Kade:
I felt someone following me but it wasn't a human I sensed. It was another vampire—a pretty young one at that. I let the young vampire around for about two blocks and stopped in front of a random house. I heard her gasp behind me. I smiled at the fact that I could easily hurt this one if I wanted but, wanting to keep a low profile, I simply said, "You can come out now. I'm not going to hurt the owners of this home."
"How did you know I was there?" a small, quiet female voice asked.
I turned around and saw a teenage girl no older than sixteen or seventeen. She was wearing a torn blue tank top with black checkers, jeans that had holes in them, and black and white vans with cherries on them.
Answering her question I said, "I have the same exceptionally good hearing as you do, my dear."
She cocked her head to the side the way you would see a puppy do when they didn't understand something. "How do you know how well my hearing is? You don't even know me."
"You're right. I don't know you. But—" I was cut off by the door of the house I was still standing in front of opening. When I turned a teenage boy no older than what looked to be eighteen stepped out. When I turned to face the girl again she'd already disappeared. For a youngling, she is pretty fast, I thought amusingly. Slipping into the boy's mind I made him stand still, hoping to draw the girl out again. I walked circles around the boy and noticed a blue cloth, the same shade of blue as the girl's, around his wrist. Interesting.
"Please don't hurt him," the girl's voice said quietly from behind me.
"Dear, I think you've already taken from him what I am hunting for on this night." When I turned to her, her eyes were wide.
"N—no. I—I didn't," she stammered. "We were going on one of our walks and I'd forgotten that I hadn't…that I hadn't…"
"Fed?" I said for her.
She nodded. "When I got to the campgrounds we usually sneak into at a park I love to visit all I could hear were the heartbeats of the campers. I guess I lost it because he cut his wrist and offered it to me." She looked down with shame.
"And you didn't take it? Why?" I was baffled. Worse yet this youngling had clearly broken one of our laws by telling the human. Did her sire not teach her anything?
"Because… I—I couldn't take from him." She stopped talking and stood straight. "Why am I explaining myself to you?" she asked, suddenly too brave for her own good. "Let him go and leave him alone."
I smiled. "Fine, he's free."
I expected her to be standing still there but once I let go of my hold on him she was gone again. How did she learn to do that and still be so young? But even though she was fast it didn't take me long to sense where she was. I let her go, for tonight.
Emily:
How could you be so stupid, Emily? I scolded myself. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Instead of talking to the guy, as I should have, and asking him the questions I wanted to, I fled. I am such a coward. I didn't think I could be afraid of anything anymore but something about that guy made me very afraid. He seemed to be giving off some kind of power; something that I could only wish I had. It's the reason I felt compelled to explain myself about Darien. He must be very old though he looks no older than seventeen or eighteen, but something tells me that tonight won't be the last night I see him. No, I have a feeling I'll see him again the next time I go out and something about that kind of frightens me.
I walked around town a bit more trying to find a new prey but decided to give up after about thirty minutes. I wasn't going to find anyone else tonight and I'd just have to suffer until I could get home.
"Emily?" Darien's voice sounded behind me. I thought he'd gone back inside.
"What are you doing out here, Darien?" I asked him warily.
"I wanted to go for a walk. I had a lot on my mind."
"At this time of night?"
He chuckled. "It's only nine, Emily."
"Oh. I thought it was later."
"Did you get anything?"
I shifted on my feet a little. "Yes," I lied. I could smell the dried blood on the cloth on his wrist. I leaned my head in and sniffed but quickly pulled back before he could notice—I hoped.
"I saw that. You're lying. You need to stop doing this to yourself. What would your reaction be if I stopped eating? You'd say it was unhealthy and do everything you could to make me. Is it what you are that's bothering you so much?"
"What I am," I repeated. "It's almost like you're saying I'm not the same person you know anymore, Darien." I looked at him and saw his face perfectly in the dark. It hurt to not walk up to him and wrap my arms around him and him do the same for me. Even though we're friends I keep myself distant from him. I don't want him to know how I feel about him. It would make me feel weak and with this new guy in town… never mind. It was already too late for that, anyway. I'd given myself away earlier when Darien walked outside. He'd seen the weakness easily. I'm going to have to learn to work on that…
"You know I didn't mean it that way, Ems." He was using the old nickname he gave me and it gave me the butterflies. He's never called me that since we ended our relationship.
"Don't call me that, Darien." I tried to hide the hurt in my voice.
"Just because we're not together anymore doesn't mean I can't use that nickname for you."
