Vampires of the Sun (4 page)

“Mauve is my therapist. I started seeing her a few years ago. My school thought I had a problem fitting in and my parents sent me to Mauve to remove all of the drama with school officials. She’s an older lady, maybe in her 50s. Her office is in Austin where I live although closer to North Austin than downtown. My prescription gets filled at her office.” Norah searched her memory for anything that would be pertinent information.

“What about her office? What’s it like? Describe the interior to me,” Jack propped his head on his hands in deep thought.

“It’s fairly large with modern décor. The couch is very comfortable. She sits across from me when we talk. She has a lot of plants. I don’t know how they stay alive though because there aren’t any windows in the room. I asked once about it because I don’t like being in a windowless room but Mauve said that she chose not to have any windows because she doesn’t like her patients getting distracted by looking out the window. Sometimes when we are having a session, she listens to me while she waters the plants. Even without the windows, the office is very bright. She has big overhead lights and wall sconces so there isn’t a dark corner.” Stumped at what else to say, Norah went quiet.

“Is there any way I can see what the pills that she gives you are?” Jack asked, wheels turning and working inside of his head.

“I suppose. I could bring the bottle tomorrow after school. Should I stop taking them?” Concern for her well-being bubbled up. She hadn’t been sick yet from the pills but what if she became sick? She’d read that some poisons didn’t do a lot of damage while you were taking them but once you stopped, you became violently ill.

“No, keep taking them. If my suspicions are right, they won’t hurt you. If anything, it’s a guarantee for safe-keeping if you come into any trouble. Also, before we can verify where the source of the blood is coming from, it wouldn’t be wise to act suspicious. I’ll be in town, in Austin, on Friday. I’m going with Dawn and Summer to some club opening. Would you like to meet me there? You only need to bring one pill. I can tell what it is from that alone.”

“I’m not exactly a club-goer but I guess I can make an exception. I’m not thrilled to have a run in with Dawn again though.” Norah stated her qualms with going to meet them. She wasn’t keen about being in close quarters with Dawn again.

“He will be on his best behavior, I promise. I will explain to him why it is in his best interest to leave you alone. Would you like me to walk you back to your car?” Jack offered. Norah hadn’t even realized she was done eating. She had to admit their conversation fascinated her even if she still thought Jack might be bullshitting her.

“No, that’s alright. I’m sure you’re going in a different direction. It’s not far. I can make it. How will I meet up with you on Friday? Do you have a cell phone?” She questioned, not wanting to go somewhere she wasn’t familiar with and be alone the whole time until they actually met up.

“I will find you. Just go to the club. I’ve got a spare flyer in one of these pockets.” Jack rummaged around in his jacket pocket and handed her a silver and black flyer. “I’ll be there all night. I’m helping out with a few things behind the scenes. The bouncer will let you in and I’ll find you.” He sounded so confident that he would know when she arrived that she gave up and said okay. They parted ways with Jack heading to campus and Norah to her car to head home, realizing how late it had gotten.

Sitting in the car with the overhead light on, Norah glanced at the flyer before starting up the engine. It had overly gothic lettering as a heading that was reminiscent of some old B-Horror movie flick. It was supposed to be playing all EDM music and a flyer could be exchanged for a free drink ticket upon arrival.

At home, Norah immediately went to her bathroom to look at the medicine. She really liked the bottle Mauve had given her to store the pills in. Mauve said that if you had to take medicine, it was better to take it from a beautiful vial. She’d given Norah a lovely glass bottle with her name etched into it and a cork screw top. Norah had to agree that she didn’t mind taking the pills nearly as much. It helped her feel like a normal person and that she wasn’t taking drugs in the same way an orange prescription bottle would have felt like. Putting one into a plastic bag, Norah laid it out on the counter top so she would remember it.

              There were people everywhere, drunkenly stumbling about as Norah made her way to Club Gigantor. She had left the condo exactly at 10 o’clock, not heading to the car garage but to the street level exit from the complex so she could walk instead. The best part about living downtown was she lived only a few blocks away from one of the best and busiest party scenes in Texas. Decked out in a slinky, knit, black Helmut Lang dress and Miu Miu ankle boots, Norah made her way through the dark side-streets before she came out on MLK.

              Norah enjoyed walking down the road with the wind in her hair. It was a pleasant night and she had a sense of excitement in her that was foreign. It was the first time she’d be going into one of the nightlife establishments in town, despite the numerous times she’d gone to people watch outside. Packed in her bag was the small pill and a pack of cigarettes to calm her nerves. Walking with the pill in her bag made her feel guilty, like she was doing something wrong or going somewhere to do a drug deal. She laughed at herself uneasily before she left the condo as she smoothed out the fabric of her dress and checked herself out in the mirror.

              Before she went inside the club after finding it fairly easy, it took time for Norah to calm her racing heart and remove all the strange thoughts running through her head. She took the time to light up, drawing in a deep breath as the ashes burned down the small, paper tube on the cigarette. Inside of her freshly packed back, she’d made sure to turn one of the cigarettes upside down for luck. As she smoked and watched the front of the club and the people in line, longing to get inside, Norah dragged and puffed and when the burning embers moved closer to the butt of the cigarette, she could feel the heat of fire on her hand.

