Undead Love.

A stranger and a crush.

The fresh morning air enters through an open window and wakes Jessica, she rolls on to her side to avoid the glare of the sun through her bedroom window but sighs as the comfortable heat hits her back. She wipes stray strands of hair from her face and stretches, kicking the duvet onto the floor.

She sits up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed, her tired eyes look around the room and her tired mind strains to remember something important. “Dad?” She whispers. Images flash through her mind. Her father’s chair, her father’s body on the kitchen floor and the fang marks on his neck. “Dad!” She screams.

She stands and runs from her bedroom, down the stairs and stops at the kitchen door. It is clean, empty and quiet. She steps in and searches the room but still finds nothing. She exits the kitchen and heads towards her father’s room. Neither her father nor his chair is in the room.

“Dad?” She calls again. Silence follows. Jessica once again goes to the kitchen and her mind is elsewhere as she picks up a bucket, the water sloshing as she moves towards the sink. “Was it a nightmare?” She thinks to herself. Holding the bucket with both hands she begins to tip the water into the sink. “Where is he though?” She continues to wonder. She watches the water fall into the sink and her body freezes, her hands unwilling to drop the bucket and her eyes unwilling to look away. The water is blood red and the gargling noise it makes as it runs down the drain makes Jessica’s stomach lurch.

She continues to hold the bucket over the sink, the last of the water dripping and hitting the basin. Jessica’s mind rushes from one image to another constantly. First to the marks on her father’s neck and then to Sam Miles and his angry vampire friend and his blood thirsty looks.

Sam seemed content with the bottle of True Blood in his hand, Marcus, on the other hand, seemed more interested in the humans around him than the bottle in front of him. She begins to panic. The bucket drops from her hands and she steps away, watching the bucket rock back and forth and eventually coming to a standstill on the floor in front of her.

A moment of silence passes as she stares at the bucket. Her breathing is heavy and she pulls nervously at the neck line of her pyjama top. Her mind is racing; surely Sam wouldn't have allowed his friend to do this. "I don't know the man." She reminds herself. But he seemed so nice, a nice man and a nice face and amazing hair. “Oh shut up.” Before she can stop herself she has her car keys in her hand and is running from her house to her car.

"He only lives 5 minutes away." She thinks. "It isn't impossible that it was him."

The drive there brings on another wave of panic; her father is dead and missing. What is she going to do without him? She is alone now, except for Randy but she only ever sees her brother at work. He is always busy with the pub and girls and rarely finds time for Jessica.

She stops outside the large house and looks to the front door. "Can I go in?" She wonders. The sun light reflects off of her windscreen and she leans back, raising her hand to shield her eyes. She feels the warmth on her palm and squeezes her eyes shut, forcing back tears. She has to wait until dark to find out anything about her father.

An hour passes but Jessica remains outside the vampire’s house, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. The sun has moved slightly and she no longer needs to shield her eyes.

"Okay." She mutters. "Okay, just in and out."

She opens her door and spins to step out of the car but pulls back as she feels a rush of cold air and her door is thrown from its hinges. It lands on the porch with a crash and Jessica cries out in alarm.

She stays seated in the car, staring at the empty space where the door used to be, as a girl walks towards her. She is average height with long black hair and brown eyes. As the sun hits her hair Jessica sees shades of brown.