Oh god! I thought. This is the end for me!
I closed my eyes tightly as the dark-haired man held me against the wall.
I should have known that it was him. Should have known by his allusions to eating people as he walked me to my car that he was the one who killed someone on campus tonight.
I mean, I just walked in on him doing just that to a woman against the side wall of the brick building! No wonder the women never repeated at the bar! I winced as he held my shoulders down.
"What are you doing here?!" he hissed.
I thought I might pass out as I forced myself to open my eyes. What I saw was the same beautiful man who had spoken to me just hours before, except now his teeth were covered with blood. His eyes glowed like a cat's, an inhuman red reflection glinting in and out of them as his gaze roamed my face. There was no hiding my terror. I had just seen him consuming someone's blood. I felt faint all over.
"I thought you went home for the night? What are you doing here?" he asked again.
I tried to speak, still forced against the wall by strong hands. Hands that felt entirely too strong for an average human. I chalked it up to the fact that he was obviously insane. I should have known better than to come here.
After several seconds, I finally found the words to say to the monster in front of me, "Someone was murdered on campus tonight. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," the words came out strangled as I said them.
To my surprise, Victor let me go.
I wanted to run then. To bolt. But fear held me down to the wall that he had just been holding me against. If I tried to escape, there was a good possibility that I'd end up just like that girl in the middle of the alley. Bloody and dead.
"You were worried about me?" Victor asked.
"Yeah," I said. It sounded stupid, "But, um, you're all good, so I guess I'm gonna go now." I tried to sound calm as I went to bend under his arm to get away. He blocked me in again. I began to panic. The more I looked up into that pale face of his, the more I was aware that I had come face to face with a murderer. I wasn't going to make it out alive.
"Don't!" Victor shouted, blocking me in. "Please, don't! Let me explain! This isn't what it looks like." He bared his teeth at me, and I felt my consciousness wane. His teeth were still coated in the girl's blood.
"What?" I sounded queasy.
"Let me explain," Victor boxed me into the brick, making it so I couldn't get away. He was incredibly close, the wool of his overcoat brushing against my plaid shirt. The tweed of his trousers scraped against my pants. The pale complexion of his face was too close to my own. I was aware of the transparency of his skin for the first time.
He didn't look human like he had when he had walked me to my car.
"That girl," he cocked his head to her, "is not dead. She's merely asleep. Hypnotized. She's fine. She'll wake up shortly with a nasty bruise, wondering how she got here."
I swallowed hard, closing my eyes.
"You see," Victor continued. He sounded panicked, "She's fine."
I looked over at the girl. She stirred briefly.
Victor lowered his head as if he were contemplating what to do. "You see, Phillip. I'm not exactly human."
My eyes widened. I swallowed again, my whole body starting to tremble. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
"I'm a vampire."
It seemed as if all the world grew still when he spoke these words to me. I blinked several times, trying to comprehend this man's madness. Was he really a vampire, or did he just believe that?
"Like one of those human lifestyle vampires that think they need blood to get energy or something?" The question sounded so stupid.
Victor's glinting red eyes roamed mine, cat-like, shining in the dark. I knew then what his answer would be, but I didn't want to believe it.
"No," he lowered his eyes briefly and then looked up at me, "I am a vampire. The kind of human legends. The monster in the night that sneaks into the bedrooms of women and drinks their blood."
Again, I felt like I might lose it. "But I didn't kill her, Phillip! I haven't killed anyone for centuries. Just a little drink here and there. Just a little bit to fill the void inside."
My breathing was shallow, "But the murder on campus?" I asked. I looked at the girl on the wet concrete, wondering if she really was dead.
"I know nothing about that," he said, his brows furrowing. "But believe me, I am not the killer I used to be."
At this, I finally found the courage to move out from under his arm. "I have to go," I said. I wanted as far away from him as possible. As far away from this alley with this girl who was most likely dead and this crazy guy who thought he was a vampire. I thanked my stars that I had forgotten to eat all day. I was going to be sick.
"Wait! Phillip, please!" Victor appeared in front of me, stopping me cold as I walked away from him.
"Leave me alone," I held a hand out, blocking him.
"Please, you must believe me!" he looked desperate. "I didn't kill her. See?" he pointed back to the girl who was now standing up. She moved groggily down the alleyway. Within moments she was asking the two of us what happened to her. She questioned why her neck was so sore.
I looked down. Where there had been a large gash, there was now only two pinpricks where he had bitten her. I watched as Victor told her that everything was fine. She'd merely had too much to drink and wandered out here alone. Lucky we found her, or she could have been in trouble. The young girl thanked us and walked away in the direction of her car as if in a fog.
"You see?" he pleaded, "She's fine, Phillip!"
I shook my head, "Look, I have no idea what your game is, but I'm not here for it. I'm going home. It was nice to meet you, but..."
I couldn't say anymore. I had to walk away. Had to get away from this guy who'd I'd idolized for such a long time. He was nuts.
I walked several paces back to my car and went to put the key into the door when he appeared in front of me, blocking my hand. It was as if he had turned from mist to solid form directly before my eyes.
"Please, Phillip. You have to know. I would never hurt you."
I bit my lip.
"I'll teach you anything. Anything you want." He looked around nervously, "Please, I can't have anyone know that I am a vampire."
At this moment I realized Victor was afraid that I would reveal his secret. That he would no longer be able to prey on the women in our town. I pushed him out of the way. To my surprise, he let me. I opened my car door and got in, locking it. I started the ignition and jumped when a hand landed on mine.
The form was immaterial, a red mist hanging in the air in the interior of my small cream-colored car. I started, calling out as Victor's form materialized out of thin air.
"Please, Phillip, just hear me out. I would never hurt you. I'll teach you anything. Anything! All I ask is that you keep my secret." Victor stared at me like a child, his large dark lashes falling heavily over crimson-colored eyes. I could not believe what I had just seen. I was in the car with a supernatural being. I was in the car with a vampire!
"What else?" I said, frightened. I didn't know what to do. He was so adamant that I hear him out.
"Let me stay with you?" he pleaded.
"What?!" I was rattled now.
"I have nowhere to go. No home. I constantly roam everywhere," he crossed his arms. "Anyway, how can I be sure you won't go spilling my secret to everyone if I'm not constantly with you."
I grabbed the steering wheel hard. Oh shit! I'm in the car with a vampire. I'm in the car with the guy who gave me the bookmark. The guy who gave me a bookmark is the vampire. The guy who I have a ...., I looked over at him, not knowing whether to vomit or cry, is a vampire.
I opened my door and threw up on the wet pavement.
When I had finally relieved my stomach from the bile in it, I looked over at the passenger seat to see that Victor was still there. He sat still and silent, wide-eyed and looking as stressed as I felt.
"I never wanted you to find out," he said, sucking his lower lip into his mouth. I glimpsed sharp teeth. "But? Do we have a deal?"
My stomach turned again as I closed my driver's side door. "Mn," I nodded, too frightened to say anything to the man sitting in the seat beside me. I turned the key in the ignition, the headlights turned on, the engine roared.
I watched as the girl Victor had been drinking from still wandered aimlessly through the street trying to find her car, holding her neck as if she had gotten a really bad hickey. Then, taking a deep breath, I threw the car into drive and headed home with a vampire wringing his hands nervously at my side.