Here they were, cuddled on the couch watching a scary movie on a Saturday night. What was it this time? Some old black and white flick about a vampire in a castle. Trent had started to lose track of the titles. Watching horror movies on Saturday nights had recently become one of their weekend rituals. They were both self-proclaimed movie buffs. Trent was more into action films, a fan of John McClain, Van Helsing and Wolverine while Lea was into everything indie from dry humor hipster flicks to subtitled foreign films. Though they'd never admit it to anyone outside of each other, they both shared an affection for rom-coms in the middle and knew more titles than they'd quickly let on to their friends.
In the beginning of their relationship, they would talk for hours about different movies they liked. They had even gone through the majority of their respective DVD libraries. It had come to a point to where they wanted to watch something new that neither of them had seen before. Then, 3 weeks ago, in came Trent with this 10-disc collection of 50 horror films from the 50s.
"Hey, look what I found at good ol' Wally World." Trent said brandishing the DVD case as Lea typed furiously at her laptop likely working on a new article. The TV was on, but it was watching her instead of the other way around.
"50 Horror Movies From the 50s...sounds like fun," Ironically, Lea's eyes never moved away from her computer screen.
"Ya know, I'm still trying to figure out how it is that you do that."
"Do what, honey?" Lea said with a smile, steadily typing away.
"You know what I'm talking about..."
They were 2 years into their relationship. The initial spark of new love had long passed. They both loved each other dearly, but the struggle of moving into their new place, and them both taking on 2 jobs to pay bills had taken its toll on the relationship. Trent worked at a record store during the day and snagged a job at a local packaging firm at nights. Lea worked at a bakery in their local neighborhood and did freelance journalism work for a few different magazines near and far for extra money. With all their work and life in general they had gotten to the point where they had to make a conscious effort to make time for the romance in between paying utilities and do it yourself home repairs. Along with this romantic effort came many romantic activities to keep things fun. Trent would bring home albums from the record store and they would enjoy the new tunes while working on a new dessert recipe Lea had learned at the bakery.
When they first got together they would have sex all time. They both had a healthy sexual appetite, but recently they had created a game out of their inciting sexual escapades. They had a code action for their more random activities. Per Lea's suggestion, when the two were out and about and one of them caught the urge for sexual activities they would simply grab the other's hand and lock pinkies. This is how they let one another know what the other was thinking. After that it was on like popcorn. This pinky game came in handy when they wanted to inconspicuously escape from their friends for a quick tryst anywhere, anytime, anyplace. A few escapades came to mind like that time in the mall bathroom or getting hot and heavy on a backseat during a road trip.
"What's the name of this one again, babe?" Trent asked.
"Midnight of the Jack-mouthed Vampire?? I don't even know right now." Lea answered.
They sat in the dark with a plate of creamy pastries in front of them. Trent wore a black T-shirt that said "The Funk is Strong with this one". It had a picture of Yoda with wearing glasses to look reminiscent of George Clinton. Lea wore a white shirt that cut low into her cleavage. A picture of a girl wearing bandaged glasses and the words "I Love Nerds" was emblazoned across her breasts. Braless, she wore this shirt more long like a night gown. A T-shirt with shredded cuts at the bottom and red boyshorts. Lea's newly dyed jet black hair was pulled into a layered ponytail that hung down midway down her back. She nestled close to Trent's freshly shaven face and her legs found comfort lying across his lap. Trent wrapped an arm around her as she rested a hand on his chest. The glow of the television flashed on her brown skin as the light brown hairs on her arm stood in anticipation for the next movie scene.
"Where's the case?" Trent asked. He scanned the nearby table, but it was nowhere to be found. His eyes caught the reflection of the case on top of the television. "Oh, it's on top of the TV."
"Shhhh," Lea replied. "Look you, don't worry about the title. You're not getting up, you gotta stay here and keep me safe," she said nestling closer to Trent. "You know this stuff scares the shit outta me." The movies did scare her. She was reluctant when they started watching these horror flicks being that at the age of 25 she had recently gotten over a fear of the dark. Many times she would shiver and jump at the movies they watched. Trent, being the man who could often times be quoted saying "I aint been scared of shit since '93," enjoyed her frightened cuddles. "Here, have some cake," she said nearly force-feeding him a creamy pastry. "Oooh, you like it don't you? I thought you would. Mmmmmm. Now watch the movie."
"Oh this pastry is pretty good though."
They watched the movie as a police inspector questioned a hysterical witness to a bloody murder. She lay on the ground as if she had just come to consciousness from being attacked. A gang of police badges and other people were in the kitchen listening to the woman's interrogation.
"So what did you see ma'am?"
"I saw it,"
"You saw what?"
"I saw it. The thing. The monster."
"Monster you say? What did you see exactly?"
"Yes, I saw him attack, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Johnson. It had huge teeth and sharp claw-like nails. It attacked Mr. Henderson's neck and sucked his blood."
"What did it look like?"
"He was wearing a black leather jacket with a high collar. A bald head. Had two sharp teeth and big black eyes. Those eyes..."
"What about the eyes?"
"Those eyes..."
"What about the eyes, ma'am?"
"There was something special about his eyes. They were hypnotic."
"Hypnotic?"
"Yes, I walked in the kitchen after he had brutally killed Mr. Henderson. He looked at me and I couldn't move. I was locked looking into his eyes. There was an entrancing hunger. It was enchanting. He kept moving closer to me. He advanced on me moving closer as if floating on air. I was paralyzed by fear as he ran his long claws over my waist. He stepped closer to me and bared his teeth in a devilish grin as he eyed my neck like fresh fruit. I was frightened when he grabbed me by the waist and I shivered when I felt the warmth of his breath on my skin. He was centimeters away from the nape of my neck"
Lea rubbed her warm legs together next to Trent.