Small-town vampire

AN: Thanks for reviewing. It helped motivate me to edit and post this next chapter.

Shana pulled her car into the parking lot of a deserted storefront and turned the engine off. After making certain no one was lurking near by, she quietly opened the car door and got out. The warm, humid air swept over her like a wave after spending the last hour in the artificial cool of her car’s air conditioning.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shana caught her reflection in one of the empty windows of the storefront. Young, pretty, and tall, she had no shortage of boys, or men, pursuing her. Still, she didn’t have any illusions about her appearance. She was simply your average, cute college co-ed. Just another piece of ass. One of many, many others on campus.

But she was also a small-town girl. Growing up in Jefferson had given her a strong sense of place, of belonging, that she imagined only a Southerner could truly appreciate. She was fairly centered, happy and content. More than she could say for some of her angst-ridden friends. College in a much larger town not so far away offered a taste of something different, but still allowed her to retreat back home when she pleased. However, something recently had seemed to be draining away at her sense of place that she so treasured. Lately she’d been feeling empty inside. It wasn’t simple melancholy. She knew that deep down in her gut and it bothered her. Call it intuition or what you like but it was almost as if the rich and fertile soil of her childhood was gradually eroding away. She could easily recall instances in her childhood which had always brought her comfort. Long summer days spent at her grandmother’s house, the comforting feel of the old velvet cushions beneath her as she curled up in the settee for a nap. The deep, rich sound of her grandfather’s voice as he and Shana would sing songs together to pass the time when it was raining. The thrill of exploring the thick growth of bamboo with marked the boundary of her grandparent’s yard. She could remember all of these things, but the feeling, the emotion behind the memory was becoming strangely absent, leaving the memories colorless and flat.

Maybe she was depressed? Whatever the case, lately she’d had the urge to visit home. After each visit, she felt better for a week or two.

But tonight was different. More urgent than before. She’d spent the evening in with her new boyfriend, Rafael. Or flavor-of-the-week as her roommate liked to call her latest. After he’d dropped her off, her feeling of emptiness was like a gaping maw from which she could not escape. Nothing could pull her out of her funk. She’d had the strangest urge, no, it was strong need, to go back home right then. To see all the familiar places. Just to be there. It was way too late at night to show up at her parent’s home, which was located in one of the new suburban developments which even Jefferson wasn’t immune to.

And that was not really where Shana needed to be anyway. So rather than face chastisement by returning home at such a late hour, Shana decided to simply park her car and roam her grandmother’s old neighborhood. Perhaps stand at the edge of the yard where she used to play as a child with her grandmother watching over her. Nana had died when Shana was a teenager and it was only with the passing of the years that Shana realized how much she missed her.

Shana headed for the small alleyway between the abandoned storefront and another of the short, squat building s of the downtown. It was a well-used shortcut which led to the old stately homes which made up the neighborhood located behind the crumbling downtown area. There was no visible moon and the dim streetlights gave the normally familiar buildings an eerie look. The wind scattered stray litter across her path and strange shapes seemed to lurk in the shadows of the back-doorways. Shana shivered. Even this macabre scene left her feeling strangely empty inside, instead of inspiring fear. She felt detached from the world around her.

As Shana entered the picturesque small-town neighborhood, her spirits finally lifted. She strolled down the wide, dark streets. She wondered if anyone were awake at this late hour and, if so, what would think if they saw her wandering around alone. She studied the darkened windows of one little, whitewashed cottage and tried to remember who lived there. Next she admired a massive antebellum-style home that towered over the other homes. The local grocer had reportedly spent tens of thousands of dollars remolding it to make it livable again. She turned onto the street adjacent to her grandmother’s and spotted a newer, but also quite large large, ranch-style house where the Richardson family lived. The Richardsons had a large family with five or six children. Shana had lost count. The eldest three children were boys and Shana had always been fascinated by their dare-devil antics. She recalled once instance where they had tried to mix rollerblades with skateboards to perform some harebrained stunt or another. She didn’t remember their names since she had never been allowed to socialize with the wild boys. Her grandmother considered the boys too uncivilized for her only grandchild to associate with.

