Chapter 5: Nobody Jumped Out

Danica hesitated to continue. Being lit up meant whoever was in the building might not be a thief. Or was this light the magic of the building itself?

With caution and silence, she set forth, the safety flipped off of the pistol. She pulled the door–heavy, thick, and decorated with ornate carvings–, and it opened with a draggingly long creak. That was freaking loud. She cursed at the door inwardly. Stupid door! So much for the silence.

At least nobody jumped out, yet. Stepped inside, she found herself in a brightly lit empty hall. Vast, vintage furniture against the walls, old paintings on the wall, and dark curtains hang at the windows. She did not need to touch a thing to find out how every surface was squeaky clean. If the light had not surprised her, this should be. 

In the middle of the hall, she waited for something to happen. Nothing happened. There was a door before her. She took slow steps towards it. 

Upon opening the door, the pretentious tranquility ended. An utterly unexpected sound took over the silence. In front of her lay a long hallway, and somewhere somebody was playing the piano. The music was loud and haunting. She tried to stay logical and calm. This entire part of the mansion must be soundproofed.

She followed the music. Immediately Danica recognized it for being a famous piece. The Requiem by Mozart. Whoever playing it was extremely talented. Without the choir and the orchestra, it had affected her no less. The evocative quality it held.

That made her almost forget why she had come here. The first door on her left was where the music was coming from. Uncertainty filled her mind. Still, nobody had the right to live here. She was not invading anyone’s privacy. 

She entered the room and noticed how dim the light was, which was from a few light bulbs from the chandelier above. Almost complete darkness surrounded her. Here, the music was especially loud. The tapping on the keys sounded so forceful, nearly with vengeance.

Her eyes jumped to the gloomy corner and saw the piano. And the person who was playing it, but only the silhouette. It was a man, and he was facing the other side. 

She approached him, not ready to shoot as she was not sure whether he was an enemy. The music ended with angry strikes on the keys. Then it was silence.

“Who are you?” she asked.

No answer. The man sat still. “I’ve been waiting for you,” he said suddenly after a while.

“Why are–,” before she could finish her question, the room vibrated with a blur of movements. 

The chandelier exploded, and the glass pieces shuttered. The room went dark. All this happened simultaneously. 

She was not an amateur hunter and was used to these types of situations. What surprised her was the speed. Too fast! From no less than four meters away, the shadow was right in front of her before she could blink. As she was about to the trigger, he slapped her arm, causing her gun to drop. Then she herself.

Her back hit the hardwood floor, and there, she was pinned down. With only one hand! The realization angered her endlessly. His hand pushed her down while he straddled her but without touching her thighs. Only when she moved her legs upwards, they touched his. And that movement was useless. 

She breathed heavily or rather she struggled to breathe in as the pressure on her chest was too much. His looks had been obscured since the beginning and she could not see him at all in the darkness. 

The tips of his fingers touched the base of her neck. They were utterly cold. A vampire. It had been more than obvious with the speed. But the strength was greater than any vampire, any non-human she had encountered in her life. Both of her hands were busy trying to lift his one hand. No, she had to think of something other than keeping this behavior, which was so unlike her.

Cold breath tickled her ear. “Say your last word.” It was a command and his voice was stern.

“Fuck. You,” she spat out. It wasn’t easy with the force at the base of her throat, but she managed it.

He chuckled in return.

“You just changed my mind. Don’t say it. Not yet.”   

That said, his hand moved, but before she could do anything, his icy fingers were wrapping around her throat, blocking her airway. Then she felt a sharp pain on her shoulder through her shirt. 

His teeth released her for a second and then she heard his heavy intake of breath, before he bit her again. The pain was quickly replaced by something else entirely. Her mind began to drift off.

Danica had faced vampires. Never had she felt this way although she had been bitten before.

The stories about how it felt like to be bitten by a vampire; she had never been able to relate to them. Until now. She almost forgot about the reality of her situation, but she recovered.

His fingers had relaxed slightly. His hunger must have distracted him. In no way, she would miss this chance.

Out of her hostlers, she took another gun out and shot at him, aiming at his chest. She assumed it had missed the target, as she felt his body immediately pull away. There was, however, no sound of the bullet hitting a hard surface. Did it hit him?

His speed was incredible. Now her eyes were used to the dark, she could see the silhouette. The shadow was already at a distance from her. 

If she didn’t know when to retreat, she would have been dead years ago. She exited the room backward, firing continuous shots at the same time for cover. Then she ran. The shadow was moving with an unnatural swiftness but she did not hear the footsteps following her.

There was no time to check whether her shots had hit him. The last shot stopped with an empty click. It was out of ammunition. And another gun was back in the room. Damn. She should have brought more. Along with extra magazines. Now she only had the dagger.

Through the main door, she hurried down the path to the gate, then into her car. For whatever reason, he did not chase her. Maybe she would prepare herself well and come back to end him later. 

She started the engine. The outside world was still bustling, and the difference in atmosphere was still there. From the stores right across the street, she noticed inquisitive eyes as she entered her car. She couldn’t care less though.

As soon as she was sure she was alone in her apartment, she took her shirt off and checked the wound in the bathroom mirror. It was still bleeding, but not too much. The vampire bites were different. They healed quickly and usually, did not need to be tended to.  

She washed her hands and touch the mark on her shoulder. A tingling sensation shot through her. Quickly, she cleaned it. Anger bubbled up in her chest. She was frustrated how he overpowered her so easily. 

Who was this vampire? Where did he come from? How was she going to find out when she did not even get to see his face?

Danica could not sleep. She kept thinking about his fury targeted at her. Because she swore at him? And the phrase he said when she entered the piano room. He told her that he had been waiting for her. What did he mean by that? Simply as a predator waiting for human prey? Then he should have known she wouldn’t be the easy one being a hunter as she was. 

She had not realized she had fallen asleep but her phone rouse her. Someone was calling her. 

Squinting her eyes, she picked it up from the bedside table. “What’s up, Marc?” she drawled.

“Aren’t you watching the news now?”

“Why?”

“You check your timeline or open a channel. There’s breaking news going on. Maybe it’s over now.”

“About what? It’s seven in the morning. I was sleeping.”

“It’s about the haunted mansion.” Which woke her up completely from her sleep-addled state.

“What’s that about? Spit it out, Marc.”

“It’s not a public building. After four hundred years, now we know who owned it.”

“Who?” She had a premonition that the answer wasn’t going to be favorable for her.

“The Eclipsis family.”