Darlene and Sandi's Adventure in Bridgeport: Part 3

Sandi woke up suddenly. This was unusual. Usually, she drifted in the land between sleep and wakefulness for a while, but today she woke with a start to find herself in an unfamiliar room.

She had no idea what time it was. The room had no windows, and appeared to be underground. Its only furnishings were two couches, a bar, a stereo -

And what looked like an altar in the middle of the room. An altar with a man floating - floating - above it. Sandi blinked. Twice. Still, she saw the same thing. A familiar man floated with his arms crossed about a foot above the altar.

Tentatively, she crept closer.When she reached the altar, a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist before she even saw it move. She shrieked.

The man opened his eyes. “Shhh. No need for all that noise.”

She felt herself becoming placid. On the inside, she was even more scared than she had been before, but on the outside, all was calm. “Is this where you live?”

He laughed softly. “Hardly. I don’t bring prey home unless I really like it. You aren’t on that level yet, precious.” Her skin crawled at the pet name, but she did nothing. She couldn’t do anything. She no longer had control over her body. “No, this is just a little hidey-hole I use sometimes. It’s Merrick’s place, technically, but he can’t keep me from using it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m older, and a lot stronger. Merrick can’t keep me from doing anything I want. No one can.”

Her fear level spiked at that last sentence. She knew it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true. Still, she had to wonder… he was doing things she hadn’t thought were possible. Maybe he was unstoppable.

He looked at her fearful face. “Calm down now. Your fear is delicious, but I don’t need you struggling.”

She tried to hold on to the fear, but it slipped away. She felt nothing at all.

“Good. Now…” He lowered his mouth to her neck, and bit down hard.

If she could have screamed, she would have. It hurt more than anything she’d ever experienced. Vampire. He’s a vampire. It was ridiculous, but it had to be true. There was no other explanation for this. She could feel the life draining out of her. She was starting to get light-headed. She knew that she would die if he didn’t stop soon.

Finally, he did. He cradled her face in his hands, and smiled. “That was excellent, precious. Now wait on the sofa a little while. The Slayer should be here soon, and I want you to appear well-rested when she arrives.”

Sandi had no choice but to follow his commands, but she stared at him in hatred as he mixed himself a drink at the bar. She silently pleaded for something, anything, to happen so that he would be distracted.

He continued to speak to her, apparently unperturbed by the fact that she couldn’t answer him. “You know, some of my… colleagues prefer feisty prey. They say they enjoy the challenge. I’ve always liked the weak ones, though. You’re so… biddable. I barely have to expend any effort to bend you to my will.”

He turned his head toward the stairs, as if listening for something. “That’ll be the Slayer. Wait right there.” He bolted to the stairs, then stopped at the foot. “What - you’re not the Slayer!”

In his momentary surprise, he dropped his mental hold on Sandi. He tried to put it up again, but she wasn’t where he’d expected, and by the time he turned around to make eye contact, it was too late. She hit him over the head with a bottle of very expensive liquor. “I’ll show you the weak ones.” Then she looked up to see who had surprised him on the stairs.

“Darlene!” She flung herself at her friend.

“Hi, Sandi. I came to rescue you, but it seems like you’ve got that handled.”

Sandi shrugged, still grinning. “I appreciate the effort, anyway.”

“Are you okay?”

“A little bit light-headed, but I think I’ll be alright.”

“Great. Now let’s get out of here, this place gives me the creeps.”

They started up the stairs as Darlene explained what she’d learned from Tiara. “There really are a ton of passages under Plasma 501. I found a room with a bunch of those creepy altar things, and one passage led to this little park with a grave in it. The grave of a girl, about our age. That was terrifying. But eventually I found my way here. I think you can get straight out to the surface from here -”

“You can,” said an unfamiliar voice from the shadows above them. “But will I let you?” The woman stepped into the light.

Sandi had thought the man downstairs was intimidating, but this woman was on a whole different level. Power radiated from her in waves, and her blood-red eyes glowed coldly. Sandi had no doubt this woman could kill them both without raising an eyebrow.

“We won’t tell anyone about what happened.”

“What exactly did happen?”

The girls told her the whole story, starting in that club their very first night in Bridgeport and ending here, on the stairs.

The woman considered it all and nodded. “You are free to go. I trust you will not tell anyone of this incident. If you do… I have many ways of making you regret it.”

The girls nodded gratefully and fled up the remaining stairs, somehow unsurprised to find themselves standing in a graveyard. It seemed to make sense.

Darlene shook her head. Vampires. The man Sandi had knocked out, the woman on the stairs… they were vampires. Sandi’s story had confirmed it. Vampires really existed, and… and she wasn’t the one who had gone through severe trauma today.

Darlene looked over just as Sandi started laughing. “I can’t believe all that just happened. I don’t know why I’m laughing, I really want to cry, but -”

“You’re hysterical.” Darlene spoke soothingly. It wasn’t her natural role, but this was for Sandi. She could soothe Sandi. “It’s alright. It’s all over now.”

Sandi nodded.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

Author's Note: This is the last real part of this story. There is an epilogue, but it's really just vampire lore. It will be out later today, and the heir poll will close after that. The votes are still really close, so if you haven't voted yet, you really, really, should. This is the last call! By the time you read the last part, the poll will probably already be down, so please vote if you haven't already!