Perception is a complex affair that embraces sensations together with associated or revived contents of the mind, including emotions. I perceived myself to be 21st century ‘In’ girl with my senses open to every possibility under the sky. I perceived myself to be filled with confidence and a daring attitude to take on the world and spin it in my hands! I thought I was on top of the world...until one night.

I am Lane Davis and have a very hands-on experience with life’s struggles. My dad walked out on us when I was 6 years old and since then struggle has confronted us head on. My mom runs a small grocery store, which she ‘supposedly’ inherited from my uncle, whom I have never met in my life. After I turned 17, I moved out of our little house and started working shifts in a local bar and the community library. The good thing about being in a library is that you have access to almost all kinds of books...all the time. It was during this time that I discovered my love for journalism and photography. I read a lot of books related to journalism and even managed to enroll myself in the local college to pursue the subject. The thing about struggle is that if you overcome it with triumphant results, victory tends to make its way to your head. I thought if I can achieve this, then hell yeah I can conquer the whole world. Little did I know that fate was sniggering at me somewhere quietly. While growing up, neither I didn’t have too many friends in school nor was I a popular one in college. I do have a best friend who’s my whole life – Nikki. She’s been with me since I can remember and has never left my side. On the last day of my semester, she suggested we hit the local bar to celebrate. None of us had ever drank and were pretty conservative about it, but that day I was pretty pumped, I wanted to loosen up and have a blast with Nikki.

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I woke up with a jolt thinking that I had a test and was late for it. I reached for my alarm, which would normally be on the right side of the bed, but instead of the clock, my hands landed on a soft but firm pillow. As soon as my hazy, sleep deprived eyes adjusted to the room, I realized that I was not in my room and not in Nikki’s room either…but oh my! What a gorgeous room…I admired the beige colored-walls, the lush red curtains, the sliding door, the huge king-size bed, the silky velvety sheets and above that a pair of beautiful gorgeous grey eyes with perfect long eye lashes that reach the cheek… wait, what? “Ahhhhhhhrgh!” I screamed and fell off from the bed. 

“What the hell? Where am I? …and who are you?” I slapped my hands on my hips as I stood in front of this gorgeous man, who was surprisingly smiling at me.

“I don’t think I should ruin this moment by speaking. Let me just soak in the sight.” 

I have never had a boyfriend before so I was aware of my inner goddess swirling her fingers around my curls and battling her lashes at him. It took great strength in me to focus on what he was saying rather than staring at his soft blond hair and imagining my fingers running through them. 

“What moment? ….. What are you talking about?” I asked with less anger in my voice. 

“Well you see Ms. Davis you gave me a wonderful night… something I would treasure for a long time…and right now you are letting me relive those memories. So, like I said I’d rather not ruin this moment but sit back and enjoy.” He replied with a smirk. 

Slowly, as his words registered in my still groggy brain, I realized that I was VERY scantily dressed and indeed showing off more flesh than girls in the Playboy magazine! “Oh my God!! Why? Why am I dressed like this and where is my dress and where is my friend and...” In a complete 180 degree mood swing, I went from being hysterical to sobbing my lungs out. I felt naked, exposed and humiliated. I did not imagine in my wildest dreams that I would lose my V-card to this stranger whose name also I did not know!

My God, how much did I drink last night? Was I drunk? If I was drunk then why am I not having a hangover now? My internal rambling was brought to a sudden halt when I felt soft warm hands on my shoulders. I looked up to see the stranger staring sympathetically at me. Well, great… now you feel for me? What happened last night? And who are you? 

His hands cupped my face and he planted a tender kiss on my forehead. “Ms. Davis, please stop crying. It was improper of me to say such things to you when you have clearly just woken up from your sleep. Please allow me to explain.” 

When the Greek God finished speaking, I wondered why he has an accent. Due to embarrassment, my voice box disobeyed me causing me to just nod my head in response to his question. I suddenly became aware of our close proximity, my nakedness and his half-naked body…I felt gullible and petty in his arms. He stared into my eyes and I felt as if I am drowning… there was a very strong pull in his eyes and his beautiful face did nothing to distract me. I was taken aback by my sudden confidence when I wrapped my arms around his chest and snuggled closer. 

