14 March,2009 05:10 PM IST | | Sapna Bhavnani
1990. What a year. What a year. I landed fresh off the Indian boat and got myself immersed in a big pot of white paint and black eyeliner. "Goth" was what they called us. My black hair was always slicked back and I roamed the nights covering my footprints looking for blood. SLuuurp! Sexy for an Indian like me who had never even heard of this culture growing up in the 80s in a little suburb of rejects called Bandra.
There were many venues like "Neo" and "Smart Bar" but "Dome" in downtown Chicago was the nightclub of choice for most vampires. The Sounds of Ministry, Front 242, NIN, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, The Cure ruled the DJ list but unlike Blade 2 there was no sprinkler system laden with blood. SHitz! The music fed the hunger and the hunger fed the feed. I was the happiest vampire in my crew. I was dark n dingy but only in my attire. They called me "The Laughing Vampire" and shunned me most of the time. I was supposed to be serious and pouty apparently. Whatever!
One night I had my special black vinyl dress on. It was shiny, tight, and short with a plunging neckline. Ya I know short dresses with a plunging neckline are a faux pas in the fashion world but in the Vampire world the term "less is more" seemed quite literal. I strutted my goods on the dance looking as pouty as I could. It worked. He noticed me then. He was feeding on his mistresses on the 2nd level as I noticed him noticing me.
Checkmate!
He walked over and started dancing behind me. In front of me. To the left and to the right. I stayed in my space. He slowly made his way over and started dancing with me. I tried my damndest not to smile. That would break the intensity and Vampires don't like that. He was a tall man. Very white, without the makeup. His shoulder length hair was left loose to run your fingers through. I did. He knew better than to touch a woman's hair when all styled. I liked that. We danced for hours.
That night as we walked the streets, I let him feed on me. Usually I don't give it up on the first date but he, he was something else. His mistresses following us from a far looked on as he fed till I passed out. He carried me in his arms and took me home. The next night he married me. The 200 odd candles lay witness to the blood fest and the exchanging of vows "till life do us part."
Life did draw us apart. I got out of the "goth" phase and started enjoying the sun on my brown skin. That would definitely turn a vampire off. Ha ha ha. His German parents did not like their Aryan son hanging with a brown skinned lady and would call the house everyday and leave racists messagesu2026 "You are just a dot head and you belong in the kitchen not in our son's bed." I did not enjoy bruise marks on my neck anymore and stopped him from feeding on me. We parted ways after a year and a half.
He believed in world domination and I in world illumination.
"I had seen my becoming a vampire in two lights: The first light was simply enchantment... But the other light was my wish for self-destruction." u2014 Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
