'I said, what are you?' Lena said still standing on his doorstep waiting for an answer.
   Ian remained dumbfounded. He could not find the right words to express himself. But he also could no longer cover it up. There simply was no way to lie anymore.
'You already know the answer to that question,' he replied, 'you wouldn't be here if you didn't. Lena, for what I'm about to tell you, you're going to need to calm down because everything you know is about to change. Are you ready for that?'
'What.........are........you?
Ian went closer to her and looking straight into her eyes, he said;
'I'm a VAMPIRE!'
   Lena's heart started pacing as she heard those words. Her hands were shaking, the walls were closing in on her even though she was outside. It was as if she was having a panic attack.
'Oh my God! I shouldn't have come here.'
'Lena, please wait.'
   As turned back to run to car, Ian whooshed in front of her trying to stop her from leaving.
'How did you do that?' She asked
'Lena, please listen to me. There's so much about this that you don't understand.'
'Let me go!'
'Lena, please wait............'
'I said, let me go!
Lena then ran to her car and hastily drove away.
 
   When she got home she ran up to her bedroom and locked the door. Hoping it would protect her from anything that tried to get in. She slowly back away from the door and in the process she bumped into someone behind her. She turned back and saw it was Ian.
'How did you get in here?' She asked trembling in fear.
'Lena, I would never hurt you.'
'And what about all those faked animal attacks and all the missing persons reports.
The bodies found drained of blood.'
'That was Damien. I don't feed on people to get blood, let alone kill them. I will tell you everything but first you have to promise me you won't tell anyone.'
'Just go.............please just go.'
'I never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry.' He said before he saw the painting of him during the American Revolution on Lena's table. He knew this could only be the handwork of one person.
   Ian whooshed out of the room through the window. Lena closed the window tightly and sat on her bed as took in deep breaths and calmed down.

   When Ian arrived at his house he found Damien lying on his couch reading a magazine which he dropped as he noticed Ian's angry glare at him.
'I know that face. What have I done this time?' Damien asked.
'You're the only who could have dropped that painting for Lena.'
'Oops! I may have found in your basement and accidentally left it for Lena to find. Let me guess, she knows the truth you, doesn't she?'
'Why would you do this?'
'I first thought of killing her but then I realized that it would sting a lot more if she left you of her will after discovering your secret. After all, destroying people brings out the artist in me, and in my defence, you did a crappy job of concealing it.' Damien said smirking.
'Can't you just go at least one century without destroying every happiness that I have? Without bringing pain and death wherever you go? Or perhaps it's because you have no happiness of your own due to your own wickedness.'
'Are you done talking?'
'Yeah, I'm done with you. Stay way from my friends and I. If I see you anywhere near me, I won't hesitate to put you down. Now get out before I throw you out.'
   Damien squeezed up the magazine and threw it on the floor before whooshing out of the house.

