Page 7 of Heathens

“But boss, I’mstarving!“ He looks pathetic, like a child begging for dessert.

My jaw clenches as Theo and Luke wipe their mouths, both licking the blood from their fingers. Theo walks past me, grabbing the black bag and tucking the formula inside of it.

“I’m guessing you still want this?”

“Yeah, we’re taking it with us.” I turn to Mateo. “Do whatever you need to in here, but pour the gas over everything once you’re finished. I don’t want a trace of a formula left for Rene to work with. This blood, drug, whatever it is, it’smine. Understood?”

“Yes, boss,” Mateo almost sobs with joy. “Thank you.”

The second I release him he dives for the floor, his tongue sliding against the tile as he laps up the pool of coagulating blood. He even grabs the dead woman’s fingers and sucks on them like candy.

Theo lets out a disgusted groan as he retrieves his own gas can.

“Christ, Mateo. Show some fuckin’ decorum.”

“He’s young. Let him be,” I mutter. “Mateo, you have five minutes! Donotmake me come back up here.”

As we reach the door, I motion to the opposite ends of the hallway. The boys head off without another word as I pop a cigarette into my mouth. Theo’s gas can is the first to empty, but it’s not too long before Luke saunters back toward me and I check my watch.

“Mateo! Your five minutes are up!”

A pathetic yelp rings out from beyond the doorway and moments later he’s barreling down the stairs, draining his can behind him. Gasoline cascades down the steps as he finishes emptying it, tossing it into the corner before turning to look at me, expectantly. There’s blood on his chin, all down his neck, his hands… it’s even in his hair.

“You get everything?” I ask.

He nods, and I wrap an arm around his shoulder.

“Well then, I think we can call this a successful outing. Let’s go, boys.”

Back outside, Theo stands beside me as I light a cigarette. I take a good long drag as we stare up at the soon-to-be inferno in silence. Across the street Luke and Mateo struggle to load everything into their car, still a little blood-drunk in the afterglow.

Theo releases his longest sigh of the night and I raise a brow.

“Rene’s gonna hunt us down, you know. There’s no coming back from this.”

I smirk, taking one last drag before flicking the cigarette onto the gas-trail at my feet. Within a minute or two, the whole thing will be up in flames.

“Let him try.”

SOFIE

Nox Nightclub

Ihateithere.

Okay, maybe hate is a strong word, but it’s hard to feelgoodabout finally becoming a business owner when it’s during the goddamn apocalypse.

I used to be a lab tech at Santa Cruz Blood Bank. I worked hard, and I loved my job. Eventually, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to help people. Now, I run a vampire bar. The upside to all of this is that my ass looks great in latex dresses.

Ruby and I opened Nox in ‘86, a few years after everything went to shit. In the beginning, it was just to survive, but soon we realized we could take some power back from the vamps who took our city for their own. We couldn’t give them the satisfaction, the right to obliterate us, so we carved out our own little corner of the city. A year later, we’re thriving. Nox is a key pillar of the community, and the buffer between them and us.

In the early days, when we still had the resources, some of us ran tests on the few vampires we managed to kill. We quickly discovered that their blood had healing capabilities, not just for them but for us. It helps with smaller wounds, bolsters the immune system, and acts as a kind of inoculant against the plague that was killing us.

So, we used that knowledge to our advantage. Early negotiations led to the realization that both groups had something to offer; trading in blood only made sense, in a sick sort of way. But we had to convince their leaders that population control was good for them, that they couldn’t just go on a feeding frenzy. It didn’t happen overnight, but even the most stubborn vamp started to realize that all of us dying in a few years wasn’t the best of plans.

Now we get booster shots every six months, and in return we provide a continuous food source.We donate blood to the blood bank to keep them fed and they don’t run rampant and kill all of us. The goal is to live together in some kind of harmony. Sure, some of them want nothing more than to drain us until we’re dry, but the more reasonable vampires understand the delicate balance that has to be maintained.

I balance my arm on the desk as I lean over the tiny, nearly shattered compact that I’ve had since I was sixteen. All I can see is a green eye surrounded by glittery copper shadow and strawberry blonde lashes. I’ve successfully covered my dark circles with powder, but as the night wears on, they’ll rear their ugly head again.I don’t even have much of this shit left.

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