I told Chuck that I had a lot of homework to do and didn't want to eat anything. There's a football game on TV that gets his heart pumping – and of course, I had no idea what was going on. So, he didn't notice anything wrong with my expression or tone.

As soon as I entered the room, I locked the door. I rummaged through my desk until I found my old headphones. I slipped them into the jack of my little Walkman and picked up a CD that Aiken gave me for Christmas. It's one of his favorite bands, but for my taste, the growls and screams in their songs are a little too much. I snapped it into my Walkman and lay down on the bed. I put on my headphones, pressed play, and turned up the sound until my ears could hear it. I closed my eyes, but it still felt too bright, so I added another pillow and pressed it against my face.

I listened intently to the songs, trying to understand the lyrics, the intricate beats and beats. By the time I listened to this CD for the third time, at least, I already knew all the lyrics in the chorus. I was amazed to find that I really liked the band when I ignored the loud noises. I have to thank Aiken again.

It works. The devastating beats kept me from thinking - and that was all I was trying to do with this practice. I listened to the CD over and over again until I could sing all the songs in it, until, finally, I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a familiar place. Some part of my consciousness tells me I'm dreaming. I recognized the green light in this forest. I could hear, somewhere nearby, waves crashing against the reef. I knew that if I could find the sea, I would be able to see the sun. I tried to follow the sound, but then Kendil Allen appeared.

He took me by the hand and dragged me towards the darkest part of the forest.

"Kendil? What's wrong? I asked. Fear was written on his face, and he pulled me by the way, using all his strength to stop my resistance. I don't want to go into the dark.

"Run, Imia, you have to run!" He whispered in fear.

"Over here, Imia!" I recognized Jack's voice, coming from the dark center of the woods. But I couldn't see him.

"Why?" I asked, still resisting Kendil's grip and trying to find the sun.

But Kendil let go of my hand, screamed, and fell to the dusty ground of the forest. He lay on the ground, twitching, and I looked at him in horror.

"Kendil!" I screamed. But he was gone. In his place appeared a reddish-brown wolf with black eyes. The wolf turned his back to me, in the direction of the coast. The hair on his back stood on end, and a low howl came from between his baring fangs.

"Imia, run!" Jack shouted behind me again. But I didn't run. I saw a light coming towards me from the other side of the beach.

Then, Roger came out of the woods. His skin glowed slightly, and his eyes were dark and dangerous. He held up a hand and motioned for me to come to him. The wolf roared at my feet.

I took a step forward in Roger's direction. So he smiled, showing his sharp, sharp teeth.

"Trust me." He whispered happily.

I took another step.

The wolf allowed itself to straddle the clearing between me and the vampire, fangs aimed at his carotid artery.

"No!" I screamed and bounced off the bed.

My sudden movement caused the headphones to rip the Walkman off the table and drop it to the floor with a click.

The lights were still on, and I sat on the bed without even taking off my shoes. I looked around in confusion and saw the clock on the dresser. It's half past five in the morning.

I fell back into bed, rolled over on my stomach, and kicked my boots off. However, I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't even reach the edge of sleeping. I rolled over again, unzipped my jeans, and took them off unsightly while lying flat. I could feel my braids arching into an uncomfortable little bag at the back of my head. I turned my head, ripped the rubber ring off, and quickly brushed my hair with my fingers. I pulled the pillow back and pressed it against my eyes.

Of course, all was useless. My subconscious mind unearthed images that I desperately wanted to forget. Now, I have to face them.

I sat up, dizzy for a moment, before the blood began to rush downward. The important thing to do beforehand, I thought to myself, and I was happy to push this thing back as much as possible. I grabbed my toiletry bag.

However, bathing didn't take as much time as I had hoped. Even though it took a lot of time to dry my hair, I quickly got everything I could do in the bathroom. I wrapped myself in a bath towel and walked back to my room. I can't tell if Chuck is still asleep or if he's already out. I went to the window and looked out and saw that the patrol car had already driven away. Fishing again.

I slowly put on my comfiest undershirt and made the bed—I rarely did. I can't put this off the line anymore. I walked over to my desk and turned on my old computer.

I hate surfing the internet here. My modem is quite outdated and my free internet service is completely sub-standard. It took a long time just to dial up, so while I waited, I decided to go get myself a bowl of cereal first.

I ate slowly, chewing every bite. When I was done, I washed the bowl and spoon, dried it, and put it back. I deliberately shuffled my steps as I went upstairs. I walked over to my Walkman first, picked it up from the floor, and placed it precisely in the center of the table. I unplugged the headphones and put them back in the drawer. Then I played the original CD and lowered the sound to a point where it was just enough to be background music.

