by Alexis Davie
“Oh,” she said. “I was just thinking about something.”
“Philosophy?” Noah asked.
“How did you know that?”
“Your textbook.”
Sophia glanced at her textbook on the grass beside her and rolled her eyes. “Right.”
Noah narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you okay?”
“That’s the second time you’ve asked me that.”
“Am I not allowed to repeat my question?” he asked, and he sat down beside her on the grass.
“You can do whatever you want, I guess,” Sophia answered, shrugging her shoulders and picking up her Philosophy textbook again.
“What?” Noah asked, confusion laced through his voice.
For a moment, Sophia didn’t say anything else. Then, after a short pause where he didn’t leave, she asked, “Why are you talking to me?”
He blinked at her. “Why would you ask me that?”
“You can’t answer a question with another question.”
“Of course I can. I can also evade any question I don’t want to answer,” Noah replied.
“Like now.”
“Right,” he smirked at her.
Sophia forced herself to look away and took a deep breath. She dropped her textbook onto her lap. “We only met yesterday, and now you’re sitting here with me like we’re friends.”
“Are we… not friends?” Noah asked, almost uncertainly.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I know nothing about you, and you know nothing about me.”
“That’s not entirely true,” he pointed out.
Now it was Sophia’s turn to narrow her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Your mom talks about you all the time.”
“You talk to my mom?” she nearly shrieked.
“Yeah,” Noah said. “I’m in the library a lot. I like the quiet.”
“Me too,” Sophia said with a nod. “That still doesn't make us friends, though.”
“Okay,” he said and bit his bottom lip.
Sophia felt her heart pound in her chest as she looked at his lips, his perfectly straight teeth, and she let out a slow breath. “I just remembered I have an essay due tomorrow, and I need to work on it.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah,” she answered, grabbing her books and scrambling to her feet.
“Okay. Good luck with that.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll see you around?”
“I guess so,” she muttered. Then she walked briskly across the lawn to the library.
* * *
“It’s Friday night, Soph,” her mother said as she approached the table Sophia sat at, vigorously writing on a sheet of paper. “What are you still doing here?”
“I have an essay due on Monday,” Sophia answered.
“So do it tomorrow or Sunday!” her mother suggested. “Go have fun or something.”
Sophia glanced up from her paper and frowned. “You’re supposed to be happy and proud that I’m doing my assignments, not encourage me to forgo my school work.”
Her mother pulled up a chair and sat on the opposite side of the table in the empty library. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Sophia answered. “I’m trying to finish my essay.”
“What is it about?”
“Logical thinking versus critical thinking.”
“Wow. That, I can’t help you with,” her mother replied and sat back in the chair.
“That makes two of us,” Sophia muttered.
“Come on, Soph. Go hang out with your friends. Go have fun. Go to a party.”
“You want me to go to a party?”
“Yes. Ask your roommate—what’s her name again?”
“Carmen.”
“Ask Carmen to take you to a party.”
“Do you even know what goes on at the type of parties she goes to?” Sophia asked.
“I’d rather not think about it.”
“But you want me to go to one?” she added.
“I just want you to live a little while you’re young.”
“Where is this coming from?”
“When you’re a mother one day, you’ll know exactly where. I just don’t want you to have any regrets.”
“Not getting an STD is not a regret. It’s an aspiration.”
“That was a bit of an overshare. Thanks for bringing me back to Earth. But I’m serious, Soph. I worry that you’re just shutting yourself off from having a normal college experience.”
“I’m studying hard. Isn’t that enough?”
“Okay, I’ll drop it. Forget about having fun,” her mother said, and she stood from the chair. “I have a shipment of books coming in at midnight. You can stay, but only until you finish that essay.”
“Midnight? Who delivers books at midnight?”
“It’s top secret.”
“Clearly,” Sophia mumbled to herself. She gave her mother a salute and focused all her brain power on her essay, or at least, she tried to.
* * *
A few hours later, she was finally finished with her essay, and it left her feeling exhausted. She gathered all the books and stationery that had been sprawled across the table and stuffed them into her backpack.
“Are you done?” her mother asked as she appeared from behind the counter.
“Yes. Finally,” Sophia sighed. “I’m going to go to bed now.”
“No parties?”
She smiled weakly. “I’m all partied out for tonight, Mom.”
Her mother walked over to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “Do you want me to take you to your dorm?”
“No, it’s not that far. I’ll just take a walk.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mom,” Sophia said, pulling out of her mother’s embrace. “You don’t have to worry about me, really. I’m fine.”
“Okay. Walk safely.”
“I will. Text me when your midnight delivery is over.”
“I will. Love you, honey.”
“Love you too,” Sophia said with a smile. She whirled on her feet and left the building.
