Larten Crepsley was an odd sight at the best of times. A thin man with pale skin and a face that looked like a demented circus clown. But tonight, he was dressed up in his full odd way. Well, odd to anybody who didn't know him that is. With his bright red hair spiked up and his blood red suit on, he made his way through the dark streets. Oh, forgot to mention, Larten Crepsley is a vampire, over a century old.

The tails of his long coat flapped around his ankles as he made his way down the pavement. His eyes scanned all of the houses that he passed. He knew that they lived somewhere, one of these houses had to be theirs. He shouldn't have left it so many years and found himself mentally cursing his absence. Since he had discovered his relatives had moved back to the area he grew up in, he made it a point to visit them every year on the anniversary of his 'death'. Only thing was, they didn't know he watched them. He couldn't tell them who he was, he wouldn't do that to anybody. So he settled for standing in the shadows. Sure, he felt like some creepy stalker but the urge to see the grandchildren of his brothers and sisters was too overwhelming to keep him away.

Suddenly, he stopped dead. His acute hearing had picked up some movement from a nearby alleyway. It could just be a cat rummaging through some rubbish bins but he had to be certain. Turning his attention to the alleywayhe wandered into it silently. There were no other sounds and he saw no signs of recent movement in the bins. But he felt eyes on him and that caused his hands to have a mind of their own. Within less than a second he had a knife drawn from his belt and held against the throat of the person trying to creep up behind him. Meeting the eyes of his stalker, he felt a wave of surprise.

"Arra?" He quizzed, slowly withdrawing his knife. "What on earth are you doing here? I thought you were at the mountain.." He replaced the knife in its holster as Arra rubbed her throat with a small grimace.

"I wanted to see where on earth you went every year.. Do you pull your knife on everybody who appraches you?" She hissed but there was no signs of anger on her face. She was just happy that she had found him. She dropped her hand back down to her side again and flashed him a small smile. "What are you doing here, Larten?" Her voice was softer now.

Immediately Larten avoided her gaze. He wasn't a man to share what he was doing if it had any sentimental value to it, he preferred his privacy. But with Arra, it was different. He had liked her for a long time and felt like he should just tell her everything, not just about why he was here. But he always restrained himself. "Nothing.. I was just walking.." He said, quite a convincing lie. But Arra knew better.

"Larten Crepsley, you may be a good liar but you don't realise I know you. And I have been watching you for many years now. This is your death day isn't it?" Arra truly had been watching him for a long time, she had fancied him for just as long. And nobody she had asked ever seemed to know where he went. When he didn't answer her, she continued. "Will you tell me why you come here?"

Larten sighed softly and eventually gave in. He leant against the nearby wall and explained the situation. How his family had moved away after he had gone missing. How they had moved back a few generations later and how he checked in on the family every anniversary. "I was searching for the house when I heard a noise down here.."

Arra stayed silent during his explanation and a smile flickered over her lips. "Come on then.." She held out her hand to him and he just stared at it in slight confusion. She took his hand in hers and pulled him out of the alleyway. "Let's find the house and see the family.."

Larten didn't say a word although he was happy that she took him with her. He walked at her side as he concentrated on finding the right house. A few moments later, after turning onto the next road, he paused outside a two storey house. It wasn't that big but who was he to judge? He lived in a cave inside a mountain. He pulled her to a stop and there was an undeniable proud smile on his lips. It had always made him happy to see the families of his siblings. In the window the fire flickered in the fireplace. The sofa was empty and there was nobody to be seen. Releasing Arra's hand, he crept forward up to the window. It was then he noticed the window was open a crack. He froze.

"That's blood.." Arra whispered from behind him, feeling concern flood through her. "Human.." She watched as Larten stiffened and suddenly darted off around the back of the house. "Larten!" She had no choice, she ran after him.

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I will add more chapters as soon as I can :P

Doggie