The Vampire and the Wallflower

Annika’s POV

In the chant of the black night, the stars were the choir. There were nights where they sang in an unusual pattern, singing a tone of death. A few minutes past ten, the once-cleared skies had transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black as the night laid down in a blanket of darkness.

I tilted my head skyward and she could see millions of stars beautifying the dark sky. The bright moon illuminates its light across the sky, down to earth. I wished I were a star, rather than a moon. I wished my life were so bright that it would illuminate that of others.

A lone tear dropped from my eyes as I held onto the can of beer in my hand. I raised it to the sky as if giving the sky cheers.

“If people do truly become stars when they die, let me become the brightest one.” I raised my palms and brought them together in a self-motivated prayer.

I smiled bitterly at my sad destiny. I wished things would’ve been different. I wished I hadn’t come back at the time I did. If I had stayed back a little bit, things would’ve been different. I picked up the last can of beer and gulped down the whole content without batting my eyes.

I thought if I changed my mind at the end, the alcohol would control it. I stood up from the edge of the bridge and held the railing tight as another bout of tears tore through my throat, and I had to swallow hard to stop myself from wailing.

TWO HOURS AGO

I walked out of my last class for the day as the first person. I didn’t want to mingle with others because I was shy. Still, I was smiling widely like almost every other student. I was glad that the professor had not turned up for the class, and I was ready to go home to meet my mother after she had been on a trip for months.

“Ann, don’t tell me you’re on your way home? We still have three hours to ourselves friend.” My best friend, Galina, hugged my shoulder as we got closer to the halls.

“You know my mom will finally be around after three months. I can’t wait to see her.” I grinned happily.

“Okay, mama’s girl. You should go see your lovely mom; I won’t stop you.” Galina threw her hand up in total surrender.

“I’ll tell her you called her lovely.”

“Maybe that’ll make her love me more, I guess. Since she doesn’t want to see me anywhere around you.”

“She’s just being protective of me,” I defended her mom.

“If you say so, Ann, but I hate to break it to you that you’ll be missing out a lot. I and Brad are going to the electrics today. The Electric Boys will be performing and budet veselo i potryasayushche.” (T: It’ll be fun and amazing.)

“Meeting my mother after such a long time is so much fun. I also have something important to tell her,” I explained.

Galina knew all of my secrets, both dark and funny. She knew what I was hinting at, and she had waited for so long for me to get justice.

“Call me as soon as possible; I want to see him locked behind bars. Okay, girl?” I nodded and we hugged, ready to depart.

“I’ll record some videos for you, especially that of VT; I know you love his face.” Galina winked at me before rushing away.

I watched as my childhood best friend ran off to meet her boyfriend. I smiled, thinking I was lucky to have a friend as amazing as Galina. I turned and began my journey towards home, towards the hurt that made me decide not to live anymore.

A wide smile made its way to my face as I saw her mom’s car parked right in front of our house. I hadn’t smiled that brightly in months, and I was glad my support system and my confidant were back in my life.

I had tried so hard to tell her about it on the phone, but I didn’t want my mother to get worried, so I kept it to myelf for months even though it happened more than twice. I endured, hoping my mother would get justice for me.

The front door was slightly opened, and I frowned at the careless action. Before I could open my mouth to caution my mother as I walked into the house, the mention of my name made me stop in my tracks just a step away from the kitchen door.

“Annika might tell you about it when she gets back. I heard her telling her friend on the phone the other night,” my stepfather informed my mother.

“If she had endured it for that long, I guess she would have enjoyed it. So, why wait for me to return before taking any actions?” My mother laughed, and my heartbeat increased rapidly. My fingers began shivering, and I hoped I didn’t hear what I had just heard.

“I don’t know, but what will you tell her once she informs you?”

“Don’t worry about that, honey. I’ll sort her out before she can open her filthy mouth to the police.”

“Talking of filthy, I kinda miss her mouth.”

“That should stop already. I only gave you access to my daughter so that she could fill my position for the time being, not for you to own her completely.”

I gasped as tears rolled down my face. I used my hand to cover my mouth so as not to let them notice the interruption.

I must have heard wrong! I kept on convincing myself.

