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She held her makeshift wooden stake to her chest, staring up at the mansion. Flawlessly eerie out, even with a hint of a storm in the air, it was making out to be the perfect night for a hunt. There had been rumors of something hiding out in a strange home in the town over and her ears instantly perked at the thought of venturing out with her two companions.
Amateur vampire hunters, is what little Lucy called them and how could she argue? It was perfect, and even Peter seemed to agree with the name and when she told him about the rumors, he was already packing the car.
"Don't tell me you're scared, babe," Peter mocked her from the front door.
"Of course I'm not," she replied as he narrowed his eyes at how tightly she was gripped the stake. The loosened her grip and sighed, stalking up the steps and meeting Lucy at the top. "Well? Are you going to open the door or what?"
Peter reached out for the handle and smirked. It was unlocked.
Of course it was, she thought to herself.
She was last to enter, watching how Lucy clung to Peter's arm. If she hadn't witnessed the two speaking in hushed voices in the front seats of the car on the whole ride there, she would've thought Lucy was only scared. No, she thought, she wasn't scared at all.
But she should be.
The mansion was disheveled, the windows bordered up and old newspaper littering the floors. The red wallpaper was peeling and there was a dangerous chill in the air. She noticed the wood paneling along the floors had scuff marks and she bent down, running her fingers over the indents as if someone had clawed the ground.
Like someone had been dragged away.
She crossed into the next room, leaving her friends to admire the parlor. The furniture that was leftover from the last owner before they mysteriously packed up and left in the middle of the night was torn to shreds and stained with black splotches. She reached into her pocket, pulling her phone out and casting her flashlight around the room.
Words were written across the wall over the fireplace and as she neared it, she could feel a strange warmth still radiating up from the wood and could detect the faint smell of smoke.
Welcome home, the words read and she swallowed.
"Holy--" Peter exclaimed from behind her and she whipped around, gasping.
"Don't do that!" she cursed, heart racing. She hadn't expected him to come up behind her, not when she had been so lost in those words and the cooling warmth of the fireplace.
"Lucy wanted to go upstairs," Peter said with a dry laugh as if smug he had frightened her. He took her hand. "Come on, baby, let's go."
"They say there's an old study up here," Lucy explained once they reached the top. "Some guy apparently died in there."
Something fell, echoing. The rattle of a doorknob, the sound of hands on walls.
"Not entirely dead," a voice cooed, dark and alluring and completely transfixing.
Lucy turned and gasped, backing into Peter who protectively wrapped his arms around her. The three stared down the darkened hall where the voice called out from.
She gripped her stake tighter and murmured to the pair, "We came here for a reason."
Peter nodded, releasing Lucy and taking her hand instead as he stared down the hallway. The carpet looked almost black with their lack of lights but as they crept further, she noticed a little moving light underneath the door they neared.
Brave and halfwitted Peter pushed open the door and pulled free his own wooden stake, carved from the leg of a chair. She was last to enter, stake hanging by her side.
The study was lit with an array of red candles, casting looming shadows. But that wasn't what drew her in, no, it was the man standing by the window. He drummed his fingers against his jaw and she noticed his nails, long and sharp enough to slice through stone.
"Welcome, welcome," the man cooed, long black hair cascading down his trim physique. If she had been closer, she would've been able to detect the blood flecked around his lips and the true paleness to his skin.
"You're-you're-" Peter couldn't get the words out.
She took a step back, knocking into the door and hearing it fall shut. She heard the click of the lock.
"You're real," Lucy breathed.
"Don't look so scared, pet," the vampire said. He licked his lips. "It seems those rumors worked."
"Of course they did," she whispered, stepping past Lucy and Peter as they trembled. "Who could resist a little hunt?"
Welcome home, welcome home-
The vampire gave her a handsome grin. "You always do so well, my darling."
"Wha-what?" Peter gasped out, backing up and away. He knocked into the door with a loud clang and he turned, trying to open it but there was no use. She'd locked it and it would take brainless Peter too long to figure it out with the panic setting in.
"How-" Lucy shook her shameless head, her deceitful eyes brimming with tears. "How could you do this to us?"
Peter spun around, crying out, "We're friends!"
"No," she drawled, licking her lips. "We're not."
"Why?!"
She smirked. "No one likes a cheater."
And, as if the dinner bell had rung, the vampire's fangs spilled past his lips and when his jaw unhinged with a satisfying crack, he lunged and she followed suit with a hungry laugh.
The transition had been painful but worth it after discovering Peter had a secret. A bad one. An infidelity, an entanglement with her so-called best friend. They played her as a fool, like she was some mindless little girl who couldn't see the truth behind them slipping off together, late night dinners and drinks, movie trips, all without her.
So, she decided why not take action? Why not cause a little pain?
Everyone loves a good revenge plot, especially ones with fangs.
