Red Eyes

Emily’s eyelids were getting heavy. 1

She yawned and climbed off her bed, stretching her arms and feeling the muscles tighten. She closed her Calculus textbook and put her notebooks in her backpack. Emily set the alarm on her cell phone for 7AM and changed into pajama pants and a baggy white t-shirt. She pulled the hair tie out of her long blonde hair and started to brush it, staring into the mirror on her wall, then stopped when she saw a red light out of the corner of her eye. 2

She turned and saw two small red lights, shining brightly next to each other in the vague shapes of the darkness through her window. At first, she shrugged them off as the tail-lights of a car parked at the house across the street, but she wasn’t able to look away from them. Her body felt numb and she couldn’t will it to move. The lights got brighter and seemed to move nearer, and they were surrounded by a pale glow that became human-shaped as it got closer to her second-story window. After a few seconds, she could clearly see a man floating outside of her window. Logical reactions like screaming or running away weren’t registering with her; instead, Emily pushed the windowpane upwards and let the man climb into her room.3

He wore a flowing black shirt and black pants, and had black hair that brushed his neck. His skin was taut and pale and the red glow of his eyes was subdued. 4

“Emily?” 5

“Yes?” she was rapt, but answered with a calmness that came from somewhere beyond herself.6

“You are very beautiful.”7

She took a step back and her legs bumped into her bed. She sat down and the man drifted towards her until he was in front of her, their legs almost touching. He reached a hand out and cupped her chin, then stroked her cheek. She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning into his hand. 8

“You are very, very beautiful,” he said, again.9

“Thank you,” she breathed. 10

“Do you desire me?”11

“Yes.”12

The man lowered his face until his mouth met hers and when they kissed, her tongue was pricked by large, sharp fangs in his mouth, but the pain didn’t cue any reflexive drawing away. His arms were around her and he pressed her backwards until her back met the mattress and his mouth moved past her lips and to her neck. Even when his fangs pierced her jugular, she was only feeling pain and thinking nothing.13

***14

Everything was a haze around the red light. It reached for Emily and she wanted to go towards it.15

“Emily? You alive in there?”16

She was in the school library. The red light was tiny and weak an floating in front of a pudgy, bespectacled face. 17

“Peter? What…”18

“Flashlight pen. Never seen one?” He shook the silver pen and clicked the red light on ad off several times. The light bounced off of the gold cross hanging on a chain around his neck “You wanna borrow it? I’ll let you borrow it. You can have it, if you want.”19

“No thanks,” she groaned. She looked around and saw that they were the only people in the library. The clock read 2:45PM, fifteen minutes after school let out. She couldn’t remember anything past 11:30 the night before; she didn’t remember any of the day’s classes or anything at all since the pale man’s burning kisses on her neck. She blushed, thinking about it. 20

Emily looked back at Peter, who just stared at her, eagerly. “Uh… sorry, I was spacing out. What’s going on?”21

“Calculus, of course,” he beamed, tapped his finger on the page of the open text book lying in front of him and started to go over a problem he was tutoring her on, but his voice became an insect-like drone when she thought back to the pale man. She could remember other liberties he’d taken with her, but wasn’t sure if they’d actually happened or not. Emily absently brushed her hair off of her neck and her fingers glanced over ragged, stinging marks in her flesh. She froze.22

She jumped when she felt something else press over her hand, touching the wounds. She looked forward and saw that Peter’s hand was extended, meeting her neck. He looked entranced with the wounds.23

“Vampire bites?” he asked, softly.24

“What the fuck, Peter?” she rasped, pushing her chair back from the table. He was looking her in the eye now and his gaze didn’t falter. Emily was confused bordering on shock; usually, if she so much as caught Peter staring at her, which she did often during class and the tutoring sessions their Calculus teacher said she needed in order to pass, she’d mention it in an annoyed tone of voice and he’d go crimson, apologize profusely and look terrified until she started to talk again. “What the fuck?”25

“I can help you with vampires, you know,” he said, calmly, and then set a book on the table. Emily looked down and saw that it was a battered copy of Dracula. 26

“You’re crazy,” she said, lamely. “I just… scratched myself.”27

“You sure?” he asked, his voice low. He purposefully flipped the book over and Emily saw a sticker that read “Property of Peter Harlow, 145 Cedarhurst Lane”28

“Cedarhurst Lane!” Emily exclaimed, the words coming out of her mouth before she even knew why. Then she remembered something the pale man had said before he left. “Meet me at 157 Cedarhurst Lane tomorrow at sundown.” She hadn’t questioned then, serenely accepting it as if he’d said “The sun will rise tomorrow.” She didn’t question then, either; she felt only determination to go there and excitement that she’d see him again. 29

“What about it?” Peter asked. “I can take you there right now… to my house.”30

Emily ignored the obvious suggestion in his voice and asked “Where is it? I need to get there tonight. 157 Cedarhurst Lane.”31

He grabbed a piece of paper and doodled on it for a few seconds before handing it to Emily. It was a rough drawing of the street with a star marking 157 and another one marking 145, with an arrow pointing to it, the words “My house. Come visit.” There was a phone number next to it. 32

“I can come with you if you want,” he offered quickly.33

“No, I need to go there alone.”34

***35

Emily shivered, feeling the night breeze snake around her as she stood in the shadow of the house, a dilapidated Victorian set away from the road at the dead end of Cedarhurst Lane. 36

