Flash Fiction My Way - The One

          

          Seeing the previews for Breaking Dawn 2 got me thinking. How funny would it be if a vampire showed up in some woman's bedroom and the tables were turned on him. Instead of instilling fear, the woman would welcome him, and try to turn him into the romantic hero vampires have become in modern paranormal romances. The scene I envisioned started out funny, but took an unexpected turn as I wrote it. I hope you enjoy The One.

          He breathed in deeply through his nose. The blood was intoxicating. A man and a woman. Who would he kill first? Maybe the man, so the woman's terror would make her blood sweet. A wicked smile spread across his face as he crept in through the bedroom window where he could hear the man snoring. 

          Before the human could react, the vampire pounced, sinking his fangs deep into the man's neck. Trying to shake off sleep fog, the man didn't react at first. As he realized he was being attacked, he started to fight in earnest; but he was no match for the vampire. The human weakened and eventually stopped struggling all together. The vampire smiled as he heard soft footsteps approaching - the woman. He stood up and struck a menacing pose, blood dripping from his extended fangs.

          She opened the door with more stealth than he expected, and tiptoed into the room as quietly as she could. He could see her in the soft back light from the hallway. She was fairly petite, but her silhouette was soft and round under her short, cotton nightgown. When she finally saw him, she froze. He was interested to see how she would react. Would she scream? Would she try to run away? Both excited him.

          What he was not prepared for was the huge smile that lit up her beautiful face. He tried to look more menacing thinking she didn't understand the predicament she was in.

          "I killed your husband," he said for added effect. Still no fear.

          "I can't believe you're really here," she said in awed whisper.

          "Wait...what?" he asked in confusion.

          Before he could figure out what the strange woman was talking about, she ran right at him. He took a step back before she grabbed him around his midsection and pressed her face to his chest.

          "I knew you'd come," she said burrowing into his chest while he stood stiff, staring down at her in shock with his arms straight out at his sides.

          "Uh...I'm here to kill you." He said trying to sound cold.

          "No you're not silly." She let go of him, and tweaked the tip of his nose with her finger and thumb.

          "I'm not?" He touched his nose in surprise. "Then what am I here for?"

          "I'm the one." When he looked confused, she continued. "You know, the one you have been looking for your whole life."

          At that, he laughed harder than he had in a long time. The smile lingered on his face. The woman was obviously in shock over the death of her husband. He leaned back against the wall, still amused.

          "How do you know this?" He asked.

          Undaunted, she walked over to her dresser and grabbed a bunch of paperback books that she brought back to him. He looked down and smiled at the half naked cover models on the romance books she was holding.

          "Vampires love human women. Their lives are sad and empty until they find that one woman who is different from all the others. Then they turn the human woman they love into a vampire and love each other forever."

          "Is that so?" He tried hard to hide his smile. Clearly, she had lost her mind.

          "Why else would you come here to save me?" She asked, her dark eyes growing wide.

          "Save you?" He wanted to laugh again, but the sound died in his throat when he noticed the discoloration under her eye.

          He pushed himself off the wall and approached her slowly. To her credit, she didn't even flinch. He cupped her delicate face and rubbed his thumb softly over the bruised flesh. She looked down and tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. He held her arms out seeing more damage. His lip curled up in distaste.

          "Did HE do this to you?" he asked angrily.

          Her silence told him everything he needed to know. Now he wished he had turned the asshole, so he could have killed him twice.

          "It's okay," she said stroking his face. "You saved me."

          He looked into her eyes as black as the night itself and felt a twinge in his dead heart. No one had looked at him like that in years. It reminded him of when he was human. When he had been an honorable man who would have come to the aid of a woman like her without a second thought. Now, he was no better than the man who had beat her. He had come to kill her. He was worse.

          He watched her as she skipped off gracefully into her closet. She came out a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. The smile she flashed him would have taken his breath away if he breathed. She really was beautiful. Her black eyes and hair shining in the moonlight. Her pale skin gleaming, marred only by the bruising that brought out his rage again until she came forward and kissed him softly on the lips. He hadn't meant to respond, but her kiss was so tender and innocent, he couldn't help himself.

          "I'm ready to go." She said breaking their kiss.

          "Go?" he asked still recovering from the intimate contact.

          "With you of course." She smiled. "You can't live without me."  

          He sighed. She was truly deluded. He smiled brushing the hair back from her face. If anyone needed protection, it was this tiny woman who believed that a vampire had stepped out of a romance novel to save her from her abusive asshole husband, so they could live happily ever after. The trauma she had faced had left more scars than he knew. His face softened. She looked at him with such hope and trust, two things he did not deserve and certainly couldn't live up to.

          After what she had suffered, she should have some happiness. What harm could there be in entertaining her for a few days? He could keep up the hero facade for her sake. She deserved to be treated like a queen. Then he would make sure she was in a safe place before erasing her memory. He could take away her pain and give her a chance to start over. The one thing he wished for and could never have - a clean slate.

          "Come, my love." He held his hand out, and she took it without hesitation.