FIC: Moonlighting (2/2)

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Roxanne was awfully glad that she had closed up the shop and locked the
door several minutes before. Consequently, all the skinheads could do
was batter on the unbreakable glass of the cash window and abuse her
verbally. The four of them had pulled up in a Ford Escort with flames
painted inexpertly down the side. They had fooled around a bit getting
the petrol, but had only turned nasty when she had given them their
change, insisting with much swearing that she had short changed them.
She had tried politely to point out that they had only given her a
fiver, but it was quite clear that they were only looking for an excuse
to intimidate her.

After a bit, she gave up and let them rave on. There was little damage
that they could do now that the place was locked up tight. They threw
the water buckets about a bit, and kicked futilely at the pumps. One of
them spat at the cash window. Roxanne gave him her most empty-headed
smile and contented herself with thinking of what she would do should
she bump into him in a dark alley one night. Their behaviour entirely
failed to have the desired effect. Roxanne was confident that in a
fight she could leave all four of them face down in the gutter.
Eventually they ran out of steam and left, throwing a few vague threats
in her direction. It was one of the hazards of the job, especially late
at night. Ah well, only another forty minutes to go.

Business had died down now, and she was on the last couple of pages of
the book Mick had leant her, entitled "William the Antichrist." It was
a lot funnier than it sounded, but her enjoyment had been spoiled by
events of the last few minutes, and she laid it down on the counter,
unable to recapture the lunatic spirit of the volume. It was a shame
she hadn't brought her Walkman after all. She could have been listening
to that new Jezebelle album, instead of the unimaginative execration of
brain-dead yobs.

She took out her cigarettes, more for something to do than anything
else, and was about to light up when a car pulled onto the forecourt.
It was a sleek expensive job with tinted windows and a fancy foreign
name, and for some reason it caused a shiver to run down her spine. She
sat very still, the unlit cigarette hanging from her lips, as a man in a
dark suit got out of the car and unlocked the cap of the petrol tank.
He took the hose from the pump and paused, frowning in her direction.
It was a second before she realised that she had neglected to press the
button to activate the pump.

Having finished, he approached the cash window, looking like a hit man
for a yuppie Mafia. His very presence disturbed Roxanne in a way that
the skinheads had singularly failed to achieve. He paid over the money
casually enough, buying a pack of Marlborough while he was at it, but
she could not lose the feeling that the eyes behind those
photochro-whatsit lenses were boring into her, laying bare her darkest
secret. It made the hair stand up on the back of her neck.

It was heading for last orders, and there was still no sign of Roxanne.
Mick was finding it difficult to concentrate on the flow of
conversation. Keef was laboriously explaining about some petition they
were getting together at the Poly to stop them closing down Fast
Eddie's, the oft frequented greasy cafe next door to the student Union.
It seemed that the people who ran the union refectory were getting
annoyed about the competition. The students had tried pointing out that
if the Union served decent food there wouldn't be a problem, but it had
fallen on deaf ears. Now the powers-that-be were trying to find a way
to terminate Fast Eddie's lease, since the property was owned by the
Poly, and the students were fighting back.  

Suddenly out a corner of his eye, Mick noticed the door open. He got
out from in the middle of the crowd and made like he was heading for the
loo. Several seconds later, Steph nearly choked on his pint. Coughing
and spluttering, he waved an arm to focus everyone's attention.
Conversation died as everyone turned to regard Mick and Roxanne wrapped
around each other in a clinch that looked as if it could melt plastic,
and was very possibly causing the carpet to smoulder beneath their feet.

At length they separated, and Mick led her, hand in hand, back to the
assembled audience.

"Roxy, meet Pete, Steph, Mark, Toni, and Keef. Keef, Toni, Mark, Steph,
and Pete, meet Roxanne."

Mick was relishing every second of it. Glancing across at Roxanne, he
saw that she shared his delight, though she seemed a bit nervous.
Facing his friends, he continued, "Well don't just sit there with your
mouths hanging open, give us some room to sit down."

Suddenly all was chaos as everyone tried to talk at once. "I knew you
were up to something." said Steph. Eventually the mayhem sorted itself
out, but not before Mick had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out
loud. There were a thousand questions. Everyone wanted to know what
was going on, and how long for, and how come they had managed to keep it
so quiet. Only Keef remained silent, trying to reconcile the
stand-offish, alleged crazy woman, with the laughing, bright eyed girl
who sat amongst them.

Despite the excitement, they had enough presence of mind to send Pete
off to the bar for a last round of drinks, and it seemed like no time at
all before Euan was standing over them while they drained their glasses,
preparatory to them getting kicked out into the street to his friendly
cry of "Ain't you got no pigging homes to go to?"

Steph was all for dragging the lot of them to his modest bachelor flat
to watch videos, but to Mick's surprise Roxanne pulled him aside and
suggested that they take off alone. Assuming that she was still a
little nervous of the unaccustomed company, he suggested that they go
for a spin on his bike, and so with an exchange of lewd suggestions on
how the two planned to continue the evening, they waved goodbye to the
group of friends who set off down the street.

Mick handed the spare crash helmet to Roxanne and showed her how to do
up the chin strap.

"So, where to?" he inquired, manoeuvering the machine off its stand.

"I dunno, anywhere." she replied abstractly, "Just out somewhere. Let's
not go home yet,. Take me for a ride."

