Somewhere in Transylvania

So there was a prompt:

A man with a secret. A woman with a gun. A forest in Transylvania.

***

 And here is the story...

From somewhere on the internet

They both ran as fast as they could. They had to reach the forest beyond the boundaries of the castle, which is what the folks of Transylvania had told them. That was their only way to safety.

Both had laughed at the down-town people. “You know vampires really do not exist, right?” they said. But the people had been really serious. The elderly lot had shaken their heads in despair as they watched these two young foreigners jeer at their vampire tales.

“Why are you even here if you don’t believe in them?” they asked.

“To prove that they do not exist,” he answered.

“For the last seven years, we have been visiting places that have strong beliefs on the unnatural. We have stayed at places, people don’t even wish to lay their eyes on. And we have always proved them wrong,” she added.

They planned to stay the night at the castle which was known to have housed the only living vampire. The people had vehemently opposed to the idea but they were pretty sure about it.

“Be careful,” said an old man.

“Don’t worry, I have this,” she replied as she held out her weapon.

He laughed and said, “No gun is gonna save you from ‘em, lady.”

They both smiled, waved to them and walked towards the castle.

“Remember to get away to the forest if he catches you,” someone shouted out from behind.

***

It was almost dark when they reached the castle.

“You want to do it usual way,” he asked, “I will explore this side of the castle, you go that way”

“Alright, Let’s meet here again in the next one hour. I am keeping the sandwiches and a lantern here” she replied.

He nodded his head and then motioning towards the ceiling, added, “Mind those bats.

They both moved their own separate ways. The castle layout was similar to any other medieval castle. They had explored many other castles and forts before and none of them had expected to find anything exceptional here.

And hence, after almost forty minutes of their separate probe and study, she suddenly heard him screaming and shouting out to her. She rushed down to the landing where they were supposed to meet and saw him, in her torch light, running towards her.

“Run,” he shouted and it did not take any moment to start running alongside him towards the castle gate.

They ran with all their might.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Not now! Not now! Just run! Get into the forest,” he gasped.

***

Once they were safely into the forest, deep inside, they stopped.

“What is it?” she wheezed and stared at him with blood shot eyes.

They were both panting.

All of a sudden he started laughing.

“Nothing, nothing,” he continued laughing, “Sweetheart, I just wanted to see if I could give you a scare of your life”

“WHAT! What the hell! I could kill you for that, you bastard” She said almost in tears.

“I am sorry… really, I am,” he said still laughing as he pulled her towards him for an embrace.

As she hugged him, against the torch light, she stared with terror...

... At the two puncture marks on the side of his neck and the blood oozing out from it.