Four

CHLOE

This was not how I had wanted the confrontation to play out. I wanted to meet with him and ask for an apology. That was my intention, but he had decided to deliberately provoke me and piss me by pretending he hadn’t done anything to me and didn’t recognize me.

I would have gotten into trouble if it hadn’t been for my friends, all because of someone who was not worth it. My perfect reputation as the perfect girl was ruined by him, and now I guess the entire college will remember me as someone who was always picking fights. My quiet life was ruined, as was my intention to leave college as a nobody. With this single act, I’ve made myself popular.

“Fvck!! I hate him so much that if you hadn’t intervened, I would have punched him in the face. I wanted to punch him in the face because he’s fvcking annoying!” I said it loud enough so that only my friends could hear me.

“And then what? Get yourself punished. You think this is a top-tier college where you can get away with anything? No, this is a small college where everyone counts, and breaking any of the school rules will result in disciplinary action. I'm guessing you didn't read the rules and regulations?” Diego questioned, and I shook my head.

Who cared about school rules? I wasn’t interested in school or anything else; I just needed to keep myself busy until I could meet the vampire king and avenge my parents.

“You have quite a fiery temper, young lady,” Diego said before pointing to the three of them, including himself, and saying, “I guess we are your knights who saved you from a big mess.”

‘Who cared about the mess?’ I said to myself, not bothering to respond and giving him a killer stare that scared him as he turned his chair towards his cousin.

The lecturer entered, and we began the day’s lectures, which lasted three hours. Today, I listened attentively to the lecturers who came in solely to make Trisha and Damien happy and make them proud of me.

When the classes were finished for the day, everyone left except him; he didn’t budge and just stared at me with a smirk on his face. I wanted to punch his smirk out of his face. I was about to approach him when I heard his voice in my head say, “WATCH OUT LITTLE ONE, YOU WILL BE SEEING MORE OF ME.”

Before I could process what he had said, he was no longer there and had disappeared. His words were still ringing in my ears. What did he mean when he said, “Watch out, I’ll be seeing more of him”? What did he think I was, a child to play with? I was a girl, but I wasn’t a weak one whom he could bully. I doubted I was the one he was referring to because, after all, was he requesting a death wish?

I hurriedly packed the rest of my belongings so I could meet Axel, Amalia, and Diego who had left on time to go get a space at the cafe across the college, which was always packed full during closing hours due to the many workers who would grab a thing ot two before heading home.

My walk to the cafe was quiet and slow. I kept thinking about what he had said and how my first day of school had been completely ruined because of an encounter with a vampire, a rude one at that.

“I think I’m ready to kill someone now, but how can I do so without facing the law?” I said this to draw their attention to me because they were so engrossed with their phones that they didn’t notice when I walked in.

“Who are you planning on killing this time?” Diego asked.

“Please don’t tell me it’s that guy we met in school, the one you almost punched a hole in?” Axel inquired.

“Yes, him. When we were alone together after class, he said something disgusting to me.”

“You were alone with him?” Diego asked.

“Yes, but that isn’t the point here.”

“You were alone with someone with whom you nearly lost your mind earlier? What did you do this time?” Diego asked.

“I didn’t do anything, and you’re mixing things up, he did something to me, not the other way around,” I yelled at them.

“Calm down, sis,” Axel urged. “What did he do to you this time?”

“I was minding my business when he approached me first.”

“Wait, Grayson came up to you?” Amalia questioned, and three pairs of eyes were on her. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She was taken aback by the fact that all eyes were on her, and Axel chuckled.

“Oh, you already know his name,” Axel chuckled.

“Nice one, Amalia,” I said, “the betrayal is real.”

“Don’t look at me like that, and don’t say that to me. Since your activities with him this morning, he has been the subject of discussion among all of the girls in school, as well as some of the guys. Oh, a group chat has already been set up for him so that people can talk about him and get to know him. Isn’t it amazing? He’s kind of famous now, and he’s hot,” Amalia gushed, and I scoffed.

“Hahaha, yes, he is amazing and arrogantly famous,” I remarked sarcastically.

“Hey, Chloe, relax. I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm. Right, Amalia?” Diego asked.

“Right, I don’t. Anyway, I got some good info out of it all. His name is Grayson, but I don’t know what his surname is. I heard he was expelled from his previous school. Something about driving a student to his death, but no evidence was found against him, so no one could hold him accountable, which is why he is here.”

She paused to take a sip of her drink before proceeding. “Some said he was proven innocent, but the stigma and shame of being looked down on didn’t allow him to stay, so he left, while others said his father pushed a few buttons, so he wasn’t jailed. He seems like a psycho to me,” Amalia concluded.

“That sounds like trouble to me,” Axel said.

Diego and Amalia both replied, “Big trouble.”

“That’s why you need to stay clear of him, like as far away from him as possible,” Amalia warned.

“Hmm, I guess it’s too late now,” I said quietly as if no one could hear me.

“What did you say?” Diego asked.

“Nothing,” I said, taking a sip from Amalia’s drink.

“Well, you should avoid him... so that’s that. What did you want to tell us about Grayson when you came in?” Amalia asked, recalling a topic I wished to avoid.

“Remember how I said nothing when you asked what I said earlier? There is something, and I don’t think I can get away from it, especially after what he said. I think I am his next target, and he intends to drive me to my death.”

“What?! What do you mean by that?” asked Axel.

“Well, he told me to watch out and that I’d be seeing more of him around, which smells like trouble to me. If what you said about him is true, I think he wants to torment me.”

“And are you scared?” Diego asked, and I shook my head.

“Wait a minute, a psycho said that to you and you weren’t scared until you heard what he did?”

“Why should I? I hate their kind and don’t care. I might as well make his life a living hell as well.”

“Then I guess he’d beat your ass into threads. How are you going to get away from him?” Amalia asked.

“I’m not going to. I’ll face him head-on. If you’re finished, we should get going because it’s 7 p.m. and I don’t want my parents to worry about me.”

We all said our goodbyes, and I began my walk through the dark alley to my house. I should have taken the bus home, but I wanted to walk to calm my nerves and figure out how to deal with the situation I’d found myself in. While walking, I became aware that I was being watched in the dark, but when I turned around to check, I couldn’t see anyone. I moved quickly, sometimes walking and sometimes running.

I started singing a song to get the image out of my head, which helped a lot until I got home. I opened the door and was immediately greeted by Trisha, who showered me with hugs and kisses and asked about my day. I was able to respond to all of them with a mixture of truths and lies.

I was told to freshen up and come down for dinner at ten o'clock, which I did quickly. Damien had a night shift today and would not be returning home. I excused myself after dinner and went to my room to do some work before going to bed.

I awoke sweating profusely. Having nightmares about my parents being killed had become a recurring part of my life, with me having to dream about them on a daily basis. I wanted for all of this to end, but that won’t happen unless I got rid of the vampire king.

I felt a cold wind blowing through my window and that’s when I noticed it: a shadow in the dark staring at me, its eyes glowing red as it did so. I quickly turned on the light beside my bed and the shadow was gone. I stood up to look around my room and found nothing. Shaken by the image of the shadow in my room, I quickly closed the window.

Glowing red eyes were no other than vampires. I was curious as to what they wanted or why they were in my room, and there was only one way to find out, which I knew I would do soon.