Chapter 2

"So, Danny..." Dr Lynn began as she placed the steaming hot cup of coffee down onto the table in front of me, smiling comfortingly as she settled into her favourite mustard armchair, "Why the surprise visit? Your next session wasn't scheduled till Tuesday."

I sat forward, lacing my fingers together nervously as soft classical music trickled through from the kitchen. I was struggling to come up with a way to broach the subject, "I--ugh, I was actually hoping you could clear some stuff up for me... about the recent medication change you put me on?"

"Of course," She replied surprised, sipping her coffee, "Fire away."

Dr Lynn had been my therapist for three years now.

Initially, I was issued court mandated counselling in the UK after my discharge. It went well for the first few months, however upon my decision to relocate to the states I was promptly forgotten about by the British government and left to fend for myself. A couple of months into the move, I was barely able to function day-to-day without some sort of help. After much deliberation, I finally bit the bullet and utilised my significant hush-money to invest in a decent private therapist.

Three and a bit years later, there I was. Sat in a well-dressed woman's New York townhouse, sipping well-made coffee and talking about my feelings for the umpteenth time.

Eighteen-year-old me would have laughed at the thought.

Dr Haryath Lynn was a shorth, slender woman in her late fifties. She had cropped black hair and dressed smartly even when home alone. She immigrated from India with her parents in the 1980's and built herself a rather distinguished career before marrying and having children, both of which had since grown and moved on to college to build a life of their own.

Dr Lynn's husband was an architect, and between them they owned a town house in Manhattan that she worked out of. She felt offices could become too clinical, and therefore preferred to deal with her patients from the comfort of her own home; and it worked.

In the years I'd spent visiting her and working on everything that was going on, it had weirdly brought me some comfort to associate such a homely place with healing. It was a safe haven, and I'd gradually built enough trust with Dr Lynn to open up about a fair few things. Things I never thought I'd talk about.

Of course, I couldn't bring up all the details for confidentiality reasons, but she got the general idea of what my previous line of work entailed.

"I was just wondering with the lowering of the dosage, is it possible previous symptoms that weren't there originally could-- I don't know... manifest? Stuff that wasn't a problem before?" I asked, knowingly skirting around the issue. I'd been doing so well, and openly admitting that I was seeing things would set me back further than when I first started. Saying it aloud meant that it was real.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What sort of symptoms?"

I picked up my cup and took a tentative sip, sitting up straighter in my seat as I paused to answer.

Here goes nothing...

"Is it possible you could hallucinate? As in, see things that aren't there?"

Her face grew stern, "Danny, what happened?"

"... I got mugged on Thursday."

Her eyes widened in genuine concern, "Oh Sweetheart, I'm sorry—"

"—It's fine, I'm okay," I interjected as she went to reach for my hand, "I got away, it's fine. It's just that... when it happened, I could've sworn that I saw the guy's face sort of... contort?"

She blinked quizzically, placing her cup down on the coffee table between us before leaning back in her seat, "What do you mean contort?"

"I mean it sort of changed into... a creature. With--" I explained, drawing blank as I subconsciously put down the cup and brought my hands up to my mouth; motion teeth with my two index fingers, "--fangs."

I realised what I was doing and awkwardly brought them down. Her eyebrows remained furrowed in thought, but she was calm as always, "That's mad... right?"

It took a second, but she shook her head, "I'll give it to you, it is a bit of a strange one. But Danny, this was a pretty traumatic event. The first violent one I'd bet you've had in years. You need to remember that you're still recovering, and your mind is still fragile. Hallucinations are a symptom of PTSD, and it is pretty common."

"But vampires? Surely, I should be imagining guns and bombsites-- not monsters that want to suck my blood?"

"The brain is a strange thing. But you've been doing so well. Don't let this be a setback you can't get over. Have you seen anything since?" She enquired as I took another gulp of coffee.

I shook my head in reply, "No, nothing. Well, nothing I'm aware of anyway..."

"Okay, well we're going to keep an eye on this and make sure it's not a reoccurring event. Chances are with the progress you've been making in the last year it was just one set-back," She reassured, "I'm going to keep you on the lower dosage for now and see where we are in a couple of weeks, how does that sound?"

I nodded, "...Yeah, that sounds good."

