edited and rewritten

In my sleep, I can feel someone watching me. Call me paranoid but I know what I'm feeling. It's the tingles that crawl up your spine but you try to stay still. The feeling of a million eyes all watching you, waiting for you. The way you squeeze your eyes tighter because you feel watched―judged.

I stay still. I'm careful enough not to do as much as raise a single finger. Whatever is watching me, it feels dangerous. It feels predatory. From the way my toes twitch and the hair on my neck rises, it's dangerous.

I try my best not to move. If whoever it is, realizes that I'm asleep, they'll leave me alone. Right? I need to move. My leg twitches, telling me that it needs to move. This isn't the moment for you to move, Leg.

My body goes against my brain and I stir a little. I turn in my bed, wrapping myself in a burrito. Cuddling into my pillow, I bring it closer to myself. I wrap my arms under it, making myself comfortable. I lift my leg, putting it across another one of my pillows.

Ahh, now I'm comfortable. And now whoever's watching me knows I'm awake. Good going, body.

I try to fall asleep once more but after ten minutes―I assume― I still feel something watching me. Building up courage, I open my eyes. Darkness surrounds me and paranoia takes over. It takes a little bit for my eyes to get adjusted to the dark. Once they do, I use my elbow to prop myself onto the bed. I rub my eyes. I bring the blanket up to my neck as the cold seeps around me. Why did it get colder here?

I look at my window and it's open. I'm sure that I closed it when I went to sleep. I look at my clock, it's two thirty A.M.

Squinting my eyes, I take note of the dark figure sitting on my window seat. There's not a person there? Right? My eyes are playing a trick on me.

A ball forms in my throat and I swallow hard.

The black figure turns its head. It's looking right at me. My entire body, from the tips of my toes to the crown of my head, tenses.

Its red eyes pierce my own. A ball grows in my throat. I know exactly what it is. A vampire. And I know what it's here for.

The figure gets up off the window seat with lightning speed. I look around my room, trying to find where it is. My heart beats like a drum—the sounding drums right before you die—in my ears. My eyes swell up with tears. Some of them fall. I can't cry out because no one will hear me.

My parents are at an emergency meeting with the Royal Family. I assume it's because of what the news said. Even if they were here, I still wouldn't be able to scream. It would kill me before I could get it out. Besides, if I somehow did get to scream what could my parents do? It's a vampire. It'll kill me, then them.

The hair on the back of my neck rises. I gulp. It's right behind me. Tears fall down my cheeks and dampen my blanket.

I don't bother turning around. I don't want to see it. It breathes against the back of my neck and I shiver from the heat. Its fingers tap on the side of my neck and I almost jump out of my skin. I close my eyes tight.

My lips tremble and my body shivers. The vampire turns my head to the side and I start to cry. Feeding on humans is illegal but that doesn't stop the rest of them from doing it anyways. The sharpness and roughness of their fangs glide against my throat.

As if I can finally move, I jump away from the person before they could sink their fangs into my neck. I rush off my bed, tripping on my blanket. My knees make a hard thump on the hardwood floor as I fall. I stand as quick as I can and I look around my room. Biting my lip, I fight myself from letting out a sob.

Through squinted eyes, I look around my room. My shoulders relax. Could it be gone? As I assume I'm in the clear, cold, dead hands wrap around my throat. It spins me around and pins me to the wall. My back crashes to the wall and I cry out in pain. Groans escape my lips as I try to console the pain. It doesn't help. I'm terrified.

I look into hungry, red eyes. Its tongue darts out and licks its lips. It then comes closer to my neck, its fangs bared.

No, no, no!

I shake and shiver. It licks my neck and sob after sob comes out. My assaulter pins both my hands above my head. I can't move. I'm unable to do anything. The vampire can do anything it wants to me and I'd be powerless to stop it. Worst of all, no one will be here to hear me.

Hot tears pour down my cheeks. Its fangs sink into my skin and I cry out. Fire spreads throughout my body. From my head to my toes. The fire traces its path through my body, igniting everywhere it goes. It feels as if my blood's boiling.

"Ahh!" I scream out but the vampire doesn't stop. It continues trying to suck me dry.

As I'm about to lose consciousness, the vampire gets torn from me and it gets thrown to the floor. My hands go up to my neck as my body slides down to the floor. I put pressure on my neck, trying to stop the pain, but it doesn't help. It feels as if it's getting worse.

I grind my teeth even harder but then my tongue gets caught in the crosshairs. I taste liquid metal inside my mouth. It's bleeding. I stop grinding my teeth as I release my tongue.

My assaulter stands and walks toward me. Their body sways as if they were drunk―drunk off of my blood. I try moving backward but I am on the floor against the wall. I wrap my other arm around my body.

Big tears roll down as the vampire continues stalking me. In a matter of seconds, the other unknown vampire comes up behind my assaulter and snaps their neck.

The predator falls to the ground, its neck is at the back of its body. The other person, with glowing red eyes, walks toward me and I cower back.

"Please don't hurt me, please." I squeak out, as more tears fall.

The vampire comes into the light that the full moon provides. All their features are on display for me to see.

"Y-your highness?" My voice is small. I look at him. His tall stature looks down at me. His brown eyes glimmer as he stares at me. He offers his hand and my hand shakes as I take it.

He helps me stand. Blood runs down my hand as it puts pressure on my wound. As I stand, blood rushes down my entire body like a shock. I grip his hand, and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

I fall limp.