He kicked the bike into life and she got on behind him. As they drove
off, it occurred to Roxanne that she was not exactly accustomed to
riding a motorbike, and this one in particular did not seem to have a
great deal of room for a passenger, nor indeed very much to hold on to.
Her distracted mood vanished as it struck her that there was precious
little behind her except empty space, moving very fast. For several
minutes her mind was fully occupied with the simple business of not
falling off the speeding machine. At first tried to act cool and just
hang on, but before they had reached the first corner she had thrown
pride to the wind that was streaming past her, and leaned heavily
forward into Mick's back, locking her arms around his waist. She could
practically feel his smug grin as she pressed herself against him. He
probably did it on purpose.

After a few minutes she began to believe that they were not in imminent
danger of being spread all over the street, and she started to relax a
little, enjoying the wind in her face. She soon worked out how to lean
into the bends as the bike did it's best to go from vertical to
horizontal and anticipated acceleration by gripping the harder.

They drove up Goose hill on the edge of the city, where streetlights
became few and far between, until the bright cone of the headlight
became an isolated island in the darkness. It got so dark that they
hardly seemed to be moving at all.

They rounded the bend at the top of the hill and Mick slowed the bike to
a stop. Roxanne took a moment to unclench her arms from around him
before dismounting. She felt a little unsteady on her feet.

"Was this what you had in mind?" suggested Mick, taking off his crash
helmet and replacing his glasses. She did not reply for a minute, but
walked over to the brow of the hill, where the lights of the city lay
strung out below. She brushed a hand through her hair. "Yes. It's
just what I needed."

He walked over and slipped an arm around her waist. She leaned into his
shoulder.

"Mick... I think I've got a problem." she said softly.

"I thought you looked a bit worried earlier. I thought it was just all
those people, it's enough to make anyone nervous if you're not used to
it."

"No, it's not that." she said. She explained about man at the petrol
station, how he had scared her.

"I may be a bit thick, but I don't quite follow. So this guy freaks you
out a bit, he's on his way from somewhere to wherever. You'll probably
never see him again. What's the problem?"

She turned and looked at him. "He was a vampire, Mick. I could just
feel it. And I think he recognised me too."

He looked surprised, then thoughtful.

"So? Even if he is. What's the big deal? I mean, I know it hadn't
really struck me that if there's one, there must be more, but so what?"

She broke away and stared out into the distance.  

"The problem is, it scares me shitless. They were the ones that did
this to me - made me what I am."

"It's a uniquely painful experience." she said bitterly.  

She stopped, unwilling to think too far in that direction. After five
years, it still gave her nightmares.  

"I'm not like them. I don't hurt people, they do. They kill people,
make them like them."

"They killed me."

Mick listened in silence. It was the first time since he had known her
that she had referred even obliquely to how she had become the way she
was. He was fascinated and horrified at the same time, wanting to know
the whole story and scared sick of what he might learn.

"Now they've found me again. My first instinct was to pack a bag and
start running. Now I just don't know."

She reached for him, hugging him desperately. He could feel her
shivering. For a while he just held her. Eventually he said, "Okay, I
understand that vampires in general might not be quite as cute and
loveable as you, but do you really think they're out to get you?"

She had to smile at being described as cute. It eased the tension a
little. "I'm sure of it. I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid,
but I can't afford not to be, considering."

Mick let it sink in. He concluded that he too would be a little
apprehensive in her shoes. "He suddenly had a thought. "Hang on, you
said 'again.' Has this happened before?"

"Yes, twice. On those occasions I just ran. Got out of town on the
first bus or train and left no forwarding address. I nearly lost the
guitar last time."

"You mean you saw someone you thought was a vampire in the street and
just took off without even finding out if they knew or cared what you
were? That's a bit extreme."

"I know." she sighed, "It's just... It really frightens me."
After a while he said coldly "And you were going to run out again
tonight? What stopped you?"

"You did, pratface." she said, lightly thumping him in the chest. "For
once things look good. I couldn't just run out on you. Maybe I'm
getting complacent in my old age."

She stroked his stubbled cheek, rough with two days growth of beard, but
something nagged at him.  

"It's not the first time, is it? You nearly did a bunk when we first
met, didn't you?"

She turned away, unable to look him in the eye.  

"You're right." she said hoarsely, "After you found me at Trash City."

"If it hadn't gone the way it did... I would have left."

She pleaded with him, "You've got to understand. Every day of my life
is so fucking dangerous. Okay, so I don't expect people to come looking
for me smelling of garlic to drive stakes through my heart. All they
have to do is be helpful."

"I mean, what if I got picked up by the police for being out too late at
night, or for acting a bit strange, or for just being in the wrong place
at the wrong time. All they'd have to do was throw me in the cells for
a couple of hours and come daybreak I'd get a sunburn you wouldn't
believe.

"I'm sorry love."

He forced himself to try to comfort her, still a little staggered, and
before long it was no effort at all. Dark masses of cloud moved in to
obscure the stars, one by one. It was going to rain again.

He led her back to the bike and passed her a helmet. With a slightly
forced smile, he said "Just don't run off again without telling me,
okay?"

She smiled back, pushing down the pain and fear.  

"Okay."



A fragment of Night
Falls corvidly Earthwards
A star in her eye