“I don’t know him, at least not that well. What I do know is that there are quite a lot of people like him around; people who need blood to survive, people who can’t come out during the day-”
“You honestly expect me to believe-”
Cayson’s hand covers her mouth quickly, cutting her sentence off before she can finish it. “Be quiet!” he hisses, “I told you it was going to sound crazy but you have to trust me. I’m not lying.”
Olivia just laughs, the sound muffled by his fingers still across her mouth. He rolls his eyes and drops his hand away, her laugh lost among the sounds of clinking glasses and murmured conversations that fill the room.
“You know what? Forget it,” he sighs, and shrugs his leather jacket back on, standing up to leave. “Look around you, Olivia. Do what you want with your so-called evidence, but everyone in here can bear witness to you being here with me willingly. You’ve got nothing. Your video is useless. Good luck with the police.” He strides out of the bar darkly, leaving her alone and staring after him in shock. Had Cayson really just tried to tell her that vampires exist and that it was a vampire who bit her? She laughs again, even more hysterically, determined to find out the truth. Decidedly not going to waste their drinks, she finishes them both before going home.
Lying in bed she finds herself wondering about what Cayson had said to her. Maybe he was just hinting at vampires to make her scared, to make her not want to go back there? She looks around the dim bedroom, her mind telling her it’s his cover-up for something else. He was clearly hoping vampires would scare her into staying away so he could continue what he does. Her mind goes back to that night; the man. Her head shakes as she laughs. He’s making her think they are real, she knows they aren’t. They’re just stories.
A week passes by the same as the last, Cayson once again hiding from her as she continues to walk through, still with the same questions she had before. She enters the cemetery, eyes glancing to the floor as she steps over the fallen branches of the tree. Looking up, her body stops.
Olivia’s eyes widen as she stares at what can only be described as a wolf, but it’s big and somehow different. Gazing in shock, her body trembles as she considers screaming. She has her proof now. Proof that something is happening here. She moves to take a step back but her foot hits something hard and she stumbles, a low growl escaping from the wolf’s throat. Whatever she walked into is solid and cold; she feels hands gripping her arms. For a brief moment she relaxes. Is it Cayson?
She tries to turn but her body is still frozen, too scared to drag her eyes away from the wolf. Suddenly she screams as she feels the person’s nails dig into her arms; there’s a sharp pain on her neck and then- bliss. She smiles, no longer afraid of the wolf or able to feel pain. Her body is floating through the sky, her eyes flutter shut, and everything goes black.
When she wakes up, she finds herself back at Cayson's house. Olivia jumps up, backing away towards the wall.
“You bit me!” She accuses, pointing a finger at the man who is watching her from across the room. Cayson looks at her shocked, shaking his head.
“Look, I’ll tell you what really happened, and then hopefully you stay the hell away this time! Let’s grab a drink, I can’t do this sober.” Without waiting he strides out of the door, Olivia rushing to catch up with him. Cayson doesn’t stop, remaining silent as they walk to the bar. When they get there they order drinks before sitting down opposite each other. Olivia admits that she would rather talk about things here, where she is at least surrounded by people and therefore safe.
“You bit me.”
Cayson shakes his head.
“I didn’t touch you, Olivia. What I said the other day was true. You just wanted to laugh and mock the fact I said it.”
Olivia remembers the last time they were here, how he had said it as if vampires were real.
“Are you really saying that man is a- a vampire?” She stares at him; surely he can’t be. Those things are just in dreams and stories, aren’t they? Surely if they were real, more people would know about it.
“Yes, Olivia. Things aren’t what they seem. I know it sounds crazy, I thought it was crazy at first too, but it’s real, it’s all real. Everything from your nightmares, everything you were scared of when you were young; it exists.” His earnest expression does nothing to convince her. I won’t fall for it; she insists to herself, I won’t let him get to me. Maybe it’s some sort of a cult or something, she knows there are some people out there who’d believe anything. Either way, she might as well have some fun with Cayson.
