Page 1 of Dear Mr. Vampire

PROLOGUE

What a day, what a way to live your life in total isolation. Sometimes I’d stare out the sliding glass door of my second-floor balcony apartment. I spent too much time people watching. I was an incognito peeping Tom, or the female version, a peeping Tonya. I would observe people living their busy lives, wishing that I had a vibrant life of my own. I was exaggerating. I had a life, but I wasn’t living it to the fullest. I couldn’t live it now, no matter how badly I wanted that fundamental freedom. There were too many ghosts in my closet and bats in my belfry.

I had been in my new apartment building for just a short time when I noticed him. I didn’t know all the tenants by name, but I had seen all of them in the three months after I moved in. This roguish guy didn’t fit. There was something different about him, something private and sinister. I knew evil people. I wouldn’t quite call him that, but he was ominous in his way. He wasn’t friendly or nosy. He wasn’t helpful or loud, but there was something— dangerous. He avoided eye contact at all costs. He could easily fit into the weirdo category if he weren’t so ridiculously and raggedly handsome.

We would briefly bump into each other at the communitymailboxes, at the parking lot dumpster, or in the laundry room. He didn’t speak to me. He didn’t gawk. He didn’t acknowledge me, although I was fairly attractive. I was at least a solid seven to White men in the looks department and maybe an eight to Black, Latino and Asian men. Something about this elusive man was off.

I was in the small parking lot at the rear of the complex when I noticed his amber-colored eyes. I got a glimpse of his alluring gaze and froze in my tracks. I sensed danger. His eyes didn’t fit his face. They were warm but sinister all at the same time.

He had an old classic car, but he always walked the streets. From my balcony window, I could see him coming and going in the darkness of the night. I didn’t use to be this judgmental. I was never this nosy, but I had time. Life, it had a way of grabbing your innocence and choking the hell out of all you believed in.

There were six regular apartments in the complex and one lone basement apartment. The basement was where he lived— alone. There were women, lots of women. They entered at night and emerged in one piece in the early morning. I waited for the day that one of these women would disappear, never to be seen again. That day never came. They always left the basement on their own; with a waiting Uber or Lyft to whisk them back to their regular lives.

In my short time in the complex, I had brief introductions with all the tenants, but not him. I didn’t know his name. It wasn’t on the communal mailboxes. His mailbox just had the letter “Z” That’s weird. That’s suspicious. His age and his political affiliation were all a mystery. It seemed no one really knew him. His name never came up in the hallway, elevator, mailbox, or parking lot conversations. Maybe I was the only one that thought he was strange.

The lack of excitement in my life made it easy for me to focus on this random stranger. The freaks came out at night, buthe wasn’t freaky if you didn’t count his harem of women. He was quite handsome in his guarded, nonchalant manner.

I had all sorts of strange men on my radar since my last breakup. I fell asleep at the wheel and had a relationship with a dangerous stalker. He was more than a stalker. Even now, I found it hard to admit just how bad my ex really was. It’s sad to say, but some men would go out of their way to deceive you. They lure you in by pretending to be a gentleman. My ex replaced honesty with deception. He was the reason I lost all hope in the male species. Where were the good, chivalrous, and trustworthy men? I know they’re out there somewhere, but where? This was just another question that I didn’t have the answer to.

CHAPTER ONE

CHANEL

Iwoke to the rhythmic tapping of rain against my windowpane. It was cold for October in the Midwest. My reluctant move to Chicago wasn’t going as bad as I thought it would. From the outside looking in, Chicago seemed dangerous. Now that I had taken up residence here, it wasn’t bad at all in my neighborhood. It wasn’t any worse than where I came from.

Regardless, I didn’t want to be here. I was going to make the best out of this bad situation that was forced upon me. No need to bitch and moan about it. I was at a point where I could say it is, what it is.

I had just finished making my apartment livable. No more boxes or random clothes tossed about. Everything finally had its place. It felt like a comfortable, cozy home. It wasn’t too bright and bold. But it wasn’t too dark and dull. I reached a happy medium. This apartment was my new sanctuary.

Months alone in a new city all by myself was driving me stir crazy. After a few months of getting adjusted, I was ready to have some company at my place. My best friend Morgan was coming in from out of town just to visit me. She was bringing the one thing I didn’t have in my refrigerator, wine. I hadn’t wrapped mylips around a bottle of anything alcoholic in a long time. I wasn’t on a cleanse, but it sure seemed that way. I wanted to start my new life in a new city completely dry. I didn’t have a drinking problem, but I was embarking on a new life. With that came a new state of mind.

Morgan was my long-time loyal friend. She was my ride or die. She was driving six hours to see me. Although she didn’t like to drive, I thought it would be safer for her that way. Who was I kidding? It would be safer for the both of us. I had a restraining order against my ex-boyfriend from the court. I wasn’t sure the order held any merit out of the state of its issue. I could hope.

I left town because I was terrified he would come after me. I wasn’t sure what he would do. Would he try to follow my friends to find my current location? Who knew? I didn’t want to take that chance. I wished I never laid eyes on Alonzo Lopez. It was much too late for wishes. Bad things happened, and I never thought I would be in this situation. But I was in it up to my eyeballs.

Earlier in the day, I was in a good mood at the office because I knew I would see my friend later. Morgan arrived soon after I got home from work. I buzzed her up to my spacious two bedroom second-floor apartment. She wheeled her cute little rolling luggage into my front door. She had her shoulder bag and a cloth grocery bag slung over her shoulder. Seeing her made me emotional. I missed her. When we hugged, I felt a huge weight lift off my chest. I missed all my friends. Starting over was hard. Seeing my bestie made everything feel just a little bit better.

My friend looked pretty damn good. She was exactly the same as last time I saw her, but her summer tan had worn off. She was pale again. Her sandy-colored hair was pulled back in a low, curly ponytail.

Morgan’s eyes scanned me up and down. “Coco, you cut your hair.”

I missed being called Coco.“Yes, I did.” I took the shopping bagwith the wine from her shoulder and rushed it into my open kitchen.

“Why? I loved your thick, long hair.” She followed me until she stopped to lean on the kitchen island.

“New life, new hairstyle, new me.” I removed the wine from the bag and placed the four bottles on the countertop.

“I kind of like it. I’m just used to seeing you with long ass hair.”

“It’s not the first time I cut my hair.”

“I know, but you should let me curl it.”

“You can, tomorrow. Aren’t you tired from all that driving?”

“A little, but I haven’t seen you in three months.”

I grabbed two wineglasses from the cabinet and the corkscrew from the top junk drawer. “I had to go. I didn’t have much of a choice.” I removed the cork of the Pinot Grigio.

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