Birth of the Undead – Being Undead 2

Written by kshoo :: [Saturday, 25 December 2021 03:23] Last updated by :: [Monday, 03 January 2022 08:35]

<Morning in Adelaide… night in the US. While Mandi was bumping into Vampirella in Lexcorp, other things were in motion across the globe…>

Michael Lyndsay was just waking up from his slumber when he heard the commotion outside the dorm. There were muffled screams and shouts outside his room for whatever reason, and he pulled his curtain slightly to have a look. Mumbling slightly about having a room on the ground floor, he squinting out into the morning sun, and saw tens of people gathering outside seemingly pointing towards a large burning pyre…

“Who in their right mind would be burning stuff so early in the morning? Don’t they know it’s illegal to burn garbage out in the open…” Mumbling again to himself, he threw on a winter jacket over his roomwear and stepped out from his room, making his way towards the crowd. As he walked over, he noticed that the smell was odd… as if there were burning meat. “What the hell? Who in the right mind could be having a barbie during this winter morning?”. As he approached, he seemed to hear some sort of screeching sounds, as if some guys have brought along live animals in preparation for the barbeque.

A few students turned towards him as he approached, and they all seemed to want to talk to him all at the same time. “Mr. Lyndsay, they need help…” “Just horrible, horrible… have you ever seen anything like this?” Michael raised both his hands in gesture to ask them to calm down and continued pushing his way through to see what the commotion was about. And what he saw was really confusing and unconventional, to say the least.

For on the ground there lay about a dozen mannequins about the lawn, and the burning fire seems to be slowly consuming them. As Michael looked closer, he detected slight movements within the burning pyre. Some of the mannequins seem to be moving, gesturing, some mouths wide open seemingly in a silent scream… “Wh..What..What the hell…” His blood ran cold as he finally realised what made the screeching voices.

These were not mannequins. These are actual people!

Looking to the side he saw a human chain of students, working to pass buckets of water to try and douse the fire. Michael turned around and barked orders at a few other observers. Rounding up a few volunteers, he led them and ran over to the small toolshed near to the dorm, pulling out the long gardening hose and ran to afix it to the nearby water tap. As the volunteers sprint back to the fire with the hose, Michael turned it on, before running back to his room to get his phone and called the fire department.

When he went back to the scene, he was flabbergasted by what he saw. Despite the two chains pouring water over the pyre, they seem to pass through the fire and land on the ground seemingly with little effect. The increasingly damp grass on the lawn a testament of the fact. It is as if the fire were transaparent, and cannot be doused by normal means. As it continued to burn through the bodies, the fire became weaker and weaker as it ran out of material to burn, and by the time the fire engines arrived 20 minutes later all that were left were a group of very confused onlookers, some charred remains and a very damp lawn on a cold, sunny morning.

__________________________________________________________

Kara Zor-El lied. Or at least, in her opinion, it was a white lie.

She really wasn’t all that sleepy at that particular moment.

Despite her acting all confident and full of bravado in front of Luke Livingston, it was essentially a front to try and get this… this little puppy of a man to just leave her alone, in case her urge to feed re-emerges again. It really wasn’t her intention to influence and coerce a Terran like this, but her body and mind had reacted as if it’s an ingrained survival instinct. And it doesn’t seem to take much effort on Kara’s part as, for some reason, Luke HAD willingly stuck his neck out for her just now. Given his kindness, she definitely doesn’t want to drink him dry in his own home now.

As she sat on the single bed with her legs curled up to her chest in the dark, she heard Luke’s movement around the house easily, and quick glances with x-ray vision through the floorboards showed him going about his daily morning routine.

Assuming that he sticks to his word and leave her alone, that should give her more than enough time to process and think things through. And to have a good cry out, even though Kara had had another go at it while cleaning herself up in the bathroom, the constant falling water from the shower masking her quiet sobs and flowing tears throughout.

It is a lot to process given the numerous happenings during the past 48 hours for Kara Zor-El, to say the least.

For one, she died. Her Kryptonian skin was pierced by a vampiress, her blood drained away, and her heart just stopped beating.

Then, she woke up. Naked but seemingly alive, floating within the core of the yellow sun. Alive, and so very hungry. Her brain had somehow quickly processed and translated her need for sustenance by recalling the closest location available for such abundance– the little blue planet called Earth.

