I ran, the sound of his footsteps pounding on the road behind me. My breath came out in gasps and my heart hammered, reminding me that I couldn’t run forever. I was tired, but adrenaline pulsed through my veins, making me move faster.

His laugh echoed out around me, making my blood run cold. He was enjoying himself, he liked the chase. Bile ran up my throat as I thought about him, he was a monster, I knew that now.

“Come on, Violet!” He taunted, not even a little out of breath. “Face me!”

“Never,” I managed to huff, but as I turned the next corner, I knew I was wrong.

It was a dead end, completely bricked up. No way to escape. He rounded the corner slowly, knowing he had me. I backed up as he approached me, until my back was pressed against the cold bricks.

The wind howled as if anticipating our encounter, whipping my hair back to reveal my neck.

His lips turned up into a sickening smile, his fangs extending over his bottom lip, illuminated by the moonlight. He stood there watching me, wanting to see me scared.

I refused to give him the satisfaction. I made myself calm down, my face utterly devoid of emotion. He found this amusing.

“You aren’t hiding anything from me. I can feel your fear, it oozes off of you.”

“You can’t feel anything,” I said, glaring at him. “Or did you forget that?”

The sound that escaped his throat was animal, cutting through my awareness a second before he lunged at me.

I dived to the side before he could reach me, only managing to make him angrier. He stood up, his body radiating hate. He took very deliberate steps toward me, every move promising violence.

I quickly pulled myself up off the ground, trying to see if I could get around him. He saw this coming, and blocked my way.

“I am losing my patients with you.” He growled, as he drew closer.

“Well,” I said, wiping away the trickle of blood flowing from a cut on my forehead. “It’s not like I’ve got anything to lose. You plan to kill me either way, but I’m not going to make it easy for you.”

“You will regret the day you learned to talk,”

That was the only warning I got before he attacked again. I held up my arm to block him, and felt flesh tearing as his teeth cut through.

I let out a scream as the skin fell away, blood pooling to the ground in an unstoppable flow. The world started to spin, my vision blurring. Everything only clearing up when he sunk his teeth into my neck.

He slowly sucked the life source from my body, taking his time to make it all the more painful. As my heart beat slowed, I was sure I was dead, when suddenly he pulled away.

He bit into his own wrist, forcing his blood into my mouth. I tired to spit it out to no avail, he just kept forcing more down me. After I had drunk so much, he let me fall to the ground.

I started to convulse, my body rejecting the blood. My wounds slowly closed up, but I continued to shake in pain. His face came into my line of sight, his mouth dripping my blood.

“I decided killing you would be too fast, when I can continuously heal you. So why not torture you, over, and over again?”

His laugh shattered through the agony, making my head clear. I sat up slowly, ignoring the ache in my body. My very being shook, but I finally managed to stand up.

He looked a little shocked for a second, but then he smirked.

“You just don’t know when to give up.” He sneered.

“Yep,” I whispered hoarsely. “That’s always been my downfall.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to break that.”

He was too distracted in his own victory to notice the piece of wood I clutched tightly in my hand.

He came at me, his eyes gleaming in triumph, when I stuck the stake into his heart. He froze, his face turning an ashy gray, before he disappeared.

He was just gone, not even the stake remained. I looked at the spot where he’d been standing, and sighed in relief. Then the pain was just too much, and I passed out.









~~~








I woke up to the steady beat of the heart monitor. My sight was blurry, but I could just make out the outline of the hospital room. The needle in my arm burned, so with feeble fingers, I pulled it out.

The skin closed up immediately, confusing me. I sat up, the paper hospital gown unrelenting in my attempts to move. I pulled against it until it released me, making a small tear up my sleeve.

Everything came into focus once I stood up, my vision unusually sharp. The heart monitor flat lined as I left the room, knowing that I was no longer connected to it.

The halls were dead silent, no nurses or doctors walked around, no one other than me. It took me a minute to realize I wasn’t breathing, and I quickly sucked in a breath. Feeling around for my heart beat, I could just barely make out a light thud.

I ran to the bathroom in a panic, this couldn’t be right. The mirror brought me no comfort, because no matter how long I looked into it, I saw nothing.

I rushed back to the hallway, having to get away, but not knowing how to get out.

“What happened?” I whispered, looking at the unending hallways stretched out around me.

“You died.” He answered.

I turned around slowly, my blood running cold. It couldn’t be, he was dead.

He smiled at me, his fangs slowly lowering over his bottom lip. “Welcome to the dark.”