I was going to a party with Alex.
I'm sure it wasn't going to be like any other party I'd ever been to. The place was going to be congested with human teenagers. As if being a 21-year-old that hangs around a bunch of kids wasn't creepy enough, just throw in my constant urge to slaughter every single one of them and you've got yourself a shit show.
I knew I had to behave myself. I know I've said this before but tonight there were to be absolutely no slip ups. Alex had already seen me at my worst, I didn't need to traumatize him anymore. Plus, I still needed to keep a low profile, because everyone in the house was still on my case about the recent murders.
I was lying awake in bed, feeling uncharacteristically anxious, imaging how the night was going to go when I received a text from Alex.
Ur still coming tonight right?
I squinted my eyes at the formed words that flashed on the tiny screen.
Yeah, I'll pick you up around 8.
Ok... my mom insists on meeting u since this is the first she's hearing about u
Fuck. Before I could respond, my phone vibrated again.
I'm v sorry :c
It wasn't meeting Alex's mother that I had a problem with, I knew I could charm anyone into liking me. The thing that really bothered me was the fact that I just kept digging myself deeper and deeper into this hole and I knew nothing good could come from it, Of course I knew that. Worst part of it all, I actually felt something with Alex, something I'd never experienced before. Not in this lifetime anyway.
I took a deep breath and typed my response, I'd love to meet your mom. See you around 8 :)
I cringed at the smiley face emoji as I hit send. I was turning into an absolute loser. I pulled myself to the edge of my bed, and briefly thought of what to wear. I headed towards my desk chair where my tightest black skinny jeans were lazily hung. Carefully, I pulled them on, examining the symmetrically placed slits on each knee. I pulled off my current wrinkled plain black t-shirt and tossed it on the floor before reaching for my tight 'Friday The 13th ' shirt that sat folded on top of my dresser. I swiftly ran my fingers through my black hair and l studied my face, licking my black lip rings. I looked fucking good.
I'd gotten so caught up in my thoughts that I had forgotten it was Halloween until two middle school sluts dressed as some obscure versions of Disney princesses showed up at our door, attempting to look sexy. Parker and Sierra were always the ones to hand out candy, so I was glad I didn't have to deal with that dilemma. I absolutely loathed that part of Halloween, it was cringe worthy. I listened to the girls giggle and flirt with Parker as I tied my shoes. It was then that I looked at the clock that read 7:50 and realized I was going to be late picking up Alex.
I pulled out my phone and shot him a quick text.
Hey sorry omw now
I slid the shiny black device back into my pocket, and grabbed my keys while walking out the door. The late October air was growing colder, and I could hear the repulsive laughter of children in the distance. Don't get me wrong, I loved Halloween, it was my favorite day of the year. It just bothered me that so many people made a mockery of it nowadays, not to mention that I strongly disliked kids.
The engine of my car rumbled beneath my feet as I pulled out of the dark garage before I noticed that for once, my nerves were on fire. I couldn't place when the last time I felt like this was and it was uncomfortable to say the very least. I felt this strange emptiness swirling at the pit of my stomach and I felt like I couldn't sit still.
I drummed my hands nervously to the beat of my music on my steering wheel as I drove up and down the blocks, passing dozens of small children running along the lit walkways that lead to all the houses. I needed to get to Alex, but these kids were holding me back. As bad as I wanted to slam on my gas and say fuck it, I resisted the temptation.
Some fifteen minutes later, and I was pulled in front of the same blue house from the other night. I could feel moisture forming underneath my palms as I gripped the steering wheel tighter. Alex didn't answer my text and I hoped that he wasn't sour about my punctuality, or lack of. I mentally reminded myself to relax, asking myself what the big deal was as I sauntered up the steps of the quaint house. I straightened my tight fitting shirt and knocked on the door.
Moments later, the door swung open and I was met with a girl who looked to be a couple of years younger than Alex. Instantly she was handing me a small bowl full of candy, not once taking her eyes of her precious iPhone.
