Standoff Begins

“Woman, I am your boss right now because you are in my town,” he replies.

“Unless you show me a badge, you don’t have the right to say a damn thing to me and last I checked this is a free country and I have broken no laws. So buzz off, pal.”

“Listen, sugar, I have lived here in Darkness Falls all of my life. I know you are an outsider, and I know you have no clue about the dangers in this town. You are a city kid, so go back to your posh little life,” he messaged.

“You know nothing about me. Why don’t you stop hiding behind a screen and approach me like a man so that I can slap that smirk off your face?”

“Lol, darlin’. You have a fire in you, I can see it from here. But you need to keep your head down and leave this bar for your safety,” he replies.

“So you can see me, but I can’t even look at you to flip you off. How is that fair?”

“Alright, fine…here,” he typed before he sent a picture. He’s at the bar and fuck! The picture wasn’t AI-generated on his profile! 

“Fine, but I am not leaving. I have business here in Darkness Falls.”

“Sugar, if that business consists of finding a date, you won’t find one here. Things work differently, and you will cause trouble, and that type of trouble should be the last thing you want. I want you safe and here isn’t it. Please leave, darlin’.”

“Seems like you’re the one looking for a date. You messaged me and I read your profile. Mine doesn’t say anything about looking for a date. So why the fuck did you message me?” I am getting so irritated, but my need for information keeps me from hitting the block button.

“Look, I only messaged you to warn you. A man behind you keeps glancing when you don’t notice. When I walked by your table, I saw you on this app. It took me a bit to figure out how it works to message you. You need to leave this bar and Darkness Falls before it’s too late,” he messages.

“Why didn’t you just slip me a note or tell me to my face?”

“I don’t want that guy to know that I am helping you.”

I roll my eyes. “Big Bad Bossy Man is scared of a rando. Now that makes me laugh.”

“Sweetheart, don’t talk about things that you know nothing about. I want to help you, but my patience is wearing extremely thin. The guy that I am talking about is right behind you now. Get up slowly and walk out.”

“The one in all black with a hoodie even though it is hot as the devil’s asscrack outside?” I ask.

“Yes, that guy. Stop looking at him.”

“He gives me the creeps. Is he on drugs or something?”

“Or something, he has been staring at you since you got here.”

“So have you, so why should I trust you?”

“Fair point, but everyone here knows me. So tomorrow, go and ask around. Just get out of here before that guy does something stupid, please, sugar, just go.”

“Fine, but I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Just go out the back and I will see you in five minutes.”

“I am not going anywhere with you.”

“You won’t because that creepy dude will follow you.”

I roll my eyes and down my drink. “Whatever, bye freak.”

As I stepped into the shadowy alley, an unsettling chill slithered down my spine, a premonition that proved all too real when a cold grip seized my arm. The creepy man from the bar was before me, and now he exuded an aura of predatory elegance. I could see his pale skin that glistened under the flickering streetlight, his eyes like dark voids craving feral hunger. “You will be the perfect dessert that I have waited for all night,” he says in a soft, almost hypnotic tone.

What the fuck is this guy? I thought he was just a creep. I try to fight him off, but he is so strong. He pulls me to him and bares my neck. I see fangs glint in the dim light. Just as his fangs grazed my neck, sharp and poised to pierce flesh, the sudden rush of footsteps echoed behind me. Frank emerged, a flash of warmth in this eerie dusk. Frank grabbed the guy with an odd strength, a grip that felt unnaturally firm and assured, as if he were not simply resisting but enforcing a boundary. “There is no hunting in city limits,” he growled, his voice a low rumble echoing the weight of the law behind it.