The shadows meet the light

A midnight stroll. This is exactly what I needed. Lately I’ve been feeling exhausted, probably due to a mixture of stress and worry brought on by my bosses relentlessly short deadlines. I slipped on my trainers and a heavy coat due to the winds being especially chilling on this winters night. I left my house making sure too lock it behind me due to an increasing case of burglaries and other crimes being reported in my neighborhood, and because I already had enough to deal with, Today I decided to go for a stroll through the nearby woods. They aren't that dense and I find the silence there calming. I strolled down my front steps making sure to step over the broken one (I always seem to forget to get it repaired) and I exited through my front gate. As I walked I noticed that its a full moon out, not that I'm the kind of person to believe in stuff relating to zodiac signs and how they shape your future. After about 10 minutes of walking I reached the entrance to the woods. The woods here in particular had been set up as a nature reserve to try and help preserve some of the dying wildlife species and as such it had signs and other advertisements around the entrance all relating to helping your local wildlife something that didn’t particular resonate with me, partly due to how overworked I am and how little time I have to be wasting on something I’m not even sure would be worth it in the end. I carried on walking until I reached the starting path for the woods and from there I decided to follow It due to not wanting to get lost this late at night. As I trudged on, I could hear the wind howling through the treetops and in the distance I could see a... shadow? It’s probably some kind of nocturnal wildlife I told myself as I carried on walking through the desolate woods, the kind of woods that make you feel isolated while bringing you a sense of peace. But through all this, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched like something other than me was watching, observing and plotting. I carried on trudging along the path, crisp fallen leaves crunching under my every footstep, breaking the silence of the night. I had only been walking for about 15 minutes when I really started to feel weird. I don’t know where from or why, but something was watching me almost like this was some sort of game to it. I turned around and started to quickly rush back towards the exit, and the moment I started doing so is when I heard it; the thud of something jumping from treetop to treetop. I wasted no time and started to run. As I passed by trees that extended twisted branches out onto the path, I could hear the thing getting nearer, and as I hazard a look behind me, I was greeted by such a sight I had to stop myself from screaming; a humanoid creature, with eyes that pierced the night with a ghoulish red glow, a misshaped back, and what looked like talons for nails. But what was frightening most of all was the smile on its face, almost like it was chasing its prey in a game of cat and mouse. I turned back around just in time to see the entrance to the woods loom into sight. I sprinted clumsily out and onto the streets, but the chase didn’t stop there. I looked back again and realized its back wasn't deformed, oh no, it had wings on it. The wings unfolded and for a second I saw the most awe inspiring velvet black wings that anyone had seen, wings so dark that even the pitch black night sky was threatened by their existence. I proceeded to carry on running on foot while this being took to the skies in pursuit. I dashed down the street and as my home loomed into sight I breathed a sigh of relieve and relaxed a little, because as long as I got inside I would be safe right? Wrong. I ran up my steps to the door and only then did I realize the crucial detail I had forgotten; one of my steps was broken. My foot fell through the splintering wood with a terrific cracking sound, completely trapping my leg in my porch. Thud. I slowly turned my head to see the thing had landed besides me, and was just watching me helplessly like I was some sort of game to it, but it knew it had won. As I looked up at it, fear fresh in my eyes, only then did I notice that this was no ‘thing’ it was a male. He had a face that looked in his late twenties maybe early thirties, with a strong smooth jawline, followed up by crimson eyes, that sparkled in the moonlight. His arms were slender but muscular, and his general frame was that of someone who exercised regularly. As he knelt down towards me, I also noticed that he didn’t have talons in place of nails, instead his nails had been sharpened to a point, in the same style you might see on a bear. As he continued to maniacally grin, only then did I notice the thing that brought all this together; he had fangs. Not little spiky teeth, no he had full slender fangs, fangs that looked sharp enough to shred right through any material with ease. That's when I realized what he was. He was a vampire. The shock of all this had taken its toll and as his mouth started to move, almost like he was speaking, I passed out.