text: *\*Edit: I removed the "Prologue" because I don't think it is necessary or adds to the story.* Chapter One: Vampires I rubbed my eyes to remove the sleep. Sitting up in my bed, I could see from my window that it was already dark outside. I glanced over to my clock. 9:00 PM. That's good. That means I slept 12 hours. And it gives me time to get ready before Emily and her friend pick me up at 11:00 PM. I consider myself nocturnal. I prefer to sleep during the day and be up at night. I never liked waking up early or having a typical 9-5 job. Not that I have a job now. Since graduating high-school 5 years ago I have not been able to keep a steady job. I move from one shitty paying job to another. After I was fired from my last one for spitting in a client's meal, I decided to say fuck it and give up. No one was doing anything big or important in this shitty town anyway. Over the past 10 years I've watched the city atrophy. Businesses left, people moved out, and only those who were too poor or too stupid to leave stuck around, including my family. I knew the moment I graduated high school that I was never leaving this city. That I would live and die here. Not because I want to stay here, but because no one leaves here anymore. No one comes and no one goes. Not since the gangs moved in... With a sigh I crawled out of my bed and made my way over to my dresser. I pushed the negative thoughts out of my head as I looked through my drawers to put together an outfit. I had recently turned 23 and tonight I was going to celebrate. There's nothing else to do in hell hole than work, sleep, fuck and party. And for the rest of tonight I only planned to do one of those things. I slid a black cropped tank top of my head, followed by a black mesh top. I put on my favorite pair of fitted black cargo pants, accessorized with chains, and completed my look with black platform combat boots. I brushed out my shoulder length hair and parted it down the middle. The dyed green ends starting to fade and blend into my natural dark brown color. I wrapped each side up into bun and pulled some strands out to frame my face. I then took my time working on my make-up. I wanted to really sell the "goth/rave girl vibe". I found some assorted bright neon stick on gems and applied them around my eyes, covered with dark green eye shadow and an intense black liner. Lastly, I put on matte black lipstick, set my face and hair so the look would hold all night, and the sprayed some body glitter on my arms and around my collarbone. I grabbed some studded earrings and bracelets and took one last look at myself in the mirror before I decided the look was finished. My phone buzzed from on my bedside table. I picked it up and read Emily's message. She will be here in 10 minutes. Did it take me that long to get ready? I grabbed my bag before leaving my room. I walked down the hallway, passed my parent's shut bedroom door, towards the stairs where my brother, Christopher's room is located. I noticed my brother's door was slightly ajar so I pushed it open and stood in his doorway. His thin and lanky frame was slouched in his gaming chair, intensely focused on the game on his monitor, which provided the only illumination in his room. His shaggy brown hair fell over his bloodshot eyes. He was surrounded by empty energy drink bottles and bags of chips. "Hey." I greeted him. "Hey," he responded. "I'm going out." "Cool. With Emily?" He asked, not removing his stare from the computer screen. I wonder how long he had been up playing games. He doesn't sleep much, but he also has no where else to be or anything else to do, so he stays in his cave all day. At 19, he has never had a job. But I can't judge. "Yeah. Her friend Patrick is taking us to this new club downtown. I don't know when I'll be home." I offer. "Ok, I won't wait up." he smirks. I glance down the hall to the closed bedroom door. "Anything from them?" I ask, not needing to explain the question. "Nope." He curtly responds, still not breaking eye contact with his screen. "Oh well. I'll see you." I say before walking away and down the stairs. "Be safe." I hear him say, quietly. \ Outside, Emily pulls up riding shotgun in an beat up, grey 2010 Toyota Camry. The car looks like it smells like weed and Doritos. The grey paint is faded and chipped, and the several parts of the car are being eroded by rust. As the car comes to a stop in front of my house, Emily sticks her hand out the window and waves me over. In the driver's seat, is a husky looking guy with short, blonde hair and a matching blonde beard, trimmed neatly. I open the backseat door and immediately the scent hits me. Weed...and yep, Doritos. Called it. "Hey!" I say excitedly to the carpool as I slide into the seat and close the door. I look for my seat belt and cannot find it. The floor in the back seat of the car is filled with trash and other miscellaneous items. I use my foot to clear an empty space in front of me. Emily whips around to face me, her face covered in bright pink eye shadow and lipstick, adorned in similar jewels as my own. She is wearing her dirty blonde hair down, with small braids through out. "Alena, this is Patrick!" She enthusiastically introduces the man in the driver's seat. "Hey Alena, nice to meet you." He says smilingly to the rear view mirror and making eye contact with me without turning around. He puts the car into drive and pulls out onto the road. I greet him back. "Are you so excited?" Emily asks, still contorting her body to face me from the passenger's seat. She's smiling wide, and her pupils are massive. Small beads of sweat have formed on her forehead. She's already high. "Yes! I'm so ready to party." I respond. "So what is this place?" "Oh, it's this super cool club downtown! I guess it's been open for a while but I had never heard of it. Patrick goes there all the time and says he can get us in, he knows the bouncer or whatever. The music is supposed to be really cool, and the drugs are even better!" She says all this without taking a breath. "What are you on?" I laugh. "Cocaine. Duh." Emily says as she whips herself back around in her seat. She lowers the overhead mirror and checks her make up. "Patrick has the best. But he says this stuff at the club is way better. Even better than H!" Her eyes dart to meet mine through the mirror. "Oh, cool." I say. She knows I don't do H anymore. I couldn't handle it, things got out of control. "Yeah, have you heard about it?" Patrick finally joins the conversation. "It's seriously the best stuff ever. It use to be really hard to get but now these clubs are popping up everywhere and they are the only places you can find it." "It's not on the street?" I ask, suspicious. "No. It's tightly regulated by..."He trailed off, like he didn't want to finish the sentence. "By what?" I asked, but Emily interrupted, slamming the overhead mirror up, "Who cares? This shit is supposed to amazing! And we don't even have to worry about the cops, they never bother these clubs. I guess they have an understanding or whatever." That gave it away. The only entities not bother by the police are the gangs. I felt my heart rate increase as we turned a corner. I had heard stories, but I didn't know what was real or what was being told like a fairy-tale to deter kids from getting mixed up with the gangs. Soon I could see the building in sight. It was a modern building painted in a dark color. In the darkness, it looked black. There were no windows, and what looked like only one door to get in. A neon purple sign hung above the entrance way: "The Lair" it read. Well that is ominous. We parked on the street a block from the club. Downtown was beginning to look like a ghost town. Two-thirds of the businesses and buildings were closed with "For Lease" signs hanging in their windows. The street was relatively empty except for a line of cars parked on the same side, leading up to the club. Although the club looked busy, it was eerily quiet outside. A line of people were waiting to get in. I followed Patrick and Emily as they passed the line and headed straight for the bouncer at the entrance. Patrick said something to the bouncer, turning to point to Emily and myself. The man nodded and waved us through. He was unsurprisingly tall and muscular with a stern look on his face, but what caught my attention was the fresh puncture wounds on the right side of his neck. Emily bounced up to the entrance, beaming with excitement. I followed behind her, taking one last look at the facade before entering into the darkness, and knowing in my heart that the stories we were told as kids were true. Vampires are real.