Hurts Like Heaven

You know the tingle you get up your spine when you know you're being watched? The unshakeable notion that somewhere, someone or something is staring at you although you can't see them.

Well, I got that feeling as I walked down the hall to put away my cleaning supplies at work. It was around 6:45, well past my normal clock out time. I had to stay late because one of the other girls here at the hotel was stuck in traffic. I didn't mind really, I hadn't had any overtime in a while.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise as I pulled my cart into the storage closet. I looked up and down the hallway but there was no one or anything in sight so I went in, the door shut behind me. I made sure everything was in place before I turned around to leave. I left the room and I saw the lights outside flicker.

Thoughts of something sinister lurking nearby flooded me. I've had too many bad experiences not to be alert. I told myself that nothing was going on, to stop being paranoid. I began walking faster down the hall to the doors of our changing area. My eyes glanced at the security camera in the corner at the end of the hall. I knew for a fact that it didn't work, so I took no comfort in that. I looked back over my shoulder as the lights flickered again. That's when I saw him.

I hadn't a clue as to who he was. But I knew what he was right off the bat.

He was tall, six feet at least, wearing all black, and his dark hair was slicked back. He stood at the other end of the hallway, so I couldn't properly see his face, but I knew he had fangs. He cocked his head to one side slowly and then raced towards me.

And so I ran.

I knew it was futile but I wasn't about to stand there and willingly become someones dinner. I didn't make it far before his hand grabbed my hair and yanked me back. I gasped in pain. He threw me to the ground, the back of my head hit with an audible thump, stars filled my vision, then he jumped on top of me.

He smelted of blood. Daniel, my boyfriend, had said that some vampires just couldn't get rid of the smell. Yup, this man was a vampire.

I struggled to be free but he had an iron grip. His eyes were dark but I still saw a some white around the edges, which means he wasn't vamping out completely. The only vampire I had truly ever seen vamp out was Dan, and he had a lot more control whenever it happened now.

“Ugh.” I grunted as he placed a cool hand on my throat. No, I thought, I didn't survive nearly being killed by two psychopaths only to be killed by a hungry vampire in the basement of this hotel. I knew fear only made the bloodlust even harder to control so I tired to stay as calm as I could. “What do you want?” I gasped out as he squeezed my throat.

“You.” He snarled.

I managed to reach down into the waistband of my uniform pants and pull out the stake I kept with me, you know, just in case. But he saw it and pinned my arm to the floor faster than the blink of an eye. Stupid of me, really.

“Naughty girl.” He growled before ripping the stake from my clutched hand and tossing it down the hall. It landed with a hard thud very far away from me. So I poked him in his right eye with my fingers. He hissed, released my other hand and punched my eye.

Have you ever been hit by a vampire? Well, it's hell. The impact made my head spin further, but I knew he had held back. I should have been unconscious from the blow. He hit my mouth next, before pinning both of my arms down. I felt my bottom lip split.

I managed to reach one of my legs up and kneed his crotch. Even for vampires it was a weak spot. He grunted and I did it again. I headbutted him, my forehead collided with his nose. Something Daniel had taught me to do. A girl has to protect herself, you know. Needless to say he got even more pissed.

He slammed the back of my head into the floor. I winced and blinked the stars from my eyes. His fangs grew ever closer to my throat, his grip there tightened until I couldn't even gasp out a breath. I wrestled beneath him, trying to get free. His eyes, now full black and empty like a bottomless pit, looked down at me. No pity or sympathy nor recognition in them, no emotion whatsoever. Nothing.

Then his fangs sank into my flesh.

A scream that started in the pit of my stomach tried to reach my mouth but failed. It was beyond painful, and he knew it. I've been bitten before by my beloved, it was always passionate and blissful, the vampire controls how much pleasure they put into the bite. This bastard wanted me to suffer.

I could feel the deep pull on my skin as he drained my blood. Ragged, slurping sounds escaped his mouth along with several lust moans. He began writhing against my body with his lower half and I could feel his growing erection. His hands went slack and I tried to push him off of me but it was like pushing a truck uphill in a snowstorm. He wasn't budging.

I let out a squeal, I couldn't manage anything louder than that. My vision, which had filled with tears, began to blur and darken. I began feeling numb. He was taking too much blood, too fast. I fought against it, although it began to feel good not to feel, to let go of the pain.

No! I must stay awake, no matter how much it hurt. I mustn't let him... win. I couldn't die here.

Then the feeling suddenly stopped. The pain in my neck lessened. I felt the wet hot liquid sliding down into my hair. Where had he gone? Was it over? Was I dead?

I couldn't move. I couldn't...

~

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I felt my finger twitch. It took my a minute to gather my bearings. And when I did I slowly turned my head, fluttered my eyes open, and saw nothing but the ceiling above me. My face hurt, my neck hurt, my body hurt. I brought my shaky hand up to my neck. The blood was still trickling out. I placed my palm against it to stop the bleeding but it hurt like hell.

I gasped, then moaned in pain. I slowly turned my head again to my left, and saw someone at the end of the hall. They stood there for a moment, shocked, then they raced over to me. As they got closer I could tell it was one of my coworkers, Lisa. She was speaking but I couldn't hear the words as she bent down over me, a phone was by her ear.

“What happened?” I finally figure out what she said.

She began talking to whomever was on the other end. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw that she had place something to my neck, some kind of cloth, and applied pressure to it. I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Does that hurt?” I tried to nod but it was painful, it felt much better not to move a muscle. “Sorry. Help is coming. Stay with me, Victouria.”

As she said those words I felt myself already slipping into the sweet darkness that was beckoning me nearer. I was shaken awake. Someone was lifting me. I opened my eyes to slits and saw my supervisor, James, carrying me away.

“What the fuck happened to her?” He called over his shoulder.

“I don't know. I found her like that.” A voice, a later registered as Lisa's, said in reply. I was feeling increasingly lightheaded, I wanted to sleep. So I shut my eyes again.

A siren woke me this time, but I kept my eyes closed. Why wouldn't they let me sleep?

I could feel movement beneath me. I was traveling. My mind took several long minutes to register that I was in an ambulance. There was something on my neck. Someone, a paramedic I suppose, was doing something to me, I could feel hands on my skin, but they felt too warm. I kept my eyes shut, I didn't want to see a thing, I was still lightheaded and felt dizzy. Someone was speaking but I paid them little mind. Sleep, my mind told me, just sleep. Embrace the darkness.