The man shouting at me imagines himself to be someone important. Though I barely pay attention to his ranting and raving, I gather that my error has not only inconvenienced him, it is but the first domino in a chain reaction that will end with his company collapsing, people losing their jobs, and the entire United States economy falling into ruin, all because I neglected the extra shot of espresso in his extra large caramel turtle mocha.
His words wash over me without impact while I fantasize about sinking my teeth into his neck and drinking every last drop of blood in his body.
“But you’re not even a vampire,” my boss Amber might say, “so why would you do that?”
“Because blood tastes fucking great, and he was getting on my nerves, just like you.” And then I’d drink her blood too.
Oops, I must have accidentally smiled at that thought, because this guy is turning even redder. I have found that the best way to infuriate an already angry asshole is to respond inappropriately—that is to say, without cowering in fear—to getting berated. Ah, well. I zone out for the remainder of his rant before offering an insincere apology and a promise to remake the drink. The dude gets his extra shot of espresso, and I make sure the whole thing is decaf.
Finally I get a break to check my messages.
Vicky where are you girl?
we miss you
at work bish
Liz People getting coffe after dark? LOL
*coffee
Thought humans liked to sleep then.
Vicky ditch work imo
still gotta pay rent
landlords are bloodsuckers and not the fun kind
unless you wanna be my sugar momma
Liz I’m too fucking old to know what that means.
Vicky nah just out of touch
it means you give me money to be pretty and bleed real good
vamps are sposed to be rich right?
Liz Hell no. How much do you think a clan job pays exactly??
Vicky you pay ME to be pretty
Liz I support you because I love you.
Stupid bitch.
Vicky love you too
“I’m not paying you to text on the clock, Ms. Boltman.”
I look up and scan the store for customers, seeing absolutely nobody here but the two of us. It is almost closing time, after all. Glancing back at my boss, she seems even more annoyed, as if I had deliberately insulted her by daring to look around for something to do.
“Smart-ass, huh? Well, since you’re too blind to find the work I’m paying you to do, let me help you out.” She points to a bulging pile in the back room. “See those garbage bags? They need to be taken out to the dumpster. Think you can handle that?”
“Yes, ma’am. Can do.”
I haul several bags outside while my boss does whatever it is she does to start prepping the store for close. The night air is pleasantly cool, so this isn’t too bad a chore, honestly. Also… is that her car?
you down for picking me up in like an hour?
Vicky can’t get back here on your own?
i ride the bus usually
but this time theres a meal in it for you
think of it like getting takeout
Vicky hell ya
Bending down, I unscrew the valve cap on one of the tires and use the tip of my pocket knife to press on the stem until enough air hisses out to leave the thing completely flat. I figure even if she has a spare with air in it, there’s no chance Amber knows how to change her own tire.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit! When did I last…? Ugh!” My boss stomps her foot on the ground in a display of frustration that comes across as kind of goofy and immature for a manager of a coffee shop, a woman in her forties, almost twice my age.
Huh. Actually, that puts her at about the same age as Vicks and Liz, now that I think about it. Weird to consider that my besties are closer in age to my boss than to me.
“Something wrong, Amber?” I make my voice sound as innocent as possible.
“Yes. It is.” She bites the words off. “I’ll have to call a tow truck or something. Shit. I’m going to be here all night.”
I sigh heavily as though contemplating my options for a moment, trying not to appear too eager. Dragging my words in an imitation of reluctance, I say, “I’ve got friends picking me up soon.”
Amber casts a look of uncertainty my way but says nothing.
“If you’d like, we could give you a lift home, and then you won’t be stranded here at least.”
I watch her weighing her options. Still, it’s clear that the idea of getting a night’s sleep and calling for a tow or a friend in the morning sounds more appealing than the alternative, so she nods her agreement. “Alright. Look, I appreciate the favor a lot.”
“Of course, you’d do the same for me, right?”
It takes her a moment to respond. “Right.” A look of guilt crosses her face then, as if she just now realizes for the first time what an asshole she’s been to me every single shift. “I know I’ve been hard on you, but you know it’s nothing personal, right? It’s just a lot of hard work keeping this store in good shape, and I have to make sure everyone’s on the same page and working together as a team.”
“Oh yeah sure I get it,” I say absent-mindedly, watching a dented Honda pull into the parking lot.
Liz, in the driver’s seat, rolls down her window. “Hey, good looking. Who’s your friend?”
“This is my boss, our damsel in distress this evening.”
Amber gives an awkward wave. “Hi. Uh, thanks for this.”
“Happy to help,” Liz replies, giving my boss an appraising look that barely hides her hunger. “Hop in the back. I’ve got some junk up front in the passenger’s seat.”
Vicky’s in the back too, selflessly taking the center seat so that Amber, behind the driver, will be effectively pinned between the two when the time comes. We pile in, the doors lock, and the car takes off.
“So, what side of town are you?”
“You know the Greenwood neighborhood?”
Huh. Who knew we lived close to each other. Maybe if Amber weren’t so shitty, we could’ve shared a ride sometimes. It’d be a lot faster for me than waiting on the buses, which don’t even come that often at this time of the evening.
