Vampiri

A letter? Who gets a letter these days? I mean a good old fashioned piece of paper folded into yet another folded piece of paper and delivered to your door, seriously! Usually you get bills through the mail; you get ads on shiny coated paper that try to sell you weight reduction programs or the last promotions of your local supermarket, but a letter, no, that´s not the kind of thing you get in the mail. I try to remember when the last time I got a letter was and despite my best efforts, I'm unable to recall that happening any time in my past. Is that possible? Never getting a letter, it's a bit sad now that I think of it.

Oh by the way, my name is Erin Banks, the name might sound familiar but I can assure you we've never met. I go to high school but not for long anymore, finals are approaching. I'm going out with Mark, he's a nice guy, not too bright but hey he got my virginity and according to what I hear that's supposed to be a big thing with you guys, so I keep him around. So you see: we've never met before.

Let's go back to that letter. The envelope is white, pretty standard; my name is written in a handwriting I don't recognize. The doors of the elevator open. I take out my keys, enter the flat.

"Hi dad."

"Hi sweetie, how was school today?"

That's my dad, he's a cubicle salesman for a large corporation selling... well something, I don't know what exactly. At some point he sold cars, later it was machinery for hospitals. With the crisis he lost that job and he's been on and off jobs selling stuff since. I kind of lost track recently. By the way I live alone with him. Mom left with another man when I was a kid. What kind of bitch does that to a kid?

Anyway, I lock myself in my room to read the letter. My dad won't bother me, he understands that as a teenager I need my personal space, my little own secret garden. I seat at my desk, I clear it of the pile of half opened books I use to make believe I'm studying. I take out the letter. No expedition address. It's kind of thrilling to have this in front of me. I don't know why but I have the feeling that this letter might change the course of my life. Not that I applied to any university or anything, too much pretend not enough studying, you see. I'll go work with my uncle on the west coast next summer and then we'll see. Okay, back to the letter now. So I flip it for the third time and finally convince myself to open it.

In it I find a single sheet of paper, a cheap black and white photocopied paper. I'm about to dismiss it as another stupid ad and curse myself for the useless expectations I've built around a handwritten envelope when one word attracts my attention: Vampire! It's written at least three times on the paper - I'm used to spot the word. I start to read.

"Dear Vampire enthusiast,

We proudly invite you to the grand premiere of our feature presentation,

BLOOD FOR THE VAMPIRES

Pre reopening of the Kings Theatre, Brooklyn

Doors will open at 10 PM sharp on the night of the Thursday June 19th

Bring your nicest vampire costume

Free drinks for everyone after the movie

This invitation is valid for four persons"

And below the text, there's the poster of the movie representing what looks like a drop of blood running down a woman's chin with the credits barely readable below.

This is huge. I look at the picture again, despite the terrible resolution, the way the light falls on the bloody chin is pretty hot... Okay, you should need an explanation at this point and since we are in my head and that you don't exist, I can confess something to you. You see, since I was eleven I've always been a huge vampire fan. Fan is not exactly the term... How can I put it? Let's be blunt: vampires make me horny. In other words, my lady parts get all wet when I think of ravenous immortals that prey on innocent virgins...

Hey, stop judging me! You fantasize about blonde teenagers with terrible haircuts and the body of a boy, well that's your thing. My thing is terrifying creatures of the night out to suck my blood. It might sound silly but it's not sillier than erecting Justin Bieber as the sex symbol of our generation. In the dark of the night, when I feel horny and relieve the tension manually, I imagine a great fanged beauty (either man or woman, when it comes to vampires, I'm totally bisexual) flying in my room through my window, perversely seducing me before defiling my body and drinking my blood through the proverbial twin bites marks in the neck... Or the thigh, or the breasts, or the ass, or the cunt, or the... Sorry, for a moment there, you lost me... So yes, you can imagine this letter has a huge appeal to me.

As a true vampire groupie, I proud myself on being heavily in the loop concerning anything related to vampires and I must confess that it's the first time I hear of this movie project. But who cares? I'll go for sure and offer Mark, Cheryl and Kathy to come with me.

