The next day

"Are you feeling better today?" You placed the dish plate on the table and asked Olivia with concern.

The biological laboratory Olivia worked in was located in the college campus and your investigation agency was only a block away. Olivia was your college friend and you met her again by coincidence after your graduation. Since then you often had lunch with her in the college canteen.

"No..." Olivia touched her forehead and smiled bitterly, "I'm going to see the doctor if I'm not feeling better tomorrow."

"You don't look well at all. You should take some rest and call Neil." You looked carefully and noticed that her face was paler than yesterday.

"He's been busy lately. I don't want to cause him trouble..." She blushed slightly when she thought you were staring at her, "I just forgot to bring the pills today. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Okay..." You nodded. You found her reaction a little bit weird, but you didn't think too much.

"So, how's your work today?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"Well, you know..." You chewed a cherry tomato and returned a smile.

Dec 26th.

You awoke in a bed at noon, with new clothes put on you.

You felt a little dizzy, but your mind was clear. The pain on your neck was quickly drawing you back to reality. You touched the bite marks and in a few seconds you were swarmed by a sensation of intensive orgasm. You noticed that you cock was still hard. What happened last night came back to your mind slowly. The vampire, the sex... You almost wetted yourself just by reliving the details. What a crazy night.

I've been hypnotized and bitten by Olivia! And I've drunk her blood! So am I a vampire now? Too much thinking didn't help you much. The bite marks on your neck were closing up. And besides feeling a little bit weak and a small fever, you didn't feel any changes in your body... yet. You took a deep breath and walked up to the window. The midday sun was so bright yet it felt so warm to you. You felt relieved. What you feared, that you getting burnt in the sunlight, didn't happen.

So you decided to put those questions aside and to focus more on your current situation. This was the bedroom of your own home. The house's spare key was on the bedside table. You had completely no idea how you got back from Olivia's place or who put these clothes on you - and these weren't your clothes. The clock on the table showed the time. It was around 1 p.m. now, which meant that you've been out for more than 16 hours.

You opened the door and walked into the living room. Nothing has changed since you left for work yesterday morning. You discreetly searched every corner of the house and found nothing suspicious. At least, no signs of Olivia at all.

You sat in the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief. But what to do next was still a problem. What should I do? I haven't dealt with these situations before... Hell, probably no one has. Call the police? No... How am I going to convince them that I've been bitten by a vampire? They'll just think I'm crazy. Perhaps Sergeant Ashton? No, she's not on duty today and I don't know how to contact her... Who else can I trust? Crossing your fingers, you kept thinking anxiously.

And it was at this moment that you realized your cellphone, your wallet and even your key to the house were gone. If they were left in Olivia's apartment and the police had found them, you would become a prime suspect for Neil's ****. But you wouldn't dare to go back in there to retrieve them. You needed a better plan.

Eventually you decided to turn to your childhood friend Francesca for help. You called her from the landline phone and waited for nearly half a minute before it got through.

"Fuck you, James. It was Christmas yesterday and I worked till 5 this morning. Why can't you just let me sleep longer?" There came the voice of a tired, overworked female.

"I'm sorry, Fran. But I have something very important to discuss with you. Can I come to you?" You asked anxiously.

"Nope." But after a two-second pause she added, "Meet me at the bar at 2:30."

"Alright. I-" Before you finished she hung up the phone.

It would take approximately half an hour to get to the bar by bus, so you stilled had time. You started packing up all the necessities into a brown travelling bag, considering you wouldn't be coming home for a long time. Also you found a blue scarf to cover the bite marks on you neck. Didn't want to draw too much attention, right? When all was done, you walked outside and locked the door behind you.

"Hey, James! Are you going on a trip?"

Followed the voice you found your neighbor Tim Baker watering his flowers in the front yard. He had no family and you probably were the only friend this 60 years old man had. He noticed the bag on your back that you had barely used.

"Oh, good afternoon, Tim." You replied nicely, "No, just visiting a friend. Will be back soon."

"Alright. Have you had lunch yet? I have some pancakes in my house." Tim smiled, "You drank so much yesterday night that you must have been sleeping all morning before you got up."

"No, thanks. I-" Suddenly you realized something's not right, "Wait, why... how do you know I drank too much?"

"Well, yesterday around midnight, you walked back home stumbling and alone. I wanted to give you a hand but you said nothing, just went inside with the spare key."

"Yeah, I didn't even remember that. Thank you. I've been better." Honestly you had no recollection of that. Your guess was that the hypnosis was so strong that it allowed Olivia to control your actions even after you lost your consciousness. Damn it! How can I counteract that!?

"Ah, yes. A postman came by this morning and dropped a package in your box. You might want to check it up before you go. Godspeed, James." Tim waved his hand at you before he went back into the house.

