Fangs

The woman tiptoed silently through the empty house, jumping at every creaking noise made by the ancient floorboards. The beam of her flashlight swung in shaky arcs as she crept forward, trying in vain to illuminate the shadowy corners of the decrepit hallway. The door she had just passed was slightly ajar, and a shadow of movement caught her eye from just beyond it. She peered through the crack in the doorway, straining to catch a glimpse of whatever was inside the room. In a flash, a pale white creature descended upon her neck, and she let out a blood curdling scream.

There was a chorus of gasps and cries at the sudden jumpscare from the various people watching the movie, and someone jumped so bad that a rain of popcorn scattered across their heads, littering the old couch and dirty floor with debris. A few giggles bubbled up through the group, followed by a shushing sound that refocused everyone's attention back on the TV, which was now showing the vampire sucking blood from the woman in a campy, bloody display. I was sitting among the group that was watching the movie, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. Instead, I was scanning the room for no one in particular, bobbing my head gently to the pounding music that was playing in some other room of the large house. I picked out a few costumes from the crowd as my eyes swept the room: a few Jokers, a pirate, some Disney princesses, a particularly good Guy Fieri that was shotgunning a beer, and the classic sexy outfits adorned with animal ears and tails. With a small sigh, I glanced down at my friend Piper, who was fiercely tapping away at her phone.

"Still texting Cody?" I asked, and her long red wig smacked me in the face as she looked up.

"I knew he had to work late, but he was supposed to be here half an hour ago," she huffed, fiddling with the scarf around her neck. "Daphne is a stupid costume without Fred."

"That's not very girl power of you," I said with a grin, tugging on the front of her wig so it sat straighter on her head. She stuffed her phone into her bag and glared at me.

"It would've been a lot more 'girl power' if somebody had agreed to be Velma..." She batted her eyelashes pointedly at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"I told you I didn't want to third wheel a costume with you and your boyfriend. Plus, we don't know anyone who could've been Shaggy, so it would've been even more stupid"

"We need more friends," she muttered, glancing around the room like she might find a lone Shaggy that she could snap up. "Or you need to get a boyfriend." I groaned, leaning back and letting my head fall over the back of the couch. Finding my face inches away from the ass of a girl in a sexy mime costume (interesting choice), I quickly sat back up.

"For the fuck-billionth time Pipes, I am too busy to date right now." Piper opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but I cut her off as quickly as I could. "And I am not gonna pick up some guy just to fulfill your group costume fantasies." She worked her jaw slightly, her narrowed eyes boring into mine, and seemed to decide it wasn't worth it to keep pushing. With a shrug, she turned back to the TV.

"You would look so cute with a bob and glasses" she said with a sigh, ignoring what I had just said.

"Yea, but if I was Velma, I couldn't wear these." With a flick of my tongue, I released the retractable fangs sitting above my canines and gave her a wicked grin. Piper peered into my mouth, admiring the fake teeth.

"Those are pretty cool," she admitted. "I can't believe you made them yourself. How long did that take?"

"A couple months, in between homework and work and stuff," I said nonchalantly, but I was actually very proud of them. A lot of long nights, youtube tutorials, and several nearly-chipped teeth went into them, but the result of such realistic-looking retractable fangs with the mechanism hidden neatly under the roof of my mouth was worth it.

"You should really switch to an engineering major, Val," Piper teased.

"There's no way I would waste my talent for making bullshit on actual practical things." Another flick of the tongue, and the fangs shot back up into hiding. Piper's eyes had drifted back to the movie, so I resumed my scan of the party. I took a sip of the warm beer I was nursing and immediately regretted it.

"Remind me again why I let you drag me to this party?" I asked, deciding to abandon my half-empty cup on the coffee table next to the couch.

"Because all you do is work and sit at home and do homework," she said immediately, not even looking up from the TV. "You need to loosen up more, have some fun. Also, you need to find someone to hook up with." I blushed slightly and attempted an indignant scoff that came out more like a hacking cough. A couple of girls watching the movie gave me dirty looks and scooched away from me. Before I could speak, Piper barreled on.

