Monster

Alessia's blood felt like ice in her veins at the sight of the man behind her… if it was even right to call him a man.

His hair was as black as the night sky above them, and his skin was so pale that it was almost grey. Other than that, he looked normal, like a regular criminal who had come to to prey on unsuspecting victims.

Alessia eyed him warily as she carefully took a cautious step back. 'Who is he? Wh… why does he look like that?'

She swallowed. That was not a normal skin tone… was it possible that he was suffering from some kind of rare illness?

She gripped the taser in her bag tighter. "I'll have you know that I am very skilled at martial arts, so you can't rob me even if you try."

The sickly pale man tilted his head slightly to the side in thought at first. Then he smirked in amusement, showing canines that were abnormally long and as sharp as knives.

Alessia's throat went dry and she instantly lost strength in her arms. She didn't even know when she stopped breathing. 'F–fangs…? Are those… are those really fangs? Is he not... human?'

No... there were a lot of pranks on the internet these days. This had to be one of them!

"A robbery?" The man drawled, with a wicked glint in its eyes that had suddenly turned a clear shade of blood red. "Is that what you think this is? Humans are so stupid."

Alessia felt like her heart had come out of her mouth. She stumbled backward, nearly tripping over her own feet. Her eyes had gone so wide that they were nearly popping out of their sockets.

Her heart thumped heavily in her chest, that she was almost sure that thing could hear it. No… it couldn't be a thing… this had to be a prank!

She bit the inside of her bottom lip hard enough that it drew blood, as the hand holding the taser inside her bag grew pale and shook terribly. 'Those are contact lenses… they have to be!'

The creature watched her with its burning ruby eyes silently, then suddenly, it sniffed at the air and ran a tongue over its lips like a predator. "Ah… you smell delicious. I'm starting to get impatient…"

Alessia choked on her breath and her knees grew weak. It had just smelled her blood!

This had to be a dream. What she was seeing at the moment could not possibly be real! She tried to pinch herself but she couldn't even move. Her body betrayed her thoughts.

At the back of her mind, she knew she was supposed to run… or scream for help… or do anything to escape this nightmare but she simply stood there like a doll, with every knowledge that her death was close.

The creature's abrupt chuckle snapped away some of the crippling fear that froze her, and Alessia flinched. She quickly realized that she had gotten a bit of her mobility.

"I thought you said you were skilled at martial arts?" It taunted. "Why don't you show me? I would like a good spar. If you last two seconds against me, I won't drain you too much."

Alessia opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. The creature's smile broadened, obviously happy at her misery, but the moment it took a step foward, Alessia spun and ran.

Where she got the strength from, she didn't know but all that sounded in her head was to get as far away from that monster as quickly as possible.

Alessia didn't dare spare a single glance back, although she didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind her, she continued to run wherever her feet took her.

After a few moments, she heard the thumping of shoes behind her and she swallowed down a whimper. Her breathing was getting heavier and her steps were slowing down, she was getting tired.

But she couldn't stop or hide to catch her breath. She felt that would be the end of her life if she did something so reckless.

The moment she turned at a corner, she tripped on a concrete plate that had come off and started to fall over but a strong grip took hold of her arm and jerked her back, preventing her from hitting the ground.

Alessia let out a panicked scream before a hand quickly clamped over her mouth, making the sound muffled. Still, she struggled so hard in the arms of the person that caught her.

But it didn't matter how much she squirmed, she failed to get out of the person's grip. He was too strong and he held onto her too tightly.

She heard a small grunt from behind her after a few seconds. "There's no need to struggle so much. I'm not a kidnapper."

Alessia froze. That didn't sound like the monster that had cornered her earlier. She dared to take a glance behind her and her eyes widened when she saw the person that was holding onto her.

Dervan Salviati?!

So many questions she wanted to ask ran through her mind but she first pried away from his loosened grip, breathing heavily. She scanned her surroundings sharply, clutching her bag tightly.

Dervan's brows furrowed slightly when he saw how sickly her complexion was. "Are you alright?"

Alessia's eyes settled on him instantly, her entire body trembling. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

Dervan's frown deepened. "Would you like to sit?"

"Wh… where is it?" She finally managed to ask in a cracked voice.

Dervan raised a brow. "Where is what?"

Alessia raised her trembling voice. "Ther… there was something chasing me! Where is it? Is… is it gone?" Her eyes clouded over and tears started to stream down her cheeks. "Plea… Please tell me its gone…"

Dervan froze for a short moment, then he reached a hand toward her and took a gentle but firm hold of her shoulders. "I didn't see anything chasing you, so I will assume it's gone. You can relax."

Alessia stared at him, wide eyed. Her quivering hand swiftly reached up to squeeze his wrist tightly. "R–really? A–Are you sure?!"

Dervan nodded once. "Yes, really."

Alessia looked around again just to make sure. When she saw there was nothing but street lamps around her, she bobbed her head slowly. "Al–alright." She agreed softly as her shoulders slumped. "Alright…"

Relief washed over her, causing her to lose strength in her legs. She collapsed to the ground faster than Dervan could get a hold of her.

"Wha..." He was a little taken aback before crouching to match her level. His brow twitched slightly. "When I asked if you would like to sit, I didn't mean on the ground."