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    Aditus
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
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The Lonely Heart Club – a prompt story - 5. Night shift - Prompt 438

strong>Prompt 438 – Creative Tag – Vampire
Again, this is a prompt story telling short vignettes around the LHC. Sometimes the main characters appear only briefly.

Night Shift

I don’t do blind dates anymore. I’ve learned the hard way, is all I’m going to say. I also avoid all those happily involved friends, when they get this special twinkle in their eyes. ‘I know just the right man for you!’ (Insert saccharine smile here) No, thank you!

But then my friend Vincent from the night shift caught me in the elevator. I was just explaining to a colleague why I was staying home on a Friday night, and boom, now I wasn’t because suddenly I had a blind date. I mean, how could I say no to Vincent’s poor cousin Laurentius, who was visiting from another country and had to sit in Vincent’s home hungry and bored out of his skull, because Vincent had to work? See what I mean?

We met at a bar called ‘The Lonely Heart Club’. Not exactly the place you have in mind when you already have a date I know, but he wanted to listen to live piano music and that was what Google suggested.

Laurentius had this whole tall, dark, and handsome mysterious stranger routine going for him. I saw him, and I was immediately in lust. We ate, we talked, and we clicked. It was unbelievable. When I thought it couldn’t get any better, at least in a public place like a bar, he went up to the stage and talked to Martin, who played the piano. They laughed, clapped each other’s shoulders, and then Martin went to the bar for a glass of red wine, and Laurentius sat down behind his piano, wiggled his fingers, and played. One song. My favorite song actually.

I had heard Shots from Imagine Dragons so many times; I could sing it by heart, but never like this. His beautiful tenor voice owned every word, every cadence, every note. I could feel his pain, his agony, his devastation. It swept over me, into me, and I didn’t care about the tears running down my face.

The next morning I woke up alone, not remembering anything that happened after we left the club. Where did we go afterwards? When did I come home? Was Laurentius still with me then? There was nothing but a feeling of great loss I couldn’t define. A fierce longing for — what? That, and I was still bone tired.

Later in the shower, I detected some strange bruises on my neck, wrist, and groin. Oddly, I wasn’t alarmed, although something in the back of my mind nagged me I should be. I could have slept all day, wouldn’t there have been this constant hunger. In the end, all I did over the weekend was sleep and eat, though it never was enough. In the short periods I was awake, I felt restless, and always hungry.

Monday morning came, and I was barely awake enough to remember to go to work. Luckily the bruises were already fading, but then I touched them I got this tingle in the back of my mind.

Remember…

As soon as my colleague from Friday saw me, he started to laugh. “Oh my God, that must have been one hell of a blind date. Did he stay over the weekend?” He snickered. “You sure look like it.”

“No. I’m just tired. I think I caught some strange bug.”

“And the strange bug wouldn’t have the name of Vincent’s cousin, by any chance? Was he hot?”

He hadn’t finished his sentence, when all of a sudden, hot, white rage surged through me. Mine! I could barely swallow the rumble building in my chest.

“Did you just growl at me, Summers?”

Did I?

Word had gotten around that Vincent had made me go on a blind date with his cousin, so of course people kept asking me about it. Every time they did, I felt the urge to slash their throats with my non-existing claws. I could see it in my mind though, in vivid colors. How they would writhe on the floor, soaking in their own blood, dying a painful death. Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer and volunteered to do some long overdue research in the archive. Almost nobody goes down there anymore. Man, I was so glad when the day was over.

When I was heading out of the building, I met Vincent in the elevator again. As soon as he saw me, he grabbed my wrist, pushed the cuffs of my shirt up, and inhaled sharply.

“Do you know what these are?”

He ran his thumb over the two puncture wounds I had there, and before I could help it, a deep growl left my mouth. He pulled his hand back as if it stung. “Looks like you were bitten by a vampire.”

I scoffed. “Sure.”

Vincent shrugged his shoulders. “I have a feeling we’ll be working together soon. On the night shift.”

“What, why?”

He only grinned. “Oh, and you might be happy to hear, Laurentius decided to stay for a while.”

 

 

Acoustic piano version of Shots by Imagine Dragons

I'm beyond curious what you think of vampires at the LHC.
When I found the video I needed to write a story around it. Look at their hands, it's amazing. Or it's just me...lol
Copyright © 2016 aditus; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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I for one want to read more! This was the kind of prompt that made me go "Oh, what happened then?!?" So vamps at the LHC is a go from me! :)

 

Pianist hands are very beautiful. So strong but still gentle. As a singer myself, I liked the dynamics between the lead (seeminlgly drawing notes in the air when singing) and the support singer (much more controlled, as he of course should be, until the final part where he too let loose).

