A Red Mirage

My brother and I stared down at the decapitated vampire, who befuddled us—why did he have black hair? Naturally, as one of the undead, a vampire would have silver or white hair, but this one… this one had jet black hair that gave me an ominous feeling. My brother and I were renowned for our exceptional slaying skills, and we were even hired by a few governments. In the underworld of vampires, demons, and black angels, we are feared, and ostracized. We walked away as the body dematerialized into nothing, but his dark, cold eyes were stuck in my mind. Then that night, it all started. Now, it was all written into a book that you cannot touch, and it was as if carved into stone so that it would be almost impossible to fix or fight against. Do you know what it was? It was all a terrible, cursed fate, written by someone else, other than God.


A dream—was this a dream I was trapped in; a nightmare with no end? The air was dry, and cold, my clothes were sticking to me, wet from the red liquid that surrounded me. Dripping and dropping from the ceilings, and oozing down the walls. Horrid thoughts nagged at me, gnawing away at the imaginary barrier which I kept up around my body to keep away fear. Where am I?

The ceiling was low, and I shivered from the bitter cold air. A vile stench arose from the fluids, making me gag and weak. Soon, after a while of walking, I came across a dry platform that stuck out from the walls, but it was suspicious and foreboding. Still, I was exhausted, weak, and famished so much, that I had to close my eyes and rest. I laid there, thinking and thinking, trying to push out frightful thoughts of this place—of the red water. Shaking and at the brink of crying, I rolled into a ball and tried to think of something to get me out of here, but nothing came to my mind. “For all I know, this place could go on, and on or just have a dead end.” I frowned. What am I to do?

“Come out, come out, where ever you are little girl. You can’t hide forever.” A sinister voice echoed around me, and panic filled my body, starting at my stomach and rising to my throat. I choked on it, barely able to breathe or think. My eyes flickered from side to side for an exit, but my vision blurred and a headache hammered away at my brain. I groaned in pain, but hurried off the platform. I have to get away, I have to! I started to wade as fast as I could, trying to get farther away from him; farther away from the person that was coming after me. I whimpered as I heard his mocking laughter becoming louder and louder as each second past. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, a lump forming in my throat. I pushed my legs faster, cutting through the stream of the mixed solution of water and blood.


“NO!” I screamed as I felt a hand grab at my arm—almost missing. I gasped and struggled to get away, but their fingers had a strong hold. “Somebody, help me!” I cried, trying to thrash about, but an arm circled around my neck starting to choke me from behind. Tears escaped my eyes, streaming down my cheeks. A chuckle echoed around me, as he whispered into me ear. “Give it up human. You’re no match for me. I am a vampire, after all.”


I could tell he was grinning madly, as he tilted my head to the side, brushing away my wet brown hair that stuck to my skin and clothes. I felt him move, as he opened his mouth. Looking from the corner of my eyes with a blurred vision from my tears, I saw his fangs. His eyes had a glimmer in them, and a clock tower rang; its sound traveling into the tunnel we were in. Ding, ding, ding. Suddenly, everything started to move slowly, and I was able to see a sudden change of the scenery. The redness disappeared, replaced by white, while the tower rings turned into beeps. Beep, beep, beep.

I shut my eyes closed as I wailed for help.

“Wake up!” A voice shouted, as someone shook me. I gasped awake, and opened my eyes. What? I thought. As my eyes came into focus, I realized I was on something soft; a bed—my bed! Looking up, I saw that it was my older brother that had woken me up. His blonde hair glistened with water droplets, showing that he just used the shower. His expression was hard as he helped me sit up. I realized that the beeping noises was from my alarm clock which read seven fifteen AM.

“You okay, Anna?” He asked, taking his towel and rubbing it through his hair. I recollected my memories inside my dream, and shook my head no as I started to tremble again. Terror jumped into my body once more, as I held myself. I couldn’t think straight, or understand the words my brother spoke to me. All I could do was cry as my awful dream played in my mind, nonstop. All at once, I passed out as my world tumbled into nothing.

Here, I sat in sheer silence, floating in a darkness that was not cold or hot. I was numb, and my thoughts were pushed together into a mess. The only thing I could feel was pain. A throbbing sense that ran through my body and would not leave, or had any signs of it—it was like someone or something was lashing out at me with all their might, again and again. It was continuous, and the more I thought, the more confused I got. I felt this has happened before, but didn’t know where. It was like, déjà vu, over and over again. Soon, I saw a hand reach out at me, so I lunged for it. Though, the second I made contact with it, I went right through. “Anna.” A voice called.

I looked around but saw naught. I felt like crying again, but the tears wouldn’t come. The pain still remained in me, so I just floated there hoping for an end.

“Anna.” The voice called once more. I whipped my head to the side and saw my brother, like a ghost lingering in front of me before disappearing a few moments later. Then, I heard my own voice, so I turned around. My eyes widened as I saw myself. The girl—me—had a cruel smile, as if this were all a joke. “What’s wrong Anna? Are you scared?”

Her—mine?—tone was just like the vampire in my dream. “Aw, boohoo, little Anna is scared? What are you afraid of?” She disappeared when I opened my mouth to answer, reappearing behind me. “Boo!” She laughed, as I tensed and almost screamed.

“Are you afraid of the dark,” She whispered right next to me from behind, just like the vampire. “Or ghouls, or monsters? What about…” She vanished again, only to be replaced by the vampire. “Me?” I shrieked, bounding away from him. He sneered in a malicious way, enjoying my terror, and started to laugh maniacally.

I couldn’t help but stare into his black eyes as he started to fade away into nothing. A split second later, a blinding light sliced through the blackness, wrapping me in its warmth.


“Anna?” I heard my brother call. “Anna, are you okay?” I opened my eyes and saw my brother looking down at me, as I heard the sounds of a monitor in a hospital. Beep…beep… I looked around me and realized I was in one. “What happened, Max?” I asked, as I sat up.

“You fainted, screaming and crying your lungs out. The doctors said they didn’t know what was wrong.” He sighed exasperated. “And you scared the crap out of me. Can’t you at least tell me what happened?”

I stared at him with eyes full of fear and uncertainty. “Maybe,” I rubbed my eyes, “Maybe it has to do with that vampire we killed last week. You know, the one with jet black hair, and black eyes; the weird one.”

He coughed trying to hide his grin. “Right and I’m the King of China. As if, why would he be the cause?” I rolled my eyes at his stupidity.

“Because, maybe he was the only vampire of all the other vampires with black hair—If he really is one of the undead, he would have silver or white hair.”

“So… would that mean he’s the devil himself or something?” He smirked pretending to understand.

“No, I mean… he’s like, a black angel, or a really powerful vampire and he’s out to get us since we were his cause of death.” Suddenly, a cold feeling washed over me, and a shock of pain ran through my body. Then he unexpectedly gasped and I saw my brother’s eyes widen, as he stared at me with pain filled eyes before falling over onto the ground. I watched him fall, and saw the black haired vampire standing behind him, his hands streaked crimson with my brother’s blood. “You are very correct, Anna.”

My scream shot throughout the hospital, as doctors and nurses flooded into my room. My brother held me, telling me to calm down, asking what was wrong. My eyes saw everything in the hues of red, as I struggled to get out of his grasp. “No! Stay away! No!” I shrieked, not noticing it was just a Red Mirage created by a vampire.