The Beautiful Monster

After a fitful night of rest back at her place, Alyssa was called to the hospital. She looked forward to going to work and trying to get her life back to normal.

She wanted the distraction of her work too since she would be at it for hours. Saving lives always put her in a good mood too.

Once she got to the hospital, she headed to the locker room to get changed into her scrubs and white coat.

She fixed her hair back, drawing in a deep breath through her nose. Last night was a little rough.

She had a little too much to drink, which put her to sleep, but it didn't keep her asleep.

"Hey, Morgan. Heard you were up partying last night," Micah's voice came from the door of the locker room as he strode inside.

Alyssa turned to him with a shrug.

"Just a little," she said with a sheepish look. She knew that she looked a bit rough this morning.

She was about to inhale a cup of coffee before seeing her first patient. Hopefully, she could get enough caffeine in her to get her through her shift.

"Everything good? I haven't really seen you much since that guy dragged you away from the bar," Micah said as he walked over to her, leaning against one of the lockers.

Alyssa didn't really feel up to talking about Elias. She just wanted to get to work, but she figured that she owed Micah at least a hint of an explanation for rushing out so fast the other night.

"Sorry about that. He had something important to tell me," she replied. She didn't want to say too much.

She wasn't supposed to reveal the existence of vampires to anyone. Honestly, she wished that she didn't know that they existed. Ignorance truly was bliss. She took it for granted.

Micah held her gaze for a moment before nodding.

"Just checking in. Let me know if you want to talk or anything," he told her before opening his locker to change out of his scrubs.

Alyssa nodded, feeling glad that he was satisfied enough. She walked past him and to the nearest coffee pot.

She poured herself a cup of coffee, adding some cream in before downing half of it in one good.

She tilted her head back, hoping that the caffeine kicked in soon. She searched around the halls until she found Sam, one of the interns.

"Fill me in," she said.

"The patients in 205, 206, and 207 have been checked on. There is a new patient in 210, but I haven't made it there yet," Sam told her as he handed her a binder full of the patient files.

Alyssa flipped through them, checking everything over until she got to the new patient in 210. There wasn't much information. She would have to go find out what was going on herself.

"I'll go check out the patient in 210. I need labs on 202," Alyssa told him before handing the binder back to him.

She walked down the hallway to the last room on the left, smoothing down her coat before stepping inside and shutting the door behind her.

To her confusion, the curtain was drawn to hide the bed from sight.

"Hi, Christopher. I'm Dr. Morgan," she called out just in case the boy was shy.

She grabbed the edge of the curtain and pulled it back, but there wasn't a young, sickly boy on the bed.

There was a grown man with stringy, dark hair and dark eyes. She stepped back, giving him a confused look. "Who are you?"

The man stood up from the bed as a sly smile crossed his face. He stepped closer to Alyssa.

"I've been waiting for you, Doc," he said in a low voice that struck Alyssa to her core.

A chill shot down Alyssa's spine as she backed away. She had a feeling that she needed to run. She needed to get out of here fast.

"You need to leave, or I'm calling security," she warned him as she backed herself toward the door.

She wished that she hadn't closed the door. She didn't have a clean escape now, and she knew that vampires could be fast.

"You're not calling anyone," the man said. As he spoke, she could see flashes of his fangs.

Alyssa almost wanted to cry when she realized that he was a vampire. How could she escape him? He could tear her throat out in an instant.

"Please… don't hurt me," she said, feeling her bottom lip threaten to tremble.

She didn't know what else to do but to beg for her life. It was terrifying that she had been brought to this point.

The man laughed before lunging at her, grabbing her arms and shoving her against the door.

A scream tore from Alyssa as she tried to lash out, fighting against the vampire with all her might. She couldn't move her arms at all, but she could move her legs.

She thrusted one knee up, striking him in the groin to make him double over. She felt his grip on her arms lessen, and she saw her chance. She pushed him away from her.

The vampire tumbled onto the ground, gripping himself as he tried to get back on his feet. As his teeth bared, his fangs protruded, looking sharp and deadly.

Alyssa whirled around, her hands fumbling with the doorknob because her hands were shaking so much.

By the time, she cracked the door open, the vampire got to his feet and shoved the door closed with a hand above Alyssa's head.

"You're not going anywhere," the vampire growled from right behind her.

Alyssa knew that she had to fight her way out, but she didn't have a weapon.

She shoved her hand into the pocket of her coat, her fingers curling around a ballpoint pen. She clicked out the tip before whirling around and stabbing the vampire in the eye.

The vampire cried out in pain, clawing at his bleeding eye as he stumbled away from her.