I kick a small pile of dead leaves collecting on the side of the sidewalk as I pass them, making that nice rustling noise. The cold autumn air feels good against my pale skin even if it made my hands feel a bit numb at the tips. I don't own any gloves as I hate the feeling of them against my skin and I could never find the right size for my small hands.
"It's getting late", I thought to myself, "I wonder if I can get home before dark." My eyes wonder up to the sky to see the dark hues of oranges and yellows spreading across the darkening canvas always looming above us. Looks like my small walk around my town took longer than expected, oh well. The darkness of the night always spooked me a bit, there has always been rumors of creatures rising from the dark to prey on defenseless humans like myself. Of course, many people of my town don't believe in such monsters existing like vampires or werewolves, even if there has been a more than average amount of missing posters plastered all over the utility poles. They all just chalk it up to be a kidnapper or murder but no one has ever been caught. Maybe I'm reading too many spooky forums online or legends of the town, but I still have my believes that there are terrifying beings that live among us.
As the sky gets even darker my spindly legs quicken, the shadows grow more menacingly and almost seems as some of them stretch to get me. "It's just my imagination", I tell myself, "Just keep walking, you'll be home in no time." My eyes dart around me before glancing at the sky again, the moon slowly creeping up only a couple minutes later. As I look back down in front of me, I see a figure standing at the end of the sidewalk; I freeze and my dark eyes widen. The figure slowly starts to walk towards me and I quickly start walking backwards as my eyes try to figure out who this person is. "Why are they walking towards me? Are they just trying to walk past? Who is this?" A million questions flood my mind as the figure inches closer to me in a silent manner but still has some great distance between us. I fear if I turn my back and run away this person might try to run after me, the dark shadows make them seem uninviting and almost ghoulish. Before I could think about saying anything to them my foot gets caught behind my other and I fall to the ground with a thud, hitting my elbow. I quickly try to get up but somehow, I see the feet of the figure stop in front of me, the leaves near them floating away. How could they have gotten to me so fast? Before I could question the speed of this person, they stick their hand out in front of me for me to take.
"Are you okay ma'am? You took quite a fall there." The figure says.
"y-yeah," I quietly say before hesitantly taking their hand, helping me get up. I look at their face to see a man with a pair of beautiful honey golden eyes staring at me.
"I'm sorry I spooked you, I only wanted to ask if you had bus money on you? I forgot to grab some from my apartment." The moonlight seems to shine on him as if it was his own sunlight. His skin is almost a sickly pale but his long dark hair compliments it in a way. He pulls his hand away from mine before fixing the collar of his sweater.
"Bus money...?" I blink, feeling stupid that I was scared of this nice man. Sure, he looks a bit strange but maybe he has a skin condition. "Oh uh...I might, let me check." I stick my hand in my jean pocket and pull out a dollar bill for him to take.
"Why thank you." He takes the money and gives me a small smile. "I'll make sure to repay you."
"Oh no," I straighten myself a bit to make myself look presentable again, "you don't have to do that." The slight gleaming of his mouth catches my eyes, are those...fangs?
"I insist." His smile turns more into a closed mouth grin when he notices my stare. "Oh! How rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself yet! Apologies there, my name is Ezra; and you are...?"
"Oh um...my name is Quinn." Were those really fangs? No, it can't be...a vampire is much more well-dressed than that and always has that classic accent. He seems to have more of a country accent, not a Transylvanian one.
"Quinn hm? I like that name." He studies my look for a second. My auburn hair covers my left eye as I shyly look up at him, both of my hands shoved into my hoodie pocket. "Is there something bothering you, Quinn?"
"Bothering me...? Oh uh, I'm just...well...this seems very silly to ask but, your teeth almost look fang like. I know, it's silly, but-"
"It's not a silly question but yes, I do have fangs." He gives me a big smile to show them off, the moonlight makes it easy to see.
"Y-Your-" My eyes widen in fear, he...he really is a vampire! Oh god am I going to die? When is he going to suck my blood? Why did he ask for bus money?
"Wait! Before you freak out, just know I only drink animal blood not humans! I find human blood nasty anyway but that's just my unpopular opinion."
"What?! How many humans have you sucked the life out of?!" I step back and my head begins to spin, this can't be happening. Am I dreaming? Someone wake me up, please!
