I laugh as I read, eyebrows rising at the ideas these humans put forward.

'Five fangs?' I murmur before bursting out in laughter. 'Loven it.' I stretch and pull myself off the wall I'm leaning on, chucking the book with the rest of my vampire novels. I hadn't been the reader I am then, but then I wasn't like this. I walk to the window and look out of the double story window. I knew where she'd be, watching her. I sigh, why couldn't she just let go? Why had she fought the memory loss when it's so much less painful? I jump out the window, nodding to the cats that line the trees. I like cats, how intelligent they are and know what they want. How simple their lives are, yet they make you think there was so much more to it. I set off to the other side of town, gliding effortlessly through it the way I could imagine a movie star moving through Hollywood.

There she is, siting silently on the gate outside her bedroom window. My eyes trace over her graceful body, golden-brown hair shimmering in the moonlight as it flows down her back in graceful waves. There was a time when it had been short, not so long ago in fact. But not anymore. Too painful she had said when I asked her why. A computer buzzes inside the room, the screen light reflecting off the window. Despite myself, I pity her because she had lost so much, the monster on the fence. She had given up so much. Nevertheless, she can't give up her. I sit beside her, glancing at the blond human on the other side of the window.

'This is stupid.' I tell Jani.

'If you don't like it, you can leave.' She replies stiffly.

'Your dead to her. She thinks your dead! Why do you torture yourself like this?'

'I can't let her go. I only just stopped her from taking her own life… I just can't leave her. I can't!'

'You saw her at your funeral.' I say quietly. She glances at me, her blue eyes turned black with self-hatred.

'I saw it.' She says thickly, 'I saw the note.' In my mind I see the church, people sitting in silence in the pews as the slideshow of her life flick past on the projector. Her two cello friends play side by side as slide after slide goes through. But they had no body, nothing to help them find out where she is. But we had staged a murder, and that had done the trick. I see the blond human, dressed from head to toe in glistening black. I remember remarking that she looked like a dark candle, black with yellow on top. No makeup could cover the red blotches that surrounded her eyes that were bright with unshed tears as she stared straight ahead. At her throat was a small metal dove coloured silver, seeming to make her look more of a mourning widow then a mourning girl. We had sat in the back, dressed in black as we hid in the shadows. Jani had pressed her mouth to my ear and murmured commentary on who was who. After the service the blond human had climbed into a car and driven off, head bent as if in prayer. A week later, between two springs of Jani's once beloved trampoline was a note.

'I don't know if you can get this.' Jani recites, 'But I know if anywhere you will return, it's here. I just wanted to say thankyou. And I've…I've decided to write to you every Thursday. I know is stupid and most likely useless. However, it will help. Me.' A strangled sound tares from Jani's throat as she recites the beginning of the note.

'No matter how much I try, I just can't do it. Take my life. Its frustrating.' Jani bends her head before saying the ending of that cursed letter, 'Just don't forget. Wherever you are.' She whispers. 'That I love you.' The only sounds are the human's fingers drumming on the keyboard as we sit in silence.

'She is my curse and blessing.' Jani finally sighs, eyes blank.

'If you could, you know… have your time again. Would you…' I ask quietly.

'No.' she barks out a dark laugh. 'The one time I agreed to go with you to that ally, the one you don't remember; was when they found us.' she looks at me, sliding a hand into mine, 'They had chosen you. And said I could go. But… I couldn't leave you. And now…well I'm here with you aren't I.' She squeezes my fingers.

'They saw your goodness. They were afraid of you.' She gave another dark chuckle, eyes like glass.

'Not enough to let you go'. I acknowledge the fact with a nod of my head. 'No, but they were hungry. We know how that is.' She turns her head back to the girl at the computer screen, tense as a bowstring as she stares at the words the girl types.

'You should leave her. Or…change her.' her head snaps around to glare into mine, like cold, killing ice. I know if I stare long enough, it would be like staring into a blizzard.

'How could you say that?' she hisses, 'are you so selfish that you would bring her to this pain?' I cringe under her wrath as she holds my eyes. 'Look at her.' I argue feebly, 'is she happy there? She looks like she would happily plunge a knife into her beating heart, if not for the memory of you.'

'I will see her to old age.' She replies fiercely, 'she will fall in love, marry, have children of her own.'

'Are you the decider then?' I ask angrily, 'she is to live, while your meal is to die?'

'Is it my fault animal blood is like acid down my throat?' she hisses, 'besides, I never kill anyone. What about you?'

'I never claimed to be what I'm not.' I point out, 'You still live like a mortal; you are immortal Jani, live like one!' She growls at the back of her throat, 'you have no idea what I have lost. If we are immortal, you can wait some sixty years. We have centuries to get used to each other.'

'I'm not sure you'll come out of it.' I reply quietly, 'how will I know you will not die when she does?'

'Why do you care what I do?' she sighs, 'why does it matter?'

