Thunder cracked outside Emma’s apartment building. She hugged her quilt closer to her body. About an hour ago, an ice storm had hit, causing the power to go out. Now, twenty-one-year-old Emma was sitting in front of a roaring fire, reading by candle light, and enjoying a steaming cup of hot cocoa. After pouring a second cup of cocoa, she drifted back into the adventure of her book.

As the hours ticked away, she frequently shifted her position on the couch. First, her feet were on the floor, then tucked underneath her, and finally, she was lying on her stomach with her quilt in a heap on the floor.

Being completely engrossed in her book, she was startled when the doorbell rang. Ding! Dong! Thud! In her surprise, she hit the floor.

“One minute,” she called, scrambling to her feet. Tripping over the blanket, she pulled herself up, and stumbled to the door. When she opened the door, lightning flashed and she almost screamed. Her neighbor, Mr. Leugosi, stood in front of her, his slouched figure completely filling the doorway. Already frightening, the flash of lightning made Mr. Leugosi even scarier. His left front tooth was chipped, and his face was covered with scars. Across one eye was a thin scar, this eye was a soft, cinnamon brown. The other eye was a piercing blue. Emma was frightened by the blue eye. She was afraid that if she made eye contact too long, it would pierce her skull.

“Migh’ I spend the nigh’?” croaked Mr. Leugosi. “Storm shut off me heat. An’ seein’ as you’ve go’ a nice warm fire, I was thinkin’ maybe you wouldn’ min’ me spendin’ the nigh’?”

“Sure you may,” she said, now completely unafraid of the harmless old man. She backed up and allowed him to enter. He turned around and added suspiciously, “Lock it tigh’, now. Wouldn’ want no one comin’ in n’ disturbin’ ye slumba’.

Emma, though this frightened her a little, laughed and walked into the kitchen to prepare a dinner of sandwiches and juice. Okay, creepy old guy telling me to lock my door tightly… weird!

Over dinner, Mr. Leugosi talked about his experiences in war, explaining each scar in turn. Then, while he was busy polishing off his dessert, Emma pulled the couch into a bed, and placed sheets on it. She grabbed spare blankets and pillows, piling them high on the end of the bed. She wasn’t sure how many pillows Mr. Leugosi would need, so left him extras just in case.

Emma left Mr. Leugosi to go to sleep and went to her own bedroom down the hall. The clock read 11:56. She put on her pajamas, and brushed her teeth. When she came back into her bedroom, she noticed it was very stuffy. She walked across the room to her window. Just as she was about the open it, she heard a voice behind her. “I wouldn’ do that if I was you,” said Mr. Leugosi, “Bad things happen at nigh’. All sor’sa creatures of the nigh’ come out now. Like vampires.”

“What?”

“Don’t open the window. They migh’ hear you,” he said. He kept his gaze on the window, as if someone were looking in.

Emma turned and did a double take on the window, glancing at it, then at Mr. Leugosi. She thought she saw his reflection with fangs, smiling malevolently, but when she turned around to face him, he was no longer looking out the window. Rather, he was looking at the ceiling. It was as if he was lost in thought. Then he really surprised Emma, by sniffing the air. Just then, the pair heard glass shattering out in the kitchen, and the sound of a muffled voice. The voice sounded like it was calling someone. Mr. Leugosi turned and ran up the hall, but before doing so, he ordered Emma to hide in the closet, and stay there no matter what happened.

Emma watched Mr. Leugosi’s silhouette run down the hall, then she did as she was told.
Emma listened for twenty minutes, hiding in the closet. Slowly, she felt her head tilt to one side, and rest on the wall. The impact jolted her awake. She yawned, but remembering about the break-in, she immediately clamped her hands over her mouth. She slowly slid open the closet door, and with one hand still on her mouth, she crawled on her hands and knees to her bedroom door. She opened it a crack and peeked out. From down the hall she heard a faint argument. She strained to hear the conversation.

“Can we do it now,” the first voice begged. She had never heard this voice before.

Then she heard another voice, “Not now Scottie, wait till she falls asleep, humans are more peaceful at rest. The more peaceful they are, the easier to drink their blood.” That was Mr. Leugosi! His accent was gone! He had warned her about the “creatures of the nigh’”! He was one of them!

“Okay, but hurry, I’m hungry, and I’ve been waiting long enough!”

