Chapter 1

That was my second one tonight and boy was it exhilarating! When I first started slaying, I hated it but I had a good reason to begin in the first place. I never thought I would ever kill a living being in my ENTIRE life, I was just not a bad person. I've never even had thoughts to kill people before, ever! But I guess a vampire (god, I hate that word) doesn't really count. They're not alive, they have no souls, they're just like machines. No heart, just want to do what they please OR are instructed to do. The only thing they ever want is blood, which always makes them come to me. A lot of vampires always end up telling me the smell of my blood is intoxicating and it's usually the last thing they ever say since that's when I kill them ... just when they're getting ready to bite me. My blood always lures them to me, and life was just made that much easier for me.


I walked back into the club, Noir Nuit. Some French club which is probably the most famous vampire club around, hence the reason I always go, one by one the stupid vampires are going to die. The multiple lights surround me, and I can already see a vampire trying to lure in a girl to come with him to the back alley, where I just was. They'll have a nice surprise to discover my former partner's body there. Haha!


I catch my friend, Rose's eye. She's dancing with this guy, looks like a rock star with his long hair and pierced eyebrow and the muscle t-shirt is a dead giveaway, but that's her type I guess. She's going home with him tonight, I silently say in my head. She gives me a look that says "Where the hell were you?" I wink at her and she catches her drift. Rose looks so peaceful and happy. When have I ever been happy to come to a club. Rose is always excited whenever I mention the idea of going to a club; she comes for fun while I come with a mission, seduce vampires and kill them.


Now let's start with a bit about me. I'm Mariah Kerié , no not the Mariah Carey, but

Mariah Kerié , the first e (ee) is stretched and the last e sounds like an ey ( MARIAH KEE-REY). You probably guessed it but I'm French. Both my parents were born and raised in Paris, and then when they got married, they moved to California, where I was born. People always confuse my name, and some people call me Mariah Carey just for the fun of it. I am not her! She's a singer whose voice can hit 8 octaves and married to Nick Cannon and I'm a slayer, and she is gorgeous while I'm just ... average? People always tell me they wish they had my features but I always disagree. I just don't see it.


I have long wavy black hair just beneath my shoulders and green eyes, which throws people off, since a lot of people with black hair don't have green eyes. I think that's why people are always so intrigued by me. I'm not too tall, 5'6 and I'm curvy, curves in all the right spots. Not too fat and not too skinny. Just right, exactly what guys go for right? ;) I used to have a problem whenever people made fun of me, but I got used to it. I don't know anybody that does what I do. I guess I should be like stick thin since I whoop people's butts for a living but after a tiring day I usually come home and stuff my face with ice-cream, my weakness. Stop judging me! I'm perfectly fine with it and I bet I could still kick anybody's butt! People say I'm a tomboy, I don't really try to impress anybody and I'm not too big of a fan with makeup. Just the basics; lipgloss and moisturizer. I'm au naturelle. I'm a slayer, I have no time for that stuff .


So why did I become a vampire slayer? A few years ago, my best friend, Jesse and I went hiking up this nature trail that we found when we were just kids. We were so close... I even had a crush on him. We climbed the nature trail and watched the sunset together everyday during our summer holidays from school. One day some vampires came and they looked pretty bloodthirsty. Jesse was the lone victim. He was killed by a vampire right in front of me, to this day I am still wondering as to why they left me and didn't go for the kill but I somehow survived.


They just gave me a smirk and didn't even touch me. I witnessed the entire thing, while one bloodsucker was holding me and didn't let me help him, not that I could've helped him in the first place. By the time they finished with him, he was drained of blood and there was nothing I could do to help him. I was heartbroken... to this day, my relationship with Jesse's family have never been the same. I've tried talking to them but they don't ever have anything to say. After Jesse's funeral, they moved away to Minnesota. I tried communicating with his sister, Eliza, but I guess she still hates me too. I vowed that one day I was going to find the vampire that killed him and make him pay. A year or two after that, I joined a secret organization.


I can't even say their name out loud because that's how secretive they are. Anyways, they found me and they already knew my situation about vampires and so they wanted to help me take revenge and also help them out to take out the vampires as well. To make the world a better place, I mean really who needs trash in this world? I trained with them; learned vampires' vulnerabilities, get to use a lot of cool weapons too and I soon became their best recruit, which earned me the title of the vampire slayer - best in the country. No one knows my true identity, not even my parents. They would freak! So anyways, I was a Berkeley University student by day, slayer by night. It's a lot to handle, studies and killing, but I manage.


Bringing back the memories of Jesse was hard so I knew it was time for me to go home, put on a chick flick and paint my nails. Just cause I'm a tomboy doesn't mean I can't act like a girl once in a while, right? I go and tell Rose that I'm going to head out, she wants to come with me but I tell her to stay and have fun. Why should her fun get ruined?

Just when I reach the door, I feel a hand touch my shoulder.

Chapter 2

I turn and stare up into a pair of honey golden eyes. It felt like just a pair of eyes had mesmerized me. I discreetly shook my head in order to get myself out of the trance. I knew he was a vampire; and he was trying to compel me. Usually it worked on people; one look into a vampire's eyes and the human was like a deer caught in a car's headlights in the middle of a highway. If a human became trapped under a vampire's spell, surely they wouldn't be alive for the next morning... I've seen it happen before. I, on the other hand was a lucky one. Sure I had a soft spot for attractive men, and everybody knows that vampires were beautiful creatures but a vampire hasn't ever been able to get under their control, probably another reason why I was the perfect candidate to be a slayer.

He smiled a crooked smile, and I, in return smiled back seductively. He looked taken back, probably because he figured his compelling wasn't working on me and usually this made vampires try harder, which always made it harder for them to stay away from me and it made my job a hell of a lot easier... in a way. But all I could think about was running my hands through his icy blonde hair.


"Surely a pretty thing like you shouldn't leave so early without a date," the creature said, "Why it's only 1 in the morning, why not stay for a bit longer?"

All I could think was "1am is early for you? Do you have too much human blood in your system?"


But I didn't say that, instead " I was getting tired, you can only dance with so many people in one night ... unless you want to rock my world tonight." I giggled and winked. Urgh, I hated giggling, it made me seem like an innocent little puppy but most men usually just eat it up. I guess he was one of them because then he took his hand and gently started rubbing against my arm. It made me shiver, which made me pathetic. But it's hard having hormones to deal with while you're trying to kill the piece of trash that's standing in front of you. I couldn't handle it any longer so I took his hand and led him onto the dance floor. I put my arms around his neck as he slid his arms around my waist and pulled me in close. I tried to keep my distance but he had such a strong grip. I saw Rose again, and she was giving me a weird look as if to say " were you really going to go home?" I grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled. She was still with the rocker dude. I turned back to the mystery guy and smiled. Funny, how I never asked for his name. It didn't really matter because I was going to kill him in a matter of time. He smiled that crooked smile of his and licked his lips. I just stared; did this dude just lick his lips at me?


Then he started leaning in closer...closer...closer. He was at least two heads taller than me, so he had to lean down pretty far. There we go, I thought, thinking he was going to kiss me and I was going to let him, the other vampire I killed that night didn't have the chance to because I took care of business so quickly but you know I don't mind getting kissed once in a while, even if it was by a vampire. Most were definitely good kissers. But instead he went for my neck!


No, he didn't bite me, which would've been stupid because there were so many people around but he started rubbing his nose against my neck... it was like he knew! Could he read minds? I was going crazy; if there was one thing that nobody should ever know about me is that my weak spot was my neck. If anyone went near it, I went insane. Then he stopped and looked up at me. Thank god! He then, gently pecked me on the lips.

He whispered, " How about we go outside?" All I could do was nod because I was still in lala land from the neck touching. He led me through the back door of the club, which unsurprisingly led to an alleyway. How convenient, I thought, are you just going to leave my body for people to find in here? Surely, he could've at least tried to take me to a hotel. I mean if someone was going to find me dead, I want it to be a nice scene and not in a trash can ... not that I'm going to die tonight though.


He pushed me up against the nearest wall and started kissing me. He was very aggressive but I guess I was too. It's all those damn hormones! Then he started kissing my cheek and then my jaw. He was working his way to my neck, since he probably figured out it was my weakness. Uh oh, I thought. If he went for my neck I was in deep trouble. I tried to get at my stake that I kept in my knee-high boots but I couldn't because he had my arms pinned to the wall.


He started kissing my neck and I couldn't do anything but moan. It just felt so good. I couldn't think of anything except lollipops and unicorns. Apparently that was my happy place, aside of killing vampires. I felt my knees start to buckle. Running through my head was: Goodbye dear world, even though you haven't been the best to me, I still appreciated everything I had... I closed my eyes, and let the desire for sleep take over. I was a goner tonight, I thought.

Chapter 3

Now I wouldn’t even get the chance to find the killer of my best friend… I felt him lick my neck just once. Then before I even had the chance to scream he bit into my neck and I could do was let out a small whimper. "So good…" He whispered, against my neck. I felt as if all my life was getting sucked outta me, and in a way it was. I couldn’t, I couldn’t die, no not today! Just then, I felt him relax his arms in order to taste my blood better, and that was my signal. With all the strength I had, I punched him right in the guts. Quickly took out my stake from my boots and just when he charging at me again, I stuck it right in his heart. He obliterated into ashes.


I stood looking at the ashes, while breathing heavily. I couldn’t make it back to the club to find Rose. I was still going to end up dead in a dirty alleyway! Why not in a nice motel at least!

My eyesight was beginning to cloud over. I tried to keep it open but it started drooping. Through my blurry vision, I saw a figure that was walking towards me. I felt my knees start to shake again, and I knew it wasn’t the hormones this time but the loss of blood. The figure was in front of me in less than a second and had his arms around me, supporting me. I tried to lift my head to look at the angel of mercy, but all I could see was a pair of smoky gray eyes. Then I blacked out.

*****

I slowly opened my eyes. I tried looking around but it was dark. I could faintly make out the outline of a window, a dresser and a door? Is this how heaven was supposed to look like? Wasn’t it made of clouds, with people in white togas and God standing before me? Don’t tell me I went to the underworld!


I tried to lift my head up but I couldn’t. I just didn’t have the strength. I had a major headache, like someone was drilling a hole in my head. Plus I felt like I was going to vomit, probably from the loss of blood. It sucks how much getting bitten by a vampire could do to you. I’ve always hated blood tests and I guess this was the same feeling. I tried not to think about the wound on my neck, but I couldn’t resist. I just had to touch it. Don’t ask me why. I lifted my arm to bring it to my neck but saw that it was retrained. I was chained? I felt around. It felt silky and soft… and I think there were pillows underneath me. Was I tied to a bed? Huh, at least I got my wish to die nicely after all. It was the least God could do for me; after all I was trying to make the world a better place. Really they should award slayers with a Nobel peace prize. It amused me to think that these were the things that were going through my head instead of trying to find a way to escape. I squinted in the dark trying to focus. I was so tired and all I wanted was to fall asleep, which wasn’t hard since I was already on a bed. But first I had to figure out what was going on. Why wasn’t I dead? The last thing I remembered after killing that scum was…


The stranger with the gray eyes! Did he save me? Did he kidnap me? I need to find out who he was. I just needed to! I’m pretty sure he was a man…wasn’t he? Why was I thinking about that, focus Mariah, focus! Think, think, think.


Just then the door that I distinctly saw opened and I heard footsteps walking toward me. I couldn’t make anything out because it was too dark. Then I saw a bright flash!

"Oh god!" I moaned.

"Sorry, is it too bright?" asked a voice. I tried opening my eyes again to match the voice to the face, but it burned. Too bright. "Hey, open your eyes slowly, let your eyes take it in", said the voice. I nodded. I opened it more slowly this time, and let my eyes adjust. Then I looked up into the face of a Greek God. Literally, he was gorgeous. The first thing I noticed were the eyes; it was the stranger from the alleyway! I knew he kidnapped me! …or did he save me?


He smiled down at me, and I think I might’ve melted. The way his brunette hair was coming slightly into his face, and his perfectly sculpted face. Broad shoulders and such nice cheekbones. I fell for the eyes though, they were just so beautiful. I smiled back at him stupidly. I could stare into those eyes forever. Why did I have to be a girl? It’s so hard.

He cleared his throat and I blinked out of my trance. The thing that was so funny was that he wasn’t even trying to compel me (you just know if vampires are trying) and yet I was already compelled.

" I brought you some food, hope you like meatloaf and mashed potatoes." The stranger said.


"Mmhmm… and how do you expect me to eat that?" I asked, yanking on my chains.

"With your mouth of course, who said you need hands?" He said.

I stared. Was he serious?

He laughed, and I melted again. It was so sweet and melodic with a hint of a man, if you catch my drift.

I knew he was a vampire, after dealing with them for so long, you can just tell. It kind of disappointed me. Why did my enemy have to look so good?

"I’m just yanking your chains," he winked. I smiled goofily back, it was the least I could do, I mean the poor guy was trying to make a joke.


"No, it’s just that I didn’t know what to do, you are a slayer after all, if I left you unrestrained you might’ve tried killing me." He explained. "So I’ll let you out, but only if you promise to behave, remember I’m stronger than you so I can easily take you down."

"Okay buddy, let me get my strength up, then we’ll see who the weakling is," I said.

He stared at me, as if unsure of what to do. Has no one ever talked back to him before? He then smiled and unlocked my chains with a key he took out of his pocket. He handed me the food and some water.

I dug in. It tasted like little drops of heaven.


"My name is Damien, in case you were wondering," Damien said. Right, stupid me, forgot to ask the Greek god what his name was. Here I am munching on his food and I forget my manners.

"And I’m –" Damien cut me off, "you’re Mariah. I know"

I slowly nod my head. Well… if he knew that I’m the slayer, he might as well know my name already.

I finished eating in record time and drank down the water in a gulp. I thank him.

"No problem, now let’s get down to business." Damien says.


I gulp. "Business?" I ask.

"Is this the part where you fatten up your guest then kill her?" I slowly ask.

Damien smiles a slow and mischievous smile. Uh oh, I thought. I knew this was too good to be true.