"Great," she smiled, jotting down some notes in her book that she kept on a nearby side table, "Have you been keeping up with your dosages?"

"Yeah," I nodded automatically, thinking back over the past week before blanking in sudden realisation, "Although... I may have forgotten a couple of days."

She paused her writing, "How much is a couple?"

I hissed slightly in guilt, "Like a solid four days..."

"Danny..." She began to scold, putting her pen down in order to speak to me fully, "We've talked about this. You need to make more of an effort to take your pills. That probably contributed quite heavily on the episode, you know? Your brain's all out of whack."

"I know," I replied shamefully, squeezing the cup in my palms, "Sorry. I've been doing good but with the deadline at work it fully slipped my mind."

"Another contributor," She noted, pointing at me with her pen before noting it down, "See it's all coming together now. You've had a bad week, Dan. Just be sure to not let this faze you. You've been doing so well; you might as well see it to the end."

I nodded, "Will do."

"Now about this attack..." She proceeded, clicking her pen shut and bringing her whole attention back to me, "Have you been to the police?"

"No. I haven't."

"... Okay. Do you think you'll be going to the police?"

"No," I sighed. The chances of anything coming out of my report were slim to none, thanks to the lack of evidence of an attempted mugging. I saw little to no point of getting them involved, "Nothing would come of it."

"And if something did?"

"Trust me, it wouldn't," I repeated, thinking over the attack and feeling my whole-body shiver from the experience, "Listen in all honesty I just want to forget about the whole thing and move on."

She tilted her head to the side, "Okay, it's your decision. Have you told Lilly?"

"No."

"And why's that?"

I felt my face contort slightly in disbelief, "Because she's sixteen, five months into a rough pregnancy and has exams coming up. The last thing she needs is to find out that her only legal guardian in America is one cake short of a tea-party."

She sighed, "Okay, if you believe that's best..."

I paused beneath her gaze, her eyes boring into mine as my chest began to tighten in frustration, "... You think I should tell her."

"No, I think you should go to the police. But I'm your therapist not your parent so I can't tell you what to do. Although do know that if anything like this happens again, it is under my duty of care to report this myself on your behalf. Understood?"

"Crystal."

***

My apartment for New York standards was spacious to say the least. It had two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a kitchen-diner and an open living room with a gorgeous view of the city from multiple, pan glass windows.

At twenty-seven I wasn't exactly doing bad for myself.

Once I was discharged from duty three years ago, I initially moved back to England for a couple of months with my father. Since retiring, he had a habit of jumping onto the first cruise he could find with wife number four, Dahlia; admittedly the nicest stepmother to date. But as lovely as she was, it wasn't exactly ideal for me to be constantly home alone—especially with the mental state I was in at the time.

After a while, I decided to take advantage of my dual citizenship to begin anew. My bank account had come into a great deal of money and my silence was bought-- I was more than ready to take it and move on with my life. It only took a month or so before I was in the bright lights of New York, and I never looked back. I found an ad for a job at a starter company specialising in the marketing of Broadway shows. It had very little pay and next to no benefits, but it kept me busy and had excellent potential for growth. Two years later and the business had tripled, resulting in my brand-new position of Marketing Director by sheer dedication and pure dumb luck.

My parents always had a bit of money. My mother was a travel writer from America and my father a retired journalist from Wales. I didn't grow up hungry nor did I want for much. I'd say it was a decent life until my brother passed when I was fourteen.

After that, I should've seen the divorce coming. All the fights, all the yelling, all the times dad went missing in the night. The marriage only lasted a year after Issac's passing. Twenty-five years down the drain once they established that they couldn't take the strain of losing a child.

He was twenty-two at the time.

Being dragged through courts also had its toll. Having to sell the house I grew up in and welcome questionable stepparents into the fold didn't help either. At fourteen everything went topsy-turvy, and suddenly I'd lost everything I'd ever known in the span of a few months.

Loud dinner times at the table became quick silent meals of convenience by the television, whilst our bi-monthly family game night was abandoned without another mention; the battered selection of once well-loved boardgames now collecting dust in an attic somewhere.

Lilly didn't have to bear the brunt-- she was too young. I don't think she fully understood what was lost, and for that I'm glad. But even so, she'd always had an incredibly turbulent relationship with our parents.

