The Vampire's Oracle

Fading Premonition

★Anastasia★

The days after Marcia’s party felt different. There was an unfamiliar weight in my chest, a constant hum in the back of my mind that wouldn’t be quiet. No matter what I did, my thoughts always drifted back to Noah. The way he looked at me, like he knew me, like he had been waiting for me. I tried to shake it off, tried to convince myself that it was just some bizarre coincidence, but my body betrayed me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. But there was something even stranger happening – my dreams were gone. No more premonitions. No more cryptic warnings. No more shadowy figures that whispered my name in the dark. At first, I thought it was a blessing, a reprieve from the torment of seeing things I couldn’t control. But now, the silence felt deafening. I had gotten so used to the dreams that now their absence left me feeling exposed and vulnerable.

“Until you actually meet this mystery man, I’m afraid that you are going to keep having these dreams,”

Those words had been replaying in my head ever since I had met Noah. Aunt Eloise had been right. Right? I shook my head as I tried to focus on work. The club was its usual chaos of flashing lights, loud music, and drunken patrons. It was familiar, a distraction I desperately needed. Marcia and I had fallen into an easy rhythm, our friendship growing stronger with each passing shift. She had become my anchor in all of this madness, the one person I could count on to make me laugh, to make me feel normal, and to help me through my work.

“Break time,” Marcia called out, and I sighed in relief. I needed a break. I finished up with my current table before I hurried to the staff lounge. I smiled when I saw her cuddled up on the couch with a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other. She took a large bite before she glanced over at me and nodded.

“Thanks for the reminder,” I said as I went over to the coffee machine to pour myself a cup of liquid gold.

“No problem,”

“So…the tips are good tonight,” I remarked as I joined her on the couch. She eyed me closely while she continued to eat. “I’m…I’m saving up to move out,” I admitted softly. Marcia raised an eyebrow. While we had become friends, we didn’t know everything about each other. She certainly wasn’t aware that I wanted to move out of my family’s farmhouse.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I just…I need to find something decent in Evermere…but it’s so expensive,” I said with another long sigh. “So, yeah, the tips definitely help,”

“I mean…Eloise would help you out, right?” she asked, and I nodded, but before I could say anything, she looked away. “But I’m guessing you want to do it on your own,”

“Exactly,”

“But does that mean you don’t want any help?” Marcia questioned, and I rolled my eyes. “I just meant that I know a place,”

“You do?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah, it’s this apartment complex, and it’s in a nice neighborhood…not too far from here actually…one of my friends used to live there, and she said the rent was pretty decent and the landlord wasn’t a total creep,” she explained, and a flicker of hope ignited inside me.

“That sounds perfect,” I said, and she smirked.

“Obviously…look, I’ll send you the details, and you can see for yourself,” she said, and I nodded as excitement washed over me. However, as I listened to her talk about her friends and the party she had thrown for Noah, I realized I was tempted to bring up her brother. “Anyway, breaks over…see you out there,” Marcia said before she cleaned up her mess and headed out. The opportunity had gone, but I figured it was probably for the best. While she hadn't come right out and asked me about my time with Noah on the balcony, I had a feeling she wouldn’t appreciate me crushing on her brother. With a heavy sigh, I finished my coffee and got back to work. By the time I got home, I set an alarm so that I could check out the apartment complex. It wasn’t that I didn’t like living with my Aunt, because I did. I just wanted a place of my own. I wanted to be independent.

★

“Is there a reason your phone is blaring on the kitchen counter?” Eloise questioned, and I groaned at the interruption of a very good sleep. “Anastasia?”

“Hmm?”

“You have an alarm set on your phone and I want to know why?” I slowly sat up and blinked as I tried to focus.

“An alarm?”

“For f***s sake!” she snapped before she hurried out of my room. I wasn’t fully awake, and I was just about to go back to sleep when she came back into my room with my phone. My phone that was making a lot of noise. Eloise threw it on the bed before she stormed out of my room. I quickly shut off the offensive noise and laid back down. I closed my eyes as I snuggled under the blanket. However, a moment or so later, the next alarm popped up and I groaned.

“Ugh,” I muttered as I shut off the second alarm and sat up. I squinted at the screen and one word jumped out at me – apartment. Excitement flooded my senses as I fully woke up and climbed out of bed. Still, I lazily made my way to the kitchen and put on the coffee machine. It was barely nine in the morning, and I had only slept for five hours, but this was my chance. If Marcia was right, then I could potentially move out sooner than I had expected. Once the coffee was done, I got comfortable by the kitchen table and pulled up the information Marcia had sent me.

★Anastasia: Good morning. My name is Anastasia, and I was hoping that there was still an apartment available at Scarlet Manor.

I sent off the text to the realtor and waited as I sipped my coffee. I stared out the window as I tried to imagine what the apartment would look like. One of the agreements Eloise and I had made was that she wouldn’t help me find a place. She wouldn’t help me with rent or even groceries, but I would allow her to help me furnish the place. I already knew that furniture was expensive and since I wanted out so badly, I was more than prepared to let her help me with that.

★Realtor: Good morning, Anastasia. You are in luck. There is one apartment available, but you are going to have to act fast. If you are interested, meet me outside of Scarlet Manor in an hour.

★Anastasia: I will be there.

I smiled as I set my phone aside. This was it. I couldn’t believe that it was finally happening.