My Father Sold Me To The Mob, But A 400-Year-Old Vampire Bought My Debt
Part 1
The rain felt like a physical weight pressing down on the gritty pavement.
The relentless drumming against the single-pane windows was a comfort.
It drowned out the sounds of the world I wanted to escape.
More importantly, it helped mask the truth I had guarded for seven years.
I wasn’t completely deaf.
A fever had taken the hearing in my left ear, but my right ear worked perfectly.
It picked up the vicious ramblings of my father, Dan.
When I was fourteen, I realized engaging with his abuse only fueled his rage.
So I stopped reacting.
When he screamed, I stared blankly at his mouth.
When he threw a glass, I didn’t even flinch.
I learned sign language, carried a battered notepad, and convinced him I lived in silence.
It was the ultimate armor.
If I couldn’t hear the insults, they couldn’t hurt me.
At twenty-two, I was still playing the part.
I worked the graveyard shift at a dreary diner.
It was a Tuesday night when the bell above the door chimed.
My shift manager signed from behind the counter to point out a new customer.
I turned toward the table, and my controlled heartbeat skipped.
The man sitting in the red booth did not belong here.
He was massive, towering over six feet with broad shoulders.
His skin was pale, almost luminous under the harsh fluorescent lights.
But his eyes locked me in place.
They were a piercing shade of amber.
He was looking directly at me.
I walked over, pulling my notepad from my apron.
Clicking my pen, I wrote that I was deaf and asked him to point to his order.
The giant man leaned back, interlacing his large fingers.
His voice was a deep baritone that sent a shiver down my spine.
He told me that I didn’t require food.
I stared blankly at his lips, acting as though I was trying to read them.
He murmured that I played the part very well.
He finally picked up the pen and wrote a single sentence on my pad.
He was there for Dan.
My blood ran cold.
Dan owed money to a lot of people, including Brian, the mob enforcer.
But this man wasn’t a street thug.
He exuded a terrifying authority.
I wrote that I didn’t know where my father was.
The man stood up, entirely dwarfing me.
He laid a hundred-dollar bill over my notepad.
Speaking directly to my face, he told me to let Dan know that Vincent had come to collect.
He turned and walked out of the diner.
The smell of cheap whiskey hit me when I unlocked our apartment door.
Dan was passed out on the stained sofa, a bottle dangling from his grip.
I walked over and hit the power button on the television.
Dan jolted awake, his eyes struggling to focus, and started shouting.
He grabbed me by the shoulder, spinning me around.
I looked at him with blank eyes and signed that I couldn’t hear him.
He demanded my tip money because Brian’s boys wanted ten grand by midnight.
Suddenly, the heavy thud of deliberate footsteps echoed from the hallway.
A gruff voice shouted from the other side, demanding we open up.
It was Brian.
Dan backed away, mouthing the word hide.
Before either of us could move, the front door exploded inward with a crash.
Three tattooed men barged into the tiny living room.
Brian stepped over the ruined door, his eyes landing on me.
A predatory grin spread across his face.
He suggested I might fetch a decent price.
He stepped toward me.
Dan shouted from the floor, telling Brian I was broken merchandise.
He called me a useless deaf mute.
Brian laughed, reaching out to grab my arm.
Before his fingers could graze my skin, the temperature plummeted.
The air grew unnaturally frigid.
The single light bulb flickered wildly, then burst.
The shadows in the corner pooled together into a towering figure.
A voice vibrated through the room, declaring that I belonged to him.
It was Vincent.
Brian and his men spun around, pulling firearms and aiming at the giant’s chest.
Vincent stepped into the pale moonlight.
He announced that he had bought Dan’s debt.
Brian sneered and ordered his men to fire.
I clapped my hands over my ears as the roar of three handguns went off.
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the giant’s body to hit the floor.
Instead, there was a sickening crunch, followed by horrible screams.
I opened my eyes to a sight that shattered every rational thought.
Vincent was moving faster than the human eye could track.
He dismantled them with effortless brutality, snapping necks and absorbing bullets.
He grabbed Brian and tossed him out the shattered window.
The apartment descended into a horrifying silence, save for Dan’s whimpering.
Vincent turned his glowing amber eyes to Dan.
Dan sobbed that he had nothing, offering the TV, and finally, offering me.
Vincent’s gaze shifted to me.
I forced my face into a mask of pure terror, signing rapidly.
He slowly walked toward me.
He leaned down, his face hovering mere millimeters from my good ear.
Dan shouted from the floor that I was deaf.
Vincent ignored him, his voice barely a breath against my skin.
He whispered that he could hear the blood rushing through my veins because I understood every word.
He knew I could hear him.
He pulled back with a terrifying smile and told my father the debt was settled, because he was taking me.
