Camila and Marie wait for a knock, it takes a moment and then a small rap of knuckles hits the wooden door. Camila is the only one who stands up, walking towards the door. When she opens it, she is greeted by two young men in suits with wide smiles.
“We are your neighbors…from Red Soul. The club is about thirty minutes from here,” says the man on the left. He’s tall and lean with a buzz cut and deep monolids. Camila can see faint stumbles on his chin and smell motor oil on his dress shirt.
She hums, “Nice to meet you.”
Her voice is monotone which causes the man on the right to pause and awkwardly look at his friend. “My name is Jin and our boss, Nico, wants to formally invite you to the Red Soul.”
Jin is taller than Buzz cut, and far more muscular. His hair is slicked to the back as if licked by a cow, with the sides shaved off. He reaches inside his pockets and pulls out a white card then hands it to Camila. She takes the card not sparing a glance at it, and instead looks at them. She observes their awkward demeanor, unsure of what to say or do as they shift from foot to foot.
“Would you like some pancakes?”
They look at each other and slowly nod. Sun smiles, gums showing. “Yes, thank you.”
Camila lets them inside, leading them into the kitchen while a silent Marie watches them come in. “Marie, would you like to go to a party?”
Marie’s eyes widen, “A party?”
As Jin and Sun sit down, Camila turns her back towards them and begins making pancakes, letting them socialize with each other. Camila could hear them, but her senses barely cared about their conversations. They cared more about the whooshing of veins inside their neck, and the sweet yet sour lime-like smell emitted from one of their mouths. Her tongue feels heavy, and her stomach quietly rumbles. She could feel her fangs trying to emerge come her teeth, expanding like vermin in the night.
When Camila whips around, Marie is still talking with the two young guys, leaning into the conversation. She thinks about the offer, and despite her lack of interest in clubs, the thought of human flesh on her tongue makes her reconsider. Camila serves each two pancakes, and they lightly bow with a murmured ‘thank you’. The young men leave with another bow and thank you. It doesn't take long before Marie takes a shower and follows them to the club or perhaps to the city. Camila is left alone.
For the rest of the time that Marie was gone, Camila assembled the wooden bedframe, cleaned the first-floor bathrooms, and then headed to the ancient library. On all fours, she brushed the floors until oak wood flooring could be seen, then cleaned the shelves and the spine of each book.
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When she finished, she headed to her room, shuffling empty canvases around until she finally laid them on the wall far away from the sun. In the furthest corner of her room, she assembled a large, wooden easel stand that she eliminated with a tall lamp. Her hands barely touched the box of acrylic paint when she sensed a presence coming towards the house.
A truck, and two people.
She ran downstairs and peeked outside through the large window in the kitchen that pears into the front of the house. A large white truck comes to a halt in front of the house, and a middle-aged man comes into view with a cigarette hanging off his mouth. A second pair of footsteps hit the earth and make their way to the door and soon knuckles rap against it. Camila opens the door and comes to face another middle-aged man, with coffee breath and a bald head.
“Ms. Alonso?” he asks annoyance dripping off his voice.
She nods, and he guides her to the porch. “Delivery for a chest freezer.”
She stands there leaving them to struggle with the freezer and merely watches as they grunt and sweat drips on their black work vests. They take the freezer inside, and she instructs them to leave it in the living room. A ‘thank you’ and a confirmation signature later when they leave. Just as they are mere minutes away from the house, she moves the freezer herself, a small grunt leaving her lips as she moves towards the basement.
Her eyes take a minute to adjust to the profound darkness. It's pitch black, with cold lime walls and empty boxes piled in a corner. Once she drops the freezer, she turns it on and heads upstairs. The clock hit six in the afternoon when Marie returned. Camila is instantly greeted by the smell of oil and garlic. Despite being unable to eat food, she still enjoyed the smell of aromatics and fried food.
“Brough some Chinese takeout,” she yawned, plopping down next to Camila on the black couch, and placing the plastic bags on the wooden coffee table.
“Any luck with a job?”
Marie sighed, “Every place had shit pay.”
They are not starving by any means. Maries intense desire to get a job was due to her shopping fixation, which Camila often supported. Camilla would even argue that they're in a better position than most people who live together, especially with her sun disorder. Her job is simple, an audio reader for independent writers on a popular website. She worked when she wanted and was often offered a variety of contracts that kept them afloat alongside Marie’s jobs.
Camila's eyes twitch, “How is the club?”
“Stripper, bartenders, a hot bouncer,” she stops and exaggeratedly bites her lips. “And attractive owners.”
The words ‘owners’ make Camila turn her body to Marie who nods her head while opening various take-out containers. She holds up the number two with her fingers and slurps the stir-fried chow Mein noodles.
“Two. Yohan and Nico. The oldest one is something else…not very friendly,” She comments, “but Nico on the other hand.”
Camila chuckles at her words, “They're hiring?”
She nods, “Interviewed me on the spot, good thing I was wearing nice clothing.”
When the sky was pitch black and cicadas could be heard outside, they showered and dressed. Marie wears a black and white leopard backless dress, with clear heels that make her legs appear longer than they are. While Camila wears a deep V black buckle halter top, with leather trousers, and ballet-like flats.
The drive to Red Soul felt shorter than it should have. The nearing smell of alcohol, piss, cigarette, and sweat made Camila's skin crawl. Outside the club, people stood around cars or formed small groups and smoked in the darkness. They park next to a black mini-coup, and then engulf themselves in the earth's cold.
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