The first thing Eira discovered when she gained consciousness was the pitch blackness surrounding her. Her eyes had only opened but her heart raced when she was greeted with the smell of rancid blood and rusted iron and she shut them close immediately.
For as long as she could remember, she had feared darkness. It crawled over her skin like hairy bugs and roiled her stomach. Even when her eyes were closed, she still sensed her surrounding and shadowy, dark figures appeared in front of her inner eyes which she knew really didn't exist.
She began sweating coldly even though her surrounding temperature was really low. Her skin shivered with fear while her hands reached around to find the switch and turn on the lamp but she couldn't find it. She usually kept it glowing throughout the night; it helped her sleep the night away. Even though Bella, her room-mate and best pal preferred to sleep in a pitch-black room, she would make an excuse every night only for Eira.
With rising anxiety, Eira blinked her eyes open. As some seconds passed, her eyes adjusted to the scanty light entering the room from a source that wasn't anywhere inside the four walls surrounding her.
Her pupils dilated, letting more light in. What she saw, only elevated the fear built up inside of her.
She wasn't in her own room. Instead, her eyes took in what looked like a dungeon. Dark and creepy.
There were three walls around her made from chunks of black bricks arranged one after the other and from the little moss growing over them, she perceived that the place was old. Really, really old. The fourth side of the room had long metal bars that extended from the ceiling and ended inside the floor.
She lifted herself up a little too quickly and felt pain shot through her skull immediately. She fell back to what she was sitting on all the while.
It was a bed, not made out of wood but entirely of some metal; placed close to one of the walls and on either side of it, she found nails, the biggest she had ever come across. Around them were shackles. She didn't need to hold them to know they weighed heavy.
There was nothing else inside the room. The floor was covered with dust and probably dried mud that irritated her nostrils with every step she took.
How had she ended up in this freaky place? She tried recalling her latest memories.
Eira remembered finishing her evening shift at Malcolm's Shack where she worked thrice a week as a part-time job. Then she remembered sitting in the nearby bar shop and drowning herself in a sea of bourbon. A while later she was tipsy and then ended up in front of her mother's grave, but then?
She pressed the sides of her temple, trying to recollect anything. And then suddenly, it popped inside her brain like an acid flashback.
A vampire. It couldn't be anything else!
Her fingers reached up to her neck automatically and she felt the holes buried there. She felt no pain but they were deep. So deep. A gasp escaped her lips.
Her feet carried her quickly even though she felt weak. Now that the fear of darkness was put behind, she felt the pain reverberate throughout her body, starting from her head to the tip of her toes. Her back ached constantly, it was just another signal for her to keep her posture firm.
She held the metal bars in her hand and rattled them in an attempt to escape from the room. Only a while later her efforts ceased as she heard the sound of several footsteps, growing louder with each breath she inhaled.
She tried to calm herself but gave away to the muscle pain in her feet and dropped herself on the hard surface of the metal bed.
Eira could see clearly now. Her pupils had dilated to their full extent. She heard the footsteps echo through what she perceived was a narrow hallway outside the space she was locked in. Through the metal bars, she could see another identical brick wall pressing close to the gate.
Was this a nightmare? Eira wondered for a second.
But then her fingers brushed against the marks engraved deeply in her neck and any possibility of this being a figment of her imagination left her mind entirely.
Eira knew a lot could happen during a lifetime. The death of a parent? Possible. Impending breakup with the guy you thought you'd marry? Possible. Getting attacked by a vampire and being locked in a dungeon? Fuck!
Did vampires even exist?
If she had to ask that question to Bella, short for Arabella, she would start reciting the whole summary for Twilight. Edward Cullen and the Cullen family. Even though, Eira would rather prefer to jump into a deep well than listen to that bullshit.
But that was just a fictional book. How could something fictional actually attack her? Had the trauma of her break up made her insane?
Orilon was a normal town. As normal as it got. Some people told tales of evil witches and dark creatures hiding in the night but that were just another way the town attracted tourist—other than from the thick grooves of mystical trees and stony structures. But those were just stories. Orilon was one of the towns she actually liked, the very reason why she hadn't left it even after the death of her mother. She had found true friendship and what she formerly believed was love. Pathetic. But the town also gave her a sense of security. It felt like home.
Was she even in Orilon anymore?
The air that still stank of rancid blood and iron had several questions floating about in it. Every single one of them sent one individual migraine to her brain and increased the pace of her heart by a unit. She wasn't sure if she preferred an answer to any of them. Logical or not.
She only wanted a way out of this shit-hole that feared her to an extent no horror movie could.
Unlike other hostages, Eira was smart. She knew silence meant a great deal. At that point, it could even mean a way out and thus she didn't scream the moment she spotted the three figures that had halted outside the metal door.
Instead, she took a deep breath while sending a silent prayer to a God she only believed in in moments of danger and despair and waited for what was written in her fate.