“So, what- witches exist? Like real witches with magic spells and everything?” She blinks innocently, keeping a smirk off her face and watching as he nods.
“And werewolves as well?”
He nods again. Her mind goes back to the wolf she saw tonight. It was so different from a wolf, but then again she’s never seen a wolf in real life, so how can she be so sure?
“Angels?” She presses further, and once more he nods his assent. He tilts his head slightly, looking at her confused. How many things is she going to list?
“So you’re telling me that everything in storybooks, all the stuff we were taught isn’t real, actually does exist? Like gnomes and trolls and leprechauns?”
He splutters, chuckling. “No, those things really are just stories. But there are a lot of things you see so often in films that do exist. It’s just that people never survive to tell the tale.”
She nods. She can tell he’s being serious but there’s still a part of her that wants to laugh at him. “You’re crazy, you know that right? To think I’ll believe all of this? So, tell me, what exactly is your friend then? Is he some sort of crazy psychopath that tortures people for fun, part of a cult, something else?” She’s had enough of his games; he’s clearly friends with the other guy. He obviously gets kicks from hurting people, and for some reason Cayson just didn’t want him to kill her.
“I’m telling you the truth, Olivia. Whether you believe it or not, it is the truth.”
“And yet every night you survive. You said you’re there to protect people, but why doesn’t this vampire just kill you as well? Let’s be honest, if that really was a vampire we'd both be dead right now.”
He swallows, looking at the ground before flicking his eyes back up to her. He may as well tell her: hell, if it makes her believe him and stay out of that graveyard it’ll be worth it. He thought she would have already worked it out, seeing him stood in front of her, but apparently not.
“I’m… different. That is why he hasn’t bothered touching you; it’s because I’m constantly on your tail.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Then why did he attack me last night and the time before?”
“The first time was because I got sloppy. I was too distracted to check everywhere, I let myself relax and that gave him a chance, one he knew he could get away from.”
She nods, unsure what to believe anymore. “How were you distracted?” Had someone else been there as well? Maybe he was trying to watch them both and it got too much for him to handle?
“It was you, Olivia. You distracted me. I was thinking about why you would put yourself at risk like you’ve been doing over and over again. You didn’t seem to care if you lived or died and that intrigued me, so I wasn’t thinking right because my mind was firing questions at me like you are right now.”
Olivia knows he’s right. She didn’t care if she died; she just wanted answers for Dan. Or, she did until now. With Cayson standing imposingly in front of her, his gaze boring into her soul, she felt powerless. “And tonight? How did that happen?”
Cayson shrugs his shoulders. “He obviously saw you coming. I planned to get there first and cut him off but you were already there and he came up behind you.” He had wanted to stop the attack so badly, but she’d had him frozen where he stood.
“So, this guy, is he the one making people go missing or turn up dead?” With Cayson’s nod, she realises that he could be the one who
took Dan, which means there was actually a chance she could find him.
“Why not just kill them all? Why kidnap some of them?”
Scratching his head absentmindedly, Cayson grimaces. “Some are taken to be used as a meal for later. Others… well; others show potential and are changed.”
“So, Dan, he could be dead? Or alive, or- one of them?” She stares at him; she would honestly rather he was dead than the other two right now.
“He won’t be alive, Olivia.” She doesn’t believe that, and how does he know he won’t be?
“He could be; how do you know? You have no idea if he’s alive or not.” He nods. She’s right, he can’t be sure.
“Look, no one has disappeared from that graveyard since I started patrolling it two months ago. They wouldn’t keep him alive for that long; it would be a waste of time and effort. Whoever this Dan guy is, the answers aren’t worth what you’d risk to get them: you’re in far more trouble now that you know what you didn’t before. The only reason I told you is so that you don’t go looking for that guy to ask him!” He pauses for a breath before throwing his arms up in exasperation. “Look, you’re young. You’re what, like seventeen?! Go home, enjoy your life. Forget about all of this.”
