FicWad

Pete yawned as he walked down the staircase. Even though the building had no windows in it, he could tell that it was about ten o'clock and pitch black outside. Strange, it seems like my internal clock got a jumpstart. I really don't even need to wear a watch anymore.
Downstairs, Andy and Patrick were watching the news and Joe randomly played songs on his guitar. Pete headed straight for the refrigerator and took out a bottle of a thick, red liquid. He then sat down on the couch and idly drank the blend.
"You said that girl's name was Kylie, right?" Andy asked.
"She's in my science class," Patrick added, sounding bored.
"Yeah, Kylie," Pete finished off the last of the blend. "I don't know when she's supposed to get here."
"Well, it'll be the most fun we've had in a while when she does," Joe mumbled.
Pete still heard the comment, and opened his mouth to say something. Wait, calm down. Don't be mad, it's not his fault. He sighed, "Sorry our band will never be anything."
There was an awkward moment of silence.
"I'm sorry Pete, I didn't mean it like that," Joe said. Look what you did, idiot. Should've kept my mouth shut.
Andy smiled at Pete, "Don't worry, just living here is interesting enough."
"Yeah, we can always be the first band to have a vampire member, besides the all-vampire bands," Patrick pulled his black baseball hat down tighter over his orange hair.
Pete managed a half smile, "So, what's going on with the news?"
Patrick shook his head, "Depends on what channel your watching."
"OK, so give me the anti-vampire view of things," Pete said.
Andy cleared his throat and started matter-of-factly, "Well, the gist of everything is: vampires are bad, they must die. Add to that politics, police, riots, and fights, and you end up with a whole lot of violence."
"That they're blaming vampires for, even though half of the riots are started by non-vampires," Patrick added.
"So basically, the usual crap," Pete said. "OK, give me the vampire view."
Joe put down his guitar, "Why don't you give us your own opinion, Pete?"
"Well, I guess my view is twisted from a lot of other vampires, mainly because I hate them. But then again, they're so many different views with vampires and normal people, no one is ever really right or wrong," Pete answered.
"Yeah, because they're so many different groups of people who believe different things," added Patrick.
Joe looked lost with the whole topic. "Can you give me some examples to work with?"
Pete thought about it for a moment. "Um...well, there are people who hate vampires, vampires who like being vampires, vampires who hate being vampires, people who like vampires, and people who don't know what to think."
Joe ran a hand through his curly black hair, "So where do we fall?"
"I think you guys fall into the 'doesn't necessary like vampires, but is still friends with one' category," Pete paused. 'And I fall into the "is a vampire but hates being one and other vampires who like being vampires' category."
Joe groaned, "You didn't mention those categories before."
"Hey, did you tell Kylie about our knocking system?" Andy asked.
"Oops," Pete bit his lip.
Andy started laughing, "You know it would be really funny if-" he stopped as there was a loud knocking on the door, "if she knocked on the door."
Patrick and Joe started cracking up as Pete got up and went to answer the door. He paused. What if it isn't Kylie? Well, there's only one way to find out... He unlocked the door and opened it a crack.
"Pete?" Kylie whispered, she wasn't 100% sure is she was at the right place.
Pete sighed, "Yeah." He opened the door wider and Kylie stepped inside. "You know Patrick, right?"
"Yeah, from science class," Kylie smiled.
"I'm Andy," Andy didn't move from his spot on the couch.
Kylie laughed. Great, nervous giggling. I am such an idiot. "Hi Andy."
Joe walked over and held out his hand to Kylie, "I'm Joe!" Kylie lightly shook his hand.
"Don't mind Joe, he's a little different," Pete almost smiled.
"Sorry I got here so late, I had something else to take care of," Kylie wasn't sure how much Pete had told the others.
"Would this 'something else to take care of' fall under the category of 'work/vampire related'?" Joe didn't seem to mind being so blunt about it.
Kylie hesitated, "Uh, yeah..." You don't need to get more people involved in this, so try keeping your mouth shut for once.
Joe opened his mouth to say something else, but Pete shot him a warning look. There was an awkward silence.
"So, um...don't worry about being late," Pete wasn't quite sure what to say. "You're not really that late anyway."
"Yeah, it's early for Pete," Andy joked. Kylie smiled a little.