We were never close growing up, a combination of age difference and boarding school resulting in us being practically strangers as children. But all that changed when she called me one day out of the blue a few months ago, crying down the phone about two bright blue lines.

After that, I was the one who had to step up. I knew once mum found out about the baby she'd be kicked out. Even though neither of us were religious personally, our generational roots in Catholicism had ruled out abortion in Lilly's mind. It was only a matter of days before my prediction came true, my sixteen-year-old sister sobbing down the phone for a ticket to the states. Dad was MIA in Barbados, so with nowhere else to turn and little to no options left, she ended up moving in with me a few months back.

Exhaustion hit me like a freight train that night as I crawled into bed, the lamp I kept on my nightstand dimly illuminating my cluttered bedroom as I lay facing the ceiling. I did nothing but stare blankly upwards, willing myself to get the sleep I so desperately needed. I'd heard Lilly going to bed about twenty minutes earlier and was beginning to lose patience with myself.

After five minutes of counting dust particles, I sighed and turned over for what felt like the hundredth time. No matter how hard I willed to drift away, the attack kept playing over and over in my head like a broken record. I blamed myself for being so stupid as to try and help him in the first place, my anger and frustration growing alongside my worry as I tried to convince myself that no matter how real it had felt—I'd made that vile creature up in my head.

Dr Lynn said that my anger management issues were getting better day-by-day. Ever since I was a kid, I had a problem with controlling my temper, but recently I'd improved tremendously. I'd mainly channelled it through archery growing up, eventually becoming good enough to win some national competitions which my father called productive.

Although, when you'd need to use a bow-and-arrow in day-to-day life is beyond me.

Military school had really helped in terms of channelling it. I was one of the tops of the class in hand-to-hand combat, plus shooting inanimate object was strangely therapeutic for me—however much Dr Lynn disapproved. The archery helped in that sense, my aim being pretty much spot on within the first two weeks of training.

And ever since Lilly turned up, my coping skills had gotten even better. Even with everything that had happened we just fell into a comfortable routine, and now I couldn't picture life any other way.

I eventually brought my knees up to my chest and curled up into a small ball, my mind still whirring over all the possible scenarios that could've happened had I not managed to escape. The frustration grew and grew, but in the end exhaustion finally caught up with me as I drifted off into a turbulent sleep.

___

Before I knew it, a week had passed. Dr Lynn ended up cancelling our Tuesday appointment as she was called to a family emergency in Colorado and would be out of town for a couple of weeks. Wishing her all the best, I carried on into the weekend, still a little bit tense from the incident but determined not to bother her during her family time. To make up for it, I headed to the gym a few times and perhaps went at it a bit too hard. My feet were now well and truly done, the combination of exercise and the barefooted chase creating one big mess that were my tootsies.

I'd had what you'd call a bad fortnight. Between the attack and the pressures at work it had been one that I'd much rather forget. The only one good thing to come out of it was that I hadn't hallucinated again.

It was late evening. Lilly was napping in her room whilst I was begrudgingly on the living room computer, putting a dent in my work inbox. The clients were due in on Wednesday, and I had at least a dozen things to do before we could submit our presentation. Even the weekend wasn't safe as I added some last-minute details.

So, there I was. Saturday night sitting at my computer touching up something on Excel in my brother's old band T-shirt. I hadn't changed out of leggings since that morning, determined to be comfortable as I paired them with my massively fluffy socks that I loved to glide about with like a penguin on the laminate floor.

God, I need a break from the coffee.

Taking a deep breath through my nose, I let out a tremendous sigh and stretched out like a cat in my seat. I felt my back pop as I sat back down in the wheelie chair, the Excel sheet finally done and ready to be sent off for proofing. Leaning back, my eyes wondered to the city view outside—drifting off as I stared into the blurry lights.

What should I make for dinner?

Just as I began debating whether to order in, Lilly popped her head out of the bedroom, "Hey, I'm ordering a pizza—you want in?"

Well, that decides that.

"Sure, where abouts?" I asked, finishing off the last of my rather cold coffee with a bleugh.

