The city pulsed with life, the rhythm of footsteps and chatter echoing through narrow, cobblestone streets. Dim streetlights bathed everything in a golden hue, casting long shadows across the cracked pavement. It was one of those early autumn evenings when the air was crisp but still carried the lingering warmth of summer.
Anna's breath curled in soft clouds as she walked, the sound of her heels clicking against the ground the only thing keeping her company. She tugged her coat tighter around herself, feeling the cold bite at her fingers. She liked walking alone at night; it gave her a chance to unwind after long shifts at the bookstore. The night, with all its mysteries, was oddly comforting. She thrived in it.
Yet, tonight felt different—like the night was watching her.
She rounded a corner into an alleyway, a shortcut she'd taken a hundred times before, but this time her heart quickened as an instinctual warning prickled her skin. The alley was unusually quiet. Even the usual rustle of rats or the distant hum of traffic seemed to have vanished.
As she moved deeper, the feeling grew stronger. She wasn't alone.
Suddenly, there was movement behind her, quick and nearly silent. Anna whipped around, her heart thudding in her chest. In the darkness, a figure emerged, tall and shadowed, moving with a predatory grace. Before she could scream or run, a voice stopped her.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
The voice was soft, almost musical, with an accent that she couldn't place. Her breath caught in her throat, but her feet stayed rooted to the ground. The figure stepped closer, into the faint light.
He was beautiful—inhumanly so. His skin was pale, almost translucent, his dark hair tousled like he'd just emerged from a storm. His eyes, though… His eyes were what captivated her the most: an unnatural shade of amber that gleamed in the darkness, catching the light like a cat's.
"Who are you?" she managed, her voice barely a whisper.
He paused, as if considering how to answer. "I've been called many names." His lips curled into a smile, revealing the slightest hint of sharp teeth. "But tonight, you can call me Luka."
Luka. The name sounded like it belonged in a history book, ancient and lost to time. Anna's mind raced. Everything about him screamed danger, but there was something else too—a pull, a magnetic force that she couldn't explain. It wasn't fear that kept her still. It was a curiosity.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice more steady now, though her pulse still raced.
He tilted his head, studying her with a gaze so intense she felt as if he could see straight into her soul. "I want to know why someone like you, a fragile human, is walking alone in the dead of night. Don't you know what creatures lurk in the shadows?"
Anna scoffed, though her hands trembled slightly. "Maybe I'm one of those creatures."
Luka's smile widened, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Perhaps."
For a moment, they stood in silence, the air between them crackling with tension. Luka seemed to be weighing something in his mind, and Anna, despite the strangeness of the situation, found herself unable to look away from him.
Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he turned, blending back into the shadows.
"Wait!" Anna called, surprising even herself with the urgency in her voice. She didn't know why she wanted him to stay. Maybe it was the way he spoke, or the loneliness in his eyes, or maybe it was something deeper, something instinctual.
But when she reached the spot where he had stood, he was gone.
For days afterward, Anna couldn't stop thinking about him. She told herself it was absurd, that it was nothing more than a strange encounter with an odd man in the middle of the night. But she knew deep down that it was more than that. His presence had unsettled her in ways she couldn't quite explain.
Then, on a night not unlike the one they had first met, she saw him again.
This time, it was at the park near the bookstore. She had just finished her shift, and as she walked past the rows of trees, she felt it again—that prickling sense of being watched. And there he was, leaning against a tree as if he had been waiting for her all along.
"You," she said, her voice a mixture of disbelief and accusation.
Luka smiled. "You're still walking alone at night. Bold."
Anna crossed her arms, feigning confidence. "Why are you following me?"
His eyes sparkled with amusement. "Perhaps I'm intrigued."
She didn't know what to say to that, but before she could respond, he closed the distance between them with unnatural speed. Anna's breath hitched as he stood mere inches from her, his presence overwhelming.
"I shouldn't be here," he whispered, more to himself than to her. "I shouldn't even be speaking to you."
"Then why are you?" she challenged, her pulse quickening.
Luka's eyes softened, and for a fleeting moment, Anna thought she saw something in them—vulnerability, maybe even longing. "Because I can't seem to stay away."
And just like that, the thin veil of normalcy that had separated their worlds began to tear.
From that night onward, they began meeting in secret. Always at night, always in the shadows. Their conversations were brief at first, guarded, as Luka maintained an air of mystery about himself. Anna sensed he was hiding something, but he deflected her questions with charm and cryptic answers.
The park became their meeting spot, a place where the line between their two worlds blurred. They talked for hours beneath the canopy of stars, sharing pieces of themselves, though Luka never quite revealed everything. He was careful, cautious, as if there was something lurking just beneath the surface.
It wasn't long before Anna started to realise the truth.
There were clues—his aversion to sunlight, the way his skin seemed to shimmer under the moonlight, the way his eyes, though beautiful, sometimes darkened with hunger when he looked at her. One night, after a particularly intense conversation, she finally asked him.
"You're not human, are you?"
Luka froze, his expression hardening, but there was no point in denying it. "No," he said quietly. "I'm not."
Anna's heart pounded in her chest. She had suspected it for a while, but hearing it confirmed was something else entirely. "What are you?"
He hesitated before answering, his voice laced with an old sadness. "I am a vampire."
The word hung in the air between them, heavy and dangerous. Anna's breath caught in her throat, but she didn't back away. She should have been afraid—any rational person would have been—but instead, she felt a strange sense of understanding.
Luka's eyes searched hers, waiting for her to react, to run, to scream, but she did none of those things.
"Then why do you keep coming back?" she asked softly.
He looked away, his jaw tense. "Because I have lived for centuries, seen kingdoms rise and fall, but never—never—have I met anyone like you."
Anna's heart skipped a beat at the intensity in his voice. She knew then that whatever this was, it was more than just a passing curiosity.
It was the beginning of something dangerous, something that could tear both of their worlds apart.
But neither of them could stop now.