"Yes it does."
He tilted his head to the left a bit. "And why's that? Because you still having feelings for me?"
I've always hated when he kept pushing the issue of something, especially when I knew he was right. "No, Darien. You're wrong."
"Am I really wrong?" He took a step towards me. I took a step back.
I sighed. I wasn't going to win, especially not when I wanted to tell him so badly that I could taste it. So, I decided I might as well get the truth out but try not to make it too obvious, though I’m sure I would. I never was any good with words. "Darien… Say I do have feelings for you. How could it possibly work? I could hurt you again and I don't want to risk that."
"Is that what you're really worried about?" He took another step towards me. I took another step back.
"That and the fact that I'll always look like this while you get older. You'll eventually want to become like me so you won't grow older and I don't want to do that to you; even if you do ask."
"Is that all? Because I've got a feeling there's more to it."
I took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it go. "There is more. I don't deserve you, Darien. God, I never have. I've never done anything to ever have a chance to be with you."
"Stop. Just stop, Emily," he said before I could say anymore. "You are the most selfless person I have ever met. If anyone doesn't deserve anyone here, it's me not deserving you. You have always put everyone ahead of yourself. As far as wanting to become a vampire too, I can't deny that. I'll never want to leave you here alone though. Emily, do you not realize that all of us are going to want what you have? We understand that you're never going to grow old and that we are. We've seen what losing family has done to you and we're not going to want to be the ones to feel like we're abandoning you too. We're going to die and you're going to have to watch. We don't want that for you. And as far as what happened over two years ago, I understand that you were...hungry—if that's even the proper word to use. I should have really thought about that before I made the decision I did. I've regretted it every day. I had to sit around and watch you mope for a while then I watched you make yourself happy again by listening to others and flirting; flirting with people I hated seeing you flirt with. You don't really know how much I wanted to snap their necks."
I didn't know what else to say. I was all out of words. And I was getting hungrier. I know he said more after that but I couldn't comprehend him. All I heard was the steady beating of his heart, all I felt was the lengthening of my fangs, and all I could think about was how much I wanted another taste of his blood…
The memory of what I did the night all of my friends found out what I was brought me back to my right state of mind. I shook my head. I couldn't do that again. I couldn't hurt Darien like that again. I still haven't forgiven myself for the first time.
"Emily?" he asked, concern painting his words.
"Darien, I think it's time you start walking home." I closed my eyes so he couldn’t see the change in their color.
"God, Emily. Don't you have some way you can get blood?"
"If you don't start walking home you'll end up being my unwilling donor."
"I wouldn't be unwilling."
My eyes snapped open as he said that and I felt my anger rise. "Stop being so stubborn! Go home, Darien. Get as far away from me as you can. I don't want to hurt you again."
"You didn't hurt me the first time. Just surprised me."
"Maybe you should listen to the girl," a male voice said from a distance. It wasn't until then that I'd noticed the same guy I'd run away had found me.
"Please… Just go away."
In the blink of an eye the guy was right in front of my face. I saw his movements but I heard Darien gasp.
"Your head is swimming with questions, youngling; questions only I can give you the answer to. Do you not wish for those answers?" he asked.
"How do you know I have questions?"
He smiled. "I can read your mind, that's how."
"What is going on here? Emily? Do you know this guy?" Darien asked. I'd almost forgotten he was there.
"Darien, please, just go home." I pleaded without taking my eyes off Mystery Guy.
Darien:
I looked at her when she told me to go home. She didn't know this guy. How could she trust him enough to want to be alone with him? I noticed that she wasn't even looking at me; that she kept looking at that guy. Then it dawned on me something he said: "Your head is swimming with questions, youngling; questions only I can give you the answer to," he'd said. Could he be a vampire too? I asked myself. Maybe Emily thought she was trying to protect me by telling me to go home. Maybe she sensed that he was a vampire… She had to.
"I'm not going anywhere." I said trying to be a little braver than I felt.
The guy looked at me and suddenly his voice was filling my head, telling me to go home. I didn't want to listen to the voice but my feet started moving before I could stop them and when I did try they wouldn't listen to me. Distantly, I heard laughing...
Kade:
Once the human was on his way home I laughed at his useless attempts to fight me off and it surprised me at how much the girl cared for him. I would make note to ask her about that while I'm getting to know her. Actually, why I wanted to know about her shocked me. I didn't care to get involved with another girl; not since Trinity anyway. But, even though I hated to admit it, there was something about this girl that intrigued me. Maybe it was her love for the human. Of course. That must be it.
