The Vampire Slayer

Chapter 16

With tears in her eyes, Maeve woke up jerked, sweaty, frightened, and disgusted. Outside it was pouring rain; the raindrops were hitting the window like knives. She felt suffocated and had a phantom ache in her whole body, almost like she got beaten up. Her neck was hurting; she felt like she was still stuck in this trance. As if she didn't fully wake up, and all her senses were adjusting slowly to the real world.
           Her friends were sleeping deeply, without realizing Maeve had a panic attack. Confused and afraid about controlling her emotions in this circumstance of anxious behavior, she felt cracked. Uncontrollable tears were running down her cheeks.
           Maeve got up from the bed; her knees were shaking, and her eyes were adjusting to the darkness inside the dorm room. She had a sudden urge to run ad take a sigh of relief outside in the pouring rain. It was maddening, yet the only thing that could save her from this trance.
          She wore her dr marten's boots and sneaked out of the dorm room without waking anyone up. Maeve then crept downstairs to the entrance, opened the doors, and went outside. She walked down the porch; the rain touched her face, making her soaking wet in a couple of seconds. But she didn't mind; she raised her head to the sky, closed her eyes, opened her arms, and enjoyed the rain pouring down on her.
          A sudden image of Vlad appeared in her mind and scared her. Maeve looked around her surroundings. It was blurry due to the pouring rain; she couldn't see anything, which frightened her even more. However, the scenery in her consciousness didn't stop there; it showed Vlad's face again, and Elizabeth's crying for help echoed in the back of her mind.
         Maeve started to run; she couldn't figure out where she was running. So she ran, and ran, arrived abruptly upon a bungalow. She glanced around; the sorority house and the professor's apartment were far away.
        This bungalow was Mr. Jason's home; it was dark, and the lights were off; there was greenery around the place. It's filled with trees and bushes. Maeve walked lightly, heading to the front porch of the house.
        "Miss Molony, what are you doing here?" Mr. Jason asked behind her back. She froze and didn't know how to react or what to say. Then, emotions, visions of the horrid dream, came through her again. Maeve started to sob, tears falling on her already wet face.
        The rain was still streaming down on her, making her shiver and freeze. She turned around, trying to open her swollen eyes from all the crying, although she failed miserably. It was foggy, reminding her of her despicable dream.
         "I- I had a frightful dream about Vlad." She stuttered; her teeth were trembling. Then, her eyes started adjusting to the rain and the blurriness of her tears. She finally saw Mr. Jason standing 4 feet in front of her. He wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt, black leathery boots, and jeans. He looked dashing as always, although he had a James Dean vibe this time. Mr. Jason seemed concerned and tender and softened his facial expression.
        "Why did you come here?" He asked without taking his eyes off her, which was the most extended eye contact they had had in weeks.
         "I- I don't know. I was running; my mind kept showing Vlad's face. Those red eyes and..." Maeve stuttered, crying and choking on the last words. Mr. Jason widened his eyes, stepped closer, and embraced Maeve. Sparks electrified her body when they intertwined with his. The scent of his cologne was intoxicating and spicy. The pouring rain continued unstoppably, drenching both of them.
         His embrace was comforting; a sigh of relief she so anticipated finally came out, soothing her down. She wanted to stay in his embrace for all eternity; tears of joy came down her eyes, feeling rejuvenated, even free. Free from the repulsive visions in her memory.
        He pulled her away, gazing into her broken eyes. His poker face didn't express emotions, although his eyes shone into the darkness. Empathy was glowing within them, mellowness and worrying too.
        "I- I should go. I shouldn't be here." Maeve stammered, about to leave. She went quickly by him, but he suddenly grabbed her arm to pull her back and stop her from going anywhere. They were facing each other side by side. The thunders lightened the area far away and prevented her from studying his gorgeous face. He looked disturbed and distressed.
       "Get inside the house, or you'll catch a cold," Mr. Jason said sternly. Inside her body, fireworks were blasting. He let her arm gently, breaking their eye contact by stepping on his front porch.
          Maeve followed him, seeing a white security camera on the right side of the building's facade. Mr. Jason opened his door and stepped inside the very dark house. It was pitch dark in his home, appearing almost like he was Hades bringing his Persephone down to the underworld.
         "I'll light the fireplace; wait here." He said into the darkness, his voice calming and alluring. She stood still, not answering or reacting. At this point, she was overly stirred. Her emotions were over the roof, excitement and passionate plots enticing around her head, overwhelming her.
         Mr. Jason lit up the fireplace and the whole place lid. Maeve was gazing around the big, square, spacious room. In front of her was a white woody desk with a black chair; on top of it was his laptop, including some books on the side and a lamp; ahead of the desktop was a black L-shaped sofa, a small oval-shaped white coffee table, and the fireplace in black marble on the wall.
         On the right side was a white door, and beside it was a small staircase. On the left of the fireplace was a white door vault viewing a small kitchen. The right and left walls had two tall grey modern bookshelves filled with old and new books. The walls were dark grey with white oak laminate flooring. There was no clutter; the room was pristinely clean and felt homey.