OV: The Original Vampire (Book #1) Read Free

with their chili omelette. She noticed Josie sitting at the bar, like a customer. Barb almost didn’t see her.
    “You Okay Hon?”
    “I’m fine,” Josie said. “I’m just watching the news.”
    “Well, I’m gonna have to get you to make me a drink dear.”
    Josie got up and moved stiffly behind the bar and uncorked the champagne. The cork popped and Josie stepped back. She felt like she was in a slow-motion movie. The customers were talking, but it sounded like rocks rubbing. She sat back down after the drink was made and stared at the channel number in the lower left side of the TV. The number seemed to vibrate.
    It was Friday afternoon, a simple cause for celebration, just another excuse for a drunk to drink. Josie rested her hand on the Vodka bottle and waited for orders. The front door jingled as Tom appeared. Josie looked at the clock.
    “Early one today Tom?” She asked.
    “ Nothin’ happening today. I’ll take my drink.”
    Josie grabbed four bottles and bunched them together and turned them upside down over a glass. The clear liquor rose to the top. She finished the drink with a little sweet & sour and Coke. She didn’t give him a cherry.
    There were three empty glasses in front of Tom now. His face was flush, as he tapped his fingers on the bar. He looked at the other men talking. No one had befriended Tom. He had a reputation, no one knew exactly what it was, but Tom felt it and kept to himself.
    It was five o’ clock and Tom was on drink five. His eyes were glassed over, like a dead fish. He looked around as if in a foreign place. Beads of sweat collected in the wrinkles of his forehead.
    “Do you want another one Tom?” Josie asked.
    “What did you say?”
    “Did you want another?”
    “You think I’m fuckin’ drunk?”
    Josie looked down at the counter. She placed her hands on the counter, as if holding herself up.
    “You think. . .all…I…want…is…drink?” Tom sneered.
    Josie was speechless. She turned white. Fear had grabbed her throat, the same way Tom suffocated her. That stupid pain was back. Josie walked out from behind the bar and walked into the dining room. The table cloths were a happy yellow. Barb looked over and smiled.
    “I have to leave.” Josie said.
    “Well honey, you’re the only one.” Barb said.
    There was desperation in Josie’s eyes that sucked the air out of the room.
    “Call the owners then,” Josie gasped. “I have to leave, now.”
    Barb’s face flashed with recognition of Josie’s hidden bruises. Barb’s happy complexion turned serious. There was now a sisterhood. Barb walked to the phone as Josie walked out into the parking lot, which was lit orange by the sunset. Crows were swooping over her head in the airstream.
    Josie walked fast to her car. It was by the door to the bar. She got her key ready. Her hand launched towards the lock when she noticed the bar door open. Tom swayed in the darkness of the doorway. She heard a sound like a growl. It was a low gurgling sound. She realized it was Tom slurring her name. It sounded like a horror movie, when someone gets their throat slit and their trying to speak through blood.
    “ Josieee. . .”
    She got the car started and floored it in reverse. The tires yelped like a dog being hit. Tom tried running but fell down. Watching the restaurant get smaller in the rear view mirror, Josie pulled away.
    Josie now had an inner-calm, the kind someone gets when they realize they’ve lost it all and there’s nothing to do about it. She drove aut omatically towards Port Angeles where the good memories lived.
    Josie made it over the last summit to reveal the aqua-blue, expansive Lake Crescent. The road snaked around it with dangerous corners. Logging trucks took the corners as fast as they could, as if they were bored and homicidal. The lake was surrounded by large white peaks, which the Native Americans called “Grandfathers.” Only a few beach houses lined the shore. If the water was any warmer the lake would