Dracula Repellent

[WP] You absolutely love garlic. One of your favorite bedtime snacks is eating a raw clove or two. One night you get jerked awake by the uncanny sensation of someone watching you. As you gaze through the room, you spot a pale, cloaked figure pressed into a corner, staring at you in absolute terror

*****

It was a craving and a habit that most people found repulsive. It was something my mother hated, and anytime she found me doing it, she never failed to grab the switch and discipline me. My ex-girlfriend couldn't stand it and soon she left, but I could never stop it.

And now, it just saved my life. As I looked into the glaring eyes of the cloaked figure, I really wish I could say I wanted to tell them all, "I told you so!" But I did not tell them anything, they weren't here, and I was barely choking back a scream.

Maybe I'm moving too fast. A little backstory would be in order.

I loved eating garlic.

I cannot remember when, or more importantly, why. The trigger or set of circumstances that caused me to love eating raw cloves of garlic up till the point where it was the proverbial 'apple a day for me, something I couldn't do without, was something I couldn't remember. But for as far back as I could remember, which was about the age of seven, I was eating raw cloves as a bedtime snack.

And now, at 24, I was still doing it.

Like I mentioned earlier, it had caused me a=some trouble with family and fractured many a relationship. But this was the first time it had saved my life.

It was a particularly draining workday. Sue, my supervisor, didn't fail to nag at me all day, increasing my workload with every passing hour and chewing me out for being slow. Our office relationship took a turn for the worst the moment I declined her offer to take our out-of-office relationship from friends with benefits to an item. This happened last year, and the only thing I regret is ever hooking up with her in the first place.

But then again, I digress. It was a Friday. The weekend was upon us. Just a taste of freedom, a bare fleeting moment before another five days of torture ensued. I wasn't a drinker, and I hated loud music, so I wasn't at the club or bar. I was in my sitting room, watching Netflix, eating some cloves of garlic, and drinking sparkling water.

Soon enough, I became tired and I barely staggered to my room and fell asleep as soon as I hit the mattress, clover in hand.

It might have been the change in atmosphere that woke me up. My body had this weird sensor, or sensitivity feature I guess, which made it so that I could only sleep if a certain set of conditions were met and sustained.

It was the same reason why only this house guaranteed sound sleep for me. Even the slightest change in atmosphere could interrupt my sleep, and I guess this situation was aggravated during my brief stint in college where shootouts between rival gangs and robberies were frequent.

But anyway, as soon as I noticed my eyes were open. And the first thing they met were the eyes of the figure standing in my room, his face - illuminated by the moonlight coming from the window - a mask of horror as his eyes darted between my hands and my face.

"What the f*ck is in your hand?"

I stuttered a bit before replied. "Better question. Who the f*ck are you and what the f*ck are you doing in my house?" I wondered where the borrowed confidence was coming from, especially as I was quite afraid of the man. His broad shoulders and big frame, all hidden by the black cloak, still conveyed that he had the advantage physically.

"You eat garlic?!" he almost shrieked.

"Yes. Want some?!" I said sarcastically, stretching the half clove towards him.

"Hell no!" he shrieked, jumping backward. "That thing is the very bane of my existence! What the hell is wrong with you humans? Not one I can point at and say, 'this one is completely sane! Why would anyone eat garlic? You, Victor Morales,I have been targeting you all week, and now this?!"

"Wait! How the hell do you know my name?"

His voice rapidly changed to a more female - and familiar - one.

"I'm your freakin' supervisor!"

I jolted awake, subconsciously using my hand to rub off the drool hanf=ging from my lips and latching itself to the table, and rubbing my eyes.

It was 1 PM, still four hours away from the end of today's work, and Sue was standing at the edge of my table, tapping her feet and looking pleased with herself for catching me in such a compromising position.

"Sh!t."

*****

You could say I chickened out at the last moment and age this a comical, anticlimatic ending. That wouldn't be 100% false, since I partly didn't know where I wanted the story to go from the point where he found the vampire.

Thanks for reading, a comment will be much appreciated by the way!