The alarm rang. Again.
I groaned and slapped it, then immediately regretted it. My hand was stinging, but the alarm had finally stopped screaming at me, so it was worth it. Dizzy, I sat up in bed and glanced at my phone. 7:45AM.Fantastic. Fifteen minutes until my first class, and here I was still in bed, looking like a zombie who just crawled out of a smelly gutter.
I swear, mornings have it out for me. And it wasn't just the fact that I had a tendency to stay up binge-watching juciy vampire shows filled with blood..until 3 AM. Okay, fine, maybe that had something to do with it.
Don't judge me.
I yawned and stumbled out of bed, running a hand through my messy black hair as I glanced in the mirror. The reflection wasn't much to brag about—tall, lanky, with permanent dark circles under my eyes. My roommate, Derek, was already gone, as usual. He had an annoyingly early gym routine that didn't match the slacker vibe he projected to everyone else. Every time he walked in with those protein shakes, I wanted to hurl one out the window.
But today? Today was just another Monday. Another grueling, caffeine-fueled Monday.
By the time I dragged myself across campus, dodging skateboarding freshmen and coffee-clutching zombies like me, it was already 8:05 AM. Late. Again. My professor, Mr. Blackwell, stared at me with the same deadpan expression he always wore.
"Mr. Cain," he said in his usual monotone voice, "Glad you could finally join us."
"Happy to be here," I muttered, slipping into the back row. If he heard me, he didn't react. Just like I liked it.
As Mr. Blackwell droned on about something related to economics—don't ask me what, I wasn't paying attention—I pulled out my phone to scroll through social media. That's when I saw her.
Luna Winters.
Luna was... well, if you could imagine the perfect girl-next-door with a side of mystery, that was her. She had this soft smile that could light up a room and eyes that always seemed like they were hiding a thousand secrets. Luna sat in the middle of the room, casually flipping through her notes. The glow of her pale skin caught the sunlight streaming through the windows, making her look like she belonged in some ethereal fantasy novel.
I'd had a crush on her for what felt like forever, but every time I worked up the nerve to talk to her, something stupid came out of my mouth, and I'd end up feeling like an idiot. Not that today would be any different. She probably didn't even know I existed.
As if on cue, Luna glanced in my direction. Our eyes met for a split second, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Then, like always, she looked away, completely unfazed, while I sat there wondering how someone could be so casually beautiful and mysterious at the same time.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair, trying to shake off my hopeless romantic fantasies. I'd probably spend the rest of my life as the guy in the back row, dreaming about girls like Luna and getting through life one sarcastic comment at a time.
At least, that's what I thought until that night.
I was walking back to my dorm after another late-night study session, earbuds in and my hoodie pulled up. It was unusually quiet for a Monday night, and the streetlights cast long shadows on the empty sidewalks. Normally, I'd be more paranoid walking alone at night, but tonight, everything felt... still. Too still.
A cold breeze hit me, and I pulled my hoodie tighter. Then I heard it.
Footsteps.
I stopped and glanced behind me. Nothing. Just shadows and silence. Shrugging it off, I kept walking, but the footsteps started again, this time louder, closer. My heart sped up as I turned around again, and this time, I saw him.
A man, tall and lean, with a long black coat that almost brushed the ground, stood a few feet behind me. His eyes—God, his eyes were pitch black. It wasn't just the pupils, either. His entire eyeball was black, like staring into a void.
"Nice night for a walk, isn't it?" the man said, his voice smooth and unnervingly calm.
"Uh... yeah, sure," I replied, taking a step back. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run, but my feet were glued to the spot.
The man tilted his head slightly, examining me like I was some kind of puzzle. "You smell... different."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Your blood," he said, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "It's not like the others."
At that point, I was convinced I had stumbled into some weird vampire role-playing group. Maybe this guy had just watched too much "Twilight." Either way, I didn't plan on sticking around to find out.
"Look, man, I think you've got the wrong guy," I said, backing up more quickly now. "I don't want any trouble."
"Oh, there won't be any trouble," he said, smiling. His fangs—actual fangs—glinted under the dim streetlight. "Not if you just hold still."
My brain barely registered the words before the guy lunged at me. One second, he was standing still, and the next, he was inches from my face, his mouth wide open, fangs bared.
I stumbled back, raising my arms instinctively, but instead of hitting the pavement, something weird happened. I felt a sudden surge of energy, like electricity coursing through my veins. A shockwave exploded from my body, knocking the vampire guy backward. He flew through the air and crashed into a parked car with a deafening thud.
I stood there, panting, staring at my own hands in disbelief. What the hell just happened?
The vampire guy groaned, picking himself up from the wreckage. His eyes were filled with rage, but there was something else—fear. He looked at me like I was some kind of monster.
"You... you're one of them," he hissed, backing away slowly.
"One of who?" I shouted, my voice shaking.
"You don't even know, do you?". He let out a harsh laugh, his black eyes narrowing. "You're marked. But don't worry, kid. You'll find out soon enough."
Before I could ask what he meant, he vanished into the shadows, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the street, heart racing and mind spinning.
I stood there for what felt like hours, trying to process everything. A vampire just tried to kill me—or drink my blood, or whatever—and I had somehow... blasted him away with some kind of weird energy?
This couldn't be real. Stuff like this didn't happen to guys like me. This was some kind of dream. Or maybe I'd finally lost it after all those late nights and cheesy vampire shows.
But as I walked back to my dorm, replaying the scene over and over in my head, one thing became very clear.
My life was never going to be normal again.