Fiction

The bell above the door gave its faint chime and Vladimir let out a long sigh. That was it. Everyone was gone for the day; he could finally lock up and go home. As he casually ambled to the front of the store, he observed through curious pale eyes the various pedestrians passing by the wide windows of the pharmacy.

He smiled to himself as he watched a young mother playing with her little boy… but suddenly the boy started wailing. Not crying; all out wailing so loudly that even Vladimir could hear it from the other side of the bullet proof glass. Vladimir frowned. What in the world was going on out there?!

Hesitantly, he stepped up closer to the glass, watching as the mother tried to calm her child. She looked around, as if to make sure no one was watching her, and then held her wrist up to her son’s mouth, whispering something to him that Vladimir couldn’t hear.

Vladimir’s eyes widened and one eyebrow raised in honest surprise. Were other Vampires truly becoming that careless with their feeding habits? He supposed so, but still luckily for the mother there appeared to be no one else around. Suddenly, however, the mother jumped back, grabbing her boy and shielding him protectively from something Vladimir couldn’t see.

Then it appeared. A dark, faceless figure emerging from the shadows of a nearby alleyway. It made a motion toward the already obviously frightened woman and she pointed frantically in the direction of the door to the pharmacy.

“Oh shit….” Vladimir muttered to himself.

The figure was stumbling, albeit rather quickly, toward the entrance to Vladimir’s little safe haven and it took Vladimir only a split second to realize what would happen. He made a dash for the door, knocking over a newspaper stand and a display of aspirin in the process. He hoped, even as everything seemed to move slow motion around him, he desperately hoped that he would be fast enough, that he would be able to prevent whoever this was from entering and most likely destroying Vladimir’s little patch of serenity.

But he was too slow. He reached the door just in time to have whoever it was wedge their foot between the door jam and the door itself. Vladimir, though he would never admit to it, was scared. Beyond scared to be exact. His mind was racing as he tried to think of something, anything, to prevent this person from completely entering the building. He leaned against the door, putting his entire weight against it in the hopes that the person would remove their foot.

“Help me.” The person whispered, gasping as they forced in to the slightly open door, “Please.”

Vladimir blinked and stepped back, tripping over the fallen aspirin and landing on his ass. He knew that voice. “Malik?!” he asked in a shocked whisper.

The door opened further and the figure stumbled into the pharmacy, letting the door close with a ding behind him. Then the hood fell back, revealing a tan haggard, panic-stricken face. “You were the only one I could come to.” Malik offered, running a hand through his hair, “I need help bad.”

Vladimir frowned, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. “What sort of help?” he inquired as he straightened his glasses.

Malik reached up and pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck. There, previously hidden by his shirt, were two tiny, red fang marks.

“Oh my God…” Vladimir searched Malik’s face, watching the other man closely. “What happened? Who bit you?”

Malik closed his eyes, swaying slightly on his feet. “I… I’m not sure.”

“Whoa, careful there.” Vladimir steadied Malik. “Give me a minute to lock up and we can go to the back room, okay?”

Malik nodded, offering a weak smile. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Vladimir smiled back, concealing his worry and fear for his friend.

He hoped to God, that whatever had happened, whoever had played any part in Malik’s turning, that Malik hadn’t been followed to the pharmacy. There would be hell to pay if whoever it was knew where Malik had gone. They obviously hadn’t planned on letting the journalist just walk away like he had, Malik’s appearance and fatigue was proof of that.

With a slightly annoyed sigh, Vladimir double-checked the locks on the doors and then turned to help his friend to the back room. The man needed blood at a minimum and probably a good night’s sleep, too, and Vladimir could only hope that they wouldn’t be disturbed.