Starting Over

SEQUEL TO "THE VAMPIRE'S HEIR" but can be read as a stand-alone book, however, the missed year and what happens in this chapter will make more sense if the first story was read prior but it isn't necessary as all the questions you might have about the past will get explained in this story. DISCLAIMER: This is my own work. If it sounds like any other story that was just a coincidence. All the characters are fictional, the story is fictional. This is not based on any true events. This story is for entertainment purposes only and any plagiarism will be dealt with accordingly. WARNING: This story contains situations that could be difficult for some readers. There will be violence, death, a scene with suicide, and adult content. If you are triggered by any of these topics, DO NOT READ! This story should NOT be read by anyone under the age of 18. This is for mature 18+ Thumbnail originals are by 18427938 at Pixabay.com Leave comments, I love to read your opinions, and don't forget to vote! I love to hear what you think and gives me joy knowing that others enjoy reading what I write. A BIG THANK YOU to all for reading this story! ENJOY! --- 1 YEAR AGO Cameron Lynn Harper's POV: My shift from work was finally over and I went to the basement where the employee lounge is and got my purse from my locker. I headed out of the building and started my walk home. Usually, there are more people walking the streets at this time of night which is why I wasn't too worried about walking home in the evening but for some reason, there is like no one out tonight. It was actually rather eerie and unnerving. The air was a little brisk and the sky had no moon making it feel even darker even though the street lights were on. I rubbed my arms to warm them up and quickened my pace. I never saw what it was but suddenly I felt this hard push on my side. I yelped from the sudden force as my body tumbled over to the side and into an alley. I was shoved up against the brick wall of the building behind me with some man's hand around my throat. I looked to the side when I felt the metal of a gun pressing on the side of my head. I looked back over at him and he had a mask over the top half of his face so I couldn't see what he looked like. I could see that he was a big man, probably well over six feet tall and hefty in size. "You're awfully pretty to be walking the streets alone." He said and I could smell the cigarettes and alcohol on his breath. He lifted his hand till it was right under my chin and he turned my head to the opposite side the gun was on. He leaned in real close to me and I could feel his breath heating the side of my face. "Maybe, I will have a little fun with you before I take your money." He said and ran his nasty tongue along the side of my cheek. I could feel the tears filling my eyes as he squeezed a little tighter around my neck, causing it to be harder to breathe. He took his gun away and put it somewhere that I couldn't see. His hand that is now free of the gun grabbed my breast and squeezed and I tried to scream out. I took my hands and shoved his hand away and tried to scratch and dig at his face. He released his grip just long enough to hit me on the side of the face which knocked me down onto the ground. "A feisty bitch." He said excitedly. I felt him grab my body and flip me over onto my back and I started to scream and fight him off of me. He hit me again, causing me to feel dizzy from the impact and this metallic flavor filled my mouth. I spit out the blood just when he was ripped off of me with ease. I looked up in the direction of where he was but my vision seemed to be getting darker. All I saw before everything went back was a tall figure with red eyes biting at the man's neck. --- 1 YEAR LATER After a deep refreshing sleep, I slowly opened my eyes and stretched. I sat up quickly when I saw that I was back in my apartment and I put my hand to my head that was killing me with a migraine. A semi-familiar, very handsome man walked into the room and sat down beside me on the bed with a concerned look. "Clayton?" I asked, unsure if I had his name right. "Yes, babe, that's me." He said as he took his hand and wiped the stray hair away from my face. I took my hand and pushed his hand away from me. He got a shocked almost scared look on his face the moment I had done that. I don't exactly know him all that well for him to be touching me. In fact, I had just met him a couple of weeks ago. I just got here in Chicago about a month ago for college. I was walking down the sidewalk with a map in my hand when I tripped and fell, losing my map in the wind. He just happened to be there to catch me. Then he helped me find the place for my interview. He seemed like a really nice guy and he's really handsome with his clean-shaven face, wild dark brown hair, and grey eyes. He has a few tattoos from what I have been able to see. One on his neck and one on the right side of his chest. He's several inches taller than my five-foot-four-inch height, probably around six feet maybe a little taller. He appeared to be fairly strong even though he's not a super muscular-looking guy but he is fit from what I have been able to tell. I thought we had something going there for a little while. He had asked me out on a date but then never showed. Just thinking of that memory was starting to make me angry at him all over again. It felt so fresh in my mind but thinking about it seemed to make my head hurt more than it already was. "Do you remember anything?" He suddenly asked me when I wasn't saying anything back to him. "I remember you, coming to my place of work today and begging for me to give you one more chance," I told him. "I don't think I was begging." He said with a chuckle. "Yeah, you were. Begging for that one more chance as I delivered the dinners to the paralegals." I told him with a little bit of attitude that came from somewhere inside of me that I'm not sure where. "I guess, maybe I was." He said with a laugh that I was suddenly reminded of how much I enjoyed hearing it. "Anything else you remember?" He asked me. "I remember a man. He hit me really hard but anything after that just hurts really bad to try to think about. It's almost as if there are memories