Pages From a Vampire's Journal Read Online Free Page B

anomaly: a soul meant for a time of coats laid-down-in-mud for umbrella-clad ladies and at the same time, a decade of 1950s motorcycles, switchblades, anti-commies and bobby socks. And yet here he was, lost in time.
    Cedric held his right hand to steady the jukebox which rocked a bit over the loss of one slightly misaligned wheel as if it would keel over without his assistance. He looked brazen and free standing there, like a knight against his horse. Strolling down the list of 50s artists with his ringed index finger, he mumbled along:
    “Letsss seeeee…Elvis, no. The Four Tops…hell no. Sinatra, meh, harrumph. Ah, this sounds interesting. He pushed a white button labeled “Beatles: Norwegian Wood”, clearly the wrong decade for this diner.
    He strolled back to Trixie, sliding into the booth sighing and smiling into her face.
    A waitress rolled over to them, her skates skidding to a halt on the checkered floor.
    “So what can I get you guys today?”
    “I think we’ll both just have whatever ordinary run-of-the-mill hamburgers you have” he said.
    The waitress nodded, smacked her gum and disappeared into the depths of the kitchen.
    “We are probably looking at a ten minute wait. What say we play a game?”
    “What kind of game? I’m not really good at games”
    “No I meant that Elvis pinball game in the corner”
    “By the way, you know who your hair kinda reminds me of?” he asked.
    “Who?
    “Marcie. From the Peanuts gang, the one with glasses who likes to call her camp buddy, Peppermint Patty, “Sir”.
    “Is that a bad thing or a good thing? I don’t think I look like her that much…”
    “Oh I definitely think it’s a good thing…she is so undervalued I think. No one really pays enough attention to her and she is the wisest girl in the gang, not Patty and Charlie is completely lost. He comes off the biggest loser but he does get the girl sometimes in the end or wins some competitive spelling contest”
    “He’s the underdog. I think he is written that way to gain sympathy from readers.”
    “Your voice is a bit different though. I read somewhere that for a long time, the voice actor who played her was actually a guy”.
    “Yeah I think I read that too. But, I’m not really that guy-ish…right?”
    “Guy-ish? Of course not”
    “Ok, so can I call you Sir from now on, right sir?” he grinned
    “Only if I can call you dorky.” she snapped.
    “By the way, do you work in a greenhouse? You kinda smell…botanical”.
    “Yeah, a lumber yard. I help my dad out there. A lot of guys there are out in the forest cutting down trees and brush. The scent rubs off on me some days. Not as bad as yesterday. I smelled like a yeti” he said.
“I think you mean Bigfoot?”
    “Same difference” he said.
    They walked over to the Elvis pinball machine and inserted a quarter. The aging machine lit up like a pack of glowing deep-sea fishes, shimmering among the sounds emanating from the crotchety old device. They more resembled a slot machine in a crowded casino than a pinball game. Cedric glanced over at Trixie, leaning up against the side of the machine.
    A loud *pop* rang out. Cedric froze as he looked eye-level towards the image of the mic-wielding Elvis on the machine. A single star-shaped burst suddenly cratered itself on the Elvis portrait. It was smaller than a bullet hole, but larger than some of the adjacent bulbs which seemed to be microscopic in size. Cedric thought a tiny light bulb among this circus of lights had blown outward, perhaps a result of leaning into the machine trying to artificially steer the silver ball. The silver pinball rolled up a ramp of a bikini-clad Ann-Margret.
    “What was that?? Did you break it?” she asked.
    “Uh, I dunno. I don’t think so. I wasn’t leaning into it that hard at all” he said.
    Another *pop* rang out, this time with the echo of some object ricocheting behind the machine which sounded like a gumball. Trixie looked back over at the ten year old,