He was quiet for a while, maybe waiting for me to settle down a bit before telling me my worst fears. “Ms. Davis, you and I met yesterday in the bar where I was playing with my band. You were with your friend and both of you had quite a lot of flutes if I am not presumably wrong. After we finished our gig, you approached me and asked my name. We got talking and one thing lead to another and well you know the rest…” 

No matter how insanely lovely his voice is and incredibly soft his skin, the story did not match up to my character or Nikki’s for that matter. I knew he has hiding something and I wanted some answers so I quickly brushed my bruised ego aside, calling my inner goddess; I slowly looked up to him.

“What’s your name?”

“Christian De Villiers”

“Where am I?”

“In my humble abode”

“Where is my friend?”

“She has gone back to your apartment, I believe.”

“It’s not her to leave me with a complete stranger and go back home.” I sneered. That is a lie…God!!

“You can check yourself.  Your phone is on the table.”

“How come I don’t remember anything about last night and you?” I thought out loud.

“Ouch! That’s mean for a beautiful girl like you.” He said slowly caressing his fingers up and down my arm. I felt goose bumps all over my arm. Suddenly realizing the absurdity of the situation and our proximity, I unwrapped my hands from his body and stepped back. His hold on my waist didn’t falter neither did his eyes leave my face…my inner Goddess did a back flip and landed perfectly on her toes, waving graciously at the cheering crowd. 

“Listen, I am going to go out for a minute. Please sit on the bed and don’t move ok?” he used his patronizing voice on me and I quickly nodded giving him a perfect smile. Internally, I was waiting for this opportunity when I could talk to Nikki and find out what actually happened. As soon as he disappeared out of the room, I ran to the table and picked up my cell but realized there was no battery. Sadness engulfed me immediately and I felt like crying again. But then I remember this place would obviously have a phone... it’s so huge and so classy and so lovely… I wish I could stay here forever and never go back… 

“FOCUS LANE!” my inner Goddess screamed. In a state of panic, I reached for the nearest door in the room and rushed outside. I realized that I was on the first floor of a huge house but there was an eerie silence throughout this big mansion, which was actually quite scary. I took very slow steps down the stairs. I then turned left and met with a huge door. Thinking that this must be the gorgeous Greek God’s dining hall, I confidently pushed the door open… What I saw in front of my eyes was something I have never ever seen or wish to see it again…

Blood…chopped arms and legs... severed human heads everywhere…I stifled the scream in my throat which was causing me to choke….I now knew something was not right… I knew the story I was told was not right… I should have never gone to that bar… and in the moment of losing consciousness with the overwhelming stench and sight, last night’s details came crashing down on me….

I was dressed in a velvet-colored evening dress with black heels and minimal make up and Nikki went for a short black dress. When we reached the bar, it wasn’t loud and stuffy like some of the others in the town. It was well lit and had real cool music playing. When we reached the lounge, we were told that a live band was about to play. Unlike most people my age, I was not much into bands but somehow today I felt the prospect of listening to one was quite delighting. Nikki and I took a bottle of beer each and sat on one of the tables in front row. We were making small talks when suddenly the crowd started cheering and we saw a group of 4 people heading towards the stage. 

"Huh! Small group for a so-called brand, eh?”, Nikki commented. 

“Actually, it is a very economical thing. See, there’s this blond guy in black shirt as a pianist, then you have the brunette in grey shirt as the drummer, the blond in red shirt should play the guitar and then there is this grey eyes Greek God currently staring at us the singer, I suppose...” I commented as I stared into the deep grey eyes and zoning in on them.