When the boy was out of sight she turned to me and asked, "What do you want?"
I came up with the most absurd excuse ever. "I heard there was a new vampire in this town and I decided I would investigate."
"I'm not new. I've been a vampire for two years now."
Her comment set me aback. Talk of a youngling in the vampire community spreads fast. It’s how we find out about most of our population and who to question if necessary. But the fact that I had heard nothing of her left me wondering.
"I am aware of that," I said quickly, making up things as I went. "But we have word that your sire has left and I was sent to make sure you knew all of our rules." I'd hoped that was the actual case. I didn't sense another vampire around and the look on her face gave me some hope.
"You're right," she said quietly. I let out a breath I didn't even know I'd been holding, but why I felt like I had to explain my reason for being here to her was beyond me. "My sire left two weeks after I was made."
That surprised me. "Did he or she teach you anything of our kind?"
She looked at the ground and only answered with a shake of her head. When she looked up again she said, "The only knowledge I have is what authors who do not know we exist giving their points of view on the whole mess, and even then I know some of the things aren't true."
"What is your sire's name?"
She flashed me a stubborn look. "I will not tell you until I know I can trust you."
I laughed. "You would be so kind as to take up for one who abandoned you?"
"It is very stupid, I admit, but I don't give away names of anyone I know whether I greatly dislike them or not until I know I can trust the person I am to give a name to."
"Well what is your name, then?" I asked.
"That also has to earn trust in order to be given."
I chuckled. "As I recall your human friend called you by name. Emily, is it?"
She gave a defeated look. "I should have remembered that."
I smiled. "It sometimes gets the best of us. My name is Kade."
She never smiled. "That's a pretty weird name."
"My parents were pretty weird people." She still didn't smile. "Do you ever smile?" I asked before I could stop myself.
She looked at me and shrugged nonchalantly. "I do but right now I'm in no mood for smiles and carefree conversation."
"Your head is filled with questions, isn't it?" I asked after a short moment.
"You've read my mind. You know I do."
"Actually, I can't read your mind.”
Her eyes went big. "You can't?!"
"A vampire cannot read another vampire's mind. We cannot control others of our kind. Even if we could it would be against our laws."
"And what are our laws?"
"We'll save that for another time. Would you like to hunt with me?"
"I really need to get home. My parents—"
"Can wait. You need blood."
"And how do you know what I need?"
"The way your skin looks. It is almost as pale as the dead. You cannot walk around like that. It will give our kind away because your parents will think you are sick and take you to a hospital."
"My parents already know not to do that. They know what I am."
I stood there, speechless. Then I finally said, "Humans are not to know what you are, Emily. It is against our laws."
"Yeah, well, I know nothing of your laws. My sire told me nothing. He got tired of me after two weeks and left me here. You are the first vampire I have seen since then. And before you have a conniption fit, only my mom, dad, sister, and a select few people I trust with my very life know."
I said nothing. I'm not sure why but I was willing to let her slide with one of the most important laws. I know I had authority to do so but it didn't feel right. They were my parents' laws. I knew better than to break them but I found her as an exception. It worried me.
"I think after two years and no one has found out then no one will find out. There has always been peace here; nothing out of the ordinary. Now I'm hungry. Let's go."
A few hours into searching I was ready to enter a home and take a sleeping victim. There were no people out like in most of the big cities I'd stayed in but Emily wouldn't hear of it and since I was a guest of her city, I did as she asked. "Why don't we save this for tomorrow night before I have to be at school?" she asked.
"You still go to school? How?" That was interesting.
"Our school has this night program. I signed up for it so I don't have to attend during the day. I still want to get a degree and I still want to graduate with my friends."
"I used to have an old teacher home school me when I was younger. We never had such choices."
"Well, welcome to the twenty-first century,” she said. “I'm going home. We won't find anything tonight. It's too late." Before I could say anything she'd already disappeared. I found myself hoping she would keep her word and meet me tomorrow to hunt. I pushed the feeling aside. I shouldn't care.
I went back to the hotel room that I'd rented and called Anita. When she answered I said, "Stay where you are. Until I find out about this youngling living here I want you to stay there. If she is a threat I will tell you I need you here; if she is not I will return there."
"Kade, you're running from the Council not working for them." She paused. “Wait. What youngling?”
"Anita, I have been investigating things for my parents since I came of age. It is a habit I choose not to break." I ignored her question about Emily.