   The next day, Ian finally saw Lucas in school who was absent for two days.
Lucas then went to Ian as he leaned on the wall by his locker.
'Hey, dude. How you been?'Lucas said chipperly.
'Not great. Where have you been?'
'I was kinda in the middle of a family crisis. You look more grumpy than usual.'
'She knows!'
'What?'
'Lena knows that I'm a vampire.'
'Oh, shit! How did it happen?'
'Damien planted some incriminating evidence and the fact that my hand healed in ten seconds didn't help either.'
'How did she take it?'
'Not well. She was absolutely terrified.'
   Lena entered the school and saw them in the hallway. She came over to them looking a lot more sober than she previously was.
Ian was suprised to see in school, and even more so that she confidently approached him.
'Lucas, you're back!' She said giving him a warm hug. Then she turned to Ian.
'Can we talk in private?'
'Don't worry, Lucas knows everything.' Ian replied.
'What?'
'I found out the night Damien tried to kill me. But ended up killing Principal Stubbs.'
'Oh my God!' She shouted, drawing the unwanted of some other students who walked by.
'Your brother killed Principal Stubbs?' She whispered.
'In cold blood!' Lucas quickly retorted.
'He also tried to kill you. Are you okay?' Lena asked.
'I am! Thanks to this guy here.' He said giving Ian a pat on the back.
'I managed to save Lucas but I couldn't get to Stubbs in time.'
'It's not your fault,' Lena said, 'It's Damien's. He's the one who killed her and all those people.'
'What about Salter? You told me that us that you live with him and that he's your uncle but that's probably a lie.' Lucas said.
'Salter Lockhart? No one's heard from him in three days now.' Lena retorted.
'That's because he's dead. Damien tore his throat out.' Ian said with a chilling effect on both Lena and Lucas who were beyond shocked.
'I can't believe it, Salter's dead.' Lena said.
Lucas stood still in shock. His eyes were wide open and his face frozen with thoughts. Until Ian wanked him by the arm snapping him back into reality.
'Are you okay?' Ian asked.
'I knew Salter all my life. He was a close family friend even after he moved from our neighbourhood and started living in yours.'
'He was a school fundraiser. I helped him a lot during school hours. We used to talk a lot about the craziest and funny things.' Lena said.
'I'm so sorry. I can relate to your loss. Shane was one of my oldest human friends, and I don't have plenty of those these days. My neighbours keep asking me where he is, but I keep telling them that he's on a trip and I don't know when he's coming back but I'll be able to manage on my own. Meanwhile, his corpse is actually frozen in my refrigerator in the basement.'
'Don't you think people deserve to that he's dead?' Lucas asked.
'I would have done that immediately but it was too suspicious. An animal attack in his own home. Besides, my head wasn't straight back then. I was blinded with rage and vengeance. I promise to get the news of his death out somehow. So he can have a proper funeral.'
'I want to know more.' Lena said.
'What?'
'If this is a life or death situation, I need to about everything.'
'Okay! We can meet after school in St.Anne's church cemetery.'
'Aren't you already tired of death?' Lucas sighed.
'It's okay, we'll need a quiet place.' She retorted.

