The next morning came around. The scene from last night replayed countless times in Ava's head. Each time her stomach turned from embarrassment as she recalled more details which made the picture even more vivid. Like a movie playing right in front of her eyes that she couldn't look away from.

She tried to convince herself it was all a dream, that the booze made her remember things that didn't happen, but it was all in vain. Why did she even agree to play that stupid game? Wasn't it obvious that he was planning to get her drunk and have his way with her all along? And after all this time, she thought she knew better.

She felt used and violated, but there was also a feeling of shame, that a part of her wanted it. A vampire of all people. The creatures she was warned about her entire life, but wasn't she partially a vampire herself? "No! The only thing I share with them is that annoying regeneration factor. My life would be better without it anyway." She thought to herself, assuming a fetal position as she tried to rid herself of these thoughts.

"Is everything alright Ava?" She heard his voice coming from behind the door. "I... ah... I wanted to talk with you about last night..."

"Go away! There is nothing I want to say to you!" She yelled, engulfed in rage. Her eyes filled up with tears again.

Lynn took a deep breath, placing his palms and resting his forehead against the door. Unprepared for that outcome.

"Okay... I'll see you at dinner then..." he said calmly, thinking it would be better to wait until she cooled off.

There was no response.

Night time came. He went to the kitchen to prepare the dinner as always, this time putting extra effort into cooking the meal to her liking. There were no dirty dishes. The contents of the refrigerator were left untouched. Even the glass of wine was sitting there at the same spot as last time. It alluded to the thought that Ava hadn't left her room all day.

When the meal was done, he sat down with his hands crossed and foolishly waited. Maybe for an hour or so, before realizing she wasn't coming out.

He went back to her room and knocked again,
hoping to hear an answer.

"Ava?"

Silence.

"Ava, I know you are there. I can hear your heartbeat." He continued. "Why won't you talk to me?"

"I told you already, there is nothing I want to talk to you about." This time her voice was calmer, but still had notes of passive-aggression.

"I'm sorry if my actions offended you. I don't know what came over me at that moment. I did something stupid out of lust and now you won't even look me in the eye."

"You took advantage of me!" Her voice cracked as she struggled to hide her emotion.

"Well, you don't tell me to stop..." he tried to excuse himself, but quickly realized he was only adding more fuel to the fire.

"I was drunk, for fuck's sake! Don't act like you didn't plan this all along!"

"I didn't. I swear. It's just that... well one thing led to another and... at the time I genuinely thought you were into it."

"Yeah, sure!" She grunted with sarcasm.

"Ava, please open up that door so we can talk properly..."

"No!"

"I am asking nicely. You know nothing is stopping me from breaking that door down, right?"

That sentence sent a chill down her spine, but the rage she felt stemming from a feeling of betrayal was stronger and it caused her to lash out.

"Do it then! I bet you want to come right here, pin me to the bed, and sink your teeth into my neck while you fuck me!"

"Don't say that Ava. I would never force myself on you."

"Why not? As you said - nothing is stopping you."

"Because I would never forgive myself if I did so!" He didn't mean to raise his voice, but he did as the emotions came flowing. He sat down with his back facing the door. "I know you must have gotten through a lot growing up in a world like this, but you are not the only one with a messed up childhood."

He took a deep breath, resting his head on the frame as the painful memories started floating up.

"My mother passed away after giving birth to me. "He continued." Growing up, my father always blamed me for it, calling me every name in the book. The beatings were often as he would get home after work reeking of booze. With his speech slurred, he would lash out, cursing me, and throwing anything he could find towards my direction. I've pretty much gotten used to it, but then one night when he got laid off he came into my room, drunk as always. When he loosened his belt I prepared myself for the usual beating followed by insults, but what followed was much worse. He would go and do deplorable, unspeakable things to his only son. And I was barely old enough to understand what was happening to me."

Lynn reached into his pocket, pulling out a leather case with a small dagger in it. He twirled it around his fingers, taking a moment to think, then slid it under the door.

"It's coated in silver." He said. "One of the very few things that can kill a vampire. Feel free to use it whenever you feel unsafe around me." And with these words, he took off.

***

Things were never the same afterward. Ava made an effort to avoid him every night. She would lock herself in her room as soon as she heard him waking up, carrying the dagger with her at all times. The only moments they would spend together was when he drained her blood and any attempt at small talk he would make was quickly shut off. She would go as far as to remove the planks of wood that were blocking the sunlight from her room.

Her coldness towards him made her feel like he could snap at any moment, but that never happened. He respectfully kept his distance and didn't bother her. The more time went by, the more she thought about just forgetting it all, but the memory from that night lingered in her head like a stain.

Part of her felt sorry for him, another was filled with hate, a third - just wanted things to get back to the way they used to be.

She would sometimes see him during the daytime fixing stuff around the house, which in his words were 'urgent', but she already knew he was only making excuses to see her. He would once again try small talk and at times ask for help. In the end, it was all in vain.

One morning Ava woke up to the terrible sensation of something crawling on top of her. Upon removing the blanket, she saw a small spider, the size of a walnut move around. At first, thinking nothing of it, she put it on a piece of paper and tossed it out of the window. It's not like the places she had stayed at before weren't overflowing with bugs. What was more concerning, however, was the fact that there was another one, and another one, but this time she recognized from its pattern that it was venomous. 

She didn't waste a second before she smashed it underneath her slipper, but to her horror, dozens of other smaller ones crawled out. Scattering everywhere, faster than she could react. She ran down the hallway and immediately started searching for something that she could spray her room with and get rid of them. Unfortunately, she couldn't find a thing. Usually, when there was any kind of vermin lurking around, Lynn was the one to take care of it, but the last thing she wanted to do was knock on his door and ask for help.

"Maybe I should wait for him to wake up and tell him." She thought to herself. But by the time night falls, the whole house might be swarming with venomous spiders. "What to do? What to do?" She kept asking herself, until finally deciding to knock on his door.

There was no answer. She creaked the door open. The whole room was engulfed in darkness. Despite living here for almost a month, it was her first time entering it. She navigated around using the light coming from the hallway. There were bookshelves next to every wall, an empty bed, without any sheets on it (by the looks of it never being used) and in the middle upon the large red carpet was placed the coffin the vampire slept in.