              Throwing the butt of her cigarette on the ground with all of the other littered cans and smokes, she stomped on it with the toe of her shoe before she headed to roped-off entrance. There was a line of people outside, filled with hopeful glances and bored expressions that didn’t match the bright colors of their clothes. Norah felt nervous about going up to the bouncer and demanding to be let in. She was only going by Jack’s instruction, trusting that he wasn’t full of it. Norah was increasingly grateful to Jack when she didn’t even have to speak to the bouncer. He let her in without a word. Pausing hesitantly, she entered with a small nod to the bouncer who reminded her of a bigger, older version of Jack. Out of the corner of her eye she could see curious and semi-angry stares aimed her way but she put them out of her mind and focused on entering the building gracefully.

              Music greeted Norah’s eardrums as the thumping feeling of bass thrummed through her whole body as she progressed down the stairs into the basement club. She suppressed a small giggle at the tickling feeling of her nose hairs reverberating from the strength of the vibrations coming through the wall. The walls under her hands were smooth cement as she steadied herself, climbing downwards, trying not to trip over her own feet. Passing through the doorway, the room in front of her was gigantic and matching the title of the club. She was still up on a raised area, making it easier to see out over the crowd and it was massively crowded. Techno beats filled her, raising the hair on the back of her arms. Not knowing what to do with herself, she just stood there, peering out, waiting for something to happen.

              “Miss Norah? Please come this way.” A man who looked like staff touched her elbow gently, leading her through a door that looked to be a closed off section. It led to the VIP area with beaded, curtained off seating areas. The man took her to one that seemed to be in the center with a view of the bar directly in front of them and the stage off to the right with the DJ booth above that. Inside sat Dawn, Summer, Jack, and two other men Norah hadn’t seen before. Jack got up and greeted her with a gentle hand shake and a happy smile. He was the only inviting one of the lot.

              “I’m happy you could make it! I almost though you wouldn’t.” His smile grew wider as she moved closer inside of the booth and he make space for her to sit down at their rounded table. From where she sat, Norah could see out onto the dance floor but not to the alcove where she had been standing. How could Jack have known she had arrived? There weren’t any monitors in the beaded room that could have alerted him to her arrival. “Everyone, this is Norah. I spoke with you about her circumstances. Norah, would you like a drink? The head bartender makes a mean cosmopolitan.”

              Not sure of what to say, Norah nodded yes as she looked around at the other two men at the table. One of them was an older black man. From what she could see of his shirt, he wore a white tunic with closely cropped hair and gold earrings. The other man appeared older as well. He had tanned skinned but Norah couldn’t tell if he was Hispanic or white. His style was more of the hip-hop persuasion as he was dressed in Boy London fashion. They both looked at her with the same hungry expression with which Dawn had first done. Both Dawn and Summer had looks of nonchalance on their faces, as if they didn’t care one way or another if she was here. They practically ignored her, both leaning close against each other and looking down at the dancers below.

              After the drink Jack ordered for Norah arrived, he began to finally get down to business. “Can we see it? The pill?” Jack asked, holding out his hand expectantly. Norah obliged, rummaging through her small Moschino purse for the even smaller plastic container. She put it on the middle of the table for all of them to see it, noticing the flaring of nostrils like everyone at the table was sniffing it. “Are we agreed then? The blood is in the pill?”

              “Agreed, however, it is not just blood. There is another substance inside that I cannot detect. Whether it is truly anxiety medication or something else, we would need to investigate further. Testing it would be a feasible but it could take some time.” The black man said, nodding his head and staring at the pill without picking it up.

              “Is it detectable whose blood it is?” Norah asked, not sure if she should speak up but she was too curious not to.

              “If we had ever met the person who the blood belonged to, it would be easy to tell but, if I am correct, none of us have. I would much like to know who it belongs to because we were not aware there were others like ourselves in the area,” the other man spoke up. He had Norah recount what she knew about Mauve, just as Jack had a few days prior. When she was done, they all sat around the table silently as the music and chatter of people penetrated the room. Norah, not knowing what to do, threw back her drink in a quick and nervous manner. She jumped, startled and surprised when someone on the other side of the curtain came to bring her another one so quickly after she was finished with the first.

              “What should I do then? Should I keep seeing Mauve? Should I stop taking the drugs I’m given?” Norah broke the silence as panic was setting in with the sureness of their response that she was secretly swallowing pills of blood and an unknown drug. More than that, if Mauve was doing this intentionally, what was the end game? Did she want to hurt Norah specifically or was she just a bystander? If she did, was it possible that if she found out that Norah knew what she had done, she would hurt her or would she just run away?

              “I think you should keep up appearances. We’ll investigate this Mauve. Until we have granularity about her and her the game she’s playing, it wouldn’t do to act concerned. Just keep it business like normal,” Jack offered up. His hand snaked around her wrist and gave it a comforting squeeze as if he knew she was internally struggling. “You might not be the only one she’s feeding blood to. If there is one thing I can’t stand, it is not being given the choice to do things in life.” He looked angry enough that it was easy to tell he was talking about his own past.

