Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

"How is this possible?" I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The man in front of me was someone I had known for a long time. I had even believed that Terry and I were the closest of friends. So, I found it hard to accept that someone I trusted wasn't who I thought he was all this time. The vampire smiled and changed back to his pale self, the transformation was so quick that I thought I was going delusional. Maybe I was still asleep back in Deric's mansion, and this whole thing was just a dream.

"Do you believe you can trust me now?"

"Hell no!! You've been deceiving me all this time!"

"Please, you're not that significant," he said, his eyes distant, like he was deep in thought. He regarded me once more and then leaned forward to take a whiff of my scent. I quickly stepped back in panic, afraid that he was going to do something to me. He smiled, clearly enjoying how unsettled I was. He seemed to take pleasure in terrifying me. "I have been monitoring you for the longest time, waiting for the perfect moment to corner you like this. It took a bit longer than I thought, but it will all be worth it when you give me what I want."

"You've been pretending to be Terry all this time because you wanted something from me? I'm guessing this whole human slavery thing was instigated by you as well, because you knew I would try to change things and would end up seeking your help. In fact, there might not even be vampire elders at all—this was all you!"

He didn't try to deny it, and I immediately knew I had spoken the truth. My fist clenched at my side, but I dared not act, for fear I might hurt myself in the process. I wanted to slap him across the face. How dare he do something like this, not only to me but to thousands of people? What could he possibly want from me that would justify the mess he had created? I couldn't fathom how a single person could be so selfish!

"You are cursing me in your mind, aren't you? Very colorful words."

"Why have you done this?!"

"I told you before. I wanted something from you, and this was the only way to get it. But don't worry, you won't have to kill anyone." He tossed the branch he had presented me aside. "When you go back, everything will return to the way it was before you left home that night. In fact, your family won't even remember what happened. No one will. You will go back to living your sweet human life."

"If you're willing to change things yourself, then it must mean that what you want from me isn't something small."

"I won't tell you what I want, but I will tell you why I want it."

"Why?"

"It has something to do with your blood. You must have noticed by now that you're not as human as you thought. Humans don't see ghosts, and humans don't heal as quickly as you do. You would have died the day Silas drained your blood if you were human, but you're not. It's also the reason why your father left all those years ago. He simply wanted you to keep living a lie. He thought if you ever found out what you really were, you'd be the target of many people."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, unable to understand what he meant. I had always thought my father left because he no longer had feelings for my mother and wasn't willing to continue the marriage. But it didn't explain why he never tried to contact me all these years. I knew better than to trust this evil man who had manipulated thousands of people into doing his bidding. All the suffering I went through was because of him. And now he was saying something about wanting my blood? Creepy as hell. I wanted to get out of there. In fact, I didn’t even believe he would change everything back to the way it used to be. Why would he? This was what happened when one person gained too much power.

The vampire must have sensed I didn’t believe a word he said. He moved an inch closer to me. I did my best not to give in to the urge to step back. I didn’t want to show him that I was intimidated by him. "Give me your hand."

"Why?"

"Don’t ask questions." He scoffed and took my hand. His skin was freezing against mine, and it gave me goosebumps. I didn’t try to pull my hand away until I saw him pierce my thumb with a small needle, which he pulled out of nowhere. I flinched at the slight pain and tried to yank my hand away, but his grip was firm. He looked up at me with eyes the color of blood. Unlike the other vampires I knew, his eyes didn’t change color based on his emotions. They seemed to be like that all the time. They were as beautiful as they were terrifying. He leaned forward and ran his tongue over my finger, tasting the droplet of blood from my skin. When he pulled away, there was a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Don’t look so terrified. I have no interest in you. You’re simply not the one I want."

"What does that mean?"

"Everything is fixed. Don’t forget our deal."

'What fucking deal?!' I wanted to ask him. He hadn’t told me anything about what he wanted. Before I could say anything, I felt his cool hand press against my forehead, and I became dizzy. It felt like my breath was taken away, my head hurt, and I felt like I was falling into that hole again.

I was pulled out of my disoriented state by the soft feel of warm bedsheets beneath me. I opened my eyes slowly and saw the familiar ceiling of Bill’s beach house. I was in a daze for a long time, wondering how I went from standing in a forest to being in the same house where Deric had kidnapped me a month ago. I pushed myself into a sitting position as the words of that vampire echoed in my head: "Everything will go back to the way it used to be." Could it be that he really turned things back to how they were?

I reached out for my phone, which was on the bedside table, and dialed Silas's number. The phone rang for a while, and I grew anxious at the lack of response. "Kerry?" When Silas's voice sounded from the other end of the phone, I felt so relieved I could cry.

"S...Silas?"

"Hey, what’s wrong? Are you alright?"

"I’m fine. Where are you?"

"At home."

"And Mom? Bill?"

"They came back from their date an hour ago. They’re watching a movie downstairs. Why are you crying?"

"Can you come pick me up?"

"I swear, if it’s about you wanting to leave town again, I want nothing to do with it."

"It’s not about that," I said, unable to stop myself from laughing. Of course, that was the first thing he thought of. It seemed that the idea of me running away was the thing Silas feared most. In the beginning, I found it annoying, but now I felt glad to know he cared about me like this again. This was the Silas I knew and fell in love with. "I just want to see you. Please come over."

Silas went silent for a while. He was probably taken aback by my words. After all, I had left home that day to get away from my family, so it must have been weird for me to ask him, of all people, to come see me. "Alright. I’m on my way."

I ended the call and threw my phone back on the bed. I rose to my feet and went to the bathroom to shower. I had cleaned up not long ago, but for some reason, I felt unsettled thinking about what had happened in the forest. That vampire had said he would change things if I gave him something in return. It was a one-sided deal, and he hadn’t even told me what he wanted from me. But now that I saw that things were indeed back to the way they used to be, I couldn’t bring myself to complain. Whatever he wanted, whether it was my blood or something else, it would all be worth it.

It barely took half an hour before Silas was standing outside the door. He hadn’t brought the car, meaning he had used his super speed to get here. He gave me a worried look when I opened the door. "Alright, what’s going on? Did something happen?"

I didn’t respond to him. I reached out, pulled him into the room, and planted a passionate kiss on his lips.