"Uh, about school..." Pete again was at a loss for words. This is to weird, I barely know Kylie, and yet she's supposed to help me...maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
"Right," Kylie was relieved that she didn't have to bring the topic up. "Well, we have to do something about your fangs. That really is the biggest problem." Pete shifted uncomfortably. Patrick gave Andy a look and the two got up.
"Um, we're going to go, um..." Patrick needed a good excuse.
"Grocery shopping!" Joe said enthusiastically.
Andy looked confused, "At this time of night?"
"This is the city that never sleeps, you can always find a grocery store open now," Patrick pushed Joe towards the door. Andy followed, still unsure if there really would be a grocery store open.
Pete looked worried, "Don't get in trouble."
"Stay away from Districts E, D, J, and W tonight," Kylie said it before she could stop her self. "There's a lot of fighting going on there tonight."
"Uh, right," Patrick said before closing the door. Pete locked it before turning back to Kylie.
"About the fangs," Pete was starting to worry. How can you cover up fangs?
Kylie sighed, and then pulled a pair of what looked like pliers out of her back pocket, but they weren't pliers. The weird tool had blades. "This is kind of why I was late, I had to find a friend of mine."
Pete looked uneasily at the tool. I think I have an idea of what's going to happen. "So there really isn't a way to cover up fangs..."
Kylie bit her lip and shook her head. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Pete hesitated, "Is there going to be blood?"
"Um, yeah. You have a vein in each of your teeth," Kylie was a little uncomfortable. This really isn't my forte... "You should find something to stop the bleeding with...and ice might help."
"OK, I'll be right back," Pete turned and went up the staircase.
Kylie sighed. I really don't want to be the one doing this, I may not have fangs myself, but I know this is gonna hurt. Badly. At least he'll only have to do this once. Pete came back down the stair with cotton balls. He went the refrigerator and put some ice in a plastic bag. Kylie sighed again and walked over to where Pete was standing by the table.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kylie asked.
Pete nodded his head, "I don't want to just fade away because of this; I'm going to finish the last week of college."
Kylie had to agree with his logic, "OK, but the good thing is you'll only have to do this once."
"The fangs grow back?" Pete knew there would be a downfall to this.
"Yeah, but some vampires want to blend in with normal people, so they cut their fangs all the time," Kylie didn't know how they could put up with the pain.
"OK, so how do you do this?" Pete looked uneasily at the tool.
Kylie bit her lip, "Well, you want to cut off the fang so it's even with all of your other teeth." She paused for a moment, "I'd try to do it as fast as possible."
Pete nodded his head and picked up the tool, placing the blades around one of his fangs. He took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and clamped the handles together. Searing pain shot through his whole head as the fang tip was cut off. Blood immediately oozed all over. He tried not to swallow any of the blood as he took some of the cotton balls that Kylie handed to him, pressing them up against his bleeding fang.
Kylie closed her eyes and looked away. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Pete took several deep breaths, the pain was immense. The bleeding seemed to stop, so he pressed the ice pack against his mouth. Kylie opened her eyes and looked back at Pete. I hope he didn't swallow any of that blood. The two stood in silence for a while as the pain slowly faded from Pete's mouth.
"I don't know how some vampires can to that every week just to blend in with everyone else," Kylie said sadly.
Pete set the ice pack down and felt his tooth. It hurt to touch it. He sighed, "Well, I guess I have to do the other one now."
Kylie slowly nodded her head. She stared at the ground as Pete picked up the tool again. Pete took a deep breath and clipped his other fang just like the previous one. Kylie closed her eyes. It must be embarrassing for him to have me standing right here.
Ten minutes later, Pete finally didn't need the ice anymore. That was hell, and I'm NEVER doing anything like that again... "So, what else?" I'm almost afraid to ask.
Kylie thought for a moment, "Well, you obviously won't do to well in daylight." She could see Pete cringe. "But like I said, there are ways around everything."
"So, how can I go in the daylight and be OK?" Pete wasn't sure how Kylie would work this one out.
"Ever heard of the Underground?" Kylie asked.
"Yeah, it's the subways. A lot of vampires hang around there because there isn't any natural daylight," Pete kind of saw where this was going.
"It's not just the subways, it's a whole net work of underground passageways that lead up into buildings," Kylie began. "Tri-District Community is part of the network. I don't know exactly where the passageway is, but I know vampires that do know where it is."