              “I’ll do what I can but she’s very intuitive. I’m not sure if I can keep up a façade for too long.” Norah felt their conversation coming to a close. Her nervousness had subsided while Jack gripped her arm but when he pulled away, it was slowly crawling back into her skin without anything else to focus on. Tipping a third drink back, she got up to leave. “You can have that pill.” Jack followed her back down the hallway towards the entrance where she’d stood, overlooking the crowd.

              “You don’t have to leave just because the conversation ended. I wouldn’t mind if you stayed for a while.” He leaned back against the wall nonchalantly.

              “Who were those two men at the table? They seem wise beyond their years.”

              “They are very wise which is why I asked them to come. James was the one in the tunic and Carlen was the one in the zip-up hoodie. When I left my real families home, I ran into James and he took care of me. He taught me a lot about the world. I might have become a bad person if it wasn’t for him.”

              “I don’t see it. It must have been another life entirely. While I don’t understand the help I’ve received exactly and I can tell there are lot of secrets being kept from me, I am still very grateful for everything.” Norah had to fight to keep her hands at her sides to refrain from touching her cheeks to feel for redness or heat. She had to be blushing in embarrassment. Being the damsel in distress wasn’t her style.

              “Please don’t worry about it. In fact, let’s have a drink before you go and forget everything.” He smiled, trying to make her feel at ease.

              “Another wouldn’t hurt. I live within walking distance so you don’t have to worry about me driving.” Norah followed Jack down the last set of stairs, evening her height with those party-goers who seemed to be having a fantastic time as they jumped up and down to the beat of the music. Jack grabbed onto her forearm before moving through the crowd, leading her to the bar. Drinks were already there waiting for them. “You lied to me, didn’t you? You said you were just helping out here but I think there is a bigger connection to this club than you let on.”

              “You’re right.” Jack’s eyes were filled with amusement and he seemed genuinely happy that she made the connection. “James owns this place. He wanted a stable location so that people like us could feel comfortable. I don’t think many people like us will come here but it’s comforting to know that there is a place like this in the world. It doesn’t hurt to let anyone in so that we can all have a good time together plus it’s just good business to have a massive clientele.”

              “I’m not going to ask what you mean by ‘people like us’ even though you keep mentioning it but I want you know in the back of your mind that I am curious about what you mean.” Norah tried to make it subtle how she was comparing Jack to the people around them, looking for any differences that she could discern. His cool skin was the only thing she could feel that set him apart. Even in the heat of the club, his skin was cool. There also seemed to be a twinkle in his eye that was foreign and unplaceable but drew her own eyes to look for.

              Norah finished her fourth drink, feeling a buzz in her brain. She’d never been drunk before and the lack of focus was interesting to her. She brought her hands up to her face but couldn’t focus on the feeling of touch all that well and inside her stomach, she was giddy and happiness had filled her veins. Her thoughts still came evenly to her and she was aware that she should leave instead of continuing to drink but all she wanted to do was dance. Following a twinkle of light with her eyes, she glanced up to the VIP box she’d been sitting in earlier. Jack’s friends or family, or whatever he said they were, sat looking at her intently and it unsettled her to the point that dancing didn’t seem like a good idea after all.

              “I think I’m going to head home.” Norah said, digging in her purse for a pen and paper so she could leave her number with him. “If you guys do some investigation and find something worth relaying, please let me know. Here, my number.” She handed it over. He took it and she waved goodbye before threading through the crowd again to make it out of the door and back onto the street before he could stop her.

              With open air and concrete beneath her feet and not a substantial thought in her mind, Norah was lighting up, dragging the nicotine smoke into her lungs before puffing out softly. The outside air felt fantastic to her alcohol-induced, fuzzy, warm skin as she headed home. People were everywhere and she had a hard time walking past the various groups traipsing up and down Sixth Street without bumping into anyone. Her senses seemed to be muted and her arms and legs were alien and didn’t seem like they belonged to her. Norah could hear the laughter and loud chatter at an overwhelming volume. It hurt her ears as she weaved through the crowds.

              Norah picked up her speed, trying to get off onto the side street so her ears would stop hurting. It was a relief to move into the darkness as she made her way back to the condo. When she was one street away, Norah stopped and listened to the road behind her. She had caught the faint sound of footsteps but when she turned, she saw no one. Not seeing a person didn’t convince her that someone wasn’t there. The feeling of being watched was creeping up on her and as she began walking again, her footsteps seemed to echo a little too loudly, like someone was copying her pace at a distance. Sobering up quickly, Norah walked a little faster, paying close attention to her seemingly empty surroundings.

              Lights from the condo complex were comforting but Norah’s heart was still racing fast. Seeing the gate, she started running with relief. Half way through the entrance of the pedestrian gate, she took one last look behind herself but she still didn’t see anyone behind her. There seemed to be a faint whisper on the wind that followed her. It caressed her ears and it made her wonder if she was hearing things in the wind but the words sounded like ‘good girl’ before tapering off into silence.