Another Entry in the Houston Files
Sean Houston infiltrates a cocktail lounge that's become a haven for vampires.
This post drops the day after the election and the vibes aren’t great. My posting is not ignoring the world events but instead trying to provide a brief escape from a seemingly unjust world. Enjoy a slice of escapism from the real world in favor of a small town detective of the supernatural.
Sean sucked his teeth. It was hot in Plunkett, and the club attire didn’t help.
Sean stood uncomfortably in his black latex pants, leather duster, choker collar, open trench coat, all black, gleaming in the late evening turned early morning street lights on Lapin Ave. Sean wiped some sweat from his brow, the pang of dehydration sticking into his temple.
“Jesus, an Irish-American shouldn’t be wrapped like a Christmas hog.” Sean muttered, his grousing drowned out by the ‘clonk-clonk’ of the borrowed boots . “Just get in, confirm the people inside are afflicted with vampirism, don’t get bit, get the hell out. Keep it simple, Sean.” Sean arrived at the end of the block, the unmarked door and barrel chested bouncer standing in front of it.
“‘Keep it simple’, for once you dope.” Sean said under his breath.
Sean exhaled, approached the bouncer, and was in the club, fifty dollars poorer. The interior of the hallway was nearly pitch black, the only light coming from dimmed red lights half covered with electrical tape and sheer fabrics. Sean once again wiped the sweat from his brow as he clopped down the narrow hallway. He continued to mumble to himself as muffled house music thumped and boomed through the walls.
“Like a damn furnace…points toward vampires, they’re traditionally cold…gotta make this fast before they make me as a human…drain me like a Capri Sun…Christ it’s hot in here.”
Sean entered the dance floor and now felt the thumping music more than he heard it. There was slightly more light, but not enough to give him a flawless view of the horror happening.
The dance floor of the club was converted into a feeding station. Bar tables were replaced with medical beds set to various angles, surrounded by four to six figures dressed all in black. The figures were sucking on straws connected to something filled with dark liquid. As Sean let his eyes adjust to the lights he realized there were people strapped to the tables, the straws were repurposed IV drips, stuck into their arms and legs. The guests clearly enjoying whatever person was on the table.
Someone bumped Sean as they shuffled past as they pushed a bed with a drained body towards a hallway leading away from the music filled drinking hall. Sean chewed his lip, feeling the pain in his temple from his hangover jabbing away.
“I mean, I’ve confirmed it. But…dammit, I need just a little more.” Sean adjusted his pants and pulled the gloves tight. His hand entered his coat pocket, feeling the UV flashlight he brought as a safety measure. Sean made to follow the figure with the drained body but felt a heavy, cold hand clamp his shoulder. A husky male voice purred in his ear.
“It must be your first night here. Too nervous to approach a table?” Sean jerked away, feeling the sweat running down his forehead as he looked at the person with the husky voice. A squat, ancient looking man, with thinning hair on his scalp, finely groomed facial hair stained with blood, and pure black eyes under bushy white eyebrows. “Please, join us.”
Sean felt himself floating. This man was so kind, he just wanted to-
NO!
-a jabbing pain stuck in Sean’s head.
Sean shook himself loose from the vampire’s thrall. The mental exercises he did with Calston, his undead contact, paid off. Sean forced a closed mouth smile.
“Thanks, but I was, ah, looking for the restroom.”
The man cocked on eyebrow. “A restroom?”
Sean shuffled past the vampire towards the exit. “Sorry, a toilet, I know Europe calls them toilets and I-” Sean sprinted down the hall before he finished his sentence. He could hear the screech of the vampire swarm behind him, drowning out the booms of the dance music. Sean ignored the jabbing dehydration pain, the cramping of his feet in the boots, his pants twisting and hindering his stride but he pushed on, slamming into the door to to exit.
The cool pre-dawn air felt good on his damp skin. As Sean slammed the door open the hulking form of the bouncer stopped the door short, pushing him aside as Sean stumbled aside, pouring sweat and gasping for air.
Sean grasped the UV light in his pocket and flicked it on as his suspicion was confirmed when the bouncer bared his fangs and hissed.
“Grah!” Sean pulled the UV light from his pocket, shining the light into the bouncer’s face. The result was immediate as skin sizzled and popped, crackling like paper in a fire. The bouncer screamed and backed off, allowing Sean to hobble off.
“Fifty bucks for a cover? Piss off, Lurch!” Sean shouted as he reached the corner of Lapin Ave and Main St in golden light. As he stood and caught his breath, Sean took a mental inventory of what needed to happen.
“First, more UV lights.” Sean took a step, a heavy clop punctuating the morning. “Actually, more first, these damn boots are coming off.”