You are now at your high school during lunch. You and your close friends are talking about how dreadful it would be if a vampire bit you. You shudder as your best friend teases you by saying, “What’s the matter? Are you afraid?” You roll your eyes and turn back to your tray of rubbery chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes like a mound of putrid-colored play-dough and gravy so thick, it’s almost solidified. If vampires were scary, then school lunches were nightmares.

The rest of the day passes in a blur. Trigonometry comes with a river of confusing problems, and World Studies is teeming with blandness. You almost fall asleep in Science—again. Mr. Seibert and his lectures on how a telegraph work could put anyone to sleep.

When the final bell rings, you dash to your locker, and escape from your school. Climbing onto the bus sends a shiver up your spine. You occupy your seat at the back of the bus and try to relax, but find that you can’t. You feel like someone is watching you, but every time you scan the adjacent seats, nobody is there. Strange. You try to forget the new fluttery feeling in your stomach by staring mindlessly out the window when something catches your eye. A black figure walking on the sidewalk. You squint at the figure and decide that the obscure object is a shadow. An odd-shaped, formless shadow, created by and invisible object on this unnaturally dark and cloudy day.

You are thrilled when you finally get home. After seeing the shadow several times, you didn’t feel safe on the bus. You gather your homework and retreat to your room. After finishing a three-page essay on Peru, you meander downstairs for a simple dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with your quiet family.

After a short, serene dinner, you return to your room and prepare for a restless night. That baleful shadow enters your tired mind every time you try to fall asleep. Then it happens. The door creaks. You sit up in bed, but see nothing. A rustling sound comes from across the room. You quickly turn and see it. The ghastly shadow. It lunges at you as you realize what the shadow is. You notice its pale-white skin, black hair, black clothes and ghost-white fangs. A vampire!

A cacophonous sound resembling a scream emerges from your mouth, but you do not leave your bed. The vampire’s deathly stare with his blood-red eyes have somehow kept you sitting there helplessly waiting for what will come next. A boney hand clamps your mouth shut. You stare with wide eyes at your doom. The vampire exposes the entire right side of your neck by tilting your head while you try to squirm away. The vampire holds you still while remarking, “If you don’t hold still, the bite will not be as clean and quick.” You gasp as fangs begin approaching you. He bites. You feel and unbearable surge of pain flow into your neck. It feels as though someone is pinching you, piercing your skin, until you feel a burning sensation like no other. You twist and curl in attempt to stop the pain. The vampire withdraws from you and smiles. The last you see of him are his fangs, now stained with your blood, before your eyes roll back into your head, and you begin a slow descent toward your pillow in a dormant state.

Right as you feel the pillow under your head again, your body jerks awake, and your eyes open. You sit up and let your eyes wander across every visible square inch of your room. There are no signs that anyone was actually there. You raise your hand and feel your neck. There is no blood, or stinging. Was it all a dream? You glance at your small digital clock and groan. It displays ‘One-thirty-seven, AM’ with cheerful green numbers that illuminate your nightstand with a soft glow. You lie down on your soft, cloud-like pillow and drift off into undisturbed slumber.

When you wake up later that morning, you slide out of bed and trudge off to the bathroom. You feel extremely groggy and your jaw feels like you clenched your teeth while you slept. You enter the bathroom and raise your head to look in the mirror. You let out a gasp, and then scream. How could this be? It was just a dream, wasn’t it? Your exhausted mind interrogates. But you cannot mistake the two little round dots on the right side of your neck. They are red in color, and they burn like the fire of last night’s bite. It was not a dream!