She leant against the doorframe, her protruding belly particularly pronounced in the new blue cotton jumpsuit she'd purchased only yesterday, "I don't know, I was thinking Caesars."

"Caesars don't deliver."

She made a face, "Really? Ew okay, um... how about Pizza Hut?"

"I don't like the crust. Dominos?" I suggested.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah sure, whatever. I'll order it in a bit. Meat Feast, right?"

"Ha, ha. You're hilarious," I replied, dead-panned.

"Half on half it is," She declared, ducking back into her room and leaving me to it.

Twenty minutes later the buzzer went for downstairs, signalling that the pizza guy had arrived. Lilly emerged with her wild blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, waddling barefooted towards the intercom with impressive speed, "I've got it!"

Now in the kitchen finishing off some dishes, I vaguely heard her talk to the guy before buzzing him up, "Dan! He's on his way, I'm just going for a wee okay—can you open the door?"

"Yeah! No sweat," I called back, placing my coffee cup onto the drying rack before sloppily drying my hands against my t-shirt. Two minutes later there was a knock on the door. I passed the bathroom only to hear loud MeTube videos playing, indicating she wouldn't be out anytime soon, "Hey, Lil. Did you pay for it already?"

"...No!" She called out, most likely planning to be sat on her phone for the next ten minutes.

"Great. I'll sort it out then, shall I?" I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes as I went to find my purse to pay. Another knock sounded, prompting me to call out, "Just a second!"

Finding my purse, I glided to the door by my fluffy feet.

Highlight of my day? Gliding about my apartment in a pair of socks. Classy.

I reached the door just as another knock sounded, his impatience annoying me slightly, "I'm coming! Jeeze..."

Out of habit, I made sure to check the peephole before opening the door.

And my breath caught in my throat.

"No..." I muttered in disbelief, time slowing down before eventually coming to a complete stop as I felt the purse slip through my fingers and fall to the ground with a dull thud. My heartbeat spiked for what felt like the twelfth time that week as I stared at the painfully familiar man stood outside my apartment door.

It was the freaking vampire.

How on Earth did he find me?

I audibly heard myself gulp as I realised he was here, stood a few feet away with nothing but a door between us. I glanced to the side and noticed that the deadbolt was undone.

This can't be happening. This isn't happening.

He's real.

He knocked again which reset time and made me jump out of my skin. With shaky hands, I slowly and quietly reached out to slide the deadbolt across—ensuring a little bit more security against whatever it was that was behind the door.

Taking a cautious step back, I cursed Hell and Earth as the floorboard beneath my foot squeaked loudly in protest. The noise caused my entire body to tense and my eyes to shut from shock, everything praying within me that he didn't just hear that.

"Danielle?"

He knows my name.

How does he know my name?

"Danielle, I know this is weird but it's not what you think. I'm not here to hurt you, so please just open the door," He persisted.

His voice only spurred my panic further as I pressed myself into the console table that sat across from the entrance; black as ink eyes and extended sharp teeth flashing across the forefront of my mind.

How is he here?

How could he be here?

"Please, I didn't meant for it to come to this. I literally just need a minute of your time to explain everything, then I'll be gone," He continued, before a second indiscernible voice joined him in muffled conversation on the other side of the door.

Oh, now the pizza guy turns up.

Holy shit, what do I do? Do I even have a crucifix? Or anything that would make a decent makeshift stake?

Selfishly I was willing to sacrifice the pizza guy if it meant the creatures thirst was satiated.

Was the door enough of a blockade? Should I barricade myself in?

The vague recollection that Vampires had to be invited in before entering a home niggled in the back of my mind. But after a brief deliberation, it wasn't a guarantee I could afford to take. They might have evolved since that fact was discovered. How in the Hell was I supposed to know?

"... Gun," I mumbled quietly to myself, frozen in place as the way the door shook proved that it wouldn't be enough to keep me safe. Something told me it could 100% get through if it wanted to, and it was only a matter of time before I'd be proven correct.

"What? No. No gun! I'm here in peace, I swear!" He repeated, my eyes widening in terror from the response to my accidental whisper. He heard me?!

I prayed to God that some of the neighbours had heard the commotion and called the police. My phone was in the bedroom, but the gun was closer. Taking one deep breath for courage, I pushed off the table and sprinted to the living room where I knew my bag was kept on the corner table.