Chapter 4

He laughed, that melodic laugh of his. I'm glad I could make him laugh even though I was probably going to die in a few minutes. Who would've thought I'd be facing death two times in one night? At least this time, I'd die on a nice and comfy bed.

He looked down at me, those gray eyes shining. "No, I'm letting you go." Damien replied, after what seemed like hours.

I almost choked on my dry spit. "Y-you what?" Letting me go?" I sputtered. He nodded. "Unless you want me to kill you?" He added.

"I'm confused, I'm a slayer, I kill things that are like YOU!" I said. "Right, and I also kill things that are like you." He replied, matter-of-factly. All I could do was stare.

Was he joking? Was he going to let me go and then chase after me and rip my body piece by piece?


I wasn't gullible so I certainly wasn't going to believe him, he was a vampire after all, but also just had to be the most sexiest vampire I've ever laid eyes on. Imagine how hot he would've looked when he was alive. Yum!

Focus Mariah!

"It's weird... how I can't seem to read your thoughts," he said slowly. "Oh so you're that type of vampire eh? The mind reading kinds? Yeah those, never worked on me." I replied, proudly.

He looked shocked. "You know that and yet you don't seem to care?"

I just shrugged. "Better for me, right? Why question the good things in life?" I winked.

He grinned. Oh, those perfect teeth.


What was I doing? It's hard to think about him as an enemy... why?

He noticed me staring at him, and I blushed. God, I was such a loser. He grinned even wider. "So why are you questioning the good stuff now? I'm letting you go, shouldn't you be falling at my feet, thanking me? He asked, standing up.

"No I'm sorry, I just can't let something like this go. Why are you letting me go?" I asked. I was stubborn, he knows that now. He stood silent for a minute as if trying to think of an excuse. "Just think of it as a truce, the vampire you killed was someone I've had a disagreement with for quite some time and now that he's out of my life, I can be much happier," He replied, "As a thank you for that, I'll let you go, I suppose."

I got up slowly, in case my energy wasn't back up. I felt much better though, probably the food.


He led me to the door. All I could pray for was that I didn't fall on my face any time soon.

I saw a window, which was open, and it looked pretty dark outside. "What time is it?" I asked. "8pm," he replied. My feet stopped working. "But it was 1 in the morning at the club," I whispered. He looked at me as if I were stupid, which made me feel stupid. He had no right to do that to me. No guy ever makes me feel stupid, how could he?

"Right..." he said slowly, as if I were a slow learner, "It's the next day, you were out of it for quite some time."


"Great, just great, I missed my classes this afternoon, URGH, which way is your door?" I asked. "Do you want a ride?" He asked. I shook my head no; I don't think I should ever get the chance to be so close to him. I just might jump him. "Just show me the way," I replied. "I want to make sure you get home alright," he said, gently. I blushed and stared at my feet, but I had to stay strong. I couldn't show a vampire where I lived. Rule #1 in vampire training: NEVER let a vampire follow you. Kill him/her as soon as possible before putting any loved ones in danger.

I looked back up, and I saw that he was standing right in front of me now. I looked into his eyes and I felt myself get lost in the gray smoke of his eyes.


I gathered the strength to speak. "It's really okay, I prefer walking." I whispered back, almost breathless. I was so pathetic.

He just stared at me, then without any warning, he kissed me on the cheek, and I felt as if I had been shocked. I looked up at him, as he looked confused but he moved aside to let me pass without saying anything except this blank look on his face. I didn't question the kiss because all I could think about was getting out of there. I found my way out of the apartment, which was very chic, if I may add and made my way outside. The cool October breeze felt nice against my face, but Damien's kiss was still lingering on my cheek as if a hot spatula had scorched me. I shook myself out of it, tightened my black leather jacket around me and tried to find a bus to get back home. It sucks to be 19 years old, without a car.


The whole way home, I couldn't stop thinking about him. Yes he was a vampire but yet something was different about him. Was it love? Ha, I laughed out loud. Please, I've never even been in love before, and with someone I just met, let alone a vampire?? Please, that was so not happening...

I tried to put him to the side, who knew when I was ever going to see him again. As of right now, I need to make up an excuse for my parents who were probably beyond freaking out as to where I was the whole day...and night.


I finally ended up taking a taxi, and arrived at home around 9pm. Saying my parents were pissed would be an understatement. There really were no words to describe how they were, it's hard being an only child. But I managed, I told them how we had lost track of time at the club and then when coming back Rose's car had stopped working in the middle of the road, we had to call a tow truck, then wait at the garage in order to get it fixed, then my phone died (it really did) and I kept adding and adding to the story until they finally calmed down. I knew if anything, Rose would back me up without any problem or questions.


I went upstairs to my room. I always loved going up to my room, it was my favorite place in the world. Most people always had a favorite place; a tree house, the park, a garden, the library or something, but for me, it was my room. It was pretty big, let me tell you, with a huge walk-in closet for all my clothes. I loved clothes; I had more than I needed. Plus another closet for just my shoes, sandals, boots and flip flips. I matched a footwear to each of my outfit. I had a flat screen TV stuck on the wall right in front of my four-poster bed. I even had a mini fridge plus a small microwave... although I don't really use the microwave. Plus my room was blue and purple! My two favorite colors... I really was a girl wasn't I? Last but not least, my own washroom. That was a girl's sanctuary. I guess I was a bit spoiled, but you know, this was like nothing compared to some of my friends.


I walked to my bedroom window and gazed outside. I loved looking out my window because it had such a nice view of the lake that was located beside our neighborhood, plus I had a balcony. Sometimes during the night, when I can't sleep, I used to climb down the balcony and go sit by the lake and stare at the stars. It was really soothing.


I went to the fridge pulled out a Red Bull and jumped onto my bed. I knew it was like 10 in the night, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep so I drank the energy drink. I called Rose because I knew she'd have a million questions as to where I went, and so I just told her I had hung out with a guy, which really wasn't a lie. She had a hard time believing it because I wasn't the type of girl to leave with someone, unlike her. I convinced her in the end. I called Aaron, my best buddy and explained some of the details to him as well since he saw that I wasn't in class today. Apparently I had missed a lot of work... it's great how the day I end up missing, we have a pile of homework. I knew I'd be stuck in the library tomorrow.


After talking to him, I changed into a camisole and some PJ bottoms and turned on the TV. The clock read 3:17, oh it's the hour of 3am, the time when all the evil in the world comes out, please like that scared me... I fought that evil. I kept flipping through the channels until I landed on a breaking story on the news. A middle-aged woman had been attacked and killed in a park nearby. She was drained of all her blood; officials believed it was an animal attack. It's been awhile since these stories had appeared on the news. They always said it was an animal attack when they had nothing else to say. I knew it wasn't an animal attack, and now I had to find out who did it. I'd go and talk to Chris, my recruiter, about it tomorrow if I had time. I tried not to pay attention, but something was bothering me and I couldn't put my finger on it. The park, Centreville Park was really nearby and I just hoped no one else gets hurt, other than the vampires that did it of course. I ended up watching some Korean romance film with English subtitles. It was pretty interesting, I didn't get to see the ending though because I fell asleep soon after.


I woke up to the sound of the TV playing in the background and the sun shining through my window. I forgot to turn off the TV AND close the curtains. Guess the Red Bull didn't do anything. I had a pleasant dream, which made it easier for me to wake up. It was about Damien. I don't really remember the dream, but Damien and I were standing in a forest, looking at something. He looked beautiful, that's something I can't forget. But that was all I could remember. I went and took a quick shower, and changed into a thin gray Abercrombie & Fitch sweater with black skinnies and paired it up with my white converse.


My mind floated back to that kiss, it was just a kiss on the cheek, for Pete's sake! But it felt like it had left a permanent mark on my skin, like a scar or even a tattoo. Why was I thinking about it? I'd probably never see him again, but if I wasn't going to see him again, then why did he kiss me? Did he know we'd meet again? I combed my hair out and pulled it into a loose, messy bun. Effortless, but sexy. I was admiring myself in the mirror when I realized I was going to be late to my classes. I sped downstairs, grabbed a granola bar and my leather jacket and was out the door. I looked at the time, it was 8:30, I still had another 45 minutes before class started. I headed to Starbucks, picked up a frappucino and made my way to the subway. I was at the campus in 15 minutes. I finished my drink, met up with Aaron and headed to class. I knew I had a long day ahead of me.

Chapter 5

Damien’s Point of View


I peered through the window, watching her walk away, becoming smaller and smaller until she was out of view. I had the urge to follow her but she might’ve picked up on that easily. It didn’t matter; I already knew everything about her. She had been nervous about letting me take her home because then I’d have found out the location of her house but I already knew where she lived. I knew about her parents, her school, even Jesse…


But yet I never thought that she’d be this beautiful, nor did I think she was this fearless. Sure, she had almost been killed by a vampire but now she had been held captive by one as well and she’s having a complete conversation. She was a vampire slayer but previous slayers always showed fear even if I didn’t threaten them. Was this all an act?

I knew I first had to win her trust, and in order to do that … I had to release her. I didn’t want to let her go but it was the only way. Her blood was so strong, all I wanted was one lick, and one would’ve been enough…. But I had to have some willpower; I couldn’t do it, not now.


And what was that kiss? The only reason I had kissed her was for her to be able to feel as if I had some feelings for her. As if. But that kiss… it just felt so right?

Snap out of it Damien. You came here with a mission… to kill the vampire slayer. There’s a reason why you’re going to soon become the prince of the vampires but I have to prove myself to father. I have to complete my mission; I have to kill the slayer.


Where was her bite wound? Something was just not right. I had to find out more about her.

Just then I heard my phone vibrate on the table beside me. I picked up it. "Damien here," I replied. "Yes son, it’s me, did you find her?" He asked. "Yes father I found her, she was almost killed by Eric, but she got to him before." I said. "Aah, I see, well, did she suspect anything? Was she onto you as to why you were at the club?" Father asked. "No, she wasn’t, she had gotten bitten by Eric before I arrived, and I had just happened to 'save' her, so I brought her back to the apartment… in fact she just left, with no suspicions at all." I said. "Good job, my boy! So I take it there are no problems," Father said. "None." I replied. "Very well, report back frequently," he said, and with that, he cut the phone.

I smiled at the phone. All previous slayers had begged and pleaded for their lives before dying. I had a feeling this was going to be a bit of challenge but it was going to be all worth it in the end just for that taste of her blood. I was going to make her beg for her life, just like all the others.

Chapter 6

Mariah’s POV


I walked out of the library exhausted. I was literally dragging my feet across the floor just to make it move. My bag felt like it weighed 356675869854545 pounds and my arm killed from writing so much. I had gone straight to the library after classes and had stayed there for three hours trying to finish all my work. I had gotten distracted though a million times, with phone calls and a hundred different texts, but after a certain point, I just turned my phone off. I made my way down the stairs, when I heard my name being called. I turned around and two of my Biology classmates, Lily and Eliza were running to catch up with me. I stopped and waited for them.


"Hey" I said.

"Hey Mariah, where you coming from?" Eliza asked.

"Library, just spent THREE hours in there trying to catch up on some work," I replied.

"Oh…well guess wh-" said Eliza, but she was interrupted by Lily. "NO, I want to tell her!" she exclaimed.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

"Well, there’s this new guy in our biology class!" squealed Lily, "and he is gorgeous!"

"WAIT, we had biology today??!" I moaned.

"No silly, it’s tomorrow, but we saw him talking to Mr. Evans about it, I mean really we couldn’t resist eavesdropping, he was just too scrumptious," sighed Eliza.


Leave it to Lily and Eliza; they knew all the ‘deets’ of Berkeley.

"That’s nice, did we have any other work other than the textbook stuff in bio?" I asked. I was doing so well in that class that I wasn’t going to take any chances by missing any work.

"No, and don’t you want to see the guy? I think he might still be around," asked Lily.


"I’ll see him tomorrow won’t I? I’ll catch up with you later, I need a sugar rush." I said, then turned and walked out of the school, leaving Lily and Eliza, staring as if I had just turned down $100000 worth of prize money.


I was looking both ways of the street in order to cross (better to be safe than sorry), when I saw a car zoom right past almost colliding into me!


"Watch where you’re going! You tryin’ to kill someone?!" I screamed, I had been trying to be careful and this jerk had almost killed me!


I proceeded down the street, I mean the driver probably didn’t even hear and so I start taking out my iPod to listen to some music. I hear a horn honking, and I turn around to see that the jerk that almost ran me over was turning right around and coming back towards me.


Uh oh, I thought, maybe he did hear me. Whatever it was his fault and I was going to give him a piece of my mind. I watch as the car drives back, slowly this time, and therefore gave me some time to look at the car. The car was really nice. A Mazda - tinted windows, nice rims, black, and so shiny. I was admiring the car when it finally stopped in front of me. I was just getting ready to give them a huge lecture when the window rolled down. I gasped when I saw a glimpse of the driver. Damien?!


"Hey, need a ride?" He asked.

I stared at him… first he tries killing me and now he’s asking for a ride.


"In case you didn’t see, you almost ran me over, so no I will not be getting in with you," I replied.

"Oh, come on, I wasn’t watching where I was going, in fact I never watch where I’m going but then… I happened to notice that I almost collided into this beautiful girl which made me turn right back around to apologize, so I’m terribly sorry, would you like a ride now?" he said.


I blushed at his comment, it was cheesy but it worked. BUT I was still standing my ground. "No thanks, I can get home just fine." I said.


"You don’t accept my apology?" he asked, looking glum.

"I… no, it’s just-" I started saying, but he cut me off.

"Listen, get in and I’ll think of it as a way for you to accept my apology, I promise I’ll drop you off somewhere public and away from your house, so I don’t have to ever find out where it is," Damien replied, while rolling his eyes. It was clear that he was annoyed and I didn’t want to make him more mad.


I sighed. He had won. He smiled and leaned over to push open the door. What a gentleman. I got in and put on my seatbelt. I admired the interior. Full leather and very comfortable. For some reason, it felt a bit awkward… it was weird. I never felt awkward around boys. Damien made small talk and kept looking at me through the corner of his eyes, I could tell. It took all my strength not to peek a glance at him. I looked straight out the window.

