The Beautiful Monster

She drew in a shaky breath, deciding to take another look around to make sure that no one was hiding out in her apartment.

She didn\'t know why someone was snooping around.

She didn\'t have anything in her apartment that had something to do with Elias or that she knew about vampires. Her place was clean.

She sat on the edge of her bed, unsure of what to do. She couldn\'t call the police because they would just say that they would keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.

Nothing had been stolen, so she couldn\'t report that.

She didn\'t want to tell Elias. She was on her own with this, and she didn\'t even want to be here right now.

She felt freaked out in her own place! No place was safe anymore, which made her sad. She didn\'t want to live in fear all the time.

She wanted to enjoy her life and feel safe in her own place. Why did these things have to happen?

She grabbed her phone and texted some of her friends from the hospital, asking if they wanted to go out tonight.

She didn\'t want to be here, especially at night. What if who came snooping around came back? She couldn\'t fight against a vampire!

Let\'s drink!

I\'m down!

There\'s a new wine bar we should visit!

Alyssa breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw that her friends were willing to hang out tonight.

She could get out of here and get her mind taken off all this craziness and danger.

Her life had been turned upside down all over again, and all she could do was deal with it. Alcohol would certainly help with that.

*********

The Avenue\'s strobe lights flickered along the walls and floor of the bustling club. Bodies moved to the EDM song that pounded through the space from huge speakers.

Alyssa and her friends were caught in the middle of the crowd, dancing and laughing together as the rum they just drank shot through their systems. This was the distraction that Alyssa needed.

This club was her new home for the next few hours, and Alyssa didn\'t want to go back to her place for a while.

Someone could be waiting for her back there, and she didn\'t feel like getting hurt or killed tonight.

She felt like she was living her life on the line between life and death. While she was still alive, she was going to try to enjoy what time she had left.

Elias put an extra timer on her life when he came back into it. She could\'ve been going on like normal, doing her job and developing her life like planned, but Elias had to storm in with his vampires, his ex-girlfriend, and his charm. It was the perfect storm.

"I\'m gonna get another drink!" Eva shouted to Alyssa over the music. "Want another?"

"Just one more!" Alyssa replied, reaching out to give Eva\'s hand a thankful squeeze before she snuck through the crowd.

She swayed to the beat with her other friends, closing her eyes and falling back into the thumping, crowded atmosphere. She felt safe here with her friends.

Feeling safe was rare these days, and she ate up moments like these, wishing that they could last longer.

When she stepped out of this club, she was at mercy to whoever was out there waiting for her, and she was pretty sure that they had fangs.

Once the song finished, Alyssa leaned close to her two other friends so that they could hear her.

"Going to the bathroom!" Alyssa told them, receiving nods from them. She turned and pushed her way through the crowd, stumbling through bodies.

She almost made it to the edge when she saw a flash of a familiar face.

Scott.

Alyssa stopped right in her steps, blinking once for the face to disappear. She swallowed hard, getting a few weird stares as she stood in people\'s ways.

She tried to figure out if she actually saw Scott or if the alcohol and the spinning she was doing while dancing was taking effect.

She rushed out of the crowd on the other side, hurrying to the bar to join Eva, who was getting their drinks.

She looked all around the bar, looking for any sign of Scott or anyone who even looked like him. She couldn\'t find him. Maybe he wasn\'t even here. Maybe she was paranoid.

"Hey, you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost," Eva asked her as she placed Alyssa\'s drink in front of her.

Alyssa didn\'t see a ghost, but she might\'ve seen a vampire. It still sent her reeling a little that vampires existed.

She couldn\'t believe they just existed alongside humans. Why did she have to get caught up with some bad ones?

"I\'m okay," Alyssa said. Her voice came out weak, but she forced a smile onto her face. She looked down into her rum punch warily, wondering if another drink was a good idea or not. She didn\'t want to be too drunk for a fight if it came to one.

"Drink up! We\'re having fun tonight!" Eva said before taking a huge sip of her drink. She swayed her hips to the new song that started playing.

Even with the dim lighting of the club, Alyssa could tell that her face was flushed from the alcohol.

"Pace yourself," Alyssa warned her. She didn\'t want to have to drag anyone out of here. She already had to watch her own back, and that might not even be enough to protect herself from Scott if he was lurking around here. She didn\'t understand what his problem with her was.

"I\'m going back out there!" Eva said before disappearing back into the crowd on the dance floor.

Alyssa parted her lips to protest because she didn\'t want to be alone, but Eva was already gone.

She looked around warily before grabbing her phone. She went to Elias\' contact and had her finger poised over the call button. She paused, shaking her head at herself.

She couldn\'t call him just because she didn\'t want to be alone. She had to somehow face this herself, but she didn\'t know how.

She couldn\'t fight actual vampires! She wasn\'t trained for this. She was trained to save lives, not look out for her own 24/7.

She clicked to their messages, reading a few from him that he sent that she hadn\'t replied to. She left things pretty cold and hard last time that they talked.

Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he didn\'t. Things weren\'t clear to her now because she was upset at him for throwing her life off track. Then again, he wasn\'t the one attacking her.

A part of her wanted to talk to him and clear the air.

She didn\'t like being upset with anyone. It wore down on her, and it was hard for her to stop thinking about.

Plus, with everything going on, he could be a good friend to have right now in case she needed help.

But what if she turned her back on him? Maybe all of this strangeness would go away.

But the future was unknown. No one had given her a schedule of the possible break-ins or murder attempts that were coming up for her.

All that she could do was try to brace herself for the next moment of danger, which could be lurking around any corner.