Chapter 4: Light of Day

As the warm sun crept across Vivian’s apartment, casting the shadows away, her world and mind transformed. Pulling her sore body from the bed, Vivian stood stretching as she smashed her fingers into the alarm that was ringing on her bedside table. Having removed her cloak and weapons, Vivian went into her other closet to get her clothes for work. Just as her mind was two people, so was her life. Choosing the white, loose-fitting blouse to tuck into her dark, tight blue jeans, Vivian dressed for a day researching at the library. As if last night never happened.

Slipping on her loafers, she snatched her camel, leather bag from the hook by her door before prancing out into the world as Dr. Vivian Bishop, a historical researcher for King’s College. That animalistic hunter was left tucked away in her locked closet, right next to her knee-high black boots that still had blood on the bottom. No reason to clean them.

Vivian stepped out onto the cobblestone streets, the light of the morning bringing the dark, dismal painting from last night alive. While Brixton was one of the most dangerous places to live in London, Vivian found a profound beauty to it in the light of day. Along her street, each loft apartment offered a box of flowers from its window. Turning the corner, an explosion of color, the buildings towering on either side were traditional, but on the street, each owner had made their own unique mark. That is what she loved most about this area - the color.

The commute to the library was familiar, automatic, as Vivian emerged from the tube station, London alive at this time of day as people scattered everywhere all seeming to be lost yet walking with determination. Right in the heart of London, nestled under the towering shadows of the iconic Tower Bridge was King’s College. Built-in classic regal fashion with its daunting columns and museum-like architectural features both outside and inside the college, it stood out amongst the other buildings lining the street. For a moment, Vivian got swept up in the crowds of students walking through the main archway into the courtyard before turning to head three blocks up from the river to the Maughan Library, her real home in London.

Spending days in the library, surrounded by the towering walls of books, each level of the library visible from the central foyer, Vivian immersed herself in research. By night she was tasked to kill the creatures that lurk in the shadows, but by day she was a historical researcher for King’s College, her focus, as of today, was ancient greek mythology. A change from the most gruesome murders throughout history in London.

Vivian treasured the silence of the library, the secretive feeling of isolation amongst people as they all created an unspoken bond to never speak to each other. Vivian didn’t have to pretend in this place. Her shoulders relaxed as she made her way to the same small nook she always sat with a stack full of books she just pulled from the shelves on the third floor. There was already a stack of books left behind by Vivian from the previous day. Staring at them now, she realized she no longer needed them, her research into historical serial killers in London no longer necessary. These creatures she was hunting were not Vampires.

Few people knew about this area of the library, the grandeur of the circular foyer stopping people too quickly. Back here is where the true researchers did their work, the walls of oak cabinets filled with books, partitions between the areas to provide the ultimate privacy. Vivian took a moment to gaze out the large paned windows into the gardens below.

London looked so different in the light, Vivian thought.

It wasn’t long before Vivian was buried in the stories of Scylla and Charybdis, the monsters that coined the idiom between a rock and a hard place. Which is quite literally where Vivian found herself last night. These creatures each held their own evils, Scylla the snake-like sea monster on one side of the channel flanked by sharp, jagged rocks, and Charybdis, the octopus-like sea monster that created a whirlpool. Neither were preferred, but if someone needed to get to the mainland they had to choose which was worse - the lesser of two evils.

Vivian thought of the vampire, Everett, she encountered last night. Was he the lesser of two evils for her? Up until last night, Vivian had been hunting vampires in London, attributing the string of recent violent deaths to multiple vampires, or maybe even werewolves as well, but now she saw she was completely wrong. Everett seemed to know about the creatures, his knowledge could save her hours of research and tracking. But there was no world in which Vivian could team up with a vampire, even one as controlled and alluring as Everett.

“Learning anything interesting?” Everett's voice echoed in the hollow halls. Gripping tightly to the sharp pencil in her fingers, Vivian prepared to attack. “Now, I’m just here to talk,” he announced, sliding into the chair across from Vivian. “No need for that.” Vivian did not relax her grip.

“We already talked.”

“Our conversation was not over, I felt as if we were just getting to the answers we both needed from each other.” A rock and a hard place, Vivian thought.

“Like I said last night, it’s impossible.”

“You and that word,” Everett scoffed, leaning back into the chair, his blazer opened as he crossed his legs over each other revealing his bare ankles peeking out from his brown loafers. His trousers were cuffed, his shirt pressed, as Vivian took in his style in the daylight. He too seemed to change in the light of day.

“If either of our factions learned that we were working together, instead of killing each other, we are both dead.”

“Well then, it can be our little secret.” The smoothness of his words caused them to linger in the thickening air between them, Vivian feeling the prickle of her skin as she stared into his golden-brown eyes, his face chiseled to perfection as his lips curled at the ends. Every word he spoke seemed sexual. Vivian shook the feeling, knowing the allure vampires have on humans and cursing herself for being so naive.

“Tell me this first, what answers do you think I need from you?” Vivian challenged.