my last sacrifice

“Ha-ha your funny Haley” my friend Trixie said at school the next day. I sighed. “But it’s true! There was this dude in black under a lamppost and I think he was checking me out!” I shut my locker door. Trixie looked at her schedule. “Hey did you finish Mr Tan’s homework? I’ like’ totally forgot.” She smiled sheepishly.  “I did let me guess you wanna copy?” She nodded like a crazed woman. I brushed my hair out of my face. “Fine” I sighed again, handing her my English work. She ran off saying she’d give it back to me in 3rd period. English class.

As the bell rang, I collected my things and headed off to English. Trixie ran up beside me handing me my homework seconds before we stepped in. The usual site of Mr Tan sitting at his desk was replaced with a man with dark clothes and black hair writing on the black board. “Hello students, Mr Tan called in sick today, so I will his substitute.” He wrote his name on the board. Dr. A. Cula. I suppressed a snicker. “You may call me Mister Cula or Doctor Cula either is fine.” His eyes scanned the class lingering on me for just a few seconds. He picked up a piece of paper. “Now,” he announced slyly. “I believe you have homework due in.”

Lunch time with my friends was always weird. “I’m telling you guys, I swear I know him!” Daniela rolled her eyes. “Yea right, as if you know the hottest teacher here.” I looked at Trixie, my eyes widening. “I think he was the stalker dude I told you about this morning!” I almost yelled. Sara put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “If you think he is then he must be right. Remember that time you caught my bag thief? You practically saved my life!” I beamed at her praise. A nod let her know I was thankful for her backing me up. I looked behind her to see Mr Cula enter the cafeteria. He looked a little lost, but then seemed to know where to go. “Daniela, Trixie, Sara the subs here…” It was funny watching their heads turn simultaneously. He headed in our tables direction. All the girls turned and tried to appear as if they hadn’t been looking. Mr Cula sat down. “Hello girls” he said with an alluring smile. I could see the girls had a lovey-dovey look in their eyes. Boy, this was going to be a long lunch. 

7 days after I received the letter, someone broke in to my house. I only knew this because there, on my mirror was the beautiful writing that had been in the letter.

“One more day and you will be mine.” I quickly wiped it away. No one else in the house knew about it.

Friday. It had been a day since my room and been broken into. I was trying to play the whole thing off as a harmless prank but I had the feeling that what they were implying would come true. I would be theirs.

I awoke with a start. I had heard a crash and what sounded like dad’s voice yelling coming from the living room. I looked at my alarm clock. 11 pm. I stealthily got out of bed, grabbing the aluminium baseball bat I kept under it. I moved silently through the hall, getting closer to the living room.

Bah-boom, bah-boom. My heart pounded in my ears.

I turned into the living room. My entire family was tied up. A man dressed entirely in black had his back to me. I saw this as perfect opportunity. I swung the baseball bat at his head and closed my eyes. When I didn’t hear a thud! I opened my eyes a crack, then all the way. He had caught it and what’s more had bent the metal where his hand was.

Because I was shocked, I let go of the bat. He threw it onto the couch. “I told you you’d be mine.” His face was illuminated by the pale moonlight coming through the window. He smiled and revealed… fangs. I stuttered. “V…v…vampire.” His smile broadened. I sat down knowing that if I stayed standing, I would be on the ground anyway. My legs felt like jelly. Scared. That’s what I felt. Scared. “You’re a v...v...vampire. W...what are you doing in my h…house?” I mentally cursed myself for stuttering.

“Well,” he said. “I told you I was coming albeit in an indirect way.” He sniffed the air. “When I saw you eight days ago, I knew I had to have you. You’re so beautiful, and your scent is so irresistible. It was hard to wait.”

“W...w...when was it t...that you s...saw me?” I chocked out. That’s when I clicked. “S...so I was r...right. It was you who w...was watching me. You where the m...man under the l...lamp-post. And my English substitute.” I moved back bumping into my father. “B...but you were out in the sun!”

He seemed to choose his words carefully then threw them away. “Have you ever heard of spf 100? I’m an old vampire so I can walk out in the shade and thanks to a human invention I can walk around in broad daylight.” 

I looked at my father. For one usually so brave, he looked so scared.

“Daddy…” I whispered. He tried to look brave but failed.

The vampire spoke up. “You know how much I want you but, reading your mind, I can see what your reaction would be if I asked you to come with me and be a vampire. Your answer would be no. So, I shall make a proposal.” His tone darkened. “Your life or your family’s.”

From being scared top being shocked. I was sure if I had one more strong emotion, I’d pop. I looked to my family. My mother’s and father’s faces were set with determination. “Let us die, we want you to live” my mother whispered.

 “Same here Haley-bear” my father chipped in using my childhood nickname. I thought about it. They would sacrifice their lives just to save my one? That didn’t seem like a fair trade. I finally gave him my answer.

“If you promise not to hurt my family in any way I’ll do it. You can take my life, not theirs.” I held my head high as I spoke to my family. “Remember how we used to watch Star Trek together? Well ‘the needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the one or the few.’ So your need to live far outweighs mine. And just remember. No matter what happens or what I become, I’ll always love you all. ‘Kay?”

I smiled sadly before turning to face him. “Before we leave tell me one thing. What’s your first name Dr Cula?” I asked cheekily. He thought about it. “Alexander. Dr Alexander Cula” I couldn’t help but laugh. He looked at me like I was crazy. “What are you laughing at?” he asked his tone confused.

“Doctor. A. Cula? Seriously. If you spell it without the dots, it’s Dracula. Your name is a dead clue to who you are.” He chuckled. “I suppose your right… Hayley” he held out his hand. “So this is how my life ends” I thought sadly.

My family was screaming “don’t go!” as I left the living room. I looked at my family for the last time. “Good-bye” I wiped a tear away.

I walked off, alexander by my side. As we left, I looked at my house one last time, then walked into my new life.

                                                                                 The end