Vicky claps her on the shoulder in an overfamiliar way that inspires a flinch from my boss. “Hey, that’s where we’re headed anyway.”
“Oh! I’m glad you don’t have to go out of your way on my account.” Amber sounds a touch less embarrassed now, but she grimaces uncomfortably at how closely Vicky leans toward her, how her hand lingers near Amber’s neck. It’s astonishing how meek she becomes around people she has no formal authority over.
“On the contrary, I want to extend an extra invitation to you.” Vicky’s voice is breathy, and she grins in a particular way I’ve grown quite familiar with. Some vampiric urges really can’t be controlled. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’d love to have you for dinner.”
Amber squirms in her seat. “Oh no, that really won’t be necessary, thank you, no.”
Liz presses. “I insist! I cannot allow you to turn us down for fear of being a pain in the neck. I promise, our necks will be just fine.”
My boss’s eyes dart back and forth before clinging to me with a pleading look that begs me to help her escape. The help I offer is not for her.
“Yeah, c’mon, Amber.” I smile at my boss. “I’ve joined them before and find all their meals to die for.”
Vicky turns and high-fives me for that one while Amber grows more uneasy, whether at the increasingly obnoxious vampire puns or at the feeling of being trapped with aggressive dykes who won’t take no for an answer. She shuts down completely, seeming to physically shrink away from the rest of us.
I’ve gotten so used to the two of them that I kind of forgot just how predatory both sisters are. They seem to be feeding off of Amber’s discomfort. I catch Liz licking her lips as if tasting the fear in the air. I lean on Vicky’s shoulder, twirling her hair around my finger in a performance of comfort with one of the women making Amber sweat, just so that she knows exactly how alone she is here.
The vampire’s excitement radiates from her. Vicky looks my way with mischief in her eyes and starts unbuttoning my jeans.
My boss notices, staring in our direction. Her eyes meet mine again, and I maintain eye contact, taking satisfaction in her rising discomfort bordering on alarm at the exhibitionism on display. Vicky’s hand slides toward my crotch, her cool fingers warming quickly once they’ve slipped inside me. Amber says nothing. All she can do is stare at me, watching my lips part, watching me gasp and shudder while a woman who knows just what I like works her hand rhythmically between my legs.
It’s not until after I climax that I notice the car has stopped moving. Amber shakes herself out of her daze, apparently noticing the same thing at the same time.
“We’re here, little morsel.”
“Wait. This isn’t my home. Where are we? This isn’t my home!” She tries the handle, but the door doesn’t open. Alarm turns to panic, and she starts frantically jerking the handle, clawing at the door to find a manual unlock. Oh, we really unnerved her, didn’t we? “Let me out. Please, let me out. Let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out!”
With a click I hear Liz unlock the door. Ah, she wants to chase her prey, I see. On cue, our victim bolts from the car. The rest of us take our time exiting into the empty parking lot of the practically dead shopping mall near my apartment.
The woman is terribly out of shape. Even I could chase her down at a modest jog. For a pair of vampires, their speed supernaturally enhanced beyond human limits, she might as well be standing still. In the space of a single breath, Liz is already in front of her, grabbing her by the wrist.
To her credit, Amber decides to go down fighting. She takes a swing, landing a solid hit on Liz’s face. Unfortunately for her, both sisters are well-fed vampires, and the punch lands with all the impact of a gentle breeze. In a blink Vicky is right there to grab the woman’s other arm. Fuck, it’s satisfying to watch my shitty boss struggle in vain against these two beauties, the moon highlighting the perfect curves of their bodies. Their bared fangs gleam in the same light, a threat and a promise and symbol of the absolute perfection they represent.
Liz goes first, sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of Amber’s inner forearm. I catch up just in time to get a detailed look at how my beloved friend’s eyes roll back in pleasure.
“Come here, babe. I know what you want.” She grabs me by the back of my head and pulls me into a kiss, spitting a mouthful of blood for me to eagerly gulp down. The way she just ogles my swallowing makes my face flush with heat. “Before meeting you, I never knew how hot it would be to watch a human drink blood like we do, but it really never gets old.” She exhales a deep breath with naked lust. “You get nothing out of this. You’re just a filthy pervert who wants so desperately to join us.”
We all ignore our victim’s pitiful mewling while Vicky goes right for the neck. She drinks deeply before pulling me over to share with me in a sloppy, messy kiss while her sister takes her turn with dinner again. Even as she drinks, Liz never peels her eyes away from the way I desperately kiss blood from her sister’s mouth. My still-unbuttoned jeans fall away from my hips as I get passed back and forth and back and forth between my favorite pair of sisters. Amber dies, and her blood is on all our hands, and our hands are all over each other, making a sticky mess of our clothes and skin.
They pin me to the cold concrete, Vicky sitting on my face and putting my best skills to good use while Liz grinds on my thigh, using me like a toy to get herself off.
Yet even after they finish, we’re still not done.
“More.” Vicky licks her hands, savoring the last wet drops of Amber. “This is such a good start to the evening, but I’m really in a mood to gorge myself and get fucked senseless.”