"F*ck sakes-- Danielle!" It shouted, sounding genuinely pissed at this point as it slammed the door with one last loud bang. Fear spiking from having my back to it, I sprinted out of the entryway and through the archway that led into my living room, my heart pounding in my chest as I cursed myself for not keeping a firearm closer to the door.

However, in a cruel twist of fate, the socks I had once considered the highlight of my day brutally betrayed me.

Turning the corner at full speed, I lost my footing and clumsily slipped; my head ricocheting forcefully against the floor as I collided with the ground with a painfully crash.

The wind momentarily knocked out of me, I groaned involuntarily from the throbbing pain that instantaneously burst from the side of my skull, my still sore shoulder also joining in on the fun. Momentarily seeing stars, I blinked slowly to straighten my vision before sluggishly turning onto my front, utilising my hands for a better grip as my feet could not catch a break. I felt dizzy but determined as a sickening crack came from the front hall, my gut instinct that the door would not be enough to hold it back proving correct.

I screeched, the sound kickstarting me back into action as I clumsily stood up, stumbling to my bag whilst holding my head to check for bleeding. Thankfully it felt dry, but I had a feeling I'd have a huge lump tomorrow.

If I lived that long.

Fighting with the front pocket, I finally managed to grasp the familiar hilt of my handgun before yanking it out with shaky fingers. I hurriedly aimed it at the entering vampire, taking a second to pinpoint his exact position as there were three of him bobbing around the place.

"Hey, you okay--?!" he exclaimed, stumbling to a stop in the archway with wild eyes and palms up in surrender.

"--Stay the Hell away from me!" I shouted, straightening my stance and adjusting my aim to the best of my abilities. The three vampires thankfully settled into one figure after a brief moment, but only for a few seconds at a time before splitting off again.

He slowly dropped his hands which caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end, "I'm sorry. I'll replace the door, I heard a crash, and I-- are you okay?"

What the Hell is going on?

"... Get the f*ck out of my house!" I demanded after a moment of dumbfounded shock, the usual autopilot that took over when I held a firearm nowhere to be seen as my hands shook violently.

I made a point of switching off the safety.

This is impossible.

"I will, I'm sorry. Listen, I just need two minutes of your time, and I'll leave—I swear. I just need you to look into—" He continued, blatantly ignoring my demand and taking two hesitant steps forward.

"-- Stay where you are, or I will shoot you where you stand," I warned, holding my ground and praying to God he didn't see how terrified I was. I'd dealt with the likes of men, wild animals and even armed terrorists before. But mythical creatures had never been on the freaking table. That was a completely different department.

"Okay," He conceded, pausing his steps yet never breaking eye contact, not even to glance towards the gun, "Whatever you want. As long as you listen."

His behaviour disturbed me, as usually when people were held at gunpoint, they made a point to concentrate on the weapon. However he seemed entirely unfazed, as if he thought I wouldn't dare squeeze the trigger, "No. You listen here, Dracula—"

He interjected, "—please don't call me that."

"Oh, I'm sorry—would you prefer Count?" I snapped back.

"No, Danielle--"

"--Stop saying my name!" I demanded loudly, "Its freaking me out!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," He apologised for the umpteenth time, bringing his hands back up in surrender even if for show, "This was never meant to happen. I didn't even know you were human."

Cutting him off I dropped the gun to my side in disbelief, "Didn't know? What the hell did you think I was? Edward Cullen in disguise?"

"I'm not a vampire!" he exclaimed loudly, having obviously touched a nerve.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Would you prefer me to take out my big book of mythical monsters and list them all alphabetically? Maybe then I'll get it right," I snapped sarcastically, the room splitting off into threes once again which caused my head to spin momentarily.

"No, I just— f*ck my life, can you just look me in the eye for one second?" He exclaimed, his apologetic tone injected with an annoyance that grew into his body language as he dropped the half-arsed attempt of surrender.

"Why? Is that how you control your victims?!" I exclaimed in panic, struggling to pin point the correct vampire from the six pairs of eyes that were floating in front of me, "You can jog right on with that, Buddy."

He groaned and took a small step forward. I could feel my heartbeat drumming heavily in my head, the sheer pressure of it making me wonder if the fall was more serious than I thought. Now would really not be the time...