***

Mark and Cheryl say yes right away. Going out dressed as vampires and enjoying a select movie premiere at a famous landmark in New York, how could they not. Kathy has to negotiate with her mother to be allowed to come. It's a weekday, darling, and you have school the next day. I know mom but it won't finish too late and we'll stay at Erin's place. Will her father be there? Yes mom of course he will Liar, liar, as a matter of fact daddy is off in Detroit for a big contract and he won't be coming back until the following Tuesday. What is the movie about? It's a romantic comedy, mom, come on let me go. I'll have to talk it over with your dad. Come on mom... Anyway she finally manages to bend mommy's resolution and get a free pass to make it to the premiere. I suspect that beyond the eagerness to have a night out with three good friends, we share a bit of the same fetish, Kathy and I.

***

Anyway, a week later I am waiting in front of the old movie theatre for the three stooges. The place itself is quite creepy, it's supposed to reopen to the public in 2015 but I understand why the production company chose this place for the premiere. It's tall and lonely in the middle of Brooklyn, renovations are far from finished. The bas reliefs on the façade representing laughing masks seem to be mocking us.

Us? Well, me and the weird crowd around me. I am surrounded by creatures of the night and it's a bit surrealistic. Two girls came as slutty vampire schoolgirls and they look amazing with the torn fishnets, white shirts, ponytails, matching scarves and very realistic bite marks. You have a tall man that looks a lot like Christopher Lee with cape and all. You have also your usual array of TV show vampires; I count at least six Damon Salvatore/Bill Compton imitators, three Sookie Stackhouses, a few Angel/Buffy pairings and two Barnabas Collinses, one Johnny Depp and one Jonathan Frid. You have a couple of cheap Lestats, a few victims and of course, a nice selection of original vampires with fangs, fake bites and blood all over the face. Luckily we have not been granted the honor of the presence of any Twilight fans; I could have gotten into trouble if we had. I won't tell you how much I hate those guys. Seriously, I won't...

On the plus side, all those fangs around me make me a bit horny. Nah, let's be honest some of the costumes have made me soaked wet. I try to give me some composure by imaginary texting but I fail amazingly at it. You have to understand me, everywhere I look there's a new hot vamp or vampress I'd love to offer my neck for him or her to ravage.

Finally they arrive. Mark has the worst costume ever! Fake plastic fangs, the kind you find at your local supermarket for Halloween, a cape that's not even black, fake blood around the mouth made with lipstick and a ton of white make up. Probably the worst attempt at it of the whole crowd around us. Cheryl has gone for the Vampirella outfit, pretty nice, but she must be freezing, I would have loved to see the face of the cab driver... Kathy is your classical Hammer vampire bride: a long white Victorian nightgown, magnificent bite marks in the cleavage and a beautiful pair of fangs. This girl is definitely into vampires. Myself, I went for simplicity. A bit of eyeliner, a hint of white foundation, my usual black clothes - black, the zombie contacts – all white – I bought last Halloween and of course my newly acquired custom fit fangs from boogueyman.com. They feel weird in my mouth but they do look great. The contacts are starting to hurt a bit though; I'll take them off as soon as the movie starts.

"Kiss, kiss, you look amazing! You too! Blabla! We're going to have the best evening ever... "

While we chit chat, the doors to the theatre open. The evening is about to start. At the doors no one is checking the invitations. I guess that they consider that if you got this far it's because you got an invitation. The place is lit by large torches hanging from the walls. Now, if the exterior looked creepy the interior is just plain gothic horror. I can't imagine how they plan to reopen the place in less than a year. The huge ceiling is covered with spider webs, and not just a few, it's like we ended up in some old Sci-Fi movie from the fifties called "The planet of the spiders". Half the tapestries are maculated with dirt stains and the other half is torn from the walls. The carpets that lead to the balcony are worn threadbare. The whole place smells old, rotten... It´s strange but there doesn't seem to be anyone except for the public. The doors to the screening room are open. As we walk in, just in front of us, one of the slutty vampire schoolgirls lets out a cry.

"Fuck!" She says, "that thing bit me."

That thing is a strange statue by the entrance of the screening room. It looks like an old stone Gargoyle. Her friend, the other slutty vampire schoolgirl stops to look at her hand. We take advantage of their distraction for a little queue jump and we walk to our seats.

