Reader x Vampire Receptionist
Chapter 1
Cherry slush or coffee?
It was a murky 2am night at a gas station in the middle of no where, many kilometers away from the city. You stand in front of the coffee machine glancing back and forth from the diabetic drink to the liquid laxative.
"Which way do I wanna fuck up my body more..?", you say to yourself. After a short pause, you make your way to the most colourful part of the store, pour yourself a cherry slush and make your way back to your car.
You popped yourself into your grey Honda civic that you got off kijiji, which was just one block away from breaking down. What could you say, a journalist's salary doesn't pay much after all, but you've always had a passion for storytelling and research. You take one large sip of your drink and unlock your phone, on the screen, a photo of a small town, 'Mortum Grove'. The name couldn't be any more of a sign to stay away, but as you turn to the piles of papers on the passengers seat, you're reminded of why you're doing what you're doing.
You shuffle through multiple files that you may or may not have legally acquired, a compilation of gut wrenching images of corpses. 17 men and 16 women. Every case had a bizarre cause of death— car accident, rock climbing fail, supposed suicide, but you noticed a peculiar pattern in the autopsy, 'low blood count'. That led you to question why each corpse had a 'drained' look with a muted complexion, almost as if they were emptied out and disposed of. It seemed like a moronic and crazy take, but with your countless hours of research you came to one conclusion. Vampires.
There was an hour left of the drive. It was dark and the vertical road was surrounded by tall eerie trees. Each passing minute the car's light became more dim and the hunger for answers grew. You then come across a winding road going up a hill, as you get closer and closer to the top, the thicker the oncoming mist gets.
"Fuck. Piece of shit car, I can barely see", you uttered.
You squint your eyes, setting them directly on the road to prevent any crashing from the lack of light, but from the rear view, you swear you could see a dark figure following you.
Before you know it, there was a loud slash and you start spinning out of control. A panic arose in you. Is this how I die? From a car crash… seriously? Fortunately enough, you swerved into some bushes stopping your crash, although that's not to say you weren't hurt.
There was a ringing in your ear once you opened your eyes, your head was throbbing and you can feel a thin trail of blood falling from your head, along with some bruises and minor scratches.
"Shit…", you winced. "What the hell happened?"
As you step out to investigate what nearly killed you, you notice both your back tires slashed. At least you know you didn't kill an innocent animal. But you can't help but wonder, what could've slashed the back and not the front?
Nothing made sense, but the more you thought about it, the more your head hurt. You reach into the car from a broken window for your phone and dialed 911. "No service…of course. Typical horror movie shit.", you spat, irritated.
Right now, all you could do was find a place to stay for the night, and to your surprise, you find a convenient sign leading to a hotel not far from where you were. Quickly, you prepped a bag gathering your evidence, and a spare change of clothes, then started your journey.
After about 10 minutes of walking, a dingy hotel that looked like it was being held together with a $15 dollar budget and a dream stood before you. It looked to be about 5 floors, it has a rough brick exterior and looked to be hundreds of years old. If buildings could talk, this one would be crying for help.
It surprisingly had quite a grand entrance, a driveway leading to the entrance following with nicely trimmed shrubs and tall street lamps to the light up the way. You slowly approach the hotel and notice light coming from the windows.
You open the door, and to your surprise, the interior didn't match with the exterior at all. Inside was a well furnished lobby, with black marble floor and an antique looking maroon wallpaper. You were so busy looking around that you barely acknowledged there was another presence amongst you.
At the front desk stood a tall man, maybe 6'4, with his back turned to you as he organized his space. He had dark skin and dark brown locs in a half up half down hairstyle, and formal attire that looked like it cost more than your salary. You slowly approach him, calculating the next thing to say.
You reach the desk to ask for a room, but can't seem to get the words out of your mouth. You had a peculiar sense of eeriness that you couldn't put your finger on. Your eyes lead to his desk. Candy. Specifically gummy gushers you've loved since childhood. There were many flavours, blue raspberry, green apple, orange, cherry, your favourite one of course.
"You can take one if you'd like."
You jolt up your head to the sudden voice. Deep but soft. You were so fixated on the candy that you completely forgot there was someone right in front of you.
The man seemed to be around mid 20's to early 30's. The locs in front of his face had black beads and he had an ambiguous eye colour. Your first guess is blue but you swore you could see purple too. Fuck this guy was handsome.
You quickly clear your voice and straighten your back.
"I'd like a room please. Your cheapest one preferably…" you said, saying that last part under your breath.
"Of course. Is room 505 on the fifth floor okay?" he says while already handing you a keycard.
Weird. Why would he give you a room on the very top when the whole place is a ghost town?
"I'd prefer a room in the lower floors if that's okay."
"Sorry, but unfortunately we're doing renovations on the other floors and have to close off the rooms." he said.
After a short pause, you let out a soft sigh and take the keycard from his hand. You reach for your card inside your pocket to pay and your eyes widen. You left it in your car.
"Shit." you groaned. How could you have forgotten something so important?
"Is there something wrong?" he says concerned.
"I just..forgot my card in my car, which happens to be crashed in a ditch." you say with fake enthusiasm.
"Oh my God. Did you walk all this way in the dark?"
"Yeah, I did. Thankfully this place was nearby."
"I can drive you to your car if you'd like. In fact, I have a truck and can pull it out for you."
You paused, surprised by his suspiciously generous request.
"I don't want to trouble you, you must be…busy, running this place." you say followed by an awkward laugh, knowing fully well the place is probably empty. " Besides, I was going to call a tow truck once I got here anyway." You hoped that would be enough to get him off your back, you already almost died once you don't want to double your chances getting in a car with a stranger at 3 in the morning.
"No I insist! Besides, I'd be saving you a whole lot of money. The tow-trucks around here usually charge a lot, somewhere between 200-300 dollars I believe?"
Your eyes widen once again and you nearly choke on air. 300 dollars?? And that's excluding the repair cost.
You hesitate to answer him, and after a long thought, you agreed.
"I..would greatly appreciate it if you were to help me." you said softly.
One bad thing already happened to you tonight, maybe this is will be a good thing to balance things out? It's a weird way of thinking but it's all you could afford to think.
His face lit up and he quickly grabbed his keys.
"Great! Let's hit the road shall we?"
As he locks the doors behind him, he turns to you and offers you his hand.
"I'm Jareth by the way."
You look at his hand and then at him. You had to admit he was charming and his eyes gave you an enchanted sensation.
You shake his hand and tell him your name.
"Nice to meet you y/n. Lovely name." he says will a smile.
"Thank you." you murmured.
You both make your way to his truck and he opens the door for you and gives a small bow with a dashing smile. You return that smile, reflecting as much enthusiasm as you could.
If you get murdered, at least a hot guy would be the last thing you see.
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Author's note: If anyone is here thanks for reading lol
Just wanna credit my friend @glazed-kn1f3 for helping me with Jareth's drawing, specifically his hair lol :)