The Beautiful Monster

Tonight was the night. Alyssa wasn\'t sure how this plan was going to go, but she held onto her optimism.

It made her brave enough to approach the park that she would be walking around for a while. She put her earbuds in, but she didn\'t turn on any music.

She just wanted to look distracted, like she was taking a walk and listening to music to relax. It was a ploy. This entire thing was.

She hoped that the attacker happened to be tracking her tonight. She didn\'t know what their schedule was, but she needed them to be free tonight because she wanted to get this over with.

She would feel dumb walking around the walking path surrounding the park for an hour, and then the attacker never showed up.

She had a strong feeling about tonight, though. Unfortunately, she couldn\'t tell if that strong feeling was a good one or a bad one.

She supposed that she would find out soon. She started her walk, putting one foot in front of the other.

Alyssa wasn\'t sure exactly where Elias was hiding, but she knew that he was well-hidden and ready to jump to her defense at any moment.

She felt safer knowing that he was close to her, so she walked on, glancing every which way for any strange movements or shadows.

The first fifteen minutes passed by, and Alyssa was already getting impatient and anxious. The more time that passed, the more nervous that she felt for some reason.

She felt like the attacker could jump out at her at any moment. Part of her felt ready to fight, and the other part of her wanted to run back to the loft and hide.

It was hard to be completely brave when her life was at stake. She wanted to make it out of this alive, and she knew that Elias would do everything in his power to make that happen.

She wished that she could text him or talk to him real quick, but the plan was already in action. The attacker might already have her in their sights. She couldn\'t stop now.

Alyssa rounded a corner, walking past an empty park bench and a group of oak trees. She moved her eyes to the track in front of her, keeping a casual pace and even nodding her head a little to act like she was listening to music.

She didn\'t want to try to act too much because the attacker would soon figure out that this was all a setup.

So much could go wrong, but if this plan went right, everything would change for the better. Alyssa kept that in mind as she kept walking. She maintained that confidence until she heard a light thud from behind her.

Then, there was a tiny crunch. She almost froze, but she forced herself to keep walking. Someone was close to her.

She didn\'t think that it was Elias because he wouldn\'t dare make any noise or movement to give away his hiding location. It had to be someone else.

She hadn\'t seen any other people in the park since it was so late at night, so it had to be the attacker. Who else would be out here sneaking around behind her?

She wanted to tense up so badly, but she kept herself loose. If she was actually listening to music, she wouldn\'t have heard those light sounds.

She breathed in steadily through her nose, trying to control her racing heart. She wondered if vampires could hear heartbeats from far away.

If they did, she was out of luck because hers was going a million miles an hour, completely giving her away.

Suddenly, something that felt like a gust of wind brushed against her neck. Unable to help herself, Alyssa whipped around, expecting to come face to face with her attacker.

However, she didn\'t see anyone. She was alone. She started to turn back around, but someone grabbed her from behind.

A shocked gasp rang from Alyssa as she struggled in the person\'s arms. Whoever was grabbing her was incredibly strong, nearly crushing her on the spot.

She kicked and cried out, trying to escape and use up those few seconds that she had to keep herself alive. She felt the person\'s breath on her neck, making her panic. She was about to be bitten.

"No!" she cried out, trying to writhe away. If she was bitten, the game was over. She wouldn\'t stand a chance, and this all would\'ve been for nothing.

Suddenly, the person was yanked back from her.

Alyssa whipped around to see Elias standing next to her. The fight was on.

***************

Alyssa scrambled back as Elias moved closer to the vampire to get a better look at him. She watched with wide eyes, trying to see if she knew who attacked her.

She only had a few guesses in mind, and to her shock, all of them were wrong.

The vampire got to his feet and turned to face Elias with a glare. He was a stocky man with rough stubble and a shaved head. He didn\'t look familiar at all.

Elias rushed at the vampire, knocking him down to the concrete with a grunt. He hovered over the vampire, trying to pin his arms down as the vampire tried to fight him off.

Alyssa watched with a racing heart, wishing that she could help Elias. She was petrified of him getting hurt, but she also had faith in him.

She believed that he could win this fight. He had to because she didn\'t know what she would do if he didn\'t.

They would both be doomed, and that wasn\'t how she planned to end this night. Tonight was supposed to be the end to the problem, not to their lives.

The vampire shoved his knee up against Elias\' stomach, knocking the breath out of him. He grabbed Elias\' shoulders and rolled them over so that he was on top.

He dealt a heavy punch to Elias\' cheek, making his head snap to the side.

Blood welled up in Elias\' mouth, prompting him to spit some out on the sidewalk.

He put his hands up, defending his face as the vampire continued to strike him over and over again.. Each hit made him wince or groan.