Ivy jolted awake with a tight scream, heart hammering against her ribs. The sheets tangled around her, damp with sweat. The memory of the nightmare was still fresh and the taste of iron was sharp on her tongue. In the dream, she'd fought off a group of vampires and amongst them was one she recognized. It was the one that had attacked and threatened her, Michael Gerard. It took a while before she was able to calm herself but not enough that she could go back to sleep.
The moon light filtering through the windows offered little comfort. The nightmare felt too real, almost like it happened to her in real time. How she hoped that he didn't know where she lived.
On her way to school, the unsettling feeling intensified. Getting closer to the main building, she saw a small crowd buzzing with panicked whispers. There were police cars present in the parking lot and the stench of blood filled her nose.
"What happened?" she asked a nervous-looking girl she recognized from one of her classes.
"Someone was killed," the girl stuttered, her eyes wide with fear. "They found the body just in front of the main building."
She walked forward to try and get a look at the body. On seeing it, her stomach lurched. Michael's "surprise" was way worse than she'd imagined. The boy was pale and she knew him or at least had seen him in class. There was a cold dread in her gut.
Moments later, a woman with a sharp haircut and a no-nonsense demeanour stepped out of a car. Ivy eyed the woman as she walked towards the crowd. In an instant she took control of the situation and started barking orders at the officers present.
"Nobody leave just yet. I'd love to get all my notes in order and I can't do that if some of you are missing."
As she said this, she bent down to examine the body. The boy had turned pale and there was a lot of blood on the neck region.
"No signs of a struggle," she muttered to herself, "and this doesn't look like a knife wound… strange."
Ivy watched her question the students present and took it upon herself to quietly leave the area.
Leaving the school, Ivy felt the weight of the situation pressing down on her. She needed help and he was the only one she knew that would be able to assist her in this regard.
A twenty minute walk brought her to her destination. Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell and waited patiently a response.
She heard footsteps from behind the door before it creaked open, revealing the familiar figure she knew as Charles.
"I'm surprised you took this long to find me," he said, a smile on his face as he stepped aside to let her in.
Stepping inside the apartment, she felt a wave of warmth. The hallway was surprisingly well-lit with soft light emanating behind frosted glass panels lining the wall. A quick glance revealed that the rest of the place wasn't large. It was a single room apartment, with a kitchen tucked away into a cleverly designed alcove to the right. Straight ahead, bathed in the light from a large window was a living area dominated by a well-worn leather couch and a sturdy coffee table piled with books.
Tears welled in her eyes as she took a moment to regain herself.
"Things have gotten complicated," she said after taking a moment to think.
"Complicated? Sounds like an understatement."
She looked at him strangely before drying her tears. "Why do I get the feeling that you have an idea about what's going on."
"Yes and no, but I'll leave it to you to fill me in on things."
"Michael," she blurted out. "He's here, going to the same school as I and I strongly believe that he was behind the attack in school this morning."
Charles' amusement vanished in an instant. He listened intently as she recounted the events of the day and everything before that.
"So they have begun to make their move."
"What are you going to do?"
"I have my ways," he said as he sat down on the sofa. He paused as he studied her features quietly. "You need to understand something, Ivy. This isn't a game as you may have noticed. It's life or death."
"I know," she responded with conviction in her voice. "That's why I am here."
He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Alright Ivy," he said as he offered her a seat, "I'm pretty sure you once thought that werewolves were the only oddity in the world. That's wrong. A lot of oddities exist in the world and vampires are amongst them. It pretty much is a tangled mess of things. You sure you still want in?"
"Of course I do. I know the risks and I am willing to take them."
A slow smile spread across his face. "Stubborn as ever, I see. Listen closely if you want to help."
He took his time to explain everything he knew about vampires, from their strengths to their weaknesses and how to kill them.
"So what you're saying is that it has to be wood that pierces their hearts?"
He gave a nod.
"What happens if it's not wood?"
"Then they're not dead. Metal doesn't work against them… it has to be wood or if you would, a metal laced with wormwood."
"Wormwood?"
"You know how wolfsbane is poison to werewolves right?" The look she gave him showed that didn't know about the plant.
"Do you know anything?"
She frowned at that. "I feel like you're insulting me."
He gave a light laugh.
"Anyways, wormwood is poison to them and wood is a naturally killer."
"So what do we do first?"
"We need information and any advantages we can have. To do that, I think I am going to have work with the Detectives on this one. It would be the best way to gather information and move about nearly unopposed."
"Would that be wise?"
"Of course it is. It came from me." He leaned back into his chair as he thought a bit.
…
"I don't feel all too confident in leaving you alone with what I'm about to do."
"Of course I'm not alone, I have my fa…" his look silenced her before she finished her statement and she took the time to rephrase her words. "I have a friend and I trust her with my life."
His raised eyebrow gave her the indicator to continue. "Her name's Emma and she knows everything about me. I don't keep secrets from her."
"Ho… what about me?"
Her look was all the confirmation he needed.
"That's fine. Hope you told her how handsome I looked?"
The blush that made its way to her cheeks caused him to chuckle, a low rumbling sound.