“Agreed.” Liz helps me to my feet but doesn’t let me go, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me against her body to idly play with me while discussing what’s next on the agenda. I try to offer a suggestion—myself as dessert—but Liz silences me by pushing two fingers between my lips, pumping them in and out while I drool over her hand. “And I need to make Hanna do something really fucked up while I watch.”
“I’m thinking of what you said earlier. Why not tonight?”
I try to speak, but all that comes out is a muffled question mark.
“We’re going to your apartment, babe.” Liz answers me as though I spoke perfectly clearly, her other hand squeezing my waist possessively. “Your roommates will make an excellent meal to follow that little appetizer.”
Wait, no. I need them to pay their share of the rent! But like my question a moment ago, these words come out as nothing more than a muffled sound of objection.
“I know, babe. And you’re already out a job, at least for a while until they replace this bitch, right?” Liz’s grin is a razor blade pressed to my throat. Her voice is a barbed wire coil tightening around my heart. “What was it you wanted me to be? A ‘sugar momma?’ I wasn’t fond of the idea at first, but I thought about it, and the idea of you being completely dependent on my good graces was practically intoxicating. How could I resist?”
The fingers of her other hand close around my neck—gently, for now—and I am reminded that these two very well-fed vampires could absolutely snuff out my life in a heartbeat right now.
“Now, babe, I do love how eager you are, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a touch of desperation in there too. Now show me that you understand by sucking my fingers like a good girl, hmm?”
My heart pounds like crazy. I close my eyes and fellate her fingers like my life depends on it. I kiss and suck and work my tongue around every knuckle. I make sure to clean the dried blood from under her nails and swallow those slender fingers as far back as I can. I do my best to perform for her, and yet the noises I make are wholly involuntary.
“Those slutty little moans of yours are a good touch, babe. Keep going.”
“Whoa.” Vicky, watching the show, has an admiring lilt to her voice. “She is visibly wet from all that, Liz. You should threaten Hanna more often; she looks like she’s about to cum just from you fingering her mouth.” The vampire leans in close to me, baring her fangs in my face. “Go ahead, cum for us, pretty thing.”
Helplessly, I do. My knees shake, a whimper escapes my throat, and all that keeps me from collapsing is the support of the sister who fetishizes my dependence on her. And god help me, I already know I’ll do whatever she demands.
We track bloody footprints into my apartment complex with every step. My jeans are somewhere in a crumpled heap in the back seat of the car, I think. My shirt is stained with obvious, grasping handprints. Sticky, dark smears paint my face, my underwear, and the inside of my thighs. I look like a shameless mess as I fumble my key into the lock and open the door.
All three roommates are hanging out in the main room, watching one of them play a game on the TV. Madison glances toward the doorway for a moment and then shrieks.
“Holy shit what the hell happened are you okay???”
I feel lightheaded. Almost drunk, even. I feel like I’m slightly removed from myself as I introduce my roommates to my family. “Liz, Vicky, this is Madison, Alexis, and Hannah-With-An-H.” This is a bit awkward, isn’t it? How do you introduce people to their killers? “I dunno what else to say. Um, they’re vampires, and I sold you all out because their approval means more to me than your lives, to be honest.”
Confusion and doubt give way to screaming as the vampires descend on my roommates. My family feeds on two of them, while Hannah-With-An-H makes a break for the door. As a vampire hunter, I’m able to easily overpower her. With a grab and a twist, I have her pinned to the floor while she begs and pleads for me to let her go.
I don’t think about the conversations we’ve had. I don’t think about the things we discovered we have in common. I just ignore her tears and wait for my family to be ready for the last course of the evening.
“What are you waiting for? This one’s yours, Hanna.” Liz puts her hand on my shoulder from behind.
“Mine?”
“Yeah,” Vicky chimes in. “Liz wants to get off watching you kill and eat her.”
“You can use that knife of yours if you want.” Liz’s voice is soothing, encouraging, a far cry from the hard edge she spoke with earlier. “But tonight you have to kill an innocent girl who’s done you no harm, who’s no threat to anyone, alright? You’ll do it for the same reason we do. Because you’re hungry, and that’s your dinner.” Her hand strokes my cheek, and I lean into her touch even as she smears more gore onto my face. “You want to be just like us vampires, don’t you? Well, you don’t get much from blood, but those nice juicy muscles would taste so good, don’t you think? Practically the same thing as a nice cut of steak served extra rare, just for you.”
That’s a lot to ask of me. It’s one thing to drink a mouthful of blood every now and then, but this is pure cannibalism. It’s…
“Do this for me. Show me how much you enjoy it, and I’ll call you sister. You’ll be a vampire in my heart, if not in your teeth.”
I tilt my head back to look at her, with an emotion I dare not name welling up inside my chest. It’s an ache for belonging, a spiritual hole that I’ve never had filled. Liz beams at me, and she’s so encouraging and loving that I cannot possibly say no.
I draw my knife. I smile at my prey. What use is guilt, anyway, compared to the approval of the women I love?
I’ll do everything for this family.