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I was frightened when the man came in. He’s still just “the man” to me because he never gave his name. I don’t think anyone even asked. It didn’t seem important at the time.
At first, the only thing that seemed important was why that man was covered in blood. My first thought was, “Oh no, there must have been an accident and he needs help.” I looked around to see which of us was going to call an ambulance. An ambulance! We should have called the police. Though, actually, he probably would have just killed them too. Upgraded them, I mean. Same difference, in the end.
It all happened very quickly. That’s the main thing, whenever I tell anyone. It was all so quick. There was no warning, no spooky music playing like in films. Everyone I meet believes me. We are all dead here and know how these things work.
Well we were all looking at each other and at him, and he was looking at us, and then he locked the door and said something very quietly. At first I thought I’d misheard, because I was expecting him to say something about why he was covered in blood, but he just said, “Yes, you’ll do.” And then his eyes went black and the fangs came out and, well, I think that’s when I went into shock. I was one of the first. I remember him coming at me, me looking at his face, me not being able to move, a pain in my neck, I think, but I might be imagining that. Then cold. Then quiet. Then men with sticks and bits of rope and a corridor. And then singing.
I thought I had fallen asleep in the pub and someone was playing Puttin’ On The Ritz on the radio. I don’t think I recognized the song right away. I was sleeping and having a funny dream about a corridor and Christ, how did I fall asleep in the pub? How much had I had to drink? Speaking of drinking, I was parched, actually. I wondered if I could have another pint or if they would cut me off since I’d passed out. I knew the bartender. This was my regular spot. He’d give me one last one before I hit the road. It was just a short walk back to my flat. And who the hell was singing that song?
See, saying all that, explaining it to you, it takes a bit, but all of that happened in my head when I was waking up in about five seconds. Well, I woke up and hell if I didn’t feel sick. I felt all cold and clammy and the lights were too bright and what the hell had I been dreaming about? And who was that singing man—oh. I turned and saw him. The man in the bloody shirt. He’d come in the door a minute ago, hadn’t he?
I wondered if I needed to go the hospital, too. I didn’t remember him attacking me yet. I would in a minute. But not yet. I was trying to piece out what had happened. I had passed out. It looked like everyone had passed out. There was a singing man in a bloody shirt, but he seemed like he felt alright, because he was dancing. Then I noticed another bloke waking up and he had black eyes and fangs and didn’t my mouth feel funny? There was something on my teeth and no, those were my teeth, and that was when I remembered his black eyes and fangs above me right at the end and I knew something terrible must have happened.
I didn’t know what to do, so I just stood and waited quietly for the man to explain, for lack of anything better to do. He had finished his song. We were all awake now. We were all just standing and waiting for him to say something.
The man took in a deep breath and sighed.
“Who are you?” asked someone. The man looked at him. He was braver than I was. I didn’t want to catch the man’s attention again. I was scared of him. He’d hurt me. I was just waiting for him to give some kind of explanation because… I dunno. I guess I really couldn’t think of anything better to do.
The man laughed. “Do you know? I don’t know yet,” he said. “We shall just have to wait and see.”
He talked funny. He sounded a bit like someone from an old film. Maybe a newscaster from when I was a kid. No one said anything else. We just waited, standing in front of him. He straightened himself and began to speak.
“You, my friends, have been given evolution’s winning lottery ticket.”