An alarm blared.

Leave me alone, I don’t want to go on an adventure.

It continued its noise.

I don’t care if there’s a mountain of gold, the dragon will have tainted it…

Insistently, it carried on.

Please… you stretched one book into three movies….

It took a second, but once the alarm fully registered and the neurons started firing, AJ catapulted himself up from the bed. Already fully dressed and without a second thought, he wrenched his coat from the peg near the front door and set out into the dark of night.

I'll get some info for you tonight, Eliza, - he smiled to himself.

He moved with purpose through the night, having calculated the minutes precisely; enough to reach the site, position his phone camera in the shadows, and claim an unobstructed view of whatever might happen.

A smile spread across his face, which he was unable to contain. He arrived at the stretch of road marked by the camera, triangulated his position using the landmarks he'd memorized earlier from the ‘Maps’ app, and mounted his phone on a makeshift stand. A glance at his watch confirmed the time.

2.58am… let's go.

He jumped behind a wall which gave him a clear view.

A minute passed. The road was deader than night.

Another minute passed. 3 am.

The next minute passed.

A rustle in the wind?

3.02 am.

A person in a coat! I mean, that could be anyone actually…

AJ marked the passage of sixty seconds against the meticulous rhythm of his watch which he had calibrated perfectly, earlier that night.

3.03…

The person in the coat stood underneath the camera, as if waiting for something or someone. The theory was confirmed as a second person approached.

The figure exploded forward with inhuman speed, one hand seemingly crushing the victim's windpipe while the other ripped their head sideways. Moonlight glinted off elongated canines as the attacker's jaw unhinged like a snake's, plunging into the exposed flesh with a wet, tearing sound that carried clearly through the night air.

AJ clamped his hands over his mouth to stop a screen escaping. The frenzy ended abruptly. The attacker released their victim with a casual indifference, as if discarding an empty takeout container, then melted into the darkness.

The coat-clad silhouette remained motionless for a heartbeat, before drifting away in the opposite direction to his attacker, into the darkness.

AJ pressed his back against the wall and clamped both hands over his mouth to trap the scream building in his throat. The seconds stretched into eternity. Finally, he inched upward, just high enough to peer over the edge. Two eyes stared back at him from the darkness. He recoiled, his spine hitting the concrete as he scrambled backward.

“I knew I could feel another pulse!” A raspy voice filled the quiet air.

From all the way over there? - AJ thought, unable to speak. The man rose to full height and effortlessly jumped over the wall, landing with barely a sound.

“Who are you? Who sent you?” The interrogation came fast. “You're with the zealots aren't you?”

His unnatural gravelly growls pierced AJ’s head like a pneumatic drill.

If he continues talking like this he's gonna make me vomit…

The man stared at AJ, cocking his head slightly.

“You are a mortal, aren't you?” His voice was somehow different this time, a lot flatter and less guttural.

AJ nodded, assuming that the truth might elongate his life longer than a lie.

“Hmmm,” the man inched closer. With his right hand, he grasped AJ by his left arm and hoisted him off the floor, as if he was a child.

AJ yanked free of his grip and made a beeline to his phone, which was on the other side of the wall. Just as he cleared the barrier, fingers seized his ankle. He crashed chest-first onto the concrete, his temple scraping against the rough surface. Blood beaded along the scratch, warm against his skin.

This is where I die… the man stood tall over him. He bent down and grasped AJ’s right wrist.

A serpentine hiss cut through the air, followed by a scream that clawed at the ears. The man jerked backward, clutching his hand to his chest. His fingers curled inward like the legs of a dying spider, skin blistering as though the object had seared straight through to the marrow. AJ seized the opportunity and sent his foot crashing into the man’s midsection, using it as a springboard to get to his feet and retrieve his phone.

He sprinted toward the town, refusing to glance over his shoulder at what he left behind.

The clubs will be busy, plenty of witnesses if this dude comes at me again…

Stumbling into a more crowded district, he stopped, doubling over with palms against his thighs as his lungs fought for air. After a few minutes of deep breathing to calm himself he pulled his phone out. It was still recording.

Sitting down on the pavement, he stopped the camera and replayed the video. Excitement replaced fear as he watched.

The angle is a little off, could've been more central but I was only guessing as to where the action was gonna happen… but that's some solid ass proof that some weird… - his thoughts paused, cogs whirring.

…vampire stuff?

He shook his head.

It can't be… I mean it looked real… he lifted me up like a bloody toy… he eyed his kara.

Steel… I didn't realise steel hurt vampires. Ah! Come on AJ, vampires don't exist…

He shook his head again, before throwing it back and staring up into the sky.

His phone vibrated with a notification.

You not even gonna send me a message, after I so graciously accepted your friend request? It read.

Eliza.

AJ stared at the screen, half-smiling.

Terror and triumph warred within him, each claiming territory with every beat; he'd nearly died, yes, but he'd also captured proof of something impossible. And now Eliza wanted to talk, which should have thrilled him.

She’s gonna be fucking connected to this isn’t she. Maybe I didn’t imagine those fangs. He scoffed out loud.

“I was meaning to message,” he typed, “got busy with your request.”

Dots appeared on the screen, indicating a reply was being typed.