As she turned the corner again, Shana suddenly realized she wasn’t alone. She heard a twig snap to her left and she swung around to find herself face to face with …an employee from the local Burger Boy?

“Uh, hi, can I help you with anything?” Shana asked as she eyed his brightly colored uniform.

“Hey, that’s my line,” She half-expected him to retort back. He didn’t. He simply stared at her, which was creepy. Not that he looked frightening, per se. He was actually quite attractive, especially if he lost the geeky Burger Boy outfit. He was slim and tall, with dark brown hair that swept his shoulders and a pair of even darker eyes. Or maybe it was a trick of the light. Either way his stare was intense and it was making Shana uncomfortable, despite the fact that his gaze was, in fact, making her hot in places it shouldn’t.

Hey where did that thought come from? She was practically wanton. “Focus, Shana,” she told herself. “You need to find out what Burger Boy wants and stop ogling him.”

For all she knew, he could be planning to drag her into the bushes and do who knows what. Of course, she could yell for help and it would likely wake the entire neighborhood, but before she did that she needed to find out what he intended.

“Do you need something?” She tried again. “Are you lost?” She added lamely.

He seemed to think about this for a moment. He parted his lips slightly as if to speak. Shana found herself leaning forward a little, her gaze drawn to those full lips. His eyes widened for a moment and, without uttering a sound, he clamped his lips shut. He stood there for a moment, his shoulders tensed.

“Want to go for a walk?” When he finally spoke, his voice sounded strangely muffled as he tried to speak with his lips still pressed tightly together.

Shana giggled and quickly covered her mouth. She couldn’t help it. He sounded and looked just…odd.

His shoulders seemed to relax at the sound and he gave her a small smile. “So what do you say, Shana?” He asked through barely parted lips this time.

The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine. If she’d thought his eyes seductive, here came his lips and voice. Shana shook her head slightly in attempt to shake off the strange, almost hypnotic effect this stranger’s eyes and voice seemed to be having on her.

“I’m already on a walk,” she pointed out.

He seemed to consider this for a moment before continuing.

“But with me. Walk with me.” Again his voice as soft, compelling.

“Where to?” her voice sounded forced and strange to her own ears and her body felt unreasonably warm. Too warm to even be attributed to the early-summer heat. Warm in all the wrong places.

“Let’s go…” he paused but she knew what he was about to suggest.

“To the woods,” she finished for him and he nodded. Her cheeks flamed with the wrongness of it and she was glad it was dark and he couldn’t see that. To her chagrin, another part of her burned as well. The woods were where all the neighborhood kids went anytime they were up to no good.

Why was this stranger having this effect on her? Why was she not only willing, but even eager to accompany him to the isolated wood?

And how did he even know her name, she realized. It just felt right somehow. And exciting. Like she was a kid again sneaking off to the woods to secretly shoot her cousin’s pellet gun. At least the empty feeling she’d arrived in town with was long gone. She wasn’t certain why but she felt a nearly irresistible pull towards him, as if she needed to be nearer to him. She almost stepped forward again, but stopped herself when she realized she was moving closer to him again. Almost close enough to touch him, even just to breathe in the scent of his aftershave. Her breathing quickened and she thought she saw his eyes widen again in slight surprise.

She needed to keep walking until she got her head straight. “Sure, come on then.” She wasn’t sure if this was such a good idea, but a thrill of excitement ran through her and she began to feel less afraid and more eager to get to the patch of trees which bordered the neighborhood.

He caught her hand and she felt as if she were floating. Before she knew it, they were at the edge of the woods. Her own breathing sounded a little labored and she decided they must have been walking quite fast. He pulled his hand from hers and she spun around to catch him when she found herself trapped between him and a tree. The bark scraped through the thin silk of her shirt but she hardly noticed as his eyes bored into hers.

“My name’s Andy.” He told her just before his lips pressed against hers, dry and warm and she parted her lips. She was not sure if it were his tongue or hers who invaded first.

“Oh god he tastes so good,” she thought to herself as she leaned into the kiss. “Too good.”

to be continued...