   After school, Lena went to St.Anne's cemetery as promised. The entrance gate was open, and when she entered she found Ian sitting on a bench near a crypt.
'I didn't think you would come.' He said.
'Well, here I am. So what now?'
'I promised you that I would tell you everything. So ask me anything.'
Lena sat down next to Ian on the bench.
'How do you stay in the sun without burning.'
'You see this ring,' He said pointing at the silver ring on his finger with a white stone in it, 'it has the power to keep me from burning in the sunlight.'
'What about mirrors?'
'That's just a myth. All vampires have reflection and we don't have pale cold skin either as you can see. Although, we do have the inability to actually get cold.'
'And holy water?'
'That only works as a kind of repellent. It's literally like acid on our skin. It doesn't kill but it slowly down.'
'Then how do you kill a vampire?'
'You could stab a vampire in the heart with a wooden stake. You can also rip out heart or remove their heads. Lastly, you can burn them to death either through sunlight or fire.'
   Ian placed his hand by the side of her head.
'What are you doing?'
'Vampires have the ability to go into the minds of others and access their memories and create a form of illusion in their minds. Would you mind if I showed you something?'
'Go ahead.'
Ian's eyes became dark red and bloodshot and as he looked deep into Lena's eyes, she entered a trance like state. Her body was there but her mind was gone. In that very moment, Ian showed her what happened in the early stages of his life. How he was moved from Bulgaria to England.
   It was almost as if she was there when it happened, watching the whole thing.
   Ian withdrew his hand on the side of her head and his eyes went return their normal form. Then Lena suddenly snapped back into reality.
'That was incredible! I could hear, smell, feel and see everything like I was really there.'
'It's a mind simulation created through vampire powers. That's how it's supposed to be.'
'So you're not American?'
'I am by nationality. But I was born as a Bulgarian and migrated to England and instantly became English. My birth name was Ilarion. We had our family name changed from Ognyan to O'Connell when we settled in England. Trust me it was not easy learning how to speak English at the age of ten.'
'Can you still speak Bulgarian?'
'I haven't in a while. But it is my mother tongue, so I can still speak fluently.'
'Everything looked so old. The clothes, the scenery. It looked just like the 15th century.'
'That because it was the 15th century. I've been a vampire since 1492.'
Lena's eyes brightened with suprise.
'That means you're..............'
'I'm 545 years old.'
'Wow! You are way older than I thought.'
'I understand if this might throw you off balance.'
Lena placed her hand on his face and smiled.
'It doesn't. I know I didn't take it so well last night. But none of this changes how I feel about you.'
'It's ironic. That's the exact thing I told Katrina when I found out her secret.'
'As in your ex-girlfriend Katrina? She was a vampire too?'
'It was her blood that turned Damien and I into vampire. I knew her in 1492. She was the first love of my life.'
'Damien made it sound like it was recent.'
'That's what he does. He stirs up trouble to spite me. Can I show you something else?'
Lena noded in agreement.
   Ian placed his hand on the side of her head. His eyes become bloodshot once more, and looking into her eyes he showed her the events that lead up to his death. When he laced Damien's ale with Katrina's blood and drank the remaining. How Julian slaughtered his parents and then he and his brother.
   Lena gasped as he stop the simulation abruptly.
'Oh my God! I'm so sorry.'
'It's okay. It was a long time ago.'
'It's not okay. No one should ever have to go through that.' She said as she held unto his hand. Then she went on.
'I haven't seen Katrina in any of your mindscapes. What was she like?'
Ian took in a deep breath and smiled.
'Katrina was the kind of girl you weren't supposed to fall for. She was beautiful, smart, mysterious and fun but in a dangerous way. She was the best thing that ever happened to me in my human life.'
'The way you talk about her................like she no longer with us.'
'After Damien and I woke up, the fire had burnt out. Our parents remains were almost ash. I ran to her cottage to make sure she was okay. Then I found her cottage burnt to the ground. She was still in it when it was set ablaze. Her remains where no where to be found. She died because she defied Julian. That's why we all did that night.'
'I'm sorry you lost her.'
   Ian and Lena eyes were lost in each other's. Their faces slowly came closer to one another, and as their lips were about to press, Lena's phone rang and she turned to it.
'It's my mom. She's probably wondering where I am.'
'It's late! I think we better call it a day.'
Ian pulled out a small vial of holy water from his pocket and placed it in Lena's hand.
'Your offering me water?' Lena asked.
'It's holy water. As long as it's in your system, a vampire can't drink your blood without feeling it's effect. They also can't warp your mind. Another power of ours.
The Night Circle is very dangerous and so is Damien. So I suggest you start taking holy water everyday like Lucas to protect yourself.'
'If Damien killed Slater, Stubbs and a whole lot of other innocent people, don't you think he should be stopped?'
'The only real way to stop Damien is to kill him and I'm not willing to cross that bridge yet. He wasn't always like this. He was once a simple man who wanted a simple life before vampirism sucked away every shred of humanity he had. But I'm still not willing to give up on him yet.'
Lena put the vial in pocket and hugged Ian.
'I'll see you in school tomorrow.' She said before leaving the cemetery.

   When he got home, he noticed that his front door was wide open. He felt a strange presence as he walked in.
   A vampire came out of the shadows and swung an axe at Ian's neck which he dodged. He then ripped his heart out.
Another whooshed in, and Ian picked up the axe and chopped off the vampire's head off.
    Ian dropped the axe thinking it was all over. Damien came out of nowhere and snapped his neck, rendering him unconscious.
'Sorry brother, but you've caused too much trouble.'
   Damien stuffed Ian in the trunk of his car and drove away into the night.