Spending The Holidays In London Town

"It's outrageous!  Twenty four thousand Euros for three weeks in London?  No way!"

"But Dad," I replied, "it's Earth!  What do you expect?  At least in London, I can pick up some of that culture Mom always says I need."

The tug of war with my parents over where I should spend the extended Christmas holiday was an annual event.  This year it was particularly important to me, as it would be my last before graduation.  Come Spring, I'd actually have to start working.

"William is right dear," Mom commented.

OK, good old Mom.

"Dad, I know it's a lot of money," I added.  "But you're always saying that it's important for those of us from the space settlements to maintain knowledge of the home planet."

I loved feeding his own words back to him.  It was one of my most successful strategies.  And it worked again.

"That's true," he gave in.  "But I know you young scallywags.  The culture you'll be getting won't be what your Mother has in mind."

Good old dad.  He was right of course, but I maintained a serious expression.

On December 18th, I boarded the shuttle capsule for my trip to Earth, along with Johnny.  He and I would serve as each other's wing man, depending on who had the best shot.

Less then a full day, and the shuttle landed North of the city.  We took the tube in.  It was a short walk to the Hotel Granger.  Victorian in appearance, even though it was only about 25 years old.

Even our suite looked like something out of Dickens, or maybe Harry Potter's room at Hogwarts, if that's more your thing.  Must be big with the tourist trade.  Made no difference to me, as long as the atmosphere didn't scare the young lovelies away.

We each had our own bedroom, with a shared sitting area.  The first task was to arrange service to the sitting room bar.  Not being stupid, we didn't call room service, but went out and found the nearest Threshers.  Signed up with them for a variety of spirits to be made available directly through our bar.

Before the parties started, we signed into the hotel's concierge service, making a list of popular theater shows and museum exhibitions.  We studied the online reviews, and made a schedule for our parents of how we spent our time.  Then we were ready to party.

It was a brief walk to a pub that was supposed to be a good hunting ground.  Looked promising as we entered.

"OK Johnny, local or settlers like ourselves?" I asked.

"Don't care," Johnny replied, "looks and willingness is what matters."

"Gee, and here you have a chance to expand your horizons," I joked.

"Hello girls," Johnny said, "my homely friend here is William, and I'm Johnny."

Real smooth my friend Johnny.  But, it turned out to be as good a way to break the ice as any.

Alice and Lois turned out to be settlers, from a different station, who had come to London for the holidays like ourselves, to gain some culture to impress their parents.  By the next morning, we'd swapped a lot of culture.

We had a great time over the holidays.  Different pubs, different girls, every night.  It was a good thing that both Johnny and I were in good shape.  We'd have gotten worn out otherwise.

With two nights to go, we met the twins.  Ann and Barbara.  Locals from one of the suburbs.  So much alike, we sometimes thought they were switching up on us just for the heck of it.  Without any switching, Johnny was with Ann, Barbara with me.

After the first night, it seemed like Johnny and I might have finally gotten run down.  We were resting in the common sitting room.  The girls were showering and getting ready for the new day.  We could hear them giggling back and forth.

"Wow," Johnny whispered.  "Ann was just wild.  At one point, she actually bit me."

"I know what you mean," I replied.  "You can see Barbara's teeth marks on my neck."

We quickly felt ourselves getting our strength back.  At our age, you're not going to miss a sensational last night in London just because you're wagon is dragging.

A fun day, and what I can only describe as the wildest night I've experienced in my young life.  Wow isn't a strong enough word.

In the morning, Ann and Barbara said their goodbyes.  We packed up, dragged ourselves to the tube, and got to the shuttle port in time.  Just barely, but we made it.

The usual body scans and baggage checks, and then we could rest for a bit before boarding.  Johnny went through the scanner first, and attracted some attention from the agents.  They were questioning him as I took my place in the scanner.

After a few seconds, I was waved through.  Two agents also asked me to step over to the side.

"According to the records, you boys came in together and are now headed home.  Is that correct?" one of the agents asked, addressing both Johnny and I.

"Yes sir," I replied.

"Well, not today," he said.

Seeing our puzzled look, he continued.

"Must have had some good times," he said, "but you're in for some rough times now."

"You've both picked up the Dracula gene," another agent spoke up.  "The scanner detects it as we can't allow anyone who's been bitten to leave Earth until their blood's been cleaned."

"Cleaned?" Johnny asked.

"Yes," the agent informed us.  "You'll be quarantined for a week while your blood is recycled through a series of filters multiple times to clean out the gene.  Not a pleasant experience.  Then you can go home."

Let me tell you that his "not a pleasant experience" was a euphemism.  It's a miserable experience.

My advice to any guys considering a holiday break in London is LOOK OUT FOR GIRLS WITH SHARP TEETH!