Seemingly driven by an insatiable need for blood, she returned back to Earth under her own flight powers, dropping into Adelaide of all places, and she began to feed. After having drained a dozen or so people during the past night, her thirst and hunger seemingly satisafied for the first time in a long while, the fog in her mind finally lifted and the realisation hit home, hard.

Even as she showered, her mind had turned over a few times to regard her current situation. She definitely is not a pure Kryptonian like Kal anymore – her ability to push and coerce is silent testament that she is not what she was two days ago. Her major feeding frenzy not too long ago is evidence of what she IS now.

She’s a vampire.

A monster.

A danger to everyone she meets, Terran or superhuman.

An undead. The Last Daughter of Krypton, an Undead.

They will fear her. She too, will be scared of herself. Of going out of control. Of harming them. Especially those who are closest and dearest to her.

What should she do? What CAN she do? Is there anything that can be done?

The more she thought, the more depressed she felt, and all she could do now is to lay her head on her legs, tears flowing down her cheeks again as those thoughts churned incessantly within her own mind, seemingly feeding on itself in a vicious cycle.

She didn’t even bother looking up despite hearing the the opening and closing of the door as Luke left the house.

Kara sat up on the bed suddenly, panting, her heart beating very fast. Looking around, she was suddenly relieved to be in the dark and dingy basement still, and she simply collapsed back onto the bed. Somehow she had succeeded in crying herself to sleep.

“It was all a dream… just a dream…”

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For in that dream, Kara could vividly see herself using all her Kryptonian physical powers and her mental vampiric powers to overpower and destroy many of her friends, both Terrans and Superhumans. One by one they fell in her arms from her solar-powered physical powers, or had succumbed to her dark powers allowing her to drink them dry. It had taken the combined efforts of almost the entire Justice League (or what is left of them) to eventually overpower her, before they could secure her in a red-sun chamber, tied-up and depowered.

Her final image was of herself, flexing and straining to try and break its confines even in her weakened state, her eyes flashing bright red as her vampiric powers came forth are at its peak, as she stared at Kal and Bruce who were looking at her from afar, feeling so hungry despite their continued concern for her…

Kara shook her head vigorously as she tried to clear that final thought away. This is even worse than all the ones that she used to have, the almost nightly nightmares where she dreamt about the last days of Krypton, leading up to the explosion that dessimated her planet and people.

And just as she thought she is slowly getting used to life on Earth, now… this. Talk about PTSDs.

Rubbing her eyes, she got out of bed and walked up the steps. Throwing the basement door open she found herself on the ground floor of the empty house. Brightly lit by the sunshine passing through the patio doors, it had just past noon. Padding over to the kitchen sink, she turned it on and splashed water on her face.

Given that she doesn’t plan to go back to sleep soon, what should she do now, to pass the time?

Raising her hands to dry them on a hanging towel, she suddenly realised that her hands now look… natural. Tanned. Just like how she was back in Leesburg when she was still Supergirl. Unlike her pale white skin 2 days ago.

Running up to the bathroom once again in a blink of an eye, she quickly took off all her clothes, and checked herself out again in front of the mirror. Staring back at her is a beautiful, blonde haired young adult, whose tanned skin and athletic body exude healthiness throughout. Frowning slightly, she stepped back slightly and bent down towards the floor, her hands grasping her thighs and legs as she moved down. “Did I become… taller?”

Kara regained her standing posture again, and moved her hands to her buttocks and then slowly upwards over her abdomen and finally up over her sensitive bosoms. As she held herself, she thought again“…and did I… mature faster? They felt… heavier… bigger… somehow”

Given the major transformation that had happened to her, Kara thought it might be a good idea to find an open space with minimal interference to check herself out, to test what she is still capable of. As she considered that option, suddenly a number of possible locations popped up in her mind even though she has never been to Australia previously either as Supergirl or Linda Lee. Kara could actually recall vivid spots and detailed locations around many Australian cities, details that even a superbrain like hers will need to experience first-hand in order to have such a recollection.

How in Rao’s name does she know that?

However she has done it, in essence it is much faster than running around the city to find one place. Putting Luke’s clothes back on, Kara went down to the main floor and was just about to leave when she paused. She turned and looked around with her x-ray vision until she saw what she was looking for.

