Funnel Cake and Oranges//Life:Tehra
It was the kind of night that made her want to be out on the streets, roaming the city with her friends like there was only today. The taste of the air in the summer wind reminded her of funnel cake and oranges. It was probably wafting from one of the street vendors near Herald Square. Tonight was a Broadway night, a night for rebellious music and laughter until the early morning. There was no school in the morning. There might have been parents expecting them home, but they didn't care- New York was safe.
Raucous, joyful laughter erupted from two girls they left one of the many tourist trap restaurants. They knew they were tourist traps, of course, but Tehra and her friends had decided to spend the day as tourists. And why not? They were young and in love with the city's bright lights and endless possibilities.
"Tehra! You know our waiter was totally checking you out! You should go for it, he's a college guy! At NYU too, studying for law school. He'll make a lot of money!" A redhead giggled at the brunette standing next to her.
"Oh stop it Kate, the minute he finds out I'm fifteen, he'd run for the door!" Tehra laughed, nudged her friend in the shoulder as she waited for the light to change "Besides, it's getting late, we should head for the subway station, it's like three blocks this way."
"Oh, have a little fun, Tehra! You act like you're 30, wanting to go home- it's only ten!" Kate laughed, pulling at her arm and pulling her towards the neon lights of some clubs down the road "That place down there doesn't ID, and the make drinks that glow in the dark!" Kate urged.
Relenting, Tehra sighed and turned away from the illuminated crosswalk sign. "Fine, fine, but only one drink. I don't want to get wasted around a bunch of strangers in Herald Square." She allowed her friend to pull her to the club.
A few minutes later, they were sitting at the bar with a college guy on either side and a glowing blue shot in each hand that the boys had purchased for them. Tehra was engaged in a very passionate conversation about the quality of shows on HBO and whether or not they'd get better. Laughter was coming easy, and she even allowed herself to have a second shot before her guy said he needed to go. Tehra waved him farewell and turned on her barstool to have a conversation with Kate and her gentleman.
After a bit longer in the bar, Kate said she was exhausted and Tehra was inclined to agree. Looking up at the nice guy they'd been chatting with, she asked him a question "Would you mind walking us to the subway? It's a bit late and I think Kate's had a little too much for me to support her on my own." Tehra laughed.
The man nodded, helping Tehra aid Kate off her barstool. Their hands brushed and she noticed his hands were ice cold. Odd, but the air was on pretty high- it was summer after all. Soon enough, they made it outside.
"Here, I know a shortcut." He offered, motioning to the alley next door. Tehra wasn't fond of the idea, and told him as such. He met her eyes and told her it would be okay, and follow him. For some reason, that made her feel better, and they followed him down the shortcut. "Not much further, the 6 is just right here." He smiled charmingly. But there was something off about that smile, his canines were just a little... too...sharp.
Tehra had been falling behind, and she scurried to catch up. Just as she got within arms reach of helping the stranger move Kate again, he pinned Kate to the wall and began to.. kiss her neck. "Hey! Stop it! She's too fucking drunk for that shit!" Tehra yelled, grabbing his arm to pull him off of her.
He threw her arm off of his as he turned and bared his fangs at her. She was about to scream when the hand that wasn't holding Kate covered her mouth. "Don't fucking scream!" he commanded as he met her eyes. She didn't listen, she tried to scream- but no sound would come. The monster of a man turned his away from her then, and sank his fangs into Kates neck. Kate screamed, but the vampire muffled her cries with his hand as his body pinned her to the wall.
Tehra leapt on him, brandishing a knife she'd had in her pocket, it sank into his shoulder, but he was unfazed. In fact, he growled at her louder and backhanded her hard enough that she fell to the ground, her knife clattering to the other side of the alley. The man dropped Kate to the ground for a moment before kneeling down to Tehra. He grabbed her chin roughly in his hand, strength unlike anything Tehra had ever known forcing her to look into his eyes.
"You are a fighter, aren't you, little mouse...god you won't just let me enjoy my meal. Fine then, looks like I'll have to make you. You are not to move, you are not to speak, you are not to so much as whimper until I am done. And then I'll figure out what the hell to do with you." He growled, maintaining eye contact the entire time.