"You haven't even gone on a date since you broke up with that guy Ryan-"

"His name was Brian," I corrected, "and I told you, I've been too busy-"

"Same thing," she interrupted without missing a beat, "and you've been avoiding going out by doing all your homework like a good little student, which doesn't even make sense to me because how could you possibly have that much homework as a theatre student, and whenever we do go somewhere you just wistfully stare at people like you're doing right now." I looked down at my feet, self conscious that I had been clocked so thoroughly and accurately.

"But today is the perfect day for you to let loose, because everyone parties on halloween, so you have a wide selection, and you're dressed as a super sexy hot vampire, so you can pull anyone you want." With a deep breath, she sat back into the couch and looked at me in satisfaction, a smug grin playing across her lips. I sat there dumbstruck for a moment, trying to figure out if I should be flattered or offended by her words. She was right, of course. I'd been pretty antisocial since I'd broken up with Brian (or was his name Ryan?), but the only guys I seemed to meet lately were frat bros and pretentious assholes, and I just didn't feel like dealing with them anymore. I always felt like I was searching for someone or something in particular, but I had no idea what it was.

In fairness to Piper, the crowd at this party did seem to be a lot more varied than I was used to. Maybe I should just look for a random guy to have a one-night stand with. My months-long dry spell and the shot of tequila I took before we left were making me braver and hornier than I usually felt. I also got a boost of confidence from my outfit, which had gotten a lot of appreciative looks from guys and a few girls throughout the night. Because the fangs had taken me so long to make, I had kind of forgotten that I needed the rest of the costume too, so last night Piper and I had raided our closets for anything we deemed "vampirey;" basically, anything black, tight, short, or low-cut. The sexy outfit combined with my fangs and long dark hair had created the exact effect I was going for.

A commotion in the entrance hall drew me out of my reverie, and I craned my neck to see what was going on. A group of people had just arrived, probably coming off the bus that came in from downtown. They dispersed throughout the party, grabbing beers and finding friends. The crowd parted quickly for a tall, broad-shouldered guy that was barreling across the room, struggling to tie a bright orange scarf around his neck. Piper perked up immediately, watching Cody crash through the clumps of costumed party-goers towards our couch, oblivious to their dirty looks and irritated scoffs.

"Hey Fred," I called as he bent down to give Piper a quick kiss. He gave up trying to tie the scarf, letting it hang loosely around his neck as he flopped down next to her. She immediately took over, her quick fingers expertly tying the scarf into a small, perfect knot.

"Thanks, babe," he said, slinging his arm around her shoulder. She glared at him through narrowed eyes. He glanced over at me in fear, and then quickly gave her an apologetic smile.

"I know, I know, but Dallas spilled a vat of tomato sauce all over the floor, and then he blamed it on me, and Gary believed him because I've been late for half of my shifts this month and he just hates me, so I had to clean it up, so then I had to wait for the next bus. But I snuck out a breadstick for you!" He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a slightly smushed to-go box. Piper's eyebrows were still furrowed, but her eyes had softened, and she took the box out of his hand with a small "thank you" and settled into his arm. Piper and Cody bickered like an old married couple, but they really did love each other.

Satisfied, Cody turned to me.

"Hey Val, I was gonna bring you a garlic knot, but we were all out."

"Couldn't have eaten it anyway," I said, releasing my fangs and grinning. He looked at my teeth with a blank expression, and I could practically see the gears turning in his head. After a moment, it seemed to click, and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Nice costume!" He enthused, taking a bite of the breadstick that Piper was offering him. "Much cooler than Velma." Piper smacked him on the arm with the breadstick, and they descended into bickering. With a chuckle, my eyes naturally resumed their usual search of the crowd. Unusually, however, they seemed to stick on a figure that I hadn't seen before. Tall enough to tower slightly over the crowd with stiff, excellent posture, I could easily see his thin yet broad-shouldered frame. He was chatting idly with a few people, an air of casual confidence radiating from him. Someone offered him a beer, but he shook his head with an easy smile. When they looked away, he glanced around, then casually swiped an empty beer bottle from the window sill, holding it like it was full. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

"Hey, do you guys know who that guy is?" I asked Piper and Cody, interrupting their argument. I still couldn't take my eyes off of him, so they followed my gaze.

