Hexus: Neo

)4( Static

"What?"

"You're supposed to take me to Perth?"

"When did I become a taxi service?"

"Quit bitching and just port me there. I already have enough on my mind as it is."

"Trouble in the bedroom?"

He groaned. "Is that really all you think we do?"

"I can't think of anything else, honestly. You guys are so different; I can't even imagine you'd ever just...talk."

"Paula, let's not do this right now."

"Killjoy," she sighed.

 She loosened a crick in her neck as she sluggishly got up from the couch and walked towards him.

"By the way, how do you deal with the time difference thing? It's almost 9 here, so it should be about..." she counted off the hours in a hurried whisper, "...4 AM there?"

"3," he corrected, "They're six hours ahead."

"Yeah, plus they're in summer, which means early sunrise. So even when you leave here, it's practically morning over there and you barely have any time to teach the kid anything."

"Three hours is plenty of time. And if it gets to morning and I'm still in the mood for it, we usually just go somewhere with an earlier time zone. Like London. I've always liked London."

"Aww, isn't that sweet? All that extra bonding."

"Shut up."

The edges of the black portal formed just beneath the edge of Ecru's field of vision, and there was a sensation of all the air leaving the space around him as the environment seemed to warp, colours streaking and fading into each other until he was surrounded by black. It was strange and confusing for about a second, before his instincts kicked in and he realized they were standing in a dark, much smaller - and definitely unfamiliar - space.

"Alright, I'm out," Paula said with a huff.

"Hold on, where-"

She vanished, leaving him in the darkness. He cursed silently and tried to makes sense of his location. Through his enhanced vision, he could recognize the outlines and shadows. He was in a corridor. He walked until he reached a door, opened it and looked around. A bed, a shelf, a dressing table with a mirror, some amorphous shapes on the floor which he figured were clothes and wall posters of some pop culture icons. The windows were closed and covered with thick curtains, and there was a large lump in the middle of the chequered duvet emitting heat, carbon dioxide and slow steady heartbeats. Out of curiosity, he inched closer to the sleeping body. He heard movement from outside the room and turned just as the lights came on, blinding him momentarily. The sensory assault was only worsened when a scream came from beside him, violating his sensitive hearing. He shielded his eyes with his hands and backed away.

"Who...who are you?"

The tremulous voice came from the direction of the door. He blinked repeatedly to readjust to the lights. A woman, probably in her late thirties or early forties, with dark auburn hair and hazel eyes, stood beside the light switch, her heart pounding rapidly, hands shaking. On the bed beside him was a darker-haired teenage girl who, from the resemblance, was her daughter. Ecru put up his hands and her breath hitched, so he backed away even further and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible.

"I'm-"

"A vampire!" the girl gasped.

"What?" the woman said, confused. Ecru was also confused, though for entirely different reasons. The usual human reaction to the sight of him was fear and panic. The girl was looking at him with a smile so wide he was sure it hurt. She scrambled out of bed and touched his arm carefully, like she was afraid he'll break.