Live & Learn (ONC 2020)

I am a what?

Huffing and puffing Leo reached the back entrance of his shop. He looked left and right and left again. Then he looked behind him and last he looked up.

Nothing.

Leo let out a sigh of relief and opened the door. Inside he collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily.

Finally he had lost them. Three hours he had been running. Three hellish hours that felt like a year. Sometimes the men were close behind him, sometimes he thought he they were gone. Emphasis on thought. After two minutes they would always show up again and he would be running like he was being chased by a vampire. Luckily that hadn't been the case, because then he would have been captured no matter how hard he tried to run.

After he had lost them and they hadn't popped up out of nowhere for ten minutes he had finally been able to go back to his shop. Still he thought it better to run as fast as he could and take the back entrance.

Unfortunately running very fast for quite a while had its downside. His legs were numb, but at the same time felt like they were being tortured from the inside. Special edition, ten different tortures at once!

Lying on the ground was actually quite nice. The ground he was lying on was covered by a soft purple carpet and while lying down he didn't have to move a muscle. Not one. He could completely relax and give his poor aching legs a little rest while trying to catch his breath. So far he didn't have much luck with the last one. The stupide thing kept slipping through his fingers!

After some time of breath catching Leo could breath regularly again, but he stayed on the ground. His legs still didn't feel like moving yet and the carpet was nice and soft.

Closing his eyes Leo just lay there in silence. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing and the screams of protest his legs made. It was a peaceful silence.

"Uhm are you alright?"

It was a peaceful silence.

Leo opened his eyes and looked up. It was that girl, Luna. She was looking at him with a concerned look in her eyes. Understandable, since he was lying on the ground, spread out like a pancake.

Groaning he got up and dusted of his clothes. He remembered telling her to come to his shop. Apparently she had listened. But how had she got in? Had he forgotten to lock the door? For the umpteenth time that day Leo mentally hit himself for the head. He remembered it now, or rather he didn't. He didn't remember locking the door.

"I'm fine." Leo smiled. He was fine, for now.

They lapsed into silence. An awkward silence. A silence really in the need of breaking.

After some more silence it was Leo who broke it. The silence.

"You wanted to discuss something?"

"Yes I did."

Leo waited to see if more would come, but Luna just swallowed nervously. Although she seemed less nervous than before. He was sure she would start talking again at some point.

"Do you want something to drink? Coffee?" He smiled, even though it probably was a tired smile.

"Yes thank you."

Than coffee it was. Leo got something to drink for them both and they sat down at his table in the living space behind his shop. His legs were still aching so he had no desire to stand when there were perfectly good places to sit.

"So what did you want to ask?"

She told him about her mission and what she wanted from him. As she went on Leo got confused. She wanted him to bring her to the vampire mansion. To bring her in contact with the chief vampire. Why?

"Why?"

"Why what?" Now she seemed confused too.

"Why do you want me to take you to the vampire mansion?"

"As I said. I have to stop the conflict, and for that I have to speak with the..."

"No, I mean why do you want me to bring you there? What makes you think that I have access to the mansion?"

"You're a vampire and you live here. All vampires in the neighborhood have access to the local mansion." At the word vampire she seemed to shudder.

For a moment Leo was dumbstruck. He was a what?! The last time he checked he couldn't run 100 miles an hour. If he could he wouldn't have spent three hours trying to lose the guys that were following him. It took him a moment to process that strange idea. Was this why she acted nervously around him? Was she scared of vampires?

Then he burst out laughing. He? A vampire? Vampires were graceful, elegant. Something he wasn't. Not in the slightest bit.

After his laughter had ceased he looked at Luna who now looked close to flabbergasted.

"Luna, I'm not a vampire."

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A short chapter, but one that reached the 8000 words milestone!

Enjoy. (or not)