Chapter 2 — Fiction Vs Reality
1286 Words
MARISSA'S POV (present day)
Marissa jolted awake, her body was slick with sweat, her breath came in short, panicked bursts. She sat up in bed, her eyes wide, her hands shaking as they fumbled over the crumpled sheets.
The emotional grip of the nightmare lingered, following her from her dreams like a heavy, suffocating presence she couldn't escape. It had been thirteen years, but the memory was as ripe as a fresh wound.
She knew what came next; it was her life after all. Her father hadn't survived that attack. He had slipped into a comatose state shortly afterwards and died by nightfall of the same day. He was gone. She had been pushed into the foster system and lived in different foster homes until she turned eighteen.
After his death, the police came with their questions, but they never took her answers seriously. She had wrestled with what she saw, the man, his eyes, the blood on his hands, how quickly he was able to leave without a sound. It wasn't anything natural. And the only conclusion she'd been able to draw was this: vampire.
It was insane, everyone else thought so; the cops, even her therapist, but it was the only thing that made sense. And the more the people around her denied her claims, the more she believed it.
Over the years, her obsession grew. The flame fanned by the communities she found online that shared the same suspicions as her. The only clue she had about the ordeal with her father's death was the last thing she'd heard him say. "The Minister."
But today wasn’t going to be a day for her to go down another rabbit hole. She had a job interview today.
She got up from her bed, reaching for her nightstand. The only thing there besides a lamp was an old newspaper which covered the story of her father's death thirteen years ago. On the front page was a picture of her childhood home. The cops had labelled it as a failed robbery, but she believed it was more than that.
She took the newspaper and headed to the kitchen.
"Morning, beautiful", Yosef said from the living room. He and Marissa had been best friends since high school, but lately other things had become entangled in their relationship. He walked over to her, shirtless, his body glistening in a thin sheen of oil and sweat. He had just gotten back from a morning run.
"Morning", she said a bit too dryly. The dream had affected her mood. He picked up on the flatness in her tone and tried to dissuade her with a kiss, but she dodged him.
"You're sweaty."
"I know. I thought you liked me sweaty," Yosef said with a playful smirk. He walked into their shared kitchen and started cooking up breakfast. He was the talented chef of the pair.
“Smells like you’re about to burn the eggs again,” she called as she followed him barefoot into the kitchen.
“I’m not burning them,” Yosef replied from the stove. “They’re just… aggressively crisped.” His eyes swept across her frame, taking in her tousled bed hair, blonde with striking blue eyes, as she wore one of his oversized sweatshirts and a random, mismatching pair of pajama shorts she had slept in.
He saw the newspaper on the counter in front of her and hesitated before asking.
"Here", he said, handing her his untouched cup of coffee.
"Thanks."
"Mariss, are you okay?" his eyes pointed at the paper, and she instinctively tried to hide it from him, but it was already too late.
Marissa didn’t believe in vampires the way the fiction books and Hollywood movies portrayed them. But what she saw at ten hadn’t been human. And she knew that whoever had been in her apartment that night, standing over her father’s bleeding body, wasn't right or natural.
And she hadn’t let it go.
Due to their long history, Yosef knew all about Marissa’s past and how she lost her father. He knew about her ‘obsessions’, though he didn’t believe in them, he didn’t make her feel crazy for it, and she was grateful that she had a friend like him.
“I’m fine”, she said. He wasn't convinced, though.
“Are you sure? You know you can always talk to me,” he countered.
“Yeah..”
“And you know I’ll know when you’re keeping something from me…” he said with a furtive look.
“Okay fine, I had the dream again.”
“That explains much.”
“It’s not new, not something to be worried about anyway.”
“You’re right, you’re right. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.” Yosef quipped in, moving a little bit closer to her. It made her feel slightly uneasy. Marissa had noticed some changes in Yosef and his attitude towards the 'messy' side of their relationship.
On her end, it was strictly platonic, but Yosef always acted like he wanted, no, deserved more. Marissa didn't agree with that; the exchange was mostly unspoken, but whatever feelings Yosef felt he wanted from her, she'd made it known to him that she couldn't give them.
“I know, but let's forget about that. I have a job interview today.”
She hesitated, then held up a folded paper. “Junior Secretary/Assistant. It’s just entry-level. But it’s at Halden Corp.”
“It’s today?” Yosef said with wide eyes. She hadn't told him anything about applying for a job. She didn't necessarily need to, plus she couldn't risk him finding out about her underlying reasons.
"Yes. I didn't expect to get picked for the interview, but they emailed me last night."
"Wow, I don't know what to say. Halden Corp is one of the biggest and well-paying companies in the city. I'm proud of you."
"Not yet. Save it for when I land the job."
"I'll still be proud of you, Mariss."
“—Well, you need to get ready.”
“Yeah, I’ll go take a quick shower.”
She left the kitchen then, walking quickly down the hallway to her room and quietly shutting the door behind her. The second the latch clicked, her casual smile melted away.
She crossed to the closet.
From the top shelf, behind a stack of old shoeboxes, she pulled down a small black lockbox. She set it on the floor, pulled the key from a chain around her neck, and opened it with a soft click.
Inside were the pieces of her secret.
A leather-bound journal filled with years of entries. Newspaper clippings. A thumb drive with research files. For the last three months, she’d been chasing a new lead. It had started with a Reddit thread and ended with a leaked investor report. All roads pointed to one place.
Halden Corp.
Yes, she needed the job; she was tired of waiting tables, and she was yet to use her degree for befitting work. Also, it would be a plus if she found some real evidence while working there; she'd kill three birds with one stone.
She didn't tell Yosef about it. There were just some things she needed to do on her own, and this was one of them.
She reached beneath the papers and pulled out the last item in the box: a printed photo.
It was a grainy black-and-white picture. Cropped from a shareholder event.
A man stood at the center, tall and imposing. He looked straight into the camera, eyes shielded by a pair of sunglasses. Below the photo was a title that read...
NEW CEO, ADAM MINISTER.
That name... There was no going back now.
- Writer
