The rest of the night passed relatively normally and by the time it was late, the place was packed. The music was blaring and thumping, some people were up on the dance floor grinding away, while others sat up close to the stage, content to just watch the professionals dance. I made my way through the crowd, trying to push people out of the way and having trouble with it due to my small physique.
"Excuse me!" I yelled as waded, finally finding the table I was serving. "Hi there," I greeted, smiling and trying to look less flustered and exhausted than I truly was. "So, I have a Bloody Mary, a Margarita, and a glass of, uh,..." I felt the hair on the back of spine stand up and turned around, seeing the man from earlier staring at me from across the room. Hours had passed and yet he was still here. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the three vamps I was waiting on. "Uh, sorry about that. Yeah, and a glass of AB pos?" I placed the drink orders down on the table, before straightening up and hauling ass back into the kitchen.
People were moving faster now. There was no time to stand and talk. Usually I enjoyed the time of the night, where I could just lose myself in my work, however at this moment I couldn't bring myself to. I was feeling flustered and uncomfortable and I couldn't figure out why...
I cried out as someone ran into me and stumbled before catching my balance. "What're you doing in the doorway?" Frank, one of the waiters, asked glaring at me, before kneeling down to pick up the glasses he dropped when he ran into me.
"Oh, uh, sorry. Bit distracted."
"Get your head on straight!"
"Sorry, Frank." I bent down to help him, grimacing as I noticed the glasses had broken. I carefully helped pick up the shards, doing my best to not cut myself.
"Samantha," I heard Lucian say. I looked up to see my boss standing above me. I stood quickly.
"Hi, Luce," I said a bit awkwardly.
"What's going on?"
"Well, uh, I was standing in the doorway and Frank ran into me so I'm helping him pick up now."
"No, I mean with you. Here, walk with me." He placed a hand on my back and led me outside. The moon was high in the sky and the chill in the air felt nice. I looked over at Lucian and couldn't help but admire his features. In another life I'd have been all over him. He was tall and muscular, without being bulky, his jaw was strong as was his gaze. His pale blonde hair fell over his face perfectly. He was a gorgeous man, but those red eyes and the cold, pallid skin would forever turn me away. From him and every other vamp. I needed someone with life. Something vamps simply didn't have.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked after a moment.
"What do you mean?"
"You seem out of it today, Samantha. You're usually one of my best workers. Today you're messing up orders, tripping up, and just don't seem right. Something's up with you. What's going on?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I just feel distracted I guess."
"I want you to go home, okay?"
"No, I can stay!"
"No, Samantha, you're taking the rest of the night off. Go and gather your stuff. I'll give you your tips tomorrow. Right now, I think you need to just take the night for yourself. Make up with your mother, enjoy your birthday, whatever. Okay?"
"... Okay."
"Good. Now, go home. Relax, Samantha. You need it."
I grimaced. Relaxing was not something I had ever done well. Even as a small child I had been high-strung, a trait that had only gotten worse as I aged.
“Fine,” I agreed.
I stormed inside, sulking as I grabbed my bag from where I stored it, before heading right back out. Lucian was still standing there.
"Want me to call you a cab?"
I shook my head and started making the walk back towards home.
The dark scared me. I couldn't really say why I spent most of the day in the dark, but there was something about nighttime that was scary. Maybe it was when all the vampires came out. That seemed like a fair reason to be fearful. The streets were far more crowded this time around and I tried to ignore the people around me. I stared at me feet as I walked, noticing a hole forming in the toe of my sneaker. I'd need to get that replaced. Maybe. I mentally tried to calculate how much new shoes would cost, plus rent and my other expenses, and how much money we had at the moment. 'If I get some good tips I can probably afford a pair.'
I hurried along, wanting to get home as soon as I could. While I was upset that I had been sent home early, now that I was on my way home I wanted nothing more than be in my house with my mother. I sped up, walking as quickly as I could without running down the sidewalks. Icould feel people staring at me, but I ignored them. I wouldn't ever see them again, so it did little good to care about what they thought. As I walked, I couldn't help but remember the man back the club. I didn't know why he was getting to me this way. I usually was able to forget things like this. Every so often there was a perv that stared at me or Rachele or Abbie. And there were tons of them that came to stare at the dancers. So, why was it that this one was bother me so much more than the others before.
His eyes,' I thought. It was those eyes. They were terrifying. The same red shade all vamps had, but there was something intense and desperate in those eyes that I hadn't seen in the ones before him. They were filled with a strange combination of lust and desire and anger.
Lust made sense. So did desire. But the anger confused. As far as I knew, I'd never done anything to that man. Never seen him before. The more I thought it about it the worse my fear got. My heart was pounding and I just wanted to get as far away from the club as possible. I picked up my pace more, jogging now. Then running at a breakneck speed down the street not paying attention to anything around. The wind flipped my short cropped blonde hair around, but I just kept staring at my shoes and moving quickly until I hit something...
"Oof!" I cried out as I ran into something hard, then bounced back and fell on my ass. I looked up, able to make out the shape of a woman above me, but none of her features.
"I am so sorry," I started to say as I went to stand. She bent over and offered me her hand. I took it and stood, feeling my cheeks light up in a blush. "I didn't mean to run into you that way."
The woman laughed and I looked up at her, getting a good view for the first time. She was a lovely woman with jet-black curly hair, a tall physique that towered over me, sharp features, and red eyes. "It's fine," she assured me. "It happens. You sure were hauling ass, though. Where were trying to go? Or get from?"
"Nowhere," I said quickly. "Just... running." I cursed my awful lying skills.
Clearly she didn't buy it either. "What's your name?" she asked after a moment.
"Sammy," I answered. "Well, it's Samantha. Everyone calls me Sammy."
"I'm Elvira."
"Cool." I rocked up onto my toes, feeling awkward, before giving her a weak smile. "I'm gonna move along. Sorry for running into you."
"Wait," she said, grabbing my wrist as I went to leave. "You seem troubled."
"Really, I'm fine."
She bit her lip, looking unconvinced. "Here," she said after a moment, pulling a pencil and a scrap of paper from her purse. She scribbled something on it before handing it to me. "Save that. It's my number. If you are in some trouble, give me a call. I can help."
"Yeah, sure." I took the paper and pocketed it, knowing very well there was no way I was ever going to use the number on it. But I wasn't going to tell her that.
I slowed down the rest of my walk home despite my urge to run as quickly as I could. I was nervous. I felt someone watching me. 'It's just your imagination,' I told myself and by the time I got back to my flat I don't think I had ever been so happy to be home.
"Hi mom," I said when I entered.
"Hi sweetie," she said from where she was sitting.
"You're home early."
"Yeah."
She turned and looked at me. "Is everything alright?"
I considered for a moment opening up, telling my mother about everything that was happening and fears and just crying in my mother's arms for a moment. "Yeah, everything's fine. Nothing to worry about."578Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNmPDf00Mr