Making her way across the room towards the wooden bookcase next to the tv, Kara searched and picked-up a worn copy of “Basic Electronics” and flipped it open. Out dropped a few ten dollar notes onto the floor which she promptly pocketed into her pants pockets, before she stepped out from the house.

Stepping out and standing under the sun again, she felt the beautiful rays of the sun caressing her wondeful body. She lifted her hands and observed how her skin and body seemingly take in the sun’s ways, and continued to give her the tanned form ala the so-called California blonde look. Her body feels even more refreshed, and alive.

Squinting her eyes and looking towards the horizon, she found the place that she was looking for, and in a blink she was gone, dust in her wake as she ran towards her destination.

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image025.jpgMorialta Conservation Park is located about 10 miles away from the hustle and bustle of the CBD of Adelaide City. One of a number of national parks around South Australia, it overlooks Adelaide Hills and is very popular among locals due to its extensive network of walking trails, coupled with a well-maintained scenic rock climbing zone for the more adventurous. Seanic with lots of rugged ridges, waterfalls and even rock pools, the park is like a collection of the best of what Australian bushland has to offer. Winter seems to be the most appropriate time to visit, as the falls’ water flows is the strongest during this time, and many wildflowers are at their brightest.

Kara had arrived at the park in less than 10 minutes. Conscious of the clothes that she is wearing, she paced her run in a more controlled manner. That she sped past the city and not feeling winded nor sweaty is confirmation that she still has much left in her tank. As there is still another two weeks before school is out, hence visitors on a typical weekday tend to be few and far in between. Even so, the few who were around did look at her quizzically at her current getup and lack of footwear, some even muttering about “valueing fashion over common sense”,

Not that she has many other alternatives though, for her own set of clothes is located in her wardrobe ten thousand miles away on another continent.

Checking on the guide maps before starting, she chose a path that would take her towards the waterfalls. The scenery along the hiking path is spectacular as she jogged her way leisurely along the path, passing by the first of three major waterfalls that were advertised. Pausing to take in the scene, she could smell and taste the freshness of the cascading water onto the pool below, and the mist generated by the waterfall was simply refreshing. She thought of jumping into the pool there and then, but hearing voices coming from the back she decided to keep that thought for later.

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As she continued jogging, she found herself constantly looking around upwards towards the cliffs and the sky. Given that she had always been able to fly on Earth, her current decision to look at things from below does bring new perspective on the beauty all around her.

However there’s another reason why she wanted to come here.

Looking around, her supervision and superhearing confirming that the closest person is at least a kilometer away, she vaulted past the walkway railings, walked barefoot to the foot of the cliffs, and started to climb up the cliff in her current getup.

Despite it not being a designated rock climbing area, Kara hadn’t felt much fear when she started. As she moved her arms and legs, gripping and holding onto various parts of the cliff-face, she could feel her entire body’s muscles flexing in tandem with her exertions. In places where there aren’t any good holds, she just thrust her hands and foot into the cliff face and made her own. The first few times were very dicey as she miscalculated her strength, and it caused a larger vibration across the entire cliff face, dislodging smaller stones from above which she just about avoided. Very soon however, she had a good rhythm going and gracefully made her way upwards towards the top.

Halfway along the cliff, she paused at a small cave which gave a pretty spectacular view across the hills. Looking out, she opened up her major senses to see how much that has changed for her.

Remarkably, Kara felt her sense of smell had improved tremendously. She could actually smell and differentiate blood of animals, creatures and human beings quickly and efficiently across the entire park and beyond.

Her superhearing and supervision had also improved slightly, seemingly working in tandem with her smell to help her pinpoint the desired target even faster and more precisely. Despite the sparse human population all about the place for a 20 mile radius, she can actually distinguish the sounds of the pumping blood between humans and animals very quickly.

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In hindsight, Kara thought that this should be due to the vampiric DNA within her transformed body now. Perhaps it makes sense to have all these three senses intertwined together as these are all required by a hunter to locate and track a target effectively. She has no doubt in her mind now that vampires are hunters by nature, and even now, her stomach still churned when she recalled the way she had fed the night before.

Sighing slightly, she turned back towards the cliff-face and proceeded on upwards. Within 10 minutes, she finally threw herself over the top, and laid on her back looking at the sun.

