OWENOCITY
Спасибо бетам Liyirna и VeraVicca
Night 1
Night 1
Run. Run. Run.
Out of breath. Heart jumping out of the chest. Might trip and fall and then--
Fucking run!
Thump, thump, thump behind.
Stop, turn around, get the shocker... No, get the shocker, stop, turn around...
Or just run.
It's a long fucking way.
Finally. Side street. Time.
Heart. Can you get a heart attack at 22? Shocker!
There you go baby!
Phew.
Heart, get over it already.
Nasty thing. That'll teach you.
I did have a knife, didn't I? Goody. Could have lost it in all the--
There, my preciousss... Ewww.... Fuck, now I'll have to dry clean this.
Heee. Whatever. You big dumb ugly. Wonder if you had family, heh heh.
Oooh. So that was cool. Except the shirt... Damn!
Anyway, ahhhh, air! Deep, deep. Someone's baking... At this hour? Mmm, cinnamon... Could use a snack, actually. Doughnuts? Nah. Chinese? Maybe. Drink, definitely. Isn't there a night club or something somewhere around?
Talk about weird, huh? Well, whatever works for you people... Gee, are you a he or a she? "Thanks, I'm good. I'm just gonna go now, getting kinda late."
Even for me. Ok, crazy mohawk guy, no need to stare. I might not have make up all over my face, but I do have a shirt smeared in demon blood, and you don't even know what may get you one of these balmy nights...
"Excuse me."
Gee. How much time and how many people did you need to get into that corset?
Mmm. Air. Nice when you can just breathe in like this. And breathe out. And breathe in again.
What? Is it just me or--
Or is there a vampire attacking a crazy goth chick?
"Dude."
"Aw!"
There. Felt that, huh?
"Don't get scared, it's not a person!"
Well that was even fun.
"There, it's ok, miss."
"You saved me."
Man, look at those sleeves. Came out of the club of course, for a smoke or something.
"I believe I did. Glad I was there in time."
"Oh God. Thank you so much."
Accent. French?
"My pleasure. Are you from France?"
"Yeah. Accent?"
"Accent."
"Good guess though."
"Thanks."
"So uh... When you said it wasn't a person--?"
The truth?
The truth must dazzle gradually.
"Um... See, it might sound crazy... But you saw it yourself, right? The face, the fangs, the dusting?"
I'm not good at dazzling gradually.
"That was a vampire."
"Vampire."
"Are you dazzled?"
Haha.
"Dazzled? I guess not. I mean, you gotta be blind not to notice weird stuff happening from time to time."
Blind?
"Wow. So thank you, Savior. Do you want to come inside? I'll buy you a thank you drink."
Hmm. You sure are cute. But it sure won't go anywhere.
Plus, aren't you too young for this stuff? Let alone drinks.
"Thanks, but I really gotta go. I was actually on my way home."
"Are you sure?"
Are you this beautiful because of the make up or despite it?
But no, damn, big day tomorrow.
"Yeah, sorry. Was nice saving you though."
"Hmm. Ok. See ya"
Probably not. But--
"Au revoir."
Day 1
Day 1
Owen Thurman was nervous. And tired. But pleasantly tired, like after a night of hot passionate sex. Like, 'yeah, I feel crappy now, but man, it was worth it' kind of tired. Nervous - not so pleasant. Of course, he was prepared for the big test, he knew all he had to know, or at least he thought so, but there was this nagging little voice at the back of his mind - what if--? Many, many ifs. And in between, he was also busy reliving the events of the past night. The chase, the knife, the blood. The thumping - of the demon's feet, and of Owen's heart. He really does need to read up on heart attacks. Do they happen to healthy young people? And that peculiar, beautiful face. He had to make an effort to shove that as far away from his memory as he could and concentrate at the white sheets of paper lying in front of him. In a few minutes, the professor would tell them to see the tasks and then it will be absolutely no time for everything extra-curricular. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now.
On somewhat shaky legs Owen exited the auditorium. Somehow, he'd always get dizzy after the stress was over, unlike those lucky ones who'd be all chatty and excited. But then, did he ever get all chatty and excited? Well, not over goddamn school stuff, however important it might be. Or seem. Owen shook his head. He didn't want to get into that again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. School, education, job, money, life... But life isn't about school, education, job or money. Life is about living. Breathing. Smelling. Feeling. No one appreciates that until it is taken from them.
To venerate the simple days
Which lead the seasons by,
Needs but to remember
That from you or I,
They may take the trifle
Termed mortality!
And Owen did. He remembered. And he appreciated.
Of course, there were side-effects. He suffered from a profound not-caring syndrome. He was going through the motions, yeah, he invested himself - as much as he was willing to - in this whole fuss, but he didn't really care.
He'd see Loona soon though. That's the stuff worth feeling anything about.
"Hey, baby." He planted a quick kiss on her lips.
"Gimme a couple of minutes, I'll be right with ya."
Loona turned her back to him to finish whatever it is she always does with the cash register at the end of the day. Owen let his eyes rest on the girl's butt under a flowy knee-length skirt. That was one nice-looking butt. Felt good too. Pity she doesn't show it off too often. Or at all. The day after tomorrow is their first anniversary. Has he ever seen her wear some pants? Hell, he still has no gift!
"Done!"
"Cool."
Gifts are so unimportant. Motions. But you gotta.
He hopped off the stool. She came into his arms, pressed herself against him, kissed him thoroughly. He felt his body warming up to this kind of treatment.
"Where d'you wanna go?"
"Home's fine. I made a yummy lasagna last night. How'd you do with the test?"
"Well, I don't know yet, do I?"
"Yes, but how do you feel about it?"
"Think it went ok. But I prefer not to think about it."
She laughed. He liked the way her upper lip went up when she laughed. He stopped to kiss her once again. What a pleasure it is to feel. The soft light of the sun going down. The warm air. The slender body pressed against his. Oh yeah, home's fine, baby. I'm so glad you made that lasagna.
He loved visiting her at her place. Although it was just a room that she rented, but she made it really hers. Soft fabrics and juicy colors. Cushions, curtains, feathers. And the fragrance. She always burnt incense. It made your head spin a little at first but then - then you entered the realm of feelings. Seeing, smelling, touching, tasting, hearing. Everything was intensified. Sometimes they'd get chanty and float a rose or something. And then he'd get this tingling all over his body, and then a wave of goose bumps right down to his toes, and then this warmth that would fill him whole, every little part of him. And then - seeing. Smelling. Touching. Tasting. Hearing.
And then - then comes the other edge of the stick.