"Oh, that was a century ago, don't worry! Woah there are you okay?" My body drops but I don't feel the ground crash under me before everything goes black.
When I begin to regain consciousness again, I feel my body on something soft and warm, not the hard ground. Once I slowly open my eyes, I see a ceiling above me and hear an annoying beep coming from a smoke alarm. Was it all a dream? When I was about to sigh in relief, I remember my smoke alarm doesn't regularly beep and I begin to hear someone go "OoOoOoO" from across the room. My body goes cold as I slowly look to my left to see Ezra standing near a mirror waving a pen around, only to see no reflection in it. Is he trying to mimic a ghost? Oh god it was real! He notices my head turn in the reflection and embarrassingly puts the pen down.
"Oh, good you're awake! Again, I'm so sorry for scaring you like that, I didn't think you would pass out from learning I'm a vampire."
"Why wouldn't I be scared?!" I sit up, "You're a freaking vampire! You know, the things that SUCK the blood from humans!"
"I already told you, I only drink animal's blood." Ezra looks at his door to see someone standing in the door way. "Oh, hey Frank."
"Yo." Frank looks me up and down before looking back at Ezra saying, "Nice", before walking away. My eyes widen, did another vampire just check me out?! Ezra notices my stare once again and closes the door.
"That's just Frank my roommate, he's a human like you too."
"And he knows you're a... vampire?"
"Yeah, he gets me my food sometimes."
"Wait...if you're a vampire why are you living in a dinky little apartment with some creep named Frank? Where's your vampire accent and fancy clothes? Where is your castle?"
"Oh, so this is the thanks I get for sheltering you? You're really just going to come and insult me like that huh? Do you know how much a castle costs Quinn? Do you know the mortgage on that thing hm?" He crosses his arms in an angry manner.
"Well...no I-"
"Yeah, that's what I thought. And not all vampires have the same accent you know, we aren't all from the same place and for your information my clothing style is amazing! I don't have the money to buy fancy schmancy clothing okay! Are you going to ask me if I go blah, blah, blah too?"
"No, sorry I didn't know..." I blink in utter surprise; vampires live like us?
"Mhm." He uncrosses his arms. "I could have left you on the sidewalk but out of the kindness of my heart, and my repayment to you, I brought you here." Before I could say anything else I hear a loud crash outside making me jump. Ezra quickly looks outside and lets out an irritable sigh. "Oh, you got to be kidding me! Stay here Quinn." And with that he grabbed a broom resting in the corner of his room and jolts out with his remarkable vampire speed. I look out the window to see his room looks out at a dumpster bin. A large furry creature sniffs around in the bin and rips into it. The ears on the beast perk up when it hears Ezra yelling at it and gets on its hind legs to reveal it's none other than a werewolf. It bares its teeth and snarls at him making Ezra hiss at it and smack its snout with the broom making it yelp and scamper away. Ezra shakes his fist at it and continues yelling before he couldn't see it anymore. My eyes stare in disbelief, my brain not being able to comprehend what I just saw. Werewolves are real too?! All the rumors in my town are true...the missing people, were they really taken by these monsters? After Ezra cleans up the bin he comes back inside with a huff and puts the broom back.
"Sorry about that, just another werewolf. They're like stupid large racoons, always getting into something!" My mouth opens to say something but nothing comes out, instead I look stupid with my mouth agape. "Oh, and if you're wondering about all those missing people, it's the werewolf's fault not mine." I slowly nod and stand up; I need time to process all of this. If this is how vampires really live, they aren't as interesting as the internet makes them to be. "Would you like something to drink?" He asks, "or maybe perhaps a snack? I have some gushers or maybe you would like some pizza? My roommate still has some left over."
"No...no thanks." I murmured, "I... just want to go home."
"I don't think that's a very smart idea, that werewolf is probably still lurking around. I suggest waiting here for the night then you can go home. How about you go back to sleep hm? This is the time you humans usually sleep anyways."
"I guess I can try but...are you really not going to suck my blood?"
"Do I really need to tell you a THIRD time that I don't drink human blood?" He looks rather annoyed that I asked that.
"Well, I guess not...I'll just try to sleep." I lay back down and stare at the ceiling again, this is the strangest yet most intriguing night I've ever had, even if it made vampires seem less scary than people make them.