'You know why.' I growl, 'why I watch over you like a faithful pet.' She turns to look at me again, eyes soft with caring. 'I cannot control what I do. Is it my fault?' she murmurs as she puts a soft hand on my cheek. My eyes narrow, she knows that if I try to leave her, my strength dies, leaving me weak and venerable. Why, we have no clue. But I'm tied to her. Yet, every time I try she faithfully restores me to health.

'She's part of me; as I am part of you. It's like….' She looks around, groping for the right word, 'Its like I'm the dark and she's the light. I cannot be dark without the light making shadows.'

'And where do I fit in?'

'You are my moon in the darkness.' She whispers, patting my cheek before turning back to the computer screen through the window. I glare at the screen, reading the words that meet my eyes.

I met a boy today. He's kind and caring and laughs like you, like soft bells. I understand now what pearls of laugher means. I can't help but wonder what you would say about this boy. He has black hair that he proudly spikes up with gel and serious brown eyes. He reminds me of you. The way he acts, as if he has something no one else has.

I dream about you. I lean in, reading the words as they appear on the screen. You are happy, almost shinning. Eli's with you Jani, standing behind you with his hands around your waist. You're looking straight at me with bright eyes and saying that you'll always protect me. I just want to be with you. I shake my head, eyes wide.

'Your messing with her dreams?' I hiss.

'Not much.' She argues, 'Just enough that she knows she okay.'

'Your not God Jani.' She glares at me, 'I never thought I was.'

'I didn't know we could do that.'

'It's a gift.'

'You an your gifts.' There's movement inside the room, as the human turns her computer off and flings herself into bed. We watch as she turns off her light and sighs, clutching her pillow tightly.

'Come on.' I say gently while pulling Jani off the fence. 'Leave her.' She hesitates as I pull her off the fence, before falling gracefully to the ground beside me.

'I'm not looking forward to immortality,' she tells me before striding ahead of me, swinging her hips. I turn and look at the girl, her hair fanned out around her. I know I would get to know this girl, thanks to this "obsession". Despite myself, I want to know what she is to attract monsters like us.

10 years later.
I sigh, eyes fixed on the little girl as she comes through the kindergarten gates.
'This is wrong.' I murmur to Jani, 'why can't you let it be?' I turn to look at her before the child runs headlong into her father. The girl giggles as he tickles her, blond curls falling just past her shoulders. I sigh and lean against the bars of the kinda fence.
'Hello princess.' The father murmurs, 'how was your day Jani?' My Jani stiffens.
'I'm never going to get used to that.' She whispers, her golden brown hair rising slightly, like the hair of a frightened cat.
'So,' I say, pulling at the grass, 'are we going to watch this family till it dies out or…'
'Are you jealous?' she asks incredibly, 'Look how much she's like… Tigan.' She breathes.
'Your like a stalker.' I tell her, 'a really creepy stalker.'
'How many times are we going to have this conversation?' she sighs,
'Until you leave them alone. I've never known someone to be this obsessed.'
'You don't understand.'
'So you're going to punish me for it?'
'No…I'm sorry.'
'Oh good, you're sorry.' Suddenly a car drives up and a women walks out, heading towards the father and daughter. Jani turns to stone, the bushes hiding us from sight.
'Mummy!' the child screeches and struggles to be let down. The women smiles and holds out her arms for the child, kissing her on the cheek as she bounds into her embrace. I watch as their hair mixes, creating a golden waterfall of curls. Jani once told me rather wistfully that I had commented on her hair once, the way it was rather wild like her personality. Jani has always liked her hair.
'Don't you want that?' Jani whispers, 'did…did you ever want a family?' I fold her into my embrace, resting my cheek against hers as I pull her away from the bars, 'That's not possible for us….'
'But it could be.' A fierce light shines from her eyes.
'I don't understand.' I tell her for the hundredth time, 'we don't live in the mortal world. Why try and live a fantasy?'
'We are a fantasy.'
She leans against me, head on my chest. 'I always wanted to wear white.' She whispers, almost to herself.
I fiddle in the pocket of my jeans and pull out the ring I found weeks ago. It is silver with small blue stones in it, simple but elegant. Beautiful just like her. I swirl around and kneel before her.
'Why don't we have that white dress?' she looks at me with sad eyes.
'What are you on about?' I smile at her. Maybe this is the distraction she needs.
'Jani, my Jani. Will you marry me?' I ask and show her the ring.
'Eli….'
'Say yes.'
'I thought we didn't live in their world anymore.' I look into her eyes, into her cheeky expression.
'I just want you to be happy. I want you to live because you want to. I love you and I don't want to lose you.' She raises her eyebrows at me,
'Have you been watching chic-flicks lately?' she asks, a smile playing on her lips before softening self-consciously.' I never thought you'd say that.'
'I'm full of surprises.' I tell her dryly before fixing her with a pleading stare.
'Please.'
'You'll…you'll do this for me? Who would we invite?' She takes the ring and slips it onto her ring finger where it proudly glints of her flawless skin.
She looks at me shyly. 'I want to be married in a church. With my faith.'
'You still believe in God!' I exclaim before I could check it. I flash an impish grin. 'Maybe you'll convert me.' The child screams with glee behind us, followed by the laughter of her parents.
As we walk away, I glance back at the father. His black hair no longer spiked but brushes past his face, his serious brown eyes lovingly gazing at his family. I smile and move off, my hand around Jani's waist.

