WHEN SHADOWS CALL

CHAPTER 1

"...and with that we end the lesson right here, thank you everybody", the voice of Mr. Richards cutting through the tangible drowsy atmosphere of the colossal Physics lecture hall.

The sounds of students clambering to their feet and bubbles of conversation shook me out of my reverie. Glancing around dazedly, I hurried to join my collegemates, Brian and Jessica on the other side of the hall.

Catching sight of me, Brian flashed a grin at my way.

"I didn't know you had it in you, dozing off like that in the middle of your favorite class", teased Brian while giving a small chuckle.

I stiffened slightly and looked at him, saying "Only this once, I was up all-night wrangling last week's Chemistry lab report."

Brian only smirked knowingly at me. Last Tuesday right after Chemistry period, I was engaged in a rather heated kissing match with Aileen, my girlfriend. Brian had walked in on us during our rather wild moments. Being a good friend that he was, he promised not to say a word but that didn't stop him from holding it over my head, teasing me at every chance he gets.

Jessica elbowed him in the ribs lightly and piped up, "It's not like you had exactly kept a clean sheet too, nodding off many times in Physics and let us not forget the time when you so heavily dozed off in Biology that an entire bottle of water had to be emptied on your head."

Brian looked so surprised and turned to me with a questioning look in his grey eyes. I merely shrugged, not knowing how Jessica obtained that last part of information. Jessica took one look at us and smiled mischievously.

The three of us took off to our favorite café, Stileto's Café and ordered our regular drinks. We parted ways and I fell into quickened steps, slurping my latte. Even though it was only half past six in the evening, darkness fell rather quickly, swallowing streets and cars. The lights from strategically placed lampposts were but tiny pinpricks of brightness, puncturing a small hole in the heavy darkness.

Just as when I was nearly done with my drink, the hairs on the back of my neck raised and tingled sending a small shiver up my spine. The sounds of soft footsteps tapped away not far from behind me. My grip tightened on the cup from the café and I turned around to look who was following me. Normally, I would feel extremely confident strolling in the dark as I know how to handle myself, but this time something is definitely off.

Nobody was within ten feet from me and it was very difficult to squint through the dark. I turned back to the front, frowning blaming it on the pressure from last night's rushed report and dozens of Math problems. I was about to get my legs to move again when a figure tore away from the shadows heading towards my direction. I barely had time to throw a fist at it when I found myself slammed against a wall in a lonely alley. I grunted, blinking away the stars from my eyes while fighting the pain at the back of my head. I barely had time to regain my footing when a pair of hands accompanied by gleaming sharp nails grabbed the front of my black Levi's shirt and held me up against the brick wall. I registered the wavy long blonde hair of my attacker and choked, clutching at her hands. The darkness of the calm night and her blonde locks covered her face but I thought that I saw silvery eyes gleaming back into mine and two sharp fangs protruding, shining white. Frantically I thought, 'Vampire?'

The female cocked her head to one side as though silently scrutinizing me. I struggled under her grip but she was too strong to shake off, unnaturally strong. She used one of her hands to trace every inch of my skin that's exposed. Then, out of the blue she pierced my right arm with her razor-sharp nails drawing blood. She pinned my arm up against the wall, her grip bruising my forearm. I half-shouted out in pain and struggled harder against her iron-clad grip but to no avail. A silky voice spoke out of the darkness to our left.

"Come now Ava, stop playing with your food." A tall man stepped out towards our direction. He stopped in front of me gazing at me like he won some prize, his hair gleamed in the moonlight. "Lucas Ashgreene, such a pleasure to meet you at last."

My breath came out quick and sharp, not knowing who this man or how he knew me. The man leaned in and drew in a deep breath, causing his fangs to appear.

"Oh, my boy, I have dreamed of finally finding your family and having my vengeance. Your parents and grandparents certainly did a number on my kind over the decades, I'm just here to repay the favor."

Without another word, he leaned in closer, excitement emanating off of him and bit into my carotid artery. His female partner earnestly bit into my forearm, slurping greedily. I gave another half-cry out, fruitlessly struggling against two, which I still refused to believe as, vampires. The pain was quite excruciating at first, as though someone poked a white-hot wire into my neck and arm. Slowly, the pain started ebbing away allowing a soft pleasure to take over. A tingling sensation followed by weakness started to spread all over my body. Suddenly, I felt the two of them being pulled away from me, I slid down onto the ground barely conscious. Fighting to keep my eyes open, I could just about make out a blurry third figure fighting the earlier two individuals. Defeated, they melted back into the shadows and fled.

Satisfied, the mysterious figure turned to me slowly. Her long dark hair cast her face in shadows but I could feel her eyes on me. In two steps, she was standing over me, she bent down and picked me up like I didn't weigh anything. Darkness and fatigue engulfed me and I welcomed both with open arms.

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