"Scared are we?" Damien asked.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"It seems like you’re scared of me," he laughed.

"Please, I’m not scared of you!" I said, trying to sound brave.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, leaning in closer.


He had parked the car, in front of Starbucks, the same Starbucks at which I had bought my drink this morning from. But I was too busy staring at him to piece anything together. I was lost in his eyes… AGAIN!


Damn those beautiful eyes!

"I am not … scared … of you," I managed to whisper.

"Then prove it," he whispered back, coming in closer.

Our lips were just an inch apart. We were both breathing hard and just as it was about to happen, my phone started ringing. We both jerked back. I grabbed my phone out of my jacket pocket, and opened the car door.

"Uhmm… thanks for the ride," I said and jumped out of the car. I had been saved by my phone, I looked at my phone and saw that it was Aaron.


"Hello?" I said.

"Hey, where’d you go after your classes?" Aaron asked.

"I… went to the library to finish my work, and now I’m going home," I said. I turned back and saw that Damien had already left. Wasn’t that fast.

"Oh okay, well I need help in my psychology assignment…" he said.

I sighed. Aaron always needed help in his work.

"Uh, tomorrow then?" I asked. "Ha, thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow!" he said and cut the phone.


I started walking home, I had wanted to buy a doughnut but had decided against it. After my encounter with Damien, I just needed a cool bath. Just thinking about Damien brought butterflies to my stomach. Pleaaase Mariah, you’ve only known for a day and a half! Was this really love?


I don’t fall in love. I never have, except that one time in second grade when Timmy Jacobs had pushed me off the swings. I had gone crying home to my mom and she had said that boys always annoy you and tease me if they like you. Timmy always annoyed me and he was always making fun of me. I was gullible to believe my mom and after that, I grew to love Timmy just because he teased me. He had even kissed me on the cheek- my first kiss ever, when he tripped me on the playground once, as his way of saying sorry. But even then, that kiss didn’t feel like anything compared to the one by Damien’s. Just thinking about a real full-on kiss from him made my heart race. It was just waaaay too soon. Still…I hope he didn’t hate me… just because I rejected him? Did I reject him? I mean, it wasn’t my fault, it was too soon! We had just met yesterday. He even knew who I was, why did he even want to associate with me? It was all too weird.

But either way, I didn’t want him to hate me. I don’t know why… but I was looking forward to seeing him again…hopefully.

Chapter 7

I woke up the next morning, feeling exhausted. I had gone to bed at around 4 in the morning and even then I was tossing and turning the entire night. I kept trying to get my mind off Damien, he was all I could think about. I wanted to, needed to know more about him. I still had to talk to Chris about the new vampire killings, plus maybe get some inside info on Damien? Today, I will, I decided as I was getting out of bed.


I got out of bed, took a quick shower, threw on a knee-length blood red dress (since it was going to be warmer than usual), which hugged my figure, showing off my curves perfectly. I paired it up with black boots. I curled my hair and left it out in loose curls. I stared approvingly in the mirror. Just then I heard the doorbell ring.


I grabbed a thin sweater and ran downstairs. Rose was standing in the doorway as I opened the door. Rose looked particularly nice today. Her auburn hair was straightened and left out which reached below her shoulders. She was wearing a mini denim skirt, with a white tank and a black cardigan on top, paired with brown cowboy boots. Howdy partner!


I hugged her and we made our way to the car. Just then someone opened the door. Rob stepped out. I mentally groaned in my head. I turned to look at Rose, as she was gleaming. Rob had been her crush for as long as I can remember. He came over and hugged me tight, literally picking me off the ground. I didn't hug back, instead I squealed.

"Let me down!" I screamed.


He laughed and let me down. "You look hot today," he said and winked.


I rolled my eyes. Rob has been trying to hit on me for as long as Rose has had a crush on him. He probably just asked for a ride when he figured out I was coming along. He seemed oblivious to the fact that another hot girl (Rose) was completely in love with him, while I was not.


Sure, he was a nice guy and he was hot... with his brown hair that's always swept to the side, his tall figure and his nice hazel eyes. He just wasn't my type. Okay, I didn't really have a type... but I knew he wasn't it. I preferred people who were more mysterious and hard to figure out, it made it all so much more fun. Guys like...


Rose nudged me. She was obviously staring at Rob. I winked at her and nudged her back. She blushed. I went to go sit in the back seat, assuming Rob would be sitting in the front passenger seat. I was sadly mistaken; he climbed in right after me. I saw a glimpse of sadness on Rose's face but when she noticed me staring, she quickly smiled back. Good old Rose, she'd never make me feel bad. Really it wasn't even my fault, I didn't like him! One day I was going to tell him about her, straight up.


We arrived on campus in less than 10 minutes, and not a minute too soon, Rob wouldn't stop talking the entire time. Talk about annoying!


I grabbed my bag and raced out of there, leaving Rose and Rob alone. I knew they'd do well by themselves. They were really good with each other... it just seemed to get ruined whenever I was there. Poor Rose.


As I was turning the corner, I saw Eliza. She saw me as well and ran over. "Biology time!" Eliza sang.

I smiled. I knew she was just excited to see that hot new guy she was talking about, otherwise she'd have dreaded going. She hated biology, who knows why she took it.


I went into the classroom and did a quick scan of the room and saw that there were no new faces. Guess the new guy wasn't in yet. I saw that Eliza had noticed too, because there was an obvious sign of sadness. I walked to the back of the room to sit down, while Eliza sat down beside Lily. There were only 31 people in the class, just like high school used to be.


Lab experiments were always easier when there were fewer people. I put my bag down, and took out the water bottle I had packed last night in my bag. For some strange reason I always got thirsty in bio. Just as I was going for my third sip, I heard a small squeal from some girl in our class. I glanced up at the door.

Chapter 8

He had blonde shaggy hair and icy blue eyes that you can deeply fall into and never resurface from. He wore a navy blue Hollister sweatshirt and gray pants. I couldn't take my eyes off him, just like the rest of the girls in my class. Who was he?

I tapped Eliza, who was sitting in front of me.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"I... have no idea," she whispered back, but her eyes still hadn't left the stranger.

"What do you mean? You saw him yesterday, surely you heard a name," I whispered.

"No, no it wasn't him! I..." her voice trailed off as he made his way to the back of the room, I held my breath as he approached me. Just as I thought he was going to sit beside me, he slipped into the vacant seat across from me. I slowly let my breath out. I looked over at him as he met my eyes. He smiled. I couldn't do anything but smile back.


I may not have known anything about him, but I knew he wasn't a vampire at least but yet there was something different about him. I was determined to find out what it was. I started getting up from my seat in order to go introduce myself but at that moment Mr. Evans, our biology teacher, arrived and everybody reluctantly turned their attention to him. I sat back down. I could see the new guy staring back at me; he probably figured I was going to come talk to him. What could I do? If I wanted to know something, I didn't stop 'till I found out, this new guy was the new deal for me.


Mr. Evans started his lesson, while the rest of the class whispered away, but the professor didn't seem to notice. My throat felt dry and so I took a sip of my water.

Just then I heard the door open again. And in stepped Damien. I choked on my water. What was he doing here? My eyes started watering and I quickly wiped my eyes. I didn't want to look like a fool in front of him.


"Now that was the guy I saw yesterday," Eliza whispered to me.

"Ah, Mr. Aresio, glad of you to join us," Mr. Evans said, eying him with frustration for interrupting his class. Damien, on the other hand, looked unfazed.

"Traffic," he replied, lazily.

"Damien Aresio, how chic," quickly whispered Eliza. But I had to admit it was a nice name. Italian, I was pretty sure.


"First day, already you're late?" Mr. Evans asked. Damien looked at him intently for a few seconds. "Can't fly through traffic, now can I?"

Mr. Evans straightened up, "It's no problem, now take a seat," Mr. Evans replied before turning back to the board. Damien had compelled him! Right in front of me!


Damien was searching the classroom, his eyes landed on me and he smiled. He made his way to the back of the room and since there was nobody sitting beside me, he slid down beside me, sliding my bag back over to me. I was still wiping my eyes, trying not to ruin my mascara.


"You need a tissue, seemed like you choked up there," He said, "or you just happy to see me?" He asked while rubbing my back, tracing a finger up and down my spine. It sent slight shivers through me. Most people hit you on the back when you're choking, so why was he rubbing it? Either way, it still felt nice...


I rolled my eyes. "Aw, how sweet, you are just so considerate," I said sarcastically.

I glanced over at the other new guy, he looked disgusted. What was wrong with him? What did he know?


It was then that I noticed that everyone's eyes on the classroom were on me, or more like us. It seemed like they had forgotten the other guy. I guess it made sense, even if he was hot, he wasn't anything compared to Damien. Eliza had a how the hell do you know him? look and all the other girls looked jealous. I shrugged. They were throwing daggers at me with their eyes! It even looked like Jeremy, a bio nerd, was mad too; I had always thought he was gay. Not that I had a problem with them. I had a few gay friends.


Well, back off people, he's mine! Whoa! Where did that come from? I knew this wasn't the end of it though, there were definitely going to be many questions plus a lot of rumors, even though nothing was going on! He just happened to come and sit beside me, even though there were a few other empty seats in the class... but still maybe he liked sitting in the back.

I looked back at the new guy, and as soon as he saw me look, he turned away. Damien followed my gaze.

"Why are you staring at him for?" he asks.


"Not your problem," I said, turning my attention back to the book.

During the entire class, I saw the new guy keep glancing over at us. Damien had noticed and couldn't help but groan. Life just kept getting better and better.

I tried to stay focused on Mr. Evans and what he was teaching. I wasn't doing very well though, the only thing I knew was that he was talking about bugs. Yuck! Still... it was really hard not to just turn right around and stare at Damien. He looked really hot! His hair was swept back, and he was wearing a white shirt, black Levi's and a light brown leather jacket. If only he had worn a black shirt instead, it would've brought out his eyes better ... sighs.


I peeked at him through the side of my eyes; he looked completely fine, sitting there copying down the notes and every so often turning the page to his textbook. I stared down at my textbook, only three pages had been turned, even though we had covered more than 10 pages and even then those three pages had been turned by Damien since I wasn't paying attention. Guess he got tired afterwards too...


Class finally finished after what seemed like a decade. I put my stuff into my bag as fast as I could and ran out of the classroom.


"Mar-" I heard Damien call after me, but I was already out the door.

I speed walked through the hallway, down the stairs and ran into the library and went to the farthest section of the library. I sat down and tried to let out my breath evenly. That was a fail. I was scared and I didn't know why. I got a funny feeling my stomach. What was going on here?


I sat down on one of the computer tables to think.

Damien was in my school. Damien was in my class. Damien was sitting beside me in my class. New guy. Damien. New guy. Damien. New guy. Damien. Damien.


I was going crazy! But just why was he here? Was he stalking me? No, that wasn't possible... but then again, he did know I was a slayer. No one knew that, except him. Was this some sort of plan? No, how could it be? He had saved me. I mean I probably would've died right there if he hadn't taken me under his wing. He could've even killed me himself at his home, but again he didn't.


There was something going on between us. I knew that much at least. He had felt something too when he kissed me the other day. I know he did. He probably even knew what it was, but I couldn't ask him. I had to find out my own way. I had to go and talk to Chris.


I sighed. I knew what this led up to. I have to cut all contact with Damien. I had known that from the start, I mean he was a vampire and that was reason enough. But just how do I do that? He goes to the same school as me.

I heard some shuffling come from behind me. I stiffened, dreading for the worst. I had made it my mission to avoid him and yet there he was. I slowly turned around.

Chapter 9

I almost laugh out loud. It was just Lily.

"Hey," I say and smile.

"How could you not tell me??" She squeals, but then lowers her voice, realizing she's in the library.

I was genuinely confused. "Uhh... tell you what?" I ask. "That you know the new guy!" she says. "Which one?" I ask.


She looks at me if I'm stupid. Of course she meant Damien, I guess she hadn't noticed the endless eye contact the other new kid and I had made.

"Oh... Damien, uhmm... well we met a while back but I didn't know that he was the new kid! I just saw him today remember?" I explain.


Lily sighs. "Damien... what a perfect name for such a perfect man." She says.

I roll my eyes and put on a pretty fake smile for her sake.

"Well... and then what? Did you hook up with him or something?" she asks, suspicion rising.

I feel my eyes bulge out. "WHAT?" I exclaim, but then lower my voice. After all it was a library. "No, we-did-not-hook-up!" I say, emphasizing each and every word. "We're friends?" I questioned myself, what were we?


"So... is he taken?" Lily asks slowly. "Not that I know of," I say, "Go ask him yourself."

I tried to look relieved. If someone else got him, then I can relax right? I wouldn't have to worry so much. But why did that not please me...?


"I... could you talk to him for me?" she asks, eyes darting to the floor.

"Uhh..." I say. There I was trying to avoid him but now she wants me to talk to him?

My life never had any breaks.


I looked at her. Lily was definitely a beautiful girl. She was a redhead but it suited her pale complexion. The hair came down in waves just up to her elbows. She was petite and had big hazel eyes. They just might be cute together. I mentally frown. I should be happy for her.


I smile at her. I take a deep breath and finally say, "I guess."

Her face brightens instantly. "Oh, thank you Mariah! You definitely are the best! Just... if you just don't tell Eliza this, she'll just freak!"

I slowly nod. She comes up, hugs me real tight and practically skips out of the library. I turn back around in my seat and take out my assignments. Might as well get started on them since I'm already in the library. I text Aaron and tell him to meet me there since he needed some help. He arrives after fifteen minutes. I smile up at him.


He sits down and takes out his stuff. "Let's get cracking!" he says and gives me a wide smile. Aaron was definitely cute. He wasn't the most gorgeous guy in the world but I'd date him if he wasn't my best guy friend in the world. His dark hair was in a fake Mohawk, or fohawk, whatever you want to call it and his brown eyes gleamed. He had nice cheekbones... you know for a guy, and he was lean. I took his book and started reading the questions.


