Revolution

Grace

It was another lively Friday morning(ish). The seven of us were just sitting around, trying to decide what we could do for fun. Such a hard choice with the limitless possibilities at our feet. The flash took over my eyes unexpectedly, causing me to gasp.

“Gracey? What’s wrong?” Todd asked, worried about me.

I lifted a hand up, needing a moment to concentrate.

The first flash was of us just lying around, day after day. Nothing changing.

The next flash was of a new man walking around the gym. We were still lying around, but not sitting still. A few had hands moving. This one subtle difference changed everything. A path was laid out from there, one with numerous other people, or vampires.

“The time has come. Finally.” I was about to say more when we heard the doors to the gym open.

A man and a woman walked in, stopping by the front table, talking to the others. The man’s head looked slowly around the room.

“Layla, Scott. Get your hands moving. No, don’t ask questions, just do it. I don’t care what.” I cut them off and they swiftly jumped into action.

Layla was sitting near Justin against the wall. She slid her hand up his knee, until she was unzipping his pants and reaching in. I was just leaning against Todd, my back to his chest. Scott was sitting in front of us, the two had been talking about sports, speculating on what was going on everywhere else in the world.

Scott lifted my legs and placed them on his lap.

Despite the cold, I was wearing shorts. I didn’t exactly have many other options. When I packed, I only thought about them being small enough to fit a few pairs in my bag, not about the weather. He began gliding his fingers up and down my thigh, getting higher and higher. I gave a small shiver as the goosebumps started.

Todd decided to play along too, his fingers traced the lining of my V-neck t-shirt, pushing it lower and lower.

The man walked toward the center of the room, his eyes scanning around, assessing. When his eyes landed on us, he gave a small grin and walked over. I watched him intently, trying to figure out who this man was and how he would be helping us.

He wore basic jeans with a black t-shirt. He had long black hair pulled back on his neck. He was too far still for me to see the color of his eyes. All I could tell was that they were a dark color. He was strong and carried himself like he knew how to fight.

As he approached, his eyes took in the various things going on in our corner, and he smiled wider.

“Can we help you with something?” I let the teenage attitude fly.

He squatted down and sat on the back of his heels, putting himself on our level. “Oh, I’m sure we can all help each other.”

“How so?”

He kept his grin as he pulled a business card out of his back pocket, holding it between two fingers. “My name is Deacon and I run a bar. It just so happens that I am in the need of more employees. My side business has… grown. Immensely.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “We are not old enough to work in a bar, sorry.” I must have misunderstood the flash, surely there was nothing he could do for us.

He waved my comment away like it was just a fly in his face. “Your age doesn’t matter. In fact, my clients enjoy youth once in a while.” I didn’t say anything, just stared at him, so he continued. “Once the sun goes down, the vamps come out. Humans who work for me as donors make a lot of money.”

His eyes stared pointedly at Layla, she grew a bit self-conscious and pulled her hand out of Justin’s pants. She didn’t realize he was fully out and locked into place. The man, Deacon, winked at her.

“Those willing to donate more than blood, make a lot more money.”

Deacon’s eyes came back to me, somehow pegging me as the leader. “I can help you and your little group relocate closer, get out of this heaven of a place. Those who work for me get a decent cut, they work once or twice a week, depending on how popular they are, and they get two full meals while they are in my bar.”

I knew when Todd realized what he was talking about, when he realized why this was important. His hand staggered for a split second before continuing again.

“How much?” He asked the older man.

“My donors pocket anywhere from 200 to 800 in a given night. The higher the money, the longer I expect you to rest in between shifts.”

“Deacon?” A female voice called from across the room.

The man turned to look at her, she signaled that she would be outside.

“Is she a donor too?” I asked, just because I wanted to keep my rep for being a brat.

Deacon’s head spun back around, and a small growl came out. His eyes even sparked, like they were going to light on fire. It was probably just the reflection of the light coming through the windows.

“Sorry.” He shook it off. “No. She runs the bar with me, but she is not to be touched without my permission.” He stood back up, one eye on us, one eye on the door. “Weekends are always the busiest for the… extra services side of things.”

“What makes you think we’d be interested?”

He glanced at my thigh, and then at Layla’s hand, which had slid back in to finish the job. “Call it a hunch. What you have here is very similar to vampire culture. You will fit right in. If you decide to join us, just show up. I pay cash, every night, and there is no paperwork.” He turned and walked back out to where the woman waiting for him was. I was pretty sure she was at least his girlfriend.

“Was that what we have been waiting for, Gracey?” Todd asked, his voice rough.

I could feel him poking into my back. He was excited. He also had a thing for doing things in the open, something he recently discovered. He liked the way the man had watched his hand and not cared.

“I believe so, yes. If we hadn’t been doing anything, he would have passed us by. Our actions are why he came to us. This could be how we can finally get started, finally get a foot in the door to the vampire world.”

I shifted enough that I could reach in and grab a hold of Todd from behind me. Scott decided to do the same to me.

