Deciding to study from home has to be one of the best decisions Dilly made over the years, especially because it helped her not interact with people. She really does not like to interact with so much people and you cannot escape that if you attend a physical school.
"You need to meet more people D" Mat would counsel her at any given opportunity. "It would help with your social anxiety".
She stared blankly at her PC screen, the coarse voice of the lecturer keeps ringing in her ears. She has just one ear of her earphone plugged in making it difficult for her to concentrate in the virtual class. Psychology classes was always boring , she would drop the course if she could. She preferred mathematics. But the truth remains that she needs psychology as much as she needs mathematics.
Her mind was elsewhere, it has been two days since she experienced the weird creature at the back of her house and she had somehow managed to convince herself that she must have been seeing things. Even though the truth lingers in the air, she chose to be delusional . For Dilly, being delusional makes it much easier to navigate through life.
"Delusion will have you ruining your reality" Mat would always say, but she never really cared.
Reality is scary. So delusion it is.
She unplugged the earphone from her left ear as she stretched herself lazily on the only couch in her spacious living room. Images from the full moon incident flashed through her mind leaving her helpless as she fought to get it out of her head.
She felt defeated as she struggled with the flash backs that would not stop pouring out in her mind.
She sprang up suddenly as a fresh burst of energy filled her up. With shaky hands, she worked her fingers on the keyboard of laptop not sure what to ask google. She typed the word finally, the word that had threatened to blow up her head since the full moon incident. The one that she avoided so much that it became a burden to pretend like she was not dying of fear and curiosity.
"This is not possible Dilly" she whimpered. "Are you really going crazy?"
It is not possible, Vampires do not exist. There is no possibility that what she had seen was a vampire. Vampires do not exist.
She laughed, but it was a dry laughter filled with fear mixed with excitement. She stared at the images that popped up on her screen , bloodshot eyes, pale skin, long silky hair, fangs... No difference from what she had seen that night.
"Wow!!!" She scoffed. That was exactly what she had seen. A vampire!
She quietly fought the urge to call Mat, he was out of town for work related issues. She did not want him to worry unnecessarily. She can always tell him later. He would force her to see a therapist and she would not be able to refuse.
Was karma really catching up on her? Did Sophia Ruben eventually place a curse on her? She rolled her eyes dramatically.
"She's only good at beating people home" She giggled.
But what if the creature comes back for her? She thought.
Her heart raced drastically. Ryan is just few steps away, he would help her. The same way he had scared Sophia off, he would scare the creature off.
"And get his blood sucked away" She laughed out loud. He is obviously not a match for the creature she had seen.
Heat rose up to his face as he paced the walkway that leads to Dilly's front porch. She always finds a way to disappear and not show up any where around the house. It's been two days and he could not deny the fact that he was worried sick about her. He wondered what she was up to locked up in her apartment. He imagined her curled up on her bed crying her eyes out but he shook the image off his head. She might seem fragile, but she sure is not a complete weakling.
The fear in her eyes on the night the full moon appeared was undeniable, he had scared her real bad. Guilt washed through his entire body as he continued to contemplate whether or not to knock on her pink door.
Who uses a pink door in this time and age?
He laughed rather too loud. He put his palm across his mouth hoping she did not hear him laugh in that manner.
He walked up the small stairs that leads to door trying to not think too much about her attitude and how she might react to seeing him in her space. She makes him nervous in ways that he can't explain.
He rang the door bell after giving it enough thought.
"The worse she would is shut the door at my face" he thought. But why would she even do that? He would pardon her attitude this time around.
Maybe I deserve it for scaring her to death .
The door opened slightly making him wonder if the door automatically opens up by itself.
Of course not.
Dilly peered out just as he was about to peep into the apartment, her big eye balls flapping as she struggled to see without her glasses on. Her eyes opened in surprise as she saw him.
"Hi" He smiled awkwardly.
"Hey Ryan" She said almost in a whisper, he was the last person that she expected to see. She squinted as she moved closer to him.
"uhm... huh yeah... I just wanted to check in on you" He stuttered.
She smiled , this time genuinely "Thank you for caring".
"Do you feel any better?" He asked
She gave him a curt nod "Yes".
"So if you need to tell me anything... I mean concerning what happened the other night...." he was beginning to say but she cut him off.
"That night...?" She paused.
He nodded paying attention as her lips moved.
She sighed deeply, what was he expecting her to tell him?
So yeah i might need saving from a vampire.
A vampire is in the neighborhood.
"It's nothing" She lied instead.
He wanted to tell her at that moment that he would protect her and that everything was going to be fine but he could not manage to get the right words out.
He knew that he owed her some explanation but he would not tell her anything for the sake of her safety and sanity.
You will tell her, you will show her what you are. A small voice in his head teased.
Dilly fought the urge to tell him everything she had seen that night but he would never believe her. Who would believe that she had actually seen a vampire? He seemed genuinely concerned for her and it did not feel right for trying to shut him out but she would rather not say a thing than make a fool out of herself.
"Can i trust you?" She wanted to ask.
"We should have lunch together tomorrow if you are less busy" She said instead. "We can cook or eat out"
She waited eagerly for his response surprised at her own outburst. Why on earth had she said that!
The request made his head spin, he was not sure what he was about to get himself into.
"See it as new neighbors trying to get along" She quickly added scared that she might have given him the wrong impression.
"Your place or mine?" He shrugged.
"Mine" She said.