6POV: Peggy, the first victim of Mick.
It was such a sweet air tonight, Peggy thought, while she walked the silent streets of Hollywood. It was the end of February and the night was a bit chilly in L.A., so Peggy pulled the wrap a bit closer around her naked shoulders. She was so proud of her dress, the latest fashion of 1952, black silk with some lace trimmings that were both classy and playful, showing off her stacks and contrasting nicely with her blonde hair. Her petticoat whirled around her slim body and accentuated her shapely legs.
She had been to a bash with one of the doctors who had cast an eyeball on her for a while, but found out soon that he was a pooper. He was obviously interested in some back seat bingo after the dance, but put her off by making decisions for her and telling her about their future together in vivid detail. She wasn't opposed to having some fun, but she drew a line at having their wedding anniversary planned out at the first date. She was not like the other nurses, on the lookout to marry a doctor. She wanted to be a doctor herself, even if career planning was decidedly not what a woman of her age was supposed to do. She wanted to save her money and the experiences she made in the ER to work out how to afford medical school, despite the reservations of her parents and just about everyone except for herself and her best friend Danny.
Being fiercely independent was what brought Danny and herself together. They had been roommates since nurse school, sharing a distaste for fools and a taste for making a life for themselves. Sometimes she wondered why people thought her life was not fulfilling. It was. She was doing good work at the hospital, and she had a goal.
The fool of a doctor was so old fashioned about marriage and kids, but when she started a row with him in front of the ball room he didn't even follow her out to offer a ride home. That would have been the gentleman thing to do. Instead, he had let her stalk off on her own. She had been seething at first, but after walking some blocks in the dark her anger was replaced by concern. There was no taxi in sight, and she couldn't afford one anyway. No busses were going at this time of night. She decided to make her way to the next bus stop and then try to take a nap on the bench until the first commuters gave her an opportunity to get back home. Her saddle shoes were killing her back.
She came to a bus stop with a bench and sat down. Pulling her wrap closer she sighed and tried to get comfortable, huddled into the corner of the bench.
Half an hour later she was deliciously drowsy, letting her thoughts wander but unable to fall asleep. A woman in expensive clothing approached her, holding a cigarette.
„Excuse me, do you have a match, darling?"
The woman sat down next to her. She had dark hair, crowned by a pill hat of the latest fashion, just a whiff of black felt and lace. Her dress was dark, just a pencil skirt and a blouse.
She wore a black fur coat and pearls. Her make up was perfectly done, blood red lips, rouge, long dark lashes. She was made up like she had been to some big event, like a film premiere or a celebrity wedding.
Peggy shook herself awake. She was feeling a bad vibe. This should be not the kind of woman who wandered the streets at night, she was probably rich enough to have a car, heck, maybe even a driver. So what did she want?
The woman smiled at Peggy and took her hand. „I'll drive you home. My car is around the corner, you know."
Peggy hesitated, but then again, it was cold, she was dead tired and at least it was a woman asking her to come with her. She would never have gone with a foreign man. This one wouldn't rob or rape her.
They walked, and the rich stranger made conversation, asking her about her job and if she had kids. Peggy wasn't sure she would have told her if she had, because her acquaintance was somewhat creepy, with that cold smile that didn't reach her eyes.
The car was a beauty, though, a 1940s model of the expensive kind. Peggy's brother would probable have been able to tell exactly, but Peggy didn't know much about cars. She just knew for sure when she saw luxury.
When Peggy sat back in the soft leather seat the woman immediately started the car. She seemed hurried all of a sudden, as if she needed to be somewhere. Peggy wondered when she would ask for the destination. They drove up to the next bigger avenue and still there was no question. That was where Peggy got worried. „Do you know where I live?" she queried tentatively.
„Didn't you say Burleigh?" the red lips questioned, their smile unwavering.
„No, I didn't." Peggy said with a puzzled look, panic setting in.
„Then let me drive where I want you to go. There's someone waiting for you."
The nurse's throat constricted, her heartbeat sped up. She knew the woman planned something, had kidnapped her for someone else, someone who would likely hurt her. Panicked she tried to open the door. The woman reached over while driving and slapped her hand.
