Post by BRAM MCCABE on Apr 30, 2023 18:47:39 GMT
Bram lifted his arms around the crowd, feeling people careen off of his back as the tide of the dance floor swung back in his direction. He gritted his teeth, glad for his height, although it’d left him peering over the sea of heads while he’d been out on the dance floor. It was like a redwood remaining rooted to its spot through a storm. The roots – his knees – creaking a little, but holding strong enough that he didn’t end up having to yell ‘timber’ in a place where nobody would’ve heard him.
He dipped his head towards the little brunette blocking the way towards the entrance with her arms spread out and her head thrown back. The lights overhead caught her face, the closed lids that left her blind to him looming over her. ”Hey, coming through,” Bram called, bending closer and repeating it an inch from her ear when she didn’t react. It was like Sleeping Beauty coming to life. Her eyes – a startling pale blue that almost looked purple in this light – peering up at him before she grinned. She was whirling around, reaching for his arms, like she’d be able to drag him closer.
Taking her wrists, he smiled, at least, as he steered her off to one side. ”Maybe later. I need some air.” For a second it looked like she meant to get some with him as he scuttled past, but then she was reaching for another guy in the crowd, a squeal rising out of her as she threw herself at him. Ouch, that hurt a little, even if he had absolutely no interest in any of the girls here tonight.
Grimacing at that, Bram shouldered his way through the edge of the crowd, into the thin stretch of open floor that led to the bouncer at the door. He took his first deep breath since the team had dragged him out into the heaving masses on the dance floor. Being bigger than most hadn’t made all that much difference there, people packed in tight, not caring if they hit flesh as they threw their hands up. Twice he’d retreated to the table they’d taken over, but minutes later one of them would emerge to drag him up again. The night was young, so was he, you had to party while you could. All excuses he could understand in principle, but he’d taken enough hits for a lifetime and eventually, he was gonna have to bow out.
Out in the cool night air, Bram turned away from the line of people still trailing down the block. Maybe soon. There was only so much abuse his knee was gonna take and these days he was far more aware of that point approaching. He couldn’t afford to be limping like an old if he needed to run from something. The thought was enough to put a shiver down his spine. Was it chickenshit to have kept his distance from the woods on campus? Going way off of his normal root so he wouldn’t think he was seeing things moving amongst the trees again? Probably, but at this point he didn’t care. He’d take looking like a giant baby over going through that again.
It left him wary as he approached the corner of the building. Street lights offered small pools of illumination back here, but not enough to chase that little shiver out of his spine. Bram pulled his phone as he glanced down the alley that cut down the side of the club. The brightest pool was about halfway down, spilling onto a door that led back into the building. They probably had it sealed up tight, meaning that those turned away at the door couldn’t sneak back here for a quick way in, the way he’d done as a kid at the rink, knowing that the janitor left the door from the staff lot open in the mornings.
He sprawled just on the edge of that light, legs dangling out into the alleyway, head hanging like he’d passed out drunk. Bram swallowed tight, glancing back the way he’d come. No one was obviously looking for this guy, like a friend had wandered off alone. ”Hey man, you OK?” His voice sounded weak, the words catching in his throat. No answer.
The sane bit of his brain told him not to start towards the guy, the bit that’d been trying to keep the guys in his dorm out of trouble for a handful of years now overrode it though. If this guy was in trouble he wasn’t about to leave him there. He crept towards the guy, eyes locked on him until at the darkest point between two yellow pools of light, a switch was thrown in his head. Light flared in his eyes, orange flames dancing there, starting to crawl over his skin. Awareness shrank down until it wasn’t Bram standing over the body.
Kresnik bent, a burning finger placed beneath the man’s jaw to lift his head, revealing the grey skin of the dead vampire more clearly. A wound had been torn through his chest, blood that was unlikely to be his own darkening what had been a blue t-shirt. There was a scuff of shoes down at the mouth of the alleyway, a quiet gasp. The hellhound cursed inwardly, turning away from the presence, hunching down as though the darkness would hide him. ”You should not have come. We are fine … leave.” He slipped an arm beneath the body, levering it up as though it were just the drunk his host had believed it to be at first.
Tagged: Open Thread * Word Count: 938