Vic's POV

Laughing at my own ingenious revenge plotting, I ran up the stairs into my room. I heard Vanessa following behind me. I assumed that if I went into my room and locked the door she would give up on hunting me. I smiled at my brilliant plan as I opened my bedroom door. In retrospect I should have known that my plan would have failed because that damn vampire was always two steps ahead of me. There sitting perfectly in the middle of my coffin was one of the blood filled wine bottles that Danyelle and her friend had been trying to make me drink.

Now that I knew what was in them I wanted to stay as far away from it as possible, but if that was true then why was it that I couldn’t take my eyes off of it? I found myself biting the corner of my bottom lip when I thought about what it would be like to drink from it. Even though I never drank it before I felt as if I knew what it would feel like. I imagined that when the lips of the bottle touched mine it would be light as a feather. I could feel the smooth glass caress my lips again and again as the warm content from it slid into my mouth with ease. This was too vivid to be my imagination but I knew that it wasn’t a memory.

I think…

My fangs punctured my lower lip; I could feel the warm liquid drip down my chin. The bottle on my coffin was hypnotic, and its hold on me was great. I could feel every muscle in my body tense in anticipation. Unable to resist the urge I walked closer to it. Even if the blood was in a bottle its sweet aroma wafted over to me in waves. My knee shook beneath me, and my fists trembled at my side. I wanted to reach for it and drain it of its continents but at the same time I knew that drinking it would turn me into the thing I feared most; A monster.

Vanessa's POV

I watched as Vic forced himself to look away from the blood. How could he resist such a temptation? It was astonishing how strong his will power really was but on the other hand it was really starting to worry me. For example, his eyes have been the same bloody red color ever since he woke up and by the look of his muscles and skin tone I don't know how much longer he would stand. Vic was paler than normal,

Well for a vampire.

Weaker than an average rouge vampire, and he defiantly wasn't able to sense my presence even if I was only nine feet away from him.

Obviously he needed some more training.

Yep,

I saw Vic take a step away from the blood and turn towards the door. That’s when he finally noticed me watching. Instinctively, he crouched down and bared his fangs at me.

I shook my head. I couldn't believe him! After all that training he still thinks he's able to take me on.

"Vic what on earth are you doing?"

Completely ignoring my question he growled. "Get out."

I sighed as I tried a different approach. Maybe if I started explaining everything to him he would understand my intentions and actually listen to me; I almost laughed out loud as soon as the thought came into my head. "Vic, Danyelle told me that you haven’t been drinking blood. Damn it Victor, are you an idiot? What is the one thing that every movie and book about vampires have in common? They drink blood! It’s the cardinal rule for crying out loud! Do you understand what's going to happen to you if you don't drink it?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'll die."

I laughed. "If you're lucky enough for that.” I glared at him as he slowly picked himself up from his crouched position. “Listen to me Vic the only thing that is going to die because you aren’t drinking enough blood is everyone around you.”

“What are you saying?” He growled.

“It’s a survival instinct. When a vampire is starving they become so wrapped up in getting blood that they lose hold of their humanity. The thirst becomes so great that they go on a rampage; attacking any human being regardless of what their relation might have been. The worst part….you won’t even realize you’re doing it.”

Vic shook his head in disbelief. "I would never-

"You wouldn't have a choice."

"I'd find a way!" He yelled.

"At the risk of Danyelle's life, Oh yeah that sounds like the brotherly way!"

In a flash he was inches away from me. His hands gripped my arms so hard that I couldn’t help but wince. "Don't you dare come in here and act like you know me, you know nothing! I would never hurt her you disgusting vampire!"

“Consciously no I don’t believe you would but if you refuse to drink blood then I can assure that she will be dead.” My arms began to hurt as I felt his nails dig into my skin. “I won’t let her die. I made a promise that I would protect her from everything… even you." I informed him.

"You never made such a-

"I didn’t make it for you! I made it for her. For her, you ungrateful vampire," I cried.

