Spiral Down

"Run! I thought I told you to run!"

A blurry figure in a pool of blood was crying to him, but he stood frozen and could only hear his heart thumping loudly and could feel his chest clench tightly and was wheezing until he saw an outline of an enormous being that brought him back to life.

He jerked up from his sleeping position perspiring heavily, sweat drops washing down his forehead and his pajama was soaked. "What the hell was that," he muttered, staring blankly into space. He had forgotten what his dream was about.

Just then, the alarm on the drawer by the side of his bed rang. He was jolted back to reality. He hit the stop button on the alarm and checked the time. It was 6 AM already.

"Damn, I overslept,"

He said as he sprung up and jumped to his feet and dashed to the bathroom, quickly brushed his teeth and took his bath. He then took his blue jean trousers and a blue striped shirt and threw them on the bed in an attempt to quickly dress up, when the door suddenly opened and his mother suddenly popped in.

"Oh, Chris. You're up already," she said after taking a quick glance at him and assessing the situation in the room.

"Hey mum," he replied. He then remembered that he was still half naked in the same second.

"Mum! I'm changing. Can you please go downstairs, I'll come meet you."

"Alright. I don't know what you are hiding though. I mean I..." she said as she descended the stairs.

"Right, right," he mumbled, pulling on his clothes.

Chris dived downstairs as soon as he was done packing up his backpack. The whole family was downstairs. His Mom, totally dressed for work and his sister was sitting on the couch trying to slip her stockings on.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Jenna," he greeted as he hastily grabbed two toasts and an apple off the dining table and stuffed them into his bag.

"Good morning, Chrysius," his mom responded.

"Good morning, bro," Jenna added.

"What about Dad?" Chris asked, glancing around.

His mom approached the dining table as she responded with a smile. "He's gone off to work".

"Okay, Mum, it's my first day at college. Wish me luck." He said, moving closer for a warm hug.

She looked at him with a generous smile and hugged him. "Be a good kid, okay," she whispered warmly.

"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked" he grinned sheepishly and waved both of them goodbyes as he rushed out of the door.

Chrysius was an adopted son of Jonathan and Veronica. He had no idea who his biological parents were, and he never felt the need to ask. He loved his life with the Johnsons. He was a seventeen-year-old with a six-foot two-inch build. He had blue eyes and his hair was cropped close to his forehead. His jawline was chiseled, and his lips were full.

His life was far from peaceful, from being a kid to growing up as a teenager. He had too many girls trying to get him to notice them. This wasn't because of his looks only, but because he was also very smart and was athletic, as he played basketball for his school and he was easily in the top five players after a year of playing for his middle school team.

He won lots of awards and medals from quiz competitions and basketball competitions. He was also musically talented, his favorite instrument being the guitar, but he could also play other instruments.

He got off the bus and looked around as he saw a lot of people. Excitement simmered under his calm exterior as he navigated toward his first class.

Although he initially struggled to find his way, he eventually found help. The classes weren't half bad. So was the cafeteria where he ate his lunch during lunch break. Then he attended the orientation program for the first-year students at the Jenkins auditorium and was fascinated with the number of first-year students that were present. Not only that, but also how organized they were.

At the end of the day, he made friends with a couple of people, but the person that stood out the most for him was Elijah. They both took an interest in the same things. He was Jewish, with a very small nose, curly and nice bushy brows. He was around five feet and ten inches tall and also had full lips. He also had a warm personality.

As they were going home together and discussing how the day went, a club recruiter approached them and asked them if they would love to register for the basketball team. They agreed and both registered.

As they left the building, Elijah noticed something on Chrysius' neck.

"Wait, Chrysius," Elijah said, moving closer.

"What's that?" Chrysius asked with a concerned look on his face.

"There's a drop of blood on your neck, where did you get injured?" Elijah asked.

"Beats me," Chris replied, touching his neck. When he looked at his hand, there was only a faint streak of blood.

They talked till they got to the gate and waved goodbyes, since Elijah was going to take a different bus from Chrysius'.

Suddenly, Chris felt a sharp pain in his neck. The veins in the area darkened and dizziness washed over him. He touched his neck to see if he was still bleeding, but this time there was no blood.