Eira sat in complete silence on the metal bed, resting her palms on the edges on either side. She threw away the fear and panic and drew a blank expression across her tanned face, intending to keep it that way for the whole time until was asked to say something. Her heart however raced erratically, threatening to jump out of the ribcage. As her supposed kidnappers approached the cell she was locked in, the temperature around dropped several degrees. Her fingers began to shiver irrevocably but she couldn't be sure if it was them or the fact that she was horribly and absolutely afraid. Their faces were concealed in the darkness. She could only see faint outlines of their figures. Sounds of more footsteps hit her ears. "Did you place the candles as I asked?" One of the figures questioned authoritatively. He wasn't the one who had attacked her. "Yes." This one was. For a moment, silence lingered in the air along with the smell of three different male perfumes. Eira resisted the urge t
Josh crossed his arms slowly and leaned against the brick wall layered with moss, allowing Eira to absorb the information he had just passed. His back pressed completely against the cool, solid, age-old bricks but didn't mind the mud or the green patches on his freshly ironed, beige shirt. In fact, they only made him feel more attached to the source of his power—nature.Eira responded with a sigh and then followed cold silence, one that sent a chill down his spine. No words escaped her plump lips but her blue eyes shot a thousand questions at him. He wanted to answer them but fear kept him at bay. It was an unspoken and ofttimes a spoken rule by the vampire council to keep the secret to them.Josh rubbed the nape of his neck lightly while managing to maintain his calm facade, perceiving well that such a reaction was not completely normal for someone had been kept in the dark for too long. But he wasn't too experienced in the matters of giving satisfying, non-surprising revelations."Lo
Eira felt as though someone had pulled the floor from beneath her feet and she was falling—faster with each second into the depths of insanity. Her senses went numb for a while. A part of her still wished this was a joke or a dream and she would wake up soon but the other acted like a rebel, enjoying the thoughts of being in danger and facing death. But she was certain the latter was a result of her best friend's influence. The saner part regretted the decision of getting wasted and ending up at the cemetery. When Dakota was alive, she had only brought trouble into her life. Even when dead, she was doing a good job.The sound of a sigh greeted her ears as she saw Josh fold his arms yet again, "That is why I have this offer for you. You can choose to accept it or not. Remember, there's danger of death."Unfortunately, I can't reveal to you more about the supernatural activity in our town unless I know for certain you're on our side. If you don't accept the deal, I make you forget all
Damien noticed how Eira's blue eyes silently stared at him. She had put up a brave mask over her face but he could hear the frantic beating of her beat in his ears. That sound made him smirk. He strolled towards her lazily and his steps halted right in front of her. He could sense Josh's dark eyes on him."Did I scare you, little blood bag?" Damien asked with an amused tone, widening his smirk into a grin."I'm not scared of you," He heard her calm reply and his grin turn into a full-blown smile. His eyes moved to the bite marks on her neck and felt her breath hitch at the same moment.She remembers that. "You are, but if you aren't, you should be." He teased her and bared his fangs. She was trying too hard to appear brave and unaffected but silly girl didn't realise he could hear and smell the blood pumping through her veins. He craved to taste it. She somehow still managed to smell like strawberries after spending a whole night in the stinking dungeon.Unfortunately, he had no time
[JOHN]In the ten years that John Williams had worked as a special detective agent, the experience hadn't been close to relaxing for him. The cases were exciting, challenging to his brain. He found himself deeply pressurized for most duration of the cases he handled. And enjoyed the pressure. The race against time. It made him feel alive. But then, a year ago he decided to move to Orilon after his beloved friend Dakota's death and everything changed.Dakota Blake, his childhood friend had been a citizen of the town of Orilon for over five years. She lived with her daughters. While her elder one, Melissa married off with a rich person and got a child, the younger one stayed behind to complete her education even after Dakota passed away. Whenever he visited the town in the past years, Eira, Dakota's younger daughter always complained of her mother's unjust attitude. Sadly, it wasn't his right to tell the girl the truth. Eira was a beautiful little girl, with pretty blue eyes and a smile
As Eira watched the horrific scene unfold, she screamed—or at least, attempted to. Her fingers clutched the bedsheet covering her body and she opened her mouth to scream, as loud as she could but nothing happened.Blood trickled down her mother's long neck and she could nothing but watch. After what seemed like hours, Dr Keeley let go of her and her limp body fell off the stool to the floor.With a sob, Eira closed her eyes shut.When she opened them again, a ceiling appeared in her vision. Her body was resting on something soft. She darted her eyes and realised it was a bed. But not the one at the hospital."Bad dream?" A masculine voice inquired.Eira abruptly lifted the upper half of her body to locate the source of the voice and found the blonde-haired guy leaning against a table on her right, his gaze firmly set on her body.The realisation sunk in gradually—it was just a dream. Yet, it had felt so real."No." The word had escaped her lips before she could think the question throu
Eira learnt that she had rested enough. There wasn't any exhaustion left in her. Instead of sitting quietly, she pledged to learn a few more things. She had a decision to make, and if things didn't go comfortably, she might need an escape plan.Truthfully, she hadn't expected to receive much information from Nate after remembering what Josh had said but surprisingly, he was generous."So, you are a vampire too?" Was her first question.Nate who had settled on a tanned couch placed close to the wall, instantly raised his eyes from his cellphone."Yes," He answered with a low voice.She pressed her lips firmly together before putting another question forward, "And what are vampires like in real life?"Nate seemed to understand that it was going to be a long questionnaire and got up from the couch to sit on the bed beside her."What vampire-based movies have you watched?" He asked, the ghost of a smile playing about on his lips."Only one. Twilight," And only because Arabella had forced h
Nate frowned before replying in a flat tone, "Well, Josh will figure out a way to wipe your memory of ever meeting any of us and everything you've learnt while being here." It was Eira's turn to frown. She wanted to forget what happened at the cemetery and her time in the dungeon but the rest, well..."What if I'm a witch but refuse to help?" She could hear her heart thumping in her ears while waiting with bated breath for his answer."Then let's hope Damien doesn't find out about anyone you love or care for."Nate's words resonated through her mind over and over again, rendering her restless. Eira couldn't get rid of the dreadful memory of the night at the graveyard and now there was a new fear; of what could happen if she tried to flee.For the first time in her life, she couldn't enjoy a hot shower. Even though the hot water trickled down her skin, tiny goosebumps formed out of a chill. Out of fear. Fear of the vampire. Damien.She didn't wish to hurt Arabella— directly or indirect