Kara closed her eyes and luxuriated in the warmth, as the afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky despite the cold. She rolled up her shirt and pants sleeves, further exposing her skin to the yellow rays, feeling it penetrating into the her very core, to help chase away the darkness that had resided within her not so long ago.

Despite what the urban legends and Anne Rice had written, if she is trully a full-fledged vampire now, then there is now at least one vampire who definitely does NOT fit the usual mold of having such a drastic weakness towards the sun. In fact, as time passed, Kara is feeling more and more invigorated. She also doesn’t feel as thirsty as before, her earlier hunger seems to be slowly subsiding. Opening her eyes, she sat up suddenly as a thought came unbiddingly to her.

Could it be that simple? That exposure to sunlight will help her control her bloodthirst? If it truly does, then all will be good as new when the sun is out!

But what happens when the sun set? Will she rapidly lose control as the heat dissipates away? Maybe if she were to turn in earlier, stay indoors after sunset… but as Supergirl, the need for help doesn’t go by regular working hours. Does that mean she will have to hang up her cape for good?

Giving up a superhero life seems to be easier, but what about having a regular life? Does that mean no evening outings, no dinner parties, no midnight movies for the rest of eternity with her closest friends and relatives? Or worse… needing to find victims to feed in the dead of the night…

Kara felt tears welling in her eyes again…

“No, NO! I’m not giving up! Not without a fight! NO!” Suddenly angry, Kara turned and punched the closest thing to her. Her fist just went through the closest tree trunk like a bullet passing through cardboard. As she pulled out her arm, the 15 feet tree tumbled to the ground due to the lack of support. Kara continued taking out her frustration on the vegetation around her, and very soon she had felled close to 10 trees in quick succession. But she wasn’t done, and soon she was taking turns smacking holes onto the rocks all about.

However this action had unintended consequences, for she suddenly heard a gasp and a cry for help just to the north of her over the cliff edge. Kara didn’t think, she just reacted, and in a flash she found the source of the distressed voice.

Larissa Thompson was the one over at the North edge from Kara on this fateful afternoon. The grey-haired, 50-plus petite woman had purposedly chosen a time where the park has the least people, in order for her to put in some personal practices before she joined the rest of her friends on a rock-climibing competition later that month. Being older and still a relative novice to such an extreme activity, she had nonetheless found rock climbing thrilling as well as therapeutic; her mind free from all the mundane daily life of a homemaker, focusing only on making her way up slowly but surely.

She figured she was halfway up her climb when she suddenly heard shouts from a distance, followed by large sounds coming up somewhere from the top of the cliff which seemed to echo all around the park. This was then followed by tremors reverbrating throughout the cliff. It seem to get louder as time went on, and the tremors seem to shake even more.

“What the… Earthquake? In Adelaide…?” It was all she could do to just hang on as tightly as possible onto her holds until everything stopped and became quiet again.

Panting slightly from all the initial shocks and shuddering, she adjusted her harness and was just about to proceed on her climb when suddenly she noticed an approaching shadow above her head. She tried to shift to the right but was a fraction too late as the falling stone, slightly larger than the size of her head, clipped her arm and causing her to lose her balance, her foothold slipped and she fell backwards. Luckily her safety harness and support line arrested her drop immediately, but that also left her dangling upside down.

“H..e..HELLLLP!!! PLEASE! SOMEBODY!” Larissa called out with her loudest voice, all while trying to flip herself stretch up and right herself. Now she regretted for not doing more of those tummy strengthening exercises.

Suddenly she saw another shadow approaching from the top of the cliff. Unable to see clearly as the shape blocked the sun, she closed her eyes and braced for the worst when suddenly she heard her voice “Don’t worry, I'm here. Let me help. ”

Within seconds, she felt a pair of feminine hands gently holding her shoulders and pushing her back up right side up, and then an arm across her waist to gently hold her in this position. She looked back to see a beautiful young woman behind her, her face displaying the high cheekbones of a model, her lips full and her nose petite. That her grey shirt and pants looked too large for her slim figure indicating either she was in too much of a hurry to care, or that she should sack her fashion designer immediatley for making such a faux pax on such a beautiful female specimen.

More importantly though, she was floating. In the air.

“Don't worry, I’ve got you.” Her bright voice brought Larissa back to her existing predicament.

Looking again at the blonde with a ponytail, and then glancing all about both of them, Larissa blurted out “You’ve got me? Who’s got you?”

