Recipe for Vampire

“Hey, Princess, you want a piece of me?” The gruff voice came from the bar. Evan looked around and saw a tall, biker looking guy staring at him.

“Excuse me?” Evan looked at him for a moment and turned back to his dinner guest when he didn’t respond. Svetlana paused, turned around to see the man, then looked back at Evan. She leaned in close, “Some people, huh?”

“Yeah.” Evan reached out and held her soft hand, rubbing his thumb gently over it. “Anyway, I had a really good time last night, I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much, we had a lot of wine.”

“No, you were a perfect gentleman,” Svetlana grabbed his hand with her other hand and caressed it. “I had a great time last night too.”

Just then, a voice from right behind Evan, “How sweet, young love, it warms the cockles of my heart.” Evan jumped in his seat. How did he get behind me so fast and why no warning from Svetlana? Evan glanced over his shoulder and could smell the foul breath of the hulking biker. He looked back to his date, her eyes widening as she realized how incredibly fast the biker moved. One second she was talking to Evan the next the biker was there.

“Is there something I can do for you, or are you going to taunt us all night?” Evan found some confidence, maybe he was showing off for Lana, either way, he was getting pissed.

The biker slowly moved around and grabbed one of the two empty seats on either side of the couple, turned it around and sat in it, arms over the back rest, legs hung over each side. “Fact is, you can do something for me.” He looked around, acting like he didn’t want anyone to hear, and leaned closer. “I want you two to come outside with me.”

Shocked at that statement, Evan shifted in his seat. He looked at Lana and she looked like she was ready to get up and bolt out of the restaurant any second. “What? Why would we want to do that?” He turned to look at the biker.

“Because if you don’t, my friends will force you too,” He motioned over to the bar. Several men stood, watching them. One in particular, a smaller man with a wiry build and black hair, smiled, showing that he had some of those prosthetic vampire teeth put in. The biker wore a menacing smile and pushed himself up out of the chair, turned it around and slid it back in. “Shall we?”

“No sir, we shall not! Just leave us alone.” Evan reached in his pocket and pulled out his iPhone. He started dialing 911 when the phone suddenly vanished. He looked up at the biker looming over him, who flashed the phone in his hand to Evan. “Just let us go and we will be like ghosts, like we were never here.” Evan was visibly shaking, but he tried to keep up tough appearances for his young date; which proved to be unnecessary.

Lana stood up and looked at the biker, then the men at the bar, appraising the situation. “Listen fellas, if you leave now, and I mean leave and don’t ever come back here, I will spare you not only pain but also embarrassment of getting your ass kicked by a girl,” she said as she kicked her chair back with enough force to slam into the vacant table behind her.

The biker looked back at his friends and laughed a hearty, evil laugh. “You’re gonna take all six of us?”

Lana looked more confident than Evan had ever seen her, which wasn’t many times. “Uh huh.”

Evan stood, and held his arms up, “Okay, everyone just calm down. No one is going to hurt anybody.” He glanced over at Lana and glared at her as if to say, Are you freaking kidding, what the hell are you doing?

“And just how do you plan on doing that,” The biker motioned for his pals to come over.

The table was now surrounded by these miscreants, they growled and hissed at the couple. Evan noticed that they all had patches on their jackets, some kind of pumpkin or jack-o-lantern with swords going through it diagonally.

“Evan, I’m sorry” Lana said, “This will be over in a flash.”

Lana raised her arms up and started chanting, Evan couldn’t make out the words, it was as if as soon as you heard them they disappeared from memory. Like words on a wind that you forgot when they passed you by. Suddenly a bright globe of light appeared above the table. It grew to be about the size of a beach ball, growing in intensity.

The biker and his gang fell on the floor, writhing in agony as the globe pulsed light to every corner of the restaurant.

Evan had to close his eyes to shield them from the light. Lana continued to chant and the light grew brighter.

Evan felt a strong heat on his face and hands, he cautiously raised an eyelid and saw that every one of the men who intended them harm were on fire. They burned with ferocity and soon were nothing but a pile of ashes. The globe faded away and the room returned to normal.

“What the hell...” Evan sat down in his chair and surveyed the area, then looked at Lana.

“Sorry Evan, I had to protect you. Those Vampires would have killed you for sure.”

“Killed me? Killed us!” Evan added.

“Actually no, see... I am a Witch. I suspected that we were in a vampire haven but wasn’t fully sure until it was too late. Luckily they didn’t see my true nature.”

Evan wasn’t sure what to say. He felt betrayed, but at the same time was grateful to Lana for protecting him.

“Let’s get out of here Evan. Let’s start this night over; this time, I pick the restaurant.” She smiled and took Evan by the hand. She whispered in his ear, “I hope tomorrow you tell me you had a good time tonight...”

The couple left the restaurant, hand in hand.

“Are there any other secrets you’re keeping from me?” Evan asked Lana. She just turned to him and smiled, then closed the door behind her.