1Sanctuary
I waited and watched. I sat in my big black leather chair in my dark office. My chair was turned towards the window directly behind my large oak desk.
It was raining heavily. I could hear the rain hit my windows clearly. Tapping a rhythm only known by mother nature. The drops of clear liquid left transparent patterns on the glass that were dragged towards the ground by gravity.
I followed one drop straight to the floor when my attention latched onto the people below. Black umbrellas, long dark trench coats, dark waterproof shoes. Colorless. Lifeless. Those two words described my life - my life, my very thoughts - perfectly.
My office was colorless too. Old dusty books lined the walls, grey tiled floor, pale walls, the whole back wall was made of glass to look out and see a grey old building. Colorless. Lifeless. Dull.
Even I was dull: long wild black hair, dark green eyes, pale skin. I wore a black dress suit, black heels, dark make-up.
I wanted some life. I wanted to walk in the day. I wanted to not drink blood...
Then he strutted through the large black double doors like he owned the place, which he certainly did not.
I did not greet him. Instead I spun slowly from the window to simply gaze at him.
Blooming was a short, bald, chubby psycho of a man. He made a living by kidnapping people, chopping them up, then creating new bodies which he then turned to stone.
Many of the human sculptures in the city were made this way yet the humans remained blissfully unaware of the fact that they stood mere inches away from that recently missing person on the news.
"What do you want Clarice?" Blooming's rich, strong voice boomed out.
"Polite as always, Blooming." My voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Tell me what you want! I was in the middle of sewing!" He whined pitifully. For a vampire he was both sick and childish.
"We have a problem."
I sat perched on a stool by the bar. I swung my legs happily as I drank my juice carton. Mama would be here soon.
In front of me sat Mr Blooming. He was a short man but he was very wide.
"Alice?" He cocked his head at me. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for Mama!" I cried cheerfully.
Mr Blooming picked me up and carried me away from the bar. "Not today, not ever."
I was unhappy but not surprised. I had never met Mama before but I knew where she was. I knew she loved me.
Blooming had left an hour ago to pick up Alice. It broke my heart. I had never met her, seen her or even heard her voice before but I felt her leave. I was forbidden to see her. Me in my office and her downstairs was as close as we could get.
It would never be enough.
I was the owner of this club. It was called "Sanctuary" and was the only place in town that was purely for vampires. It was a dance club/hotel/hospital/bank for our kind. I, along with Blooming and Crash, had founded and built this place.
Around a century ago Blooming decided to leave. Well, one could say that his desire to kill forced him to leave. Crash confused me. We had nothing in common and tried to kill each other more often than not. Yet we had the same goal: a place of safety. I still remember having my hands wrapped around his throat...
He died long ago but sometimes... sometimes I can see him: in the corner of my eye, in the window, in a mirror watching me. Just watching yet when I look he is gone. Yet I swear he never leaves. Never.
Mr Blooming drops me off at home. Once I have the elevator to the top number where all the stars can be seen, the first person I see is Mr Rabbit. I like Rabbit more than I like Mr Blooming. Rabbit tells me stories. Mama gave him to me.
I linger just outside reception and gaze at the door. Ironic that I built this place and not I can never leave. My personal, self-made prison. I frowned. Didn't I order new wallpaper? Flooring? Furniture? It has been months. Maybe I should phone up and check.
"Good evening Clarice." Debbie waved from the reception desk. Didn't I fire her?
"Evening Debbie." I nodded. My eyes flickered once again to the doors. Five minutes wouldn't hurt. Then I could see my daughter.
"If you even try to leave then I will be forced to call Dr Blooming." Debbie's voice turned stern, How dare she!
Mr Rabbit was being mean! He was telling me a story of Mama killing a lady!
I could hear Debbie's heart beat stop. Red blood was splattered against the pale walls. Good. At least there would finally be some color in here!
Voices were raised and hands grabbed at me. Why? I only slammed Debbie's face into the wall repeatedly until her face broke. I felt something sharp prick my skin.
This broke my heart. Every time. Every singe time. The girl in front of me - Penney - was a 21 year old girl. She came here when she was only 14 because she slaughtered her entire family.
It wasn't her fault. She shared her mind with two other people. One was a murdering psychopathic 'vampire'. The other was her daughter, a sweet child who was more cunning than her mother. It was easy to tell them all apart.
I had not seen Penny in months. It was mostly been Clarice. The three women were very different yet I was the only doctor here that they seemed to like - with the exception of Clarice.
Clarice and Alice were the main reasons why this hospital found it hard to employ staff. They were all scared of being murdered.
How long before the girls turned on me?