The Vampire's Heart II - The Dying Heart (Phan)

Chapter 4 - The She-Vampire

Dan's POV

I awoke later again in the same position, painfully tied to the chair. Storm was kneeling over her fire with the same boiling pot from earlier. A strange scent filled the area.

Why was I here? How did I get here? Where was the town?

Storm turned around and saw me. "Dan! Welcome back to consciousness. How are you, dear?"

"Don't call me that."

"Don't have an attitude with me. I'll put you right back to sleep."

Bipolar, much?

"Anyway," she continued, "I'll let you in on why you're here, since you might be a little startled. Don't worry, though. Everything will be okay."

"Let me go!" I spat, not enjoying her tone. "Where even are we?"

"I told you. This is my home."

"Where's the town?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"Where is the damn town?!"

"Jeez," she said. "I hate to see you so upset. It's not too far, I guess. Don't worry. You will go back there soon. You and me both."

"What?"

She placed her thin, boney hand on my head and hushed me. "Now," she said, "you see, I am a vampire. I know you've seen and hung around a vampire before, so I shouldn't have to explain what it's like."

Phil.

"I also know how to break a vampire's curse," she said slyly. "'A mortal's love...' that's it, isn't it?"

Angry enough with the crazy girl, I stared blankly at here, not answering.

"Well, that's good that that is what it is. Ever since I saw you, Mortal, I thought you were so handsome and kindhearted to all those you meet. I loved watching you and pretending it was me you were talking to and buying coffees for and walking around with."

"Were you... stalking me?"

"No, of course not! I was admiring from a safe distance."

I was sweating now.

"So anyway, sweet Mortal, you've taken my dying heart before you've even gotten to know me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She got uncomfortably close to my face. "I love you, dear Mortal Dan."

I had to get out of here.

"And I just know - I just know - that it will be you who will break my curse for me, and we will live happily ever after as mortals. Together. You and I."

Storm, the ridiculous she-vampire, was obsessed with me? I didn't care. I had to go back and find Phil. I had to get out of here somehow.

"It won't work," I said. "I have to love you too to break your curse. I already love someone."

"That will change," she sang, as if she was certain.

No it wouldn't. It would never. Storm went back to cooking her mysterious plant thing, while I was frozen in my seat, resistant to struggle. I figured it would be safer to not let her put me out. If I was awake, I'd have a better chance of getting out.

"How did I even get here?"

"I figured it was time I bring you here and put my plan into action. So, when I saw you walking alone in the morning, I got behind you, put you out with my herbs, and literally carried you out here."

I felt so freaked out. She was crazy. There was no other word for it. I needed to get out.

Phil's POV

Where was Dan?

I needed Cynthia to tell me several times over and over that he didn't just leave me. I had been searching non-stop for him with no signs or traces whatsoever. I was beginning to think he bailed out of town and left me for sure.

"Dan loves you more than anything I've ever seen," she had said. "He would never leave you."

I had no choice but to listen to her.

It was night, and I had to go to bed alone again. I cuddled in, cradling the pillow on Dan's side of the bed. I hugged it and began to cry. It still smelled like him. I wished for him back. I wanted to hug him and kiss him, and tell him that I missed him. It had only been two days and I was already a nervous wreck without him.

I sat up, still holding Dan's pillow. I went to the window and looked out in the dark. I remembered when I lived out there, in the woods just across the road from where I was, and how Dan just came, and things began to change for me. Could he have done that for anyone else? I wondered.

Staring out and begging in my head, I blankly absorbed everything on the outside. The trees seemed black with no light to give them colour. I looked up and above the tree line. There, to my suspicion and surprise, was a light stream of smoke.

Fire.

Why was there such a small fire in the woods? It appeared to be very far away, too far for me to investigate tonight alone. All I knew was that where small fires burn, people are sure to be around. Where the smoke was coming from, however, seemed so deep in the woods, and I knew no one lived out there. I couldn't help but imagine that it was Dan out there. I would have to go and see tomorrow when it would be day.

I just needed to find him. That's all I cared about.