Mesmerized | ✓

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Stonetown News Express Online, May the 6th

The Stonetown Vampire Still at Large

Another body was found with strange bite marks on the neck. The body belongs to a nineteen year old girl, a student at the Stonetown Community College. She was found by the owner of the nightclub Silver Fox. What is strange is that nobody from the people partying yesterday night seem to remember seeing anything weird. Moreover, nobody seems to recall any details from the night and the security footage is lost. The police are investigating and the club will remain closed until further notice.

In addition, a West High School student, Lance Jefferson, went missing on Saturday. Could it be another victim of the vampire?

If you have seen the boy from the picture attached below, please, inform the authorities.

Mark Webber

*****

After having skimmed through the article Carl's gaze landed on the boy sleeping soundly in the bed despite the alarm clock going off more than a few times. The murder described in the article couldn't have been executed by anyone other than Yuli. But how could he have managed to do it without him knowing anything, Carl wondered. He felt betrayed. No only had he killed another young person with their whole life still ahead but also he didn't tell Carl anything this time.

But what was the worst was the fact that the girl apparently attended his college. It could have been someone he knew and it must have been someone he at least recognized. He had probably passed that girl more than a few times in the hallway. Maybe they had even exchanged looks or smiled at one another.

Knowing that he needed to have a serious conversation about it with Yuli, he grabbed one of his notebooks and threw it at him, hitting his head. The boy startled and his eyes opened. "What the hell?" He asked angrily before his head fell right back onto the pillow. "Let me sleep. I'm tired."

"Yeah. I can imagine." Carl said in a lower voice. "They found a dead girl in a nightclub. It was you, wasn't it?"

Yuli snorted with laughter. "Of course it was. Who else would it be? A vampire?" He laughed again, clearly very amused by his own joke.

Carl couldn't believe how someone could be so unaffected by murdering people, but then again, he had trouble even understanding himself these days. He wanted to stay mad at Yuli, to storm out of the apartment and let the door shut behind him with a loud clang. But he couldn't. Because all it took was one smile, one look and all was forgiven.

He sat helplessly on the edge of the bed wondering how the hell he was supposed to talk some sense into Yuli when he clearly didn't care. "You need to lay low for some time." He said softly. "At least until the situation quiets down a little. Can you promise me that?"

Yuli continued to smile as he grabbed Carl's hand and stroked the inside of his forearm. He knew just the right buttons to push to always get what he wanted, to always get Carl to do what he wanted. "You will not force me to suppress my true nature." He said quietly with that smile still plastered to his face. "You can't. No one can. I will keep doing whatever I please because we both know that you won't stop me." He continued to stroke Carl's arm making him feel like he was burning all over with the desire for the boy laying next to him. "And you will do everything to keep the truth from getting out. So don't ask me again."

Carl looked away from him, hating what he had become.

*****

All students were asked to gather in the one lecture hall that was big enough to fit them. Candace saved two seats for them and they all sat down waiting for some kind of speech surely regarding the death of one of the students. "Do you know who it was?" Carl asked the girl.