After what seemed like hours, I finally made everything stick in Aaron's head. He was such a lost case, poor thing. But now he finally grasped everything he needed to know.

"Wow, who knew I was so dumb!" Aaron said, leaning back in his chair.

I laughed, "Ha, don't put yourself down, sometimes it just takes more time for people to understand."


"Thanks Mariah, you always know what to say," he smiled. His comment made me feel good. I liked it when I could help people, after seeing what had happened to Jesse, I always went out of my way to help anybody and everybody. I felt so helpless that day but I vowed it would never happen again. In a way, Jesse's murder made me the person I am today.


Aaron looked down at his watch. "Crap! I need to get home! Are you coming?" He looked at me. "I ... no I can't I still need to finish up on my work." I shrugged.

"Uhm... okay, see you later." He said. He kissed me on the cheek, grabbed his stuff and left. I watched him as he left and then called Chris.


He picked up on the second ring. "Hey Chris, I was wondering if I could meet up with you." I said into the phone.

"Yeah, of course is something wrong?" he asked. I felt the urgency in his voice.

"Not really, I just wanted to talk about the recent killings that's been starting up again... and... some other... stuff...." I said, slowly.

"Sure thing," he said and gave me a location and time to meet up. We always met up during the night; it was never too busy plus I loved the night. It was my favorite time of day.


"Great see you then," I said and hung up. I spent another hour on my assignments then decided to call it a day. As I was packing up my stuff to leave, I heard someone clear their throat behind me. Damien? How long had he been there?


I turned around and saw that it was the new guy! He looked so nice standing there leaning against a bookshelf, his icy blues shimmering.

"Oh, hey!" I say.

He smiles, but doesn't reply. He straightens up.

"Uhh... you're in my class? I think?" I ask, trying to sound stupid as if I hadn't spent my last two hours staring at two guys back and forth. Talk about hottie heaven!

"Yeah, biology? We were just there," he says in a deep, chalky tone.

"Ha! Right, my memory gets the best of me, I suppose," I say.

"Aha, right, mind if I sit down?" He asks, indicating to the chair beside me.

I nod. "Sure."


He seemed uncomfortable. He kept fidgeting in his chair as if he was nervous about something. "Are you okay?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"Uh yeah, oh ha! I'm Leon, in case I didn't introduce myself yet," he says.

"No problem, I'm Mariah," I say.

"Well listen Mariah, I'll just get straight to the point," Leon starts off.


I had a feeling this wasn't going to go anywhere good.

"You and I both know about Damien," he says.

"Damien? How do you know him?" I ask, I thought Leon was new.

"It doesn't matter how I know him, it matters on what we're going to do about him," he says simply.


"What... are you talking... about?" I ask.

"Please, like I don't know that he's a vampire, and that you're the slayer," he says.

"WHAT?!" I scream.

"Shh.. keep your voice down!" Leon whispers.

I didn't know whether that was because we were talking about top-secret information or because we were in the library.

"How do you know that?" I finally ask.

" I know a lot, but listen your friend Damien isn't good news," he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"It's complicated..." he says.

"Who are you?" I ask.


"Let's just say I'm someone you can definitely use," Leon replies.

"I... okay what do you know about Damien?" I sputter.

"He's a vampire," Leon says.

"No really? Didn't we already establish that?" I reply with a sarcastic tone.


"Yeah okay, then you of all people should know that he isn't good," Leon says.

"I... don't know, sure he's a big mouth, but maybe there are some good ones in the world," I whisper.

"HA! Good ones? Please!" Leon exclaims.

I just stare at him.


"Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but either way, Damien is NOT a good one!" Leon replies.

"You've said that more than once, what do you mean by that?" I ask.

"It's not safe to be talking here, and trust me there's a lot you need to know," Leon replies.


"No, c'mon you gotta tell me!" I protest.

"Listen, give me your number and I'll tell you a time to meet up.

We exchange numbers.


I give him a smirk. "Is this just an excuse for you to get my number?" I ask.

He laughs. Fine, maybe he had a good reason for asking for my number but that didn't mean he had to make me feel stupid.


He suddenly stops laughing, when he sees my expression.

"No, I'm sorry, it's just... you're not my type..." Leon says.

"I'm not your..? What?" I blurt out.

Leon smiles sheepishly.

"Dude, I'm everyone's type, not to be conceited or anything," I glare at him.

"Haha, wow you sure do think highly of yourself," he says.

"Meh, it's called high self-esteem, something I didn't have before," I reply.

"Well... I'm glad you found it," Leon said.

"Mmhmm..." I whisper.


"Wow, look at you! I'm just teasing! Listen, if we take care of this Damien thing, maybe I'll take you out to dinner," he smirks, and with that he leaves.

I didn't even have a chance to say anything. What did he mean by taking care of this Damien thing? And why did I find Leon hotter than he looked when he first walked into class this afternoon?


I left the campus and decided to walk through the park for once. It was such a nice day; I couldn't pass up that opportunity. I took my off my jacket and stuffed it in my bag and continued down the pathway that led to the park.


I saw a bench that was free and decided to sit down and just watch the scenery. It sounded lame but it just looked so nice, with the leaves all changing colors and falling to the ground. The kids running around playing tag and even the elders feeding the pigeons, it looked as if everyone was peaceful without a care in the world. I wish I could get a chance to enjoy that just once. Just as I near the bench, I saw that someone had already taken the seat. I was standing behind the bench, so I couldn't see who it was. I guess I could sit beside them although I liked to have my own bench. I walk around and without even bothering to look at the person beside me, I sit down and admire the view. The clouds were forming little shapes while slowly moving by. Oh, look that cloud looks like a train...


Just as I was losing myself in the sky, someone interrupts with, "Nice day we're having aren't we?" I think it was the stranger beside me, hmmm... that voice sounds familiar.


"Mmm," I say.

"So Mariah, do you always come and enjoy the view?" they ask.

At the sound of my name I turn around. I'm face to face with Damien. I let out a sigh as if I'm annoyed to see him here but my heart fails me as it quickens its pulse. I think he heard my pulse quicken since his mouth started curling upwards as if to hold back laughter.


"Like you said, it's a nice day, so I'm taking advantage of it," I say and turn back to look in front of me.

"I see, in that case, I guess I'll just enjoy the view that's beside me," he says, mischievously. I felt the heat creep up on my face but I kept looking in front of me. I couldn't let him know that his words get to me. I couldn't let them get to me.

I was suddenly aware of what I was wearing. Great, the one day I actually try to look nice and he has to watch me. Where's my sweater when I need it... Right I had left it in Rose's car. Need to get that back sometime soon.

"Well... there's better things to look at, in front of you," I manage to say.


"No, I think you're wrong, the best thing is right beside me," he says back.

I sigh. I wasn't going to win in this case. And I hated losing. I decided to leave; you know make a grand exit instead.

I stand up and start walking. I hear footsteps come into rhythm with mine, I don't need to turn to see that it's Damien. I turn into path that led through the woods. It was a shortcut I discovered with Jesse...


I shake my head. The faster I get out of here, the quicker I can get away from Damien. He was still walking beside me without saying a word. I break the silence.

"What do you want from me?" I ask, not bothering to stop, or slow down.

"You," he says simply, without skipping a beat. That made me stop.


"What?" I blurt out.

He shrugs. "I thought it was obvious."

"Oh, well now that you said it, you expect me to just fall in your arms or something?" I ask.

He smiles. That made me mad. How dare he think that just because he wants me he just expects me to return the same feelings?

"You are impossible." I say and start walking away, fuming.


"Mariah-wait!" he calls out after me.

I start running. I couldn't take it anymore.

I bump into something in front of me. I look up and it was Damien.

Damn it, I groan mentally.

"You forget that I'm not human," he says.

"No, you're just a vampire, just say that," I say.

I begin to walk again but he blocks my view. I started getting impatient.


"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it," he says.

"Uh huh," I say and roll my eyes.

"Listen, it's just you are different from other girls..." he starts off.

"You're right about that, but really, does this have nothing to do with the fact that I'm a SLAYER?" I ask, heatedly.

"Yeah, okay, whatever, you're a slayer, I'm a vampire, who cares? I certainly don't." Damien replies.

All I could do was stare. "So... none of this bothers you?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

I knew I had to tell him the truth.

Chapter 10

"I'm sorry, I can't just date a vampire," I say.

His face fell.

"It's just not possible, sorry, ..." I say, my mind floating back to memories of Jesse. I moved to the side and started running again.

Running felt good. I needed something to take away the pain and the anger I felt.

I turn back and saw that he wasn't following me. I kept running until I reached the end of the woods.


I walked around some more, trying to clear my head. It had gotten dark and so I decided to call Chris and told him I was on my way. I needed some info ASAP. I ordered a coffee and sat down. Chris arrived 10 minutes after me. As soon as I saw him, I almost choked on my coffee laughing. He looked so flustered! His blonde hair was up in tangles as if he had just woken up, and his glasses were hanging off his nose. His nose freckles looked brighter than usual and his laptop looked too big for him.


"What? What's so funny?" he asked.

"N-nothing," I said, trying to contain my laughter.

"Okay, so what was the deal of meeting up?" he asked.

"I need some information," I said.

We talked for two hours straight. Even though we were both strictly professional, we always had a good time together.

We got caught up on work, school, and pretty much our life. According to Chris, they haven't gotten any leads on the recent attacks. That pretty much made my life harder since I was the only slayer.


"So... I wanted to know, what do you know about a vampire called Damien?" I whispered, in case any one was listening in.

"Uhm... Damien? And why are you whispering?" Christopher asked.

"Yeah and no reason," I say, casually, "Just someone I met one day."

"AND NOW YOU'RE INTERESTED IN HIM?" he yells.

A few people turned around. To outsiders, this just might seem like a couple fighting. I turned a bright red.

"Wha-no! And shut up!" I sputter.

"Then..." he asks, suspiciously.

I didn't know what to say. I had to make up an excuse.


"I think he might have some plans that could be dangerous," I say.

That made him calm down. "Alright, let's see what I can find."

He goes and searches on his laptop.

"That's odd..." he says finally.

"What is?" I ask, taking a sip of my coffee. I was beginning to get tired; coffee never had any effect on me.

"There's nothing on him, and you're sure he's... one of them?" he asks, pushing his glasses up.

"I'm positive! How is that possible?" I say.

"I'm not sure, I'll use the larger database back at the office and call you if there's anything," he says.


I manage to nod. No info on Damien? They always had information on everybody, human or not. That was just too weird. I needed a bath now; I felt sticky all of sudden... don't ask me why.


I said my goodbyes to Chris and made my way home. As soon as I got home, I made myself a bath. The house was quiet. I knew my parents wouldn't be back home for at least a few more hours. I had the whole house to myself. I know I should've cleaned the dishes that were piled up in the sink, but my bath was more important to me at the moment. I had to find a way to relax. So much to think about, it felt as if my mind was going to burst! I threw in all my different salts, fragrances and soaps, hooked up my iPod to some speakers and climbed into the warm soapy water.


I think I must've stayed in there for at least an hour, since my hands looked like dried up raisins. The music really helped take some weight off my shoulders. For the first time, in a while, I actually felt relaxed, but I knew it wouldn't last. I finally climbed out, and wrapped a towel around and blow-dried my hair. I turned off the lights of the bathroom and stepped into my bedroom in order to get some clothes and fast. It was way too cold and my hair was still dripping onto the carpet.

Just as I was about to turn into my closet, I screamed.


"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I screamed.

Sitting on my bed as if he owned the place was Damien grinning widely.

"See, if I had come a bit earlier, maybe I could've joined you, hmm?" he winked.

I looked down on myself, oh crap! I'm in a towel that barely came up to my knees.

"This is the second time we've encountered each other in one afternoon! Do you ever give up? Stalker..." I ask. Just as he was about to answer, I say, "Hold that thought, it's freakin' cold!"


"Why don't you come over here then?" he says.

"Yeah ... right, you're a vampire remember, nobody heat," I say.

That seemed to shut him up, I had outsmarted him!

Yay!


I quickly went into my closet, locked the door, and changed into a pair of sweats and an old sweater. I had originally wanted to change into some PJs but with Damien just outside that door, I was not taking any chances. I sighed, what was the point of the bath then, if I can't even stay fresh now?

I opened the door and stepped out. I saw my curtains blowing. My balcony window was open, so that's how he got in. I quickly shut it and locked it.


"And here I was hoping you'd change into something much more ... comfortable," Damien said.


"Fat chance," I reply. I try to ignore him and go to fold some clothes, but I can feel him watching me. I was thankful for once in my life that my mom had nagged at me to clean up my room that previous weekend. My room actually looked pretty decent for once except for some spare clothing.


I look at Damien through the corner of my eyes and I see him lying down on my bed. Arms up behind his head. He looked right at home. Now if only I could join him...

Whoa Mariah... calm down.


"It's just that, if I want something, I don't give up. I'm a very ambitious person," Damien says.

"And so you want me?" I finally ask, rolling my eyes.

"You've got a nice place here, with your own fridge? I'm impressed," Damien replies, ignoring my question. He jumps off the bed, and takes out a water bottle from the fridge.

" I know, now what do you want?" I say.


"Didn't I already answer that at the park this afternoon?" he replies, while staring intently at me. I don't think anybody could've missed how hard my face blushed. He smirked.

"Ah, so you do remember," he says.


"I answered that already, I can't date a vampire," I reply.

He flashed in front of me. I had to take a step back. Now I knew vampires could travel at top speed and I've seen vampires use their speed in front of me before, and I never fazed. But with Damien I had to step away. "Oh come on, I'm willing to bend the rules, why can't you?" he says, pouting. Those sweet kissable lips and the puppy dog eyes.


I was starting to get frustrated. " You don't even know the real reason. Besides, we've only known each other for just a few days now. What makes me so irresistible that you want me so bad?" I ask.

He looked stunned. I guess he wasn't expecting me to ask that.


"I... don't know, there's just something about you, I can't put my finger on it," he says.

"Uh huh, and this isn't just a plan to kill me?" I ask.

He laughs that melodic laugh of his. "Please, if I wanted to kill you, your funeral would've already have taken place by now," he says.

