"No- this cannot be happening," I whispered.
'I'm sorry this must be a terrible shock for you,' He said sympathetically.
"You complete bastard, you complete and utter crazy vampire bastard- you bit me!" I yelled at my reflection since I had nothing else to yell at.
'Mia, you are confused and frighten. I need you to calm down.'
Calm down?! Was he crazy, he had bit me and coerced into a stupid marriage and now he wanted me to act calm. What did he think was going to happen? We were just going to sit down and talk about this like mature adults.
"I will not calm down! What did you do to me?!"
'Mia please, I can feel your anger and fear-'
"Wait, can you see these," I said pointing at my fangs, "What the hell are these?"
'Mia-'
"I do not know who you think you are going around and abducting young girls then turning them into vampires, but last night you messed with the wrong lady buddy!" I said furiously.
'Look Mia, I understand you are mad but believe me when I say that you are the only girl I have ever taken and you are the only girl I have ever wanted to take.'
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?! Now you just sound like a crazy stalker! I mean what kind of man picks up women in a graveyard?" I snapped.
'These are all questions I will be able to explain to you later," He replied.
"There will be no later- I never want to see you again!"
'That is going to be difficult considering that we are married.'
"Then I want a divorce."
'Vampires do not get divorced. Look Mia, you are just frightened.' He said.
I was pretending to be brave, but he was right I was scared, and worried, and terrified. Hearing his disembodied voice in my head was awful and comforting at the same time. I hated the feeling of having a mental breakdown, but then having his calm voice calling my name was making my skin itch.
Boys had never been on my agenda at college. For many girls college was a time of sexual awakening and self-discovery, but for me it had always been about getting my degree. I never had time for dating or boys because I was either studying, or I was working in a bar to pay off some of my student debt.
To me the opposite sex was a strange foreign and unexplored territory that I had never wanted to set foot in. But now I have this guy in my head and all I can think about is his voice and those beautiful brown eyes glowing amber in the moonlight.
'I am glad you like my eyes,' He said pleasantly.
"I was not thinking about you," I hissed, feeling all the blood in my body rushing into my face.
'I wish I was there to comfort you, but last night you were so upset I thought you should have some time to yourself to accommodate to your new situation.' He said.
I shook my head, "You are not real," I said firmly, "You are nothing more than a personal manifestation of my stress."
'Mia, I am in your head. I know you do not believe that.'
"Okay, that is enough of you," I said walking back into my bedroom and grabbing my MP3 player, "I need to stop talking to my mental break down and go to college."
'Wait Mia, you cannot go to class without feeding.'
"I have already eaten- I ate a big stick of stinky garlic bread so do not even think about kissing me!" I said taking unsteady breaths.
Flicking through my MP3 albums I found my heaviest rock anthem and pressed play. Heavy metal blasted through my ear buds blocking out all sound. If this guy was talking, I couldn't hear him now.
The dryness in my throat had also disappeared, and when I checked my reflection I saw that my fangs had disappeared and my teeth were now lovely and normal once again. Blissfully I sighed and carried on getting ready for college.
I left my dorm room with my music still blaring. The man inside my head had been silenced by the screaming vocals of my favourite rock band. Listening to the angry decibels I left my dorm hall and headed out into the November sunshine.
It was the first of November and I was wearing huge black sunglasses trying to shield my eyes from the brilliance of the sunlight. Looking at sunlight was trying to look at a 100 watt bulb after sleeping in a dark room. My eyes ached painfully unable to cope with dull November sunlight.
Halloween on campus was usually pretty spectacular. There was a long tradition of teepeeing rival halls and desecrating statues of long forgotten college professors with shaving foam and traffic cones. The college always threatened students with expulsion if they were caught vandalising college property but that never put anyone off. In fact most of the frat houses considered it a challenge.
I crossed the campus grounds and headed to my early morning seminar. When I got into the building I soon found that my black sun glasses look did not seem out of place. The whole college department was filled with hung over students and even lecturers wearing dark sun glasses.
I moved through the crowd towards the small seminar rooms at the back of the department. I had a feeling that not many people would bother turning up for today's seminar. Generally after any campus festivities that involved the consumption of lots alcohol there was a drop in university attendance.
When I got to the seminar classroom I noticed a white piece of paper stuck up on the door from the school's administration.
'Dear students,
Your normal seminar tutor has called in sick. However a replacement tutor has been called in to take your session today. He will be five minutes late because he has to get to college from out of town.
-admin'
See, even the lecturers skipped out on school.
I opened the classroom door and walked in. The classroom was empty which meant I had first pick of the desks. Strategically I walked to the side of the room and picked a desk next to the heater. Sitting down I began to unpack my books when several other students walked in.
"Did you see that guy in reception?" One of girls gasped.
"Oh God, I hope he is the stand in tutor." Another girl replied.
The door swung open again and guy I had never seen before walked in. The girls stopped chatting and their eyes widen, "Who is he? He is gorgeous," I heard someone whisper. The guy was handsome. He had dark chocolate eyes and brown sandy hair that swept scruffily across his face. His dress was simply and classic, dark denim jeans and white t-shirt. To my surprise he walked across the classroom and sat down at the desk next to me.
"Hey, is this post war policy?" He asked me.
"Yes," I replied, wondering who this guy was.
"Great, I'm a new transfer student. My name is Jacques." He said offering a hand.
"I'm Mia," I smiled politely taking his hand.
Jacques flipped my hand and suddenly brought it to his mouth and brushed his lips over my knuckles in a gentle kiss.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mia," Jacques replied returning my hand.
I took my hand and shoved it under the desk not knowing what to do or to say. The whole classroom had turned silent and I could feel the jealous stares of half a dozen girls tearing into me.
"We should have lunch together," Jacques announced loudly drumming his fingers against the desk.
"Yeah sure," I said weakly.
"Hey," he said suddenly rolling up his t-shirt sleeve, "What do you think of my tattoo?"
Jacques leaned towards me and showed me his incredibly toned arm covered in a sleeve of black tattoos. The other girls continued to watch, virtually drooling out the corners of their mouths. Nervously sitting in my chair I wished I could just shrink away from it all.
"The tattoo is very nice. Did it hurt?" I asked randomly trying to be friendly.
Jacques coolly raked his fingers through his hair and said, "No pain, no gain."
"I don't think I could ever get a tattoo. I'm scared of needles," I said.
"Well, if you ever wanted a tattoo I could always come and hold your hand," Jacques said softly.
At that moment the door of the classroom burst opened and the whole class jumped. Next to me I heard Jacques make an irritable sigh then mutter, "He's such a baby."
The substitute tutor walked in and the breath stilled in my lungs.
It was him.
It was the Prince of Darkness, he was here in my classroom and he was staring straight at me and Jacques.