“Annika.” The sudden call of my name made me raise my head from the floor, and with eyes widened, my mother was looking at me.

“Annika, what are you doing back home so early? Why are your eyes…Did you hear everything?”

“I heard everything you said—everything.”

Before my mother could say anything else, I ran out of the house. The first thing I did was throw my phone away. I had always contemplated suicide for the past three months, but I couldn’t because I always thought of my mother, but now, nothing else mattered. No one else mattered.

TWO HOURS LATER

I held the railings and leaped to the other edge of the bridge, without a partition to the large body of water. At the other end, I saw a figure; it wasn’t clear, but I could see it was a man dressed in black. I tried getting a better look, but I stopped myself and cautioned myself from getting distracted.

I felt something was watching me from behind, and when I turned, I saw it was a black vulture, perching on the railings. I could see its white eyes and red eye rings, rolling repeatedly.

I swallowed hard as fear gripped me to my bones.

“Shoo.” I tried chasing the vulture away. The vulture flapped his feathers and flew away as I wanted.

As I heaved a deep sigh of relief, a dark memory came to me, and for the last time, a lone tear dropped from my eye. I let go of the railings and jumped right into the water.

I wanted to be free! That was my only wish.

Andro’s POV

The hem of a skirt was the first thing I saw. She was moving, no, she was running and this time, I could see her face properly. She was crying. She suddenly stopped when it started raining to get cover and before long, the dream had changed, she was moving again. Walking so slow it could affect the night. She entered a night store and got some beer before walking out of the door. The next thing I saw was her sitting on the edge of the bridge, resting her back against its railing, looking up to the sky as a lone tear dropped from her eyes.

The sudden interruption of my phone’s ringing tone woke me up unexpectedly. I sat up and looked around me as confusion set in. I soon realized I was still in my office, waiting for some of my boys to get back with the details of the job I sent them.

I’ve always dreamed about this particular girl but not for once had I seen her face, this was the first time I’ll be seeing her face. But I had this feeling that something bad was about to happen.

My phone started ringing the second time, and when I picked it up, I realized it was Adonis. A brother of mine. I allowed myself to relax a minute before I finally picked it up.

“Hermano.” (T: Brother.)

I grinned before replying, “I told you I don’t understand any of your silly language, родной брат.” (T: Brother.)

I called him a brother in my language as well. I always had a thing for Greek but since I never understood it as much as I tried, I stopped learning.

“How have you been, Andro?” Adonis asked.

Adonis is one of us. A special being as well and he’s one of the four of us that I know. If you remove the irrelevant King of ours, that’ll make us three.

“I’m good, how about you? Still going after those красивые и молодые девушки,” I teased. (T: Pretty and young girls.)

“Well, I’ve been a good boy,” he replied.

“Good, tell me, Adonis, what’s the situation? You never call for no particular reason,” I asked. I knew Adonis only called me when something was bothering him. It wasn’t necessary to mention it, but I needed to because I was supposed to be in a haste. To save someone I’ve only met in my dreams.

"Vampire hunters."

"Where, when, and how many are they?" I asked angrily.

Unfortunately, I’ve had my fair share of what Vampire hunters are capable of and it kills me anytime I hear of one.

"Calm down Andro. I saw only one, but I took care of him already and I know the others would soon start showing up as well. I'm just worried about someone in particular and I need your help with relocating."

"Who's this special someone?" I asked.

"Is that the only thing you heard in all I had said?"

"Of course. So, tell me about this special sister or brother."

"I didn't say anything special. I only said, someone."

"When was the last time you said anything about anybody?" I asked and he couldn't find an answer.

"Fine! She's special."

"I said it!"

A thought suddenly came to my mind.

"Wait! Did you find the female vampire? Is she the ‘special person’?" he asked excitedly.

"No, this one is human."

"You're kidding, right?" I never expected Adonis to be the one to fall in love with a human girl. There must be something about her.

He hesitated before replying. "I'm dead serious. I have this deep connection to her, and she affects me in such a way that makes me feel powerful, different, and…"

"She's your Emerthus," I concluded. (T: Mate.)

"I think so."