"Great to know, now if you could leave," I say.

"No."

"What do you mean no?"


"I'm not leaving until you can look me in the eye and say no, you don't want me," he says.


I look up into those gray, glimmering eyes.

"Fine! Damien I don't wa-" but that was all I could say because that was when he grabbed me by the waist, pulled me into him and kissed me.

Chapter 11

The kiss was sweet and gentle, at first. I've never had a kiss like that in my entire life, not even from a vampire and I've kissed plenty of bloodsuckers before.


His lips pressed into mine and his tongue slid back and forth on my lips. I let out a little moan as his hand began to trace circles on the back of my neck. My hands automatically went into his soft hair and tangled up in them. He had one hand on my waist and kept me pinned to him and quite frankly I didn't want to be anywhere else at that moment. We kept trying to get closer and closer to the each other, but after a while we gotta face facts, that it's impossible. He picked me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist, while his arms supported my hip, holding me in place. He carried me back to my bed and gently threw me down on it. It helped me come out of my kissing heaven daze for a second.


"Damien, I -" I started but he was already on top of me again.


His tongue pierced out as it demanded entry into my mouth and I kindly let him. We roamed inside each other's mouth, feeling around. He tasted sugary. I never thought a vampire could taste like this. I always had a fear that whenever I kissed vampires, I'd have to taste blood from their previous victims but that fear vanished with Damien. My hands had a mind of its own as they started unbuttoning Damien's shirt. I wasn't even thinking, all I wanted was to feel my arms on his skin. I threw off his shirt and wrapped myself around his waist, tight. My eyes shut against their own will. His mouth had moved to my neck and I became lifeless. The pleasure was just too incredible.


"God, Mariah..." Damien whispered against my neck. I brought his face back to mine just as I heard a door open downstairs.


"Mariah, honey, we're home!" My parents yelled from downstairs.

My eyes burst open.

"Crap!" I say. "You gotta go, now! NOW!"

Damien laughs. "So I take it, this is a yes for a date then?" he asks, while buttoning his shirt back on.


"Yeah, yeah, now go!" I whisper.

He gave me a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." And was gone in a matter of seconds.


"Mariah? Why aren't the dishes done?" my mom called from downstairs.

"Coming!" I yell back down. I brush my hair down quickly.

I touch my lips, they were still moist. So it wasn't a dream. Wow.

Then I remembered. School. Crap! I've never going to hear the end of it, especially from Lily. She had asked for me to hook them up...

Oh my god. I groaned as I made my way downstairs.


I couldn't go to sleep that night. I kept thinking about what had happened in the very bed I was sleeping in at the moment. I finally drifted off to sleep after a few hours.

I woke up surprisingly refreshed. I quickly changed into some black tights and a brown turtleneck dress that reached just up to my knees. I paired it up with some brown boots as well to match. I left my hair out and just placed a little bow in it. Cute but childish. Voila!


I still had time so I decided to eat a bagel before I left. I finished in 10 minutes and left the house. As I was coming down the porch, I saw Damien leaning against a car, smiling up at me through his sunglasses. Well, it was surprisingly sunny for October. But didn't he have a different car the last time I saw him? I was pretty sure this was a BMW, while the last car with which he almost ran me over in was a Mazda. I made my way over to him. As soon as I was within reach, he grabbed me and kissed me. I melted all over again because of those lips.

Lily...


Damn it! I pushed my face off his. I tried stepping back, but his grip was strong.

He took his sunglasses off with one hand, while one hand still rested around my waist in a strong grip. I kept my hands pressed against his chest, in order to support myself.


"What?" he asks, confused.

"I can't..." I say.

"Are you kidding me? Yesterday you seemed just fine sticking your tongue down my throat and now?" he asks. I could see the anger flare up in his eyes.

I felt the anger rising inside of me. But I tried to stay calm. "Listen, it's not that, it's just my friend, Lily, she's in our bio class, she kinda , kinda ..." I start off.

"Kinda what?" he asks.


"Kinda likes you, and kinda asked me to tell you for her," I finished off.

"Well then tell her no, I'm taken," he winks, placing a finger under my chin, tilting my face up and leaning in.

I shake my head. "No, I can't, I told her I didn't like you and now 'us' just can't work," I say.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.


His arm comes off my waist, as if he'd been shocked. I stumble back from the sudden motion.

"Fine, whatever," he says, putting his sunglasses back on.

He turns to head back into his car.

Just as he was about to go in, he turns back to me and asks, "You want a ride?"

Bless his kind, dead heart. Even if he was mad at me, he still offered me a ride. But I still had to decline. I shook my head and he rode off.


I stood there, tears building in my eyes.

I never thought a bloodsucker could make me cry. I hated them, or at least I thought I did. What made him so special?


I still made it to school on time, even though I had to run back inside and wash my face again because the waterworks totally ruined my face.


I was thankful I didn't have biology today. I was going through the assignments I had for calculus in my head when I heard a laugh. I turned back to see Lily laughing it up with Damien. Wow. He works fast.


I sighed, and Damien heard. Him and his super hearing powers. He looked up at me, his expression was unreadable. Lily noticed Damien looking at me and then turned around to face me.


"M, come over here!" she yells across the field.

"Uh, no it's okay, I gotta get going!" I yell back and make my way into the building.

I heard someone run up behind me. Lily.

"But Mariah, guess what?" she asked, gleaming.

I was dreading for the answer.


"Damien asked if I wanted to hang out after classes today!" She squealed.

I could see Damien a few feet behind us, watching. He had his sunglasses on and so I couldn't see his eyes. His eyes usually informed me of his mood.

"That's... great," I say, putting on a weak smile. Lily didn't notice though. She was just gullible that way.

"It's all thanks to you!" she says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.


"Well, Damien said how you told him that I was interested," she said, " I never would've had the guts to do that! You're just so great! "

I smile at her.


"Have fun then! I gotta get to class so talk to you later!" I say and turn back. I could feel my eyes filling up, but I refused to let them come out. I was a strong girl. I was not going to let a guy make me cry. The last time I ever cried in my life was for Jesse and I had already used up all my tears for him. I already cried once for Damien but it was not happening again. He was a vampire, a vampire, vampires were what killed Jesse. I swore I would kill all vampires for as long as I live. I'm not backing down on that ... until I find Jesse's killer.

Chapter 12

Mariah's POV


It seemed as if the whole school saw Lily and Damien, even though I hadn't exactly seen them IN school, probably skipping, holding hands around campus. Urgh. It was all people could talk about. I bet Lily felt good. She loved being the center of attention. She thrived on it, and now dating the hottest guy on campus just about did it for her. I was about to go crazy. She wouldn't have even had him, if I hadn't decided to be a good friend and say no to Damien. If only she knew. I was just turning into the washroom, when I felt something grab my hand and pull me.


"Damien, what are you doing?" I scream, as I got dragged into a storage room beside the washroom.

"Damien, really? Why, it can't be anyone else?"

I turn to look into the blue eyes of Leon.

"A storage room really? What was the point of exchanging numbers?" I asked.

"Listen, I thought I already told you, you have to stay away from Damien," Leon whispered.

"I am, he's with that girl from our bio class, have you not noticed?" I asked.

"Yeah, but yet you kissed him?" he asks.

I was flabbergasted. How did he know?


"I was driving past your house this morning." He explained, as if reading my mind.

"Right, that, well it meant nothing," I lied. "How did you know where I lived?"

"How do you always know which vampires to track in your missions?" he countered.

He had gotten me there. I couldn't give that away. That was a secret. Sure, I killed most of the vampires that I met up with at clubs but during certain situations I also targeted some.


"Fine, why do you care?" I ask.

He sighs. " I didn't want to tell you this yet but.... he's trying to kill you," he says.

I stare at him. "Really? Gee golly!" I say sarcastically.

"I'm serious, his family is after you, they want to destroy the slayer, and they're using Damien for it," Leon said.

He looked so serious. I didn't even see a flicker of a smile.


"No, you're lying..." I whisper. How could he know that when Chris couldn't even find one piece of information on him?

"I am not lying! I'm just trying to help you!" Leon exclaims.


I push past him and open the closet door. He tried grabbing my arm, but I sidestep and run out to hide in the girl's washroom. Leon would only come in here if he was crazy. I waited for what seemed like 10 minutes. No sign of Leon, so I guess he wasn't crazy.


What if Leon was right? Was Damien really trying to kill me? That was impossible, not the way that he was following me around. Was Leon just jealous or something? Damien was with Lily now.


Damien's P.O.V


No way in hell was I going to be going out with Lily. I saw the look on Mariah's face when that stupid girl decided to go rub it in her face. Mariah really was heartbroken. So she really was developing feelings for me.


Good.


That Lily girl was definitely two-faced and talkative. She was glad that there was finally a guy that was paying attention to her rather than Mariah. Please. Lily sure thinks a lot and her thoughts were just screaming out at me. According to her brain, Lily's former boyfriend had a thing for Mariah, which Lily found out about, even though Mariah never knew.


Sure, I was going to take her out for some coffee or whatever tonight, but in exchange I was going to be getting some of her blood and then compelling her in order for her to forget me once and for all. Then I can move back to Mariah. The harder she falls for me, the easier it'll be to take her down. Although... I didn't mind kissing her. She smelled like jasmine and tasted like cherries. Either way, it was a good combination. I couldn't resist. I wonder what her blood tastes like...


First things first, take care of that human Lily. She can't shut up. From the second I introduced myself to her, which was like 5 minutes ago, she still hasn't shut up. We decided to skip class today. So we're now both walking to the Starbucks beside campus. I don't know how much more I can take of her. I bought a coffee for myself. She can buy one for herself. Maybe if she got something in her mouth, it'll distract her from talking.


"So, Lily, how about we go take a walk?" I said, seductively. No one could resist it.

Lily instantly brightened up. She did seem a little down when I didn't offer to buy her anything.

"Sure, let's go!" She replies, grabs my hand and leads me out of the store.


Finally! I had finished the job. Lily's blood wasn't the greatest, but it sure filled me up... for now. Now I had finally gotten rid of her. Well... I compelled her and now I'm as free as a bat. I would've said bird, but then none compares a vampire to a bird. Stereotypes.

Now if everything worked out, which it will, Lily will be telling Mariah that things weren't going to be working out between Lily and I and that Mariah was the only one for me, and as soon as Mariah comes back to me, my plan can take its course. The faster the better. Now that Lily wasn't getting hurt, Mariah had to be okay with everything now.


Mariah's P.O.V:


As I was making my way back home, my phone started ringing. I looked down and saw that it was Lily.

"Ugh, what now? Did she want me to go tell Damien that she wanted him to kiss her now?" I asked myself out loud.

I picked up on the 3rd ring. "Hello?" I asked.

"M? Hey, it's me Lily," she said.

Like I didn't already know that. "What's up? How was your date with Damien?" I ask.

"Uhh... that's what I wanted to talk to you about actually ..." she said.

"Uh huh..." I said.

"Thing is, me and Damien, we're not good together," Lily said.

"What do you mean?" I blurted.


"Well... I don't know, I don't think we're going to work out, besides..." she trailed off.

"Besides...?" I pressed.

"It seems to me as if he might like you." She said, calmly.

I almost dropped my phone. "WHAT?" I yelled.

"Hey, calm down! We talked a bit and he just kept bringing you up in our conversations, like really? But I'm totally fine with it. I think you and Damien would make a really cute couple, you should go out with him," Lily replied.

"Wait, Lily, no..." I started but Lily interrupted me. "No, listen honey, I honestly do mean it, sure I thought maybe we'd be good together, but it's obvious he likes you, and really no hard feelings," she said, simply.

"Really...?" I didn't know what else to say. Was this really MY Lily? She never gave up anyone for anybody.

"I am 100% sure, now go get him!" she replied and hung up.

I was in a daze. Was she serious? Had Damien compelled her or something? I mean, their 'relationship' had only lasted a day! Not even a day. Not like that was going to shake Lily, she'd be back on the prowl tomorrow.


I somehow ended up getting home, without even knowing it. Apparently my legs were working, while my mind was not. I got to my house but I didn't go inside. I stood on my porch steps for a minute before deciding to sit down on the stairs. Now that the Lily dilemma was out-of-the-way, I was actually kind of excited. I don't know how Damien made me feel that way; I've never actually felt this way for anyone before, and for a vampire. A vampire...

Did I really want to go through with this with a vampire? The pieces of trash that ruined my life in the first place? But Damien...

I could take care of myself, no matter what Leon had said about Damien. If he was right, then I would kill him myself... I hope.


I decided to take a walk down the neighborhood, maybe make my way to Centreville park and see if I could find any clues on the killings. I quickly ran into the house, changed into a t-shirt and pants, got my stake and some vervain powder. Vervain was a vampire's strongest enemy, next to a stake. It worked just like garlic was supposed to. Although garlic was just a vampire myth, it didn't really work. Ingest some vervain and a vampire was dead. Get some on their skin and they writhe in pain. I liked it. I stuffed the stake into my boots and another one behind my belt. I placed the vervain in my back jeans pocket. Just then my phone rang. It never got a break. I looked down at the caller id and saw that it was an unknown number.


"Hello?" I said.

"Mariah, hey it's Damien... listen I'm sorry about this morning," he started.

"How did you get my number?" I asked.

"From Lily, now listen," he began but I cut him off.

"Don't you ever stop? I mean really..." but this time he cut me off.

"I didn't want anything to do with her in the first place, you were the one that pushed me into her, I've only wanted you Mariah, from the moment you woke up that day in my apartment, I can't stop thinking about you," he said.


"I..." I didn't know what to say.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Out," I replied. I wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Why don't you tell me a specific location?" he asked, "Please stop making this so difficult, besides I can easily find out where you are any ways."

"I know you can, so come and find me," I said and hung up before he could reply.


"I should've brought a sweater..." I told myself. It had gotten chillier than it had been.

I walked through the gates that led into the park. Centreville was pretty big and it looked really beautiful during the night. I made my way to the kiddie swings and sat down. I started gently pushing myself off the ground. I always loved going on the swings. It made me feel like I was on top of the world. Besides, I was the only one around so it's not like I was making a fool of myself. I glanced at my phone. 7pm. Maybe that's why.