"Oooh, he's hot!" Piper squealed, slapping my arm over and over. "Get it, girl!" Cody's eyes were narrowed, watching the guy as he floated from group to group, gesturing with his beer bottle as he chatted.

"I don't know, he's kind of weird," Cody said, wrenching his gaze away from the mysterious guy and focusing back on me. "We have a couple classes together. I think he comes from money, because it always seems like he thinks he's better than us, and he doesn't talk that much."

"Maybe he just doesn't talk to you," Piper said thoughtfully, watching him greet a couple of guys dressed like werewolves. He laughed at something they said, his shoulder-length waves of chocolate brown hair rippling as he threw his head back, showing off his handsome, angular features. Cody huffed and turned his attention to the TV

"Whatever," he muttered, watching the vampire in the movie burning dramatically in the sunlight. "He just kinda seems like an ass." Ignoring him, Piper grabbed my shoulders, giving them a little shake that forced me to look at her.

"Val, this is perfect," she whispered conspiratorially. "You're obviously into this guy-- rightly so, because he's a hottie-- and if he is an ass," she shot a glance at Cody, "then he's perfect for a one night-stand, because you never have to see him again." I couldn't argue with her logic. Not only was he hot, he was just so... intriguing. I also hadn't seen him around campus before, so if it didn't work out, there probably wouldn't be a lot of possibilities for awkward encounters.

I shook Piper off of me, resisting the urge to look back at him. Was I really gonna do this? Am I the kind of person that just... hooks up with people? I couldn't fight it any longer, my eyes flew over to stare at him again. With a jolt of shock, I realized that he was now staring back at me. Even from a distance, I could see his piercing eyes, icy and almost as pale as his skin, boring into mine. He didn't look away, so I steeled myself and maintained eye contact, trying to act like the hot, confident vampire that I was dressed as. His eyes traveled down my body, stopping in a few places that made my cheeks tinge pink. His eyes found mine again, and I gave him a sly grin, flashing my fangs without even thinking. To my surprise, he looked shocked, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open slightly. He glanced around like he was about to let me in on a secret, and then bared his teeth, his own sharp set of fangs sliding down. I gaped at him. What were the odds?

"I think I'm gonna go talk to him," I murmured to Piper out of the corner of my mouth. Her head whipped around like I had just slapped her, and Cody's followed soon after, but their expressions were wildly different. I wrenched my eyes away from him to look at them.

"The hot one?" Piper whispered, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Yeah, him." I placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Don't look now, but he's dressed like a vampire too, and I think he was checking me out." They of course ignored me and turned around to stare at him. I groaned with embarrassment, but luckily he was busy chatting with someone and didn't seem to notice. I quickly got up from the couch and readjusted my tight skirt.

"Ok, I'm going over there before you guys make me change my mind. Please behave, you two." Piper nodded enthusiastically, waving her hands to shoo me along, but Cody was still staring warily at the guy in a protective-older-brother sort of way.

"Just be careful," he said, looking at me sternly. "And don't say I didn't warn you if he is an ass." I nodded at him as I started off in the direction of the guy.

"Let loose!" Piper called after me, hanging over the back of the couch. "But don't do anything I didn't do when I first went out with Cody!" Cody's steely expression softened into a wide grin at the memory, and I gave them a thumbs up to try to end the conversation. Just as I was about to turn my back on them, I smacked squarely into something very solid. I was falling to the floor, knocked off balance, but a pair of nimble hands caught me around my waist, steadying me just as quickly. I looked up and found myself face to face with those intense, icy eyes that I had seen from across the room, now crinkled in a smile. All of the features that had been so mesmerizing at a distance were now magnified a hundred times; his high, sharp cheekbones, his long, ruffled hair, those dazzling grey eyes. He released his arms from my waist and I took a small step back, trying to drag myself back to reality.

"Sorry about that," he said, his voice was a little deeper than I expected, with the hint of an accent that I couldn't place. "I was walking over to talk to you and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Same here," I croaked, and I hastily cleared my throat. "Thank you for catching me." He gave me an easy nod, and I knew I had to come up with something fast. I didn't know if I had had a perfect, snappy pick-up line before I made a fool of myself, but I sure as hell didn't anymore. As I floundered around for something to say, his eyes flitted down to my lips, and he beat me to the punch.

