Baby Teeth

Prologue

In the distance, I hear the steady whoop of police sirens. That's always comforting.

I feel my foot catch up on something solid and let out an unmanly cry of surprise as I tumble to the ground. I press a hand to my stinging cheek as I use my other to push myself to my knees, wincing as it makes contact. I pull back my hand to see the glint of blood covering my fingers in the dim light of a distant streetlamp.

My glasses, now crooked on my face, distort my vision. I try to straighten them, but the metal frames are bent out of shape. I sigh in frustration and begin patting the pavement for my keys, which I dropped during the fall.

After a minute of searching, I begin to get frustrated. Leave it to Matt to trip over his own feet and lose his keys. I can hear my parents now, laughing at what an immense failure I am.

In the midst of my sulking and self-hatred, a thought occurs to me: if not my own feet - which, knowing me, is a valid option - what did I trip over?

I spin around and squint in the low light. I can make out a rectangular shape in the darkness.

Ha, so not my own feet. I guess that just makes me very unobservant, with or without my glasses.

I crawl closer to the object, trying to distinguish any recognizable features. The damp, rough pavement is soaking wet patches through my jeans. I cringe at the feeling, but press on.

As I get closer, I discover that part of the rectangle is a shoe, and the other part...

I jump back, away from the motionless leg.

"Jesus!"

Leaning against the brick wall of the record store is a motionless man, one leg extended into the alley, the other folded beneath him. Blood, still wet and flowing, coats his jacket's collar.

With trembling fingers, I pull my phone from my pocket. I dial 911 as I stand and back away from the body.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"There's a bleeding man in the alley. I-I think he's dead." I say, voice shaking.

"Sir, stay calm. Where are you?"

"I'm-"

Before I can give the operator my location, my phone is slapped from my hand. It clatters to the ground as I spin around, looking for my attacker.

With a harsh blow, I'm shoved up against the brick wall, a few feet from the bleeding man. My head cracks against the wall with an audible thump and the world begins to spin.

"Ow! What the hell?" I groan, sinking to the ground. I clutch my stomach, willing for myself to not throw up.

"You should know better than to walk alone in dark alleys, boy." A deep, unsettling voice says from the shadows. "You'll end up like that guy over there."

I look to my right and, through blurry eyes, I see the bleeding man being kicked over. I look up towards the second attacker to find a tall, bulky, hooded figure looming over me. He chuckles throatily.

"If money is what you want, I don't have much." I say, clamping my eyes shut in an attempt to lessen the intense pain in my head. "And I lost my car keys." I add. The man in the shadows chuckles.

"I don't want your money or your vehicle, boy. I want your blood." I open one eye to find the man in the shadows slowly making his way closer to me. I can't make out a face; only a dark silhouette.

"I don't want to fight you." I say, watching the second man from the corner of my eye. Both men laugh.

"We don't want you to fight, either." Says the second man with a harsh German accent, laughing as if he knew an inside joke.

"Well, I have to admit, it is more fun that way..." The man in the shadows says, stepping out into the small pool of light cast by a nearby streetlamp. He flashes a vicious smile - one filled with small canine-like yellow teeth.

"He doesn't look like he'd put up much of a fight on a good day, eh? Not a lanky twig like that." The second man says, chuckling. "Too frail."

I should probably feel offended, but it's honestly the truth. I'm not exactly the gym type; there's no way in a million years that I'd be able to beat these two in a fight.

"Regardless, I'm far too hungry to be picky. Hope you had a nice life, kid." The man in the pool of light rushes at me with inhuman speed.

Before I can say a word, my jacket collar is yanked down and the man is bent over me, breathing roughly against my neck. I try to squirm away, but the man's hands wrap easily around my thin neck, securing me in place. A sharp pain explodes from my above my collarbone, paralysing me. I forget about the pain in my head as all thought goes to the sucking sensation on my neck.

What the hell is happening? Is he trying to give me a frigging hickey?

My body jerks as another set of teeth clamp onto my neck from the other side.

I feel my body going cold and limp as all of the blood in my body travels towards the wounds in my neck. My eyes roll back into my head and my mind forms one coherent thought before going blank.

Vampires.