He dropped me to the floor. “You would protect her?”

I used my free hands to wipe the tears off my cheek. I didn’t even realize that I had been crying until just now. Gosh how pathetic I must seem to him. "Of course I would you big dummy."

He rubbed his thumb against my cheek to wipe a stray tear away then rested both hands gently on my shoulder. When I looked into his eyes I was shocked to see how soft they were, it was not the normal chilling glare that set me on edge. I found myself holding my breath when he closed his eyes and rested his forehead to mine. “Thank you.”

I was shocked by his sudden gentleness, because it was such a drastic change from how he normally treated me. It was a side that I had assumed only Danyelle got to see but this one, this one was for me. I wanted to tell him that his thanks weren’t needed but then I didn’t want to ruin the moment either. So I closed my own eyes and just took it in. Victor lifted his forehead from mine and with a sigh removed his hands from my shoulders as well. The moment was over felt over with the loss of contact and I was expecting him to return to his old self but when I stared into his red eyes they were still warm with gratitude.

Without saying anything he walked over to his coffin and picked up the bottle. At first he stared at the contents inside with uncertainty and his gaze wondered over to me for reassurance. I nodded with a smile and that was all he really needed. He tipped the bottle back onto his mouth and started to drink.

Vic and I had finally come to an understanding. I found myself smiling at this little fact. It never occurred to me how nice it would be to have his approval but now that I did I couldn’t imagine a more rewarding thing. I waited until he finished drinking before I handed him the other bottle that I had left in the hallway. We exchanged bottles and he didn’t even hesitate this time to drink it. As he finished off the last few drops of blood in the bottle I took notice in how his eyes had gone back to their original color. I couldn’t help but realize how much I had come to love seeing those icy blue eyes of his.

When he was finished he put the bottle down on the ground and leaned against the coffin. Slowly he slid down to the floor with his head resting against the coffin. I made my way over to him and sat down beside him.

“Feeling better?”

He nodded.

“Those headaches gone as well?”

Surprised my question he looked over to me. “How did you,” I arched my eyebrow. “…Yeah their gone.”

We sat shoulder to shoulder and looked out into the hallway. I guess we weren’t really looking at anything in particular but truthfully I just liked using it as an excuse to sit next to him.

“Hey Vic, can I ask you something.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Shoot.”

“Why did you refuse to drink blood?”

I waited for his answer and when he didn’t automatically give it to me I looked over to him. His expression was hard set as he glared into the hallway. Unsure of what I was supposed to do, I lightly touched his shoulder. He jumped a little at the sudden contact and went to glare at me but when his eyes met mine he instantly softened.

“I didn’t want to become a monster.”

I was taken aback by his answer; a monster. “How would that make you a monster?”

“I thought that if I drank blood then it would mean that I accepted the fact that I was a vampire.”

“Okay but I still don’t understand could you elaborate?”

He ran his hand through his black hair. “Of course I view them as monsters a vampire killed my parents. It murdered them and cursed me, I thought that if I didn’t drink blood I would still be innocent…human in a way.”

I was horrified by what he had just told me, a vampire killed his parents. I shook my head in disbelief. No that couldn’t be right he was just confused that was all. “Danyelle said that they died in a car crash.”

He shook his head. “She was thrown out of the car when it happened so she doesn’t know the details.”

My vision started to blur from the tears that were forming in my eyes. My kind had caused him all this suffering, it was my kind that turned him into a vampire, and it was my kind that took away his parents. We were monsters.

I grabbed the front of his shirt in hysteria. “Please tell me the whole story. Tell me everything. Please Victor I need to know.”

His hands covered mine as he gently unhooked them, once that was done he rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. “It’s been a long day. I know that you’re exhausted right now so go get some sleep and we’ll talk about it later.”

I shook my head vigorously no. “I can’t Victor-

He brushed my hair away from my face. “Listen to me. You’re a wreck right now, it’s three in the morning, and we’re both exhausted. I’ll tell you later.” He played with a strand of my hair. “Besides how can I tell you anything if you start crying all over me?”

