[RiverStar]: 149.Contest Entries.CC2.Chapter01

Chapter 01 - Night-time Bed Thief
Lyn sighed, leaning back in her stiff wooden chair. Her fingers rested idly on her keyboard. The monitor cast a slight glow on her pale face. Her eyes drifted to the white, stubble ceiling. She spotted a tiny spider crawl across the white mounds. As she tracked the spider's movements, she imagined the white stubble as great snow-capped mountains. She saw the great mountain climber struggle through the great mountain range. Then suddenly, his foot slipped. He lost his footing and fell toward the heavens.
Lyn laughed as she refocused on the spider gliding slowly down on his silky string. She got up grabbing a piece of paper and the empty cup beside her. Gently catching the spider in the cup and covering it with the paper to prevent it from escaping, she moved to the window and released the spider onto the window sill of her residence room.
Returning to her seat, Lyn glanced back at the monitor and the document displayed there. It was an e-mail from one of her professors, William. It was strange, but she hadn't been able to find out his last name. With her other professors, she had always found out their last name first, then their first name. Last names were displayed on her time table, all of them, except William. She hadn't even met him yet. He taught the course through e-mails.
I suppose you don't need to hold class for a course like this, Lyn thought. It was a creative writing course. William was a guest professor. He was a famous author of dark, romantic novels that swept you into another world, at least so Lyn was told. She had never read any of his books, but in the course of his lessons, Lyn had come to respect him and his incite. Lyn felt as through sometimes William could read her mind. It was strange, but intriguing.
She thought about reading one of William’s books. She had had to buy three of them for the course, but as of yet they hadn’t been assigned any readings from them. Slowly picking one up, she glanced at the back cover. It was strange for a paperback. Normally paperbacks have a 200 word or so synopsis, but this one had only one sentence: “What happens when love cheats death?”
Lyn glanced at this week's question: Do writers see the world in a different way? Lyn glanced up at the ceiling and laughed.
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Lyn woke up to a loud banging on her door. Cursing, she rolled out of bed and wrapped her house coat around her. She opened the door and was faced with her roommate, carrying a man.
"Where have you been? What's with him?" Lyn asked groggily.
"Sorry for waking you up. Lost my key," her roommate, Sarah, said cheerfully. She dragged the man into the small room and dropped him on Lyn's bed.
"Excuse me. That’s my bed?" Lyn said.
"He got drunk and passed out. Do you expect me to leave him alone, out cold, in a downtown bar?" Sarah laughed. "Thanks, Lyn. See you later."
Sarah walked out of the still open door.
"Sarah! Where are you going?" Lyn called down the hallway, but Sarah just waved and kept walking. Lyn groaned and closed the door. She sat on Sarah's bed, staring at the man lying on her bed.
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Two hours later, Lyn still sat on Sarah's bed, leaning against the wall, staring at the strange man. Lyn had had plenty of time to study the man and decided he was exactly Sarah's type: tall, lean, pale skinned, dark haired, elegant, and definitely self-absorbed. Lyn could tell from his high fashion suit that was the style of the moment, his closely shaven face and his styled hair that was styled yet still looked slightly messy, and that he thought highly of himself.
Probably a chauvinist pig too, Lyn thought to herself. As Lyn continued to imagine what the man would be like, she closed her eyes picturing him parading around a rich, snobby club. The crowd on the dance floor parted before him as if he was royalty. All the high class girls look up at him longingly, no better than the prostitutes downtown looking longingly at the rich men’s wallets. Lyn smiles to herself, knowing she would never get caught dead in that circle.
Lyn’s heart pounded suddenly. A brush of cold, smooth skin ran over her cheek. A firm hand fell over her mouth, covering it tightly, blocking all sound. Her eyes flew open instinctively. Looking back at her were dark, deep brown pools that drew her soul in.
Reality struck her. She wasn’t going to lie back and let this strange man attack her. Who knew what he was going to do?
She struggled, rolling her body side to side and swung her legs, trying to find contact with any part of his body. She tried desperately to push him away. With a strength that betrayed his size, he climbed on top of her, holding her down with his body.
He lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "Quiet, I just need a little blood."