The desolate hallway was long and echoey. The walls were a dark grey and looked like they had never been cleaned, which brightly contrasted with the pristine white tiled floor. The end of the hallway seemed to glow with a soft orange light, while around me was darkness. The light seemed to beckon to me. I couldn't see what lay ahead after the light, but I continued nevertheless. I was terrified of the dark. Too many stories had monsters born from darkness.
I glanced uneasily behind me and back to find a figure had appeared ahead of me. A girl. She walked briskly with an air of importance, as though she needed to be somewhere. She wore a long, black coat that flowed down onto the floor and trailed behind her like a shadow. None of her skin was visible, yet I knew, without doubt, that she was female. I called to her; she didn't turn around. When I blinked, she'd disappeared.
A low pitch groan sounded behind me, and I spun towards the sound. The hallway didn't give anything away; it was like a closed book, not giving away any secrets. Was someone in trouble? Was she in trouble? She was my only way out of here, but there was something that made me want to hunt her down. I shook my head. No, I didn't. I just wanted her to tell me where I was and how to get out.
I reached a door that was swinging, it hinges making the moan I'd heard earlier. Sighing, I turned, only to see the girl was right behind me.
"Hello," she said. Her cloak obscured her face. I wanted to pull it off badly. "What are you doing here? Don't you know that this place is dangerous and off-limits?"
This caught my attention. "Off limits?"
"Yes. I am the guard'." She gestured up and down the hallway and tilted her head back slightly, just far enough for me to catch an amused half smile. "Many dangerous creatures are here, you know. Demons." She pushed me away from the orange light. I allowed her. "You should get out fast. They're very quick with their kills."
It was like I was under someone's control. My head grew fuzzy, I couldn't think clearly. Why did I trust this girl? Frowning to myself, I turned, wrenched the cloak off her face, and gasped.
Chocolate brown hair sat in curls around her shoulders, framing pale angular features. Symmetrical bright, sky-blue eyes blinked at me. She looked so young, so harmless, so perfect, that I relaxed immediately. Part of my brain warned me something wasn't right, that I should run. The thought was forgotten immediately under her gaze.
She studied my reaction for a few moments before flashing a sinister smile that revealed white, pointed teeth. "You'll do," she purred, and cocked her head. A low, unintelligible sound came from the back of her throat, much like the door hinge I'd heard earlier. "Healthy," she approved. "Perhaps you will will last until the next clueless human comes stumbling through here." She sighed and played with a strand of her hair. "I've been thirsty for too long."
I stepped back. "Thirsty?"
"Yes," she said, watching me closely now. She put one slim, long fingered hand on my cheek. It was stone cold and unyielding, yet soft and delicate at the same time.
"I'm doomed to stay here, feasting only every couple decades or so, when prey manages to find its way in. Immortality comes with a price, you see. And my price... is blood."
I felt like I was suffocating and forced myself to take horrified, heaving breaths. I spun to sprint to the light, but she was suddenly there, gliding silently towards me. She grabbed me, holding me for a long moment. I began to relax, leaning in to better inhale her intoxicating scent. My eyelids began drift shut and I forgot my terror from just a moment before. She also leaned in, nearly placing her head on my shoulder and looking as though to kiss me... but instead slit my throat with terrifying precision and leaned back.
Aha. That's why she had pointed teeth.
I reached out but she swam before my eyes. I missed, grasping at thin air and falling to my knees. I started to choke on my own blood. My last thoughts?
I was lucky that something so beautiful had killed me.