The Light Of Day

Another night spent at Darkman’s. This wasn’t exactly Gruffy’s cup of tea- the loud, pulsating music, the sweat and heat of the crowd gyrating onthe dance floor, the occasional ignorant bloodsuckers who had been known to tryout a few pick-up lines on him. That was especially annoying. His gaze, a curious mix of annoyance and a smidge of anxiety, drifted over the mass of people and back to the doorway.

He looked at his watch. Fifty minutes late. Not that the watcher was known for being punctual, but fifty minutes? Crap- forgot the cell phone. The suave Bond-look was starting to wear a little thin- there was only so long that one could nurse a martini, and there were only so many martinis, shaken not stirred, that could be had before this slayer might be caught off-guard by a vampire vixen with a wandering eye.

He shifted his weight on the barstool, wondering what the bloody hell Mannie could be up to. The whole of Wales had been rather peaceful as of late; too peaceful. No big vampire cases for the last six weeks. In fact, no vampires at all for the last six weeks. Unusual for a place that always had a few dozen vampires on hand at any given time. His stake-throwing arm was going to get out of practice if he didn’t find some undead to nail sometime soon.

There was always the possibility that they had found better ways to hide themselves. Now, that was disturbing indeed. Why would they suddenly need to be so careful? Could it have something to do with the sudden slaying of Monks?
A rather paranoid thought, he decided. Perhaps he didn’t give himself enough credit for keeping Wales’ bloodsucking population in check.
"Excuse me-”
Gruffy started out of his train of thought, nearly falling off the stool. The shy girl managed a small smile.
"Sorry to startle you- I was just going to ask if you knew whose this was...” she picked the stray cufflink up off of the adjacent bar stool and held it up. “Are you... all right?”
"Oh-” he checked his sleeves and found a cuff sans cufflink- “Oh, I think that’s mine, and I’m fine, thank you- you just caught me a bit...off-guard...” Too many martinis, he thought. Definitely time to call it a night.

She was a petite lass- quite a shapely form in her little black dress- dark brown hair and large black eyes. The testosterone kicked in, fortified by alcohol, and he saw her face color ever so slightly as he realized that he’d been studying her form a little too long, maybe a little too obviously. Good to see a pretty face without the pallor of death upon it- an all-too rare thing for someone in Gruffy’s line of business.
"Oh- er. Ah... I think you’ll have to chalk that up to the martinis,” he said, a bit flustered by his own inadvertent leering.
She blushed even deeper, and looked for a moment as if she was about to run away and hide, though he hoped she wouldn’t. In the end, she decided to stay. He watched, with some bemusement, as she seated herself on the stool tohis right and ordered a Bloody Mary.
”Well, as long as I’m here, might as well introduce myself. The name’s Gruffy.”
”Gruffy. Nice to meet you. I’m Gina.” Her voice was barely audible over the blaring music.
”You come here often?”
She nodded. “Was supposed to meet someone here today. Never showed.” Her eyes were fixed on the ruddy color of the drink before her, but her gaze was distant.
Gruffy smiled. There was something about that quiet, gentle demeanor, set in stark contrast to the frenetic throb of the club scene, that appealed to him. Perhaps he would stay after all, try and coax her into conversation. He was studying her pearl choker, trying to come up with some subject matter to throw around, when he noticed an unusual scar on the left side of her neck.For a brief moment, the Slayer instinct kicked in, and he found his hand resting on the stake concealed in his jacket.
He looked closer and sighed in relief.
”So- I see you play violin.”
Her face brightened at the mention of her favorite hobby. She chuckled with affected modesty. “Oh, not very well, I don’t...”
After a long and fascinating conversation (and a few turns on the dance floor, at Gina’s request), Gruffy finally called it a night and left the bar, smile on his face and Gina’s telephone number in hand. Well, it wasn’t victory over the undead but it the evening ended up being a hell of a lot more fun than he’d expected. Even slayers need a social life, and he’d been neglecting his quite a bit as of late...

TO BE CONTINUED...

THE LIGHT OF DAY