodding I looked at my watch, it was close to midnight. The last person to enter that night was a tall man about 6’3 with a long black leather trench coat. He was dressed all in black with brown spiky hair. His face was covered in a thick five o’clock shadow. His eyes swept over the café, examining everyone in it as he walked over to the counter. The man sat on one of the stools and kept looking around. I turned to got tell Rick but he was already standing next to me, staring at the man. The man didn’t look at Rick; he was too busy staring at Mortakie with an immense hatred in his eyes. Rick grabbed my arm and led me into his office.

  “Devilynn, remain here and do not open this door until I come for you.”“Why?” Rick didn’t answer me; he just left. I ran to the door but it was locked. I kicked the door in frustration and walked over to Rick’s desk. Grabbing the metal chair I heaved it over to the corner where there was a vent. Mr. Morris used to look at the café through here to see if anyone was goofing off from time to time.

  The man remained seated as he glanced at his watch every now and then. Mortakie and his crew stared at him. Their eyes were glowing red and mine must have been tired because I had to be imagining it. Rick was by the counter with Thomas, Sarah was by the door, Rosella was standing near the man and Miranda was by the far left corner. The bells from the nearby church rung, it was midnight. At first chime the man stood and opened his trench coat. By the second chime he had pulled out a crossbow and began shooting at random. One arrow pierced a woman’s heart, another a man’s leg and the third struck Sarah in the arm.

  As the man reloaded Sarah locked the door, Rosella jumped behind the counter and pulled the dark drape away from the mirror. The man turned toward Mortakie’s direction and took aim but Miranda was already in front of him. She hissed through clenched fangs as she snapped the crossbow in two. The man’s eyes widened. Rick jumped over the counter and grabbed the man by his neck. I looked at the exposed mirror to see that there were only ten reflections in it. Two of those reflections were of the people the man had shot.

  I watched as the humans tried to escape the café only to be feasted on by the vampires that entered with Mortakie. Flesh was torn and blood splattered across the walls. Bones crunched and necks fell limp, as they were broken. After the carnage of the innocence was over, the vampires turned their attention to the man Rick still held in his grasp. The vampires, including Rick, one by one turned into black shadows. They chased the man as he ran through the café looking for a way to escape. The shadows grabbed at him as they pierced parts of his body with their fangs. The blood dripped from his open wounds as he stopped in the middle of the café.

  “All right you bastards! Kill me! That’s what you want but I swear that there are others who will come and hunt you down. The slayers shall not stop till all of you are laid to rest forever!” The shadows turned into bats and attacked the man. Screeches from the bats muffled the screams of the man. The café was silent as all the bats returned to human form. There was only a white lifeless corpse where the man once stood. The vampires sat down at their tables. Sarah, Thomas, Rosella and Miranda dragged dead bodies over to various tables where the vampires continued to feast. The door opened and Rick walked in. I stared at him in disbelief and pure disgust; there was blood covering his face and it stained his white shirt. Rick walked over and raised his hand. Shaking I took it as he helped me off of the chair. He smiled at me; his blue eyes glinted with pleasure.

  “Now do not look so shocked. I trust you read the book I gave you?” I nodded. “Well then, you must realize that this is how we live Devilynn? You should get back to writing this down while it is still fresh in your mind.” Rick finished and left the office. It took me awhile to regain my composure. I was not too sure of what I saw or believed what I saw for that matter. I remained in the office till after two. In that time I wrote down everything as vividly as I pictured it.

  “Are we finished yet? I am quite interested in reading your first draft.” I looked up at Rick. The blood on his shirt was dry. I nodded and gathered my things. As I tried to leave the office Rick blocked my way.

  “Please move.”

  “Now Devilynn, there is no need for hostility.” Rick smiled. I looked into his eyes and began to feel faint. Rick closed the door and motioned me to sit.

  “I rather stand.”

  “Again, there is no need for hostility.”

