“Jesus Christ, I didn’t want you to choke the kid. Just fuck him up a little bit.”

Another man emerged from the couch in the living room. His blonde hair was slicked back perfectly, and with his all black everything outfit, he looked like he just stepped out of Cry Baby.

“Well, ‘fuck him up a little bit’ is open for interpretation,” said the accomplice.  Billy was still down, regaining his strength the best he could.

“Hey,” he was barely able to get the words out, “I don’t have much money. Just take what you want.”

“You live in a damn trailer. It’s obvious that money isn’t exactly falling outta your ass,” the blonde said. He kicked out one of the dining room chairs and motioned for Billy to sit. Billy stood in defiance. “Don’t be stupid. Now sit.” The taller intruder raided the cabinets, looking for something to eat, slamming them one by one, much to the blonde’s annoyance. “For fuck’s sake, pick something!”  He pulled a box of Honey Comb out of the last cabinet and plopped himself down, resting his feet on the table.

“You know, my girlfriend is going to be here any minute,” Billy said, snatching a tissue out of the blonde one’s hand for his bloody nose

“No, she won’t. You see, you sent her a text message telling her to still go over to the old Romanian guy’s house. You gotta huge surprise for her. You shouldn’t leave your phone laying around. It’s irresponsible.”

“Who are you people? What do you want? Why were you following me?”

“So many questions. And forgive me, where are my manners? I’m Andrei and this lovely chap that socked you in the face is Laurentiu. We want food and we followed you cause you smelled good.”

Billy stared at the men in confusion. Drugs. That had to be the only explanation. His eyes moved toward the living room of the trailer. If he bolted through the back door, he could bust it open and call for help.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There’s no way out of it, it’d be better if you just accept your fate. But let me go more in depth with your questions. Laurentiu and I are hungry, and you just happened to pass by our way, and God damn, did you smell good. And then Laurentiu heard you talking to your, presumably, pretty, little girlfriend on the phone. We thought ‘Why not make a feast of it?’ Don’t worry, you’re not gonna be around to see us devour her.”

“I will fucking kill you,” Billy said through gritted teeth. Andrei nodded at Laurentiu who placed his hand on the back of Billy’s head and smashed it into the table.

“Don’t make threats that you can’t keep! My God, humans are so ridiculous, acting big and bad and shit. It’s hilarious.” Andrei’s bright blue eyes, filled with darkness. A darkness that Billy had never seen before.

Billy still clung to the hope that these two were high, “So, what? Are you guys vampires or something?” Andrei clenched his fist and rolled his eyes as Laurentiu munched away on his cereal.

“No, we’re not fucking vampires. We’re striges and we feast on the blood of humans.”

“That’s what a vampire is, dude.”

“Uh, no ‘dude’. Vampires came from us and they’re the ones that get movies and books and fucking Halloween costumes.” Andrei’s pale face grew red, his temper becoming harder and harder to control.

“We’re not supposed to be telling anybody about us, A,” Laurentiu said, taking a break from eating.

“He’s going to die anyway! It doesn’t fucking matter! That stupid bitch promised us everything then she had to get herself killed. Now, look at us. It’s despicable.”

“You killed everybody in that town, didn’t you?” said Billy.

“They were on their way out, bunch of junkies. Their blood was bitter and impure, but it satisfied a need. Look, I don’t want to talk anymore. Laurentiu, turn up the thunder a bit. The screams need to be muffled.

Courtney opened the door to Billy’s trailer. Everything looked pristine. The food and candles were set on the table. She couldn’t help but smile. “Baby, where are you?” There was no response, but she was hungry so she sat down and began to eat.

“Didn’t someone tell you to wait till everyone was at the dinner table until you begin eating?” Courtney looked at Andrei with the same fear that Billy had in his eyes. She ran for the door, but Laurentiu beat her to it. “Your boyfriend was gonna do that, too. Told him it wasn’t the smartest thing and, would you look at that, I was right. Now don’t fight it. The first bite hurts. Billy screamed for a little bit. But Laurentiu here is a lot more gentle than I am. And he has this crazy fucking venom that numbs the spot.” Andrei smiled, bearing his fangs.

“What’s going to happen to me?” Courtney began to cry and shake uncontrollably.

Andrei brushed the tears away from Courtney’s face and kissed both sides of her cheeks. She made a rash decision and headbutted him. He laughed. “You two were truly meant for each other,” he said, twisting his nose back into shape. “You’re going to die for fuck’s sake and you just can’t accept it.” Courtney screamed, Laurentiu sunk his teeth into her neck to shut her up, slowly. She became dead weight and Laurentiu followed her down to the ground. Before passing out, she saw Billy’s lifeless body as Andrei dragged it through the house.

Courtney’s father was the first one to discover the bodies. Audrey had called him at three-thirty when Courtney didn’t return to her house. She confessed everything and he knew exactly where his daughter was. When he found them, they were placed next to each other, holding hands, their bodies drained of blood. He didn’t cry when he found them. He was just numb. He called 911 and waited on the couch for someone to come. He called his wife and told her in a monotone voice that their daughter was dead and hung up when she began to scream and cry. The police arrived at the trailer park a few minutes after Billy’s mother showed up. The whole event played out like a movie scene. For Courtney’s father and Billy’s mother, everything was in slow motion. Police officers questioned the residents of the park. The medical examiners took out Courtney and Billy in their body bags, refusing to let anyone else see them. Mr. Keller chased after them.

“Why does her body look like that? Don’t ignore me! Someone answer me.” He grabbed one of the examiners by the shoulder.

“We don’t know, sir. You’re going to have to wait for the coroner’s report.” They loaded the bodies onto the truck and drove away. Mr. Keller turned his aggression toward Billy’s mother.

“If my daughter didn’t sneak off to meet your no-good son, she’d still be here!” Mr. Keller yelled, standing inches from Mrs. Dwyer’s face.

Billy’s mother slapped Mr. Keller across the face, scratching him in the process. “Fuck you! Your daughter made her own decisions. Billy did not force her to be here. She wasn’t as innocent as you thought.”

Blinded by his grief, Mr. Keller lunged at the distraught woman and spat in her face. Police moved as quickly as possible to break up the altercation.

“Look, I know both of you just lost your kids, but I won’t hesitate to throw down an assault charge.” Mrs. Dwyer directed a smug smile towards Mr. Keller. “On both of you. Get them out of here!” Yelled the captain.  All Mrs. Dwyer wanted was to see her baby boy, hold him, kiss him, and tell him that everything was going to be alright. But nothing was ever going to be alright, not anymore. Mr. Lupu watched everything unfold from the inside of his trailer. He had already spoken to the police and told them everything that he knew: nothing.

“I see nothing suspicious. Now leave me alone. I am an old man. It’s not healthy for me to be stressed,” He told them. He closed the blinds on his windows and tucked himself into bed. The last thing he wanted was to be right about this entire situation. His wife, Daria, would show him how to read cards and he played with them every now and again for entertainment. Bad omens showed up but they never came true. That day as he was reading, Death made a guest appearance. Thinking it was his time, he was ready for Death to greet him like an old friend. All day, he waited. A large can had fallen from the top of the pantry, just missing his head. He had accidentally plugged in his razor, not realizing that the chord was wet, yet all he received was a little shock. He figured that he would die in his sleep. But when he saw and heard the lights and sirens of the police cars in front of Billy’s trailer, he knew that death would not kiss his lips, at least not today. Something bad was coming, but what? He did not know. The only thing that was certain was that Billy and Courtney were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But they were only the beginning.