Chapter 6-The Night Life

Demian stepped out into the early night air, a jacket thrown over his shoulders. He wasn't sure why he still persisted in wearing a jacket. He could never be warm. That privilege was lost when his body gave up on homeostasis. It's easy to get frustrated when the whole body is, for lack of a better word, dead. They had jackets these days that could keep a person warm and toasty in even the most extreme colds but even they didn’t work for him. During the Wars, what were then individual countries developed such jackets so that they could utilize even the most frigid areas of the earth as bases, consequently there were a number of towns in Antarctica now. The land itself was unusable, but it was easy to build upon. Much land was unusable anyway these days. The chemicals used in the wars had created vast stretches of wasteland and within them, many different, frightening creatures roamed. They didn’t frighten Demian and other vampyre as much as they frightened humans. There were some people who lived within the wasteland. People that, for one reason or another, didn’t fit into normal society. Many left on their own but some were forced out. Around this city, New Washington, there was such a wasteland.

Demain didn’t have any specific plan for the night. He thought perhaps he would go watch Karin or actually talk to her as he had last night. Finally, he decided to simply walk through the streets and see where they took him. Above, pods zipped by at lightning speed and beside him, cars pushed their way through the far to narrow streets. To be able to walk was something Demian preferred to either method. The pods were much too similar to rides at a theme park of the 20th century, and he couldn’t trust anything that reminded him too much of giant mouse ears. Man they were creepy. Cars, meanwhile, were almost as slow as walking, unless you were out during the middle of the day or very late at night, the latter being the only one he could survive during. Besides, from here he could be right in the heart of the city and among the throngs of people. He loved looking at each of them and imagining what their life was like.

For example, a young woman approached on the street, walking quickly. Her hands were stuck deep in the pockets of a black wool coat, which hung to mid-thigh. She had boots that hovered slightly above the ground to decrease the stress of a long walk and black nylon pants. Soft black hair was cut short and slightly spiked on the top, not points, more mussed. It almost looked like a pile of feathers resting on her head. Her features were of Asian descent. The material of the jacket betrayed that she came from a slightly wealthy family, or it could have been a one-time, large gift. He doubted the second idea was the correct though because she didn’t wear it like one who was showing off a rare luxury. By the relaxation with which she wore it, one could surmise she was used to such things. She had an anxious look to her face, as though she were late for something. Judging by the fact that it was Friday, and her more dressy attire, she was probably headed to a club to meet friends. A group of teenagers no doubt, it was easy to see her age. He wondered if they would be sneaking into a club forbidden by parents in a one time act of rebellion or a continual breaking of rules. Monday they would laugh about their exploits in the cafeteria of one of the local high schools. He could see this girl talking excitedly to a girl with crazy red-gold hair. Suddenly, he realized why.

Demian turned quickly as she passed, brushing into a man who passed by him with a quick apology. He realized that she was a friend of Karin’s, Min, in fact they seemed to be best friends. Demian had watched the two of them talk for hours in Karin’s window. He remembered being frustrated because he gathered the courage to talk to her that night but ended up staying outside. He hadn’t been entirely truthful when he told Karin he had only passed by and seen her. That had definitely been Min. He’d been too busy trying to be philosophical to recognize her before. He slinked into the shadows along the side of the road and trailed after her, hoping his guess from before had been right.

Soon Min turned from the sidewalk and made her way in with a stream of people through the lit doors of the club Flights of Fancy. Demian smirked a little at and smoothed back his hair before making his way into the flood of people going inside. He had heard of this club. It wasn’t what he had expected but it wasn’t all bad. The club featured performers in all areas, sometimes poetry recitals, small plays, soloists, and often bands, like tonight. Because of the decrease in popularity of real instrumentals, the club had to take on a broad range of acts. He moved through the crowd fluidly, never faltering in his step, until he reached a wall. Then he leaned against it, legs crossed to one side as he watched the room.

Min had crossed to a group of teenagers who had congregated on one table near the front. His eyes ran over each of them. Beside Min was a boy with spiked blonde hair and rough sideburns. He looked tall in comparison to the diminutive girl but he was closer to average height for a male. His build was large but not bulky. Beside him was another boy who must have been quite tall for his age. He was more slight than his friend and had curly brown hair. The final two at the table appeared to be a couple. The boy was bulky, probably a football player, and had very short hair that was probably blonde before it was cut. The girl had red-brown hair that was twisted up into two buns on the top of her head and cut a nice figure. His felt slight disappointment that he did not see Karin there. But then, she arrived.

He had managed to hide himself within the shadows of the room, so she didn’t see him as she walked in through the door and looked around with a cautious expression. "Not cautious enough I guess," he found himself whispering out loud. Beside him, a young woman glanced at him as he spoke with a curious expression. He turned his liquid gaze to her for a moment and she quickly tucked down to continue chatting idly with another woman. His gaze returned to the table just as Karin reached it and greeted what must have been her group of friends. He noticed with slight agitation the length the boy with the brown hair seemed to go to so he could sit next to her. Demian pondered briefly whether he should go over to them. He wondered what Karin’s reaction would be. Would she say he was something she had met at a Shopping Complex? Or would she confess his true identity. She hadn’t yet. That was a good sign. There was a strained look to her though that said she was heavily debating whether she should.

Demian wanted to go over to the table. If nothing else, to see what she would do but he remained at his place on the wall. Should the others find out what little he had done already, he would have been Kentucky fried Demian. Instead, he watched as the group at the table interacted. At times, the strained look with leave Karin as she let her friends cheer her up. The band took the stage soon. It was a swing band. They had managed to find suits that reasonably resembled the Zoot suits of olde. Pretty soon, the bare area between two sets of tables was filled with people attempting to swing dance. Min and Karin took to the floor quickly, grinning and giggling.

Demian saw the time to make his move. When the two girls had slow down he began moving through the crowd. His eyes were locked on her back and people almost moved to make a path for him. Min was looking in his direction with a confused expression and then Karin turned with a flip of hair in her alleviated mood. When her eyes met his, he put on his best arrogant, charming smirk and he saw her expression grow shocked. He stopped a few inches from her, so he could feel her breath.

"May I have this dance?" he asked.

It was all she could do to nod dumbly as he lead her to the center. He had, of course, lived through all the major periods of swing’s popularity and had picked up some moves as a result. Cecil had made sure that he learned.

"I don’t know how very well," she whispered.

"Just let me lead." With that he began to move back and forth, moving her in with his steps and spinning and dipping. They became one in the motions of the dance as the band played on. As the music cut off, they sat there for a moment, Karin held tightly to his chest. Then she pulled back, breaking a link that seemed to have formed briefly. His eyes asked, "What are you frightened of?"

"I don’t know," she whispered and then walked quickly outside. Min gave him a suspicious look and followed her, the rest of their friends returning to the table. Demian sat there for a moment, his expression growing into what he imagined was a dark brooding, that was what he felt like. He stared down into his hand as a crimson drop rolled slowly from the corner of his eye and fell to the white flesh. Demian stormed quickly for the door and slipped outside, creeping along the shadows until he was far from the club. Then he stormed off, heading for the Inferno.