  “Try fear, Rick.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and me used to be close before you left. I mean you wrote to me all the time and then you stopped. Now you come back as Dracula’s son and…I mean what the hell was I looking at tonight? Was all this real or just a sick joke? What are you?”

  “Sit. I owe you an explanation.” Rick said as he put his hand on my shoulder. Reluctantly I sat and listened to Rick’s year in England. He spent a lot of time at clubs, drinking and sleeping with many women. That’s how he met Rosella and Miranda at an after hours club. They spent the night talking to him about the darkness and how wonderful it was. Rick thought they were on some serious drugs and admired their high. The girls squealed when a tall dark haired man entered with two females by his side. It was Mortakie.

  “Eraina was the one who turned me. I did not fight her when she bit me but embraced it because I felt somewhere deep inside me that it was right. I am a vampire now, not fiction. There was not one moment I did not think about you. That was my main reason for returning to New York City.”

  “What did you expect?” I said pulling away from him, “that I would offer you my neck and become part of the blood sucking legion! I love sunlight way too much for that.”

  “That is not true. I cared for you when we dated. I still care now. I want you to be with me.”

  “You left me! Saying you had to follow your dreams.”

  “My dream is you, my love, my heart. I know that now.”

  “You’re a vampire. You have no heart.” Rick said nothing as I made my way pass him. I almost made it to the café doors when I was grabbed from behind. Rick pulled me to him and kissed me. His lips were as warm and tender as the day he left. He pulled away and left me standing there in a daze. Rosella and Miranda took me home. I sat down on my sofa still stunned from the night’s events. Rosella and Miranda smiled at me.

  “What?”

  “Rick kissed you.” Rosella gushed.

  “We tried to get him when he was in Europe but he was sooo in love with you.” Miranda blushed.

  “You can have him girls. Now I don’t mean to be rude but it’s late and I’m tired.”

  “Aren’t you even curious about Rick and how he became a vampire?” Rosella asked.“I got the scoop on his psychotic trip to the trendy bloodsucking clubs of England, thanks.”

  “It’s obvious you have some baggage with him but you should let that all go, love. He’s a changed man, for the better.” Miranda said smiling. I walked into my bedroom and slammed the door as the tears started to fall.

  WHEN THE WIND HOWLS

  I awoke on the afternoon of All Saints Day and headed outside to get the morning paper and some breakfast. As I sat at the diner eating my eggs I almost spit them all over the table when I saw the headline of the paper, Bloody Café. My eyes glazed over the article. It said that a man claiming to be a vampire hunter entered the café at around midnight and began shooting people with a crossbow. There were ten dead and a few injured. The owner and several witnesses claimed they saw the man escape. A positive ID could not be made because the café was so dark. The rest of the article had a few comments from Rosella, Miranda and Rick about the tragedy. The article said that the café would be closed for sometime pending an investigation.

  I paid my bill and fled to my apartment. With shaking hands I fumbled with my keys t
o open the door when I realized it was open. I burst in and ran into my bedroom. I grabbed a bag and started throwing some clothes in.

  “Going somewhere?”I gasped and turned around to see a woman standing in the doorway of my bedroom. She was about 5’11, slender with long black hair in braids. She had high cheekbones and full red lips. Her eyes were wide and green. She was dressed in ripped jeans and a red tank top with black army boots.

  “Who the hell are you and how did you get into my apartment?”

  “I picked the lock with my nails. Hope you don’t mind.” She said raising her left hand to show me her long sharp black nails.

  “Listen I don’t know what you want but.”

  “Rick said I could find you here and that you would have a sympathetic ear but so far you have been quite hostile.”

  “Are you usually hospitable to people who break into your apartment?”

  “I guess you have a point. I just don’t know who else to turn to. My name is Belinda Wilson.”

  “Devilynn Thomas, pleased to meet you. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to get out of here before sunset.”

  “You think he won’t find you. They’ll always find you. Please Devilynn, I need your help.” I threw my bag across the room in frustration.

  “I watched people die last night and wrote about it like it was a fucking fairy