As if the man wasn't enough to terrorize me for today, a humongous number of vampires were lurking here, which was far worse than one man watching me. The way these vampires mingled on the campus was way too cryptic for my liking. More so when they aren't just any Earthly vampires. They were vampires who came from other dimensional worlds, and there were a lot of different kinds of species who gathered around.
People were walking past while others were building snowmen with their friends for the fun of it. Right in plain sight for everyone to see, those otherworldly vampires showed themselves out in the open. Some leaned against the campus buildings, and others stood near the few trees that were here. Others sat on the picnic tables that had been brushed clean from the snow that covered the outdoor picnic area. Out of sight, vampires collected on top of the rooftops to watch me. To timid me further into fright, their eyes would flicker red, and then they'd warp their blood-red eyes into a natural eye color before anyone else would notice. By glancing around, I found myself utterly surrounded by these perilous bloodthirsty creatures.
"Ace, please, get here," I summoned him in my head. Calling him was likely one of the wisest solutions I could do for right now, especially since I didn't feel safe.
"Don't pay any attention to them," Ace spoke from behind me, and my internal skeleton nearly jumped to the sky.
The guile and stealthiness of vampires never fail to startle me sometimes. Upon showing some weakness, these vampires were sure to smirk as they enjoyed feasting on my fear in one swallow.
"You're ok. It's only me," Ace calmed me, taking my hand. He gently moved me along so we could get to my car while these smirking vampires watched us leave.
I held out my car key once we arrived at my car. "Can you drive us home?" I asked.
Snow was starting to flutter from the clouds, so I didn't want to drive in it.
"Sure, get in, and I'll take your stuff," Ace smiled, taking the car key and my stuff. He started the car, and then he put all my stuff in the backseat before he got into the driver's seat.
"Why are all these vampires here?" I searched for answers, and Ace sighed, so I got the hint he knew why.
"They are counting the days for your votes," he revealed as he pulled the car forward to drive us home.
"They're here to kill me whether I get my votes or not," I uttered at this realization.
"They'll try," Ace muttered with a breath in his voice.
"There's going to be another vampiric world war," I whispered. "I won't get my votes."
"I never said that," he replied as he briefly took his eyes off the road and glanced at me.
"You didn't have to," I remarked, and he grew silent since he knew I was right. "There has to be a way I can protect myself."
He briefly shook his head as his eyes skimmed ahead of the road. "Sadly, there isn't much you can do to protect yourself."
"There has to be something," I stubbornly persisted, and then I started browsing for ways for a woman to defend herself against an attacker. Of course, I was being silly enough to add the word "vampire" in the search bar. And it gave me the option of a stake to the heart and garlic.
"That's not going to work," I spoke more to myself, but Ace heard me. He peeked at the screen on my phone and watched me delete the word "vampire."
"Did you seriously just type "how to defend yourself against a vampire?" he asked, chuckling at me.
"No, my phone did that, not me." Of course, I denied that one as his chuckle grew louder. He already knew I wouldn't dare admit it. A stake to the heart and garlic won't do anything to these immortal bloodthirsty beings. Ace could only shake his head as he stared back out onto the road that was getting covered in snow.
"What about getting a can of mace?" I questioned when it popped on the screen.
Ace warned. "That wouldn't be a good move. It will sting, but it won't stop us. If anything, it will provoke us to kill you faster."
"There's gotta be something I can do," I whined at the defenseless circumstance I was becoming snared into.
Ace made an effort to relax me. "It's as I said, there isn't much you can do. We don't have too many weaknesses. Humans are defenseless against us. When we feed or if we aren't in a good mental state, that is how another vampire can gain the upper hand to attack us."
"I might as well consider myself a silver platter then." I gruffed, and Ace smiled slightly at my defeated feelings.
"You can try keeping a conversation with us," he shared.
"Could you explain that a little better?" I inquired to get every detail he had to offer.
Ace elucidated, "If you find yourself cornered by a vampire. Start rambling about whatever comes to mind. Vampires feed off of fear, so if you use that fear like a cat playing with a mouse type of scenario. Then he'll want to play before he kills. All you have to do is give Kai and the rest of us enough time to reach you."
"I'm sure I can do that," I confirmed, feeling some confidence.
Ace smiled as he took a right turn while he added. "Keep in mind, this trick won't always work, especially with Alphas. But the ones who like to play with their food will fall for it."
Talk about swatting my confidence with a flyswatter. "Sounds like this trick will only work on the Hunter species," I huffed, rolling my annoyed eyes to the roof of my eyelids.
"Probably!" Ace chuckled right before he turned into Mr. Collin's massive mansion-like palace after the black metal gates swung open for him to drive along the long curved driveway.