Curiously you walked up to the red postbox printed with "1428 Oak St." and took out the package. Inside you found an old cellphone. Who could've sent this? You turned on the cellphone and noticed an unread message in the inbox.

I know what happened. Contact me.

With doubtful thoughts you immediately called the number but it never got through. You took a look at the time again and decided to deal with this later.

Another glass of beer in "Night Crawler's Bar" emptied and you finally found Fran walking out the lounge. She was wearing the uniform with her long blonde hair swept back in a ponytail. She spotted you sitting by the bar immediately and walked straight towards you.

"Speak quickly, James. My shift starts at 3." She started preparing her work and talked to you at the same time.

"Fran, you have to believe me, okay?" You got closer and spoke in a low voice, "I was bitten by a vampire!"

"Geez, how much did you drink?" She looked at the empty glass and said, "Beer? That's all it takes to get you drunk?"

"Damn it, I'm not drunk!" You raised your voice and pulled off the scarf, "What do you think these are?"

"Wow, that make-up looks so real! A nice cosplay, I would say." Fran reached out her hand and touched the wounds on your neck. She smiled sarcastically, "Except Halloween was two months ago."

"Ow! It still hurts!" You cried out in pain and drew back, "Do they look fake to you?"

"A little. Alright, I'll just play along with your story. So, what does this vampire look like?" Fran gave you a casual smile while mixing the liquids.

"It's not a story! It's Olivia, a friend of mine at that lab. You remember her?"

"Yeah, that one with black hair and blue eyes. Last month when it's Thanksgiving, I brought a crate of beer to your lab, and she didn't even look at me. Or should I say, she just ignored me and stared at you all the time." Fran sneered.

"She did what? Well, never mind, that's her... Anyway, she drank the blood sample gathered from one of my cases and somehow turned into a vampire. Her canines can grow into fangs and her eyes can turn red. Last night she... uh, bit me." You skipped the sex part awkwardly.

"So what, you're a vampire now?" She was still not taking it serious apparently.

"No. I... don't think so. It doesn't add up." You thought twice and remembered what Olivia said before you lost consciousness. She seemed to believe that making you drink her blood was enough to turn you into a vampire like her. But why weren't you one yet? You racked your brains trying to find an answer but failed to do so with limited information.

"Whatever. So, suppose I believe you," Fran said, "how's coming to me your next move, big detective?"

"Olivia probably took my house's key, I think. So..." You ventured, "Could I stay in your place for some time? Just... until I can find a way to deal with the situation?"

"Ohhhh, so THIS is your true purpose." Fran felt like she understood everything and laughed, "You made up all that story just to sleep with me. Good for you, James, good for you."

"That's not what I said! I don't... I mean..." You were too embarrassed to continue.

"Okay." She replied calmly.

"Look, I'm sorry if... Wait, what?" You raised your head unbelievably and looked at the cute girl in front of you.

"I said, OKAY." Fran smiled sweetly at you and pushed a glass of cocktail to you, "What are friends for? This one's on me."

Yeah... What are friends for? You remembered that since elementary school, Fran and you were always helping each other. She helped you with your history lesson and you... well, beat up the kids that had been bullying her. All those good old times still gave you the strength to overcome the obstacles and move forward sometimes.

It's been hard these days, but it will pass, you believed. With Fran staring at you with her soft eyes, you drank up the glass with relief.

You spent the rest of the daytime in the bar. The sun has set. It was getting noisy here with people gathering and Fran was too busy to be with you. Luckily, to make up her overtime yesterday, her boss Victor has shortened her shift of today from 8 hours to 6. So, one more hour of waiting and you could leave with Fran.

You were resting in the lounge when the cellphone rang. It was THAT number. Curious and cautious, you answered.

"Hello?"

"Good evening, Mr. James Wilson." A deep and steady male voice came in.

"Who are you?"

"Call me Brandon." The man gently replied, "You have drunk the vampire's blood, and I'm surprised that you haven't turned yet. However, I'm afraid that you don't have much time."

"Haven't turned? You mean..."You are confused at first but you caught up with him quickly.

"You can feel the heat in your body, right? You are changing." Brandon kept talking calmly like he didn't really care, "A bond is being forge between you and the vampire who bit you. If you concentrate, you might connect you mind with the vampire's and have a vision. But beware. It works both ways. The more you try, the easier the vampire could control you."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Come to the church on 489 California St., if you still want to stay as a human. I can't risk going to you. See you later, Mr. Wilson, on our side or the other." Brandon hung up the phone.

"Wait! Damn it." You put down the cellphone and felt ****.

The heat that Brandon mentioned... You did feel that when you drank Olivia's blood, but you felt completely fine now. Am I truly turning into a vampire? You barely knew anything about vampires and you really didn't want to take any chances.

What should I do, you asked yourself. Should I stay here and leave with Fran later, or should I go to the church right now?