85 years later.
'We would like to visit Mrs Tigan.' Jani tells the office-lady in the nursing home.
'And who are you?' The middle-aged woman asks her.
'A family friend.' I wait bored as Jani fills out the paper work. Why she bothers, I don't know.
'She's in room 121.'
'Thankyou.' Jani moves off and grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly.
'Are you sure about this?'
'She's going to die Eli.'
'I know but…'
'I'm sure.' We walk past white door after white door until we are before room 121.
'I'll go first,' I tell her, getting a shrug of pretend boredom on her part and open the door, gliding to the corner near the bed.
'Who is that?' comes a weak voice. I blanch, not many could hear a vampire's movement.
'Jani?' before I could answer Jani comes in and gracefully moves to the chair beside the bed.
'Yes Tigan. Its me, Jani.' The ancient women struggles in her bed so she can stare at Jani, eyes wide as she takes in her ageless friend, not the daughter she had expected.
'You look 17.' She breathes. 'Just like the last time I saw you.' Her gaze grows angry and she thrashes in her bed, only making Jani smile.
'My mind is finally giving way.' She hisses in obvious annoyance. Jani leans in and holds Tigan's weathered hands, blue veins throbbing under the taunt skin.
'Until you turned ninety you wrote to me every Thursday. That's nearly seventy years.' Tigan shrugs 'I did what I needed to do.'
'I'm real Tigan, as real as you are.'
'Sure, sure.' Tigan replies, not convinced. I smile; this was how I remembered Tigan, the most stubborn creature on earth. After eighty-five years of forgetting, Tigan and her personality comes back in full detail, with and without the help of us stalking her since she was 17.
'What could I do to convince you?' Jani asks frustration and desperation creeping into her voice. I move to stand behind her, receiving a weak gasp from Tigan.
'No. This is not possible.
'I fear I am becoming weak. I can hardly stare at the screen before it becomes a haze of pain.' Jani recites, 'but I will continue until my mind refuses to. I still miss you, even after all this time.'
'What did I write after I had my first child?' Tigan demands. Jani takes a deep breath and smiles, 'My memory's better then it was,' she tells Tigan. 'I have named my child after you Jani.' Jani continues, 'It took a bit of persuasion, but I've done it. She is beautiful. I understand how mothers can pull cars of their baby's now. I've never thought something so beautiful could come from me. Her eyes are a serious blue that remind me of her father, even though his are brown. How I wish you could see her!' Tears fall down Tigan's cheeks as she listens to Jani, her hand holding Jani's tenderly.
'Why have you come now? Why not earlier?'
'I would have wrecked your life.' Jani tells her softly. 'I shouldn't of come now, but…I'm… I'm not strong enough not to.' I kneel beside Jani's chair and place a reassuring hand on her arm.
'Your so…beautiful,' the old women murmurs through her tears, 'how time as changed us.' She shudders suddenly, her body throbbing.
'I should go. You don't have much time-'
'No!' Tigan holds onto Jani's hand tightly. 'Please, watch over me. There is no one I would rather have beside me.' A wicked grin crosses her lined face.
'I get a death wish don't I?' Even though she is fragile I can see her true self through her failing body. Jani leans over and kisses Tigan tenderly on the forehead, murmuring to her softly.
Slowly Tigan closes her eyes and lets go a shallow breath, allowing gravity to hold her among the pillows piled around her. She glares at me; the winkles around her eyes making her famous glare worse then ever. 'Look after her Eli.' I smile and nod.
'That's what I'm best at.' Her eyes drift from mine to Jani's, softening as they did with people she loved. Great, now I'm the stalker as I realise I was actually going to miss her, knowing her better then the back of my hand. I watch them stare at e
ach other, aware of nothing but the other. Her husband had died a year before, his serious brown eyes now only found in memories. Now here she was, hopefully joining him to "heaven", as Jani calls it.
Finally, her hand becomes slack around Jani's and she blissfully dies. Like a butterfly's kiss, her life lifted from her body to the beyond.
'May God hold you in his embrace.' Jani whispers before standing, leaning over to close Tigan's eyes. A single tear falls from her right eye and splashes onto Tigan's face below her.
She turns and falls into my open arms, head on my shoulder. She makes no movement, no shuddering breaths; but I hold her tenderly before leading her away.