Then Emma heard footsteps coming back down the hall. She quickly sprang onto her bed and threw the covers over her head, pretending she was asleep. A moment later, Mr. Leugosi was standing in her doorway. She could hear his heavy breathing, and listened to the heavy clomping of his feet as he walked across the room to her bed. She felt him carefully pull back the covers, so they were no longer covering her face or neck. Then, Emma sensed he was leaning down, and she could soon feel his breath on her face. If he was a vampire, which she had guessed from his conversation with his companion, his teeth would sink into her neck in a matter of seconds.

“Wait!” came a harsh whisper at the door. It was Mr. Leugosi’s companion. “You told me you would share her blood!” He took a step further into the room. Mr. Leugosi threatened him to not take a step further. His buddy ignored him, and took two more steps into the room. Mr. Leugosi lunged for him, and within seconds, they were punching, kicking and biting each other on the floor.

Emma, figuring no one was paying attention to her, slowly opened one of her eyes to watch the fight. She watched as they continuously bit each other, but no blood flowed. There wasn’t a single hole in either vampire’s skin. Abruptly, the buddy who Mr. Leugosi called Scottie, motioned to stop. Emma closed her eyes just enough to appear to be sleeping, but she could still see through little slits. Scottie looked at Emma, “She’s waking up,” he whispered. He backed out of the room on his hands and knees and into the bathroom. Mr. Leugosi stood up and went to the door of Emma’s bedroom, where he reached over to the bathroom door and pulled it shut.

“Emma?” Mr. Leugosi called, “Emma, are ye up? Sorry if I woke ye, jus’ ‘ad to use la toilette. If ye know wha’ I mean.” He winked.

Emma began to open her eyes trying to act as if she had just woken up. “Huh? Oh yeah… sure. Mr. Leugosi, did you figure out what that noise was?”

“Jus’ a bird, love, it crashed through the glass window in the kitchen, that thing int very sturdy. I took care of i’. Go back to sleep, and tomorrow mornin’ I’ll make ye breakfast, my treat.”

Emma nodded.
When Mr. Leugosi left, Emma did not know what to do about the vampire situation. She had read somewhere that you can kill one by stabbing it with a stake through the heart, but she wasn’t sure where she would find a stake. As far as Emma could see, she was trapped in her apartment until morning. She peaked out her window. It was still raining, but she swore she could see a little sliver of light from behind the clouds. The sun was barely showing on the horizon. Wait! The sun! Maybe she could somehow kill the vampires, or at least threaten them with the sun. Yes! This could work! But how? She couldn’t very well reach into the sky and grab the sun! But if she had something similar to the sun’s power… A solar powered calculator! In her socked feet, she tip-toed over to her desk, and pulled out a solar powered calculator. Hm… if she could make him look at it, then tell him it was a solar powered calculator, maybe he would spontaneously combust… or whatever vampires do when they die. It was brilliant! She put the calculator on her nightstand, and lay on her bed, pulling the covers over her head as she turned out the light. For this plan to work, she had to be convincing. She closed her eyes, then, jerking up in bed, she screamed.
Mr. Leugosi ran in from the living room. He was wearing striped pajamas, had a night cap on his head, and a teddy bear tucked under his arm. He’s trying too hard to act like a real human being! Adult humans don’t use teddy bears!
“What’s wrong Emma? Did somethin’ ‘appen? Was it another darn bird?” he asked with a look of astonishment plastered on his face. Utterly fake!

“Mr. Leugosi, sorry I woke you, it’s just that I had a nightmare. I’d feel better if I talked about it, but if you would like to go back to bed, that’s alright. I might have a little trouble getting back to sleep though.”

“Oh no. Miss Emma, if it would help you fall asleep, you can tell me about it.” He took the bait. Emma knew he wanted her to fall asleep, and he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to help her fall asleep, if it meant he could drink her blood afterwards.

“Okay, I guess I’ll tell you,” Emma said, “But it is kind of silly. Please don’t laugh.” He shook his head. “Well, I had a dream that this calculator,” she lifted the calculator from her night table, “that I had been using earlier to do my taxes, grew legs, stepped off my night stand, and stole the bills. As it ran out the door it was screaming, ‘You can’t pay these! You’re going to jail!’ I don’t want to go to jail Mr. Leugosi,” she cried. She realized what a bizarre story she had just told him, and forced herself not to laugh.

