It was hard being a vampire in Las Vegas. I know what you’re thinking. How hard could it be? In a city that big? Oh it was very hard. You couldn’t feed off the famous without risking exposure and tourists never came near the dark alleys my kind prefers.

I was hungry. I hadn’t fed since the night before and the only occupants of my usual haunts were drunken homeless men and a few high teenagers. I had no desire to experience a second hand high and as for the homeless? Well even I had standards. I sighted and stepped out of the shadows. Smoothing my red silk shirt that I’d taken from breakfast a few weeks ago (after all he wasn’t gonna need it) I stepped into the crowded streets of the Vegas strip.

I really hated mingling, all the heartbeats did nothing for my bloodlust and when you’ve been dead since the 1700’s you’re kinda really pale. That made you stand out in sunny Nevada. But a vamp’s got to do what a vamp’s got to do.

I glided down the main strip. One of the many perks of being undead was the perpetual cool and grace that you just seemed to automatically get when you’re turned. As I walked passed flashy casinos and nightclubs I spotted quite a few other vamps. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who was unlucky tonight. I watched in envy as a female seduced a clueless man into the alley next to her.

Several human women made passes at me as I hunted, batting their eyes and purring out come-on’s. Humans were so pathetic when it came to seducing someone. All I had to do was make eye contact and smile and I had the ladies—and a few men—falling at my feet. But humans, they flirt and wear little pieces of fabric to small to be called clothes, they promise things they have and things they don’t all for a relationship that may not last a month. We vamps'. We hardly ever stay with one person. The few that do stay with each other and are faithful last for centuries – or until one of them dusts—.

I stopped in front of a night club called ‘Fire and Ice’ it looked to be quite popular, with a line stretching around the corner of the next building. I bypassed the line and flashed my vamp appeal at the bouncer at the door. Dazed and unaware of what he was doing the large man let me pass, much to the dismay of the impatient and half drunk clubbers.

Music blasted my sensitive ears as I entered the club. The onslaught of pounding music and hundreds of heartbeats hit me and I had to stop and rein myself in, lest I slaughtered the entire club right then. I scanned the crowd, looking for someone who would be an easy meal. I was already tired and was in no mood to seduce and thrall my prey tonight. I was looking for someone—preferably a woman—who was alone. Someone who’d had a drink too many and would thank me for offering to escort them to a cab, while commenting of the lack of gentlemen these days.

That woman bumped into me not five minutes after I stepped into the club. She stammered out an apology as she bent to pick up her fallen purse. She was tall and lanky, with short brown hair that bounced as she moved. I grinned and swept her purse from the ground and handed it to her. I paused when I realized I hadn’t used my appeal on her. In fact I hadn’t even thought about turning it on her. That had never happened to me before. I shrugged it off and offered to escort her out. She blushed and accepted. And still no appeal. I asked her name—Christine—and she asked mine – Hunter – I was getting worried now, I had established a connection with her and still no appeal. It was like I wasn’t even gonna kill her. Which I was. Defiantly.

As we walked she talked. She was a twenty four year old student on summer vacation from UCLA. We walked all the way to her hotel room and not once did I have any murderous thoughts about her. And that was something that I never did and it was starting to scare me.

She invited me up when we got to the no so fancy looking hotel she was staying at. I accepted and told myself that when we got to her room I would feed. No matter what.

She told me that she didn’t usually invite men to her hotel room and made it very clear that she wasn’t some loose woman looking for a good time. I laughed and told her that most women like that had lost the ability to blush as much as she did. She blushed again and unlocked her door.
She laid her purse down and told me to relax before excusing herself to change. I sat in the uncomfortable couch and looked around. It looked like any other hotel room. A small living room, kitchen and bathroom with a door connecting to what I assumed led to the bedroom. The walls were painted a dull off white and the couch was a hideous orange color. I could smell lingering traced of sweat, sex and alcohol left by passed customers. I took a deeper breath and my nose was flooded by the scent of blackberries and vanilla. The vanilla was Christine’s shampoo and the blackberries her body wash. Along with that I sensed an overwhelming feeling of loneliness that puzzled me. Why would she be that lonely? Didn’t she have family and friends? And why did it concern me anyway? I’d never analyzed my dinner before.

She came out in yoga pants and a tank top. This was it I told myself. I stood and approached her, she instinctively stepped back and into the door she just closed. She pressed into the door as I continued forward, an overwhelming sense of fear coming from her. When I was a foot from her I placed my hands on either side of her head, preventing her from trying to escape. She pressed herself into the door, whimpering softly in fear.
I smiled a deadly smile and let my fangs drop. Her eyes widened as I darted my head forward, intent on sinking my razor sharp fangs into her throat. I was centimeters from doing just that when my body froze. Literally. I couldn’t move. My fangs retracted and I shook in anger at being deprived from my meal. I threw myself away from her as she sank to the floor in fear and relief. I yelled in fury and frustration. Why couldn’t I hurt her? Why couldn’t I sink my teeth into her and feed like I had done thousands of times. I yelled these questions at her, as if she had the answers. Was she protected from my kind? I had heard of wards and amulets that did that. She stammered out a fearful negative, she hadn’t even known vampires existed until she met me. I snorted and told her she didn’t need to be scared of me anymore; after all I couldn’t hurt her. I fell back onto the ugly orange couch as she sat up and looked at me curiously.
What was she looking at? How old was I? Old enough to have been a soldier in the American Revolution. How did I become a vampire? I had taken a bite out of the woman who thought a tired soldier would make a good snack.
She stood up and approached me warily. I took a breath of the air around her. It was no longer filled with fear. What I did sense surprised me. She wanted me. Minutes before I had almost killed her and now she wanted me. I knew I was handsome; I had had my fair share of women as a human and a vampire. She walked toward me until she was standing between my sprawled legs. She apprehensively lifted a hand toward my face and hesitated for a second before resting it against my cool cheek. Why was I so draw to this human? I stood and her hand slid from my face to my chest, her palm resting against my un-beating heart. She looked up at me and asked why she felt so close to someone who had tried to kill her. I didn’t have a clue.

We stood like that for a minute until I gave in to both our desires and kissed her roughly. My cool tongue tangled with her warm one and she gasped and moaned into my mouth. She pulled away only when oxygen became a necessity for her. I thanked god for my ability to go without breathing as I nipped and licked my way down her jaw and neck. I didn’t know if she trusted me or just hadn’t realized she had a vampire at her throat.

I pulled away from her long enough only to pull her tank and sports bra off before returning to kissing her skin. I laid her down on the floor and loomed over her. Did she want to take this any farther? If she laid with me I wouldn’t let her go, I was already feeling possessive of her. She moaned in acceptance and it was several hours before I would be capable of coherent thought again.
…………………………………………………………………

When I opened my eyes she was laying on my chest. We were both still naked and I was still numb from pleasure. I watched her for a few moments until she stretched and yawned. A satisfied smile on her face. The smile fell from her face and she tensed up. What was wrong? She thought I was going to leave? How could I when I couldn’t and didn’t even want to move. Well….this explained that overwhelming loneliness I felt earlier. She was an orphan. No family or friends and men seemed to leave her not long after they found out. Well I wasn’t leaving. She was mine and I was hers. If she wanted me that is. After all I killed people every day just so I could exist. She didn’t mind? She was one odd human, even though I did see where she was coming from. She wasn’t kin to or knew any of the people I fed from. Would I come to LA with her? Yes I would. I didn’t have anything or one keeping me here after all.
To think that I started my night looking for breakfast and ended it with my intended meal becoming my lover. Unlife cannot get any stranger than that.