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On 08/16/2015 07:16 PM, Puppilull said:

I for one want to read more! This was the kind of prompt that made me go "Oh, what happened then?!?" So vamps at the LHC is a go from me! :)

 

Pianist hands are very beautiful. So strong but still gentle. As a singer myself, I liked the dynamics between the lead (seeminlgly drawing notes in the air when singing) and the support singer (much more controlled, as he of course should be, until the final part where he too let loose).

More vamps at the LHC is certainly an option...

 

About the video: What you described is exactly why I love this video so much. Their dynamic is perfect. I won't tell you how many times I watched it...

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  • Site Administrator

Ooooo nice twist at the end! I love vampire stories. :) I definitely want more. Great job, Addy. :)

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On 08/16/2015 10:58 PM, Valkyrie said:

Ooooo nice twist at the end! I love vampire stories. :) I definitely want more. Great job, Addy. :)

Thank you, Val. I'm glad you liked it. :) I don't know about more, though. Maybe in another prompt.

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Out of likes, so will do that later
I love vampire stories like this - a sequel would be nice

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So working the night shift becomes one way to avoid the others. I get the feeling you could really run with this if you wanted to, but i know sometimes a prompt is just a prompt. Really enjoyed your story though.

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This is creepy. We listened to Shots on our vacation as it played all the time. It is very haunting and powerful, to me. What a lovely portrayal of this song and this prompt. Great job Adi!e

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On 08/17/2015 01:52 AM, Reader1810 said:

Out of likes, so will do that later

I love vampire stories like this - a sequel would be nice

Thank you Reader1818! :) I'm glad you like it. I hadn't planned for vampires at the LHC, but things happen.

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On 08/17/2015 11:39 AM, comicfan said:

So working the night shift becomes one way to avoid the others. I get the feeling you could really run with this if you wanted to, but i know sometimes a prompt is just a prompt. Really enjoyed your story though.

Thank you, Wayne! Night shift can also b very lonely. I'm glad you enjoyed it, :)

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On 08/17/2015 01:20 PM, Cole Matthews said:

This is creepy. We listened to Shots on our vacation as it played all the time. It is very haunting and powerful, to me. What a lovely portrayal of this song and this prompt. Great job Adi!e

Thank you, Cole! I'm always looking for the piano version of songs I like and this was even performed by the original artists. How perfect can it be? I love watching them, seeing how they work together. Puppilull described it wonderfully.

So glad you think it worked. :)

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Naughty Vincent, I wonder if he knew what would happen. :o
I hope he remembers the night once he meets Laurentius again, what's the fun of a wild whirl with a vampire if you can't recall it? :*)

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On 08/22/2015 04:16 AM, Timothy M. said:

Naughty Vincent, I wonder if he knew what would happen. :o

I hope he remembers the night once he meets Laurentius again, what's the fun of a wild whirl with a vampire if you can't recall it? :*)

Well, Vincent works the night shift...

Lol, you have a point here, maybe if he meets Laurentius again, and again...

Thank you, Tim for your review. :)

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Interesting but I kinda feel like putting it in the LHC is strange given Roman and Martin's story doesn't come across as paranormal. (You put the wrong name in when you said Laurentius took over the piano from Roman)
I really hope you get back to their story. I was excited to find out how their date went and find out if the clicked.

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On 08/22/2015 08:55 PM, Cannd said:

Interesting but I kinda feel like putting it in the LHC is strange given Roman and Martin's story doesn't come across as paranormal. (You put the wrong name in when you said Laurentius took over the piano from Roman)

I really hope you get back to their story. I was excited to find out how their date went and find out if the clicked.

Thank you, Cannd! :) You're right, vampires shouldn't visit LHC, on the other side I liked the possibility. We don't believe in vampires, but they exist and even go to our bars. I can understand when you don't like the genre mix though.

I may be blind, but I can't find where I put the wrong name in.

Anyway, date next, promise.

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I'm new to this prompt collection, and I read them all in one sitting (including the next chapter, 6). I'm intrigued, but I need a clarification, please. Roman is a piano player at this bar as well
as Martin? Is he filling in for Martin?

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On 04/27/2016 08:53 AM, Geemeedee said:

I'm new to this prompt collection, and I read them all in one sitting (including the next chapter, 6). I'm intrigued, but I need a clarification, please. Roman is a piano player at this bar as well

as Martin? Is he filling in for Martin?

Hi Geemeedee,

Roman is an attorney, who comes to the bar with his colleagues several times the week after work. :)

Thank you for reading the story.

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Just agreeing that you wrote Roman was playing the piano, when it should have been Martin.

 

And I'd like the vampires to have their own story :)

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On 04/28/2016 10:06 AM, Eleven said:

Just agreeing that you wrote Roman was playing the piano, when it should have been Martin.

 

And I'd like the vampires to have their own story :)

I apologize for the mistake! Thank you and Geemeedee for telling me! To many stories in my head, maybe one day I'm going to write their story. :)

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