He released her chin, but Tehra found she could not will herself to stand up. No muscle in her body would move- it was like being tied up without a single rope. She tried to speak, to make any sort of sound, but her lips merely parted in silence. Eyes widened in horror as her heart rate picked up.
"Keep your heart racing like that, little mouse, and I'll have to take a break from her and taste you. You're lucky I tasted her before I saw your spirit. You know, spirit is the best flavor blood can have." He laughed darkly before he picked the nearly unconscious Kate up again. His teeth lowered to the redhead's neck and he continued drinking his fill, making sure he was in full view of the other young girl.
He finished taking his fill and tossed Kate's body carelessly to the side. Unable to speak or gasp or cry, Tehra could only watch, and smell, and think. The air still smelled like funnel cake and oranges but Kate's heart had stopped beating. It was clear for the way her body hit the ground like a rag doll. Wide blue eyes were locked on the form of the dead girl until Tehra felt surprisingly soft hands roughly grab her arm and pull her to her feet.
"Your turn, kid." He said with a laugh as he slammed her body into the wall of the alley way "Although, I might take a taste now and save the rest of you for later." He moved his nose close to her neck and hair, taking a long draw of the scent. "Oh you are decadent, aren't you little mouse..."
Tehra closed her eyes- it seemed she still had that freedom- as lips moved to her jawline, kissing around the edges until they came to her lips. The vampires lips pressed against hers as she felt two small pricks- he'd pierced her bottom lip with his fang. He pulled away for a moment before running his tongue over her bottom lip to collect the blood that had gathered there. Then his lips moved to her ear "Oh your heart is racing, and you're positively shaking. Afraid you won't make it out of this alive?" He asked, kissing bottom of her earlobe again "I'll give you a hint... you won't, but might take a while"
Lips moved again to her neck, and this time she felt a deep pain that would have caused her to cry out had she been able to. She could feel the warmth leaving her, the blood leaving her. As he continued, she started to feel lightheaded. Oh god, what was happening to her? What had she done to deserve this? She couldn't cry, she couldn't speak, she couldn't move. The only thing she could do was smell, and think.
The air still smelled like funnel cake and oranges, but Tehra's innocence was slowly being drained away from her. The air still smelled like funnel cake and oranges... funnel cake and oranges. She focused on the scent, trying to erase the sounds of his sucking from her mind, trying to erase the cold that seeped into her veins, trying to erase the feeling of the hands that were teasing at the bottom of her shirt, trying to erase to feeling of a body falling limp against her as she fell to the ground
Wait... she was on on the ground. Tears pricked at her eyes. The young brunette opened them. The vampire was lying half on top of her, a stake embedded deep in his back, enough to puncture his heart from behind. He was a sickly gray. And she could move again. Running on instinct and adrenaline, Tehra pushed him off of her.
A hand reached down to her and she followed the line of it up to the face of a man that was perhaps four years older than her. "You're safe now... he's dead. Take my hand."
"Who are you..." She whispered, her voice too weak for anything else, but her body numb as she took his hand.
"I'm Nate. I'm a vampire hunter." He said kindly, pulling her up with surprising strength and holding her against him. "Your shivering... how much did he get out of you?" Nate said, wrapping his arms around her.
"I.. I don't know but he killed her... he just killed her..." She cried, tears finally coming now that she could move again and had found safety. "I don't understand... a fucking vampire.. but he killed her, he just drank her dry and threw her to the ground as if she'd never been a person at all."
"Vampires don't seem people.. they see food, they see toys, and if you're lucky, they see a stake through their heart. Come on, we need to get you inside before you go into shock. I have a car nearby." Nate said, wrapping his arm around her waist to help steady her as she walked.
Tehra shivered as they left, looking back at the lifeless body of her childhood friend, tears rolling down her cheeks just as the blood dripped down her lips and her her collarbone. Vampires were real, Kate was dead, and the air still smelled like funnel cake and oranges. God she hated oranges.
