So, remember how I said something about knowing crazy vampire slayers?

I meant Buffy.

The revelation that there were people aside from me out killing vamps shouldn’t have been as shocking as it was. Vampires exist, of course there would be people to fight them.

The knowledge weighed heavy on me with the rest of the night.

I didn’t know what I was thinking. Adam was right. I am an idiot. If he hadn’t come, I would have ended up just like that girl - or that poor man in the bush.

Then again… why did he follow me?

The bus arrived early into dawn. The driver didn’t make much of my appearance, probably used to seeing beat up, worn out weirdos on the reg. I just sat in the back and fought the urge to sleep. Every street that passed I expected to see eyes in the shadows.

There were so many of them. I’d never seen a whole pack before, let alone sentient ones.

What did I even think I was doing? I was like animal control. Worse than animal control - at least they had a hotline. I just walked around in the dark, hoping to come across a monster. Why did I never consider they’d come in packs? What did I think I was going to do against the smart ones?

I needed help.

Every time I blinked, the sights and sounds came back to me. The blood, the screams. Needless death. And they liked to kill. Think it’s fun to chase, to torture. It’s not just a meal for the smart ones. It’s sport.

I scraped together what information I gathered. Now, it wasn’t about preventing these things from hurting people. It was survival.

First- Adam. Unknown variable. Could have killed me at any point, but saved me from being murdered. Could want to take me out when I get back.

Second - Eli and his group. Family? Coven? I never learned what to call a flock of vampires. Regardless, he wanted me dead. Sounded like there were rules. Territory? Did the hunters have territory?

Third - Silas. A vampire hierarchy made sense, but the way they talked about Silas set another stone to my gut. The lore never mentioned that bloodsuckers could get this organized. Eli made him sound like a mafia boss. Maybe this whole vampire collective thing happened recently. You don’t exactly think gangster when you look at Nosferatu.

Then, finally- The decapitator. Phantom, invisible thing. Whatever was out there slicing up heads, it followed me. And let me get away. Twice. Whatever it was, it put a fear in my bones that hadn’t existed since my caveman ancestors. The fear of a monster you can’t can’t see, can’t fight. And it’s way more powerful than you.

My phone buzzed and I dug it out of my pocket. It was Adam.

“When you get off the bus, go through the park. Don’t take the same route home.”

My stop was next. I should have guessed he knew where I was.

It was well into the morning when I made it to the park, though the safety of daylight didn’t stop me from hiding a stake up my sleeve. My shoes were soaked from the morning dew. I didn’t take the trail, opting to cut through the small copse of trees straight to my street.

Even all the way out here, those missing fliers were stapled to every other tree, the ink bleeding into a tie-dye mess from the humidity. Still, I could make out the image of the little boy in every flier. Smiling, holding a soccer ball. His parents must have died a little more each day he wasn’t found.

The thought was another knife-twist to my already raw emotional state.

I’m not ashamed to say I cried the rest of the way back.

My cheeks were dry by the time I got to the porch, though my eyes stung and my nose was puffy.

But I knew shit wasn’t over yet. I scrubbed my face with my sleeve as I fumbled with my keys. The door was already unlocked. That wasn’t good.

My body squeezed my adrenal glands for what little juice they had left. I was an animal who had been hunted all night and barely had any conscious thought anymore. Trap. Fight.

I slipped the stake from my sleeve, clutching it close as I nudged the door open.

As expected, it was dark inside. The dim fluorescent light in the hallway was off, and none of the lamps were on further inside. I crept into the hall, but kept the door cracked behind me.

My senses dialed up again. Every creak of the old floorboards rang out like a gunshot.

I peered around the corner into the living room. Nothing. Then to my left. Adam’s door was open… and so was mine.

Then - The door slammed shut behind me. It was pure instinct. I whipped around, one arm blocking me in front, the other raised the stake high.

Adam leaned against the door, arms folded over his chest. To say he looked unimpressed wasn’t accurate. He looked downright disappointed.

“If it was your intention to stab me, you might want to use the pointy end.”

I glanced up at my hand. The stake was backwards.

“It’s been a rough night.” I huffed, lowering my arm. “I’m not usually this inept.”

I don’t know why I felt the need to defend myself.

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smirk. “Having performance problems, are we?”