"Kade, if you're looking for Ayden you're not going to find him. You have been searching for over two centuries—"
"Enough, Anita. I will be unavailable for a while. If Brooke calls tell her not to worry and I will contact her as soon as possible. And do not tell her where I have gone." I hung up before she could say anything else. I took my shirt and shoes off but left my jeans and socks on and crawled in the bed. Morning would be here soon and I needed the rest.
Emily:
My head was racing when I finally got home. Fatigue made it hard for me to walk up the stairs and onto the porch. I tried the door but unsurprisingly found it locked so I reached around in my pocket for my key. When I got in, I went straight to my bedroom. The walls were purple but they were covered up with so many posters and pictures that you couldn’t tell—except for the little spaces. Even the ceiling was filled with posters and more pictures. I took my shoes off and pulled back the black bedspread with blue bats and the blue sheets. I didn’t bother undressing. I was too tired. Morning was coming and I needed as much sleep as I could get. I also needed to get my head clear for the next time I saw Kade. I had questions that needed answers and until I had rest my head was going to be cloudy and I was going to be unfocused. Pushing that thought aside I pulled the covers up to my chin and finally drifted off to sleep.
Darien:
"What's been up with you today, D?"
I blinked, a little confused, and looked up at Chris. "What do you mean?"
"You've been zoned out all day and you haven't said a thing; just an occasional nod here and there."
I shrugged. "I'm just thinking."
"It's not Em again, is it?" he asked.
I sighed. There was no point in lying to him. He knew me all too well. "Yeah," I said, running my hands across my face.
"When are you going to give up, D? You can't keep doing this to yourself; to her, either."
"To her?" I asked looking at him puzzled.
He sighed. "I've already said too much and this should be a conversation between the two of you."
"What do you—?“
"Why don't we go do something tonight? I haven't hung out with you in forever and it'll get you out of your head," Chris said, changing the subject.
I laughed. "The only reason we haven't hung out is because you've been staying home and on the phone with Marie all of the time."
"And your point?" he said with a grin.
"It's your fault."
"Shut up," he said, still grinning. "So what should we get into tonight?"
"Actually..."
His face went serious. "I don't like where that's going."
"It's nothing bad. I just want to know what this new guy in town is up to."
His eyes narrowed. "What new guy?"
"Emily and I were talking last night and he showed up out of nowhere. Emily seemed a little worried about him but I didn't really notice a threat."
"D, if Em's worried about this new guy then maybe you should stay away. Just forget about it for tonight. She'll let you know if something's going down. Until then do what she says and stay away from the guy."
“Alright,” I sighed. But he knew as well as I did she wasn’t going to tell me a thing. “So what’s on the agenda for tonight?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
Chris:
Hanging out with Darien tonight seemed almost like a bad idea. He seemed to be stuck in his head the whole night and I didn’t know what to do about it. I should tell Emily but she’d end up yelling at him. Maybe that would be for his own good but even if that was the case I still couldn’t help but want to be filled in on what I’d missed.
"Alright, man. I can’t take this anymore. What’s going down?” I asked.
He looked up at me. “What are you talking about?”
“The guy.”
“Oh, that. I’ve just decided to do what you said and stay out of it. Emily doesn’t need my help.” He sighed.
“What is it now?”
“I don’t know, man. I just don’t know.”
The car was silent for a moment. “You miss her, don’t you?” I asked.
He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah. I miss her a lot and no matter how much I try to tell her that she doesn’t listen to me.”
I didn’t want to give Em away but I had to let him know this at least. “Maybe she does listen.”
He laughed one of those sad, hopeless laughs. "What makes you so sure of that?"
I sighed. I should have just kept my mouth shut. "Because she talks to me about these things sometimes."
His eyes lit up. "Really?! What does she say?" he cleared his throat. "I mean that's cool, I guess."
I rolled my eyes at his lame cover up. "We usually just talk about random stuff. Sometimes about you. She asked me not to tell so don't expect to get anything else out of me."
"Come on, dude! You can tell me something!"
I laughed. "You are acting so much like a girl right now."
He scowled but said nothing.
The car was silent again; the only sound was the radio. When "Vampire Heart" by HIM came on Darien stared at the radio and occasionally when I glanced over I could see his lips moving. I knew he was singing with the song and I knew what he was thinking of. When I tried changing the song he grabbed my hand and forced it down, not taking his eyes off of the radio. I was worried about him but I said nothing. I just kept my thoughts to myself and let my friend suffer silently.