Emerthus meant soulmate in the Vampire world. Your Emerthus was someone who called to your soul, and having a human soulmate wasn’t a rare thing. It was usually common.

"I don't know how you're going to do it but let me wish you good luck," I finally replied.

"I know it won't be easy. Fuck! So far, it hasn't been easy."

"Just go easy on her, Adonis. Always remember that she's human."

"Thank you, Andro. As I said, I want to relocate but that'll be after I've made her mine successfully."

"Just call me anytime you're ready, I'll take care of everything including the paperwork."

"Thank you, Andro. Make it for two people by the way."

I laughed. "You're so pussy whipped. Best of luck winning her over and if you fail with your lousy attitude, my shoulder will be here to cry on."

"That's if I don't break it."

"I'll think you said that," I replied.

I stood up from the chair and walked towards the cage of the bird I’ve had for over a hundred years. Sending it to look for the girl is the best option because going by myself would have taken too much time.

“Go, Raven.” I sent the vulture out with my dream charms. She flipped her wings at me before flying out through the window. I proceeded to pick up my black suit and walked out of the office.

My driver was already waiting and as soon as he saw me, he opened the door. I told him to keep driving without giving him a specific location. I had to keep moving till I received a location from Raven.

As soon as I closed my eyes, the dream came back to haunt me. This time she was holding the bridge and was about to leap to the other side. The direction of the dream changed and the next thing I saw was the bridge name.

“Blue Crossroads, now!” I yelled at my driver, and he stepped on the gas, changed lanes in the middle of traffic, and kept on going as fast as he could.

We were already at the bridge in about five minutes, but unfortunately enough, I was on the other side. True to my dreams, I saw the girl, standing on the edge of the bridge. I noticed Raven was behind her and almost instantly, she chased the bed away. Raven flew to my side, and I touched his beak. It’s an appreciation sign. As I began walking to her side of the bridge, she suddenly let go of the railings, and the next thing I noticed was that she jumped.

I stood rooted at a spot, shocked and angry at what she just did. For a second, I couldn’t think or move from a spot. Witnessing that made my heart hurt. It was as if someone or something was pulling at the cords of my heart.

When I recovered, I brought out my phone and made a call. Within thirty minutes, her body was recovered from the water.

“She’s still breathing but her heartbeat is faint. We could lose her any moment from now,” the medical personnel who had come with my men explained.

“Take her to my place,” I instructed my men as her body was placed into the emergency ambulance.

“Are you insane, Andro? She could die. Even taking her to the hospital doesn’t guarantee her surviving,” the medical personnel yelled at me, “I called you here, right? Now, I don’t need you anymore. You can go,” I instructed him. I collected the key to the ambulance and gave it to one of my men to drive. I sat with the girl at the back of the ambulance.

From the heartbeat monitor, I knew she would possibly die any moment from now, so immediately I felt the ambulance moving, I pulled her body up and tilted my neck towards hers.

“I’m sorry I have to turn you without your permission, but this is the only way to save you.” I revealed my fangs and bit her deep in her neck to turn her.

The changing process was like gambling. It could change her, or it could kill her. I’d only find out after a few days. But till then, I focused on reaching her Vena Cava, the superior neck vein that carried blood to the heart and lungs.

She started shaking in my hands, for more than two minutes. After that, she stopped, I placed her body back on the ambulance bed gently. I couldn’t take my eyes off the beautiful brunette who had not only occupied my dreams but yet, she’s about to make my reality a living hell.

The ambulance stopped and the back door was opened by my most trusted employee, Stefan. I carried her body and walked out of the ambulance. As I entered my apartment, I opened the door leading to my room, placed her on the bed, and covered her with the duvet.

I walked out and went straight to my kitchen, I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt, poured myself some blood, and sat on the stool closest to the window. As I tasted the blood, I spitted it out, it tasted nothing like her blood. I had to control myself from going upstairs and feeding on her.

I could hear footsteps behind me, and I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.

“Do you think she’ll survive the process?”

“We’ll have to wait and see,” I replied.

“For how long?”

“Go to bed, you shouldn’t bother yourself about that, Stefan. A new day might give us the answer to that which you find.”