One by one, I open my eyes then carefully look around furtively, before laying back down and closing them again.

Suddenly, it all came back to me. The ambush, Augustus, my phone...
I placed my hand under the sort of bag I used as a pillow and was relieved to find it there.

— You okay ?

I jumped back on my feet.

— Who's there ?! I yelled, aggressively.

— Hush it up or one of them is gonna show up ! he orders while covering my mouth. Also, you're supposed to wait until I say Knock-knock.

— Knock it off ! I said while grabbing his hand and pulling it away. Let's just to ignore his second sentence.

I looked at him with an annoyed glance, as if I was asking him who the hell he was.

— I'm Maxence, but you can call me Max !

— Okay... I'm Julie. What are you doing here ?

— The same as you, I suppose. I'm trying to get the hell out of here.

— By any chance, would you happen to know why I'm here ?

— According to what I've heard, you're "the chosen one".

— The what ? I don't understand...

— Me neither. What would the Vampire Lord could possibly want with you ?

— Absolutely ! It doesn't make any... Wait, the lord of what ?

My tone was slightly panicked. Well, maybe not slightly.

— You mean you don't even know how you ended up here ?

— No... The last thing I vaguely remember is my mother urging me to run because and I quote « It's them» then a ceiling knocks me off and I wake up in a horrible room with a horrible headache.

— Well, in short, no one knows how or why but some vampires attacked us and according to my understanding kidnapped people.

— That means we're not the only prisoners ? I said with a horrified face.

— No idea. I wanted to look around to be sure, that's when I heard you and- someone's coming !

— It must be one of them, go hide !

— You never saw me !

— Don't worry, go !

Max hid in a closet nearby. Could've done better, but this is an emergency. Now I have to act as if nothing happened.

— Hey, princess ! How is it going ?

— You !, I said with hate, who allowed you to nickname me ?

— I allowed myself. He said with a wide hypocrite smile that makes me wanna puke.

No need to be Einstein to understand that he was about to stay quite long, and that my new friend needed to leave while I'm distracting mister hypocrite.

— Seriously, what do you want ? If I could, I would just disappear !

Okay, that was lame. Not a very good hint, but please, please, please, tell me he understood.

Behind Augustus, -and in front of me- was the closet where Maxence was hiding. Miraculously, he slightly showed his head to my hint. I took that opportunity to point the exit with my finger, sign that he should leave without me.

— Wow, repartee ! It doesn't really surprise me, after all, you don't know what we really are.

— Vampires, huh ? I thought loudly.

— Exactly. I thought you ignored that.

— For sure... And I'm Queen Elizabeth II, and I'm also a witch !

— You don't believe it ?

— Of course not ! Vampires don't exist so you're gonna stop messing around and tell me what do you want from me !

— They do. I'm a living proof. About you, I already told you I'm only following my lord's orders.

— Here we go again... I said while rolling my eyes.

— You're starting to get on my nerves !

As the so-called vampire said that, dark smoke appeared out of nowhere and covered the whole room.
Not only was I unable to see a thing, but I also started coughing heavily, competing with the sound of a volcano.

Awesome !
That jerk is going to make me allergic to dust !
I closed my eyes, so my sight wouldn't be affected permanently.

— So ? I heard as my cough became more and more intense.

— So what ? I responded, trying with all my will to get P!nk's song out of my mind. This was not the moment !

After I made sure it was safe to open my eyes again, I did and I noticed he wasn't there.

Is it finally over ?

Unfortunately, I heard his horrible voice again and couldn't help but see he became a flying disgusting black animal.

A bat.

— Do you believe me now ?

I hate his smile.

— Yeah, well, it doesn't tell me what I'm doing here.

Of course I was afraid, but it was absolutely out of the question to show it. Relax, take it easy, for there is nothing that we can do.

— I already told you I'm only following the damn orders ! He sighed loudly.

— Very well, so take me to the big boss who gives "the damn orders". I replied, mimicking the quotes with my fingers.

— It doesn't work that way. It's always the Lord who demands that somebody gets called in front of him, not the other way around.

— Then make him ask for me.

— You're definitely getting on my nerves ! I'm ought to see what I can do...

— Sub ! Arose a whisper between two coughs.

— WHO SAID THAT ?!

Okay, I admit I slightly laughed. But then, I did a mental facepalm. Didn't that imbecile understand that I was buying time for him to escape ? What's the point if he gets caught now ?

— YOU ! the apparently vampire seemed angry, I bet you know who that is ! He came to "save you", huh ? As if you had any chance to go !

— First of all, I wasn't, and still am not, intending to go before seeing your pretended lord. Second of all, if I really wanted to escape I would already be far away, as we're speaking, we wouldn't even have this conversation and finally third of all, I make better plans.

— Hey ! said a voice coming from the closet. He didn't even get out of it !

— Hey, don't worry. I bet having sound hallucinations is totally normal, for a guy your age. I added so he would think that previous "hey" was actually said by me.

— I'm only 1489 years old !

— Yes, the spring of youth. I couldn't help rolling my eyes.

— You're such a pain. Sleep well !

I didn't quite understand what he was saying, until he gave me a flick on the forehead that made me fall dead.

Just kidding, he only made me fall asleep. Had he killed me, I wouldn't have been able to tell this incredible, crazy exciting adventure !

Ha.Ha.