“It’s a’right,” Mr. Leugosi comforted her. This was too easy. He picked up the calculator and examined it. Trying to change the subject, in hopes she would forget the dream and go to sleep, Mr. Leugosi asked, “What kind is this anyway?”

Emma shrugged, “Solar powered. You know, powered by the sun!” She added emphasis to the last word.

Mr. Leugosi threw the calculator onto her bed, but it was too late. He appeared to be melting, but as he started to melt, he slowly turned into smoke… well, more like fog, or water vapor. Within a few minutes, he had disappeared completely.

Emma turned on the ceiling fan to blow away any remaining smoke, and jumped onto her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin and turned out the light. Just as Emma began to feel more relaxed, she heard the doorbell ring.

She went to answer it and, standing in the doorway, was a handsome young man around the age of twenty-two. If Emma weren’t so tired, she would been polite, and possibly welcomed him in, instead, she asked rudely, “Can I help you?”

“I was wondering if I could stay for dinner?”

“Do I even know you?”

“Oh, I thought you recognized me from school. Sorry, Emma. Scott. Scott Tombosa.”

“Oh yeah! I remember you! We went out in the 12th grade, broke up, moved on, and here we are. Goodnight.” She slowly began to close the door.

Scott stepped inside. “Em, call me Scottie, please.”

Scott?! Scottie?! Why hadn’t she thought of it before?! He was Scottie! The guy who broke her kitchen window! Who wanted to share her blood with Mr. Leugosi! She let another vampire into her apartment! Only this time, she had an even shorter amount of time to get rid of him! Just think, little Scottie Tombosa, a vampire all this time! Emma couldn’t believe she had ever gone out with him. But then again, she hadn’t known he was a vampire, she just thought he was nice. Nice and cute! But not a vampire! She had to get him out of her apartment! Too late! He had already come in. No! She had invited him in! He charmed her into it! Yes, she remembered reading something like that also. Vampires can charm people into giving them what they want! But what did he want? Her blood?

Emma looked up into Scott’s face. She was lost in his beautiful brown eyes! Snap out of it girl! She silently yelled at herself. Emma, down girl! Emma, knock it o—She and Scott leaned in towards each other, and before she could stop herself, she was in total lip-lock with a vampire. She slowly tried to pull away, forcing herself to remember that he was a vampire. He wants to suck your blood! She screamed in her head. No, he just wants to be loved, that’s all. She was fighting with herself. No, he loves me! He is using you! No… no… no… Scott kissed her neck. He loves me! He kissed it again, only this time, he bit her. He loves me… he loves me… no… Emma lost all thoughts, and fell into unconsciousness.

A couple hours later, Emma awoke to find it was morning. She looked around, and noticed that she was not in her bed, but sprawled across the kitchen floor. She had an awful headache, and for some reason, she felt lighter. When she tried to stand up, she felt dizzy, and almost fell down again. She staggered over to the big mirror above her fireplace. She looked at her reflection, which smiled evilly back at her, fangs peeking out from her top lip. She rubbed her neck, which had been throbbing since she woke up. To her surprise there were two small holes in the side of it. Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach and, running into the bathroom, she spit into the sink. She glanced into the bathroom mirror, again seeing the evil face, with the smile and fangs. What had happened to her last night? She guessed that whatever it was had to do with the marks in her neck. She looked into the sink to find a little trickle of blood running down the drain. Instantly, the memory of the previous night came back to her. She had been reading. The doorbell rang. Mr. Leugosi was going to stay the night. He was a vampire… vampire… Scott! Scott was a vampire too! He bit her, those must be the marks in her neck! Then… then… she couldn’t remember anything else. All she knew was that she craved blood and the warm touch of a human being. She ran into the kitchen, and noticed the shards of glass still sparkling on the floor. She didn’t care, she just wanted blood. Then she remembered… she lived in an apartment building, where there were lots of other people! With blood! Of course there was blood, you idiot, she thought. They’re human beings! She ran out her door, down the steps of the building, and outside in the rain. Instantly she was soaked, and began shivering with cold. Her mascara ran down her cheeks. She looked miserable, which was the look she wanted, miserable, cold and alone. She decided to start on the bottom floor, knocking on door number one. An elderly woman opened the door. “Yes,” she asked.

“ Migh’ I spend the nigh’?”