Chapter 4

Dahlia had run her bloody hands through her hair, in the process staining her face with blood. Richard searched for her in the bar and finally found her with her head down on the counter.

He wasn't a mental health Doctor but just a Doctor at the ER. But he thought if he was going to find the truth behind the bite marks on the dead bodies being brought in he had to start from her who survived it.

He remembered Lucita bringing her in. She was unconscious and bloodied. But she survived. With his annoying brother witnessing the murder of his partner he knew it wasn't long till another corpse was brought in.

"What happened to you?" he asked as he grabbed her hand

"State your business here and leave already" Dahlia said pulling her bloody hand from his

"Right, Richard said, but you really need to disinfect that thing"

"Shut it!" Dahlia screamed

"I won't repeat myself, state your fucking business and leave"

"Fine" Richard said sitting down as he looked at so many empty bottles of alcohol lying on the table.

"What are you doing to yourself?" he asked

"Do you wanna damage your liver?"

Dahlia sucked in air angrily "Richard, please state your business and get the hell out of my sight"

"Dahlia I want to know what's been going on with you" he said taking her cold hands in his

"Liar" Dahlia said laughing softly

"What?" Richard asked

"You said you weren't gonna ask about that and now?" Dahlia said

"If you're done here you can leave" she added

Richard just kept studying her without uttering a word.

"I'll leave then" she said and got up to go but Richard held her hands.

He was staring at them strangely and Dahlia was forced to look too.

Richard gasped as he saw the cut on her hand heal itself. It closed completely like there was no cut there just a second ago.

"What was that?" Richard asked amazed

Dahlia looked at him in anger and made for the bartender. She took him to the back of the bar with speed and locked him there. She ran back to Richard who was so shocked he couldn't alk.

"You want to know what that was, right?" she asked pacing aound

"I run faster than humanly possible, I have fangs and claws and above all, I drink blood"

"What do you call that Richard?"

Richard couldn't utter a word and took his head down.

"Fuck this Richard! Answer the darn question" Dahlia said holding him by his shirt

"There's got to be a medical terminology for this. A virus or something" she said

"Vampire" he whispered

"You're a vampire Dahlia. Not just any vampire. Since women vampires are all rippers then you're one too"

"No way" Dahlia said

"How can a Doctor say that? Vampires don't exist" she added

"You do. I've been doing a lot of reading when I saw those bodies and that's how I came to the conclusion that you are one"

"Have you been killing people recently?" Richard asked

"Just once and it was an accident" she said

"But other bodies were brought to the hospital with bite marks on their necks" Richard asked

"I didn't do it!" Dahlia screamed

"Please, Richard believe me" she said

"I do. But I'll need you to trust me" he said

"Yes I do. I trust you" Dahlia said

Sudden fear enveloped Dahlia when Richard told her that she was a vampire. She had read about them in books and on the net but for her to be one of them was more of a shock to her. Still trying to process the fact that she had turned into a monster, she fell asleep on the counter.

"Dahlia" he called softly but got no response.

"Dahlia" he called again patting her slightly on her back.

He laughed silently and lifted her bridal style then walked out of the bar. On getting outside he felt the rush of wind on his face, he turned around but didn't see anyone around him. He placed Dahlia into the passenger's seat and went back into the bar to set the bartender free.

On getting to the storage room at the back of the bar where Dahlia had kept the bartender he saw no one there.

"What the hell!" Richard exclaimed when he saw blood on the floor and the bartender ten feet away from him with his eyes open. It was obvious he struggled before he died. Dahlia didn't kill him. He knew it because she didn't have any blood stains on her when she came back from the storage room. It had to be another person.

"If you don't want to end up like him stay away from Dahlia" a voice said from behind Richard. He turned around but couldn't see anyone. He rushed out of the bar towards the parking lot to his car and found Dahlia sleeping peacefully.

He heaved a sigh of relief and turned around.

Richard didn't want to take Dahlia to her house because he didn't want to meet with Lucita plus he didn't even know her house. He finally made up his mind to take her to his place. He drove in and carried Dahlia into his house and walked up the stairs.

"You're home" Harrison said startling Richard

"Yeah" Richard answered

"Who's that? Your girlfriend?" Harrison asked

Richard knew too well what a womanizer Harrison was. If he said she wasn't he was going to jump on her by the morning and letting him jump on a Vampire who was still learning control wasn't such a good idea.

"Yes, she's my girlfriend and I brought her home" he answered

"By tomorrow we'll know if she's pretty" Harrison said and walked up the stairs to his room

Dahlia woke up by morning and found herself in a king-sized bed. She wanted to scream until she remembered it was Richard's house. He stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck. Thankfully he was wearing his pajamas.

"You're up?" He asked

"Yeah" she replied pulling the sheets closer

"You could go shower. I bought a few women stuff yesterday so you can use them" he added

"Oh, thanks" she said

"Don't mention it. Aren't you gonna go shower?" he asked

"Yeah, right" Dahlia said and hurried into the bathroom shutting the door behind her. She took in deep breaths. "What kinda situation is this?"

"Take your time" she heard Richard say

The god-like man's informant brought him news on Dahlia. They were apparently monitoring their new time bomb. Women surviving the bite was rare and they needed women in their midst in their quest to take over Kingston.

"She went with that Richard yesterday. He seems to be brave not minding my warning"

"Get rid of him then. If he talks Dahlia into becoming a vegetarian vampire there's no going back"

"And how's Lucita?"

Dahlia remained in the bathroom for over an hour and Richard thought a woman in labour would have delivered within that time. She was just feeling embarrassed if that's a feeling Vampires could get. She still wondered how she fell asleep till the next morning and couldn't protest when she felt him carry her out of the bar. What if he was a pervert in a lab coat.

Few minutes later, Dahlia walked out of the bathroom in a short red dress. Richard could really pick out clothes, huh?

"Hey" She said as he turned

"You look great in it" he said turning back to his laptop

"Thanks" Dahlia said

"I've gotta go now" she said as she made for the door. Richard remembered the bet he had with Harrison the previous night.

Dahlia was pretty when she wasn't a vampire and now she was she looked breath taking. Harrison probably thought all girls liked a man in uniform and with his good looks every single one of them would fall for him. If Richard had a girl as stunning as Dahlia by his side Harrison would hide his head in shame. He wanted to use her to get on his nerves.

"Don't go now" he said pulling her down to the bed

"Stay for breakfast" he added

"I can't eat any other thing except blood. Or are you offering?" Dahlia asked

"No way! I'm talking about real food here. Just pretend to eat but throw it away" Richard resorted

"Why?" Dahlia asked

"Please just do it" Richard said getting nearer to her

Harrison barged into the room without knocking. He looked from Richard to the damsel beside him and was surprised. He thought only ugly patients and those on their death beds fell for Doctors. Just as Richard thought, he was jealous.

"Breakfast is ready if you care" he said rudely and walked out

"Who was that? So rude" Dahlia said

"That's my elder brother, Harrison" Richard answered

"Well, his nothing like you" Dahlia said

"Really? Then what am I like?" he asked

"Well, you're nice, polite, cute, handsome and..... He began smiling like a goat. And nothing" Dahlia said

"Forget everything I said" she added

"Really? I should forget that you called me cute and polite, huh?" Richrad asked still smiling

"Whatever just get up" she said pulling him up