I started singing out loud. Singing always helped my nerves.

"Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world, like I'm the only one that you'll ever love, like I'm the only one that knows your heart, yeah, want you to-"

I got interrupted. "Sure baby, I'll help you feel like you're the only girl."

I look up at a man who looked to be in his thirties. His hairline was starting to turn gray and his nose was crooked. He smiled.


His teeth were yellow. Probably the ugliest vampire I've seen yet.

Yep, he was a vampire; you know, it was that slayer instinct. No way was I letting teeth as ugly as those sink their way into my neck, or any other part of me.

"I'll pass, really," I said.

"Oh come on, all I want is a bit of fun," he says, his voice raspy. Was he trying to be seductive? He made his way toward me. Was he the one that went around killing people?

"Then maybe you should find someone else for that, I'm actually waiting for my boyfriend," I lied. Was I? I mean if Damien found me all those other times, he could surely find me now.


The ugly one was in front of me now. I reached down to my boots, pretending I had an itch, while I really reaching for my stake. If he would just lean down now...

"Oh, I don't think so" the ugly replied, and in one swift move, he pulled me off the swings and slammed me into the ground. Good thing, it was sand around me or else that would've really hurt. He held me pinned to the ground.

"You're such a pretty thing, you know," he replied right in my face. My eyes started watering. His breath was putrid.


"Haven't you ever heard of a toothbrush and some paste? You could really use it," I managed to say while holding my breath.

That made him furious and he threw me. I fell onto the pavement with a thud. That hurt.

I could feel the blood oozing out of my arm. Great, now that he's smelled my blood, there was no escaping. I reached into the back of my pocket for my vervain but before I could, the scum was on top of me.


"Your blood..." he started.

"Yeah, yeah, it's intoxicating, I know, I know," I said. Why can't they ever say anything different?

"I am definitely going to savor the moment," he said.

"No, actually could you just finish it off quickly? I don't like pain," I replied. I was just trying to buy time. Really, I was creeping my hand down to my boots in order to pull the stake out.


"Then maybe you should've kept your damn mouth shut," he said. "Now shut up!"

Nobody tells me what to do. So being the rebellion I am, I start screaming.

"Shut up, I can rip your head off right now!" the bloodsucker yells and then slaps me. My eyes started watering again and it wasn't because of his breath. I close my eyes in order to contain the tears. I caught a glimpse of his fangs slide out of his mouth. I brace for the moment. Just then, I feel the heavy weight on top of me lift.


I quickly open my eyes. Where'd smelly breath go?

I saw him flying into the sand.

"What the..." I said. Did I have magical powers?

But then I saw Damien on top of him.


Damien picked up the scum sucker and drove him right through a branch on one of the trees that surrounded the kiddie park. The scum burst into ashes.

Damien had just killed a vampire. For me.


He was by my side in a split second. He pulled me up and held onto my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I whisper.

He hugged me. "Thank god." He took off his jacket and then his shirt. Good thing he still had something on underneath that. He ripped up his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I squealed.

"Your arm, it's bleeding," he said, "and it's really strong, I don't think I can take it."

"Oh, I forgot about that, I'll take care of it when I get home," I said, wincing as he gently took my arm and began to wrap his shirt around it. It was bleeding too heavily.

"There, all better," he said and then hugged me again... tighter I realized.

"You... you just killed a blood - a vampire," I whispered into his chest. I knew he heard me though. I felt him stiffen.


"I thought he was going to kill you, I couldn't let that happen," he said.

"But a vampire? You basically just killed your own kind," I said.

"Well, if it meant saving you, then it was worth it," he said.

I looked up at him at that.

He gave me a weak smile. "You have to know how much I care..." he began, but I cut him off when I kissed him.

He returned the action. It felt as if we both put our heart and soul in that kiss. Well, I did, since I was the only one that had both but it felt good... it felt right.

We broke off finally.

"Let's get you home," Damien says, quietly.

"I don't want to go home," I protest.


"Come on, you've been through enough for one day," he says.

"Oh please, look who's talking Mr. I got action from 2 girls in 1 day," I say.

"Please, nothing happened between Lily and I and the only girl I've ever wanted was you," he says.

That melted my heart. He was just so sweet; it was hard to believe that he was a vampire. He felt warm, even though it was probably around 9 in the night and late October, and you know for a vampire. Maybe I got to get used to the fact that there really were good vampires out thereafter all, although I've never met one other than for Damien.

But there was the thing about what Leon had said... I brushed it aside. All I cared about right now was being with Damien.

"What are you thinking about?" Damien asked, as we walked hand in hand back to his car.


"Huh? Oh, nothing, it's really funny, how the two times I've faced death, you've been the one to save me," I say.

"Haha, I guess it is fate," he replies.

"Yeah, and the fact that those were the only two times in my life I've ever been so vulnerable before," I say quietly.

Damien abruptly stops walking and I get pulled back, since my hand was still in his.

"Are you accusing me of something?" he asks.

"What? No!" I say.

Was I? It was true, but surely there wasn't an actual reason for that happening, right?

He didn't look convinced.

"Ha, maybe it's fate that I should look like a fool in front of you, I'm your very own damsel in distress," I say, through clenched teeth. I was definitely not anybody's damsel in distress.

Even if Damien had noticed the unusual way I had said it, but he said nothing and we proceeded in walking.

Again, he had a different car. How many cars does this guy have? How rich was he?

We got to my house in less than five minutes. This probably has to do with the fact that Damien does not follow the speed limit nor does he look at the signal lights.


Before I could take off my seat belt, Damien had already appeared at my door, opening it for me, being the gentleman that he was. I wonder what century he's from. No guy from this age and day has manners like that. He holds my hand as he walks me to my doorstep. I look up at him and fall for him all over again. I guess I'll never get to used to his good looks.


He kissed me for a good two minutes. Not that I was keeping count, but it felt long, and honestly, I didn't want to stop but then he pulled away. I don't think I'd ever get tired of his kisses.

"I'll see you tomorrow, love" he says and walks back to his car. I stayed outside until he drove away and he was out of sight.

I go inside and went to clean up my arm. It wasn't too bad, I nearly forgot the wound was there. Then headed straight to bed.


What a day.

Chapter 13

I woke up the next morning and realized that it was Saturday. Man, I was so not up-to-date these days. Another thought crossed my mind. Damien had said he would see me today, but we didn't even have school. I became glum. Not the best way to start a Saturday. The one time I was looking forward to school and it wasn't happening.


I make my way downstairs and head to the kitchen. I pour some milk and cereal and go into the living room. Been awhile since I've watched some Saturday morning cartoons. Yes, I was still a little kid at heart. I must've spent a good two hours watching TV, I was so engrossed in the cartoon, that I literally jumped off the couch when I heard the doorbell ring. Slayer instincts hit you at the strangest times.

"Damien?" I say out loud.

I dash to the door and open it.

"Hey," he says.

"Oh, hey Leon," I say.

He caught on. "Were you expecting someone?"

What? No, of course not, on a Saturday?" I lie.

"Oh well, can I come in?" he asks, and enters before I even reply.

Great manners.


"So what's up?" I ask.

He turns to look at me, and stares at me. I suddenly realize I was still in my tank top and some basketball shorts. I forgot to comb out my hair this morning and I literally had no makeup on. In other words, I was a mess.

"I... just woke up?" I say.

"Don't worry about it, you still look hot," Leon winks, then makes his way over to the dinner table to sit down.

"Thank you?" I say. Was he trying to be nice?


"So what's up?" I ask for the second time.

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk about some things," he says.

"Urgh, does this have to do with Damien?" I groan.

"Yes, and no, it also has to do with his family," he replies. That intrigued me. I wanted to know more.

"Well, fine then, listen could I call one of my friends?" I ask. Chris had gotten back to me the day before and said he couldn't find any info on Damien. He might like to know some stuff.

"You want your friend in on this?" he asks in disbelief.

"Well... not friend, he's from my organization, I had asked him to look up Damien for me but he found nothing and since you seem to know so much, might as well fill him in," I said.

"Oh, okay, yeah sure," he says.


I called Chris, and he agreed to be over in around a half hour. Leon and myself made small talk while waiting for Chris.

I found out a lot about him. He actually lived pretty close to me and he had just moved to CA from Brooklyn. He loved lacrosse, swimming, and driving his hummer around. Yes, he had a hummer. Why did everyone have a car except me?


Chris arrived soon after.

"Chris, so I want you to meet someone, this here is-" I started off.

"LEON?" Chris exclaimed.

"Christopher?" Leon said.

"I... take it you two know each other?" I ask.

Chris looks over at me, sheepishly.

"Actually, Leon used to work for us," Chris says.

"Work... work for you? As in he used to be a slayer??" I cry.

"No, not a slayer, I was an inside member, you know the computer stuff, pretty much the technical stuff," Leon says.

"One of the best we've ever had, shame you left us through," Chris says.

"I just wanted to try new things..." he says.

Chris gave a sad smile.

"But... then why does it feel like I've met you before?" I asked, curiously. That's why I had gotten an odd feeling when he first stepped into our biology class that day, it felt like I knew him from somewhere else.


"Oh, well... I was still working there when you were training, I had been your mentor for a couple of history lessons back in the day," Leon said, grinning.

"And yet you failed to mention that?" I asked. I tried thinking back to those days. I vaguely remembered a different Leon; cropped hair, glasses and leaner... the things a few years could do to you. I would never have found him attractive back then, but now, well let's just say, if Damien hadn't been around...


Leon laughed at my expression. I quickly regained posture and cleared my throat, avoiding his eyes.

"Anyways, not to be an ass by ruining this nice reunion, if we could just go back to the matters at hand?" I ask quietly.

Leon looks over at me and smiles. "Sure thing."


We spent the next three hours filling each other in on everything. What Leon knew, the attack on me from yesterday, useful ideas from Chris. I didn't want to spend my Saturday like this, but it had to be done.


After we had all finished talking. I only had one thing to say.

"Not possible."


"Mariah, you have to listen, Leon has legitimate reasons as to why Damien is trying to kill you," Chris says.

"No, he's wrong, maybe you're talking about the wrong person," I protest.

"Mariah, I have spent years researching the Aresio family, Damien's father is the current KING of the vampires, and next in line is Damien, what is so hard to believe?" Leon says, frustrated.

"Fine, I believe all that, just that how do you know, he's trying to hurt me?" I ask.

"He's not trying to hurt you," Leon says, matter-of-factly.

I let out a sigh of relief. Then why were they getting me so worked up for?


"He's trying to kill you," Chris replies.

My eyes bulge. I look over at Leon and he nods his head.

"Oh my god, you people..." I say.

"Listen, just because he's your boyfriend doesn't mean your mind has to get clouded over by the truth, you just have to face facts!" Leon replies.

"He's your...? WHAT?" Chris yells. "You said you weren't!"

"It kinda just happened ..." I whisper, while looking down at my feet. I didn't want them to see that I was blushing.

"No way, I prohibit this! You are not going out with him," Chris says.

"You can't tell me what to do!" I protest.


"Mariah, you used to be better than this, what happened to the Mariah that hated even hearing the word vampire?" Chris says.

"I haven't changed... not exactly, and I still do hate vampires, just maybe not Damien, he's different I'm telling you!" I say.

"Right, and what reason does a vampire have to date a human, while fully knowing his girlfriend is a slayer that can kill him at any time," Leon cuts in.

"Well, I also know that he can kill me too, which he hasn't, wouldn't he have already killed me by now, if that was his plan?" I ask.

"He has got to have a plan... he's making you fall for him first, but there is something else, I just don't know what it is, but..." Chris says but I cut him off.

"But nothing, you people are just so caught up in your 'all vampires are evil' crap that you just can't get it through your thick skulls that some vampires just might be good!" I exclaim.

"She's fell for him bad," Leon says.

Chris slowly nods his head.


"Mariah, remember why you even became a slayer..." Chris said.

I felt my eyes start to fill up. No it wasn't fair, he couldn't bring Jesse back into this.


"Will you ever be able to forgive yourself, if you do start a relationship with a vampire, the very reason you started slaying," I say.

"I... why do you have to be so cruel?" I stuttered, trying to hold the tears back in. I didn't want to cry in front of them. Why did I seem to be getting so emotional these days?


"We only want what's best for you," Chris says.

'Really, you want what's best for me? Does that include me being happy? If you really want what's best for me, then stay the hell out of my business!" I yell and turn to go to my room. But Leon blocks me.


"Mariah, no, it's not like that, come on, just stay and listen," he says.

"What makes you think I wanna hear any of the stuff that comes out of your mouth?" I say and with that I swipe my leg right under his feet and he falls with a thud. I used this to run to my room.


I locked my bedroom door and changed into some jeans, a t-shirt and grabbed my jacket. I quickly pulled my hair into a ponytail without bothering to comb it out. I grabbed my purse, put in some necessities; my cell phone, gum, keys and some other stuff. I packed some vervain into my pocket. I ran onto my balcony and then leaped out from it. It wasn't too far down and I swiftly landed on the floor with a soft thud. With that, I ran down the street. I didn't stop until I was at the end of the street. Running always felt good.


I really wanted to see Damien, but I didn't even have his number. How do I make him find me? His apartment, where was it? I grabbed a taxi and made my way to where I thought his apartment was. I tried retracing my steps from that night until finally I landed in front of an apartment, which looked like his. Only problem was, I didn't remember which floor it was on, or his apartment number.


I decided to do the sensible thing and go and ask the doorman.

"Hi sir, I was just wondering if you could tell me which apartment is Mr. Damien Aresio's?" I ask, batting my eyelashes up at the bulky doorman.

The doorman instantly brightens up, "Mr. Aresio? Apartment 511," he says.

"Oh thank you so much!" I say and run to the elevator.

As soon as I enter the 5th floor, my stomach starts feeling queasy. I had to admit, I was nervous. I just didn't know why.


I slowly made my way down the hall until I finally reached 511. I knocked on the door.

No answer. I knocked on the door for the second time.


Damien opened it and he wearing no shirt. Great.