"There's a doorbell for a reason." She announced, her voice tinged with annoyance
"Ah, right. Sorry," I mumbled. Startled by the deepness of my voice, her gaze snapped up at me revealing a set of familiar green eyes."Is Alex around still? I'm a little late."
She shook herself out of her stupefied state, "Come in, come in!" She excitedly ushered me into an open living room.
The pleasant smell of fall candles hit me as I entered the room. My glance landed on a small white puff of fur curled up on a soft mauve blanket that draped off the couch. A smile played across my face as I walked closer. I gently ran the tips on my fingers down the back of the small kitten that we had come across a couple of nights ago. I had almost completely forgotten about the little thing. A purr erupted from the blankets as the creature lifted its head. It looked much healthier than it did when I found it. He seemed right at home here and although I hate to admit it, it made me quite happy.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted my adoration, "Let me get this straight. You're the guy taking my lame brother to a party? What gives, you're like a 10."
I could tell she wasn't shy like her brother. I laughed awkwardly, wondering when I was going to regain my suave.
I mustered up some balls, "Shhh, don't tell anyone, but he's actually paying me." I grinned, looking her up and down, trying to seem almost innocent, "What are you doing later?" I gave her a wink and she melted into a giggling mess.
"I-I'll go get Alex." And with that she backed away, bumping into the staircase as she tried not to break eye contact with me.
I watched as she raced up the stairs past an older woman who I was assuming was Alex's mother.
"Who was it dear? Another trick-or-treater?"
I watched Alex's sister turn as she reached the top of the stairs, "That's Kaine mom, Kaine!" she forced the words through her teeth as quietly as she could. Alex's mother turned to me wide eyed, descending the stairs at an alarming rate. Geez, I wasn't in this house for more than 2 minutes and already everyone knew who I was.
"Hi, I'm Kai-"
"Kaine! I know, I've heard such good things about you! You can call me Karen." She kissed my cheek and gave me a firm hug. "It must be freezing outside! You're still so cold!"
I nodded my head and shrugged, "It is a bit chilly out, I don't mind it though, I actually prefer the cold...."
"Well alright! Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?"
I opened my mouth to answer but was quickly interrupted by Alex racing down the stairs, his sister closely tailing him.
"No mom he's fine. We really gotta go now if that's okay?"
I could hear the uncomfortableness in his voice, he didn't like this meeting any more than I did.
"What-no! He just got here, let him stay awhile!" his sister shreiked, shoving Alex out of the way.
"Riley, we have to go, don't you have your own friends to annoy?" Alex stepped back and squinted his eyes at the lower portion of this sister's body. "Wait, are you wearing my jeans?! Those are brand new, take them off! Mom tell her to take them off she's going to stretch them out."
"Alexander, don't be rude, we have a guest." His mother ordered sternly
Alex grunted and rolled his eyes before grabbing my arm, tugging me towards the door. The whole encounter wasn't as awkward as I assumed it would, but I could tell he was getting flustered so I followed without hesitation.
"Nice to meet you!" I shouted just before Alex slammed it shut.
As soon as we were outside he began, "listen, I'm so sor-"
I cut him off mid sentence, "Nah, don't apologize, they were sweet. I think your sister has a little crush on me. Are you jealous?"
"Why would I be jealous?" he pouted, his arm crossed in front of his chest.
I perked my head up and shot a wide grin in his direction. "You know exactly why, Alexander," He cringed when I said his full name, "come on, you should really be giving me more credit. I know you like me babe, it's ok"
Alex looked at the sidewalk, his face completely red. A few moments of silence passed before I bursted out laughing, "It was just a joke, okay! Loosen up for me a bit here Alex."
He shrugged me off, "I-I knew you were joking..."
"Mhmm, sure you did." I stepped closer to him, our chests inches apart. He looked up at me, letting out a small nervous laugh. "What?"
"You blushed when I called you babe?"
We locked eyes for a few more moments and then I opened the door to my car, causing him to jump. He looked in my car and then back at me.
"Heh, t-thanks!"