„I wouldn't recommend that at full speed," she admonished, still eerily calm.
Peggy started to cry. „Let me go, please. Let me out. I wanna get out."
The brunette pulled the car over, grinning expectantly. The young nurse pushed the door open with palsied hands, sobbing, and ran out.
The dark woman let her get away a couple feet, then the air whooshed and suddenly she was in front of Peggy. Her face was pale and when she smiled two small pearly fangs peeked out from her upper lip.
Oh God, what kind of monster was this? Peggy shrieked in fear.
The woman whispered to her: „You can't get away. Don't run, it just makes the hunt so much sweeter." Then she grabbed her, and it was like an iron vice on her arm. Peggy tore away, but the woman dragged her back to the car. The girl cried for help in the deserted street, hoping against hope that someone, anyone, would hear her, an early worker maybe, the milkman, an insomniac walking his dog at 3 in the morning. No-one came. The scary woman took a silk scarf out of the glove box and bound Peggy's wrists behind her back, then wrought another strip of silk firmly around her mouth to gag her. She shoved the shivering girl into the back seat and resumed driving.
Pulling into a smaller street the woman was driving slowly now, scanning the streets. Peggy had lost orientation as to what part of L.A. this was. Somewhere near the hills, a better part of town. The woman had opened the driver window and sniffed the air. Peggy wondered what she was searching for.
She suddenly stopped, parked at the curb, and roughly took Peggy out of the car. Handling her with strength and determination she briskly walked towards a dark corner in a side street. It was almost dawn now, the sun coming up over the houses, but it didn't reach the small streets yet. Peggy hoped for someone to come out of the house, but it was eerily still.
A man was huddled in a corner between the brick wall and a car. He was shaking. Peggy took her usual measures to assess the injuries that she learned in E.R., but it was confusing. His neck and chest were drenched in blood, yet he wasn't bleeding. Did he kill someone?
Seeing them he looked up to the woman in black. He didn't even recognize the bound and gagged blonde that she towed along. Peggy whimpered. The eyes were pale, icy-blue.
The woman smiled, speaking with an admonishing tone: „There you are."
The man crawled back even more, as if he was afraid of her. „Get away from me."
Peggy started. He had fangs too. They were even bigger than those of the woman. Peggy was pulled forward and hauled to her knees. She whimpered and cried as much as she could with the woman paid no heed, but spoke to the man comforting him.
„I know you're hurting. I brought you something that will make you feel better."
Oh Lord! He was a monster too, and she would be his food. She struggled even more, but the woman kept her in check with one hand, while watching the man like a mother would watch a wayward child.
The man shrunk back, pleading to the woman while eying Peggy with concentration. „No, take her away!"
„You don't really want me to do that."
„Yes, I do. Make it stop. Make it stop, please." He was in pain, his facial expression changing between raw need and disgust, shame and lust. He wanted her, and he hated it.
Peggy was almost unresponsive now, falling into the stupor of a prey animal that set in when there was no chance to escape any more.
The dark lady stroked his cheek, explaining patiently that she couldn't make it stop, that it was gonna be wonderful. He told her he wanted to die.
„No you don't. You wanna live." The brunette woman was almost pleading now.
Peggy understood now. He had been made a vampire just a short time back, and he didn't want it. He didn't want to feed on her, he didn't want to kill her, but he had to. He wouldn't survive otherwise, there was no way out.
She felt pity for him, almost, and she understood that she was his first, a virgin sacrifice. The woman had chosen well, someone who wouldn't be traced to her, who took a risk walking the night alone, who had no family to mourn her. Still, she wanted to live too, so she started to struggle again.
The woman brought her neck closer to the man. He shivered, then clutched her with enormous strength and bit down on her creamy white neck. It hurt, like liquid fire, and then her life force was drawn out of her, swiftly. The man took big gulps of blood, biting down harder, ensnared in a need and hunger that he couldn't control.
Peggy cried. She cried for her life that would soon end, she cried for her parents who would never know what happened to her, and she cried for this man who was trapped in this existence that made him a monster in his own eyes. But the monster was standing over them, smiling and cold.
At least she hadn't been raped.
The world went black.
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