It all started when I was seventeen, I was out with some friends one night. I had decided to separate from my friends and take a walk down the street myself. I passed by a dark alleyway when a man came flying toward me and grabbed me into the alleyway. Scared out of my wits, I prayed that he wouldn't kill me. He threw me against the hard brick wall and held me there.
He pushed my body so hard against the brick wall that I thought my bones were going to be crushed. His head slowly came toward me and I could feel his pungent breath on my neck, his mouth inched closer to my jugular and I knew in that instant I might die. I closed my eyes and waited; suddenly there was a sharp pain as the man bit down on my neck. I screamed a cry of despair and the images of vampires, dark alleyways, and virgin blood flew across my mind. What was happening to me? Vampires don't exist. I could barely hear the sounds of the street life as this 'vampire' drank my blood.
I heard footsteps shuffling toward us and I thought "my god, please don't let there be more." The footsteps stopped suddenly, "Hey let her go," a voice whispered behind us. The 'vampire' turned around and there were two more men standing there. One had a stake in his left hand while the other stood there smiling. I felt relief wash over me.
The 'vampire' snarled at them both and said, "Why should I let her go? She's only food." "However true that may be, my friend…." The shorter man started.
"She is an innocent girl, you will leave her alone," said the taller man.
"NO!" screamed my 'vampire' attacker. He lunged at my rescuers and they began to fight. He left me standing there against the wall petrified. The fight lasted only a few minutes and my attacker was lying on the ground with a stake in his chest. I could not breathe. I could not believe my eyes. This was not normal.
"Oh my God," I cried before I collapsed to the ground. I couldn't believe what had just happened. The shorter man dashed toward me and scooped me up and held me while I cried. I saw his partner grab my assailant and start asking him questions. Unfortunately, for him, he couldn't speak since there was a stake in his chest. After a few moments of interrogation, the older, taller looking man quietly snapped my assailant's neck. His friend stepped back and looked at me. He pushed back my hair and saw the bite marks and sighed.
"We didn't get to her in time. He bit her," he said aloud looking at his friend, "are you okay," he asked me. I nodded to them and gave a small smile. The shorter man held my chin and looked me in the eyes (my god his eyes were intense!) and asked me if I remember what happened. I nodded again and told him what I knew.
"Who the hell was that?" I ask them. They looked at each other and kept silent. This made me angry and I repeated my question.
"Well?" I ask again.
"Can you find somewhere more private so we can talk," the taller man asked. His partner shook his head and led me out of the alleyway. We walked for a few minutes when we found a secluded restaurant and sat down.
"My associate will be along in a few minutes. Has to clean up his mess he made," the strange young man told me.
A server came up to us and asked if we wanted anything to drink; both he and I declined. I don't think I could have handled anything liquid. I just saw a man be killed. I searched around for a restroom and found it in the back of the restaurant. I got up headed toward there. My head was swimming with a thousands thoughts that I knew I couldn't comprehend unless I had answers and even then I don't think I would believe it. I stepped into the ladies room and walked over the sink counter. What I saw was horrific; I was bleeding from the neck. With trembling hands I pushed my hair back from my face and neck. Closing my eyes I slowly opened them and saw the bite marks. I nearly cried out in anguish. The bite marks were real; I had been bitten.
How was I to explain what had occurred? I touched the bite mark and winced. It was sore and tender. I hurriedly grabbed paper towels and cleaned my neck off. I couldn't stand the sight of the blood. Blood didn't bother me, but seeing my own blood outside of my body disturbed me. When I got back to the table, the second man had arrived. I stopped short of them and they looked up at me and motioned for me to sit down.
Sitting down carefully, I looked at them expectantly. They had some explaining to do and I wanted answers.
"So, what would you like to know," the older man asked.
"Well first of all, I would like to know your names," I told them.
The older one cleared his throat and spoke, "Well I am Shayne Ladd and my friend here, Nikolaus Klein."
"I see; what do you both do for a living?"
"I'm a Private Investigator and Nikolaus is a Foreign-Exchange Trader. We're based in New York." Shayne said.
"Why are you both here? In Nashville of all places?"
"Well that's a bit harder to explain," Shayne started.
"Basically someone stole money from me and I wanted it back. Shayne and I followed him to Nashville to retrieve my stolen money. You, on the other hand, just got in his way. We were not expecting him to try and take a hostage," Nikolaus finished.
Nodding to verify that I believed their story I motioned for them to continue, but they stayed silent. This was getting ridiculous; I was waiting for them to tell me what I saw wasn't real. That it was all in my head. We continued to sit there for what seemed like an eternity until I finally got upset. Taking the hint that they wasn't going to tell me anymore about themselves; I got up and started to walk out the restaurant.
"Hey, hey, hey; where do you think you are going?" Nikolaus asked me standing up as well.
"I'm leaving. What do you think I'm doing?" I said turning to face him.
"Why are you leaving? You have questions. We can't answer them unless you ask them," Nikolaus pointed out.
