Vlad

Three

I whimper as Estella helps me place bandages over the various bite marks I had on my body.

"You don't remember what happened at all?"Estella asks.

I simply shake my head, as if I hadn't been asked that a thousand times already.

"I know, I'm not helping."she huffs, sitting down besides me.

She hugs me softly and I lay my head on her shoulder.

"What am I supposed to do? I'm hideous."I say.

"No you absolutely are not! You're hot! And now you're gonna look even more badass! Who else do you know that has awesome bite scars like this!?"she says, making me smile.

"Yeeahh, there she is."she pokes, making me laugh.

"You never fail to make me smile, Stella."I say, hugging her tightly.

She chuckles as she hugs me back.

"Hey, how about we go to the cafe? For a tea? Come on I know you want some tea, you havent had any in at least 12 hours."she says, getting up.

I chuckle as she pulls me up.

"I'd really love some tea."I smile.

.....

We walk into the cafe, and I make my way over to my usual seat besides the window.

Instantly, a waitress comes and sits a steaming teacup before me.

"Oh, my friend is ordering one for me."I say softly.

"Oh, it's from Mr. Vlad, over there."she says, pointing.

I look over, seeing a well dressed man, he had tattoos and piercing blue eyes. A muscular build, tall. Quite handsome.

I face flushes a hard red as he sends me a flirtatious smile.

I look away, zipping my hoodie up to hide the hideous bite marks all over my body.

I then sit down, looking at the cup of tea before me.

How nice, I think.

Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder.

I look up, expecting to see Estella, but seeing the man instead.

I gasp and then look back down.

"Pardon me, am I intruding?"he asks, his voice deep and accented, smooth.

I swallow the lump in my throat and look back up.

"N-no, I'm sorry. I'm not used to u-um.."I stammer.

He chuckles, offering me his hand.

"Vlad. Nice to meet you."he says with a comforting smile.

My shoulders lose their stiffness, and I feel a glint of familiarity in his eyes.

I place my hand in his and he brings it to his lips as I speak.

"Melanie, how do you do?"I say.

"I must admit, I saw you sitting here a few days ago and you were so beautiful. I came back for 3 days in a row, just to get the chance to speak to you."he says.

I gasp and slightly chuckle. It reminded me of the romance novel I had finished a few days before.

"Wow, that's really sweet."I say.

"May I?"he asks, pulling one of the chairs from my table out.

I shake my head and he sits as he speaks.

"It's nice to finally meet."he chuckles.

"Sorry I kept you waiting. I..um..had an accident."I say, closing my hoodie around my neck.

"An accident?"he questions.

"I'd rather not talk about it."I say, looking down at the perfectly prepared cup of tea.

"I understand. How are you feeling now?"he asks as Estella walks up, two tea cups in hand.

"Oh."Estella says, surprised by the beautiful man sitting before me.

"Oh, Stella this is Vlad."I say as Vlad offers her a handshake.

"Estella."she says, squinting as she looks at Vlad.

"Pardon my intrusion. I had been dying to speak to Melanie."Vlad says, standing.

"Romania?"Estella says, looking him up and down.

Vlad smirks a bit.

"Transylvania."Vlad says.

"Interesting. Long family history there?"Estella asks, folding her arms.

.....

Vlad seemed to have found the reason for Estella's skepticism.

A small crossbow tattoo on her wrist.

"Longer than you could imagine."he chuckles.

"Mel, I'm feeling a little sick do you think we could take these to go?"Estella asks.

"Oh, sure. Sorry Vlad."Melanie says as she stands.

"Do you think I could-"Estella cuts Vlad off.

"I'll be sure she calls."Estella says, her face serious as she picks up the two cups she had purchased.

Vlad was becoming annoyed with this new "complication" Estella.

"It was a pleasure, Melanie."Vlad says, making her blush before walking away, Estella's eyes still drilling into the back of his head.

He goes back and takes a seat next to Shiloh and another man.

"Van fucking Helsing."he says, sitting down.

"Van Helsing? Didn't you snuff out that bloodline?"Shiloh asks.

"I thought I did. One of them must've squeezed through."Vlad says.

"Want me to take care of it?"The man next to him says.

"No. Shiloh. You do it."Vlad says.

Shiloh huffs, looking at her long nails.

"Fine, don't expect it to be pretty though."she says.

Vlad rolls his eyes, watching them as they leave.

....