I didn't say anything at first. From were I stood I just stared at her, still half-dazed and trying not to show it. She was... a lot to take in. Especially with that eerie glow in her eyes.
But I wasn't stupid enough to fall headfirst into whatever weird and supernatural alure she has over me...the way how things are this was slowly starting to turn into a nightmare.
She looked me over like I was a glass she was holding up to the light. Something about the way her lips curled into the smallest smirk made me had goosebumps.
But it was what she said next that confused me, if not took me by suprise as she smiled and said.
"You're already showing promise that's good."
She said, as if I'd passed some kind of unspoken test.
Promise? I didn't know what the hell she meant by that. But I wasn't about to ask either, something deep inside me was telling me the less questions I have the better my chances of escaping this dream was going to be.
Instead I remain silent, and wait for her to speak.
"Sit, Mr. William."
She said, motioning to the chair across from hers.
"We have much to discuss… and very little time to waste."
My attention went at the fancy chair in front of me, and then I looked back at her. And to be honest I didn't trust her, but what choice do I have, as such I complied and took a seat.
Seeing this she soon began to reach for her desk, as she picked up a sheet from it, the sheet itself was thin and weathered like something stolen out of a museum archive, but she soon looked at it, began to read the content from it, and what heard shocked me to no ends.
"Theodore Henders William. Born April 1st, 2010. To Elizabeth Bokan Vulpe and Daniel Jack William."
Upon hearing those words my spine straightened in shock. It wasn't fear at first, just confusion. Like hearing your name called by someone who shouldn't know it.
But soon I quickly realize how vivid I was to this person I have never met before.
"You are the firstborn. Followed by your sister, Vanessa Kiro William."
My stomach tightened the more information about me she read out.
"You were raised in Yazoo County, Mississippi. In a lower-middle-class household."
She kept going, her voice unnervingly calm.
"Your father was killed when you were thirteen. Shot by gang members during a corner store robbery gone wrong."
My fingers curled on the armrest. I could still remember the cops at the door. My mom's scream. The way the world stopped like someone had hit pause on everything that mattered to me that day.
But this mysterious woman did not make things any easier for me as she continued.
"One year later, your mother grew ill, but she continued working just to keep the house running. Meanwhile, your sister began to spiral out of control. She stole from the family savings. That was also your mother's medical funds."
"Okay, stop!"
I shouted in anger at my personal information being leak without my permission.
However my voice came out lower than I meant it to. I was still very much afraid of this woman for some reason.
But even with my clear anger being shown, she didn't stop.
"You confronted her, but she would't listen. The death of your father broke something between you... two siblings once so close grow further and further from each other... You also finished high school albeit barley."
"Seriously, what the hell is this? Come on please just stop it, I get it, you know a lot about me."
I said this time in more softer if not pleading voice.
"Vanessa however ran away the year you graduated. Your mother's heart gave out soon after. Stage four leukemia. You left your childhood home. Took a job at Mr. Shen's Supermarket. And to this day you still work there now."
I couldn't breathe.
I could feel the sweat at the back of my neck, cold and itching.
And if to add salt to already emotionally deep wound, she ended her background check with.
"Your current net worth is forty-three dollars and fifty-six cents."
That broke something in me, shame pheraphs my own self pity acting up.
As I barked out a laugh, it was too sharp to be anything close to funny.
"Hahahaha... You done reading my obituary yet?"
I said, voice cracking.
"Or do you want to remind me how worthless I am, if so you already cut me deep with that flash back to past."
She didn't answer.
But as my head swing with questions, I stood halfway as I long gotten up from the chair I sat on earlier, fists clenched, heart pounding like a war drum as I looked at the mysterious woman before who was just watching my reaction.
"Just...just who the hell are you really?"
Still no response.
She just watched me.
On the other hand I began to think I was going crazy, as I feel like my own mind was turning against me. I soon looked down at myself, at the surreal room with its red lighting and rich air and heavy scent of incense pressing into my nose like a warm hand.
"No. No, this is a dream why am I even acting like this?"
I said, shaking my head.
"This isn't real. Yeah! Yeah! This is just some… twisted nightmare. A really vivid one. My brain's just..screwing with me. That is all."
My hands were trembling.
"I've had bad dreams before."
I muttered, and then continued by saying.
"But I've never had one this bad before that spent this much effort trying to remind me how little I've got going for me."
"...Sigh... Theodore what the hell are you even doing? Your crying your eyes out inside your own head. Sigh have I truly become so pathetic in life that I can't even find happiness or sense of purpose inside my own dreams... At this point my sister last words to me define me too well hehehe."
"Your too soft, and too forgiving, a man like you can never be worth the attention and time of others with a shitty and weak personality like yours... At this rate we will all die in this house. I can't take it anymore, if you want to die and starve to death, then by all means go ahead, in this world no one but me will care for my wellbeing but myself."
Those were the last words I heard from her. Yet as I sit her and reflect on the pass I sighed heavily as I said to myself.
"Sigh I wish I can turn back time, and just start over my life. Maybe I would not end up in my current situation... Maybe life would have been way better for me than it is now."
I said to myself, and it was these words that finally got the woman attention.
As she finally decided to speak.
"Hmmm... With my current power I lack the power needed to time travel... In my prime most definitely, at this moment an act like that would be expensive "
She said while folding the paper with delicate fingers, and placed it neatly back on the desk, then met my eyes like a judge reading out a sentence.
"Again Mr. William it's nice to meet you... Sorry if I came on too strong there for a moment. However the first step to changing one self is remembering why you want to change to begin with. I have found out the greatest motivation a person can have in life is pain, the more one suffer the more beautiful a person can become when they finally decide to transform that pain into something worth while. Either way let me introduce myself. I am Traumerei Blackheart."
She said casually to me, as I looked at her with wide eyes
But I did not interrupt her, rather I made her finished her introduction.
"And I am a vampire."
I blinked once then twice as I said.
"What?"
"Or rather."
She corrected herself letting her station be known.
"I am the founder of the Blackheart bloodline. And to make a long explanation short Mr. William, I am dead, but my soul still lingers."
She gestured slowly, her gold eyes glinting in the red light, as she point at my finger.
"In the very ring you're wearing to boot, as such that make you my successor...in a way fate has brought us together."
She bluntly said to me with a smile.