there but the act of trying to recall them is giving me this awful migraine." I told him as I closed my eyes and placed both of my hands on my head. The pain from trying to recall what had happened to me was hurting all over in my mind and it was excruciating. "Hey, don't worry about trying to remember anymore. It's probably from that hit. I had found you laying in the alley unconscious. You have some pretty nasty cuts too. Would you like me to get you some water?" He asked me and I opened my eyes and pulled my hands away. "I do feel a little thirsty," I told him and he gave me a smile and walked out of the room. I sat there for a few moments. Something about all of this just felt wrong. I don't know what it is about all of this but I feel like I've done this before, like Deja Vu or something. I've never been hit so hard before that it knocked me out but I didn't think trying to recall a memory would hurt this much. I've never heard of that before. Maybe I have a concussion from the hit and that's actually what is causing my head to hurt so much and not because I am trying to recall any memories. I will try again when my head isn't hurting so much. I slowly took the blanket off of my body and put my feet over the edge of the bed. I wanted to take it easy in case getting up causes my head to really start to pound. I prepared myself for the change of position and I stood up. The rush to my head was intense and I quickly put my hand to my head to try to put some pressure on the area that was pounding. I continued to hold my head with my hand as I slowly walked out of my room towards the living area and kitchen of my apartment. "You never said she would experience severe migraines." I heard him say softly but sternly into the phone. I stopped moving, in hopes to hear more of this strange conversation only for him to stop and hang up the phone abruptly the moment I walked out into the room. "Clay, who were you talking to?" I asked as I made my way to one of the barstools. "Ah, um, no one. I had a voicemail and was responding back to it." He said as he walked around and got a glass of water from the sink. "Do you have any aspirin? You probably should take something for your headache." He asked me and I just waved my hand in the direction of the medicine that I had. He walked over and opened up the cabinet and started to dig through the different bottles until he found the one he was looking for. He took a few out of the bottle and handed them to me with the glass of water. I was more than willing to do anything to get rid of this headache. It was almost so bad that I have already had a few moments of feeling nauseous. I took both of the aspirin all at once with a drink of water. "Here, let me get you some ice to put on that cheek as well, to help it with the swelling." He said as he opened the freezer and started to put the ice cubes into one of the dishtowels that were hanging on the handle of the stove. "Did you find my purse? I mean, this was just a mugging, right? I wasn't raped or anything was I?" I asked him as the thought of losing my virginity to some sicko on the streets started to cause tears to line the rim of my eyes. "Oh, no, he didn't do anything like that." He said and quickly walked around the counter over to me and placed the towel of ice on my cheek. I winced in pain when the cold towel touched my tender skin. I took the towel from him and he took a step back from me. "It was just a mugging. I didn't find your purse anywhere and all your clothes were intact." He told me and that's when I realized something, my clothes. "Then, why aren't I in my work clothes?" I asked him and looked up at him as his eyes widened and his adam's apple moved in nervousness. "Your work clothes?" He asked me. "Yeah, you know, the clothes I was wearing when you saw me earlier at my work when you were begging for me to take you back? I sure the f**k wasn't wearing a nightgown, Clayton." I snapped at him and stood up from the chair. "What kind of creep are you?" I asked him before he had a chance to say anything back. "What?" He asked dumbfoundedly. "You heard me? What kind of disgusting pervert are you? To bring me home and strip me from my clothes and put me into a nightgown that I've never seen? Where the hell did this even come from?" I asked him, almost shouting, killing my head even more as I pulled at the gown with my hand. "The clothes you were in got really muddy in the alley. I didn't want to get your bed all muddy." He tried to explain but I wasn't hearing it. "This isn't even mine!" I shouted at him. "Leave!" I shouted, not giving him a chance to say anything, and pointed towards the door. "Cam, please. I would never do anything...." He started to say but I just shook my head, taking the ice pack from my cheek. "I said get out!" I shouted at him again. He didn't try to argue anymore and just nodded his head in acceptance of my order and he turned and walked out of the apartment. Once he was out I placed the towel full of ice back on my cheek and walked into the bathroom to see the damage that was done to my face. I walked over to the sink and pulled the towel away from my face. There was a decent-sized cut on my cheekbone and my lip was busted. The guy in the alley must have hit me more than once to cause both. I walked back out to the kitchen and opened up the cabinet that had the rubbing alcohol and took it back to the bathroom. I grabbed out some cotton balls and soaked them in the alcohol. I hissed in pain as I cleaned the areas. Once I was done, I threw everything in the trash and put the alcohol away. By this time, the ice had soaked the towel so I dumped them into the sink and tossed the towel into the hamper. I walked back to my bedroom and sat back down on the bed. Nothing was making any sense to me, mostly the way I was feeling. My heart was screaming at me saying something was missing or was wrong yet my mind couldn't think of what it could be. There was nothing there, just pain whenever I tried to think about it. It's possible it's just a concussion making me think that there is something missing but maybe I am experiencing a little bit of memory loss. If I am experiencing memory loss, then I hope one day the memories come back to me.