She’d walked there when the sky was turning orange. No one had been on the street or around the house. There weren’t any fences or warning signs on the property, but she was still nervous and jumped at the sound of leaves rustling on the trees surrounding the house. She looked around at all the muted fall colors in the fading light until finally she saw the intense red of his eyes. They stopped her and held her, but she felt enough control over herself to walk towards him until they were only inches away. 37

“I came here just like you told me to. I want to see you again,” she said, quietly.38

His expression was blank and when he spoke, his voice was stilted and awkward, almost like he was reciting lines. “Yes. And now you’ll be mine forever!”39

He wrapped his arms around her and opened his mouth wide, exposing his huge fangs and leaning toward the wound he’d inflicted the night before, but he froze, just holding her like that with his jaw elongated, for several seconds before she heard a voice shouting from the right,40

“Stop, you wretched abomination!”41

Emily looked over and saw Peter running towards them, his face red and fat shaking, waving a stake in one hand and a mallet in the other. The pale man let her go and fell backwards. Peter skidded to a stop next to him, wobbling and almost falling over, then knelt and positioned the stake over his heart, raising the mallet high.42

“No!” Emily howled, and hurled herself at Peter, knocking him on his side, then scrambling off of him and kneeling next to the pale man. He looked frightened, his eyes wide and his mouth trembling. He sat up and they both looked over at Peter who struggled to get back to his feet. 43

“What … the fuck … is going … on?” Emily asked, flatly.44

“Emily! Away from him!” Peter yelled, holding his cross necklace out. Emily heard the pale man hiss and saw him turn away. “Over here with me, quick!”45

“I think I’d rather stay with him,” she muttered, then put her hand on his shoulder and asked, “Are you alright? Who are you? What’s going on here?”46

“He’s a vile, blood-sucking monster!” Peter yelled, in a nasal whine.47

“My name is Eric,” the pale man said, tiredly. “I was turned about fifty years ago. I’ve been wandering around the country ever since and a few weeks ago, I found this house and started sleeping in a coffin in the basement until one night I go out to feed and then come back to find … him,” he jabbed his finger in Peter’s direction, “standing next to my coffin, his crucifix lying inside of it. He says that the crucifix was a present from his aunt, she got it blessed by the Pope on a visit to the Vatican. Since he consecrated my coffin with it, I’m bound to him, and he says that if I don’t do exactly as he says, he’ll put it to me. It hurts me to even look at the thing, so I’m sure it’s a holy object, and since I’m still a fairly young vampire, that can pretty much reduce me to ash. So I’ve really got no choice but to do as he says.”48

“And he said… for you to visit me last night, hypnotize me, make me meet you here, and have you pretend to attack me so he can pretend to rescue me, right?” Emily guessed. 49

“And it worked, didn’t it?” Peter asked, haughtily. “Emily, you’re mine, and Eric is our slave for as long as I want him around, to do anything I need him to do.” He walked over to her, but she squirmed away. Eric put his arms around her protectively.50

“This is crazy,” she snapped. “Peter, you’re crazy. Let Eric go and then… just go away, I never want to see you again.”51

He looked down at her, solemnly. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to do this, Emily.” He reached behind his head and unhooked the chain, then lowered the cross towards Eric’s hand, making him recoil and skitter away from Emily. “Either you come to me… or I order him to kill you.”52

“No…” Emily whispered, numbly. 53

Eric crawled back towards her and looked up at Peter. “Fine,” he said, hoarsely. “Destroy me. I’m not going to hurt her.”54

“No,” she said, more firmly, climbing to her feet. “I’m yours. All yours.”55

Color rushed to Peter’s face and he grinned wide. “God, Emily, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted this!” He put his arms around her and she was overwhelmed by his body odor, but his mouth was on hers before she could gag. She kept her body rigid so she wouldn’t tear away from him and scream. When Peter’s mouth went to her neck, she instantly thought of Eric. Then she saw the gold chain gleaming against his pale, freckled neck.56

Emily raised her arm and slid it across Peter’s shoulder, slowly. 57

“God, Emily,” he said, raising his eyes. “I love you so much.”58

She threaded her fingers around the thin chain and pulled hard. His eyes widened in confusion when it snapped, then Emily sunk her teeth into his shoulder. Blood poured into her mouth and the sound of his screams filled her ears. She pushed him away from her and yelled Eric’s name, clenching the crucifix so tightly that it dug into her palm. 59

She looked over and saw that Eric’s eyes were a raging red. Peter was scrambling to get up, blood pouring from his neck and staining his t-shirt. Eric was on him instantly, like a furious, hungry, wild dog. Emily saw Peter’s arms and legs thrashing wildly, then settle to a quiver, and then finally go limp. Eric turned to look at her, his face dark with blood, and then he quickly turned away. She walked over to him.60

“Forget you saw this,” he gasped. “Leave now.”61

“No,” she said, softly. She dropped to her knees and put her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face her. She kissed him, the taste of copper filling her mouth and nose. When they separated, her lips were sticky with blood. She licked them clean, then looked down at Peter. His eyes were darting around wildly, but his breath only came in small, infrequent twitches. 62

She looked back at Eric and smiled. He smiled also. His red eyes shone with warmth. Emily put her mouth to the wound in Peter’s neck and started to drink deeply.