Warring Logics (Book 1 of The Institute of Fantasiological Studies)

I stand for a moment and then I begin to teeter. My head swims and my vision starts to fade. What the hell happened? I’m going to have to give Tobias a piece of my mind. My legs buckle under my weight and I do my best to shift so I fall back on the bed. I am mostly successful.

I’m using my arms to crawl back onto the bed after falling on the side of it when I hear say “they never listen” under his breath.

“I will come with you to your interviews”

“No, no you will not,” I say firmly. “You’ll scare my interviewees and they won’t tell me what they really think while you’re standing there- they’ll only tell me what society or vampire society says they should say”

“It’s not safe to be meeting with random vampires alone”

I finally finish crawling to the center of the bed and I collapse on my belly into the bed, my head turned to the left on my pillow to face him.

“It’s my job, Mr. Cre-“ I stop myself in time “I’ll be fine, my supervisor knows what I’m doing.” I mean he should know what I’m doing. I keep sending him emails about it.

“Is that this Tobias who keeps calling? I had to turn off the sound on your phone”

I push myself up and look over to my nightstand where I normally keep my cellphone “Tobias is calling?”

“Is he your boyfriend?” he narrows his eyes at me.

I laugh in response, “No, he’s the post-doc I work with”

“Closely?”

I now sit up completely on the bed, “How is it your business?” I continue to look around my room, “Where is my cell phone?”

Mr. Creepy reaches into his pocket, pulls out my cell phone, and tosses it at me. I obviously miss it and it lands with a soft plunk on the bed. I blame the blood loss.

I pick up the phone and turn on the screen to see 5 missed calls and two texts from Tobias. Aw, he must’ve been worried.

I ignore Creepy’s presence and begin texting Tobias that I made it home okay when my eyes slide over to my visitor. Should I mention the vampire in my room? It seems like important information, but I’m worried it will freak Tobias out and make him come over. And I don’t seem to be in any immediate danger…

I quickly text Tobias letting him know I made it home and apologizing for not answering his earlier calls. I then set my phone on my nightstand. I hope I don’t regret that.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” I ask. I’m getting annoyed that he’s still here and my pounding head is making me grumpy.

“No.”

I roll my eyes at him like a teenager at the mall.

“Thank you Mr. Whatever-your-name-is for bringing me home. I would see you out but standing isn’t really my thing at the moment.”

“It’s Albert and the Primus has tasked me with ensuring your security which I’m not happy to say is lacking”

“Hmmm” I hum in agreement again as I lean back into my bed. It’s hard to argue when a stranger is sitting on my bed.

“Get some more sleep, I’ll be in your living room” Albert stands from the bed.

“Wait, what?” I lean up on my elbows on the bed and say as he moves around the bed to the door on the opposite wall next to my desk.

“Sleep well, Alexis”

“Ugh!” I let out in frustration as I fall back onto my bed.

It’s several hours before I wake up again, groggy but better. My headache still present, but against my better judgment, I again swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand.

This time it goes much better and I’m able to stay standing. I need coffee. Yes, coffee and an aspirin.

So I cautiously walk towards the door to my bedroom and open it. My apartment is small but sunny with large windows facing the street to the south. It has a small bedroom, a small living room-kitchen combo, and a small bathroom with a toilet and a standing shower just large enough to fit me if I don’t move around too much. It’s technically too expensive for my meager Ph.D. salary, but I inherited some money when my grandmother passed a few years ago and it keeps me from having to live in a shared apartment.

“Shit!” I jump on my feet when I see Albert sitting on my Ikea chair from the corner of my eye.

“You’re a jumpy one” He unfolds his crossed legs and sets down a book he is reading on my cheap

“You’re still here!” I accuse him. I’m still standing at the entrance to the living room apparently stating the obvious.

“You don’t really listen well- are you sure you want to do your Ph.D. by collecting interviews?”

I begin walking towards the row of cream cabinets, small sink, and a hot plate that makeup my kitchen, “I need coffee before dealing with…” I wave my hand in his direction “whatever this is”

I open my cabinet and select my favorite morning cup even though I suspect it’s the afternoon, setting it on the counter. I grab the water boiler and stick it under the tap to fill it with water. The running water soothes me in its pure mundaneness.

But then I hear creaking floorboards before feeling an annoying presence behind me and I just have to ask, “why are you here?”

“Primus wants me to watch out for you. He feels that your work is more dangerous than you realize and he feels responsible for your welfare”

I spin to see him indeed right behind me. “Weird. But I meant, why are you in my kitchen?”

“I want a coffee”

I roll my eyes and turn around. I grab another mug from the cabinet, “I really can’t have you come to interviews with me.”

“I’ll just wait outside; no one will even know I’m there”

I think about it as the water boils and I pour it into the two mugs. I add a teaspoon of freeze-dried espresso to each mug and stir.

“Milk?” I ask as I open the door to my small fridge.

“Sure”

I grab the carton and pour the milk.

I mean, I’m crazy to even think about it, right? I have no reason to trust this stranger and neither my supervisor nor Tobias ever mentioned any concerns. But I am uncomfortable. There is something odd about meeting face to face with someone who thinks of you as food.

“Okay, but you have to stay out of the way- they can’t see that you are there.” I hand him his coffee and then take a sip of my own “and you can’t know who I’m meeting. I mean you have to be down the street away from me”

He raises an eyebrow at me and takes a drink from the mug, “agreed”