People are just like sheep.

It was a hard thought not to think when I’d been sitting in an airport for two hours with only laptop to keep me company. They rushed busily back and forth in their clusters and lines. Some smiled tensely at me, but most just awkwardly contemplated whether I was one of them or not.

With Vampirism becoming prevalent, my bright blue and purple long braids next to my even chocolate skin made minds disquiet themselves over my existence. Anyone could glance through the airport and spot all the vampire bands, skateboarders and actors boarding their private planes. But something about me made the masses unsure. Oh well, their general discomfort compelled them to leave me very much alone, and that was just fine with me. I sat facing the herds in the baggage claim section of the airport. The problem wasn’t that I couldn’t find my bags. It was more that I didn’t feel the need to go back to my apartment. I typed angrily listening to Minor Threat when the only thing worth looking up for walked by me.

One was tall and pale with a lithe frame. His black and pink hair fell softly around his ears with bangs flopping down to his lips. A thin metal ring decorated the pouty lips along with large gauges in both ears. The other was average height, square-shouldered and barrel-chested with short black hair, a scruffy five o’clock shadow and a sexual smirk. They were two of the four members of Anitapathy, the only all vampire band to appear on mainstream television. Every member had some insane nickname. These two were Justice and Dare or Juke and Dot or something like that. The two men were gorgeous in opposite ways. The barrel-chested one exuded pure masculine arrogance like he knew you wanted him, he loved it, and he’d use against you. In a pair of steel gray skinny jeans and a fitted Misfits tee, Justice looked like any punk girls dream. But the tall one was the complete antithesis. The taller one probably forced legions of gothic little ones to flock to the Antiapathy fan base. His floor-length, black leather skirt paired with a blood red fishnet shirt under a skin tight System of a Down tee accentuated his every fluid, effeminate swaying step.

I must have been staring for a long time because when I came back to awareness Dot was swaying right toward me with Justice swaggering right behind him. I quickly glared my laptop screen and tried to pretend I hadn’t been drooling all over them. I reached to turn up the Dead Kennedys that started playing, but a touch on my shoulder stopped me.

“Well hello,” the taller one smiled sweetly

“Um, hi?”

“Do you drool like that often?” the arrogant one smirked showing a flash of metal in his tongue.

“What?” I was a theater and English major at one of the best schools in the nation. I spoke better than this on a daily basis, but something about Justice’s green-gold eyes stripped me of any thought but lust. Vampire Tricks!

“Stop that,” I said with as much force as I possibly could.

“Whatever do you mean, Midnight?” the arrogant worked very hard to appear innocent but that lasted for all of two seconds then that trademark smile crept back up his face until the look in his eyes made me shiver.

“Let’s start over,” the taller one interjected elegantly, “I’m Dot, and you are?”

“I’m Arin.” I decided if I focused all my attention on Dot then Justice, and my lust for him, would disappear and if I flapped my arms hard enough, I’d fly.

“Nice to meet you, Midnight, I’m Justice.” Justice sat down next to me on the edge of the baggage claim. “What’s a pretty thing like you doing sitting around in an airport.”

“Leaving.” I closed my lap top and stuffed into its bright orange case. “Nice to meet you Dot” I nodded as I grabbed the handle to my rolling suitcase and began to leave.

“Hey! Don’t I get a goodbye?” Justice crossed his arms and pretended to pout. I looked him up and down mesmerizing the broad shoulders, thick arms and hard looking chest. I had to smile because if I didn’t, I would have moaned.

“No.” I walked out of the airport, hailed a cab and slept unto the cabbie shook me awake in front of the apartment.

I stumbled out of the cab and into the elevator. As I trudged toward my apartment door, loud music could be heard blaring from within. I knocked twice, but quickly realized no one was paying attention. I shuffled through my bag, and the door was slung open.

“Hey, lil’ sis! Where have you been?” Brian, my roommate and best friend, screamed over the thundering of some Catch 22 song.

“Bri, please. Im—” I began quietly

“Darling, I’ve been worried half to death” Brian grabbed my rolling bag and my arm dragging me into the apartment. “Three o’clock and five-thirty are so not the same, or even similar, times. Where did you go for two and a half hours?”

“I was just, um, in the airport.” I knew he’d be upset. Brian and I had been friends from when I was a lowly freshman and he was a junior. We both worked backstage for one of our art school’s productions and ended up making out at the cast party. We quickly recognized that we were far too similar to date. Now we considered ourselves siblings though we look nothing alike. Brian was a five foot five inch wrestler with bright orange hair, pale skin and tons of freckles while I was 5’7” to 6’1”,(depending on my shoes of the day) had milk chocolate skin and a different hair color every two months.

Brian stared mouth open. He snatched up the remote for the stereo shutting the music off abruptly. The silence echoed louder than any music could have. Brian crossed his arm and cocked one hip. “Why?”

“I really don’t—”

“Don’t you dare bullshit me, Phoebe Arintha Drenan. You didn’t want to face Jason and Alisha’s ghosts.”

Jason and Alisha were my girlfriend and boyfriend who moved out without warning three months ago exactly a week before I left to tour with some random off-Broadway show. What a coincidence…not. I didn’t want to sleep in my huge bed for three with only faint traces of their scents. I had not time to defend my actions because the phone rang. Brian plucked up the phone.

“Hello.” He answered curtly. Wow, he was really angry. I didn’t know if it was all at me, but I hoped not. “Yeah, yeah. Shut up Marty!” Brian all but threw the phone at me. “Your agent.” He stormed out of the room. Tonight was not going to be fun.

“Hello.” I grumbled. I so wasn’t in the mood to deal with Marty right now.

“Love, my love! My darling little worker bee”

“Marty, seriously shut up or get to the point.”

“My point is you should come down to my office ‘cause I just found you a great new job.”

“I can’t leave again, Mart—”

“You won’t! Just come on in. We’ll pop some champagne and celebrate.”

“One: you know I don’t drink. Two: I’ll come down tomorrow. I just got back.”

“But I thought you were due in around three so I—”

“Tomorrow Marty. First thing. Bye.” I hung up more annoyed than when I picked up. Marty had a big mouth. I didn’t expect much more from him. I glanced to Brian’s door, which was closed tight. I knocked lightly.

“Brian?” The quiet playing Coheed and Cambria song was turned up to blaring before I could even finish his name. Brian was pissed. He probably thought I was leaving again. I didn’t blame him. Leaving was generally my coping strategy. Oh well, I wandered back to room, threw off shoes and passed out. Though, not before I got a huge breath of once-familiar perfume and cologne.