Grinning despite herself, Kara replied “Do you want me to put you back against the cliff face holds here, or would you prefer someplace safer on top or towards the bottom?”

“Down, please. I think that’s enough of climbing for one day.”

As Kara set Larissa down gently on the ground minutes later, the latter fell forward immediately and kneeled on the ground, her chest still heaving from the shock just now despite feeling much relieved touching ground. Kara squinted a little as she checked the middle-aged woman with her x-ray vision before saying “OK, looks like there are no broken bones. Just some minor cuts on your leg and bruising on your left shoulder. You are quite the athlete you know, braving the height and the cold to climb up those rocks.”

Larissa turned and sat down on the ground, and replied pointedly at Kara “I’m not THAT old, my dear. At least I want to have the pleasure of experiencing something exciting, rather than just wallow in the usual stuff confined in my own home, just thinking about what-ifs. In any case, practice seems to have come in handy enough; Safety harness managed to hold on…”

Then looking directly into Kara’s eyes, she said “and, Thank YOU for getting me down, Supergirl.”

Kara felt colour rising in her cheeks and she looked away sheepishly. “You’re welcome, though I am sorry for what happened…”

“Sorry? What in blazes are you talking about? You just saved me just now while I was dangling in the air!”

Rubbing her neck, Kara replied “Well, if it weren’t for me, taking out all my frustrations on the clifftop, I guess you wouldn’t even have needed anyone to come and rescue you.”

Realisation dawned on Larissa, who was silent for a while before venturing forward “Something on your mind luv? Adelaide is quite a distance from where you are normally seen, and I doubt you would want to fly so far away just to vent your frustrations.”

Sighing slightly, Kara just plonked down on the ground in front of Larissa before looking back at the woman. “Is it THAT obvious?”

“Experience. Being married to an old fool for 25 years and having three children of my own helps.” Larissa smiled. She gently touched Kara’s hand. “Tough time? Just want to get away? Life can be annoying sometimes, take it from me.”

She was slightly surprised that Kara actually flinched, withdrawing her hand away from Larissa’s. She detected a small rain cloud forming over this ball of sunshine that is Supergirl, and it made her more curious what had happened.

For Kara, she could actually hear and smell Larissa’s blood pumping through her body even more acutely now, and is especially sensitive to the slight cut that was on her leg. Despite not feeling the NEED to feed now, she is still not entirely confident of her self control, though she immediately regretted her reaction when she saw Larissa’s expression.

An awkward silence followed as Kara looked down and idly played with some of the small stones on the ground, before she mustered the courage to reply “I… It’s just that a few things had happened recently, and I feel guilty with… with how things turned out. It felt like a darkness has taken over me, and there doesn’t seem to be anything that I can do about it…”

Larissa couldn’t help but smile at Kara’s comment. “You know, you sound just like my son when he ran into walls. Tries hard all the time, though success is few and far in between. You would have think the world has collapsed on him whenever he failed. But then,” Larissa gently reached out brushed off some of the leaves that had caught on Kara’s hair “eventually we all have to accept what had happened, adjust and try to move on. Takes time, but the main thing is that it’s no point in your wallowing and grinding yourself down, no?”

Kara looked up, and with an ironic laugh, replied curtly “Easy for you to say. You don’t even know half the story.”

“That’s true. But then, let me ask you this. Can you change your past?”

“…No… at least, I don’t think so…”

“Then what’s the point on delving on the past if you can’t do anything with it now? And even if you could…” waving aside Kara’s protests “…there will be too many implications to everything else within the timeline, leading to splinters and the butterfly impact…”

Kara looked at her with a strange look. Larissa just replied “What? I have children. Have to learn up about some of these just to be able to understand what they talk about sometimes. Anyway… So, are you worried about the future?”

Kara nodded “…Yes…”

“Has it arrived yet?”

“…No, at least not yet…”

“Then what is the point of worrying about something that hasn’t arrived yet? Isn’t it better to focus on the here and now, because the choices you make NOW becomes the cause of the future?“ Larissa picked herself up, and brushed off the dust and sand off her trousers before offering her hand again to Kara, “We might not have the ability to change our past, but we definitely can decide and do something now to shape our future. Shouldn’t we at least give it a try?”

