Straight Outta Vampire

You know how you say something thinking that it wouldn't happen, but then you end up jinxing yourself, and that thing that you thought wouldn't happen ends up actually happening?

I know it looks like I just said some gibberish, but I swear to you, that sentence made sense in my head.

The point that I'm making is that when people say that you jinxed yourself, they make it seem like you're the cause for that. Yeah, as if my mind has, like, the ability to make things I say real or something..

Anyways, all of this is to say that when I said 'Could this day get any worse?' last chapter, and some things randomly showed up…

"What's up, homie?" A raspy voice caught my attention, and I shifted my gaze toward the source, spotting three guys wearing streetwear slowly approaching me, each brandishing a knife.

Yeah, remember that?

"That's a nice bag you got." The thug wearing a bandana grinned as he licked his knife. "Care to hand it over to me?"

I just want to say that I didn't cause that.

"Oh my god…" I rolled my eyes, after which I raised my hands into the air and shouted at the sky, "Give me a fucking break! Are you seriously going to do this to me? Right now? Really?"

I know, I know, too much theatrics. But then again, I was just really pissed.

"Eyyo, what's wrong with this fool?" The man in the bandana looked weirded out by my actions, and turned to ask his fellow criminal buddies, who simply shrugged their shoulders in response.

"I- I don't know boss!" The bald thug wearing a white tank top said. "Maybe he's lost his marbles.."

"It could be that he's a crazy person, man," The thug with the face tattoo muttered. "Or it could be that it's a result of adverse childhood experiences or ACE's. Physicians have done a ton of research about how isolation, trauma, and neglect harm the developing brain, including various parts of the prefrontal cortex that help us regulate our impulses and weigh future outcomes of our actions. So a history of trauma can mean these people have particular difficulty interrupting impulses, such as the impulse to snap, yo."

"... Skinny-8, what the fuck are you talking about?" The thug with the bandana raised an eyebrow and stared at Skinny-8 with confusion.

"I don't know, I haven't taken my meds today... But I think we probably should just leave this dude alone, Hector." Skinny-8 said as he waved his hands around, and the man with the bandana, Hector, clicked his tongue before pointing his knife back at me and adopted a threatening tone, "Yo, homie.. You better hand over that bag when I'm asking you nicely."

"Look dude, can we do this another day?" I swatted my hand at Hector with an annoyed look on my face. I had bigger problems to take care of and no time for these clowns. "How about saturday? I feel like I'd be free on saturday. Maybe you can set up an appointment if you really wan-"

WHAM!

Before I could finish my sentence, Hector grabbed my collar and forcefully pinned me against the wall. "You think you're funny, kid?" Hector sneered, pressing his knife against my neck. "What do you think now, huh? You still think you're funny, punk?"

All of a sudden, I felt my vision starting to get blurry, and my senses immediately kicked into high gear. I could feel my veins beginning to bulge on my forehead, my face started to turn red.

"Guh! Lis- Listen man! Just- Just walk away. You really shouldn't be doing this!" In a desperate attempt to avoid making mistakes that I'd end up regretting, I tried to warn these idiots while struggling to regain control of myself.

"Oh, so now you're questioning my way of life?" Hector retorted, an angry expression on his face. I rolled my eyes and shot back, "Questioni- What the fuck are you even talking about, man? I'm trying to save your life, for fuck's sake!"

"I don't wanna hear no shit from a fool who's about to die!" Hector spat out, his anger evident as he lunged at me, knife in hand.

In a split second, I shut my eyes, and everything turned to black.

"Hah! Hah.." I gasped, reopening my eyes, only to find myself still standing in the alleyway, clutching my backpack securely.

Confused, I glanced down at the pavement, only to discover the trio of thugs lying motionless on the ground, and my eyes widened in a mix of shock and fear.

"Oh no, no, no, no…" I shook my head and muttered under my breath, afraid that my worst fears were materializing before me.

Without wasting a single moment, I immediately knelt beside Hector and placed my fingers against his neck. After a tense few seconds, a sigh of relief broke free from my lips.

"Oh, thank god.." I whispered, confirming his pulse. "He's still alive." Moving with urgency, I checked for any bite marks, worried that I might've bit him and drained his blood, but found none.

I repeated the process with the other two thugs, after which I leaned against the alley wall, as another sigh of relief escaped me. "Thank god… I didn't actually kill them."

I had been concerned that I might have ended up killing them, but felt relieved that it didn't come to that.

"Hah…" Taking a deep breath, I tilted my head back and gazed up at the clouds, my eyebrows furrowing as I let out a sigh.

Maybe being a vampire isn't really that cool..

"But seriously, what the fuck can I even do?" I pondered aloud. As far as I knew, there was no known cure for vampirism.

"The only way these movies usually end is by killing the vampire.." I muttered to myself, and the thought sent a shiver down my spine.

I don't want to be a vampire, but I also don't want to die. So what the fuck am I supposed to do?

I didn't know this at the time, but a few meters away from where I was sitting, a couple of figures were observing me from the top of a nearby building.

"What are your thoughts?" inquired the girl with slicked-back black hair and black sunglasses. The man sporting a goatee and sunglasses added, "Well, he did restrain himself from drinking their blood, so that's something.."

"In his defense, this is his first day as a vampire," the girl retorted. The man's response came in the form of a casual shoulder shrug. "I'll take that into consideration."

"You better make it quick." the girl said, a sense of urgency in her tone. "Our Intel says that something big is about to go down, possibly within the coming month or so."

"I'm well aware of the timeframe," the man replied, a sharp edge to his words. "Rest assured, I'll handle it."