“I’m sorry but –”

“Too many questions,” he mutters, pulling something out of the pocket of his white coat. “Always too many questions. It’s the one thing I can’t seem to fix.” He holds a syringe in his hand, filled with purple liquid. “If you keep this up, we’ll never be able to make it work.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologize again.

He sighs and moves the needle for my arms. “You have to forget what you saw, otherwise it’ll all be ruined.”

I nod and he pumps my body full of medicine that steals the memory away.

Blood. Blood everywhere. I drowned in it, screaming.

“Help me!”

“Help me.” My body jerks awake at the sound of my voice.

Aiden’s eyes are wide as he stares at me, trying to hold me into place. We both breathe in each other, rapid sounds that fill the air with tension.

“I’m guessing,” he says, holding up my arm, lined, again, with red scratches and dried drops of blood. “That you didn’t remember something about me.”

I slowly shake my head. “No.” My voice sounds strained.

He’s hesitant, watching me with anxious eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Again, I shake my head. Then I lie there, motionless, listening to the beating of his heart. It’s like a song, a beautiful song that makes me want to close my eyes and forget what I saw. Except, when my eyelids start to shut all I can see is the red door and the tiny raggedy child curled up in front of it.

“Can we go?” I ask.

He glances over his shoulder, toward the outside. “Yeah, I think we’re okay. I haven’t heard or seen anything. I was probably just imaging it to begin with.”

I sit up, rubbing my eyes, rubbing away the images. “How long until it gets dark?”

He stands, putting his bag across his shoulder. “I don’t know. Probably like one or two …” He trails off, eyes bugging wide. “Kayla, don’t move.”

I freeze, hearing the movement from behind me. My breath rises and falls, in and out. My muscles tense and then I hear the cry. I relax slightly, reaching for my knife, opening my mouth to tell Aiden to run. But he’s already running, but for me, not the exit.

“What are you do—”

He shoves me to the ground, whipping out his knife. The vampire stands, not too far off, fangs quivering, body trembling, eyes drowning in blood. I jump to my feet as Aiden takes a swing, but it hops back, nipping its teeth.

I draw out my knife, charging for it. But it attacks Aiden and knocks him to the ground.