"Nice fangs," he said, his own sharp teeth sliding into view.

"I could say the same to you," I answered, clicking my tongue to the mechanism at the roof of my mouth with a grin.

"What's your name?"

"Valeria, but people call me Val."

"Valeria," he repeated, and my heart stuttered at the way my name rolled off his tongue. "That's a beautiful name. I'm Will." He stuck out a hand, and I shook it. I immediately pulled my hand back in shock.

"Jesus, your hand is so cold! Were you outside for a while?" His hands were ice cold, but his smile was warm.

"No, it comes with the territory. You start to lose most of your body heat as the years go by. You were turned pretty recently, yeah? I haven't seen you around before."

Ah. So he wanted to roleplay, huh? I could do that. Time to put those required acting courses for my major to use. I tried to channel all of the sexy, confident vampire energy I could muster and wracked my brain for any lore I remembered from TV and books.

"Yup, just a few months ago. It's been fun, but avoiding the sun is a pain." He shook his head quickly.

"You gotta enjoy the sun while you can, it doesn't really do any damage until you get a lot colder." He lightly touched my tanned forearm, and it wasn't just the chill of his fingers that made me shiver.

"God, you're still so warm," he muttered, half under his breath, and I found myself leaning closer to catch his every word. "It feels nice."

"You feel pretty nice too," I murmured, taking another step towards him. Our eyes met, and his gaze was magnetizing, sucking me in.

"Do you wanna find somewhere a little quieter where we can talk? I can tell you more about your new... lifestyle." I nodded, not trusting my voice to stay level. He took my hand and started leading me deeper into the house. I glanced around at the couch where I had been sitting to see if Piper and Cody were still there. Cody was glaring at Will, his eyes following our progress across the room like a hawk's. Piper was practically bouncing up and down in her seat, giving me several thumbs ups and a couple of more obscene gestures with her hands. I managed a small, excited wave before our procession disappeared around the corner of a hallway and I couldn't see them anymore. I turned back to Will, finally getting a chance to look him over more closely without the issue of his distracting stare. He was dressed nicely, fairly regularly for halloween. The clothes were maybe a little old-fashioned, but I guessed that was probably part of the vampire schtick, or maybe he was just a hipster. We came up to a bedroom with the door slightly ajar and peered through the crack in the doorway. Deadpool was making out with Marge Simpson on the bed, so we slowly backed away and shut the door. We shared a look, and then burst out laughing. With some of the tension between us relieved, I fell into step beside him as we moved on, continuing our search for an empty room.

"So, any good recommendations for drinking blood? Does one blood type taste better than another?" He side-eyed me and smirked.

"It's good that you're so calm about that whole aspect of it," he said, running his hands through his long brown locks. "It's gonna make your life a lot easier. Most people tend to get a little freaked out,"

"I guess I'm not most people," I said, and inwardly cringed almost immediately. God, that sounded corny, but luckily Will hadn't seemed to mind. He turned his head to me and looked me up and down.

"Seems like it," he said quietly, and then he quickly cleared his throat and started peering into doorways again. I was grateful that he wasn't looking at me as I felt a blush creep across my cheeks.

"Anyway," he started again, "the most ethical way to feed is donated blood, we call them blood bags. You can get them at the hospital if you know the right people." He leaned down so his lips brushed against my ear, and I felt my pulse quicken.

"But honestly," he whispered, his hot breath on my skin a pleasant contrast to the rest of his body's chill. "It just tastes better when you get it from the source." A shudder ran through me, and without thinking I turned my head ever so slightly, so our lips were just centimeters apart from each other. We sat like that for a moment, neither of us daring to move, breathing heavily. A loud booming bass rang through the house as a new song started on the stereo, and we were rudely wrenched out of our mutual trance. Will straightened up abruptly, returning to an even stiffer posture than he had had before, and I brushed some nonexistent dirt from my top, my cheeks feeling distinctly warmer. I looked up to see Will's eyes following my hands and then resting on my ample cleavage. With a grin, I cleared my throat, and his eyes widened suddenly. I met his apologetic glance with a chuckle, and he continued looking for an empty room at an almost alarming pace. I set off at a trot to try and keep up with his long-legged strides.