Felix was out the door before I could say anything else and I had to follow him. As soon as I stepped out, he locked the door behind me. I kept looking at him and hoping that he would tell me that he was joking (considering I mentioned it earlier) but he didn’t say anything as he pushed the elevator’s button and waited for the doors to open. We then stepped into the elevator and stood alongside each other. I recalled how he was gripping my wrist and decided to look. Sure enough, it was almost black and it hurt when I flexed my hand. Great. Even so, this wasn’t enough to distract me from what he had said. I glanced at him again and he made an expression of pure annoyance. He said, “Stop it.”“Tell me you’re lying.”“I’m lying.”“Are you?”He narrowed his eyes at me and looked away. “You can’t be serious,” I argued as we stepped out into the lobby. To my absolute surprise, it was nighttime. But it couldn’t be the same day. I slept for a long time up there. Did I end up sleeping for
I didn’t dare to look over my shoulder. I was too scared. Felix kept his eyes on the people who entered. I didn’t know how many of them there were. I just assumed they were more than one. I couldn’t drink the coffee anymore. My mouth was too dry for that. “Should we leave?”“Not yet.”I was extremely curious to know but I kept looking at Felix so I wouldn’t bring unnecessary attention to ourselves. “When can we leave?”Anger flashed in his eyes. “Just wait for instructions, alright? Quit asking so many questions.”That shut me up fairly quickly. Felix’s posture remained relaxed and his face didn’t give away that he was at all bothered or uncomfortable. I heard them talk to the waitress and she answered that the food would be right up. I didn’t notice anything strange from her voice, either. She just sounded bored. After about five minutes, Felix called her over and asked for the bill. The diner was a little too silent and I could feel the tension. Maybe it was all in my head, but
Our journey came to an end when we stopped in front of a bleak mansion. This was exactly the kind of place I had in mind when I entered Felix’s clean apartment in the city center. Although the whole building with its old and creaky elevator made sense, this place right here suited him even more. The place looked like it had been around for many years, which was probably the case. It also looked haunted. It was in a residential area that was surrounded by modern homes and clean front yards. This place was the complete opposite. The grass hadn’t been watered in forever—they probably counted on the rain for that—and the tree up front was blackened like it had been on fire once and just…carbonized. “This is it,” Felix answered before crossing the front yard. We stopped when we reached the front door. There was no doorbell, I noticed. Felix raised his fist and knocked. I strained my ears to hear some movement from inside the house but it was as silent as a grave. It was startling when
I carefully slid out of bed, not wanting to make a sound. I didn’t hear the scream again but I was sure that I hadn’t dreamt it. Someone was screaming somewhere in this manor and I was alarmed. I wanted to know what it was. I had to know if I was safe. I quickly neared the door. I couldn’t remember whether it creaked or not when he opened it but I would have to take a chance. I turned the knob tentatively and sure enough, the door didn’t make a sound. I stepped out into the hallway. I wasn’t wearing my boots so I wouldn’t make a sound but I was tempted to go back and get them, just in case I would have to run. They’d be something unnecessary to carry, though, so I ignored it and kept going. I tiptoed all the way to the stairs. It was easy even though the whole area was dark. Before I reached it, I lowered myself to the floor and peered through the balusters. I could clearly see the dining area. To my absolute horror, I saw what the source of all the noise was. There was a woman s
I woke up hours later. It was disorienting that the room was still dark. It felt like the night would never end. I sat up and stretched my hands over my head. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. They felt a little heavy from all the crying I did but I wasn’t too concerned about it. I contemplated getting out of bed and venturing downstairs. I trusted that it was around daytime because it wasn’t all that probable that I slept through the day. Konstantin would be sleeping and Felix, too. I sighed before lifting the covers from my body. The manor was silent, as expected. As I tiptoed down the hallway, I suddenly remembered the woman that was strapped to the dining table. Would she still be there? If so, I’d turn right back. I didn’t have the stomach to see that first thing in the morning. Or afternoon or whatever the time of day was. When I stopped to peer through the balusters, I saw that the table was empty. Not only was it empty, it also had platters of fruits and cheese right on top.
I was unwell for the better part of the night. I couldn’t get that horrible scene out of my head. Her screams for help were still with me, echoing in my mind. I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t do a damned thing to save her. And on top of that, I couldn’t show judgment because then, they’d get offended. That was absolute bullshit. What they were doing was wrong and I didn’t care what they said about it. The death of a human was always something saddening. They treated us like prey but we weren’t that. We would never be that. We had families and friends, and that girl would be missed. Everyone was remembered by at least one person. I cried for her. My heart ached for what he had done to her. She was young and innocent, and he had no right to make her a meal. I was willing to die on this hill if necessary, but I wasn’t going to agree with them. I didn’t eat the rest of the basket. I felt like I would never again eat anything in all my life because of how full I felt. Full with grief a
Konstantin and I remained seated at the table.He appeared to be focusing on the wall behind me. I felt unsettled because his expression didn’t change and his face was almost scrunched. I didn’t hear a sound but I guessed that he did. I didn’t ask him what the matter was. I waited. He would tell me eventually if it was something bad and I would follow his instructions. Until then, all I could do was sit next to him and wait for whatever this was to pass. The pupils of his eyes were larger than before. It was a somewhat scary sight. I had never seen pupils so large before. I didn’t dare to move. I felt like I would distract him in some way. I strained my ears in hopes to hear something but so far, nothing. I hadn’t heard what he did. I didn’t sense a threat. “Hide, guest,” he said in a voice a little above a whisper. He didn’t sound at all bothered and I didn’t know whether he was being serious or not. “Things are about to get complicated.”Konstantin stood up slowly. Majestically.
I looked up and was both shocked and amazed at what I saw. He was flying above us for a few seconds before he landed on the ground and became the Konstantin I knew. His wings transformed into the robe, and his hair fell all over his face, giving him a menacing appearance. He was a…bat. An extremely large bag with mostly human features, but an animal nonetheless, which explained the look on his face I saw earlier. It wasn’t human whatsoever and now I understood why. This was pure insanity. The werewolves stepped between him and I. One was still a man and the other still a wolf. Konstantin’s eyes were red and the sneer on his face was wider than before. He looked truly terrifying and looking at him now made me wonder how I managed to sit beside him and have a somewhat decent conversation with him. He was a monster. I was sure of that now. It reminded me of when Felix said that he might be the original vampire. He sure fit the roll perfectly. Vampires were bats in some stories, so