The Beautiful Monster

Alyssa waited for Elias on the couch, tapping her foot against the rug impatiently. She was ready to have this important discussion with him.

She had an idea in mind that was completely crazy, but she was going to convince him that it was a good idea.

Maybe even the best idea. He wouldn't like it, but he would have to agree with her.

Close to six o'clock, the door to the loft was unlocked and pushed open as Elias arrived home.

He shed off his suit jacket and crossed over to her, collapsing onto the couch. He stretched his arm out across the back of the couch as he angled his body to face her.

"I got here as fast as I could," he told her.

"Sorry to spring this on you, but I just need to get all of this off my chest," Alyssa said to him as she turned to face him, crossing her legs.

They were due to have this talk anyway. She couldn't keep hiding in his loft, waiting for her life to suddenly go back to normal.

She had to take matters into her own hands, even if that was going to be dangerous.

Elias nodded, his eyebrows knitting together slightly as he peered at her.

"What's on your mind?" Elias asked her, listening intently.

Alyssa breathed in deeply through her nose before starting to talk.

"I think we need to be a little more proactive when it comes to figuring out who is attacking me," Alyssa told him.

She was tired of sitting around. Obviously, that wasn't working so well since no other clues had come to light.

She didn't feel right just waiting around for something to happen. What if something went terribly wrong?

"Okay, what are you thinking?" Elias replied, tilting his head at her curiously.

This was the part that Alyssa knew Elias wouldn't be too thrilled to hear. However, she couldn't let him persuade her otherwise.

She was sure that she wanted to do this, but she needed him to help her. She couldn't do this alone, or she was just asking to have her throat torn out.

"I want to act as bait," Alyssa told him.

Elias' eyes widened in shock. He then shook his head.

"That's crazy. That's dangerous! Why?" he asked, the words flooding from him.

"If I act as bait and the vampire tries to attack me, you can be hiding and then come and save me. You're a good fighter, right?

Maybe you can capture the vampire, and we can question them," Alyssa explained the rest of her plan.

She hadn't thought every single part of it through yet because she wanted to get his take on it, but she believed that it could work if they took it seriously.

Elias could only stare at Alyssa for a few seconds. Silence filled the room as they gazed at each other.

"I don't want you to get hurt. What if I'm not fast enough? Or strong enough?

I can't have you just serve yourself up on a silver platter like that," he said, shaking his head. He seemed overwhelmed.

Alyssa frowned and reached out, taking his hand and making him focus back on her. She knew that he was scared.

She was too, but she was willing to at least try if there was a possibility of stopping all of this. She needed her life back.

What she was doing now wasn't how she wanted to live the rest of her life. She was tired of always being scared.

"It's okay. I trust you. You have to trust me," she told him firmly.

"Of course, I trust you," Elias immediately said as he placed his hand over hers, holding tight. "I do. I just can't let you get hurt."

"Then, you need to be watching, and you need to be fast when they come after me," Alyssa told him, standing her ground.

She wasn't going to abandon this plan because she knew that it could work. She believed in it, even if it was crazy, but she needed him to believe in it too. She was relying on him.

Elias sighed as he gazed at her, still looking conflicted about the whole thing.

"How are you going to be bait?" he asked her.

Alyssa smiled a little when she realized that he was starting to come around to his plan.

She hadn't gotten the full approval yet, but she knew that she could get it from him if she explained things more.

"They like when I'm alone and when it's night. I'll just walk alone at night until they come for me.

I'll be in a general area so that you can hide and watch," Alyssa told him. "I think a park could be a good area."

Elias nodded.

"Yeah, a park would work," he said.

"Look, it's risky, but it's easy. I can defend myself until you reach me," she said. "I've fought off a vampire before."

Elias grinned a little.

"Yeah, you're a tough little human," he teased her.

Alyssa laughed softly before looking down to see that their hands were still joined. She liked feeling his hands over hers.

She felt comforted like this, and she needed all of the comfort that she could get right now as she prepared to possibly sacrifice herself.

"I believe in us. We could end all of this if the plan works," she told him.

"I know. It's a good plan. I just wish that you didn't have to be bait," Elias admitted to her. He stroked his thumbs over her knuckles.

"I'm willing to do this to put a stop to all of this. It'll be nice to live a normal life again," Alyssa told him. She was willing to put her life on the line for that.

"I feel like you can only have a normal life if I'm not in it," Elias replied. He almost looked sad.

"I think we can work out our own form of normal," Alyssa told him. She didn't want to banish him from her life.

She believed that maybe they could coexist again. They could have dinner together, watch movies, and be friends. Or more.. The potential was there.