“Who are you?! How did you get in here?!” I shrieked and kicked, but my limbs seemed to pass through him. Unwavering, he stared down at me with his bone-chilling gaze.
“Measly little human,” he muttered. His shadowy arm rose, and suddenly, an invisible force clasped my neck and pulled me up until my feet left the ground.
My hands hurriedly scratched at my neck, but there was nothing there. My lungs burned in pain. No matter what I did, the pressure around my neck remained; I was utterly helpless.
“You don’t need to know who I am. Yet.” His face was so handsome it was mesmerizing, but his threatening tone pierced right through me. His pale blue eyes swirled black with a red ring locked around the pupil.
“You’ll be far from your old life from now on.”
The alarm resonated noisily throughout the room, penetrating my eardrums. My eyes snapped open, and I screamed out loud. I twisted into my covers and rubbed my arms, cold sweat covering my back. I briskly gulped in as much air as I could. The white-hot burning around my neck didn’t cease.
I gradually soothed my rapid, shallow breaths and clicked my alarm clock. It read 7:00 AM. The first time I got any sleep in three days ended in a nightmare. I dabbed some sweat off of my forehead. For a few minutes, everything I looked at resembled the shadowy figure I saw too vividly just a moment ago. That dream almost felt too real.
I groggily flipped out of my bed and onto the carpet, not even bothering to attempt to comb my sandy blonde disastrous bedhead.
What a great way to start the morning of my eighteenth birthday.
As I got dressed, I stared into the full-body mirror at my hazel eyes that I was named after. It brought along annoying nicknames like Hazy and Hazelnut, but it was one of the only things my parents left me.
Another thing was a white vase that was beginning to fade yellow from time; it had been standing on my bedside table for the past eight years. I poured some water for the ruby red roses inside. Red roses were my mother’s favorite things in the world, and I intended to keep this faint memory of her until the day my heart stopped beating.
Just then, I heard the front door open. My senses had heightened in these past two years. I could adjust my eyesight much faster during night as well, which was neat since I got insomnia on average about thrice a week. I made sure the roses were adequately tended to before heading down the stairs and greeting him. “Morning, Arthur.”
He beamed when he saw me, showing the crow’s feet on the edges of his eyes. “There’s the birthday girl! I got you a present!”
I smiled at his enthusiasm. Arthur Carrington, my guardian who raised me after my parents passed away. He was best friends with my father since high school, but I liked to think of him as my uncle.
I grabbed last night’s leftover sandwich from the fridge and replied with feigned excitement, “Thanks! I do hope it’d be as exciting as the princess doll I got last year.”
He completely ignored my sarcastic tone and opened the front door. “Even better. Take a look.”
I flung my school bag over one shoulder and followed him out. The sandwich bag in my hand dropped onto the pavement when I saw what was in my driveway.
“I love you!” I screamed as I ran over to my brand new beautiful red convertible.
Arthur laughed at my anticipated reaction, then tossed me the keys. “Test it out. And be back right after school!”
He had to yell the last sentence as I was already backing out of my driveway, eager to try this new baby out. The engine roared to life down the neighborhood’s secluded morning streets.
Comfortable wind combed through my hair and vigorously thrashed strands against the sides of my head. I gripped onto the steering wheel a little tighter and sincerely appreciated the cool leather against my hands. The radio played a popular new song. Even though it was the middle of March, I threw on a pair of sunglasses and imagined myself in a summer movie.
My short moment ended as the last note of the song trailed off, and the news came on.
“...I thought I led a normal life, but one night––” I irritatedly switched off the radio.
People these days needed to stop rambling on about the supernatural. The other day, I saw a headline titled Vampire Sighting in a local newspaper. Just like how people fabricated UFO and ghost sightings, it was annoying how often vampire sightings were reported.
My best friend, Kaydence, was obsessed with the idea that vampires lived among us. She regularly reminded me to bring garlic spray with me at all times, which I always laughed at and one time almost spat out my juice.
Seriously, they’re not real. Get over it.
This place seemed to be hooked on the idea of vampires and vampire hunters. I couldn’t wait to finish my senior year and leave for some peace and quiet in another city. Kaydence and I’d be friends no matter where we went. And Arthur had no trouble moving anywhere in the country with whatever job he had. Those two were the only ones I treasured enough to miss.
Arthur never spoke to me about his occupation, nor was I ever curious enough to ask. Every time I tried, the answer seemed immensely convoluted, so I gave up many years ago.
All of a sudden, a person appeared in my vision. I gasped and slammed on the brakes, jolting the car to a stop just an inch before it could’ve touched him. My heart pounded in fright, but he just stood there, unfazed, and glanced at me with unreadable dark brown eyes. He looked around my age.
“I’m so sorry!” I called out. Dammit, I must’ve zoned out so much I didn’t notice him in the middle of the street.
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied quietly before I could ask if he was alright, then proceeded to cross the street without glancing at me twice. I watched in bewilderment as he disappeared down the corner.
I clutched onto the steering wheel and took a short breath, then released the brake. I glanced in the direction he walked off to, but he vanished.
“Weird guy,” I mumbled. Deciding to skip breakfast, I drove further and arrived at my school’s parking lot.
I flung on a light blue and white cardigan over my black tank top before I locked my car. My dark blue skinny jeans stretched as I went up two steps at a time toward the front door.
Incoming trouble. I tried to ignore the person walking toward me in the hallway. The eye candy for whom every guy–and some girls–would clean the toilets for a week just to get five minutes alone with her; Hailee Greene. Hot popular girl with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes that had ten times more game than mine. She was also mostly friendly and got top-notch grades, so most people considered her perfect.
I didn’t. One thing about Hailee was that she hated me for lord knew what reason. Although I had to admit that that girl was naturally gorgeous, I could see the rotten heart pumping in her chest.
She strolled past me and murmured, “Someone didn’t look in a mirror this morning.”
I rolled my eyes in response, but as soon as I was out of her sight, I turned a corner to the washroom. She was right. Parts of my hair stuck up like a bird’s nest since I didn’t take the time to comb it this morning. I quickly fixed it up.
As soon as I walked out, an unyielding force crashed into my shoulder, almost knocking me over. I knew this feeling way too well.
“Hazel, there you are! Happy birthday!” Kaydence exclaimed, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and swinging me left and right.
“Thanks.”
“Have you seen the news yesterday? Dracul struck again!”
“Can you not?” I said with a deadpanned face. She switched the topic from my birthday to the news in a heartbeat.
For the past year, two out of every ten sentences she spoke were about vampires. She wasn’t always like this, and I had no idea what perked her interest that much. She brushed it off whenever I asked.
“Nope, I cannot!” Kaydence dragged me down the halls toward our lockers while she kept talking. “Rumour has it that he can control minds, isn’t that fascinating?”
“You’re the only person I know who finds this fascinating instead of horrifying,” I remarked.
“You see, there are reports of people who had this dream,” she continued with interest glittering in her gray eyes as she grabbed a textbook. “They said they vaguely remember a man with completely jet-black hair and pale blue eyes that turn dark. This would’ve been cuckoo if it were just you or me but think about it, at least six people had this exact dream before they were reported missing and later on discovered with bite marks on their necks or wrists. And think about how many people would’ve just dismissed it as a dream and never told anyone?”
I furrowed my eyebrows. Where had I heard about this dream before?
