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I STUMBLED INTO THE COMIC SHOP LATER THAT NIGHT, in a considerably different state from when I left it. For one thing, Tim was gone. And not just gone, like he jumped out the bathroom window and left me alone in the restaurant. Tim was gone, gone. Like dead, gone. For a second thing, my new white dress and fishnets were torn to shreds and drenched in a combination of my, Tim's and the vampire that attack us' blood. I'd lost one of my boots and my previously curled and styled hair was a frizzy disaster that, along with my face had splotches of blood covering it. I had various scrapes and bruises covering my body, along with a very deep cut on my stomach from where the bitch had caught me with her nails, that was dripping blood. With every step I took, a jolt of pain shot through my body but I tried to ignore it, just until I got to the store.
It probably wasn't hard to infer what had happened. Tim and I were walking down the pier, when a girl pulled us behind a building to "talk." Except, she didn't want to talk. She wanted dinner. I had tried to fight her, but she was a lot stronger than I was and she'd beaten me up pretty bad. Then she ripped poor Timmy's throat out with her teeth and went for me next. I didn't give her the chance. I grabbed the stake from where she'd kicked it away and plunged it through the bitch's heart, effectively ending her life for the second time. I debated just laying down on the ground to wait for someone to come and find me, but I'd eventually decided to limp back to the comic shop, through the hoards of people.
"A-Alan?! Edgar?!" I called.
The boys were nowhere to be seen, which was odd, because they hardly ever left the shop unattended unless it was closed. Which it wasn't. There were people roaming around the boardwalk of course, but no one inside the shop, which wasn't uncommon for this time of night. Taking a deep, shaky breath in, I sat down against the counter with a cigarette in hand. I winced as I slid down to the floor, pulling a silver lighter from my pocket. I lit up the stick and took a long drag from it in defeat. I didn't feel like moving anymore.
It had been about ten minutes before I heard footsteps coming downstairs to the store.
"Holy shit! Alice?"
I glanced over to the stairs to see Edgar standing in the doorway with a stack of comics in his hands. I chuckled weakly, but stopped and groaned when pain exploded through my stomach. Edgar dropped the comics and was by my side faster than the Flash. He leaned down beside me and wiped some of the blood from my face, eyes quickly scanning over me to assess the damage. He plucked the cigarette from my fingers and crushed it underneath his boot.
"Hey!" I whined, limply reaching for the crushed cigarette.
"Jesus, Al, what the hell happened? Don't tell me that skinny bastard was actually a vamp?" He said, swiftly picking me up to carry me to the bathroom.
"First of all, my legs work fine, Eddie. Put me down." I said, but he ignored me and kept walking.
Frankly, I was too tired to argue so I complied, wrapping my arms around his neck and curling into his chest. I was no doubt getting him covered in blood too, but I didn't think he cared.