It was about ten-thirty when I dropped Darien off at his house and decided to drive to Emily's. She probably wouldn't be home because of school—you never knew how late they kept her there—but it was worth a try. I wanted to talk to her; to find out what was going on with her lately. I wanted to know what she planned on doing about Darien, about what she was going to do with this new guy he was talking about.
Pulling into her driveway I saw her dad sitting on the front porch. When I got out he stood up. "Hey, Chris. What are you doing here so late on a school night?" he asked.
"I wanted to stop by and see Emily if that's okay."
He frowned. "She's in her room but I don't think it's a good idea to see her tonight."
"It won't be long, Mr. Peterson."
He looked down at his feet and nodded. Looking at Mr. Peterson I wondered how hard it must be for him to have a daughter who's not quite human anymore and to have the beliefs he does. Did he really believe that she was going to end up going to Hell and that she had no soul? I wanted to ask but kept my mouth shut. There were some questions better left unanswered and it didn't seem like a subject I should bring up with Mr. Peterson.
"Thank you," I said as he stepped aside and let me walk up the front steps. I went straight to Emily's room and found the door closed. I knocked.
"Come in," she called.
I cracked the door a bit and stuck my head through. "Hey."
She looked up from her book. "Oh, Chris! Hi!"
I opened the door a little wider and walked in, closing it behind me. "How have you been, Em?"
"I've been good. What about you?"
"Same." I sat down in the lime green mushroom chair she had sitting in front of the door against the wall of her small bedroom. She looked down at the floor for a few moments and then she stood up. "Dad's in the house and I want to go outside. I've been inside all day—other than when I went to school. Would you like to join me?"
"Sure," I said and stood up. I opened the door and let her go through first and shut it behind me.
"Dad," Emily said when get go to the living room, "Chris and I are going to sit outside for a little bit. I'm fine for the moment so don't worry about a thing, okay?"
"Okay, sweetie," he said and kissed her cheek.
Once we were outside she sat on the edge of the porch and took a deep breath. I didn't hear her exhale but I watched her do it. "So how are things between you and Marie?" she asked.
"They're good. I mean I don't get to see her but once every month since she lives so far away and school started but we talk on the phone every night. I wish she was here with me but I'm just happy that I have her either way."
"That's good," she said with a smile on her face.
"What about Darien?" I asked her.
"What about him?" she asked.
"I don't know. I just thought..."
She shook her head. "I can't do that. I don't want to hurt him again."
"You can't still be feeling guilty about that, can you? That happened over two years ago, Em."
"I do still feel guilty. How could I not? Have you thought about what would have happened if I'd killed him? Because I do. I think about that every day, and it's why..." she paused. "It's why I think sometimes I should just leave this place."
"Why would you want to leave?"
"Think about it, Chris. What if I go for so long without blood like I did that night? Think of all of the people I would hurt that I care about. Think of how much more guilt I would have to go through if I'd hurt and killed one of you. And what's going to happen in a few decades when all of you are old and I'm still like this? I don't want to watch you die..."
"I know you don't, Emily, but it's just life. We live, we die. It's been that way for as long as there has been life on this earth and nothing can change that. Well, nothing that you're willing to do and we're not going to ask you to stop us from growing older. Most of us do want to grow old. Most of us don't even want to be vampires." I laughed.
She rolled her eyes. "So says the guy who's crazy about werewolves." She looked at me. "Chris, can I fix your hair?"
I looked at her. I didn't see anything wrong with my hair. It was the way I liked it but I trusted Emily and didn't think she'd do anything too bad to it so I said, "Sure."
"Great!" she said happily and was on her feet before I saw her move. She grabbed me by one arm and I went flying to my feet. I'd never get used to that. We went to her room and sat in front of her mirror on her dresser and she grabbed a brush and gently brushed through it. I didn't feel a thing, honestly.
"Okay, follow me," she said. We went into her bathroom and she pointed towards the tub. I raised my eyebrows at her and she laughed and said, "Lean over it, silly. I'm not asking you to strip." I sighed and did as she said.
Once she was done washing my hair she grabbed a towel and handed it to me so I could dry it a little. We walked back into her room and she sat me down again. She ran the brush through my hair again and once she was finished with that she began trimming it. I was a little worried because she'd had no real experience with cutting hair and she was cutting a little more off than I'd liked but once she was finished it looked good. She blow dried it and straightened it, then pulled it back in a ponytail. The whole time I barely felt her hands and I probably wouldn't have noticed what she was doing if I hadn't been watching her in the mirror.
