She tore through the alley, ducked into a doorway and tried to squeeze into nothingness.

Her short gasps echoed through the darkness. She could sense him. His presence. A deathly cold fear tensed through her body, rendering her paralysed on the spot. She tried to squish herself further into the space. Any pain could be endured just to get away from him.

But to no avail. Her breath stopped as she heard his footsteps, his boots sploshing through the puddles, making his way to her. Her lungs screamed for air, but it was as if she couldn’t control her body. The fear had taken over. His footsteps travelled closer, giving her a sense of impending doom.

She could feel his eyes scan the darkness, those piercing red eyes that drew her in the first time she saw him. What a fool she had been. Before, she had seen a loneliness in his eyes, giving the impression he was tired of being alone for centuries on end. But that had all been her imagination. Now, she could see what she had missed before, the feral hunger, the lust.

Again she felt the same fear she had felt when she had first found out his secret, buried deep in the basement; a corpse. It had been a woman. She had raven black hair, high cheekbones and full lips. She had probably been very beautiful once. Until she had been sucked dry.

The horror raged back through her, the shock entered her veins again and she was numb, unable to move at all, let alone breathe. He turned away seeming not to notice her, his pale face gleaming in the moonlight. The face that was far too perfect to be real. Far too perfect to be human.

She breathed a small sigh of relief, the slightest wisp of wind. Yet he heard it. He whipped his head around and this time saw her. His fangs shone in the dark, his pupils widened until his eyes were pitch black. He found her.

This time he would not let her live. Because she knew, she knew his name, she knew his face. Now she knew what he was, a vampire.

This short story was written in Year 7 and was the winning entry in the Junior Short Story Writing Competition. The first sentence was provided and students had to complete their short story in 40 minutes.