I swatted his hand away from my hair. “I am not crying!”

He smirked at me as I got up off the floor and stomped over to the door. I was just about to slam it shut when I looked back at him. “By the way Vic, you’re not a monster.”

The smiled wavered from his face for a moment before he quick stepped in front of me. “Sure I am you stupid vampire.” He quickly pitched my cheek then slammed the door in my face.

Instead of becoming angry at him I smiled.

That man… I went down the hallway to the stairs when I noticed Danyelle. She had her head sticking out of a nearby door and was motioning me to come in.

I walked into Danyelle's room and noticed that it was small, dark and yet surprisingly homey. She had black wall paper with light blue edging and they were covered in neon pink and blue butterflies. The neon colors against the black made the butterflies seem as if they were actually glowing. There was a laptop setting on her spray painted desk followed by a butt load of books. She had red and black plastic bats hanging on the ceiling and a random purple rug lying in the middle of her floor. Out of everything in her bedroom the only thing that creped me out was her bed spread. Her bed was up against the side of the room and it had a Barbie doll bed cover.

"What's up with the bed spread?" I asked wide eyed.

She looked over to at it. "Oh I don't know, I guess I've never really gotten up the money to change it." She ran over to her bed and jumped on it. "But more importantly, how do you plan on getting home tonight without a car?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe I’ll fly home.”

“You can do that?” She asked excitedly.

I laughed at her enthusiasm. “No I’m just kidding.”

She looked disappointed. “Oh well I guess you’ll just run home again then won’t you?”

“Not possible. I probably won't even make it halfway there before I run out of energy." I replied.

"Do you need blood?" She asked.

"No," I stated. "I need rest." As if to prove my point, I yawned and stretched out my arms. I heard Danyelle sigh with disappointment.

"What?" I asked.

"How come I never see you drinking blood?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Vampires only need to drink blood once a mouth at the very least."

"So why are you so weak?" She questioned.

"I am not weak.” I yelled defensively. “I’m just sleepy from running around all day.” I informed her.

"Well, then you can crash here if you want. My bed is too small for us to share so I'll take the floor, or we could go down to the living room." She said.

I shook my head. "That's alright Danyelle. I'm a big girl, you just stay up here and I'll take the couch downstairs."

"But we have school in the morning. Don't you want to get ready together?" She asked.

"I'll get ready with you but I still think I should sleep downstairs. Let's just say you shouldn't sleep next to a vampire." I replied.

"You snore don't you?" She questioned.

"Badly," I stated.

She giggled. "So does the monster truck next door. You don't have anything to worry about though, I'm a heavy sleeper. If you really want to sleep downstairs though I guess I'm okay with it, I'll just have to go wake you up in the morning."

"Thanks Dee." I gave her a quick hug, and then she gave me a pillow, blanket and an enlarged T-shirt. I started to walk away when she grabbed my arm. I turned and saw a worried expression on her face as she asked,

"Oh I almost forgot! What happened with you and Vic? Is he alright? I heard a lot of yelling and… and did Vic punch a hole in the wall? Did he drink the blood?" She asked in a minimum of five seconds. I silenced her by covering her mouth with my hand.

"Yes Vic drank the blood so he’ll be fine, umm he didn’t punch a hole in the wall, and he’s stubborn so of course there was yelling."

Danyelle exhaled deeply. "Thank goodness." She released my arm and I went downstairs.

I tossed the blanket and pillow on the couch and stripped off my clothes until all that was left was my bra and underwear. I pulled the large shirt over my head and wondered if it had been her dad's. I felt a little uncomfortable wearing it now that I knew it might be his. I sat down on the edge of the couch and fiddled with the shirt. I was debating on whether or not I should keep it on when suddenly I felt every muscle in my body grow weak. A long yawn escaped from my mouth as I fell backwards onto the couch. Before I fell asleep I thought about Vic playing with my hair and smiled. He really was a little monster.