He held out his hand for me to take. I took it and felt the coolness of his hand and he led us back to our table to sit down. Sitting down once again I felt the tension thick in the air. I could almost swallow it if I wasn't so nervous about asking them what I saw. Taking a deep breath, I continued my interrogation.
"So," I said smiling, "What did I see earlier? Before you answer, please be honest with me because I don't think I could handle lies."
"What do you think you saw?" Nikolaus asked.
"I don't remember seeing much. All I know is that some guy grabbed me, threw me up against a wall; bit my neck and started drinking my blood." I said.
"What you saw wasn't your imagination. It was real. He was real." Shayne said.
I gasp, "Then he was a…."
"Yes, he was a vampire." Nikolaus confirmed.
I stared at him as if he was an idiot. What was he talking about? Vampires do not exist, "Umm…I thought vampires didn't exist. So, you're telling me that they do?" I asked.
"Yes, we're telling you they exist. Of course, not very many humans know they do," Nikolaus confirmed.
"Oh, but why tell me? I mean you could have denied that what I saw was my imagination. That it wasn't real," I asked.
They looked at each other. I could see their lips moving but I could not tell what they were saying. This continued for a few minutes longer until I spoke up.
"You know that's kind of rude." Their heads snapped to look at me. I smiled at them. They were caught. Shayne cleared his throat and looked around. He saw a bunch of girls walking toward us.
"I think those are your friends," he said pointing. I turned to look and groaned. They always had a way of showing up when I did not want them too. They spotted me and started waving like idiots. I grimaced and waved back. I turned to look at Nikolaus and Shayne. They had disappeared. I looked around and searched my eyes for them. I could not find them anywhere.
My friends were upon me. They started asking me questions. Stupid questions really. I tuned them out. My thoughts were on Nikolaus and Shayne. Where had they gone? My eyes still searched around. I could not spot them.
"Hey what's this?" My friend Amy asked picking up a card. I grabbed it from her and she gave me a mean look. It said, "Don't worry; we'll finish this conversation later. –NK & SL"
"Ooohh…who is NK & SL?" Sarah asked.
"Um, no one," I replied.
"Yea right Isabel, you know who they are. We saw you sitting with two guys. Who were they?" Jennifer asked.
"They were no one. Now can we drop the subject? Please?" I snapped.
"All right; all right. We will go," Amy said. We turned and left the restaurant. We took a turn and headed back to the car garage. A few minutes later, we were on our way home. On the way home, my thoughts were on Nikolaus, Shayne, and the note they had left me. What did they mean about finishing the conversation later? My friends had the music up and were dancing and singing to the latest hits. I was in no mood for it. I just wanted to go home and sleep.
When I finally got home, my family was asleep. Good. I did not want to bother with them right now. I had bigger things on my mind. I did not want to tell them that I had been attacked tonight and bitten by a vampire. I snuck into my room and collapsed on top of my bed with the note still in my hand.
I awoke the next morning with something that felt like a hangover. My head was pounding and my neck was sore. I sat up and looked around. The world seemed changed but stayed the same. Everything in my room was the same, the walls, the curtains, my bedspread. I guess that happens when something in your life changes dramatically. I got up and clean myself up as well as I could. I tried hiding the bite marks but it was futile. They were there to stay until they healed. Then I got an idea. I rummaged around my drawers and found some make up. This would work; I fixed it up nice and left the bathroom.
Later that day, I was in the game room when my stepmom told me I had guests. Guests? Who wants to see me? If it were one of my friends, they would have walked down stairs. I ignored her and kept playing pool. I was already on my third or fourth game today and was getting better each time I played.
I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned and saw it was Nikolaus and Shayne. How did they find out where I lived? Shayne told me last night he was a PI, so maybe that is how. Both had a look of concern on their faces. I was curious now. I set the cue stick down and leaned against the table. I looked at them and waited for one of them to speak. When they did not talk, I got irritated. Men. They do not like to speak up.
Therefore, I started, "So, how did ya'll find me?"
"We looked you up?" Shayne said.
"Uh huh, you looked me up. Right." I said sarcastically.
"We did, actually. A few clicks on the internet and you can find anyone," Nikolaus said.
I said nothing. He walked toward me and placed a hand on my neck. Turning it slightly, he saw the makeup covering the bite marks.
"You know those will go away in a few days. Why did you cover them up?" he asked.
"Because I didn't want my folks to start asking questions. I do not think they would understand. They would probably think I was hurting myself or something," I explained.
He nodded, "Well we don't want that to happen."
"You play?" he said motioned to the pool table.
"Yes, almost every day." I said.
"Shall we?" he asked smiling.
"We shall." I said handing him a cue stick. He set up and broke; knocked in two of the same kind. Nice. We battled back and forth for about twenty minutes playing. He was very good, but so was I. Shayne stood back and watched us play. I teased him and said he could play the winner. He laughed and said he would rather play the loser. A few minutes later, Nikolaus popped the 8-ball in the socket and the game was over.
"Nikolaus, I thought you were a better player than this?" Shayne asked.