The tease caught me off guard, but the childish part of my brain threw out a retort before I could think better of it. “I’ve never had a problem getting it in. Become quite an expert over the years.”

“That’s what they all say.”

Yep. I was trading innuendos with my vampire roommate. Fantastic.

“But really,” said Adam, his charming face suddenly growing stone serious. “I had thought you knew better than to run off to a den by yourself. I’d long suspected you weren’t part of that little cult, but your foolishness all but proved it.”

“Hang on,” I held up a hand while my brain tried to catch up. “You knew I was hunting va- I mean, your kind?”

“Oh yes,” the smirk came back. Maybe more of a sneer, it was difficult to tell in the low light. “You think I wouldn’t investigate a stranger coming to rent my room?”

I squinted, struggling to work out how he would do that. I don’t have social media, or much of an online presence to speak of in general. That could only mean …

“You’ve been spying on me?”

He clicked his teeth. “I’d call it investigating, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“Why?” I blinked, incredulous. “Why let me live here? Why let me live in general? You could have torn out my throat at any point.”

“Curiosity.” He shrugged. Then, his teeth flashed through his widening smile. “There are only two kinds of women who would hunt alone. The fools and those with a death wish. I haven’t quite figured out which you are.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Doesn’t it?” He said, his voice pitched low, nearly a purr. It make the skin up my back prickle. “Why would I kill you? It’s far more entertaining watching you fight to survive. Every brainless thrall you took down, you learned something. Got a little more clever.”

I frowned. I should have been angry, but for some reason I was more embarrassed knowing my work was being judged from the shadows this whole time. “I can’t imagine you’d consider me a threat.”

“Not yet.” He said. “But you were getting there.”

“Then, why have me be your room mate?”

Adam looked far too pleased with himself. “Entertainment.”

He pushed off the door and stepped towards me; I took a step back. I had to crane my neck to look up at him, was he always that tall?

“The fact I had you within arms reach for weeks and you never suspected a thing, well.” He laughed. “That was rather amusing.”

“Now hang on.” I snapped. “I had my suspicions, I just didn’t want to say anything without proof.”

“I mean, I didn’t exactly hide it.”

“Don’t rub it in.”

“The sunglasses, the mirror, the meat-“

“Okay!”

My back hit the wall, and he gave me enough grace to allow a few feet of distance between us. Still, he could probably smell the rise in my blood pressure, or something equally creepy and unnatural.

“I didn’t want to just come out and assume you were a vampire. I thought I was being paranoid.” I put my hands on my hips, a futile effort to regain some composure. “You could have been, like, an albino or something.”

Then he laughed. Loud. Obnoxious. He didn’t even try to contain his amusement. He was suspiciously out of breath, considering he wasn’t, you know, alive. But when he finished, he made a dramatic show of wiping non-existent tears from his eyes. “You would really ignore every red flag in order not to appear rude.” He sighed. “That’s adorable.”

“Adorable?” I had it. All the exhaustion, all the fear- everything burned away, replaced by indignant pride. “Well, excuse me for trying to have some sense of decorum. For a vampire, you don’t seem to have the best sense of self preservation either, because I was an inch from staking you at any given moment.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t.” He drawled.

I thrust the stake up between us. “What would you do if I did?”

Adam just smiled, but there was no warmth in the expression. He closed the gap between us, looking down his nose at me, hands in his pockets. “Go ahead.” He murmured. “I won’t bite.”

Bastard. My heart was racing in my ears, and it took me far too long to realize I’d stopped breathing.

Adam bent down, his lips inches from my ear. “I thought so.”

I pressed the stake into his chin. “Back. Up.” I struggled to keep my tone even, hardly able to raise my voice above a whisper.

I could hear the smile in his voice. “There she is.”

He never touched me, but he didn’t have to. His words, his posture, his voice - I knew I was outmatched.

I kept pressure to the stake at his chin until he backed out of reach. He just stared at me, hands in his pockets, wry amusement etched in the shadow of his mouth. It was like staring down a hungry lion at the zoo, but without the comfort of bulletproof glass. My whole body screamed at me to run, but I stood my ground.

“I think I know what sort of woman you are.” He mused, his ruby eyes scanning my body from head to toe. “Good. You’re going to have a hard fight ahead.”

“Why?”

“It’s something best discussed over a drink.”

——(continued)——