The Dark Side of the Moon

T H I R T Y - O N E

Looking around, I recognize where I am. I never thought I'd be in this dark alley again, but I find myself alone in the space behind Velvet Elixir, the supernatural bar Eli and Elle took me to all those weeks ago. Just like before, the pavement is damp and littered with cracks stretching on for what seems like miles. The air feels humid, too humid for this time of year.

I attempt to move towards the street, but my feet are stuck to the pavement by imaginary glue. No matter how hard I try to move my legs, they are rooted in place. Tears of frustration fall down my cheeks as I use my arms to heave my legs out of their locked position, to no avail. After a good five minutes, I give up and look around me for anyone who can help me.

"Hello? Someone help!"

No answer. What's strange is that I can hear my own echo, but no other sounds accompany it. No cars honking in the distance. No bass from the nearby club. Nothing.

I turn my head to the back of the alley, but with my human eyesight I can't see a thing. I turn back around only to see the same vampire that attacked me that night smirking at me, his sharp fangs glistening from the single streetlamp illuminating his features.

He looks exactly the same as he did before- pale skin, blood-red eyes, large muscled form. A surprised shriek comes from my throat, but I'm instantly silenced when his hands grip around my throat. My screams quiet as I fight for breath, my hands uselessly clinging to his as I try to scrape them off of my neck.

His arms are immediately thrown off of me by a punch to his face. The vampire turns to see an angry Grayson staring back at him, black eyes and all. A fierce growl emanates through the alley and echoes throughout the city. He's out for blood.

The vampire only laughs at the pain like the sadistic creep he is. The two fight in hand-to-hand combat. It looks like Grayson is in the lead until I hear him groan in pain. I scream and fight to escape the imaginary binding keeping me pinned to the floor as I see the vampire with Grayson's bloody heart in his hand. I scream louder than I ever have before as I fall to the floor, disregarding the pain in my knees from the fall.

For some reason my legs are finally free and I crawl over to Grayson as I cry and hold onto his lifeless corpse. I grip at his t-shirt and hold my hand over the space where his heart used to be. I glare at the vampire who looked extremely proud of his accomplishment. He smiles, and throws the heart deeper into the alley. The blue fog rolling in hides the heart from my sight, and I suddenly can't see Grayson anymore either because of the large quantity of smoke.

"Thea! Wake up!"

The voice sounds like Grayson, but it can't be him- he's dead right in front of me. The voice sounds again, and I look to the sky in confusion.

"Open your eyes, damn it!"

Grayson's voice is loud and firm, and I'm completely disoriented as my eyes shoot open. It's completely dark, and all I feel is Grayson shaking me harder. I abruptly sit up in bed and look in front of me to see a very much alive Grayson looking down at me with worry. He's breathing heavily through his nose, and when he sees that I'm awake he lets out a huge sigh of relief.

"Baby, are you alright? You were crying in your sleep, and then you started screaming and wouldn't wake up! I didn't know what to do..."

I notice the tears covering my cheeks, and this sensation is unfortunately old. The past week I've been having the same type of nightmare along with the same type of reaction to them. However, I never had an alive Grayson to wake up to before because I was always alone. With him here, in front of me, I launch myself at him and continue crying into his neck as I grab onto him for dear life. Grayson catches me easily and rocks me back and forth as he soothingly rubs my back and scalp. He whispers sweet words into my ear to calm me down.