The Vampire's Promise

When I walked into the apartment, Rebecca was waiting for me. She looked up from her newspaper, seated in a chair near the door.

"Where have you been?" she asked me.

"Late shift, and then I kind of got- uh, sidetracked," I answered. She raised and eyebrow.

"With shopping?" she nodded her head toward me. I looked down at the lock, my fingertips gently brushing over it.

"No, actually..." I trailed off. My eyebrows furrowed. How could I tell her what had really happened? She certainly wouldn't believe me.

"Did you steal it, then?" Her eyes returned to her newspaper.

"No, of course not!" I laughed. My hand closed around the locket and I wandered over to sit on the armrest of the chair she was in. "Some guy gave it to me; I think it was some strange attempt at asking me out."

"No way; really?" she looked up at me again. I nodded, my eyes now scanning the newspaper in her hands. "Wow, people are just getting even weirder these days." She rolled her eyes, once again returning her attention to the newspaper.

"So, what are you reading, exactly; which article?"

"Uh, this one currently," she pointed to one of the headlines. Body of Emma Walters found.

"Wow, that's interesting," I muttered. "What's it about?"

"Too lazy to read?" she grinned, and I gave her a light shove. "Well, as the headline states, the body of this girl was found- hanging from a tree. Hours before the discovery, there were reports of her being possessed by a demon. Absolute nonsense; poor girl must have been driven insane by her family, and then she became suicidal."

"Wow... there are some bizarre things going on in this neighborhood lately."

"Tell me about it," Rebecca shook her head and stood up from the chair. She handed me the newspaper. "Here, you can skim through this if you want; I'm going to bed."

"This early?" I took her spot in the chair.

"Check the clock, dear," Rebecca waved before disappearing into her room. I checked the clock; 10:36.

It had been a month since then.

"Carol, a blond guy just walked in and sat at table nine," Alison told me in her New Yorker accent.

"Yeah, I'll get right to it," I sighed, grabbed a menu as I exited the kitchen. People were coming in and filling out the tables like a wildfire. I put on my best smile and made my way over to the corner where table nine was waiting.

Indeed his hair was blond, and it was tied back with a dark colored ribbon. I raised an eyebrow at the sight, but quickly put my friendly expression back on. I stepped around the table and froze when I saw his face.

His bright blue eyes gave an odd flash when he looked up at me. A grin grew on his face, exposing perfect teeth.

"Hello, Carol," he greeted me.

"Uh, can I get you anything today sir?" I extended the menu out to him, but he pushed it back.

"Oh, no need for the menu; I already know everything on it by heart."

"Well, then, what would you like to order?" I tucked the menu under my arm, pulling a notepad and pen out of the pocket of my apron.

"What would you recommend?" he leaned back in his seat, still grinning.

"The- uh..."

"You should speak with a little more confidence," Vladimir nodded.

"Well, sorry if I find the whole incident a month ago to be a little unnerving," I whispered harshly to him. "You're weird."

"My apologies, I'll have a cheeseburger and a coffee, then." Vladimir straightened in his seat, looking down at the table and clasping his hands together.

"Is there anything specific you would like on your cheeseburger?"

"Nothing else on it, thank you," he smiled at the table. "And don't do anything with the coffee; I'll take it black."

"Um, alright, I'll be back," I scribbled his order down and wandered back into the kitchen.

"You okay, doll?" Alison asked me. "You look a little shaken."

"Oh, uh, I'm fine," I gave her my best convincing smile. She narrowed her eyes at me, chopping up an onion. "Okay, so, I sort of know the customer that just walked in."

I held my notepad up for her to read, and she squinted her eyes at it for a moment before stopping what she was doing and washing her hands. She turned a knob on the stove and got out some raw ground beef, shaping the beef into a patty.

"You know him?" she asked, looking up at me for a moment.

"Sort of," I corrected her. "I met him a month ago, and he gave me a locket."

"Oh, that sounds nice." She smiled brightly as she worked. "He just gave you a locket? He must be one of those charmers."

I laughed and thought to myself how wrong she was. He was a creepy weirdo who just happened to save my life, and offered me a locket to mask whatever smell I gave off. Yes, a mad weirdo with the strange ability to disappear and reappear, and to make other men disappear.

"Yeah, quite a charmer," I looked out the window of the door.

There he was, still looking down at the table. His head turned, and it felt as if he was looking at me then. There was a lost expression on his face; it made my heart hurt a little. I turned away from the door and continued watching Alison cook.

When the food was ready, I carried it along with a cup of coffee out to Vladimir. The bill for the food was also placed on the tray.

"Here you go, sir," I said, setting the food carefully in front of him.

"Please, call me Vladimir," he smiled up at me. My eyes narrowed slightly and I stepped back.

"I'll come back later to collect the bill," I set the paper down and turned away. I heard him sigh as I walked away.

He didn't speak to me when I came to collect the payment for the meal; just stared with that lost expression at the table. When I turned back to look at his table from the kitchen, he was no longer there.

Good; that weirdo made me feel nervous.

The next day, I was awoken by the annoying buzzing of the doorbell. I vaguely heard Rebecca shout, "I'll get it!" before I decided to roll out of bed. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, deciding that my pajamas- a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt- would be suitable for greeting guests.

I could hear the muffled sound of conversation before I opened my bedroom door. I wandered through the kitchen.

"Who is it?" I called toward Rebecca.

"Some guy who claims to know you!" she called back. Dread settled in my stomach. Was it him?

I quickly went through the doorway on the left. There he was, standing a head taller than my beautiful, dark-skinned friend. His long, blond hair was still tied back; no doubt by the same tie I saw in the restaurant.

"Vladimir," his name came out more biting than I intended. He raised his eyebrows, eyes questioning.

"Carol?"

"So you do know each other!" Rebecca exclaimed, the delighted smile on her face causing me to shudder.

"Sure; yeah, I know him," I grumbled, marching over to them. I turned Vladimir around and walked him back to the door.

"What?" Rebecca sounded confused.

"Out," I said, giving Vladimir a shove when he started resisting.

"Wait, Carol, I have important-"

"Out!" I gave another shove, and he was out the door. Before he could get another word in, I slammed the door in his face and locked it.

"What was that about?" Rebecca asked. I turned to face her, and the look on her face was one of bafflement.

"He's the guy who gave me the locket, and he's also a weirdo," I told her. "Don't let him back in until I'm ready to face him."

"O-okay," Rebecca watched as I stormed back into my room.

Fear, I thought. I was uncertain of what he would ask me to do.