Olivia laughs. “I’m nearly nineteen, thanks, and you don’t look much older than me anyway. I won’t come back, don’t worry.” She needs to just accept that Dan is gone instead of carrying on searching for him anymore. Maybe she could try to find out who that other man was…if she knew where he lived, she could perhaps find Dan.
“You’re right, I do look nineteen, but I’m a lot older than you’d think. Look, the graveyard isn’t the only place you need to be careful of.” Sitting down, Cayson explains a few local places she should avoid at night, places she never usually goes to at night anyway so it won’t be much trouble to avoid them.
“I should get going. Look, here’s my number in case you need me. You’re better off staying away from me, Olivia; as far away as you can. Stay away from those places and stop looking for answers or you’ll just end up getting caught up in it all.” Cayson stands and walks out. Olivia looks around her mindlessly before getting up herself and making her way home.
Newspapers still litter her living-room floor forming a carpet of black-and-white, Dan’s face staring at her from a thousand grainy photographs printed under bold headlines. She wants so badly to believe that he’s still alive, but how can she? All this vampire stuff sounds crazy, but it kind of explains it all. She looks down at her arm; she forgot to ask Cayson how it had healed so quickly. She knows she should be bleeding from tonight too, but again there’s nothing to suggest she’d been injured at all. She spends the next few hours looking through news articles of mysterious deaths and disappearances: the more she reads, the more she is convinced that Cayson is telling the truth.
It seems this has been going on for centuries, but given that no-one had an answer they had just chalked the deaths down to natural causes, and the disappearances as runaways. They mostly happen at night – very few during the day – which just confirms Cayson’s story even further. She giggles in the quiet of her house. Why is she even considering believing his story? It’s so bizarre… it’s at that moment that her mind reminds her of that man: the bite, his eyes, everything about him.
Cayson has to be telling the truth. She should run, ignore it all, yet there’s part of her that wants to go back out there right now and look for proof, to be sure it’s real and that he’s telling the truth. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s crazy, but then she can at least say for sure that yes, vampires do exist, and that Dan is gone forever. Having an answer though, an answer she can’t share, an answer that involves vampires, does she want that?
No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t want to know a vampire killed him if she can’t tell anyone, and she knows if she did try to tell anyone they’d think she was going insane. She finds herself considering it before finally drifting asleep as the morning light peeks through the gap in her curtains.
When she wakes up it’s late. There’s a momentary panic before Olivia remembers that it’s Saturday and she doesn’t need to be anywhere, although it doesn’t mean she’s going to stay at home. She gets ready quickly and grabs her coat before leaving, hastily pulling the door shut behind her and briskly walking without lending much thought to where her feet take her. She’s made this journey so many times that at this point it’s muscle memory. She will keep her promise to Cayson and stay away from the graveyard, but she still needs to know if it is true. She walks to the old mining hill; walking around it she sees nothing. There is no-one there. Sitting on the ground she relaxes, waiting in the quiet morning air. Someone must come soon, and then she’ll finally be able to prove that either vampires are real or that Cayson was lying. She hears the snapping of a branch, her head twisting to the direction of the noise as a figure moves too quickly for her to see. She tries to follow it but her eyes aren’t fast enough.
“You must be a stupid little girl.” The voice sends chills down her spine and she nods. The voice is right, she must be. “I thought the other night would have scared you away, but instead, you come back for more?”
She stands up, trying to see the person as they keep moving, just out of her vision’s reach every time.
“Who are you?” She steps forward, before a menacing laugh makes her stumble a few steps backwards.
“No-one. My name, who I am, that doesn’t matter. Such information is irrelevant and will be no comfort in your death.”
