Why Am I Here?

• Adib Habib, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2019

I woke up.

I woke up, bound in shackles, in a room I had no recollection of, the walls made of stone bricks.

Wait a minute, why was I bound in shackles again? All I remembered was going to sleep after finishing that really tedious high-school assignment. So why was I bound in shackles?

The little dark-skinned ponytailed girl beside me would give me the answer.

“You’re here because I need to ask you some questions. If you don’t, I’ll torture you,” the little girl said, picking up the dagger on the table beside her. It had a wooden hilt, but the blade was extremely sharp and made of shiny steel. I gulped. The devious smile she had on her face was unnatural for a little girl.

“Who are you?” the little girl asked, looking at me sharply.

“Can you let me go? I did nothing wrong. I’m just a high schooler, and I finished my assignment and went to sleep,” I said, sighing.

“You are unnaturally calm, you know. Why is that? It makes me more suspicious,” the little girl said.

“I’m just calm because I think this is a dream, you idiot. Anyway, who are you? You speak as if you are way older than you look,” I asked.

“Asking for ages is rude, you know? To be blunt, I'm a 400 year old vampire who is looking for the person who sealed me for 350 years,” she said, smiling cheerfully.

“Well, that confirmed this is a dream. And you know I didn’t directly ask for your age, right? And why would you bound every single person in shackles just for this?” I asked, sighing.

“You know vampires, live for a thousand years, right? This person took 350 years off of my life span, that’s unforgivable. And it would take about 50 years to survey everyone on this planet, you just take unnaturally long,” she said sighing.

“Well, if that’s true, the person who sealed you before is dead,” I said. She stared at me.

“Uh… I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I’ll let you go, OK? This scenario wasn’t in the script I memorised! I’m so stupid! Stupid!” she said, slapping herself.

“You know, you shouldn’t be so self-”

“I’M SO STUPID!”
“JUST LET ME GO! I’m convinced you’re just a person who believes in 350 year old vampires and is convinced you are one, and somehow found the right resources. This is really uncomfortable, you know?” I yelled.

She let me go.

“Owww, my arm hurts. Geez, let me go home,” I said. She said nothing and teleported me back home.

Wait, teleported?

I didn’t teleport to my bed, I was in my living room.

Was I sleepwalking?

Or was that 350 year old vampire really real?