Night Life
"You should probably be getting home now." he said to me. I dropped my head and looked at the ground. He could sense that I wasn't ready to leave him just yet. I looked up again and his eyes showed defeat. "How about you call your mom and tell her that you and Ai are having a sleepover at our house tonight?" I smiled as I dialed the number on my cell. My mom sounded half asleep on the phone, but she agreed to letting me stay over. I thanked her, then hung up.
I looked at Riku. "Show me what you do at night. When the rest of the world is asleep in their beds."
He agreed to show me his world. He also said that he had a little surprise for me. When I asked him what the surprise was all he said was, "You'll see".
We walked around the side of his house toward the street. "If you don't want to get made into a first course dinner, I'd suggest changing your outfit." he said looking down at the tattered jeans and t-shirt. I looked down at the clothes and saw that he was probably right. "I'll help you pick something to wear."
We got to my house only to find that my mother had locked the front door, and the back one too. When I looked at Riku, he simply lifted me into his arms and jumped to my window ledge. I opened the window with ease and we slipped in without a sound. It was a good thing I always forgot to lock my window. I sat on my bed as Riku looked through my closet and drawers for a suitable outfit. What he picked wouldn't have been one of my top choices. It wouldn't have even crossed my mind to wear what he had left out for me. He left the room to let me change.
The outfit on my bed looked like it would fit a six year old. A black mini skirt, a long, slinky, black tank top, black leggings, and high black stiletto boots. He must have looked pretty hard to find the shoes, I hadn't seen those for at least a year. I changed into the outfit then looked in the mirror. I looked so different, and not me.
I decided on my skin was too dark to look like a vampire. I searched the back of one of the drawers in my bathroom and found the whitest cover-up I had ever seen. I put it on along with dark eye shadow and thick black eye liner. I looked myself over again in the mirror and decided that I looked enough like a vampire. I called out the door to Riku. He slipped into my room, and it looked like his jaw would drop to the ground.
"You look . . . dead." he said absentmindedly.
"Thanks?" I replied. I didn't know if what he said was a complement or not. But with the way he was looking at me, I took it as a complement.
I grabbed a light, black coat as we left the house. Again, through the window. We walked down the road toward a little town on the outskirts of the city. He told me that he visited this town almost every night.
It was a long walk to the town, and it turned out to be a quiet one too. Riku was staring at the sky and at the stars. He looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb him. I just stared at him as he studied the stars.
As I was walking, staring at him, he suddenly looked down at me and asked, "Why are you staring at me?" I jumped when he jerked his head down but answered him calmly, "I was just looking at you, seeing if I could see any of the differences." He just smiled, turned his head, and kept walking towards the town.
I did see some differences, even in the moonlight. His skin seemed smooth, unblemished. His eyes were almost black, but when the moonlight caught the iris just right, you could see flecks of gold floating in the blackness.
We were just outside the town when the wind picked up and I started shivering in the cold wind. My jacket wasn't thick enough to keep me warm. But, without warning, Riku put his arm around my shoulders. I settled into his arm, happy for the warmth. "Thanks." I said without looking up.
We kept walking to the town, it looked deserted. Then, just as we got past the town's welcome sign, it seemed to come to life. All of the night club lights came on at once. I felt almost blinded as I looked around at the buildings.
Riku suddenly turned down a dark, creepy alleyway. There was a small door at the end. No sign was there to say where they were going. I stopped abruptly, practically tripping Riku in the process.
"Are you sure you're going the right way?" I asked with a puzzled look.
"Of course this is the right way." he said as he put his hand on the small of my back and began to lead me down the alley. "I go here every night. I know my way around this town."
"Okay." I said sheepishly as we stopped at the door. Riku knocked and the door opened a crack. A tall, young man peeked out from the crack. His eyes grew wide when they saw Riku's face. The door flew open in a second and we were inside the crowded club.
Riku started talking to the man who had let us in. "This is Takehito, he runs the club." I shook Takehito's hand and then we all headed for the bar. I sat down and got a glass of water to drink. I just sipped at it, I wasn't very thirsty.
"I'll be right back." Riku said and he kissed me lightly on the cheek. Then, he was gone. Lost in the mass of club members.
I surveyed the people who were in the club. Most of the girl's were wearing similar clothes to the ones I had on. And all seemed to be, at least, wearing one black article of clothing. Both the guys and girls looked almost unearthly pale. Like Riku, I thought. The music was different. A kind of pulsing beat with no lyrics. The theme of the club seemed to be death and darkness, just like the people who go here.
I was so caught up in my surveying that I almost didn't notice the figure that had taken the seat beside my own. That is until I had the odd feeling of being watched very closely.
