103Dunkel City was quiet, except for the storm raging outside. The wind was blowing fiercely; along the shore, waves were pounding against the pier. Rain poured down as lightning illuminated the sky, and thunder roared with anger. The cloudy sky was scorched black and seem like there was no moon hanging in the night sky. No light shined on the city except street lamps. The streets appeared empty and deserted with a dearth of cars on the road. Everyone was in their homes huddled by the fire, while creatures of the night clung to each other in the Club Soma. Even criminals chose to take the night off and stay in on this dismal and melancholy night. It was a shock to many that the electricity had yet to go out, and many figured it was only a matter of time now. A lightning bolt was bound to hit a power pole sooner or later.
The screech of a car slamming on its brakes was heard in the night, but muffled by the loud drumming of the rain and the rumbling of thunder. The car came to an abrupt stop in front of an alley. The alley was on the darker side of the street covered in shadows and hidden from the weak light of the street lamps. The car door opened, and allowed the cry of a young teenage girl to be heard, yet only the people in the car heard. She was forced out of the car onto the pavement in the pouring ran. Her face smacked the pavement scraping her already bruised cheeks, leaving a blood spot on the cement. The downpour soon washed the blood away. The bruised and bleeding girl lay on the pavement in the rain unable to move due to her injuries and exhaustion. Her arms had slashes inflicted on her from some sort of blade. She was straining to breath with a pair of cracked ribs, which was likely caused by brutal blows to the chest.
As the storm raged on, a boy, that looked no older than nineteen, crouched down near the edge of a pier out on the beach. Massive waves came crashing down against the pier. Water splashed up flying all over the place drenching the already soaked boy. He watched the waves continue coming in one after another, pounding against the pier. The boy welcomed the storm, as if it was just another challenge or obstacle trying to take him down destined to fail miserably. He was soaked to the core and likely to catch pneumonia soon.
The boy slowly stood up revealing his whole outfit comprised of all black clothing. A long black leather trench coat hung from his broad shoulders concealing various lethal weapons underneath. A pair of black loose fitted jeans rested on his hips, along with a belt that his sheath and sword were secured to. Along with everything else, underneath the trench coat was a black sweatshirt with a hood, which he had pulled up over his head. The shadows hid his face making it impossible to distinguish what he looked like.
The kid began to walk, but his pace increased rapidly as he broke out into a sprint with his trench coat billowing behind him. He was heading back into the downtown area toward his apartment. A hot shower and dry clothes just out of the dryer seemed rather nice to him at the moment. Running and running never once slowing down or becoming tired, he had the energy of a machine. With his speed and stamina, he gave off the impression of not being quite human.
As the strange boy ran towards the city, back at the dark alley, the sound of coughing drowned out by the drumming of the rain and the loud rumbling thunder. The girl was coughing on the ground as she tried to push herself off the ground unsuccessfully. Her arms were too weak and gave out on her. She had very little energy left in her and was getting the feeling that she would not live through the night. Pushing her self to seek help, she tried to get up again, but it just wasted what little energy she had. She collapsed back onto the pavement and closed her eyes giving up on her chances of finding help. Only a miracle would help her now.
As the boy reached the city streets, the rain died down to a light drizzle, but the crackling of thunder could still be heard after bright flashes of light. He slowed down suddenly no longer having the urge to get home so quickly. His feet stopped moving as he looked up at the pitch-black sky. The light emanating from the moon still didn't shine through the thick black clouds. He stood there as if he longed to see something that was not there or could not be seen. He let out a sigh for unknown reasons and walked on towards his destination.
With a sword clenched in his grip, as if he knew something was coming, something that was a danger to him, the boy speed up and raced down the street. Not a soul could be seen anywhere in the vicinity. The buildings all around him looked completely deserted. Suddenly, a large flash of lightning lit up the sky and a couple seconds later followed by an ear-shattering rumble of thunder. Lights all throughout the city went out and left everyone in the darkness. It was pitch black that nothing could be seen, not even your own hand in front of your face.
