2020

The shrill beeping of your alarm wakes you up with a jump. You groan and roll over, picking up your phone from the bedside table and hitting the snooze button before dropping it back down. You allow yourself to stay in bed for the next 5 minutes, but its not long before the alarm is reminding you it's time to get up and start the day.

An hour later you're ready and leaving for work. You close the front door of the cottage you live in and head down the hill toward the village high street, taking in the views of the sea as you walk. You've lived in this village for as long as you can remember, but the view still makes you smile.

The high street is one main road that runs through the small village and is lined with shops either side. As you walk down the street you greet various other villagers opening up their shops for the day. You hold your breath as you pass the butchers so you cant smell the scent of the uncooked meat hanging in the window. Then you pass the florist and take a deep breath, floral scents flooding your senses. You stop when you reach the local clothes shop and see the owner cleaning up shattered glass.

"Morning Roger" you say and he turns to look at you with sad eyes "what happened?"

"oh someone broke in last night. Smashed the window and stole the suit straight off the mannequin" he points to the naked mannequin left standing in the broken window display.

"did they take anything else?"

"Nothing. Not even a penny from the till. Just the one suit, thats it."

"that's weird. At least theres not too much damage though"

"I guess I should count myself lucky that it could have been much worse. Have a good day y/n" he says with a tired smile as he takes the bucket of broken glass inside the shop.

You pass a few more shops before you reach the door of the bakery cafe and swing the door open, the familiar scent of fresh baked bread and cakes fills the air.

"Morning Maggie" you call as you drop your bag behind the counter and head into the kitchen at the back.

"Morning love" She responds, looking at you over the top of her flour covered glasses as she kneads dough on the counter. Maggie is an older lady, with a friendly wrinkled covered face and greying curly hair which was currently contained in a hairnet. She had always been like a grandmother to you, and since losing your parents she was the only family you had left. Apart from being a bit of a gossip, she was a really lovely lady, and you love working for her and listening to her crazy conspiracy theories. "Did you hear all the drama last night?"

"Yeah, I've just seen Roger outside, he told me all about the break in" you respond, grabbing your apron off the hook and tying it around your waist.

"oh no I meant about the drama on the beach?"

"No? What happened?"

"oh it all kicked off. Helicopters, sirens, the works. You didn't hear any of it from up the hill?"

"Nope, must have slept right through it."

"you young people, you'll sleep through anything" Maggie says putting another batch of bread in the oven "well you missed all the fun. They dragged a body out of the sea and-"

"a body?!" You interrupt.

"Well according to Carol anyway. She said she heard from Jan that someone had reported a body on the beach. Her grandson works in the police so she finds out things from him. Anyway, the police raced down there straight away but when they got there the army had already arrived and told them to leave. Army outrank the local police apparently."

"Wow"

"And that's not all. I ran into Nigel this morning in the supermarket. Nigel lives right by the beach, and he said he heard a gunshot and a load of shouting last night. He looked out the window and saw a woman lying on the sand bleeding, and people in black uniforms running everywhere. Looked like there were chasing a man. He ran down to see if he could help but by the time he got there the beach was empty. No sign of anyone at all. Strange right?"

"Very" you nod, trying to seem more interested "what do you think happened?"

"Maybe it was a vampire" a man's voice suddenly speaks and you both turn around to see a tall man with jet black hair stood looking at you through the serving hatch.

"a vampire? Now there's a suggestion I didn't expect to hear" Maggie laughs and the stranger laughs back at her, but you get the feeling he wasn't really joking.

"What are you cooking back there? Something smells... exceptionally good" he says, his dark eyes fixed on you.

"All sorts of magic happening in these ovens, but unfortunately we're not actually open till 8am" Maggie replies in her usual customer service voice and she walks through into the shop. You stay back in the kitchen, mixing the dough for the next batch of bread.

"oh I'm very sorry, I didn't know. I'm new around here" you hear the man say, he talks like an old-fashioned gentleman.

"Not bother, it's alright. If you want to take a menu and come back in half an hour, we'll be happy to serve you a slice of magic"

"Wonderful. I'll be back then." You watch as he turns to leave, then stops. "See you later Bella" he shouts through to you and your eyes go wide as he shuts the door behind him.

"Ooh I think someone likes you" Maggie teases and she walk back into the kitchen.

"How did he know my name?" You say, not really asking but more thinking out loud.

"Hmm I don't know. Probably read it off your name tag" she replies casually as she carries on baking.

You look down at the small name tag you forgot was attached to your apron and let out a small sigh. Of course that makes sense. But you couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you thought about the darkness in his eyes.

