Undead Love.

Vampires.

Jessica fry’s eggs for her father’s dinner and after washing the pan she kisses his forehead and grabs her car keys. He tells her to ‘stay safe’ and he asks her to promise to come home as soon as her shift finishes. She agrees but feels confused; he’s never asked that before.  One last wave and she leaves the house to go to work.

She drives with the windows down, allowing the wind to blow through her brown ringlets. As she takes a bend in the road she hits the brakes hard and swerves, narrowly missing a doe stood in the road with its neck bent down, as if sniffing the concrete. The car comes to a stop and she grips the steering wheel, breathing heavily. As she leans back into her seat she looks into the rear view mirror, the doe is stood in the same place but has turned to stare at her car, there is an emotion in its eyes that confuses her, almost a Human emotion. She remembers the doe from last night, watching her drive away.

She unhooks her safety belt and slowly opens her door, stepping out and standing by the door, watching the animal shift slightly but never move its gaze from her. Its ears prick up and Jessica watches it peel its eyes away and run into the trees lining the road, a car comes round the corner, beeping as it passes her car. She ignores this and walks to the spot where she had seen the doe and then to the trees where she had seen it run.

She hears noises in between the trees and looks closely, watching for any movement. Leaves move gently in the soft wind but she does not see the small deer. After one last look into the trees she returns to her car, pulling the safety belt across her chest and buckling it. She shifts in her seat to bring it to a comfortable position and takes a deep and steadying breath.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket and she pulls it out to read the text. It is from her brother and the message is in capitals.

‘VAMPS NEED SERVING. CARLY HASN’T TURNED UP AND YOU KNOW WHAT CASSANDRA IS LIKE! WHERE ARE YOU?’

She sighs and clicks her tongue. She is the only one willing to serve vampires; Carly only serves them because she sees it as a way to impress Randy and Cassandra runs and hides at the mention of them. Jessica throws the phone into the seat next to her and scowls, she doesn’t agree with the way vampires are treated, she believes that if they were Human once then they still are, that can’t be taken from a person. And for that people often treat her differently. 

“Excuse me?”

She jumps as she is suddenly pulled from her thoughts and looks towards the passenger side window where the voice came from. A girl slightly older than her, maybe as old as her brother, leans into the window, smiling.

“You couldn’t give me a lift, could you?” She has an English accent and as she speaks she flicks her straightened fringe out of her eyes. Her hair is a similar dark brown to Jessica’s but it is shorter, hovering above her shoulders. Her eyes are a piercing green and a silver heart locket necklace hangs down from her neck.

“Umm...”

“You work at Randy’s, don’t you? That’s where I’m headed.” She continues.

“I... Yes, yes I do. Hop in.” Jessica picks the phone up and slides it back into her pocket and watches as the girl climbs in, closes the door behind her and buckles herself in.

“My name is Lydia.” She holds her hand out to Jessica with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jess.” She takes Lydia’s hand and shakes it. As Jessica starts the car again Lydia continues to stare, she notices from the corner of her eye and asks. “So why are you headed to Randy’s?”

“I’m meeting some people there.” Lydia answers bluntly, never looking away from Jessica.

“I’m sorry I took so long.” Jessica runs in and takes an apron from behind the bar, giving Randy an apologetic look. She ties it around her thin waist and pulls her hair back into a ponytail.