"Are they friendly vampires?" Pete knew the question sounded stupid.
"You know Reggie Keys?" Kylie continued after Pete nodded his head. "Well, she's a vampire too, has been for about two months." Kylie frowned. Poor Reggie, she's such a nice person. At least Dad is still letting her do patrols and undercover work.
"Really? She seems so..." Pete didn't know what to say. "Normal, I guess."
"Yeah, she knows a lot of cover up secrets. Anyway, she's out patrolling District H tonight, you can go ask her about the passageway," Kylie was doubtful if Pete would follow through.
"Just go up to her and ask? What if she freaks out because I know she's a vampire?" Pete paused. "Can't you come?"
Kylie thought about how to word things for a minute. "I can't go with you because I'm in The Agency."
Pete remained silent for a while. What the heck is going on? And what's The Agency?
Kylie sighed and sat down in one of the chairs at the table. Pete did the same. Well, I hope that I really can trust you Pete. "I guess there's no way out of this."
Pete was confused, "I thought there was a way around everything?" He tried to lighten up the topic, but Kylie remained as downcast as ever. "Guess not..."
"Do you know what The Agency is?" Kylie continued after Pete shook his head, "Well, it's a group of people who don't like vampires and provide protection to citizens when the police can't. We aren't as extreme as Hunters," Kylie stopped when she saw the confused look on Pete's face.
"Hunters?" he asked.
"Hunters are people and some vampires that will kill any vampire," Kylie waited to make sure Pete understood. "Anyway, that's what I do with the patrols. The police can't be everywhere, so we pick up the slack. And there is an undercover aspect too, but that is strictly on a need-to-know basis."
"So you just walk around and keep people safe? Like that night when I met you?" asked Pete.
Kylie nodded her head, "Basically, but back to the point. Reggie won't care if you just go up to her and ask about the passageway, as long as she's by her self. People do it all the time. And don't tell her I've been helping you either."
"But why can't you come and why am I supposed to not tell her about you?" things were a little clearer to Pete.
"Because Reggie can't know that I've been helping you," Kylie thought of what to say next. "A lot of the vampires at school ask her questions about how to stay undercover, but she still reports them to my dad, who heads The Agency. Then we keep track of them, and if they do anything suspicious, well, things aren't so nice then."
"Wait a minute," Pete was freaking out now. "How do I know that you're not going to report me?" He was scared. This was SUCH a BAD idea...
Kylie bit her lip. How am I supposed to answer that? "Because I just won't. I wouldn't do that to you. You're not a bad person, Pete. You don't go around and bite people for fun. You aren't part of the bad scene, you are a good person."
Pete wasn't sure what to say. I guess I have to trust her. "OK, I'll trust you. But how would you helping me get you in trouble? Obviously, your dad doesn't mistrust all vampires if he trusts Reggie."
"There's a big difference between you and Reggie. My dad knew Reggie before she was bitten. He's never met you, so therefore it will be automatic mistrust in his mind. And obviously I can't help you if he doesn't trust you," Kylie hoped that everything would make sense.
"OK, so the point is try to let as few people as possible know that you are a vampire. Right?" Pete hoped he was right.
"Right," Kylie thought for a moment. "Maybe you shouldn't let Reggie figure out who you are."
"I think that's a good idea, I'll keep in the shadows and have my hood up," Pete was hoping he wouldn't get caught. Isn't getting in trouble what you were trying to avoid by not going to school?
"OK, that should work," Kylie hoped it would work.
"Well, you'll know if you see me at school tomorrow," Pete again was trying to lighten up the topic.
"Oh, that's the other thing. Don't talk to me or come by me at school, it would be suspicious," Kylie was glad she remembered. "Well, I think that's everything. I really should get back to my patrol now."
Both Kylie and Pete got up and walked to the door. Pete unlocked the door, but paused before opening it. She really put a lot on the line for me, skipping a patrol and risking getting in a lot of trouble. "Can you, um, come back sometime this week, so if I, um, have any questions, because you, uh, know a lot more than I do."
"Sure," Kylie didn't know what else to say.
"Oh yeah, we have a knocking system," Pete almost forgot to tell her. "Knock on the door three times for every letter in your name, and knock in a different spot for each letter."
"That's a pretty good system," Kylie was impressed.