I nodded and slipped into the driver's seat, making sure to turn on the heat for Alex.
"Oh! I brought you this" He said as he placed a pair of cheaply made, fuzzy cat ears in my hand.
"What the hell do you want me to do with these?"
He placed his matching pair upon his head and flashed me a cheesy smile. "Yeah, no, I'm not wearing these. You keep them on though. They suit you oddly enough." I chucked and placed the ears back on his lap.
"You gotta wear them! It's a costume party, it's mandatory! They're not going to let us innnn." he whined.
I gave in and grabbed the ears off his lap and snapped the clips into my hair, "Happy?" I heard him giggle as I glared at myself in my rearview mirror, letting out a discontented hiss.
Disgusted with how I looked, I quickly changed the subject, "So, where's this party? We're already hella late."
He briefly mapped out exactly where I had to go, and the ride wasn't too bad. We slowly made our way through a maze of streets lined with dozens of children in colorful costumes. One of them in particular caught my eye, it was a boy no older than seven or eight. He was dressed head to toe in black with a red crushed velvet cape flying behind him. His face was sloppily painted white with an uneven drawn on widow's peak.
"Hey Kaine, look it's you!"
Without hesitation I slammed my foot on the brake in the middle of the crowded street.
"Really?"
Alex looked around, confused. "W-what? It was a joke..."
I rolled my eyes, "That kid looks stupid, alright. Their portrayal of what we are is insulting, don't ever compare a real vampire to that. You need to watch what you say if you're going to be hanging around with me."
A few moments of silence passed before I let out an enormous sigh, "Sorry, alright?" I ran my fingers through my hair, fixing the crooked black ears, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap, I mean I like you it's just this whole situation is putting me on edge."
"Situation?" Alex questioned curiously.
"Forget it." I spat quickly. There were too many reasons as to exactly why I was nervous. One of them being I didn't want to lose control and slaughter a bunch of drunk teenagers. I felt uneasy every time I thought about the 'dating humans' rule, that being that I can't. Not to mention that Alex made me feel...things. I couldn't tell him any of that though. I'd sound like a psychotic loser. He probably wouldn't want anything to do with me if he actually knew all of this.
"I get it, it's okay." He sounded defeated and I felt horrible.
I took my foot off the brake and continued towards our destination. I glanced over at Alex a few times. He was sitting there with his head pressed against the glass, ignoring me. I probably could have been a little nicer, but I was caught off guard.
The rest of the short ride was painfully silent, but Alex perked up when he noticed the hordes of teenagers cluttering the street.
"It's um, that house over there." He practically whispered, while pointing to a house that was overly lit with orange and purple lights.
I pulled up behind a decaying Toyota Camry and quickly got out of the car. I was immediately hit with the intense scent of dozens of teenagers and my head started to spin. It became very clear, very fast that this was a horrible idea. Alex had already gotten out of the car and was examining the few kids sitting outside. I walked over to him and followed his gaze, "What's wrong? Are you looking for someone?"
"No, not really. I'm just a little paranoid that David's gonna show up. He doesn't usually come to things like this but he knows I'm going to be here and he's a dick, y'know. I don't want him to bother us."
His tense posture eased up when I placed my hand on the small of his back, "No one is going to bother you tonight, okay? Come on, lead the way."
I pushed him forward and we crossed the street to the house. I could hear the music from outside, the base pumping through the souls of my feet as we got closer to the house. This was nothing compared to one of Adam's parties. He could wake up the entire tri state area with his little 'get togethers'. No, this was tea time for Adam. I chuckled, amateurs.
We passed a couple of people smoking on the front porch and knocked on the door. That was new, I've never had to knock to get into a party. No one answered so we let ourselves in. I had almost forgot, Alex doesn't do parties. How would he know you could just stroll into someone's house. He's so cute.
Once inside, we were faced with dozens upon dozens of teenagers howling and dancing around the dim lit house. I felt the music thump inside my chest as I watched Alex scan the room. He smiled and waved to a few people who waved back. He grabbed onto my arm and trudged through the hot bodies which had me practically salivating. I needed some liquor, fast.