The projection room is in a much better state. Apparently this part of the theatre has already been redone. It's five to ten and everyone seems to be seated. The doors close simultaneously... Good prop, really creepy. The slutty schoolgirl vampires are seating just in front of us. Feeling a bit guilty I bend over tapping on her shoulder.

"Hey there," I say to the one who got bit "are you okay?"

"Thanks," she answers "yes, it stopped bleeding right away. It was just a scratch."

She doesn't look that well. Maybe it's the light but she looks much much paler than before. Anyway, the lights are turning off, the movie is about to begin. People start to applaud...

The lights are completely off. The movie begins. I feel hot already!

I take off my contacts. The first image we get is one of a large cross on a church. It looks like Europe. Big forest surrounding a small town, all the houses made of stones... You see what I mean. Coming down a road we have an old Volkswagen hippy Van driving towards town. We are then introduced to the five main characters of the movie. American students on a summer trip to Europe. Probably the worst stereotypes I've ever seen in a horror movie. On the other hand the dialogues are quite funny and there will be fangs so I rest back in my seat to enjoy the movie.

The little group of American students meets the priest of the village. They want to go to the Castle to visit. The creepy priest warms them not to. The castle is cursed he explains. Ancient evil has taken home in its walls and it takes whoever ventures in them. The Americans laugh at the old superstitious man of the clothe and drive away in their van. The castle appears to them in its entire splendor.

Mark doesn't seem so interested by the movie and he is gently massaging me through the fabric of my pants. Considering the general state of tension I find myself in, I unbutton it myself and guide him directly inside. His sloppy fingers find my drenched labia. I shiver. Surprised by such a warm welcome he looks at me interrogative. I wink to dismiss the question and spread the legs.

The students on the silver screen have started exploring the castle. The night is falling and one of them gets back to the van to set up camp.

The slutty schoolgirl in front of us tells her friend, that she doesn't feel well and that she needs to take some air. She walks up the aisle and exits the screening room.

Thank god for horror movie stereotypes. If told that a place is cursed the stupid American teenagers will, no matter what, camp in its shadow. How dumb...

"Fuck, that thing bit me!"

The words come from the screen and bring me out of my reflection. One of the girls from the group is holding her hand. The thing that bit her is an exact replica of the gargoyle in the entrance of the movie theatre. The parallel between reality and the movie gives me goose bumps... I kind of like it. Mark's finger is now sliding in and out of my snatch at a fast pace, I feel the orgasm building up, I grab to his arm as the wave overtakes me. Despite my best efforts I'm unable to refrain a loud moan. Kathy, sitting to my right, looks at me. I blush. She smiles. That girl is into vampires! She goes back to the movie and I go back to Mark's finger inside me.

The group of students is telling horror stories around a camp fire. More stereotypes... The girl who got bit is not with them. She's in one of the tents turning into a vampire.

The slutty schoolgirl walks back down the aisle. For a second our looks cross. The light of the projector reflects into hers just like it would with an animal. She sits by her friend.

On the screen the new vampire has started her rampage. She takes her former friends one by one. Or at least that's what I think she's doing because the movie is not my primary concern anymore. In front of me the slutty schoolgirl is, for lack of a better way of explaining it, frantically sucking on her friend's neck. The friend in question is looking at the ceiling her mouth open panting heavily.

I know, I should have realized by then the situation we were in but before my mind connects the dots Kathy's hand falls on mine. She's feverish, trembling. She has also spotted the little show the two girls in front of us are giving us and she also seems to be completely fascinated by it. Mark is absolutely oblivious to all this as he has his mouth buried in my neck since he has started touching me. He knows I love that, he doesn't know why but he does love it that I love it. And Cheryl... I don't know what Cheryl is doing, watching the movie I guess, but honestly I don't give a fuck. What is happening in front of me is so much more than I ever expected for tonight. It's actually so much more than I actually ever expected for like ever! Two really hot girls are role-playing what I have fantasized about for all my life. I am so totally drenched, I don't have clue on how I'll get out of the movie theatre and just like for Cheryl I don't give a shit.

