Vampire Heart

Pixie Corr sighed in relief as she closed her laptop and leaned back in the chair she was sitting in. Gathering her textbooks and laptop together, she slipped them all into her messenger bag and slung the weight over her shoulder. She stuck her iPod in the pocket of her hoodie and attached her headphones to her ears. She double-checked to make sure she did not forget anything, then made her way out of the empty study room into the night.

'It's so quiet at this hour,' thought Pixie as she scanned the empty sidewalks of the university campus. 'I wish it was like this during the day.'

Completely entranced in her music, Pixie did not feel the presence of the mysterious shadow following her. The shadow was keeping its distance, occasionally stopping and then continuing to follow her.

Pixie felt a breeze of cool air brush against her skin through her hoodie and shivered. She shut her iPod off and looked around, suspicion clouding her senses. Seeing nothing but empty sidewalks and lit street lamps, she shrugged and continued to make her way to her dorm building. The shadow still kept following her.

She started to walk faster now. Nervousness replaced her suspicion as she continued what would normally be a fifteen minute walk for her. Pixie tried to remain calm, realizing that being nervous would only slow her down more. It was difficult, though, since the presence she felt seemed much closer now.

The sound of a ringtone startled Pixie and made her stop in the middle of the sidewalk. She grabbed her cell phone out of her hoodie pocket and looked on the front screen to see who was calling her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the name on the screen. It was her roommate, and best friend, Crissy.

Pixie flipped her cell phone open and spoke into the receiver. "Hello?"

"Pixie, where are you?" came the worried voice on the other line. "It's almost midnight!"

"I'm on my way back from the library," Pixie replied in a reassuring tone. "I should be there in five minutes at the most. Don't worry about me."

Crissy sounded much more relieved now, even though she was shouting for her best friend to hurry up. "I have some kick-ass videos to show you," she exclaimed, excitement in her voice. "You're going to love them!"

"I can imagine," said Pixie, rolling her eyes. Crissy was always showing her ridiculous videos on YouTube. There were very few she really enjoyed watching.

Once Crissy hung up, Pixie flipped her phone shut and slipped it back in the pocket of her hoodie. Before continuing to follow the path in front of her, she noticed to her side an alley. It was the alley she had gone through many times before as a shortcut to either her dorm or some of her classes. Why not take it now? She would get to her dorm faster and not worry Crissy so much.

She seized the opportunity and stepped into the alley. It was dark, but little rays of light from the moon shone in most parts of it, so Pixie was still able to see where she was going. Although she was very brave, she was also very cautious, and walked fast, trying to ignore what sounded like another pair of footsteps behind her.

'If anyone tries to jump me, I'll beat the shit out of them!' was what she kept telling herself inside her head as she progressed towards the end of the alley.

The minute Pixie reached the end of the alley, she heard behind her a trash can fall to the ground, followed by shoes scuffling against the cement and a pleading cry. Startled, she turned around, ready to swing her messenger bag at anyone who dared to attack her.

Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

Despite the scene before her taking place in the dark, Pixie could still make out the two figures on the ground by the fallen trash can. Both of them appeared to be males, and one was kneeling over the other, mouth on his neck and hand on his arm to keep him in an upright sitting position. A sucking noise could be heard from the kneeling one.

Pixie almost screamed, but she nipped her tongue to keep from doing so. Instead she just watched, in pure shock and fear, the scene before her. She should have made a run for it as quickly as her legs could carry her, but she didn't. She watched as the kneeling male let go of his victim, letting the body fall to the ground, probably lifeless. He stood up and did not move, his head facing down at the body. Pixie tried to adjust her eyes so she could see what he looked like, but it was just too dark.

Then he looked up.

All Pixie could see were his crimson red eyes. This made her own eyes widen, fear clouding her senses, and she took off running as fast as she could in the direction of her dorm.

'Do not tell me that guy is what I think he is!' she thought as she reached the building where her dorm room was located. Quickly swiping her student ID to unlock the door, she rushed into the elevator and up to the second floor. Instead of using her key to unlock the door to her room, she pounded her fist on it repeatedly until Crissy answered it.

Crissy blinked. "Pixie? What's wrong with you?"

Pixie did not reply, too much out of breath from running, and collapsed on the floor in the entranceway.