Justin put a hand to Layla’s head and pushed her down, ready for her to end his slow agony.

“When are we going?” he grunted.

I closed my eyes, the sign I was searching. I thought about tonight, but saw that Mr. Ryan, the shelter manager, would be watching closely. We couldn’t risk being kicked out until we had a for sure thing set.

I thought about tomorrow and saw that Todd and I would run into an old vampire friend if we did that. Ryley was still not happy we had disappeared on him. It would cause a big commotion. And this guy, Deacon, would intervene somehow. The path from there was fuzzy but I got the feeling it wasn’t good.

I thought about Sunday, and I saw a vamp who took a special interest in us. One who did not look as poor and pathetic as the rest.

I opened my eyes and smiled at my group. “We go on Sunday. I say, tomorrow we go for a little walk and visit some of the empty houses in the neighborhood. We need to find the right clothes, at least us girls do.”

They all nodded, agreeing with me.

It felt good to have a plan, to have the next part of our path open in front of us. Good enough that I turned over in Todd’s lap and gave him the same treatment Justin had just finished receiving. Scott didn’t miss a beat, his fingers egged me on.

I sighed happily, lying my head on Todd’s thigh after, his hand rubbing up and down my back.

The next day, we left Layla and Justin behind to keep an eye on our things while we were gone. Anytime the whole group was out of the room for an extended period of time, we got the feeling someone had been going through our things.

We always left at least two behind now, just in case.

It took a few tries until we found what we were looking for. The fifth house had had a younger woman in it at one point in time. Someone had gotten around to cleaning out the bodies, not sure who.

I found a few long sleeve shirts and sweaters, deciding to take those with us as well. We also found a closet full of clothes that had been worn clubbing or planned to be at any rate.

Rachel found a purple and black plaid outfit and handed it to me. It matched my hair perfectly.

The top was a spaghetti strap bikini style top that tied in the front. The bottom was of the same material, and was a short, hemmed frill skirt. I found a black leather jacket that was more of a short jacket, not even making it to my belly button.

Rachel picked out a pair of white jeans, and a black long-sleeve top that ended above her midriff. That morning, we decided that only four of us would go for the first night. Rachel and Scott, Todd, and me. The twins and Justin would stay behind.

We had all broken up into these pairings anyway. Layla was more like a floater, she floated from one couple to the next. Her preferences were beginning to lean more towards the female side than the male’s.

Late Sunday afternoon, Scott and Todd stole a car from one of the empty houses and took us to the bar. When we entered, the first thing I saw was Deacon’s girlfriend, and some other guy. He was holding her from behind as they danced behind the bar. It could have been innocent. But it didn’t seem like it.

“Hey, you guys made it!”

I turned to the right and saw Deacon coming out a side door, carrying a box that jingled from glasses bouncing together.

“Head on up to the bar. We are waiting for a few more people and then we can get started.”

As we walked toward the bar I couldn’t help but watch as Deacon set his load down and walked over to the couple. The other man didn’t remove his hands as Deacon slid a hand to the girl’s back and then slowly kissed her, his hand grabbing her butt. I was fairly certain he was rubbing the man with the back of his hand at the same time as well.

Whether on purpose or not, I had no idea. I didn’t care much either. Not like I could really talk about sharing partners.

Over the next ten minutes, more people walked in, coming to sit at the bar. All but two older men acted as though they had been here before. Deacon sized us all up and walked around in front of us.

“Good evening.” He rubbed his hands together greedily. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that so many of you showed up.” I looked down the bar, there were nearly two dozen of us. “For those of you that are new. Sundays can be a bit… crazy.”

“More like psychotic, bordering on completely insane and disgusting.”

Deacon laughed at the interruption from his girlfriend. She walked over to stand next to him and I noticed what she was wearing for the first time. A green mini skirt and a black leather top that zipped up in the front. With black three-inch heels.

“Yes. Sundays have become the busiest, and not just for blood. Vamps are reveling in the freedom they haven’t felt in a long time, and they are taking advantage of it. The rules are simple.” He nodded to his friend, who started handing out watches. “Every time you go to a client, make sure you start your timer for the time they paid for. It’s typically in increments of 10 minutes. If I cut you off, you are done for the night and expected to eat and rest. I will not risk your lives for a few extra bucks. Many vamps like to play and not just eat. Men, if you are open for that, take your shirts off and hand them to Carrie. Women, you can either take them off, or tie them up somehow. Showing skin helps them to see a clear line between their different options. If you need water, wave Carrie down. If the vamp refuses to stop when the timer goes off, wave Colton or myself down. Do not let them get carried away with trying for extra anything. If you want it, fine, just wait until after we close. Any questions?” Nobody said anything. “Good. Food will be right out. Eat up, the more iron you have in your system, the more appealing you are to the vamps.”

Deacon lifted Carrie with one arm, making her squeal and laugh. He carried her toward the kitchen with him.