Kathy's grasp on my hand tightens; she lifts the white nightgown up her legs and guides my hand between them. I'm so totally absorbed by the schoolgirls that I don't oppose any resistance... Yeah right, resistance, as if...

Kathy and I have been friends since 5th grade but clearly never that kind of friends. We played with dolls together, we studied together, we went and had drinks together, once we even went to summer camp together, but we never got to do that together. I must confess that I started suspecting of her interest in vampires when she reacted to a reference I made about an old obscure Hammer movie. In fear of rejection, or even worse, of mockery, I never dared to ask her directly and I always thought that in a way I had probably transferred my own inclinations on my friend's. My fingers digging deep in her gaping hole seem to prove that she really is into vampires... I stop for a second thus causing Kathy to hide a loud moan of pleasure with difficulty. What if she was into girls, I wonder...

Kathy hardly discreet scream of pleasure has attracted the attention of the sucking slutty schoolgirl. Once again the dim light of the projector reflects in her eyes like in those of an animal. Only this time it's not just a glimpse, she's staring down at us and I can see clearly that something is really wrong. When she releases her friend's neck revealing her blood drenched fangs, I get a confirmation that what we are doing here behind this monster cannot be considered as safe sex. I stick my fingers out of Kathy and push Mark away from me. Kathy doesn't try to hide her moaning anymore; Mark gives me an angry look and tries to dive back in. I slap him.

"Look at her, you stupid fuck," I tell him showing him the creature in front of us.

The slutty schoolgirl is licking the blood from her face, her eyes now diving into Kathy's exposed snatch. Her friend is gently moaning, blood pooling on her shoulder and down the seat's back. Mark jumps falling on Cheryl. I stand, grab him by the back of his collar and move away from the monster. Cheryl/Vampirella, who is completely unaware of what is happening, complains loudly before following me reluctantly under the wave of hush that rise throughout the theatre. When we finally reach the doors of the screening room I realize that Kathy hasn't followed us. She's still seating in front of the screen. In the semi darkness of the room I can see the slutty schoolgirl's hand over her face, a finger in her mouth, pinning our friend to her seat while she, either, licks her pussy - I hope - or simply sucks her blood through her femoral artery - I fear. The other slutty schoolgirl has already turned onto the next vampire enthusiast, one of the Collinses, down their aisle. The projector shines a dim light on the blood drop running down her chin as she engages the Vampire from Collinwood in a passionate kiss. Pretty reminiscent of the poster of the movie if you ask me, and pretty fucking scary too!

We rush into the main room of the Kings theatre. Mark is in total panic, Cheryl doesn't understand and I can't shake one thought of the top of my head. This is complete madness!

"What was that?" That's Mark.

"That, what?" That's Cheryl.

"That is totally insane!" That's me.

We look at each other. In any other circumstances we would laugh at this little dialogue but in our situation, it's hard to laugh. I think Mark's question is rhetorical. Cheryl's on the other hand, despite the terrible grammar she used underlines the fact that she doesn't have a clue about what is happening.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!" That's me again.

We seem to agree, or at least Mark agrees with me and Cheryl agrees to follow us. We walk to the doors. I try the handle, it won't move, I try the other handle. It won't move either.

"Mark, try the other doors" I say.

"Erin, your fly is open, and, in the name of anything sacred to you, could you explain me what that is?" Cheryl doesn't sound very reassured.

A bit embarrassed, I look down, zip up, button the pants and hide my pubic hair. I then turn to Cheryl to answer but nothing comes out. In a normal conversation the answer Vampires is not acceptable. First off because they don't exist, secondly because, well, they don't exist! On the other hand, what I saw in there was a vampire. A real vampire. A vampire with fangs. A live vampire. Well alive... that's another question.

"..."

The word won't come out. Mark comes back to us saving me from having to answer.

"All locked tight, we have to find another way out." He says.

"Okay, now you're fucking starting to scare me. What the fuck is happening?" Cheryl says.

"..." I start.

But once again the word is stuck in my throat. I turn to Mark.

"Let's try upstairs we might find a way out through the roof." I say.

We take the stairs. Cheryl is still in our wake, I can feel that she will soon snap on us if we don't explain what is happening.