The whole time she was doing this I'd taken the time to look at her the way Darien might. Doing so I noticed how easy it was for him to fall in love with her and why it was so hard for him to let her go. She was pretty, though not as pretty as most models you'd see on TV, but her heart made up for the places her looks didn't. And she had a big heart. She always put others ahead of herself and she fought hard to keep from hurting others. She's always been a sensitive person, always wearing her heart on her sleeve, yet hiding her emotions very well. Looking at her this way it made me think of all of the other boys that had wanted her but didn't even want to tell her because they knew she'd say no. In this moment it was written all over her face that doing this had reminded her of Darien and that she still loved him. I felt horrible for the both of them. Darien was suffering because he thought she didn't want him and she was suffering because she still did but was scared she'd hurt him all over again. I wished there was something I could do but this was something they would have to fix on their own.
"There," she said breaking into my thoughts. "You're done."
I looked into the mirror again and really liked what I saw. Instead of pulling my hair in the ponytail like she'd intended she left it down. It was shorter than before but not too short. It looked professionally done. "Thank you, Emily."
She smiled. "You're welcome."
"I'll make sure you get all of the credit for this."
She laughed. "You really don't have to."
"But I want to."
"Okay."
I sighed. "I really hate to run, Em, but I've got to get home."
She looked at her clock. Eleven-thirty. "Yeah, you do. Don't speed and be careful, okay?"
I stood and hugged her. "I will."
When I stepped back she said, "You'd better. You never know if I'll be around."
I laughed. "Alright, Em. Goodnight."
"You, too."
I got in my car and went home. I'd learned most of what I wanted to know. I just wondered when Darien would finally break and tell her what he needed to tell her.
Kade:
It was almost midnight and there was still no sign of Emily. I'd been pacing this same spot for over four hours now. Could she be in school? If I knew where the school was I would go check but I doubted she'd be at school right now; it was almost midnight. I'd tried talking myself out of waiting. I kept telling myself that the only reason I was waiting on her to hunt with me was because this was her city and I didn't want to raise suspicion and not that I seemed a little interested in her.
I was just about to leave when she slowly stepped out from behind the building. She was wearing a white t-shirt with blackish-blue lips on them, a light shade of navy peace signs, a black outlined heart with peace, love, and happiness written in the inside, smiley faces everywhere and another peace and love written in big letters. She had on a pair of jeans and she had on another pair of Vans. This pair was also checkered but they were of the same colors of the shirt. Her belt was studded, which didn't really surprise me and her hair was pulled back. In her hand were two packets of blood.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
She shrugged. "The few people I know donate it to me."
"They give people hospital bags to place the blood in?"
She smiled. "You'd be surprised at what people can get off the internet."
"They sell that stuff on the internet?"
"What don't they sell on the internet?”
I shrugged.
"I figured this would be easier. It causes less suspicion with the people here and it's what has allowed me to keep my secret for as long as I have." She handed me one of the packets.
"Thank you," I said.
She smiled. "It's no problem."
"You seem to be in a better mood tonight," I mused.
"Yes, I guess I am."
"So I'm guessing that you really do have questions you'd like answered, then?"
She nodded.
"Ask away."
"Can our kind die of natural causes?"
"Do you mean do we actually grow old?"
"Yeah."
"We do but not as the humans do. I'm not sure what the oldest living age is but I know it's a pretty long time."
"Are we able to see sunlight again?"
"I hate to disappoint you but you won't ever be able to see the sun again."
"Oh..." She looked down. "Do you miss the sun?"
"I've never seen the sun and you cannot miss what you've never seen."
She looked up at me. "You've never seen the sun? How is that possible?"
"I was born a vampire, not sired by another."
"We can have kids?!" she shouted.
"Shhh! Do you want the world to hear you?" I warned.
"Sorry,” she said, “but seriously, though. We can have kids?"
I laughed. "Yes. Did you want any of your own?"
"God, no. I thought being a vampire meant I couldn't and I was happy about that."
"I've never met a girl who didn't want children."
"Well I'm not like most girls." She stuck the packet to her mouth. I heard a pop and watched as the bag began to deflate as the blood was being drained.
I looked into her eyes and was very intrigued by the sight of them. They were a deep gold, very rare to find. I couldn’t seem to look away from them because they were beautiful.
Why are you staring? a voice in my head asked.