"I am. It is just that Isabel is a natural opponent. She's very good," he said.
"I could tell…." He started, "I'll be back in a moment." He walked off and we heard him talking on his phone.
"So, I'm that good?" I asked.
"Yes, you are. You are better than Shayne and he and I have been playing for years." He replied.
Smiling, I hopped onto the table, letting my legs dangle. He came up and stood in front of me. I finally got a close up look at him. I mean he was handsome (no doubt about that), dark eyes, dark hair, full lips.
"So, you a Foreign-Exchanger Trader. Why did you chose that job title?" I asked.
"Because, I wanted to make a lot of money in a short time." I raised an eyebrow, "and it's because I get to play with other people's money." He said smiling.
"Uh huh, so what does a Foreign-Exchange Trader do? Other than playing with other people's money?" I asked.
He laughed, "Well I look at the various factors that influence local economies and rates of exchange, then takes advantage of any misevaluations of currencies by buying and selling in different foreign exchange markets."
"Did you steal that out of a dictionary," I asked laughing.
He laughed again, "No, I didn't. That is the short version of what I do. Every day, every hour of every year."
"Sounds like a lot of fun," I said.
"It is," he said coming closer to me. My breath hitched and my heart started beating faster. I could almost imagine his lips on my neck, his hands on my body. My body shuddered a bit. What was he doing to me? Why was I having these thoughts? I barely knew this guy.
"About that vampire last night, was he a friend of yours?" I asked.
"No, he wasn't. He was an employee. Caught me doing something he should not have seen and decided to blackmail me. I paid him the money and he took off like a bat out of hell. So, with Shayne's help, we went after him," he explained.
"Uh huh and what were you doing to get blackmailed?" I questioned.
"Having a bite." Was all he said. I looked at him. A bite? Does that mean he is a vampire too?
"Can I trust you to not say anything? It is imperative that you do not repeat what I am going to tell you without permission," he asked me. The seriousness in his voice made me realize that this was something big.
"Yes, you can trust me." I said.
He leaned forward and whispered, "I am a vampire." He pulled back and looked me in the eye. I wish he were joking, but the look in his eyes said different.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes, really. I am. Have been since 1591. I was twenty four when I was turned." He said, "You don't believe me?"
"Not sure. My experience with vampires is….. limited. If I'm truly going to believe you then you might have to prove it." I said smiling.
"Proof? What kind of proof would you like?"
"Whatever works for you," I said. I was almost tempted to offer my neck or wrist to him, but I was going to let him chose.
He stood there for a moment, contemplating on whether he should bite me or not. He reached down and took my wrist. A shiver went through me as his hand touched mine. He raised my wrist to his mouth, kissed it softly, looked at me and 'changed'. His eyes turned a dark sapphire blue and his front teeth elongated to show fangs. He leaned his head forward and bit my wrist.
I moaned feeling his lips on my skin, his fangs piercing my flesh, the gentle sucking where he bit me. I could almost feel the blood leave my body. This was exhilarating. I had never felt something like this. The biting that took place was nothing compared to this. I closed my eyes and let the sensations roll me. Unfortunately, the fun didn't last long, Shayne walked back into the room.
"Nikolaus?!? What are you doing?" he exclaimed walking toward us. Nikolaus lifted his head and stared at him.
"What do you think I'm doing? Isabel let me feed on her," he said. While they were arguing I took my wrist back from Nikolaus's hand and looked down at it. Obviously, there were two puncture marks and some blood on my wrist. As soon as his mouth left my wrist I instantly felt his absence.
Nikolaus turned to me and I smiled. I wanted more of it. More of him. I wanted to feel his mouth on my skin, his hands on my body, hear his voice, and to look in his eyes when I spoke to him.
Shayne turned to me, "Why did you let him feed on you?"
"Because I wanted proof that he was a vampire. That's why." I said.
"Why would you need proof?" he asked.
"Sometimes you can't take someone's word for what they tell you. You might have to acquire proof." I explained.
"Well we have to go," Shayne said.
"We do?" Nikolaus asked.
"You do?" I asked.
"Yes, we do. We have a flight to catch and I got a new case to start." He said.
"Well why don't you leave and I'll follow behind," Nikolaus said looking at me. I could feel a pull between him and me. I had to force myself from closing my eyes. God, I wanted him. Maybe he should leave. If he didn't there might be serious repercussions that I didn't want on my mind. I could almost see us on the pool table, half naked, hands searching, exploring, tasting, and teasing.
Nikolaus looked at me again. Maybe he felt it too and knew what might happen if he stayed. He shook his head and agreed that it was best to leave. Turning back to me, he gave me a kiss on the cheek. It took all my will power to not grab his head and kiss him fully on the mouth. He lingered for a moment, debating whether to kiss my mouth. Thinking it might not be a good idea in front of Shayne, he finished the kiss and they turned to leave.
I watched them walk up my stairs and disappear from my sight. This had been one interesting 36 hours. I knew now that vampires truly did exist and that I was mentally, emotionally, and sexually attracted to one. Wonder what would come next?