Chapter 5 rewritten

Noah's POV

Knocking jolted me back to consciousness like a bolt of lightening. It took me a moment to realise that the knocking was coming from the door, which wasn't actually mine. For a few blissful moments, I had forgotten the fact that I was staying inside one of the most prestigious hotels in England. I didn't know how I could possibly forget, given the fact the quilt probably cost more than my entire bedroom.

The knocking persisted, causing me to groan in annoyance. I would've loved to put the satin pillow over my head, cancelling the noise. Yet, it felt like the knocking was coming from within my skull, so I wouldn't be able to get any more sleep anyway.

I reluctantly stumbled from the bed and over to the door. For a moment, I thought that my sleepy state had imagined the knocking, as it stopped as soon as my bare feet hit the cold wooden floor. Yet, there was a looming presence on the other side of the door, waiting for me to open up.

I opened the door to see Crow Clawdon, the man who attacked me, left me for dead, and then invited me to stay in the hotel. His emerald eyes immediately met mine. It wasn't until I broke eye contact and saw his graphic tee, did I realize that I hadn't put my shirt back on.

"Sorry," I muttered as I spun on my heels and spotted the blue fabric on the floor, quickly slipping it over my head.

"Oh, no. That was a rather pleasant greeting," Crow said politely. The tips of his ears had turned a shade darker. He had his hair pulled into a slack ponytail, allowing more of his face to be on show. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Not really," I answered truthfully. I think I only got about thirty minutes of sleep last night. Even though the bed was like lying on a cloud. "You didn't answer my question earlier, why did you tell me to come here?"

"That's relatable," Crow said with a sigh as he sat in a leather armchair that was stationed in the living room I hadn't noticed earlier. "I don't recall you asking, but I wanted some answers from you. This is the one of the two private places that I know of, and I am certainly not inviting you to the second. What are you doing here?"

I stumbled over the question which seemed so simple. "You invited me," I told him. I might have been too tired, but I didn't know if there could possibly be an alternative meaning to his question.

"You and I both know I didn't mean it that way." Crow sighed before standing up again. "How do you like your tea?" He walked straight past me to the kitchen, flicking the kettle on as he went.

"Just a dash of milk..." I muttered. I couldn't' understand how Crow could walk with such elegance and grace, he was simply making tea, but it looked like it had been rehearsed. "Are we going to have a tea party?" I asked sarcastically as the kettle started to make bubbling noises.

"Yes," Crow replied. "Haven't had a good, old-fashioned tea party in a while, it'll do me good to get back into the fantastical art of delicately sipping tea whilst we make small talk. Eventually coming to a profoundly serious conversational topic where someone chokes on their tea, or a teacup gets dropped and shattered."

Crow had a small smile on his face, and I had to hold back my own from showing. I didn't want the atmosphere to be funny or casual, I wanted the answers I needed so that I could get out of here and move on with my life. The kettle clicked, the switch turning from a bright blue to a boring grey.

I backed away and moved into the living room, finding myself a seat on the settee. I assumed that Crow would be sitting back on the armchair, like he had done when he first entered.

It was nice being served tea for once, that hadn't happened in years. The very act filled me with familiarity, only because I worked in a café whenever I could. Crow entered with a tray, holding it in one hand as he passed me a delicate-looking teacup, which I placed on the coffee table in front of me.

"So ...we both wish to know some information from the other...take turns?" Crow questioned as he gently blew on his cup of tea. Even though his words were rather childish, and he was holding a rather delicate looking teacup, Crow was still intimidating.

"I'm not the best at tea party conversation, but I'll go first." I shifted in my seat, trying to look like I wasn't afraid of the man. "Why did you try to kill me?"

Crow sighed, his cup was close to his lips, but he hadn't taken a sip. "I would've thought that'd be rather obvious. I'm a vampire, you were my safest bet at the time." He placed his cup on its saucer and sat forward, looking straight towards me, despite us not facing each other. "I am incredibly sorry that it happened to you. It was a 'wrong place, wrong time' situation."

I wondered if he had put anything in his own drink or if he was intoxicated before he came here. It wasn't often that I wondered if people were drunk at six am, but it happened every now and again. I stared at him, trying to make him uncomfortable so that he would break and tell me the truth.

"Alright, why don't I ask the questions?" Crow ran a hand through his hair, even though there was nothing to fix. "What do you remember from that night?"

I wiped my mouth to remove the icky feeling, which was growing within my stomach, but that didn't help much. "I can't remember a lot," I admitted. "I remember blacking out, red eyes, and the taste of blood." I shifted my feet as I tried to remember the other sensations I felt. "I remember being in pain, but I can't remember the pain, just my reaction to it."

