Middle Of The Night (2)

In the middle of the night, Elise found herself in a lonely forest, accompanied by a strange man who had just awoken from the dead and for her, there was nothing scarier in the world than this.

Suddenly, this stunning man who she admired resurfaced to look so daunting to her.

Maybe it was because his eyes which were closed were now open, revealing the darkest shade of black, coupled with the thick bloodied lines visible in them, creating a horrifying view. 

His gaze was dark, vicious and something else she couldn't fathom, that screamed she should run away.

From the way this strange man looked, perhaps he was truly a reaper, Elise wondered in terror.

Elise was boiling with horror. She tried backing away, but his piercing gaze made her feel paralyzed and impossible for her to move. It was a feeling she had never experienced.

"Who a-are y-you?"

His bloodshot eyes twitched, "I should be asking you that. A young girl coming to such a place at such a time of the night. What are you? An acquaintance with death?"

"I-I-I–" Elise was dumbstruck with panic. Suddenly, the undying hunger she felt all vanquished away at the presence of this man, the same hunger that had brought her here.

"Tell me…were you sent to complete the lousily done job?" His head lazily tilted to look at her. "I mean, I was expecting a smoothly severed head of mine on the ground, but who knew I would wake up to find this sticking out of my chest? Who does that?" 

His dark sarcasm made her eyes widen. However, she quickly shook her head, "N-no, I f-found you lying h-here." 

"Pity." His tongue clicked, "Looks like you neglected the lessons that told you to stay home at night and instead decided to offer yourself as a heartwarming dinner for nastl little creatures."

She found herself gulping at his menacing voice. 

Elise was expecting this man who had awoken, to be in agonizing pain due to the dagger stuck in his chest, but for some unknown reasons, he was fully unhurt and normal, like the dagger in his chest was nonexistent.

His demeanor made him seem like a predator rather than someone who had been preyed upon.

"I-I came to look f-for food." Elise lowly voiced out.

She noticed the smirk on his lips hadn't died down when he commented. "Looks like the food found the eater before the eater found the food."

Whatever he meant, she didn't understand. But right now, all her brain cells did was scream at her to run away before things would escalate.

What if he wasn't human, but a ghost? And what if he suddenly turned into a mighty dragon, what would she do?

Subtly, Elise began to back away. But it didn't take three seconds for the man's gaze to pick on that, and his hand swiftly caught hold of her wrist.

Feeling the cold and firm grip on her, Elise froze on the spot.

"Who said you could leave?" His voice didn't sound pleased when it echoed in her ears.

Elise gulped. Couldn't she? "I-I need to l-leave." She stuttered.

"Leave?" His eyes bore into hers, "How unkind to leave when you just got here."

"B-but I have to g-go home, Mister." She responded. Her eyes gazed at her wrist which he held, thinking he would let go of it.

"But I don't think your home wants you. Especially when it knows that you intend on escaping from me." He said without empathy.

That moment, panic seeped into Elise's heart when she realized his intention. She suddenly burst out into scared sobs, "P-please, believe me, Mister. I really w-wasn't sent to kill you. I just w-want to go home in peace."

But if she thought her outburst affected this man even by an inch, Elise thought wrong. Because he was now staring at her with a wicked smile that stretched on his lips.

"Kill me?" he chuckled darkly, making her flinch, "Poor thing. You look like something I would break with a rub of my finger."

But if only Elise had known who he was, she would have realized he wasn't exaggerating even a bit.

It was stupid of Elise to think he actually considered her to be a threat. However, maybe she was actually a threat. A threat to his self-control.

"W-what d-do you want f-from me?" She uttered, hoping to strike a bargain, hopefully he would let her go.

But her question had just worsened everything, unknown to Elise. She never realized she couldn't make a bargain with a devil.

His smile turned to a grin, "Who knew you would be so generous in asking? And now, how can I refuse such a beautiful offer tossed before my face?"

The next moment, he suddenly pulled her closer to him, closing the distance between them, her face only a few inches from his.

"Dying makes one feel very thirsty, doesn't it?" 

Due to the fright of the sudden proximity they shared, poor Elise did not realize where he was arriving at, and she naively nodded.

But then, she had heard stories of people requesting for water to drink, moments before their death.

"S-shall I-I get water for y-you?"

"Such a pleasing offer. Except that I'm thirsty for something other than water."

There were fruits all over the place, Elise realized that. Maybe she could squeeze some juice for him if he wanted.

"I w-will make a fruit j-juice for you," she offered and was hoping he would release her to get it done, when she heard the most devastating words in her life,

"I want your blood."

Momentarily, Elise thought she was hallucinating, but once his words sank into her thoughts, she flinched causing her to move away by an inch.

"Was my request so exciting that you can't help but leap for Joy?" 

"My b-b-blood?"

"Sure. I would have preferred adding your flesh to my menu, but how can I possibly eat something looking this lean already? I might eat you to oblivion".

His eyes deliberately trailed over her body. "But your blood can suffice, for now."

Everything was tough luck to Elise, including her lamp which completely ran out that minute. Leaving her in darkness with a man who intended to have her blood.

"Y-you can't have m-my blood." She whispered in terror. 

"Why is that?" Questioned the man with a daring look.

Elise racked her head to get an idea, and she was forced to live that moment. "B-because it's poisoned." 

He clicked his tongue, "Well, looks like we are on the same page. Poisoned blood is just the flavor I crave."

Never in her entire life had she heard of a human drinking a person's blood, apart from them willingly offering their blood save a person.

Elise, who wasn't expecting such a response, screamed internally, having tears almost forming in her eyes.

She had come into the forest to search for food, but rather, had turned into someone's else's food.

"I--I-" she tried to speak, but he didn't give her a chance.

"Why don't you come here, instead of dragging the time of the inevitable." He advised her. "It will be quick and painless. You will barely feel a thing."

His grip was on her and Elise couldn't run away. She couldn't even resist him, feeling he might resort to a worse type of violence.

With a silent conflict, she moved closer.

In the dark, Elise did not know what it was, but she felt some thin and sharp pierce through her arm, causing her pain, and soon feeling the man's mouth on her flesh, eventually sucking her blood.

She didn't know how much of her blood had been taken as she felt him swiftly sucking from her, but soon, she felt a swirl in her vision. And it was all she felt before everything darkened, unconsciously falling into his arms.