Sophia swung her backpack over her shoulder and made her way across the parking lot in front of the library. The dorms were on the other side of the campus, and it normally only took her about ten minutes to walk there, but she didn’t mind. She took a deep breath and smiled to herself as she walked along the path that led to the main building.
The crack of a twig on the ground behind her made her spin around and look for the cause of the noise. Of course, there was nothing, but she kept looking around for a few seconds.
“Hello?” she called out. No one answered her.
Sophia turned around and started to walk briskly towards the door of the main building. It’d be safer to just go inside instead of running around the campus like a crazy person.
“Logical thinking does work,” she muttered to herself as she entered the building.
Just as Sophia was about to close the door, she was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. She let out a terrified scream as she felt herself getting dragged into the bushes.
“Let go of me!” she yelled.
She was thrown into a bush, and she landed on the grass with a thud, feeling the sting on her elbow as she tried to cushion her fall. Two hands pressed her down on her back, and Sophia’s eyes widened as she looked into the face of her attacker.
“Hello, Sophia.”
Shivers ran down her spine as his face came into view. She had never seen the man before, and she had no idea of how he knew her name. She screamed again. “Help me! Somebody!”
“Hush, hush,” muttered the attacker, his voice filled with malice. “No one’s going to hear you.”
“Get off her!”
Sophia heard someone approaching, and she turned her head at the second voice only to see Noah standing a few feet away.
“I said, get off her!” Noah growled. Suddenly, he grabbe
d the man and pulled him off Sophia, throwing him onto the ground.
Sophia scrambled backward until her back slammed against the concrete wall, and she watched as Noah and the man stared one another down. She glanced down at her torn shirt and gently touched it, seeing her exposed elbow, scraped from the bushes and the asphalt.
“Are you okay?” Noah asked suddenly, kneeling beside her. Sophia hadn’t noticed, but the other man was gone.
“Who the heck was that?” she asked breathlessly. “And how the hell did you get here so fast?”
“Are you okay, Sophia?” Noah repeated, seeming unfazed at her questions.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, searching her pocket for her phone, adrenaline rushing through her. “I-I… I need to call the cops…”
“Did he scratch you or bite you?” Noah asked hesitantly.
She stopped looking for her phone, surprised by his question. “No, he… he didn’t bite me; the asphalt got to me first,” she said, showing him her elbow. Blood was starting to come out of the wound, and Noah quickly looked away, taking a deep breath before facing her again.
“Did you get hurt anywhere else?” he asked with concern in his voice.
Sophia glanced down at herself. Besides her torn shirt and her scraped elbow, her attacker had thankfully not done any more harm to her. “No, I don't think so. Who was that?”
“I don’t know,” Noah said, but something in his voice made Sophia study his face.
She shook her head. “You’re a liar.”
Noah frowned. “And your reasoning for that is?”
“He recognized you,” she said, remembering how they had stared each other down while she got away, “and you knew exactly who that was.”
Noah sighed to himself. “I didn’t realize I was that easy to read.”
“So you are lying!” Sophia cried, standing up from the grass.
“Sophia, wait—”
“No!” she screamed. She grabbed her backpack from the path and turned around to face him. “I’m calling the cops! What if he attacks somebody else?”
“No!” Noah yelled. “You can’t call the cops; they can’t do anything! Please, Sophia, you can’t go home like that!”
Sophia spun around and looked at him. “Why? What the hell do you want from me, Noah?” she asked as she crossed her arms.
“You’re right. I do know him.”
“Okay, great. That’s settled then,” she said, turning away again.
“It wasn’t a random attack!” Sophia looked at him over her shoulder. “Could you just...” Noah sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair, reaching out to grab her arm.
“If you touch me again,” she warned him, “I am going to scream.”
“Yeah, because that worked out so well for you last time.”
“You came,” she said and cocked her head.
He pursed his lips in annoyance and shook his head. “Would you just come with me? I have something important to tell you.”
“And you can’t tell me here?” Sophia asked as she arched an eyebrow.
“People might be listening. Sophia, please!” His voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I’ll tell you everything. I promise. Let’s… let’s just go to your dorm.”
“Excuse me?” she demanded. “How do I know you won’t try anything?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess you could always scream.”
Despite herself, Sophia laughed out loud, and even though she’d never allowed strangers into her dorm room, she found that it was almost impossible for her to say no to Noah. “Fine, but after you tell me what’s going on, I am still calling the cops to report the attack.”
“Just wait to call anybody until you hear what I have to say,” Noah told her, turning away from her. “I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“To get my murder weapon,” he said with a smirk. When she didn’t answer to his joke, he continued, “I just need to get something. I promise, I will be there in ten minutes.”
Sophia glanced at the clock tower briefly and nodded. “Fine,” she called out. Noah jogged off in the direction of the library. As she turned towards her dorm room, she frowned heavily. “Wait, you don’t know my room—”
She whirled around again, but he was gone.