"Shoot," Crow cursed under his breath. He put his cup down and linked his fingers together. "There's no way blood would've touched your tongue, unless someone gave you theirs." He looked troubled as he stared at me. It was like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve, but not all the pieces were there. "Was there anyone else there?"

His voice made a shiver run down my spine. "What? No, well, I can't remember." I straightened my back. "Why one earth would anyone be so disgusting to give me blood? I don't think you're thinking right." He was a lunatic; I was sure of it. There was nothing about this situation which tells me that the man in front of me is sane.

He looked at me with an expression I couldn't place. I didn't know if he was planning my funeral, or if I had killed his dog. "Noah, I'm not sure how to tell you this."

"With your lips and vocal chords," I said sarcastically. He was getting on my nerves. I didn't believe anything that he said about vampires or whatever fantasy he made up. I just wanted to know why he attacked me, but the thoughts about this being a bad idea were now overflowing.

"Noah," Crow snapped. His change of volume and tone made me flinch, my shoulders raising to my chin. His tone then softened, along with his expression, which turned to one akin to sympathy. "You're a vampire."

The silence was torture. I wasn't' sure if I had heard Crow correctly, even though he had said similar words before. A vampire? I didn't even believe that vampires existed, and he was telling me I was one. How would he know? Why would he lie to me about something so ridiculous? The thought made me want to laugh.

But it did make sense, given what I remembered from the night. The luminous red glow which creeped up his body, pooling into his eyes. It would also explain the mass amount of blood.

"What?" I asked. I couldn't make the words process in my mind. "a vampire? Me?" Even I found my own disbelief annoying. "Sure, and next thing you'll tell me is that the people working here are werewolves, and every room is haunted."

Crow sighed. I knew that I wasn't helping him at all by being sarcastic, but if he was going to lie and play games with me, the best I could do was return the favour. I had a slither of fear in my veins, this man attacked me. I should be frightened for my life. "I'm assuming that a vampire fed you their blood after I attacked you."

"How could you accuse me of being a vampire so casually?" I asked with a volume that raised with each word.

Crow shushed me. I didn't know if it was his serious nature, or the fact that it made sense which caused me to clamp my mouth shut. I was sure that he didn't want his staff to hear something so absurd. But then why was he telling me these preposterous tales?

"Before you ask that was compulsion." Crow stated. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I wasn't going to throw in more questions, as I still hadn't had the answers to the previous ones. "I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm stating what is most likely the truth. It is the only explanation as to why you are still breathing."

I darted to my feet and started to pace the relatively large space of the living room. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I had seen far too many vampire movies to play complete ignorance. I felt like I was dying that night in the alley. I had completely accepted my fate, but then I woke up with the taste of blood in my mouth and a pounding headache, which seemed to be returning.

I didn't know how long I was pacing, but I must've been causing a racket, as Crow jumped to his feet and placed his hands on my shoulders, stopping me. "Noah, I know it seems like a lot. We could work through this. Let me help you."

My face contorted with the anger which caused my hands to shake and knees to feel weak. I pushed Crow's shoulders, freeing myself from his grip. "How on earth could you possibly help me? You're the reason that I'm in this mess. You're the reason why I missed work and could possibly lose my house from not being able to pay rent. And now you're telling me that I'm a bloodthirsty monster, which I still don't believe, because they don't exist." I didn't feel bad for lashing out at this stranger, but it didn't make me feel any better.

"Noah, you don't want to deal with this alone," Crow stated. His tone was level, and he didn't raise his volume to talk over me. His eyes held glimmers of truth and pain, but I didn't care. I held no sympathy for this man. "I had to figure all this out by myself. And it was torture, but you have someone."

I shook my head and turned my back to him, looking for every one of my personal belongings before I put my bag on my back. "No, I don't care what you say. Nothing convince me. I hope that whatever issues you have are sorted out, and that we never see each other again."

As I was about to leave the room, a cold hand wrapped around my wrist. "Noah, you shouldn't be alone," Crow said seriously. "You don't know what you're capable of."

I scoffed and tried to pull my wrist out of his grip to no avail. "Just leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with you." After one last yank on my wrist, I was free once again, and left the room.

"You're welcome back any time," Crow called after me. "I'll check in every evening until you come."

The psycho will be waiting a long time.

QUESTION OF THE DAY!

What is your preferred hot beverage?

I personally prefer a cup of tea for my hot beverages throughout the day, but the occasional hot chocolate if I'm feeling fancy/wanna get cosy :D