Kara stared at Larissa’s weather-beaten face for a while, before reaching out to grasp the woman’s hand. She stood up, moved forward and hugged the silver-haired lady, leaving Larissa gasping slightly as she felt the gentle crush from her saviour’s firmer body.

Finally letting go, Kara said “Thank you. For that pep talk. I think I needed a little reminder about what should be my priority now.”

“Oh, I don’t think I did anything. After all, it’s still all up to you. Whether you plan to do anything with it, or not. You know,” Larissa continued, looking and pointing upwards “when i first saw you up there? To me you looked just like a ray of sunshine that brings warmth and comfort to me. Grey clouds might come once a while, but don’t let them hide you for long, k?”

“I’ll try. I do have to go.” As Kara started walking away, she turned back suddenly and said “Oh, I didn’t even get your name.”

“Larissa.”

“Larissa. That’s a nice name” Closing her eyes for a while, Kara seemingly storing it into her brain somewhere. Then, opening her beautiful blue eyes to look at the woman, she added “Oh, and..” Kara raised her index finger to her lips and made a “sshh” gesture.

Larissa merely winked at Kara, and said “Don’t worry. I don’t think anyone would believe me even I tried to explain it.”

And in a flash, Supergirl was gone.

Larissa turned back to gather her gear, chuckling to herself. “Imagine that. Guess rock climbing DOES change one’s perspective about life.”

The quick flight back into the city was relatively uneventful. Not that it was much of a distance for a girl who can fly across continents in minutes with her superspeed. Kara did however decided on a detour to do a little shopping on the side, which was desperately needed given that she had returned back on Earth with only her birthday suit and nothing else. Rocking up to an upscale departmental store at the moment is definitely out of the question, and so a quick check-in to the local Salvation Army shop instead, to try and find some bargains to tide her over for a while.

It took some time, but she did manage to get two blouses which at least could still fit her thin and lithe body, and a pair of tight pants with a pair matching black boots. It was all she could afford with Luke’s money for now. Something a little different from what Clark expects her to wear normally.

For Kara at least, the fashion culture was something to behold on Earth. It is something that she could never get enough of back in Leesburg, taking all the opportunities available to sneak a detour past many of the high-street shops and departmental stores whenever she went up to Metropolis and National City either as Linda or Supergirl. Unlike here, Krypton’s fashion sense tends to be more simplistic and focused – while there are clothing and dresses for different occasions more often than not there will always be a sigil or their house rune. Functional and practicality tends to be the name of the game back home.

Given that now she is still acting as a high schooler staying in a orphange, Kara could only make the best use of the occasional hand-me-downs and donations that the organisations tend to get around festive periods, though that tends to be a bit more surprising given that she is the few older ones who are still staying at the home. Despite the limitations, she had thoroughly enjoyed playing dress-up to a sense, trying and pairing different things together to see what works though in most cases she had had to opt for more conservative outfits ala Clark’s suggestion, to avoid attention.

But for now, these clothes will have to do.

<Later in the evening>

Phil Trent was enjoying his second beer of the evening when he saw the newcomer passing through The Alley’s doors. A contract worker in the IT department at the city council, he had had a long day going through the regular motions of processing all the fines and claims within the system as the organisation performs its migration to a newer system. Nothing sexy or fancy for his day-to-day job, but at least it paid the bills while he tried to look for other positions that befits his skills of an animator.

Or at least, that’s the ongoing dream.

The thing that caught his eye was how the blonde seemed… out of place.

As she took a seat towards the far end of the bar, he thought she looked pretty. Young, definitely. A bit pale. Judging by her figure, maybe post high-school, early uni. Innocent-looking, maybe?

He struggled for the right vocabulary given the alcohol that is coursing through his body now, another reminder that he should pace himself. As she walked past him, her demeanour felt stiff; her body language indicating discomfort of some sort.

It wasn’t that her clothing that is out-of-step – her tight, short sleeve white top paired with a pair of tight black leather pants and boots hid everything and yet still revealed everything, and it matches quite well to the overall clientelle who are out to enjoy a bit of the nightlife in this downtown pub mere blocks away from the casino.

“Maybe this IS the first time she snuck into a pub. Guilty of breaking the rules for the first time maybe?”

For she seemed a bit… pensive, as if she’s waiting uncomfortably for someone or something; her current seat does give her a very good view of whoever that comes and goes through the door.