The clouds in the sky started to part and let the moonshine through to light up the city. The moon lit up where the boy was and where now two dead bodies on the ground lay next to him. A head rolled toward the shadows. He stood there with his blood stained sword in hand looking into the shadows waiting for something. An expensive leather shoe stopped the rolling head, and a tall man came out of the shadows clapping. "Very good kid. I am impressed. Those were some of my best men. I heard you were good, but I didn't expect that skill of swordsmanship. Vince you are an amazing creature." He spoke to the boy with a cocky smile on him.
"What do you want?" the boy snapped at him with voice of disgust.
"Oh aren't you a nasty one. Someone is going to have to teach you a lesson some day." He grinned at the boy with a malevolent smile. "That day won't be today, but you better watch your back. I am not that forgiving to someone who kills my men and does not even apologize. You never know when the next time we will cross paths again."
"I am shocked you even know what forgiveness is. I would never in million dreams apologize to you." He spat out at the man.
"Oh you are one cocky shit head, aren't you" he grinned at the boy.
"You attacked me first. I have no reason to apologize." His piercing glare was aimed at the man as he wondering what pawn scum told this freak about him.
"Don't be so sure of that." A screeched was heard as a pair of headlights shined and turned around a corner. "Well my ride is here." The glowing headlights drove up and came to a stop.
"Bye" the man grinned malevolently as he got into the car. The car backed up a bit and then headed straight for the boy, called Vince. Vince jumped up and pushed off the hood of the car and leapt into the air landing safely behind the car. He turned around to watch the car depart and disappear into the darkness.
The car sped by the girl on its way to whatever wretched hole those men crawled out of. The girl heard the car go by and saw it as it disappeared out of sight again. Tears began to stream down her face, as she wished she had never met those cruel people. Now she was cursed to die alone in the streets as the rain poured down on her. It was impossible for it to get any worse.
Vince began to walk to his apartment again after his little duel. His mind focused on the smell of blood in the air. Diligently, he licked every little drop of blood off his sword. He returned his clean sword back into its sheath. The rain began to pound down onto the ground again, yet it didn't seem to affect Vince as he wandered towards shelter.
Tonight had been a cold night allowing Vince's breath to be seen, like a puff of smoke, as he exhaled. The night was cold enough for the rain to turn into hail right before his very eyes and pounded down on his head. Vince sought protection under a tree. He sighed as little balls of ice still hit him. Waiting and hoping to get home soon, he watched the hail waiting for it to let up, but instead it only got worse. The pieces of hail originally started out small but progressively got larger till they were the size of golf balls. He cursed under his breath and just sprinted down the street hoping for the storm to calm.
Vince was not the only one dealing with the hail. The girl felt the balls of ice strike her all over her body, thinking that this was definitely worse. She tried to crawl forward to get under something to protect her. In her weakened condition and now loosing a great deal of blood, she was unable to get very far without passing out. The ice just continued to pound on her back.
Vince could be seen sprinting down the street and around a corner. He stopped at the next big tree and looked around. The rain just kept on coming down as large pieces of ice. He looked out at the sidewalk in front of him. His eyes drifted over a dark spot in the road, but then came back to it. He began to walk out from under the protection of the tree. He walked out to the black lump in the road and found a girl who had been badly beat up and not just from the rain. A puddle of blood was forming around her body.
Vince picked the poor injured girl up and brought her under the protection of the tree. He looked at the girl as she looked as if she was about to die. He pulled out his sword and held it up in the air as figuring he would end her misery now. Her eyes opened and looked into his. Her lilac-colored eyes captured him with the strong spirit glowing in them, showing this girl didn't want to give up so easily. She looked so innocent looking from the gaze in her eyes. The boy hung his arm to his side looking down at her. He sighed before putting away his sword into his sheath. He crouched down next to her and brought her into his arms. He picked her up and carried her off disappearing around the bend. The hail had died down and turned back into normal drizzle as the temperature warmed up just slightly. The rain and darkness consumed the city before dawn, when the sun would come up and shine its light down on the lonely city.