I sighed again, and then turned to my computer. Naturally, the screen is full of pop-up ads. I sat down in my hard armchair and began to close all the little windows. Finally, I opened a Google search. I turned off a few more pop-up ads and typed a word:

"Vampires".

Of course, this took an infuriating amount of time. When the results come in, there's still a lot to sift through - from movies and TV shows to role-playing games, "Dark Worlds," and "Castlevania," to name a few.

Then, I found a URL that seemed more credible - Magic Encyclopedia. I can't wait for it to open the page, snapping off every ad that flashes across the screen. Eventually, the entire screen was emptied - a neat white background and black headline that looked academic. Two quotes from the homepage caught my eye first.

"From beginning to end, that dark world of ghosts and demons was not so terrible at all, not so fearful and abhorrent at all, but only exaggerated with too many fear-filled fantasies to make it something terrifying. Like a vampire, he is neither a ghost nor a demon, but he still has a dark essence and a mysterious and terrifying atmosphere of both. In the lower right corner of this sentence is the name of the person who wrote it, the Spirit of Satan.

I clicked on the introduction of this person - he is the webmaster of this "magic encyclopedia", and "Spirit of Satan" is his screen name and pen name, and his real name has not been revealed. His title on this encyclopedia is "Demon God" - this is the highest level of title, and there are lower titles than this, such as "Demon King", "Demon King's Son", "Demon Swordsman", "Demon Knight", etc., which is quite interesting to hear. And I was also surprised to find that the slightly famous "Dance of the Demons" was written by him.

I looked at those interesting titles and found one that interested me - "Vampire". I clicked on the link to the title, and at the top of the page there was a sentence:

"If there is a well-documented report about vampires. Official reports, confessions from insiders, testimonies from surgeons, testimony from priests, testimony from judges. All the judicial evidence is complete. But even if the evidence were so good, would people believe in the existence of vampires? Next to it is also marked with the writer's screen name - "Red Winged King", the title is "Vampire Leader".

The first half of the text is a subtitle of this title - "Vampire Leader", "Vampire Knight", "Super Vampire", etc., which are all interesting and peculiar titles anyway.

The second half is an alphabetical list of all the various legends about vampires around the world. I first clicked on "Dynaudio", a Filipino vampire who was responsible for growing taro on the island many years ago. According to the legend, Dynaudio worked for mankind for many years, until one day, the relationship broke down. A woman accidentally cuts her finger, and a Dynah sucks the wound for her, because it tastes so good, that it ends up draining all the blood in her body.

I read the descriptions carefully, looking for anything that sounded familiar, and threw aside the fanciful parts. It seems that most vampire legends revolve around pretty women, usually demons, and small children, the latter usually victims. They all seem to have been fabricated to explain the high rate of infant mortality among young children, or to give men an excuse for indulgence. Many of the stories include disembodied souls and warnings about non-compliant funerals. There wasn't much that sounded like a movie I'd seen, and only a few of them, like Estiri in Hebrew and Upier in Poland, were vampires bent on sucking blood.

Only three entries really caught my attention: Villacolas in Romania, a powerful undead creature that usually appears in handsome, pale-skinned human form; The Slovak Nelas, an extremely strong, incredibly fast creature capable of slaughtering an entire village in an hour after midnight; There is also one more, Stegonia, the beneficial vampire, and there is only a short sentence about the description of this last vampire.

Stegania, the beneficial vampire: An Italian vampire that is said to be the protector of virtue and the deadliest enemy of all evil vampires.

This short legend is a relief, and out of hundreds of legends, this is the only one that claims to have good vampires.

But, in general, there's not much to do with Kendil's story or my observations. As I watched, I made a small list in my mind to compare with each legend. Speed, strength, beauty, pale skin, discolored eyes, and the standards of Kendil: Blood Ice Clan, Blood Drinker, Werewolf Predator, Icy Skin, and Eternal Life. There aren't many legends that fit at least one factor.

There is another problem. I remember mentioning it in the few horror movies I've seen, plus what I've seen today - vampires can't be in the daytime, the sun will burn them to ashes. During the day they all slept in the coffin and only came out at night.

In a fit of rage, I snapped and turned off the computer, not wanting to wait for it to be turned off step by step. In addition to the anger, I felt overwhelming embarrassment. It's all so stupid. I actually sat in my room and watched the vampire. What the hell is wrong with me? I decided to put most of the blame on the threshold of the town of Victoria.

I desperately wanted to get out of this house, but anywhere I wanted to go would have to be a three-day drive away. Anyway, I put on my boots and walked aimlessly downstairs. Without even looking at the weather, I put on my raincoat and walked out the door with heavy steps......