Chapter Text
Your one hand gripped the steering wheel, your gaze fixed on the road, while you sipped the bitter cold coffee, hoping the caffeine would keep you awake till you reached home.
When an overplayed, generic pop song started playing on the radio, you rolled your eyes, but you couldn't stop yourself from singing along because, as much as you hated it, you knew all the words.
You got a bit carried away, and the paper cup fell out of your hand, landing in your lap before rolling down to the ground.
"Fuck." You cursed loudly and leaned down, taking your eyes away from the road for a split second.
Startled by a loud crash —something bounced off the hood of the car— you snapped your head back up, and instinctively slammed on the brakes, causing the car to screech to a sudden halt.
Your heart plummeted, stealing your breath away and causing your eyes to widen in alarm. There was one brief moment of stillness. You didn't move, too afraid to even think about what had just happened. But then your fingers slipped off the steering wheel, and you peered over your shoulder.
There was a body in the middle of the road, and whoever the stranger was, he wasn't moving.
You jumped out of the car, leaving the door open, and rushed towards the man.
You knelt on the cold concrete, attempting to take deep breaths, while wiping your eyes with your sleeve because tears began to roll down your cheeks without you realising it.
"Don't be dead, don't be... Please." Your fingers curled around his jacket, and using all your strength, even if your arms were shaking, you drew his body towards yourself, making the stranger flop onto his back.
He didn't appear to be seriously injured, but his eyes were closed and he didn't move, which wasn't good.
You pressed your ear to his chest, your hands gripping onto his shirt.
His heart was still beating.
You began digging through your pockets, desperately looking for your phone. You needed to call for help because you couldn't leave him here even if his heart was beating and he was breathing.
But your phone was back in the car.
You stood up.
As you ran back towards the open door, your legs quivered, your knees threatened to collapse, and your head spun with a disorienting mix of adrenaline and dizziness.
Someone suddenly forced your back against the side of the car. A hand wrapped around your throat lifted you off the ground, forcing you to stand on your tiptoes.
Your eyes widened, and you wanted to scream, but when your lips parted, not a single sound could elude you.
The stranger, whom you ran over, who was not moving, who was barely breathing, was now standing in front of you, his body pressed against yours.
His brown eyes pierced into yours, and you wanted to look away, but something about his presence, even if you were overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, made you remain motionless, unable to tear your gaze away
"I'm going to let you go." He said. His voice was barely above a whisper, and his grasp on your throat loosened slightly. "But you will not run."
You nodded, willing to play along for as long as it took for him to let you go, but as his hand slipped back to his side, and you tried to move, you realised you were stuck. Your feet were glued to the ground, and no matter how hard you tried to go forward, lift your hands, turn your head, or do anything, you remained immobile.
"What is happening?" Your voice trembled as you asked.
The stranger didn't reply, but his lips curled into a smirk. He raised his hand, and his fingertips traced your jaw before curling around your chin and raising your head up, so you would look directly at him.
"What's your name, love?" He asked, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. His tongue ran across his bottom lip, his fingertips then travelling to your neck, sending an icy shiver down your spine.
"Y/N." You replied.
The battle between your mind and body was palpable as if they were two separate entities fighting for supremacy; in your mind, you kept screaming at yourself, beginning your body to move, telling yourself that you need to scream, to run, or do anything besides stand idly and let the stranger have his way with you. But no matter how loud and insistent the voice inside your head was, your body would not obey.
"A pretty name for a pretty girl." He hummed.
The stranger took a step back, his eyes running down your body before he glanced at both sides of the road and got quiet for a moment as if trying to listen and hear whether any cars were coming.
But you lived in a remote, lonely town with little traffic, and there wouldn't be anyone driving by this road on Monday night, which meant that whatever happened, whatever the man planned to do, no one would be there to stop him or save you.
"Let me go... Please, just let me..." The words spilt out of you when you realised you had to do something; he warned you not to flee, but he didn't tell you not to talk.
"I won't hurt you. Too much." He sneered, and put his hands on the car, one on either side of your head. His body entrapped you, forcing him to lower his head to look at you, but you refused to meet his gaze and closed your eyes.
He brushed your hair away from your shoulder, exposing your neck. He leaned down even lower, his lips sweeping over your skin as he inhaled deeply. You whimpered, biting on the inside of your cheek so hard you could taste the blood.
He put his hands on your hips, his fingers digging into your flesh, keeping you in place, while his lips continued to explore your skin, almost as if he was hunting for something.
In an instant, a searing pain surged through your body, like a lightning bolt striking your neck, spreading with a relentless intensity through the rest of your spine, causing your muscles to tense.
He bit you.
Your eyes snapped open, but you couldn't move, and you had no choice but to bear the pain and let him do whatever he wanted, even if he wished to do something as sick as taste your blood.
"What are you doing?" You asked, your voice trembling.
He didn't respond, but his fingers wrapped around your throat and he turned your head to the side to gain full access to your neck.
He squeezed your throat when you tried to speak again, making you instantly close your mouth. Your head spun like a whirlwind, the world around you becoming a blur of colours and shapes. Dizziness enveloped you, disorienting your senses as he continued to drain your blood.
The surroundings seemed to sway, threatening to topple you over. A faint, nauseating scent filled the air, intensifying your lightheadedness. It felt as if a heavy weight pressed against your temples, squeezing your brain.
The stranger pulled back.
His lips and chin were stained with blood, which ran down his jaw and dripped down onto his black shirt. His eyes were no longer brown, but black and sinister.
He looked like a grotesque monster, his twisted features resembling the nightmarish creatures that haunt the pages of horror novels. "You taste even better than you look." He chuckled, wiping his face with the sleeve of his jacket.
You were disoriented, didn't know what to say or how to act, and all you wanted to do was scream and cry, but you were paralysed and couldn't move.
"It's a shame you'll have to forget about this. Again." He forced you to look at him. "But I promise you, we'll see each other soon. Although, I probably should stop cornering you like this, because that little heart of yours-" He tapped his index finger onto your chest before letting it slide down and wrap at the hem of your shirt, tugging at it lightly. "—might jump out of your chest the next time I scare you."
You had no idea what he was talking about. This was your first time seeing him.
"Why would you ask me for my name if you already knew who I was?" It was foolish to inquire, futile, and you should have been concerned with other things. But you assumed that as long as you kept him talking, he'd be too caught up in the conversation to do anything else.
"To make sure you are not in complete shock, love." He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You are drop-dead gorgeous, and bloody tasty, but I don't want you to drop dead literally because then we won't be able to continue having fun."
You blinked.
The frigid breeze washing over your body was making you tremble. You were outside the car, standing in the middle of the road.
What are you doing here?
You rubbed the sides of your head, trying to remember how you ended up here, but you could only recall dropping the paper cup on the ground and leaning down to pick it up.
Everything after that was blank as if someone had erased your memory, causing you to forget the previous hour.
You got back in the car, concluding that the lack of sleep had finally caught up with you. The radio was still playing quietly.
As soon as you sat down, you realised how exhausted you were. The cold coffee didn't help you much, and now on top of being drowsy, your entire body hurt, and you couldn't even turn your head without wincing, and a ping of pain erupting from your neck before washing all over your body.
When you picked up the paper cup from the ground, your gaze was drawn to a name that wasn't yours. Simon R.