“Anything interesting to report?” she replied. AJ could feel the blood oozing down from his temple.

“Head’s bleeding, I got jumped by something.”

The dots stayed on the screen slightly longer this time.

“Are you alright? Also, what do you mean someTHING? Like an animal?”

“Don’t laugh. I know it’s late. I think it was a vampire.”

This time the dots vanished almost as instantly as they appeared.

“I’m coming.”

“You don’t know where I am.” AJ replied.

“Tell me.” He craned his neck, attempting to read a brightly lit sign above one of the clubs nearby.

“North end of Mabgate.”

“Only round the corner, see you in two x” the light under her icon turned yellow, indicating she was away.

Like clockwork, she appeared.

“That was three minutes,” AJ said, heaving himself to his feet. Eliza's face came into focus, her brow furrowed and lips pressed into a thin line as she scanned the blood on his temple. “I’m OK, there’s no need to look so worried…”

“Yeah, it doesn’t look too bad. I’m more worried about your encounter.” She tilted her head, those green eyes locking onto his, searching his face like she was piecing together a puzzle. AJ shifted his weight, the scrape on his temple throbbing with each note of his heartbeat, warm blood trickling down to his jaw.

The street noise; drunken laughter spilling from the clubs smoking areas, the thump of bass vibrating through the pavement; it all felt distant, muffled by the rush of his own pulse in his ears.

“Worried about the encounter, yeah?” He wiped at the blood with the back of his hand, accidentally smearing his watch. “Vampires don’t let you sleep at night?” He shoved his phone toward her face, the footage already rolling. In one swift motion, she pocketed the faded lip balm and snatched the phone away, angling the screen against her body to shield it from curious glances on the street. After the video concluded, she locked the screen, passing the phone back to AJ.

“Care to explain?” AJ commanded.

Eliza’s mouth twitched at the corners; not a smile, but not far off one either. “You want the easy answer?”

“There’s an easy answer to that?” AJ asked in disbelief at her reply.

“There is. There is always an easy answer,” she said, eyes drifting past him, towards the hazy streetlights that pooled against the wet pavement. “You saw a thing. A thing you weren’t meant to, right? That’s all.”

“That’s not an easy or a hard answer,” he pressed.

Her gaze returned to him, sharper than he had previously seen. “The man you saw, the attacker, isn’t a lone case. You think you saw a monster; what you saw was someone changed by whatever they’ve done for too long.”

“Changed,” AJ echoed, “is that your technical term?”

Eliza’s expression flickered along the line of pity and warning. “The world isn’t clean. You know that from the work you do, I imagine. But you stare at the bonfire through the glass. People like… them… they haven’t got that luxury.” Her eyes dropped from his gaze for a second, before returning, along with her signature grin.

She crouched slightly, her face more in line with his. “If you want to stay sane, call what you saw a drug experiment gone wrong, or black-ops conditioning, or stress. The moment you actually start calling it Vampires, you’ll never sleep properly again.”

AJ swallowed hard. “You’re not denying it.”

“I’m telling you,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, “that some truths eat the ones who find them. Leave this to the people who already got bitten.”

Her last words hung there, a little too poetic, a little too true. She leaned closer, studying him with those impossible green eyes.

“Delete the recording…” She hesitated, long enough for it to feel like defiance. “Forget the time, the faces. Go back to your screens. It's a safer form of research.” She turned to leave, then paused, a look of confusion crossing her face.

“The attacker… he screamed. What did you… do to him?”

AJ thought back and looked down at the kara on his right arm. “He grabbed my arm and then let go… his hand started burning or something.”

Eliza studied the bracelet. “What’s it made from?”

“Steel.” AJ’s reply was as cold as the aforementioned metal. Eliza's eyes lingered on the steel band, her brow furrowing slightly as she processed the information.

“What’s it for?” She followed up.

“You’re awfully interested in stuff, for a girl who harassed me in a squat rack,” AJ shot back, then winced at how Eliza's face fell, her confidence cracking for just a moment before she recovered.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, “I just…” her phone buzzed in her skirt pocket. Ignoring it, she continued. “If that’s what caused the pain…” her phone buzzed again, this time more insistently, prompting her to dig into her pocket. Her phone tilted just enough for AJ to glimpse part of the contact name: 'PRA'.

“I have to make a call.” She took two steps away, then stopped, her shoulders rising and falling with what might have been a sigh. Something in her posture; the slight tilt of her head, the tension in her back betrayed a moment of doubt.

“You know The Coffee Shop, a place that stays open all night,” she said, not looking at him.

“A coffee shop in Leeds that’s open all night?” AJ replied.

“Yeah.” She confirmed, only half listening. “I’ll send you the location. Let’s meet tomorrow at about 10pm.”

“Quite the night owl aren’t you?” he smiled. Something about her pulled at him, like gravity from a star he couldn't quite see.

“Say yes,” she said, still not turning to face him.

“Yes. But make sure you’ve got a better explanation.” She flashed him a thumbs up and walked away into the night, her whistle of an unfamiliar tune drifting back to him as she disappeared into the darkness.

AJ stood up and checked his watch.

Maybe I can get away with being a bit late for work tomorrow…