The Bar

And more flash fiction. My hopes is that after awhile of writing flash fiction, I can attempt a longer story. If you were wondering why all the fiction lately.

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Derrick sauntered into the bar. He slicked back his stylish brown hair and cast his eyes over the crowd milling about. Sitting at the end of the bar was a man in an expensive suit and shoes. Derrick licked his lips and approached the stranger. He wiped the stool next to the man with his sleeve and sat down. The man smelled like he was drenched with cheap aftershave and booze. Derrick looked over at him and asked, “What you having?”

The man looked over at Derrick and said, “Sorry kid, you’re not my style.”

Derrick shrugged and responded, “I think you misunderstand me, grandpa. I’m just looking for a little conversation. I like to meet new people and hear their stories.”

The man snorted, “Grandpa. Cute. I like it. You’re not so bad, kid. You have name?”

Derrick signaled to the bar tender to bring two of what the stranger was drinking and then replied, “Derrick. What about you?”

“The name is Cabe.”

“Well drink up, Cabe, it’s on me.”

Cabe downed the drink and wiped his mouth with a napkin. He gasped, “that hits the spot.”

“So Cabe, you look a bit down. Things not right with the Mrs?”

Cabe held the next drink in his hand and said, “Not married. No, I’m having vampire troubles.”

Derrick almost tipped his glass and blurted, “vampire troubles?”

“Crazy right? I am a vampire hunter and work has been a bit down this year. Do you know anything about vampires?”

“Only what I’ve seen in the movies.”

Cabe downed another glass of the dark liquid and then said, “Garbage, all of it. This whole thing of staying eternally young, complete bollocks. Real vampires start to rot from the moment of their birth into un-death. Drinking blood helps slow down the rot, but you can tell a vampire from the foul stench of decaying flesh that permeates their presence. The rotting, it’s why they hate the sun, just speeds up the whole process of wasting away.”

“So why do books and shows make it seem so glamorous?” Derrick was still nursing his first drink.

“Rumors spread around by vampires. You get gullible humans seeking out vampires in the hopes of becoming one of the immortals. Having your prey come to you makes life so much easier than having to track it down for the kill. Know what I mean?”

Derrick tapped the bar with his free hand and shifted in his seat. He did have an idea of what Cabe was speaking about. “You’re not really a vampire hunter, are you?”

Cabe downed another glass and then handed a business card to Derrick. He looked it over and in simple print it read, ‘Cabe Abernathy — Vampire Hunter.’
Derrick said, “You realize anyone get a business card printed up to say anything.”

“True. I guess you’ll have to take my word for it.” Cabe went to stand up but stumbled and collapsed on the bar.

“Whoa, grandpa. You might have had one too many to drink. Let me call you a cab.” Derrick settled up with the bar tender and escorted Cabe through the crowd to the exit.

Cabe stumbled outside as Derrick tried to keep him upright. Cabe’s mouth turned into a goofy grin as Derrick began leading him towards a dark alley. “Where you taking me, kid?”

“Oh, to meet some friends.” Derrick whistled and a motley crew of people exited the alley holding clubs, chains and knives. Derrick let Cabe fall to the ground and said, “So this can go easy or hard, you just got to hand over that fat wallet and we’ll only rough you up a little.”

Cabe groaned and flopped around on the ground. He started to whimper, “Please don’t hurt me.”

“I would have thought a vampire hunter would be a bit tougher.”

Cabe stopped writhing and his whimper turned into laughter. “Oh, kid. I don’t hunt vampires.” He reached up to his face and pulled off his skin like a mask, revealing a face of rotted flesh, bone, and very sharp teeth. He uttered in a demonic tone, “I’m a vampire that hunts.”

It was over within seconds. A few escaped but Cabe didn’t care, fresh blood drizzled down his chin and he was happy. He turned to the near corpse on the ground and said, “See kid, the one thing the movies get right is vampires are fast and strong as hell.” He leaned down and started guzzling.