Pour Your Own Drinks Who: Wren & NPC What: Revenge When: Last Night Where: Iris in Vegas Rating: PG
Long after the final performance, past that hurried hour when catering staff removed dirty cocktail glasses and carted away plates of cold food, and once the stage had been swept clean and the lights lowered, the only people in the Iris were a custodian with a vacuum and two dancers in the dressing area. Wren had shooed away security with bubbling reassurances that they were fine! Just two girls gabbing over a pair of Long Island iced teas she procured from the bartender and presented to Kayleigh as a peace offering.
Kayleigh slouched at her vanity, giggling, cheeks pink, Elvin chin resting on the back of her hand. She was too drunk to pull the hairpins out of her updo. It hung half loose, half knotted, to the hook-and-eye claps of her costume. “I can’t..,” she gestured, “I can’t get ‘em.”
Wren dragged her stool into position behind the girl. “I got you,” she laughed. “Let me help.” She sat behind the ingenue, that time-slot stealing witch, with bare legs open to either side of the dancer’s seat. A steady hand began to untangle the mess that had been made, tossing pins with a ting onto the crowded vanity, alongside lipsticks, soiled makeup wedges, and the single false eyelash that wasn’t stuck to Kayleigh’s cheek.
The younger woman sniffed and looked up. As she watched Wren in the bulbed mirror -- pretty Wren who’d danced in New York City!, whose skin and hair and eyes were so exotic, who didn’t sweat and never gained an ounce-- a brief moment of clarity cut through the fog of intoxication. “Hey. Why are you being nice t’ me?” Posture rose with her curiosity. “You like… hate me.” Kayleigh wobbled.
Wren’s mouth formed an ‘o’. “Oh my god, I don’t hate you!” She touched a palm to her chest. “Where’d you get that?”
Kayleigh shrugged. “I don’t knoooow.”
Wren tipped head, taking on the demeanor of a mentor or an older sister about to impart wisdom. She left off playing in the dancer’s hair to give Kayleigh’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Okay, maybe I thought you were annoying. Just a little!” she reassured with a smile. “But now I know I was wrong.”
Kayleigh looked anxious to believe it. “Really?”
“Totally!” Seeing that saying so wasn’t enough, Wren pressed her cheek against the other dancer’s ear, arms wrapping around her in friendship. She gave a cuddling squeeze, marveling over the intimacy of female-bonding. As she looked at their reflection, she thought it would’ve made a great selfie. “Hey…” Wren’s eyes gleamed. “I like just thought of this. Do you want to do a piece together?”
Kayleigh perked up. “You’d do that?”
“Yeah, girl!” Wren nodded.
The vampire reached to the floor and picked up her drink, offering it to Kayleigh, who accepted it with a happy smile and fiddled with the straw. The girl launched into a rambling description of a song she always wanted to use with a partner, and she just knew that Wren would really like it, too.
Wren let her talk. With all the pins free from Kayleigh's hair, she continued to twist and untwist it, taking a brush and combing through the length in mesmerizing strokes, while the alcohol level in that second glass just sank and sank. Her lips parted and gave way to sharpening teeth. She wound the length of brown hair around her hand, searching until she saw the carotid artery on the side of Kayleigh’s neck.
Arms and legs coiled around the girl with reptilian speed. She lowered her mouth and took a big, juicy bite.