Page 36Awaken

Waking up was... Interesting.

It was probably a boon that the days were so long now. It was mid summer, the warmth of which was still noticable outside, and though it meant the nights were short, I slept a long time every day. Just like now. But apparently I'd slept a lot deeper than usual. And waking up was slow.

It felt like it was years ago since I last felt as lazy as this. I just wanted to stay in bed, or on pillows in this case, and sleep all night. But of course I couldn't do that. There was a lot to be done so, reluctantly, I got out of bed.

I really wanted to get a shower before I headed off today. Esmerdalda had long since shown me where the clean and dirty towels were kept and, on several occasions, I'd showered alone. But, back then I had no sensitive equipment in my backpack and no briefcase to keep either. It truly was a pity that the door was only lockable from the inside.

But, as the thought occured to me, locks on the outside would just be used for evil pranks.

Anyway, I did go for a shower, but left both the backpack and the case out of the shower today. This was possible because of two simple reasons. The first being the time of day. It was very quiet in the showers every time I'd been there around this hour. And secondly sound. I would be able to hear people walking and opening doors if I kept alert.

Now that I'm writing this my fatal flaw is kind of obvious. As it would mean I'd have to jump out of the shower nude and wet to stop someone from snooping around my bag. But at the time those two reasons sounded perfectly logical to me, so I went ahead and did it.

While showering I took a good look at my arm. I was surprised to find that there was only a slight discoloration on my upper arm that looked like I'd hurt it while falling or something, but other than that, it felt fine. Beneath the skin all was well and not sore at all. I was thankful for that, as I was sure to have some athletic challenges tonight.

When I was drying up, I came up with an idea to smuggle the briefcase practically unnoticed into the store. It actually wasn't that difficult. I'd just leave it out back, then headed in through the normal store and retrieved it as quickly as possible. The back was barely used in the evening anyway. Most deliveries took place during the day.

Besides, by now I knew fairly well what had to be done at work and Tyler mostly left me to it.

After I left the Cathedral, mostly avoiding any contact and succeeding nicely, I headed to the business district. Even though my body had healed fairly well during the night, I still felt groggy and ill at ease with the world. I hoped some rich blood (speaking of food rather than money) would help. I longed for blood that would make me feel full, alive again.

It took me a short while to find one I liked.

A fairly large set man in a suit, talking on the phone not far from some of the more numerous office buildings. It was not the most elegant solution but I was kind of pressed for time and choice.

It was almost ridiculous. I lured him into an alley, not very far from the crowd. It was saturday night after all, but I guess some people were always working. The man was almost all too eager to go into a dark alley with a strange gril. Or should I think of myself as a woman?

Either way, he was asking how much he had to pay for this, and if I swallowed.

The irony wasn't lost on me.

It was almost fun pressing his nice suit against the filthy wall. He barely resisted, thinking I would kneel down and suck on something nice for him. Well, I thought I could give him what he wanted, of sorts. Though it was tempting to bite his thigh, it would be too difficult (and dangerous) to heal. So I waited for him to grab my head and bit his wrist instead.

The blood was thick and glorious.

It was slightly tinny with stress, but other than that there was the hint of expensive wines and food that he probably gorged himself on on a daily basis. Perhaps even more often than that. It filled me with a buzz that was both sweet and salty.

I literally fled before he came to his senses on what happend. I let him keep his money. It was the least I could do, temptin though it was to take it. I was like a ghost through the city for once, almost unnoticed by the crowd dispite my odd looks.

Flushed, carrying a briefcase.

I followed my plan by the books, leaving my case at the back entrance, slightly hidden, while I just went in the normal way. It was hardly any trouble, Tyler was busy with a customer at the time, the locker easily accomodated it and would keep it safe for a while.

It was only at the end of the working day that I was becoming nervous about the venture of the night. Tyler hadn't said a thing about the light discoloration on my arm, perhaps he didn't even notice or he was just too polite to say anything about it.

As I was walking to the docks I was all jittery though.

If anyone had asked me for the time I'd probably freaked a little.

Well, she does swallow...