First lines given – #9.5

Welcome to First Lines Given! If that sentence confuses you, here’s a link to where I explain what this is.

So, you might remember the first line is by Innerdialects. She said:

I got a request to continue the story a bit more. Here’s the first one in case you missed it, and here’s the result:

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I gave Dracula a smirk, nothing more. “So, when can I start asking questions about you?” I sat in a chair by his office desk. My arm was already stretched out, ready for him to take my blood.

We had been doing this for a while now — Dracula and I. I came in once a month, offered my blood, and got paid in return. The money helped with groceries while my blood helped his “friend.” If there even was a friend.

I nicknamed him Dracula since that was who he reminded me of. Unlike other teachers, he wasn’t one of those proud types with their framed degrees on the wall. I never saw any papers out with his name on it. He never corrected me though, so it stuck.

He gave me a soft smile as he set his tools down beside me. “What kind of questions are you thinking of?” he asked in return.

Answering a question with a question. . . He was avoiding me. “About your blood lust,” I said before I could stop myself.

He laughed. “I told you. This is for a friend.” His Spanish accent was thick that night or perhaps I noticed it more then.

“What friend?”

“Ah. You don’t know him.” He paused for a moment as if he was debating what to tell me. He seemed more reserved tonight than I had seen him before. “His name is Alejandro. He’s a scientist.”

“What kind of science does he do?” I twisted my feet under the chair. My foot tapped against my other leg in a rapid motion.

“Beats me.” He gave me a soft smile. “I’ve dedicated my life to languages. I know nothing about science. He has talked to me about it before, but the words fly over my head.”

I nodded. “I get that.” Which was true. I loved learning languages as well, and I could never understand science much. I knew the basics because I had to, but everything else never stuck.

He held the needle up for a moment before looking back at me. “Are you nervous about the process?”

I shrugged. “I just wanted more information.”

He gave me a soft smile that also seemed a bit sad. Whether he was sad for me or himself was unknown. “Don’t we all.” He wrapped my arm where he had taken the blood from and packed everything up quickly. He didn’t seem like he was in a rush since he always packed up fast, but I wondered if he was rushing somewhere today.

When he finished, he turned back to me with the same curious expression as before. “Are you ready? Or would you like to stay some?”

I still didn’t know him that well, so there was no chance of me staying. I also had two essays to write and a test to study for. I nodded. “I’m ready.” I grabbed my backpack from the floor and put it over my shoulder. I also picked up my umbrella.

“I wonder when the rain’s going to stop,” he said as he walked me out. “It feels like it has been raining forever.”

“Don’t you like the rainy weather, Dracula?”

“Sometimes. But after a while, I also like a bit of change. I miss the sun.”

I nodded.

Outside, I opened my umbrella and waved bye as I went down the steps. I jumped at the last step, trying to avoid the large puddle on the ground. It had been raining so much that one of the sidewalks on my left looked more like a river. I had to walk the long way around to avoid getting my feet soaked.

After I turned the corner, someone shouted, “Hey!” Usually, those were never meant for me, so I kept walking. But I also noticed I was the only one around. I stopped in my tracks and turned to where I thought I heard the voice.

Sure enough, someone was running toward me. She wasn’t a student that I had seen around before, but there were tons of students like that. Even for a small university, I barely knew anyone.

She stopped near me, looking out of breath. Running wasn’t her hobby then. She reached out her hand. “I’m Lulu. Can we talk for a moment?”

“Um. Sure.” I shook her hand. It was firm.

“I want to warn you about Professor Díaz.” She started walking beside me. Both of us together could barely fit on the sidewalk, but neither of us wanted to walk in the mud.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“The professor you were just with.”

“Oh. I call him Dracula. I don’t actually know his name. I take Japanese here.”

“面白い.” Interesting. “Dracula is a fitting name for him.”

I noted her knowledge of at least basic Japanese. I had never seen her in any of my Japanese classes though. I would’ve remembered a girl with purple hair anywhere. Perhaps she learned the word from anime. “Yeah, he likes to keep his room dark with artificial lighting. Never seen another teacher do that.”

“Cause no other teacher does.”

We had come across a crossroads near the center of campus. I could see the river sidewalk in the distance. I needed to cross it, but it was safer to cross where it eased up on the edge of campus rather than here and get everything below my knees drench. I didn’t know which way she had to go though. I turned to her, but she was looking at me.

“How much do you know about vampires?” she asked.

Copyright © Robin LeeAnn