Alex stopped at who I assumed were his friends. A girl with fiery red hair and a tall, lanky looking punk boy were casually standing in between the doorway to the kitchen, bobbing their heads back and forth to the beat of the music.
"ALEX! What the fuck dude am I seeing things correctly, is it-is it really you? Lizzy, Lizzy, hold my drink,"
The tall boy reached out and dramatically touched Alex's face,"Dude, it's not a hallucination, he's really here." He laughed as Alex stared unamused.
Laugher erupted from the girl as well. "Shut up T, you loser."
"Hey Lizzy, you look...Interesting." Alex mumbled observantly, taking in the girls costume. She was dressed as a clown, which worked well for her considering her hair. She didn't look bad though, she was actually pretty cute and she had not taken her eyes off of me since we walked in.
"Guys, this is Kaine. Kaine this is T, and Lizzy."
I gave them a hello, and a friendly nod and they both did the same.
T looked at my arm as i waved, "Sweet tats, dude. Mean anything?
I studied my arm for a moment noticing Alex's interest peak, "Nah y'know, just personal shit."
Lizzy's gaze landed on my head and I was faced with the embarrassing reminder that I was still wearing fuzzy cat ears, "I like your ears, Kaine. Very sexy"
I smiled, "Ahh, you do? I think they make me look like a pussy." T choked on his drink and began to laugh in unison with Lizzy . I glanced over at Alex and my grin diminished as I scanned his dull face.
He quickly changed the subject, "Hey T, where everyone else?"
"They said they were coming, I dunno when though, me and Lizzy came together 'cause my cars fucked." T looked oven in my direction. "You don't go to our school. How old are you anyway?"
"21...and a half I guess" I nudged Alex at the 'half" part. We chucked together while T watched in confusion. Of course he wouldn't get the joke.
I hadn't noticed Lizzy wander off but when she returned she handed Alex and I cups of red liquid.
I examined the cup closely, "What's this?"
She gave me a wide smile, "It's fruit punch!"
The red liquid sloshed around in the cup, it's deep crimson color mildly resembling blood. Food was the only thought occupying my mind in the moment. Well, food and alex. Neither of which I could have right now. Alex looked particularly attractive tonight with his tight pants and even tighter hoodie. His hair swept across his pale forehead, partially obscuring his beautiful lightly lined eyes.
The scent of the humans had began to make my skin crawl. I needed to feed. But, that wasn't an option in the moment. If I got enough alcohol in me I could hopefully hold off until after we left the party and Alex was home safe.
I licked my bottom lip and pressed my lips against the edge of the cup, the extremely artificial cherry scent mixed with alcohol filled my nostrils. I took a small sip, realizing Lizzy had no idea what she was doing when she made the drink. It was about half a cup of kool-aid with the smallest drop of vodka. How cute.
I noticed Alex was actually enjoying his drink, sipping on it enthusiastically, "Don't tell me you actually like that."
He raised his eyebrow, "Yeah, yeah it's good...I think?"
I scoffed as I snatched the cup away from him, "Geez, you weren't lying when you told me you don't drink. I'll be right back. Stay here."
In the kitchen there were beer cans and a few bottles of liquor spewed across the island in the middle of the room. I eyed them carefully, there wasn't much of a selection considering most of the kids were under the age of twenty-one. I somewhat smallish bottle of fireball caught my eye and I grabbed what was left of it. Alex wouldn't have been able to drink it straight so I started casually rummaging through the fridge looking for something to mix it with. I found half a gallon of apple cider and decided that would have been perfect, like apple pie.
I quickly mixed the beverage in a solo cup, making sure to take a sip of my improve drink. Damn I was just too was good at this, honestly. I trekked my way through tight quarters of the house, eventually making my way back to where I left Alex.
"Here, this is better. Enjoy."
I handed him the cup and he examined it closely, "What? You think I'm poisoning you or something?"