He’s right, it won’t be. She watches as the man steps out of the trees, her eyes this time able to see him. He looks- actually, he looks hot, but his silver eyes are scaring her. The other night she froze, there was no warning he was going to appear; tonight she was prepared, and she can’t stop her eyes raking over his body.
“You have questions? Ask away.” He steps closer slightly. Am I crazy? She has to be to still be stood there right now.
“I’m looking for someone. I need to know if he’s still alive.”
The man laughs, his body moving fast as he stops a distance behind her, she turns and looks at him.
“And who would this someone be? A friend? A parent, maybe?”
She shakes her head at him.
“My boyfriend. His name is Dan.” He laughs at her words, shaking his head.
“You’re merely a child. He wasn’t a partner, just something you were obsessed by. I did you a favour.”
“You killed him?”
He moves fast again, stopping right behind her, his breath oddly cold on her ear.
“And by God did he taste delicious.”
Her body shakes from the core with fright at his words.
“No, no, I don’t believe that.” She squeezes her eyes tight, shakes her head, but she still feels a hot tear fall. He can’t be dead. The man moves again, her body shivering involuntarily at the cold air whooshing around her from his speed. His face is now in front of hers.
“Either way, he is not the man you loved; that man is long gone. Maybe I should stop teasing and let you join him?” His hand wraps around her throat, his nails digging in as she whimpers. He smirks, his hand dropping away. Olivia gulps down the welcome air.
“You will taste fantastic, I can just tell. And yet there is something there, something telling me that spilling your blood would be a waste, that you would suit immortality rather well.” She swallows loudly; why did she come here? She was a fool for believing that she would get answers and be able to leave without getting hurt.
She hears a loud growl, the man being pulled back as a loud screeching sound from his lips pierces the silence, watching helplessly as his body falls to the floor, and the wolf drags him off into the trees. What just happened?
“What the hell did I say about staying away?”
She jumps and turns to see Cayson, stood there in nothing but a pair of worn jeans. Her breath catches as her eyes skim across his chest.
“Wh- what are you doing
here?” She stutters. He isn’t meant to be here.
“I caught your scent; I should have known you’d do whatever you wanted.”
Olivia stares back at him, shocked.
“My scent? You’re one of them?” She steps back. She should have known he was one of them: why else was he always out at night, stopping her from coming to these places?
“No, Olivia, I’m not a vampire, come on. Do I look like I’m a vampire?” How is she even supposed to know? She’s only ever seen one vampire; they could all look different for all she knows. All the films she’s seen were different, most of them unbelievable, so how on earth does Cayson expect her to know?
“I’m a werewolf, Olivia. Why do you keep coming to these places? Are you actually trying to get yourself killed or are you just plain damn stupid?”
“Maybe I am just stupid, but you’re right, maybe I am hoping for death, so that I can find out if Dan is alive or not.” Her head falls before looking back up at him. “You’re a werewolf?” She stares at him. “Th-that was you?”
He nods silently.
“I-” She stops, unsure of what to say.
“Look, Olivia, you can’t keep doing this. You’ll either die, get hurt, or worse, be turned into one of them; is that what you want for yourself? Your family asking the same questions about you that you're asking about Dan?” He looks at her praying she listens, but he knows she won’t.
“My family wouldn’t even realise for months that I was missing. Actually, they haven’t.”
He looks at her, confused.
“What do you mean?” Of course her family would realise; all families notice when someone goes missing.
“I haven’t spoken to my mum in over three months, or my sister, or my friends. Since Dan disappeared I’ve hidden away; not one of them has tried asking if I’m alive.”
He nods. Maybe they’re just giving her space she needs to grieve, or whatever it is people do when someone they love disappears.
“Look, I’m sure if you disappeared they would be worried. By the way, I found this.” He holds out a hand with what looks like an extremely damaged phone swinging from his fingertips. “It must have gotten knocked onto the floor the other night and one of us obviously stood on it. I’m sorry; I knew I couldn’t fix it so I didn’t even try.”
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