New Neighbour

I finally lie on the floor and release the breath I didn't know I was holding. What a crap day! What all is yet to come? At this pace, it is very difficult for me to escape from here, let alone save my parents.

In spite of the anguish, I sigh a moment of relief. Thank all gods that she's finally gone. From the bottom of my heart, I hate her. I loathe the presence of her. If given a chance, I would first destroy her.

But at present I do not have the strength to even sit straight. I close my eyes thinking about how twisted my fate has become in a day.

'Mom… Dad…. Why did you guys leave me? Where are you? Talk to me, please… These people…. They might kill me… I need you', I speak to myself through my mind, hoping to establish some kind of connection with them, but like the past few days, no response.

My sobs threaten to never stop, and I continue lying down scared of ever waking up again.

I wish the King comes to my rescue. My heart is not willing to accept that he knows all these cruel things that's happening to me. Then why save me from the wolf? He could've instead let me die, right?

Unless…. Unless, he saved me because he wanted me to be alive. Even now this girl didn't kill me yet. She's only torturing me to know who sent me here. If I jog my memory, she also mentioned something like spy. Do they think I'm a spy? Which spy will die and come back to life to harm others?

Before I get another thought, the pain becomes so much to bear, and my eyelids grow heavy.

I drift into sleep without my knowledge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A small whisper inside my head wakes me up from the deep slumber.

"Hey…"

"Hey…. Vampire girl…."

I slowly open my eyes and instantly raise my guard afraid of who is taking advantage of me this time. But, to my surprise I see nobody in the cell except me.

Even the guard outside is not looking at me. He is facing the opposite direction to my cell. Then, who is talking?

"Can you hear me?", the male voice asks.

I'm sure that I'm the only one who can hear this.

Due to so much of pain, did I start hallucinating?

Already it is being very difficult for me to keep myself sane around here and now this? I think I'm slowly going crazy or senile.

I sigh.

"Hey.. If you are able to hear me, reply yes", the whisper says again, now sounding a bit agitated.

I think 'Yes' in my head, but unsure if he would've heard it, but nothing anyways makes much sense here, so why not try.

"Oh, Jesus! You can hear me. I thought you didn't", the voice is happy.

"Who are you?", I ask suspicious.

"Oh me? I'm your new neighbour, vamp girl. Vincent… hii', he says cheerfully.

What? What does he mean by neighbour? Is he the one I saw while entering?

"Yes… I'm the one you saw while entering… Brown hair? Bloody lips? The one and the same", he accepts with a chuckle.

"You…. You can hear my thoughts?", I panic, which has become my go to reaction to everything after coming here.

But, he replies calmy unfazed by my anxiety, "I can hear you, baby… Vampires can communicate through mind when they are in danger… You seem like second band, how come you are unaware of this?"

"Second band? What?", again someone talking about something which I don't know of. Why am I not surprised? Oh, yeah… I've crossed that stage now and became numb.

"Okay… You seem to not know… But you are letting all your thoughts out… Be careful of what you tell me, babe… I might not be a good guy", he warns me calmly but there's no actual warning in his tone. Instead, it's filled with mirth and playfulness.

"What do you mean by second band? And I didn't know that we can communicate like this."

"Vampires are categorized into eight bands based on their life, maybe to say simply, like a game. You know that we live more than once, right? In the sense, we can die and still come back to life, unless of course, we are burnt into ashes forever. We can do it eight times, according to our lifecycle", he explains me.

I gasp. Eight whole times? "Can you please explain in detail?", I ask more curious now.

"Yes, baby… But first things first… What is your name and why are you here? You tell me that and I'll explain you whatever you need", he chuckles again. His voice is sweet inside my head, like a rhythm that is stuck in your head all day after hearing it once in the morning.

"My name is Eva Brown and I'm from New York… After my parent's death, I moved in with my aunt in Euphoria Townsville", I reply diligently.

"Eva Brown? So human. What is your vampire name? Or the clan?", he asks again.

"Vampire name? I don't have one"

"You don't know your clan? Are you a rogue then? Is that why you are here?", his voice is a low whisper now. Like a radio channel which is fading away.

"I… I don't know any clan. Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm here too. I can't hear you properly…", I say.

"Yup… That's because you are weak…hmmm… Can't do anything babe.. Take some rest and we'll chat later… Nice meeting you, though", he says and that's the last I hear from him.

What? "Hey… Vincent… Are you there?" I think so loudly but nobody is there to reply, and I already feel drained. Like a mobile connection, he's fazed out of my line just like that.

Exhaustion pricks my bones. I hug my knees and slump on one of the wall nearby.

My jeans are tattered completely. My t-shirt is not any better. My whole body is covered with scars, but they don't pain or bleed anymore.

How long will I survive here? Is Vincent a good guy or he's another Simon? What are my parents doing?

Questions eat my brain and soon I fall on the ground asleep again thinking, "Nice meeting you, Vincent"