Downing his current glass, Phil indicated to the bartender for his third when a rather stocky young man, dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, came through the door. Though slightly vertically challenged, the Asian’s atheletic built did enough to indicate that this is not a person who might loose in a fist fight. And based on his current facial expression, he seemed agitated.

Looking around, his eyes quickly zoomed in on the young blonde, and he quickly walked across the pub passing Phil. Observing from his seat, he could see a slight shudder, a slight cowering when the man approached her, despite the difference height. Even though he couldn’t really hear what they were saying, it was however quite obvious that the man was being more aggresively confronting the girl.

Suddenly, the girl attempted to slap the man, though he managed to grab hold of her right hand before the blow could land on his cheek. Phil could see that she’s visibly wincing, and tears seemed to well up in her eyes.

“Hey buddy, I’m running a business here. Don’t want any trouble in here, eh?”

The man glanced sideways at the barkeeper, and just barked out “Nothing to see here, barkeep. Give me a minute, and we’ll be going.”

A righteous anger arose from within Phil. He took a swag off his glass seemingly to fuel his courage, stood up and walked towards the couple. Putting his right hand on the stocky man’s left shoulder, he said as authoratively as he could muster “Buddy, that’s no way to treat a girl. Why don’t you leave her alone…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a slight wind that precluded the falling of a punch towards his abdomen. Stepping back slightly, the blow didn’t land and instead hit the wooden bar, splinting it somewhat.

“As I said, ‘tis none of your business. She’s my sister, and this is my family problem. So why don’t you just run along now, or else.”

Undaunted, Phil just ventured further. “I could, if you just leave her alone. If you’re really up for it…” Phil cracked his knuckles and twisted his neck slightly, making audible cracking noises, “…we can always continue our discussion outside.”

Narrowing his eyes and locking on Phil’s, the man was visibly getting more and more upset. “FINE! Let’s go!”

“After you.” Phil stepped to the side and gestured towards the exit, and the man stormed past him and out.

Before Phil could follow him though, he felt a firm tug on his left hand. “Hey..Hey! Look… p… please, please. Hear me out… don’t go out there with him…”

“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself. I might not look like it, but I do know a bit of self-defence.” Phil replied confidently. However he did notice that the girl wasn’t letting go.

“Look, before this gets out of hand, you need to get away. From here. Now. Just…”

“HEY! YOU! ARE WE DOING THIS OR WHAT?” The man in the t-shirt shouted opened the door and shouted.

“RIGHT BACK AT YA. Hey,” Turning to look at the girl, he remarked “it’s going to be fine. Just stay here ok?” The blonde just looked pleadingly at Phil before looking down, her grasp relaxing as she sighed.

As Phil exited the pub it was already night time, and the man gestured towards the side-alley. He followed him slowly, and pretty soon both of them came to a stop somewhere along the middle of the narrow, dimly lit path.

Phil had been cautiously observing his opponent when he entered the alley, but even so he was still surprised by the speed in which the short, stocky man ran and lunged at him. He just managed to side-step from his lunge again, and at the same time managed to raise his knee to hit his opponent’s stomach, knocking the wind slightly off of his opponent.

While he connected, Phil felt the stab of pain on his knee, akin to having hitting a brick wall, confirming his suspicion that his opponent is definitely well-built. He didn’t have much time to think further as his opponent came for him again, this time swinging repeatedly at him like a boxer, his shorter frame and lower center of gravity a benefit as Phil struggled to parry the low swings. He found himself being pushed further and further into the alley, when suddenly the man just relaxed his stance, and merely grinned at him.

“What are you doing? Come…” suddenly Phil felt a presence behind him, and suddenly felt both of his arms being pinned behind his back. As he struggled against the surprising strength holding his arms, a woman’s silky voice spoke quietly into his left ear. “Stop struggling. Let’s not make it more difficult than it is.”

“What..what is this? Why are you doing this to me? Let me go” Phil could feel an odd chill running down his spine, and he suddenly spied the girl from the bar appearing behind the stocky man again. Unlike earlier, she didn’t looked scared. But the guilt on her face is still very visible. For some reason, he could see both of their eyes glowing red. In the dark.

“ I guess the proper explanation for this is that… you got conned.” The sultry voice continued. “And that’s the best part of our team” gesturing to the two person in front, “…and since you want to be a hero, why don’t you continue to be one. For ALL of us.”

