Chapter 3

I sat in the chair sitting beside the bed. “Liam, is t-that you?”

I sighed, running my fingers through his hair. “Yeah, it's me JJ. What happened to you?”

John chuckled lightly, hissing in pain as he did. “It's a long story” I nodded.

“I’ll be here for however long you need.”

He looked at me with hooded eyes, taking shallow breaths.

“It happened at the nightclub. I walked in. Nothing seemed shady. It was a normal club. Maybe it was just a rumor. At least that's what I thought. But I wish I never would have gone. People were looking at me weirdly, but I didn’t think much of it at first. I walked to the bar. The men sitting beside me were side-eyeing. It was starting to creep me out.

“Excuse me, I’d like a margarita!”

The bartender looked at me in amusement. “We don’t serve those here.”

“I’ll have a Cosmopolitan then.”

“Don’t have it.”

“Moscow?”

“Nope”

“Old fashioned?”

“No”

What kind of bar doesn’t serve these common beverages? “What do you have then?”

He eyed me up and down. “Bloody fang, Vamptini, Dark Fangroni, Blood on the beach, Full moonscow, et cetera et cetera.”

What in the world is going on here? I’ve never heard of these. There is no such thing. The bartender smirked.

“Try this, it's on the house.” He handed me a dark red drink. It looked thick. I questioned if I should drink it. Me being me, of course, I drank it. The bartender stifled out a laugh at my reaction. It was strong, but it tasted weird. Weird.

“What is this? It tasted a little weird. I smacked my lips in distaste.

“What's in this?” The bartender smirked.

“Blood.”

It took me a moment to register what he said in my brain. My eyes lit up with excitement.

“Really?!” He looked confused.

“Well, that sure wasn’t the reaction I was expecting. You're a weird one. And yes, it is. I wouldn’t lie about that.”

I gasped. “Oh my God! Are you a vampire?!” He smirked.

“Yeah, almost everyone here is.”

“That is so cool! Do you have fangs?! Can I see them? Do you ha-” He smiled.

“You’re cute.” I blushed, immediately stopping my rambling. That's when I realized that the men sitting beside me were staring at me weirdly. “Sor-”

Before I could get another word out, chaos knocked on the door. A group of about ten to fifteen men burst through the doors. They drew everyone’s attention. Their eyes were glowing red. Their fangs were on show. Their sharp overgrown nails were out on display.

I subconsciously started trembling at their dark auras. Something didn’t feel right. I looked back at the bartender who had a murderous glare in his eyes. Something was wrong. The men started destroying everything and everyone that got in their way. There was no escape. They were blocking the doorway. It was terrible. I didn’t want to see the sliced necked or severed body parts. I wanted to leave, but I was paralyzed in fear.

They would destroy me just like the rest of them. But I didn’t want to see people die for no reason. I had never even fought before, but I watched enough anime to have an idea of how it would turn out.”

John chuckled bitterly, biting his lip.

“One of the men was holding a young woman by her neck, getting ready to snap her neck. I quickly ran over, but I could even lay a punch. Turns out vampires do have super speed and super strength too. He punched me into the wall. I could barely breathe. “Well well well. What do we have here? A little superhero?”

They chuckled as they walked towards me. I struggled to stand back up. I watched as the few people that were still left, crowded in corners, ran out the doors. At least they were able to make it out safely. But what was I supposed to do? Their smiles were evil. They held nothing back as they beat me to a pulp. I was thrown around like a rag doll. I couldn’t do anything.”

“G-god, I was so scared, Li.”

He grunted in pain as a few stray tears trickled down his face.

“If I tried to stand, I just stumbled back to the ground. They scratched and scraped at my body. Each punch or hit felt like I was dying again. But then I heard the alarm. I thought it was my call to heaven. I kept fading in and out of consciousness. My vision was blurred. I was losing a lot of blood.”

He sighed, pausing for a moment to control his breathing.

“Then I felt someone pick me up.

“Hey! Wake up! I need you to open your eyes! Can you hear me?” My eyelids were heavy. I had little to no strength left. I forcefully opened my eyes a little.

“I’m taking you to the hospital. Backup is here. They’ll handle the rest ok? You did good, sweetheart.”

“I don’t even k-know you.” He scoffed in amusement.

“You still have the strength to argue?” He walked in silence with me in his arms, like he was debating about something in his head. It was kind of awkward. But at the moment I couldn't care less.

“Tony.” He grumbled.

“Huh?” I asked in confusion. He laughed as he placed me in the back of what I’m guessing is his car.

“My name is Tony.” Tony? I liked that name”.

“John.” I whispered to him before I completely blacked out.”

“I see, so you found yourself a vampire boyfriend just like you wanted.” John gasped, blushing.

“That's all you got from everything I just told you?!” I laughed.

“I'm kidding. I’m kidding. Settle down and stop moving so much. You’ll reopen wounds. Are you hungry? I’ll order us some food.”

We sat in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence. I sat there getting lost in my thoughts about the events of today.

But for some reason, I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that those mythical creatures are real even though there is proof right in front of me. John got hurt in that nightclub, trying to help. And if I’m being honest I can’t stand for that. You won't hurt my family and get away with it.

“John. I’m going to pay a little visit to that weird nightclub.”