She put on a tank top and pants, adding a jacket over that in spite of the warm temperature outside. Fewer clothes meant more attention, and Elise wanted to talk to as few people as possible. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, put on a baseball cap, and opened the creaking metal door.
A blast of smells hit her as she went into the tunnels that connected the defunct section where she lived to the operating metro tunnels above. At least she didn’t need to breathe; the residual odors from the indigent who used these places as a temporary residence and bathroom, combined with the stench of rotted food, dead rats, or other animals—were bad enough.
The few homeless people who were in the tunnels at that hour didn’t look at Elise as she walked by. Every so often, a newcomer would approach her. One who hadn’t been warned about her by the others, or who hadn’t listened. Elise didn’t feed from any curious newcomers—smelling them was bad enough—she just slammed them with the power in her gaze and compelled them to leave her alone. If one was stupid enough to attack her, well… that person didn’t live long enough to regret it.
Tonight it was only the regulars, so Elise passed by without incident. She walked out of the tunnel and through the station platform, keeping her head down, not needing to look to know the way. It was so familiar to her, she could have made the trip in her sleep.
Once free of the closeted atmosphere, Elise’s steps became longer and more relaxed. She even hummed as she made her way down Connecticut Avenue
to the fitness club. The girl behind the counter barely glanced at Elise when she came inside, but a nod indicated that Elise didn’t need to show her membership card. She was such a regular sight there, few employees asked to see it anymore.
Elise went upstairs to the multitude of exercise machines. Her size would never be any different than it was now, but the club employees asked too many questions if she didn’t at least pretend to exercise. After twenty minutes on the treadmill, Elise went to the locker room. She stripped and showered, then brushed her teeth with the toothbrush she kept with a few other items in a locker. After a quick blow-dry of her hair, she was ready to move on to the next item in her routine.
Some nights, when Elise was lucky, she fed from whoever was alone in the locker room. It only took a flash of her gaze for the woman to forget Elise had just cornered her and drunk her blood. But most evenings were busy at the gym. It was easier for Elise to walk the city, and find someone alone—or accompanied by fewer witnesses to brainwash.
Tonight, Elise found her meal along 7th Street
, a young man who wandered away from his friends in the Sculpture Garden. She drank from him, closed the holes with a drop of her own blood, and sent him back to his companions inside of two minutes. He’d be sleepier from the pint she drained from him but otherwise unharmed. It was only in the movies that vampires needed to kill to feed, along with other falsehoods like wooden stakes and sunlight being harmful to them.
As a nod to her sire’s admonishments to get out more, Elise then sat and read at a local coffee shop instead of just buying more books and going straight home. She even exchanged a comment about the weather with someone who sat across from her. There. No one could say she wasn’t interacting with humans except to bite them.
When the coffee shop closed, however, Elise gratefully headed home. She walked through the Capital Lawn, taking comfort in the familiarity of the gleaming white buildings and older structures. Then she followed the line of the tracks through the city until she reached the station where the tunnels connected.
She’d made it past the few remaining travelers and into the inoperative tunnels when she smelled something unmistakable. Blood, seasoned with the distinctive tang of death. Elise quickened her pace, her sneakers making hardly any sound at all. There were very few homeless left in the tunnels at this hour, though their wariness was unfounded since Elise never killed one who hadn’t attacked her first. Still, those who guessed what she was didn’t linger long after dark. Silly humans. Just because she preferred to go out at night didn’t mean she was trapped inside during the day.
The smell became stronger the deeper Elise ventured inside the tunnel. Even over the sound of an approaching train, Elise could hear a heartbeat just ahead. Whoever it was had slunk back into one of the old maintenance alcoves but would soon find out that a sneak attack was a bad idea.
When the man stepped out onto the track with his back to her, she paused in surprise. Whoever this was didn’t seem even to know she was there, let alone be lying in wait. That stench of blood and death came off the stranger, but even stronger was despair. He balanced on the edge of the track as if in indecision. The train would be here any second. The fool wouldn’t try to cross the tracks now, would he?