Before he could respond, he felt the woman’s tongue gently sliding along the left of this neck, before he felt pain as the woman bit down. Hard. And she drank deeply as his crimson liquid flowed.

The last thing that he remembered was the laughter of a man anticipating his next feeding, and a sob from the girl standing behind him.

Grace looked away as the feeding started, her emotions in turmoil. On one hand she could feel her body reacting positively akin to having found a tasty meal; she could smell and taste the warm red liquid, hear the man’s blood pumping strongly through his body as her colleague drank earnestly from him. But at the same time she felt disgust; disgust at what she had done in order to hook the man into a trap.

Their trap. A trap of bringing victims into becoming their meal of the night.

She kept telling herself they have no choice now, for all three of them need fresh blood to feed on since their sudden transformation to beings of the night two days ago. All three of them had just decided on the spur of the moment to enjoy a night in town on a weekday. A chance encounter with their maker while passing by the university’s dormitory had changed them.

It made them powerful. Strong. Fast.

But oh so hungry for their fellow human’s blood.

That, and also a need to avoid sunlight now, as her hand unconsciously moving to her covered left arm, still feeling part of the burnt scars underneath her white top despite them well on their way to recovery. They had just about managed to escape from their fiery death just earlier in the day, having roused themselves and seeking shelter before the sun truly shone down on all of them at the lawn somewhere in the university.

“Oh, come on, Anita. Leave some for Grace and I will ya?”

The young woman looked up, blood trickling down from the side of her lips and from Phil’s neck. Flipping her medium-cut ginger hair to the side, the girl replied “Don’t worry Mike. From the looks of it, there’s plenty more to come from him. Just… try to go slow, and leave some for Grace too.”

Mike walked over to hold onto Phil, who is already unconscious due to the rapid bloodloss. Anita lowered Phil slightly giving Mike a better access, who then doved in for his share. As he drank, Anita looked up at Grace and called out to her friend “Come on, Grace. You need a drink too, and soon. You know you can’t keep on avoiding it, else you’ll not get through the rest of the night…”

Grace looked back at Anita, visible tear streaking down her eyes on her cheeks. She could only shake her head repeatedly, before turning to the side and leaned against the wall of the alley, her breathing quickening and heavy, seemingly still trying to fight the powerful urges within her body.

Anita handed Phil over to Mike who continued to savour his meal, and walked purposedfuly towards Grace. Within ten strides the raven-haired girl reached her friend, and proceeded to hug her. As she felt her friend’s embrace, Grace broke down and sobbed on her friend’s shoulder. Anita just let Grace let it all out for a while before whispering to her.

“We’re all in this together now, so don’t worry. We’ll take care of each other. But you really need to down some liquid soon…” As Anita stroked the back of her friend, as she too could feel the dampness of her own cheeks, her tears too having come down from her own dark brown irises.

Suddenly, Anita turned back and shouted angrily.“Mike! Slow down! We’re here to drink! Not to Kill!” All she could hear was the continued slurping sound of someone who is now addicted to the taste and couldnt’ stop. He didn’t realise that as his urge to feed was so strong, Mike didn’t even realise that he is slowly crushing Phil as he continued to wring him dry until it was too late; Anita and Grace both heard the slight bending and eventually breaking of several of his ribs and also his spinal cord, his normal human body unable to resist the crush of a vampire’s powerful muscles.

Anita broke away from Grace, ran over and delivered a punch on Mike’s face on the side.Her taller stature had truly benefited from her current transformation as it gave her a bit more leverage; it caused Mike to loosen his hold and also send him stumbling to the side. She caught hold of Phil’s broken body, and listening a bit more carefully, she could still hear the weak beating of Phil’s heart, but it is becoming more faint by the second. Turning back to look at Mike, she could only see his anger and disappointment in his eyes, of having been denied a full meal.

“You’re done! Go! NOW! I’ll catch-up with you later.” Mike hesitated slightly, before grabbing hold of Grace’s wrists. In a flash, both of them disappeared into the night.

Moments later, an attending nurse found Phil slumped unconscious outside the main door leading towards the A&E department of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. As he was brought onto a gurney and wheeled in, Anita watched the entire commotion from afar from the main gate before she walked away in quick steps.

It was all she could do to stop herself from walking straight into the hospital to start her feeding.