The Vampire's Muse

At first, I thought it was death itself, coming to finally pick me up and drag me to the deepest crevice in hell where murderers like me belong in. But instead, as the man pulled down the hood of his dark robe that cast a shadow over his face, I found myself staring into a pair of—very much alive—bright red eyes. I shivered under his gaze.The warmth of the blood oozing out of the open wound on my stomach was seeping into my clothes and spreading all over my torso. The joints in my ankles burned. I wanted to move, to run away from the red-eyed man who was slowly approaching me. His skin was scarily pale—white, almost—that even under the dim moonlight, I could spot the veins under it. There was something sinister about him that I didn’t want to associate myself with, especially when I can’t defend myself.My right hand twitched. The absence of the familiar sensation of my callused fingers brushing against the leathered hilt of my knife confirmed my fears. My gaze peeled off of the myst

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strangely luxurious bed chamber. Floor to ceiling glass windows adorned one wall, letting the rather harsh sunlight stream into the room and making the white marble floors shine excessively. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with the back of my hand before squinting and blinking a few times to adjust to the sudden brightness.I propped myself onto my elbows carefully, expecting the pain from last night’s injuries to kick in even with the slightest movement, but was pleasantly surprised instead upon feeling nothing apart from the slight headache pounding against my temples.“What the hell,” I muttered to myself in disbelief and immediately jumped out of the bed. It was the softest bed I’ve ever laid on that it was difficult to fight the urge to go back to sleep. I hopped a couple times more, and true enough, my ankles felt alright. I looked down to inspect my body, and that’s when I realized that I was naked—weirdly unscathed, but naked. I rack

I watched my arrow speed through the wind until its blade finally sank into the dummy target made out of pieces of mismatched fabrics sown together and hay stuffing. Old buttons were used for eyes, and a thick line of thread formed a permanent frown onto its face. My arrow jutted out of its shoulder, many inches away from where its heart was supposed to be in if it had one. Sweat run down the sides of my face as my vision faded in and out for a fraction of a second once again. The frustration worsened the headache that was already pounding against my skull consistently for the past few days. The lack of sleep was probably catching up to me, and my body was paying the price. “Your aim is even worse today.” I quickly turned around to find Kyle walking past the slightly ajar barn doors to join me. He was holding a bow with one hand while a satchel and a quiver full of newly sharpened arrows were strapped across his torso. The afternoon sunlight behind him made his dirty blonde hair bri

I only realized the gravity of the situation I was in upon seeing Calum Reed sitting on the foot of his king-sized bed, wearing nothing but a bath robe and holding a flute of champagne in one hand. I’ve always thought how pale his skin was, but the sliver of chest muscle that peeked through his robe was much paler.Feeling undeniably self-conscious and embarrassed with each passing second, I visibly shrank into the identical robe I was wearing. My arms crossed over my chest in an attempt to hide myself, but I still felt as exposed as ever. When I noticed a sly, amused smirk form on his lips, I knew then that there was no use left to pretend that I wasn’t bothered at all.“Can’t we do this while dressed?” I asked him in a low voice while awkwardly hovering by his bedroom door and fiddling with the fabric of my robe. “I don’t see why I have to look like…this.”He gulped down the remaining contents of his glass before standing up to set it down on one of his bedside tables. For a moment,

“You called for me, sir?” I asked as I closed the door behind me. The captain looked up from his usual stack of job orders on his desk before gesturing towards a chair. “Ah, yes. Sit down, Avery.” I did as I was told. “Do you have a specific job for me, sir?” “Actually, yes. But it’s not an assassination, I just need you to investigate,” Mr. Morgan fished out a manila folder from one of his drawers and handed it to me. I quickly skimmed through the file and found documents about a certain drug ring operating in the city. “It’s a delicate case, so do treat it as such.” “Copy that,” I replied. I looked at the file once more and tilted my head in confusion. “But sir, if it’s okay to ask…Didn’t you tell me before that cases like these should be handed over to the kingdom?” “Yes, the king himself required our assistance.” “T-The king?” I sputtered. This never happened before, for as long as I can remember. And I should know since I’ve been in the force for ten years now while the guil