Working the night shift was just fine with Ray. A night owl by nature, Ray enjoyed meeting the other "Denizens of the Darkness", as he called other people who worked and played after sunset.
Actually, working after dark was a requirement for Ray. He had a small problem with sunlight. But then, so do most vampires.
Working the aptly named 'graveyard shift' at the convenience store was a perfect occupation for a modern vampire. He could interact with people relatively freely. And the occasional robbers who targeted convenience stores at night provided him (and a few of his friends) with welcome snacks.
Ray had waked up after the party in a cave way the fuck out in the mountains alongside another dude. He was used to waking up sore and stiff after a party, and he had woken up in some strange places, but this was something else entirely.
He found a note next to where he had been laying. The note told him that he was now a vampire, and that he should avoid sunlight etc.
The other dude woke up about the same time.
Ray remembered him from the party, sort of.
The other guy read the note. "Bullshit." he snarled and crumpled up the paper and hurled it to the ground. Ray watched him walk straight out of the cave into the daylight.
A burst of flame and greasy smoke, then just a scattering of ashes that quickly blew away.
After that little demonstration, Ray stayed put well back in cave until after full dark.
It was a good 15-mile walk back to town, but Ray didn't seem to get tired at all. Normally, Ray got tired walking from his house to the grocery store a couple of blocks away.
Back at his apartment, Ray discovered that he had been gone a little over a week. The messages on his answering machine ranged from friends and family worried about his absence, to a call from his job telling him that he was fired. Crap.
Showering and dressing, Ray found that he could see himself in the mirror just fine. He was thankful for this small favor, it made shaving much easier.
Eating however was not so easy. He tried to cook, but the smells made him dash to the bathroom to barf. And what he barfed up stank so bad that he puked some more.
Finally done with the Technicolor yawns, Ray cleaned himself up and staggered from the bathroom. A shot of whiskey stayed down and seemed to settle his nerves a bit.
Ray went out to see if he could find some answers. First stop, his friend Jorge's place where the party had been.
"Hey Jorge." Ray called through the screen door. "Get your butt out here! I need to talk to you."
Jorge came to the door wearing nothing but a pair of raggedy old cut-off shorts. "Raymond! Que Pasa?"
"I'll 'Que Pasa?' you! I just woke up a while ago, and I don't remember a thing after the party. What happened?"
Jorge laughed. "Come in mi amigo. You were muy borracho, very drunk. You gave me your car keys and said that you didn't need a DWI." Jorge sat Ray down on the couch and handed him a beer. "One of Sheila's friends offered to drive you home, and from the way you were looking at her, I figured you went to her place."
Ray opened the beer, but the smell nearly made him ill again. He set the bottle aside and turned to Jorge. "Listen, I really need to find that gal. I woke up in a freaking' cave out there on Mount Lemmon."
"Wow." said Jorge, "You must have been even drunker than I thought."
Jorge's wife Sheila came out to see what the commotion was. "Oh, Hi Ray." she said with a yawn.
Ray could never figure out what a dynamite chick like Sheila saw in Jorge in the first place. He had long since concluded that his friend must be a world-class cocksman. Either that or there was something Ray was missing entirely.
"Hi Sheila." Ray said. "Sorry to disturb you, but I REALLY need to find out who took me home the night of the party."
"Sheila giggled. "Good luck finding her. Maria shows up pretty much at random. I don't think I even still have her phone number now that I think about it."
Ray's shoulders slumped a bit. "Thanks anyway." he said. "Listen, if you hear from her, PLEASE tell her to call me as soon as she can."
Sheila shrugged. "Can do." she said.
Jorge gave Ray back his car keys and Ray drove home. Once inside, Ray tacked heavy blankets over the windows and door of his bedroom to bloc out all the sunlight. Around dawn, he fell asleep.
The phone ringing finally roused him up out of a sound sleep. "Huh? Wassit?" he mumbled into the mouthpiece of the phone once he managed to pick it up.
"This is Maria." came a woman's voice.
Ray sat up suddenly, wide awake and alert. "Maria? From the party?"
"I think we need to talk," she said.
"Yeah, I think I have some explanations due." Ray said evenly. "Where do you want to meet?"
"Well, since I'm right outside your door as we speak, how about your place?" said Maria with a throaty chuckle.
Ray looked at his bedside clock. 9PM.
"OK I'll let you in. Give me a moment."
Ray hung up the phone and slipped into some jeans and a t-shirt. He went to the front door and looked out the peephole. A pretty brunette was standing there on his doorstep. Shrugging, Ray opened the door.
"Well, for once you're as pretty when I'm sober." was out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