Moments later in another part of the Dunkel, Vince was entering into an apartment building along with the injured girl. He stepped in leaving small puddles of water everywhere he stepped. In front of Vince was a door, and when he opened it, it revealed a stairway that led underground. The smell of the girl's blood permeated through all downstairs. A man came running up to Vince as he reached the bottom step.
"Did you bring us dinner?" the man spoke as he drooled all down his face. He was a tall gangly looking guy, with his hair a mess, like it was some sort of dead animal. An apparent laziness emanated from him with his unshaven stubble and lack to hunt for his own self.
"Curtis!" He sounded like he was speaking in a low growl. "No! Keep your filthy fangs off of this one. I want to find out what happened to her. I just might make her one of us. And she seems cleanlier than you, and she is covered in blood and ugly looking bruises. Can't you tame that animal of yours that lives on top of your head? How you ever get women to accompany you to bed is beyond me? If I were one of them I would run in the other direction as fast as my legs would take me. Luckily, I will never have to worry about that."
Curtis just grinned and shrugged. "I don't know I think I am rather handsome, if I do say so myself. Not all vampiresses care if my hair is as neat as yours. So who is the girl you got there?"
"I have no idea. I could not even tell you, if I wanted to. I found her on the pavement swimming in her own pool of blood. I planned on killing her, but even in her weak state she would not allow me. Now will you get out of my damn way so I can put her down? I am soaked here. I would like to get into something warm maybe take a shower and..."
"And have a little fun with me," a famine voice interrupted and coming from behind Curtis.
"Hello Totonia. How are you doing? Whatever happened to that other vampire you were hanging around with? What was his name?"
"Dakin?" Totonia replied. She stepped forward and was wearing clothing that left nothing to ones imagination. She had a body that one might consider being perfect with curves all in the right places and being very voluptuous. Her long, straight, dark brown smooth silky hair hung behind her just about down to her tiny waist. Her hazel eyes seemed to sparkle as she smiled at Vince.
Vince nodded. "Yes Dakin. What happened to him?"
"Oh I got terribly bored of him. But let's get you out of these wet clothes and put your new pet down somewhere." She smiled at him, giving him a toothy grin.
Totonia took Vince by collar and led him back to a room that was painted all red. Vince laid the girl down on the bed and then looked at Totonia. "Tonia you think you could do me a favor and help heal her wounds a bit, so she doesn't die."
"Oh I suppose I could." She said it like it was some menial task to accomplish. She placed her hands on the girl's wounds and some sort of energy was released. The bleeding ceased and the wounds healed slightly. Totonia turned to Vince and grinned. "Now you owe me for that."
"I guess I do."
Totonia pushed his trench coat off his shoulders, and it fell to the ground. She grinned as she pulled back the hood that hid his face so well. He had eyes that were the color of coal and gave off a very powerful aura. A scar ran down across his right eye but had no damage to the eye itself. Whatever scarred him, just barely missed blinding his eye. His features on his face made him look like a punk, but the expressions on his face presented him as a more mature individual. His hair was pitch black and spiked up defying gravity without the aide of hair products. A few strands of hair hung low on his head, but a red band of cloth tied around his head kept most of the annoying hairs out of his face. Totonia ran a finger down his bony jaw line. "So handsome," she whispered more to herself.
Vince pulled off his sweatshirt revealing a plain white t-shirt underneath that stuck to his skin. He dropped the wet sweatshirt on the ground on top of his trench coat. Totonia grinned as she pulled him into the bathroom by his shirt collar. She shut the door behind them leaving the rest of the world only to imagine what went on behind the closed door. As they went on with their unknown activities, the unknown girl slept peacefully with the smell of her blood in the air luring in unwanted admires.
Author's Note: Dunkel City is not really a city. Dunkel means dark, gloomy in Swedish.