"Mariah, hey! What are you doing here?" he asks. Then pulls me in and holds me against his naked chest. Good thing, or else I would've felt like a fool standing there, gawking at his nicely formed abs. It should be a crime to be that devastatingly good-looking.


He kissed me on the forehead and looked down at me. "How'd you find out where I lived?"

"I have good memory," I say.

"Oh, well... I was going to come visit you right after I took a shower, but now you're here!" he says. I smile.

He stood there staring at me. "What?" I ask.

"No, I still can't believe you're here and you look gorgeous," he says, before pulling me back into him.

That's what I loved about Damien... not that I actually loved him, yet. But he never called me hot or sexy, but it was always beautiful or gorgeous. I always felt hot or sexy was just not the proper way to compliment a woman.

"Please, I'm a mess," I say.

"No of course not, you never are," he winks.

I turned away, pretending to look around. "Well... you can go take your shower, sorry I barged in," I say.

"No, don't worry about it... say, how would you like to join me?" he says, seductively.

I felt the heat creep up onto my face.

"Kidding! Go make yourself at home, I'll be done quick," he says and with that he leaves.


I finally get the chance to look around. The last time I was here, I didn't, since well... I wasn't doing too great. It was a nice apartment. Well kept, but hardly any photos or decorations other than the usual furniture. I walked around a bit, got myself a glass of water and then made my way to his bedroom. I stood at the doorway and looked upon the bed, the very same bed I was being held captive for a while until he finally let me go.

But he did let me go, he didn't kill me... even though he knew I was the slayer...

Why?


I walk over to the bed and just look at it. I could've sat down but I just sat there.

Why did I feel so weird all of a sudden? It felt like I've been here before, the only other time I had, was that one time. Déjà vu...


Damien's P.O.V


I walked into the washroom and locked the door. I leaned against the door, thinking. Why was she here? In a way I was glad she was here, I wanted to see her again. Not that it meant anything, but you know I was allowed to have some fun for at least a while.

I knew she was in love with me. She may not know it yet but she was. That glimmer in her green eyes showed it all. My plan was slowly coming into place. I just had to wait until my parents arrived, then we could continue. All I had to do was wait for a few more weeks. These few more weeks just might be a lot of fun. I now know, I have won over her trust, especially after that incident with that vampire the other night. One life is not going to affect me, I've killed so many before. Besides, the one at the park was pretty much homeless, feeding off people who entered the park, surely nobody would be missing him anytime soon. I stepped into the shower, thinking about destroying the slayer. But why is it that whenever I try planning it, Mariah just comes back into my mind? I wanted to see her again, even though she was waiting just outside that door. I needed to get some progress done... there were only a few more weeks left `till father was arriving...


Mariah's P.O.V


I felt something push me onto the bed.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. I turned over but I didn't have the chance to say anything else because Damien's lips had covered mine at that point. I mumbled into his mouth, but my words just faded away as I got to taste his lips. I put one hand on his chest, which was still not covered up and one hand through his hair. His hair still had a bit of water in it but I didn't care. We must've stayed in that bed for at least an hour just making out. I didn't want it to end but then my stupid phone started ringing.

"Urgh," I mumbled into Damien's chest.

"You need to get that?" he asked.

"Nope," I say, then pulled him back down to kiss him. But no, my phone didn't stop ringing.

"Maybe you should get that," Damien finally says. He gets off me. Great, the moment was ruined.


"Excuse me," I say, and then make my way into the hallway. Damien proceeds to go looking for a shirt. Although I would've preferred it if he didn't.

"Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Mariah?" the voice says. It was Chris.

"What?" I whisper. I was hoping Damien wouldn't be able to hear, but that wasn't possible.

"Where did you run off to? How did you leave? Where are you?" he asks.

"You forget, I have many secrets and it's none of your business." I say.

"You're with him, aren't you?" he asks.

"Like I said, it's none of your business," I say, then I hung up. I could protect myself.


I turned around and bumped right into Damien.

"Seems like your friend doesn't like me very much," he said.

"Who cares? All that matters is my opinion, right?" I say.

"It's funny how fast you changed your mind, just a few days ago, it seemed like you hated me," he says.

"Well opinions can change in a matter of seconds, besides there's just something about you..." I start off. Placing a finger to my cheek, pretending to be lost in thought.

"Haha, that's what I said!" Damien laughs and then pulls me over his shoulders.

"HEY! Put me down!" I squeal. "Damien!"


"Not happening!" he yells over my squeals.


Overall, it was a great day minus the incident with Leon and Chris that morning. Damien had cooked me food, pasta-- an Italian special. We talked a lot. I finally got to know a lot about him. I guess certain vampires do have feelings. He had a lot of trouble talking about his family. His mother had died when he had been human, the year before he was turned. He had been turned into a vampire when he was just twenty-three years old.


"Why did you get turned?" I had asked.

Damien had looked out the window overlooking the street from his apartment.

"My family was living in London at the time and my friends and I had been hunting for some deer and so we had all split up, to get more distance. My friend hadn't see me in the bushes, trying to sneak up on a deer when he had shot me, I was heavily bleeding, by the time they had gotten me back home, I was pronounced dead. My father was the one that turned me, but the thing was, all my life I didn't know that my father had been a vampire, I found out my whole life had been a lie...but there was nothing I could do, I mean I was one of them now..."


"I'm so sorry," I had whispered. "What about your mother then?"

He cleared his throat. "Thing was not all humans can withstand the vampire transformation, and so they die midway through the process... my mother was one of them, she had found out my father was a vampire a few years after I was born, and yet she still loved him, she had asked him to change her but he had declined her wishes, until finally a few days after my 22nd birthday, she had apparently told my father that if he didn't turn her, she would leave him and he couldn't bear to lose her and knowing that I would be losing my mother and so he tried turning her... it failed..." He grabbed onto the curtain.

"Little did he know, one way or another I would've lost my mother..."


"Damien..." I went over and hugged him from behind.

He turned to face me, he had tears in his eyes. I didn't know vampires could cry. It was actual tears.

"I loved her more than anything, she was my best friend," Damien had said, "She made me the man I am today, I may look like a bad person but really I'm not."


Was he trying to convince me? He didn't even need to. I already believed him.


"I know how you feel, I really do," I said, "It gets better though..." I said.

"Does it really? I have been living for 130 years and it never gets any easier to say, not that I've said it out before, you are actually the first person I've talked to about this," he had whispered.

"I'm here for you..." I remembered saying, hugging him close. He had cried into my shoulder that afternoon.

"And I'm here for you..." he said, although I didn't know what he had meant.


"And you and your father are good?" I had asked him later than afternoon while we were curled up on the sofa together, my head lying on his chest.


"Yeah, he's raised me well... before he had really left my mom do all the raising but after she... passed away... he stepped in," Damien had said, rubbing into my hair.


"So who was your first love? Was she some high-classed lady?" I had asked, trying my best to imitate a British accent, even though he was Italian.


"I...uhh... I've never exactly loved anyone before..." He had said.


I stared at him and I remember him turning away from me.

"You never what?" I had blurted out.

"So? I'm going to be around for a long time, I'll get my chance," he had said.


"So, 130 years huh? I'm not exactly sure this relationship might work out, you're a bit too old for me," I had said later on in the day, grinning.

"Yeah? And you're just a tad too young for me, but I think I can manage," Damien had said, giving me a soft peck on the lips.

"If you think about it though, I'm really only 23, and you're 19, so it's do-able," Damien smiled.


It felt really nice talking to him. I could tell he wasn't a big talker and him opening up to me made me feel special.


Damien finally dropped me off at home at around 10 in the night. I was extremely tired even though we had stayed indoors the whole day. I didn't remember the last time I genuinely had this much fun, it seemed like a lifetime ago. But it wasn't going to last, it never did for me.


I open the door and head inside.

"Mariah, where were you? Why didn't you call?" my mom inquired as soon as I stepped in.

"Sorry mommy, I lost track of time," I said, in my best innocent voice.

"Mhmm... you and your excuses, but never mind, there's somebody here to see you, they're in the living room," she said.

"Uhmm... thanks," I say.


"Oh and honey, don't forget some fresh underwear and a toothbrush," she says, while going out of the room.

Underwear and toothbrush? Were they sleeping over? Still... why would they need fresh underwear?...

Was it Rose, she always forgot everything whenever she slept over.


Who could it be?

Chapter 14

DAMIEN'S P.O.V:


This was the first time in over a century of being 'undead' that I had been able to have a conversation with someone like this. Let alone a human, who was also the vampire slayer. Some of the things she had said had really made me think. I had gone around thinking that there was no one in the world that had lost someone so close to them and been devastated for years to come, like me. Then there was Mariah. She had opened up about losing Jesse. I did know beforehand about what had happened to him but yet again it was a whole lot different hearing it from her.


"So... Jesse?" I asked.

She snapped her head back to look at me. "What? How do you know him?" she had asked.

"You mentioned him once before," I lied.

"I did... really? I don't think-" I cut her off, "Tell me about him."


She had taken a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn't speak for a few minutes. When she finally opened her eyes, I saw that they were filled with tears.


I grabbed her hand and gently squeezed. Did it really hurt her that much?


"He's not my favorite topic... to be honest, I try to avoid him as much as possible," she had whispered.


"You can trust me darling," I had said.


She smiled and turned away from me. She paused for a few moments.


"He... was my best friend. He was like the brother I never had, my second family so to speak," she began, "he... was my everything."


"To be honest, he meant more to me than my parents, and that's saying a lot since I love my parents more than anything!"


I had smiled at her.


"He was killed by a couple of vampires a few years back when we had gone hiking up on this trail we had found when we were kids, that was our summer adventure during the break."


"I used to get tired halfway up the hill so Jesse always carried me the rest of the way," She laughed in spite of herself. A tear had trickled down her cheek at that point. I leaned over and softly wiped it away. She grabbed my hand and held it to her cheek, leaning into it.


"When you got up to the top, there was a huge cliff that overlooked everything, the ocean view was amazing, our plan for the future was to one day go bungee jumping off that cliff. It may seem crazy but we were a crazy pair. Anything and everything was possible with us. We loved getting to the top, it made us feel like we were on the top of the world... but that day, we never got the chance to get to the top."


"If only we could've at least gone up to the top, it could've been his death wish, he loved going up there, oh how much he loved it, I can't even begin to describe his joy whenever he made it there, he even managed to carry me up there just so he could go to that cliff."


I gently rubbed her other hand that was on her lap, overlapping mine.


"That... was when the vampires had attacked, they held me, while they killed him... drained his blood away, I stood here, helplessly," Mariah had whispered.


She looked me in the eye. "I had watched my best friend get murdered in front of me and there wasn't anything I could do for him."


Her gaze was penetrating and so I had to look away. She dropped my hand.


"Which was why, I even became a slayer, I vowed that I would find and kill the bastard who killed him," she said.


"I'm sorry..." I had whispered.


She smirked.


"Yeah, well apologizing isn't going to bring him back." She had started crying at this point. "Oh, Damien, I would do anything to bring him back! Anything! You have no idea how lonely my life gets sometimes! I would give it all away just for my normal life back, I never wanted to become a slayer, it's not like it was my destiny..." She sobbed.


"His long brown hair that reached just up to his shoulders, he never combed it and yet it was always so smooth, his big hazel eyes that always looked so innocent even though he was a pure troublemaker, and his scrawny shoulders, which still makes me wonder how he managed to get me up that huge hill... and those dirty Air Jordan shoes which he wouldn't let anyone touch except me, I still have it in my room... " She cried some more until her eyes had turned red and puffy. But at that moment I didn't care.


I held her in my arms and let her cry until the tears subsided.


"Maybe it was fate for you to become the slayer, and for you to meet the most devilishly handsome vampire in the world," I teased after she was feeling better.


Her eyes had twinkled. Oh, those beautiful green eyes.


"Haha, you and your fate talk. I don't believe in fate. I believe in the life you make for yourself," she smiled, sniffling back some tears.


"Oh? So you made our encounter happen?" I asked.


"Yeah you didn't know? I had asked Eric to bite me cause I knew you'd come and save me!" she winked.


"Eric? You knew him?" I was honestly confused.


"Did I say Eric?" she had asked.


"Yeah..."


"Whoa, I didn't know where that came from," she looked disturbed.


To this moment, I'm still wondering as to how she knew her name because I was 100% positive they hadn't exchanged names. Eric doesn't ever exchange names. No matter how pretty the girl might be...


MARIAH'S P.O.V:


I walked into the living room, bracing for the worst possible person who could be here. If it was Leon or Chris, they had some nerve and I was definitely going to show them to never get me mad.


I turned the corner and saw Emilia sitting on my sofa, drinking some juice. Emily was my trainer, she basically taught me everything I needed to know in self-defense AND how to kick anybody's butt.


"Hey, Emi," I say as I walked in. We've grown really close over the past few years, and so I never call her by her whole name.

"Hello Mariah," she says.


Whoa, back up. Did she just call ME by my actual name? She never did that unless she was dead serious.

"Uhh... what's up?" I ask slowly.

"I was wondering if we could talk outside," she says, while proceeding to the front door.

I didn't answer and stayed where I was. She expected me to follow, but I was starting to get suspicious.


"Well, whatever it is, you can tell me right here," I said.

She turned to look back at me. "Please, Mariah, it's important," she said.

She looked pretty desperate and so I had no choice but to follow behind.

When we were outside, she closed the door, so that nobody would listen in. Not that they would, my parents totally respected my privacy.


I started looking around. Why would Emilia be here, in the middle of the night and want to talk outside? My hand slowly curled up into a fist behind my back. Sure, she was my friend but if things needed to be done, they shall be done. "Never trust anybody" was rule number two that I was taught and Emilia was the one that had told me about it. So if she got a kick in the face, it was totally on her.


"So I heard about you and the vampire," she started saying.

"What? Does everybody know now? Did it make the front page of the newspaper yet? Oh, however will I explain this to my parents..." I ask.


She didn't smile. "No, only the people that need to, I guess," she says.

"Uh huh... well that still doesn't explain why you're here," she says.

"Yeah, I'm here to knock some sense into you," she says.