"BAH!" I exclaimed in warning, the movement causing my vision to settle momentarily, "I'm going to count to three. If you don't turn around and leave my house by the time I'm done, I will shoot you. Do you understand? You are breaking and entering."

He paused his movement, "I know that—"

I interrupted, "—ONE."

"—Danielle please, I can't just f*cking leave—"

"—TWO," I continued, steadying my hands and aiming for the widest part of his chest.

"-- You know what? Go ahead. But its not going to change the fact—"

I didn't give him chance to finish the sentence before I squeezed the trigger, my heart flipping in my chest.

However instead of the usual kick and loud bang that I was so accustomed to, nothing but a dull click followed. My eyes snapped down as I realised the gun had jammed, my heart leaping into my throat whilst he still stood watching very much still alive.

How? My gun has never jammed... how can today be the day it jams?

"... so can we talk?" He repeated grimly, my hands shaking even further as the threat was still very much present.

The man I'd meant to kill was still standing in front of me and had blatantly seen me try to kill him. I felt my chest begin to heave as I tried to think of what I was going to do. Neither of us moved as I stared at him with blatant fear. There was no hiding it now. I was either going to die or be taken by this man and I didn't know if I could win the fight.

How is he here?

How... is he here?

Is he here?

Before he could move I made one last ditch attempt to hold my ground and suddenly threw the gun at him, the action obviously catching him by surprise as it hit him straight in the groin, "Ow!"

"You're not real..." I mumbled to myself as I watched him grab his gonads and swear to himself. My eyes widened heavily with the realisation that the hallucinations hadn't stopped. I felt the room begin to spin as I processed what had gone on. On the one hand, at least the guy wasn't even here but on the other hand, how the Hell was I meant to get over this heavy of a hallucination?

He scowled, "Well that f*cking felt real."

"You're not here..." I continued, shutting my eyes to wish him out of my mind. It all made sense now as I put two-and-two together. There was no physical way this man knew where I lived, the only explanation was that the hallucination wasn't a one-time thing, and the attack simply took longer for me to process than I'd initially thought, "You're not real. You're not real."

I pressed the palms of my hands against my eyes and grabbed my hair, pulling hard to counteract the pounding headache that was quickly becoming rather debilitating. When I open my eyes, he'll be gone.

When I open my eyes, he'll be gone.

"Danny?" A small voice suddenly called out from the bathroom doorway, "Who's that?"

Her voice caused me to freeze on the spot, my breath hitching in my throat as the whole world once again paused for a spilt second. My eyes flew open after only a moment's notice, scanning the room to find Dracula and Lilly within a short distance of each other, "What's going on?"

It was as if a dam broke in my emotions as I stared at them both horrified, Lilly's words echoing whilst my mouth filled with a metallic taste and my whole body went into shock. Tears began to well as I shakily asked my baby sister, "L-Lilly... do you see him?"

"W-what?"

I shut my eyes and felt two fat tears of fear roll down my cheeks, "Lilly please, do you see him?"

She nodded shakily after only a brief pause. The guy was just staring at me throughout this entire interaction in a mixture of concern and confusion.

I took a deep breath and felt a few more tears fall as the whole situation came barrelling down upon me. If Lilly wasn't there, I'm pretty sure I would have fully peed my pants at that point, however the instinct to protect over-took as I nodded reassuringly, "Okay... Lilly, call the cops."

Seeing her eyes widen from the corner of my eye, I watched the man as he turned his attention away from me to her, "What's going on?"

"Lilly, don't ask questions just do it..." I persisted, taking a small step forward as I braced myself to attempt and take him on manually. At this point, if Lilly got out it was the only thing that mattered.

Hearing nothing but silence in return of my request, I glanced in her direction "Lilly?"

"Danny, what's wrong with you?" She asked concerned, her question causing my eyebrows to furrow in confusion as I stumbled my way towards her. The floor kept tilting as I tried my best to make sure she was safe, the pressure in my head making it seem like it would explode at any second. I threw my hands out to correct my balance, but it did nothing but cause the room to spin even harder.

"Crap--!"

"Danny--!"

I fell to the ground with a heavy thud.