Chris headed back to campus for an unknown reason. By now the school had cleared out, it was empty. He trudged to the entrance of the main building, but before he got there, his body gave out, and he collapsed.

"What's going on," Chris murmured, regaining consciousness.

He could barely see in the darkness, but he sensed that he wasn't alone.

He groaned and tried to stand up, but he was a little bit wobbly, he then fell back on his back and used one of his arms as a support.

"Oh, you're awake," a female voice echoed from the shadows.

The lights were suddenly flicked on, forcing Chris to shield his eyes with his arms.

"You're tougher than you look, you know that, right?" the voice teased as a girl approached him.

"Who are you, and how did I get here?!" He looked at her with curiosity and wariness as his eyes were starting to adjust to the light. He realized they were on the basketball court.

She threw a very thin needle to the floor close to where he sat as she continued moving towards him.

"That is what brought you here". She said, crouching beside him. Leaning in, she whispered, "Are you a vampire or a werewolf?"

"Huh?" Chris's face contorted in confusion. He couldn't make heads or tails of the whole situation.

"I said, are you a vampire or a werewolf?" She repeated firmly, this time with a stern look on her face.

"What do you mean, do stuff like that even....?" He started but was cut short.

"This. This is a silver needle". She said as she plucked the needle she had thrown earlier from the floor of the basketball court and continued, "And guess where I pulled it out from - your neck."

Chris's eyes widened. The needle was about three inches long but was incredibly thin.

She stood up, took two steps and sat facing him. "Now, you smell so much like a wolfie and, by your build, I can almost confuse you for one. That was if I didn't pull this out of you".

At this point, Chris could only understand that it was English they both spoke, and she was a teenager around his age or younger, everything else sounded like gibberish to him.

She grew frustrated, clutching her head. "You still don't get it, do you? A silver needle is a weapon that is very capable of killing a vampire," she said.

"Seriously?" He replied, still dazed.

"You really are clueless. If it were not for me, you'd have died by now." she said. "What do you remember?"

"I really don't know myself. I bled a bit and felt light-headed, and before I knew it, I woke up here". He said and then brought his face up to look at her.

The girl scrutinized him, trying to determine if he was telling the truth. She sighed. "You are pretty naïve."

"Well, let's get going before the cleaning staff catches us here," she said, standing up and offering him a hand.

As they got out the gate. She gestured for him to get into a nearby car.

"Is that yours?" Chris asked.

"Do I look like someone who steals cars?" She shot back, sliding into the driver's seat. "Get in."

Chris hesitated.

"Where do you stay? I'm going to drop you off." She asked.

"St. John's Boulevard."

"That's nice, I live around there too."

"Really? That's great."

They continued the rest of the journey in silence, and she had to play a song on the stereo.

"Nice song." He said and smiled.

"Yeah. Jon Bellion is really my favorite artist, I love him," She replied as she nodded her head along to the song blaring out of the speaker.

"Nice," he said. He paused for a bit and then continued. "So you helped me remove that needle-y thing from my neck, right?"

"Basically, yeah," she replied, still nodding to the beat.

"And you talked about werewolves and vampires and other stuff that still sounds somehow to me."

"What do you want to know?" She asked, still bobbing to the music.

"Who are you?" Chris asked, curiosity bubbling inside him.

She made a sharp turn at the crossroads. "We're here."

"Oh, drop me off at the building with the black minivan in front. That's my place." Chris instructed, pointing ahead.

She drove for about a second and pulled over. "Alright then, see you at school tomorrow."

He alighted from the car and replied, "You're a student too?"

"Yeah Dumbo, did you think I was trespassing on school grounds or moonlighting as a cleaning staff?" She revved the engine and continued, "My name's Violet by the way, what's yours?"

"Chrysius, but most people just call me Chris."

"Alright DC, gotta go." She grinned and zoomed off into the distance.

"DC huh? What does that even mean?" He muttered as he approached the entrance and then paused when

He realized the meaning. He shook his head and chuckled. "Dumb Chris, huh? Seriously?"