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I was aware of a constant, very irritating beep sound somewhere but I could not find the source. I kept looking for it under my bed, my closet, my bag… nothing! I started to get a headache. I opened the windows and there I saw blood everywhere…there are bodies lying everywhere and the stench and sight was gross. I quickly shut the window but then I heard a voice…calling me from behind the window, I opened it again and saw Nikki. Drenched in blood, she was inching her way towards me… with her hair all matted to her forehead, her dress torn off, and her eyes pleading with me for something that I could not understand. She looked like she was trying to tell me something… I screamed her name and was about to jump off the window sill to reach her… her eyes showed fear as she shouted at me, “WAIT!”… I was still sitting on the window when I heard her again, “Run Laney! Run for your life!” I couldn’t understand what was she referring to but when she slowly picked up her face to look at me, I saw red eyes looking back at me and then her face distorted and out came two long sharp fangs from her mouth… She stood up with marvelous speed and was beside me in a blink. I was shell shocked to see my best friend in this state…. I was speechless. She clawed her hands around my neck and whispered, “I am sorry…” and broke my neck into two.

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I woke up screaming… panting heavily and drenched in my own sweat… What the hell was that?! And why?... God! Why am I envisioning my own best friend to be such a brute killer? What has happened to me? I could still hear that god forsaken beep sound somewhere but soon I realized it was coming from beside me from this huge machine projecting my heart rate. Well, I guess, I am not dead at least… but why am I in a hospital? Again my internal monologue was cut short when the door to my room was hastily opened and Nikki came in. With a swift recall of my nightmare few minutes back, I screamed again! Nikki was wide eyed looking into me now… “Laney! You are awake!! Oh thank goodness you are awake! I was so worried about you… Sorry I scared you sweetie… but why are you staring like that?” Nikki was the same… the same before we went to the bar… the same before yesterday… she was even wearing the same black dress… relief flooded in me as I realized that she is safe and can now tell me what the hell happened yesterday. Swiftly, I pulled her for a hug and nestled my face into her hair…yeah, I am clingy don’t judge me... I thought I lost my only friend! “Nikki, I am so relieved to see you safe. Please tell me you didn’t leave me last night in the hands of that stranger – who-cares-now-what’s his-name. Please tell me you did not witness the blasted corpses lying in his hall and please tell me I didn’t give away my v-card last night.” 

She pulled me away from her and stared at me for a while. My heart was beating super-fast in anticipation of her answer and fearing the worst. “Laney, what are you talking about? Last night, we didn’t drink at the bar… we were listening to the band and you were staring at the vocalist in the band... you were pretty much dazed out for the rest of the evening till we came out of the bar and headed home. Our car crashed into a speeding vehicle. I didn’t suffer a major blow but you were pretty much passed out for the last few hours….I called the ambulance and you have been unconscious since then… and what were you talking about me leaving you? I didn’t leave your sight for even a second till about now when I was out to pee. And, what about the blasted corpses in a hall? Did you have a nightmare Laney?” 

Ignoring her comment about the staring part, I reeled back to my dream to ensure if I was really dreaming or was any of it real? The logical brain concurred with Nikki’s story almost immediately but it was my heart that was beating profusely for the gorgeous, grey-eyed, Greek God I had envisioned… was it really my dream? Wow! I can dream sexy! I smiled at that thought and blushed… Nikki was pretty much convinced that I was under heavy medication and my love for vampire books and twilight movies might have helped me weave this wonderful story… Laughing at my stupidity and feeling real for the first time, I felt relaxed. I narrated my dream to her as vividly as I could!

We were into a deep discussion when I heard a knock at the door, both of us chimed, “Come in!”... And then we giggled like school girls at that prompt response. My laughter died on my lips when I met the grey eyes, handsome face, Greek God of my dreams giving me the same smile that he gave me when he was staring at my nakedness in his humble abode. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine slowly as my eyes widen. I knew that my heart beat was fast since the beep sound from the machine was now at an accentuated rate… 

He walked in straight to my bed and took my hand. Turning it over, he felt my pulse and said, “Hi Ms. Davis, great to see you awake…. I am your doctor. I have been looking after you for the past 30 hours and it’s a delight to see you awake – healthy and sound.” He gave me a coy smile as if silently saying, “I know what you dreamt…” I couldn’t feel my legs shivering with fear… how could I imagine the same person, same features ... and same bloody voice!! In a fit to reply to him something nice and befitting, I said, “thanks doctor” meekly. “It is my pleasure Ms. Davis… you can call me Christian... though my full name is Christian De Villiers.”