Act I | part 4

Ava was still staring at the corpse in disbelief. It was like something straight out of a horror film, not that she had seen many. When you often find yourself in the verge in dangerous situations, you avoid seeking cheep trills.

"That thing is a vampire?" She said.

"We call them rogue ones. Can't say I haven't gotten the displeasure of dealing with one of these before." Lynn sighed, attempting to get up while holding his punctured abdomen."Let's get inside."

"Couldn't we have done something to save him? I mean... isn't he one of your own?"

"He's already too far gone. Keeping this one alive is a hazard on itself. I can't risk you getting hurt."

"Oh my God! Lynn..." Ava pointed at his hand, where his pinky and ring finger were missing. The creature had bit them clean off in its savage rage.

"Tis' but a scratch." He tried to laugh it off, but the pain was too much. Hurting even more as his muscles moved. "I have a favor to ask however. Can you please let me drink your blood right now, so I may recover enough strength to walk back home. The state that I am in at the moment, you'd have to drag me there."

"Yes, of course." She extended her arm without hesitation and lifted up her sleeve. At the time she was more scared about his life than being bitten. Surely a situation like this would have seemed comical to her a few days ago - being concerned about a vampire, but it was a vampire who saved her life.

She felt a chill go down her spine as he extended his fangs again. The feeling wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried to suppress it. Lynn gently placed his left hand on around her elbow and without a warning sank his teeth into her flesh.

The girl let out a faint whimper and looked the other way. The spot went numb shortly after, but that anxious feeling in her stomach persisted.

Blood started running down as he took his sweet time. The skin started to loose its color, which he took as a sign that it was enough. He licked the blood of her arm savoring every last drop of it while Ava stared at him awkwardly.

He stood up as his wounds slowly started to heal and wiped his lips.

"Shall we go now?"

***

It's now been a week since they started living together. Occasionally Ava would stay up late to chat or help out with chores. Lately she would dread going to sleep as she had that terrible reoccurring dream every night. It felt like being stuck in a loop with no way out. Could the thing that lied behind the door be her long forgotten memories? There was no doubt in her mind that that might be the case, but who could be the person pulling her out? She had the feeling it was someone she knew, though the dream would end every time she could get a glimpse of their face.

"Having trouble sleeping again?" She heard Lynn's voice coming from behind her bedroom door. "It's already almost 4 am, is everything ok?"

"I don't feel like sleeping."

"I was about to go search the attic for my old vinyl records. Care to join me?"

"Sure" she shrugged. "Why not?"

The attic was filled with dust and piles of cardboard boxes, some even reaching to the ceiling. The two windows facing each other were broken with a tiny semblance of glass hanging from them. They weren't sealed off like the rest of the house, which lead to the belief that it wasn't a place often visited.

"If I remember correctly, they were put in a box with blue tape over them." Lean looked around scratching his head. "Unfortunately that's like half of the boxes here. How about you start with that pile over there and I will search the pile next to the window."

"Sounds like a plan" said Ava.

As she struggled to pull down the big box at the top, it slipped through her hands and tumbled down, creating a cloud of dust as it hit the ground. The cardboard tore open, revealing its contents. They were paintings. Most of them were done with oil paint on canvas, some were prints, and some were carved out on a wooden board.

"Did you make these?" She asked.

"Unfortunately no. My artistic talent is close to a zero. I used to play the drums when I was little, but that's a skill long forgotten." He said while skipping through the contents of a paper bag he found in one of the boxes. "You'd think that for someone who's lived for as long as me, I would at least pick up a hobby that doesn't involve shooting at stuff."

"And how long have you lived for?"

"Let's see..." he pretended to be in deep thought. "I can still remember when they built those pyramids in Giza."

"No way."

"I'm just messing with you. I got turned when I was 27 and I think that's all that matters."

Ava picked up one of the wood carvings, looking at the detail. It was of three monkeys, one covering his mouth, the other covering his ears and the third covering his eyes. She had heard about the three wise monkeys before from a coworker. The ancient adage: "See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" was something that often popped up in her mind. Like one of those phrases that live rent free in one's head for no reason.

"I quite like this one." She said. "We should hang it in the living room."

"Do as you wish. I don't care much about decoration."

"Why did you bother collecting them in the first place?"

"Not all the stuff here is mine."He muttered, not really paying attention. "Say Ava, before you came here, where were you planning to go? Just asking."

"I wanted to go to St. Agnis, hopefully find a job there."

"To St. Agnis?" He said, visibly confused. His focus suddenly shifting towards her.

"Yes. What about it?"

"The town is a nuclear wasteland. It was bombed two or three years ago. I doubt you would want to go there."

"It was?"

"Yes..." he paused "I am surprised you didn't know this."

"Oh... I don't often get the chance to hear the news. For a long time I didn't have access to a TV."

"And why did run away from the town you were before at?"

"Got accused of being a vampire. It happens from time to time. I had little choice but to skedaddle."

"Yeah... I can relate to that."

Awkward silence suddenly filled the premise as they were both overtaken by sour memories. Now days being accused of being a vampire was no different than being accused of being a witch back in the 1700's. There is little you can do about it, besides fleeing to a new place.

After what felt like an eternity, Lynn's face lit up as he cut open another one of the countless boxes.

"Would you look at that!" He smiled as he emptied its contents. "It's all here - Black Sabbath, The Doors, Smashing Pumpkins, Mayhem..."It was the most exited she had ever seen him. One would think he found gold instead of old records."And see what else I've got."

He picked up a bottle of red wine. Cabernet Sauvignon 2078.

"It's almost 10 years old." Said Ava after looking at the label. "I thought vampires cannot consume human food. Including alcohol."

"It's true. We can't, but we can still get drunk if we drink the blood of a human who has consumed the alcohol." The smile on his face grew even wider. It didn't take long for the girl to know what he was suggesting.