Vampocalypse (old first draft)

Chapter Eight

"Good night." Starsky said by way of greeting. "We will be taking supplement donations throughout the night. Therefore, should your ID be called, follow one of the guards in an orderly fashion. Enjoy the celebration." Her little speech was simple, straightforward, and lacking any character at all. It was beyond me what my brother actually saw in her. It must have been her power. In this place, Starsky was the big cheese, and an ambitious firsty like my brother would certainly notice the one in a powerful position.

After her lame speech, Starsky slipped from the room as gracefully as she had entered. She wasn't eager to be a part of our party. Who wants to watch their cattle drink? Apparently Hector was up for it. His eyes were on me again since there was no Starsky to admire.

Humph.

The superiors were opening boxes and setting bottles on tables, and the firsties dove in.

There were, in the least, ten types of drink to chose from, and I chose a strawberry flavored wine cooler.

I felt a peck on the back of my shoulder just as I was taking my first drink.

"Erm, Harper?" A timid someone said behind me.

I turned to the speaker as i wiped some of the fruity beverage off my chin, and found a youthful, brown-haired firsty peeking from beneath his lashes nervously. I couldn't match a name to his narrow face, or remember ever noticing him before.

"Yes?" I said.

"I just wanted to give you...well...here." He shoved a small package into my hands. "It's not much, but...happy birthday." He managed an awkward smile.

"How sweet." I said, somewhat puzzled, but not showing it. I beamed back confidently. "Thank you." I was being entirely sincere.

He nodded, a slight pinkish color in his cheeks. Automatically, I glanced around to make sure no superiors were noticing my blushing new acquaintance. They loved a rise in body heat. Thankfully, our group of guards were very professional. Not a single eye in the place was planted on us aside from Hector's, which I expected. He didn't appear very happy about the situation, but he made no move toward us, holding steady to his title of guard.

I freed the package of its wrapper, and inside was a heart. It was stained glass, glued together with a black substance that added to it's loveliness. The different shades of red, pink, and purple were lovely. It was hollow and fit in my hand like a softball would. If I sat it on a shelf, it would stay at an angle, looking over the room with it's beauty.

"Thank you." I uttered. "It's beautiful."

"I-I thought of you when I was making it." He said nervously.

"How did you make it?" I asked, thinking that was a better, kinder question than, "who are you?"

"Glass craft. My father taught me." He said simply. He rubbed a hand through his brown tresses, looking down at his feet.

"It's amazing."

"Dusty!" My brother yelled from the far side of the room, where the alcohol was sitting in front of him on a table. He held up two drinks as if to say, "which one?"

My new friend jerked his head toward my brother. "Just a sec, dude." He said.

So he knew my brother? How was it possible that he knew Skip, but I'd never noticed him before? Surely they spoke...then again, I usually kept my head down and noticed near to no-one. Besides that, my brother had a life separate from my own - even if we were locked in this building together.

The boy, Dusty, spared an apologetic glance at me, a slight grin and shrug. "See ya later?" He asked. I nodded, unsure of what else I should do, then he went to my brother.