"N-no. What is it? I smell cinnamon."
He was so innocent, it was adorable, "it's fireball and apple cider. Apple pie ala Kaine, now drink up."
Alex hissed in discontent, grabbing his throat, "It burns, is it supposed to burn?
"That means it's working, kid. Come on, You'll be fine, I promise. I tapped our cups together, "Cheers." I winked and chugged my now vodka kool-aid concoction.
I watched closely as he continued to drink. Little did I know this was the start to an extremely exciting night.
After 10 minutes of small talk, T and Lizzy were off in search of the rest of their friends. I began to notice that Alex's eyes had become laced with a drunken haze. I leaned against the wall and watched in amusement as he tried to keep focused on the conversation at hand. I laughed at the fact that the cup of fireball wasn't even finished. Alex was drunk off his ass and he had only downed half the cup. He began to giggle uncontrollably at every word I said, stopping every now and then to watch my mouth.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" I snickered, quirking my eyebrow.
He rubbed his head in frustration,"S-s-sorry," He shook his head, "'M tryin'a focus but your hotness is distracting meee." His words were tumbling over each other. Now i knew he was drunk.
"My hotness, huh? Is that even a word?" I joked as I flicked one of the cat ears that sat on his now untidy straightened hair.
"H-Hey!" he shouted, attempting to arrange the disheveled ears.
"What're you gonna do about it?" I taunted, predicting his next move
As if on queue, Alex had began to jump erratically, darting his hands directly towards my head. Every time his feet hit the floor the chains the hung from his skinny jean clanged together as he attempted to swat the cat ears I hated so much off my head. If this were any other day, I would have gladly let him have his way but watching him try to reach the top of my head was so hysterical and cute.
"Shorty." my tongue piercing clanged against my teeth as I stuck my tongue out at him.
Alex wiped the hair out of his eye, clearly revealing his strikingly green eyes that I was so drawn to. His urgency to reach my head diminished once his eyes landed on my mouth. He looked up at me with liquor heavy lids. We stared into each others eyes for what felt like forever until I bit my bottom lip, forcing his attention back to my mouth
"What's the matter, you're giving up already?"
He leaned closer to me this time, his chest now brushing up on my body, lazily attempting one last time to reach his target. I knew this was just a formality at this point. I knew what he wanted and it had nothing to do with the stupid fucking ears.
Suddenly, I cupped his chin and brought his face up to mine, I stared into his eyes before pressing my cold lips onto his which had put him at a complete stand still. He melted into the kiss and a sudden rush of euphoria rushed through me. I reluctantly pulled away and watch confusion wash over Alex's face.
"I-I-I'm sorry," He slurred, "you're just sooo-" I urgently grabbed his wrist, dragging him to an almost empty part of the house. The room was completely open but for some reason it was far less crowded. There was a couch and a old looking tv, so I assumed it was the family room. I stumbled onto the couch, pulling Alex down on top of me so that he was straddling me.
The loud music that was radiating through the house seemed to fade as I firmly pressed my lips against his once more. I ran my tongue along his soft lips, practically begging for entrance. He obliged and I was in absolute heaven as our lips moved in sync. We took turns exploring each others mouths. My ice cold meshing with his tender warmth. I felt numb as my hands tangled in the back of Alex's hair.
"F-fuck" I gasped. My mouth was taken over by a sweet taste, that of which I assumed came from him. I couldn't help but nibble at his tender lip. Doing so, he let out a loud moan, effectively surprising both of us.
I had to stop.
I hesitantly pulled away and watched as Alex gasped for air. I brought his forehead to mine, his desperate breath tickling the skin on my face. I shut my eyes. Feeling the lust that ran through my body was almost painful.
I've been around the world countless times, seen things that people only dream of. I've experienced several lifetimes of emotions but I could honestly say I've never felt electricity like this before. I was a puddle in this simple boys pale hands right now and I had absolutely no idea why. No had ever done this to me before, I'd always been the one to erupt unknown feelings in people.