3
Sophia glanced at Noah as he entered her dorm room, holding a very old-looking book. The leather cover was worn, and it reminded her of the books that were in the archives of the library, the books that her mother guarded with her life.
Noah glanced around her room. “This is where you sleep?”
“Yes,” she said as she closed the door and sat down on the bed. “Now, enough stalling. I’m terrified, and if you know who attacked me, you need to tell me.”
“Okay,” he said. He kept looking around the room, like he expected someone to appear out of thin air.
“There’s literally no one else here,” Sophia said, watching him walk to the window and close the shades.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Someone is always listening.”
“Noah, please, just tell me what’s going on!” she cried. “Who was that guy?”
“His name is Evan,” Noah said, finally turning to her. “He’s a vampire.”
Sophia burst out laughing and shook her head. “You’re funny.” Noah looked at her with slight agitation and a hint of offense in his eyes. Her laughter died down, and she took in the serious expression on his face. “Do you seriously expect me to believe that what you’re saying is true?”
“Yes,” he answered. “You have to believe me. Your life could depend on it.”
Sophia seriously regretted allowing Noah to come back to her room. However, from the expression on his face, it looked like he truly believed what he had told her. He truly thought her attacker was a vampire, which just meant he was crazy.
“Okay,” she said. “For argument’s sake, let’s say this guy was a vampire.”
“He is,” Noah insisted, frowning.
She looked at him blankly. “Why would a vampire want to kill me?”
“As hard as it is to believe, your family has a very long history with vampires.”
Sophia listened, and she suddenly thought back to spending time with her grandmother at a very young age. Her grandmother would tell her ghost stories at night, which always involved vampires and the battle between good and evil.
Noah continued, “Your great-great-grandmother was a vampire hunter.”
“A vampire hunter?” she repeated, holding back a snort. “Are you serious? That’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! It’s impossible!”
“Not as much as you think.”
“There’s no such thing as vampires,” Sophia started, “and I can promise you that I don’t come from a long line of mythical creature murders. My mother is a librarian, remember?”
Noah flinched momentarily. “I have proof. Here,” he answered simply, and he placed the book beside her on the bed. “Everything is in there. It’s a book with all your great great-grandmother’s notes and drawings and maps—”
“Noah,” Sophia said, “get real. This is not possible.”
“Just read through it,” Noah insisted. “Then you can make up your own mind about whether it’s real or not.”
Sophia sighed and looked at the book. “If this is my family’s property, what are you doing with it? This makes no sense. You understand that, right?”
“Just read it. When you’re done, we can talk.”
“How will I find you?”
“I’ll be around,” he said, turning to the door.
“Wait!” she said. “Where are you going?”
“I have to get home.”
Sophia opened her mouth to say something, but Noah left before she could. Honestly, she didn't even know what to say. She glanced down at the book in front of her and shook her head. Of course nothing that Noah said could be true.
4
So
phia walked up to Noah, who was sitting on the grass under an old oak tree, and she threw the book beside him.
“What are you doing?” he exclaimed, glancing up at her with a look of disapproval as he recovered the book from the grass.
“You take that back to wherever the hell you got it from!” she yelled.
Noah’s eyes widened. “Did you read it?”
“I got about ten pages in and then it got too ridiculous,” she answered and crossed her arms.
His brow furrowed. “So you didn't finish it?”
“No.”
“Sophia,” he said as he stood on the grass. “Listen to me.”
“No, you listen!” Sophia cried. “I know what’s real and what’s not. That stuff cannot be true. There’s no such thing as—”
“Why would she lie?” Noah interrupted. “Why would I lie?”
“I don’t know. Why would you?”
“Look,” he said, “this isn’t the ideal place to talk about this.”
“No, this is fine,” Sophia insisted, and she glanced around them. “There’s no one here. Right?”
“Sophia—”
“How did you get that book, anyway?” she asked. “Did you write it yourself thinking I’d believe you?”
“No,” Noah answered, annoyed. “If you’d finished it, then you would know.”
“Why don’t you just tell me instead?”
“It’s better if you read it yourself.”
Sophia ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head exasperatedly. “How do you know Evan?”
“I’ve known about him for a long time,” he answered in a monotone voice.
“How do you even know a vampire? Do you hang out in their clubs? Or…” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes widened. “Were you his chew toy?
“No,” Noah sighed. “I just know him through a mutual acquaintance.”
“A mutual acquaintance. Right,” she whispered, more to herself than to him. “He’s a vampire? For real?”
“For real.”
Sophia looked at him, her heart pounding in her chest. Even though the thought of the existence of vampires was too ridiculous to fathom, she believed him. “Why does he want to kill me?”