🩸☠️🖤

The day was dragging. The usual customers came and went, each with their own theories about what had happened the night before. Maggie was happy to listen and share her own views with them, but you ended up zoning out every time. Instead, you wondered about the stranger from this morning. Who was he? He said he was new here, does that mean he's staying or just passing through? Either way, something about him made you feel weird, and you found yourself watching the door anxiously every time the little bell above it rang.

You were clearing tables after the lunch rush before you could go on your own lunch break, when the doorbell dinged and a woman you didn't recognize walked in.

"Take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment" you say politely as you carry a tray of dirty dishes and mugs into the kitchen. You pick up your little note pad and pen ready to go take her order when Maggie stops you.

"it's okay love, I'll serve her. You have your lunch" she says gesturing to the plate of sandwiches she's made for you then walking out into the cafe greeting the stranger in her usual loud and bubble manner.

You smile and take the food out through the back door and take a seat on the grassy bank. The sunshine warms your skin as you tuck in to the delicious sandwiches which Maggie has packed with your favorite filling. Once you've finished eating you lie with your back on the grass, watching the seagulls fly high above you and the white clouds moving slowly across the perfect blue sky.

You lie there daydreaming for a while but when a fly noisily buzzes past your face and makes you jump you sit up, swatting it away with your hand. You check the time on your watch, almost time to get back to work. You take a few deep breathes of the fresh air before standing up and brushing the grass off you. Something catches your attention in the corner of you eye and you turn to look.

There he is.

The stranger from this morning stood in the shade, leaning against a tree trunk. A shiver tickles down your spine, and he smirks at you as the two of you lock eyes.

"Bella love, could you come back in now?" Maggie calls, poking her head out the door.

"Yes, yeah I'll be right there" you respond looking at her and she goes back inside. You look back over to the tree, but he's gone. Was he ever really there or is he just on your mind?

You walk back into the kitchen, deep in thought.

"Are you alright love?" Maggie asks, concerned when she sees the look on your face.

"Yeah, I'm fine" you snap out of it and smile at her. You spot the unknown lady still sat at the same table she was at before you went on lunch. "she's still here?"

"She asked if she could use our Wi-Fi to do some work on her computer, I said its fine as long as she buys something. Anyway, I'm just nipping out. Will you be okay to run things here for a while?"

"of course, see you in a bit" you smile as she heads out the front door. The lady looks up at you from her laptop and you smile, but she just looks back down and carries on working.

Ten minutes later the cafe is empty apart from you and the mysterious lady.

"Excuse me, could I get two more coffees please?" She calls to you and you nod.

"Two? Sure yeah, coming up" you reply slightly confused. Two? Maybe someone is coming to join her.

You make the coffees and carry them over to her, carefully placing them down on the table next to her laptop.

"Thanks, this one's yours. Will you sit?" she gestures to the chair opposite her.

"Huh? Oh, no thank you. I can't, I'm working right now"

"There's no one else in here. Just sit for a moment. I have something important to discuss with you" she says friendly enough but with a serious undertone.

"I don't understand-" you start

"Bella Rose. Born 1998/7/6 in New York but moved here to this village when you were 4 years old, and you've lived her ever since. Your parents died 5 years ago in a car crash and since then you've lived alone in your family home, the lovely little cottage up on that hill."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Sister Rose, your great great grandmother, was a nun in Saint Mary's convent of Budapest in the late 1800's. In 1897 every nun in that convent was slaughtered. All but three, your great great grandmother was one of them. She fled to England and started a new life. A family."

"How do you know this?" You repeat, getting frustrated.

"Because I am a direct descendant of one of the other survivors, Sister Agatha Van Helsing. I'm Dr Zoe Van Helsing"

"What, so, someone broke into a nunnery and killed everyone. But our ancestors got away?" You don't understand why any of these matters.

"Not someone, something" she pauses "a vampire"

"A vampire?" You stare at her in disbelief, and she nods. She's not joking, she really believes this. "this is ridiculous, I don't know what game you're playing with me but I want no part of it" you say walking away from her.

"this is not a game, this is real. Bella, a vampire killed all those nuns back then, and now he's back. He's here, and I think he's looking for you"

Her words stop you dead in your tracks.

"He could have killed her, Bella, but he didn't. He made the decision not to kill her and he let her go." She continues and you turn to face her again. "it's all here in this journal written by your great great grandmother. I think you should read it"

You slowly walk back over to her and take a seat at her table. She pushes a very old, slightly torn and battered journal across the table to you. You open it up to the bookmarked page and begin reading.

"1897.

It all started when the undead man arrived..."