I laugh. "Do you mean that literally?" I ask.

"Whichever way is possible," she said.


I stopped midway through my laugh, which made it sound like a hiccup. What did she mean by that? Then that hiccup caused a tickle in my throat, which made me cough. I didn't even have the chance to control my horrible coughing, because as soon as I took a chance to look at her, I see Emilia throw in a punch. I ducked in less than a split second. I did not want to be wrecking my nose tonight.

"What the hell is your problem?" I managed to say before ducking again. Had she gone completely insane?


"Mariah, Damien is not good," she says before trying to kick me, I jump back. Then did a back flip off the porch and landed in my garden that lay in front of our house. I heard the crunch of some of my mom's flowers underneath me. Oh man, my mom was going to kill me! But that was the least of my worries at the moment.

"What is he your ex boyfriend or something?" I yell at her.

"What? No, I don't do vampires," she says.

"Why? Is it 'cause you know that you can't get one?" I ask.


She was a pretty girl but didn't always have the best luck with guys. We always joked around with that, teasing each other before, but I saw that comment had struck a nerve. She jumped off the porch and landed in front of me. I took that chance to punch her; I got her straight in the lip. Whoohoo!


"What the hell?" she screams, while licking the blood off.

"You friggin' started it!" I yell back.


I was surprised my mom hadn't come outside yet.

While we were standing accusing each other, I failed to notice that someone had been hiding at the side of my house. I heard a scrunch behind me. I just had a moment to turn to see who it was, until I felt a piece of cloth go to my nose. I kicked and jumped and probably scratched whoever the hell it was, but I didn't care. Then everything went black.

Chapter 15

I woke up in a dimly lit room. This time though I wasn't on a bed. More like a wall. Yep, I was chained up on a wall. Whoever the hell did this to me, was going to pay... big time. When I get out of here, the first person I'm paying a visit to is Emilia, that bitch.

If only I could get one hand to my hair, I could pull a bobby pin out of it and try to pick the lock. I tried tugging on the chains, but it was no use. I was stuck.


I tried looking around, maybe an escape route or something. What was the point? I first had to get the chains off me before thinking about that.


I heard a door open. "Mariah," somebody called out.

They came into view. Chris? Oh my god. He was in on it; the one person I trusted everything with was in on it.

Remember Mariah, you aren't supposed to trust anybody, the little voice in the back of my head said. But Chris was different from the rest... or so I thought.


He knelt beside me. I turned my head away from him, I was too furious to even glance up at him. He offered me a glass of water. I didn't move a muscle. He placed the water down beside me.

"Hey," he says, while turning my face over to him.

"Don't touch me!" I say through clenched teeth.

"Listen, I'm sorry it had to come to this," he said.

"Uh huh, so are you going to keep me here until I die or what?" I ask him.

"What? Die? Of course not, we just figured it was time you knew the truth."

"We?" I asked. As if on cue, more people started walking in. People I have worked with my entire life, including Leon...

"What the hell is this? A little reunion?" I ask. It kind of was since I hadn't been back to the agency in a while.


Leon stepped forward. "No Mariah, this is mainly on you," he said.

"We figured that you wouldn't have listened to us, so we had to force the truth on you," Emilia stepped in, "which is why they sent me to get you."


I wanted to kill her. I guess she saw the look on my face.

"I'm sorry love, it's 'cause I knew how you'd react and so I had to be the one to you know..." she trailed off.

"Of course, which is why I got a punch in right, since you know my moves so well?" I say, innocently.


She turned red. She should turn red. I'm glad she turned red. She deserved turning red and I would definitely make her whole body turn red if they just let me out of these stupid chains!


I start tugging on the chains again.


"Mariah, Mariah, calm down, just listen, as soon as we're done, we promise we'll let you go," Chris yelled over the yanking.

"Fine, I'll listen to you people, but really you couldn't have gotten a more comfortable place to tie me up?" I ask.


A few chuckles echoed in the room. "Oh Mariah, your sense of humur never fails to amuse me, no matter what situation we get put in," Chris says.

I wasn't pleased. "Really? I'm not laughing. Plus... when Damien had kept me, he had taken the initiative to put me on a bed." I smiled. The laughing quickly stopped. Touchy much?

"You were taken by Damien? When?" Leon asked. Chris looked equally shocked.


I glared at him. "Right... and you just expect me to blabber it out."


"Hmm... guess the big mouth doesn't always come in handy," Leon said, smirking.


I tugged on my chains. I tried standing but kept getting pulled down. "Why you little!"


Chris cut me off. "Mariah! Mariah! He's just joking! Mariah!" Chris glared at Leon. I think this was the first time I've ever seen Christopher get mad. Even I didn't make him mad and I was a handful.


"Sorry, Mariah," Leon winked, "Could you please forgive me?"


"Sure thing, come here and I'll show you how forgiven you are."


"Mariah..." Emilia warned.


"Don't you dare come in this," I warned back.


She shut up.


"Okay, Mariah, you have to listen to us now," Chris said.


"Yeah, yeah, get on with whatever it is you gotta tell me," I say. I was clearly not going to be showing any signs of amusement.


"All right then..." Chris looked back at his colleagues. Clearly he was really uncomfortable.


"I'm just going to come out and say it Mariah," he says.


I nod.


"You are the real leader of all vampires," he says slowly.


I blink up at him a few times.


"I'm sorry I don't think I heard you correctly, I think you said something about me being a leader of vampires or something?" I ask, clearly I was having some hearing problems.


Chris nods. I look over at Leon. His face was even grim.


"Vampires have a leader? Does that mean I'm a queen?" I asked, making my eyes bulge. I was not going to be pulled into their lame joke.


"No... Mariah, a vampire leader is someone who is destined to take charge of the vampires, they do have a king but the leader is more important and in this case, that's you," Chris said carefully, "It's not very common and most people have forgotten something like this exists which is why they rely on a king, or a member of the royal family- Damien's family to lead them." Chris watched for my reaction.


I didn't disappoint.


"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" I yell.

I start hyperventilating. No way. No way freakin' way. NO WAAAAAY.


Emilia rushes over to me. "Mariah, calm down, breathe, breathe, breathe..." she says.

I try to listen to her, but it was impossible.


I calm down a bit in order to say, "If this is some REALLY late April Fool's joke, you got me okay? Now could you all laugh and bring out the secret video camera from wherever it was hidden?" I ask.


But nobody moved or said anything. What the hell?


"A freakin' leader? NO WAY! I'm the slayer! The freakin' slayer! NO WAY!" I screamed.


"Remember, I told you to listen," Chris says.


"I'm listening," I managed to whisper.


Chris went on to his story.


" A few centuries back, there was a young woman named Esmeralda, she was the first vampire leader, actually we think she might be your great-great-great-great-great ... put a few more greats in there, grandmother," Chris started off.


"Whoa, wait, back up, if she's my great times a million grandmother, does that mean my mom or dad might be in this too, without them even knowing??" I asked. I was past hyperventilating and now was just really curious.


"No, to be honest, we don't really know anything of how it works, in fact, after Esmeralda, we think you might be the next leader," Chris explained.


"Anyways, continuing on-So Esmeralda fell in love with a vampire, and well vampires weren't so common back then, and so that was a huge surprise all on its own, Esmeralda knew perfectly well what he could do and that he was practically a murderer, but yet she wasn't afraid," he paused. "Kind of like you,"


I stared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"


"Well, it's just that, think back to the day of Jesse's murder, sure you were there, and you witnessed it and probably didn't want it to happen, but were you scared?" Chris asked.


I forced myself to think back to that dreadful day. It made sense though. I did feel helpless, but I wasn't scared. Why?


"So now you're wondering, why?" Chris said.

"The reason for that is even if you didn't know about vampires, it's that feeling of you being surrounded by vampires," Chris explained, "Esmeralda was surrounded by vampires pretty much her whole life, and when that got passed down to you, it made you feel the same way; in other words, vampires to you Mariah, are just like any other human being," Chris went on.


"But... I HATE them," I whispered.


"No, Mariah, you just might not, we made you think that, we fed you everything you needed to know about them, plus Jesse's attack, just made you more vulnerable to being pulled over to our side," Chris said.

"How did you even know that I wasn't scared of them?" I asked.


"Because when we had first met you, you told us about what had happened that day, and yet becoming a slayer never scared you, you never thought of the possibility of ever dying, slaying is hard stuff, you could easily get killed in an instant if you're not careful and that never seemed to cross your mind, no matter how many times we've told you, besides that, when we had that therapist come in to examine you, he informed us that there wasn't even an atom's worth of fear in you," Chris explained, " We became very interested in you, after that."


I continued to stare at him. So I did that mean I didn't really hate vampires?


"Anyways, Esmeralda was only fourteen years old when she found her vampire, his name was Alexander, and well soon after he fell in love with her, he devoted his life to her, he wanted to stop feeding off humans, and went to feed of animals in order to be able to live a civilized life with Esmeralda," Chris further explained.


"But animal blood wasn't cooperating with him, and became weak, close to the point of dying, which was when Esmeralda, who couldn't bear the thought of her lover dying, offered her blood, he did decline it of course, but her blood was intoxicating, which is what vampires say about your blood too right?" Chris asked.


I mumbled a yes.


"Anyways, when he bit into her, they discovered something; other than the fact that they were soulmates but something special about Esmeralda, to this day we don't know what that something special was, since it could only be felt by her and her lover, and so they went to their vampire elders and they confirmed it, Esmeralda was indeed the leader," Chris said. "The elders didn't believe that there were any leaders, sure they'd heard stories that were passed down, but nothing to prove it, until they had come upon Esmeralda. And so they performed a ritual that bound her into their leader,"


"I'm sorry, what is a soulmate?" I interrupted. .


"Well, we don't know, people don't think it exists anymore, but it's this bond between two beings, that holds them together for eternity, if in the case of a vampire I mean, since they do live for a very long time, we've never heard of cases of that happening in humans, but it could be possible," Chris said. "Anyways, your great something grandmother, began to turn her ways into the ways of a vampire, she lead them through change, even to one point where vampires AND humans learned to live together, she was willing to do whatever it took in order for her to be with Alexander."


"How did the ritual work?" I asked. I was too intrigued.

"It's a bit complicated..." Chris slowly explained.

"Right, like nothing else is at the moment," I rolled my eyes.


Chris sighed. I knew he was thinking that I was an impossible case.

"It has to do with the transfer of blood from vampire to leader, and some other processes as well.


"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" I asked.


Chris sighed again.


"Anyways, Esmeralda proved that if vampires were civilized which they are capable of since they were humans, one point in their lives, then they can still associate themselves with humans, she did live a happy life, even though she was still human, the vampires still accepted her, until her death that is..."


"How'd she die?" I asked.


"She was killed, a vampire by the name Giorgio, didn't like the fact that vampires and humans were now cooperating, he wanted to wreak havoc on them, not be their friend, so a few years after, he had gotten closed to her, made her believe that he was her friend, compelled her, and then killed her, her body washed up on shore the next day, where a few humans had found it."


"This started the whole feud of vampires and humans all over again. The humans believed the vampires had killed her, they had been playing them the whole time, and the one person that wanted some peace between both sides was now killed, and so the world became bitter again."


"How tragic... poor Alexander," I said, "What happened to him?"


"Oh, he's still around, after Esmeralda's death, he became vicious, human attacks became more frequent and more messy," Chris explained.


"How old was he?" I asked.


"Alexander? Twenty-five, I recall," Chris said.


"Whoa! Twenty-five? She was fourteen!!! Talk about pedophile..." I say.


"That wasn't anything unusual back in those days, remember, did you forget all your history lessons?" Chris said.


"Oh yeah, so why me?" I whispered.


"It's not something we can question, we're almost certain that you are the next leader, we just don't want that to be the case, I mean okay sure, it's amazing, but we feel that then the vampires will turn you onto their side, and things just might get more messier, which is why we recruited you onto our side," Chris said.


"So that's why you people were so adamant about me becoming a slayer? You had a reason all this time?" I got mad.


Leon stepped in. "No, we were trying to protect you, Mariah, who knows what they would do to you, as the centuries go by, vampires have changed, they think differently, they're more strategic, there's no telling what they could do, with an actual leader on their side, the world could be destroyed, it was all with good intentions."


"What does the leader do?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that they were using me all these years.


"We're not sure, all we know is that if the leader ends up in the wrong hands, it's not good... as of right now, Damien's father is the king, and you rightfully belong on his side, we don't know what their plan is, so we can't be too sure... or safe," Leon said.


"Why does the king need a slayer? Don't they pretty much have everything covered?" I asked.


"Well... no, the royal family is pretty much that, 'royal'... they have authority and power but not actual powers, the leader on the other hand is very powerful all on their own," Chris explained.


"Wait... does that mean I have powers?" I asked, stunned. I did not want powers. Way too much responsibility, as if I didn't already have enough on my hands.


"We can't be too sure... we just recently found out about all of this and we wanted to tell you sooner... but everything that's been happening these days, with you and Damien..." Chris said.


"Uh huh, so why do you think they're trying to kill me then?" I ask.


"Because they don't know that you are anything other than a slayer," Chris cut in.


"How do they even know that I am the slayer, nobody knows!" I exclaim.


"The royal family always have their ways," Chris said.


"By the way, how do you know all this? I thought you didn't have anything, and now you have a whole encyclopedia's worth of stuff!" I say.


"Research-- library, internet, plus all the extra research of Leon's, we've managed to come with all of this in two days, with the help of our entire team," Chris said.


"I'm impressed, I think this is the hardest you've ever worked," I say.


"That's because this is the hardest case we've ever worked with, plus you're involved, so it matters," Chris said.


I smiled up at him. I felt flattered but also betrayed in a way. I guess I didn't really have time to think about that. I had to work out a plan now.


Leon cleared his throat. "So, Mariah... about Damien..." he started.


Oh snap, Damien. I had forgotten about him. That meant that he was using me, he was getting ready to kill me, and he was doing that by playing with my feelings...


I've never known what love felt like, and the one time in my life I had the chance to maybe feel it, it got snatched from right under me.


"I'll deal with him," I sa

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.08.2012

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