My vision was blurring- darkness creeping in from the corners of my eyes. The flaming pain was so hot it felt cold. It seared through my body, but I couldn't scream. "Help me…" I muttered weakly, the agony tingeing my voice as I asked for help. Who was I talking to? It couldn't be the red-eyed man who had sunk his fangs into my skin and caused all this pain. He glared down at me, before turning away and disappearing. I was left in the freezing cold fire within me. I wanted to die. Why wasn't I dying? The pain intensified, until I no longer could grasp what level of pain it was, what pain itself was. This was something more, something much more terrible….

0o0o0o0o0

I pressed my face against the window, observing the people below as they scuttled about, readying the plane for take-off. Sighing with discomfort, I pushed the back of the chair as far as it could go- which wasn't very far- and closed my eyes. If only it were possible for me to sleep… but I couldn't anymore. Not since I became a vampire. I was relatively new, Maureen had told me. I didn't know if that was still the case, after not hearing from her in decades. I did know, however, that I couldn't pose as a thirty-year-old woman, not that I was really forty years old, but because I still looked twenty. That's how old I was when I was changed. It was time for me to move to another city, somewhere farther off. Iwnis, Washington.

The elderly woman beside me was sleeping, her head lolling to the side. I held my breath. The scent of blood… it was everywhere. The scorching in my throat flared dimly. I was pretty good at controlling myself now, but if anyone bled, even though I'd just hunted before I left for the airport, I didn't know what I'd do. The plane began to rumble as it backed away, turning sluggishly towards the runway. The flight attendant went through the safety procedures, even though no one was really paying attention. I let out another soft sigh and stared out the window again. The plane stubbornly crawled forward for nearly five minutes, jerking a few times. When it began barreling forward, I pulled down the window-shade.

I made a disgruntled noise as the plane dropped suddenly, then pressed forward on its climb over the clouds. It rocked and plunged quickly as it strained upward. Even though I would've survived has the plane crashed, I was still unnerved. I lifted the window-shade a little, gulping as the plane jerked again. C'mon, plane, I goaded silently, make it up alright. Once the plane had finally gotten over the clouds, I relaxed and shut the window-shade again, closing my eyes and laying back.

The trip would be an hour long. The woman beside me was switched between leafing through the SkyMall magazine, reading People, and sleeping. I played with a curl in my hair, the only one amongst my wavy auburn locks. The stewardess announced that she would be coming by with refreshments and a snack. Bitterness smoldered inside me. Food reminded me of the times I was human. If only I were human again… no, I wasn't going through this again. I had to accept what I was-

"Excuse me, miss?" I looked up in surprise to see the stewardess standing with her cart beside my row. "What would you like?"

"Nothing for me, please," I replied as pleasantly as I could, but by her puzzled expression I supposed some of my animosity had crept into my tone. I was thankful when she continued on down the aisle. I ignored the woman beside me, who was happily drinking some tomato juice and crunching on trail mix.

The flight seemed very long. After what seemed like years the stewardess announced that the pilot had begun his downward descent. I snapped my seat buckle back on as the Fasten Seatbelt button lit up with a bass ding. It took another twenty minutes before the plane actually started to dip below the ocean of feathery clouds. I cast a longing glance at them one last time as the plane jumped down towards the earth. I watched as the world below grew faster and faster, until I could see the miniscule cars putting along down a highway. Of course, with my heightened vampire senses I could see them even before we'd dropped, but still. The plane passed over forests and developments before the runway was suddenly there, and with a couple of great jolts it landed.

I shouldered my tote bag as the others began to pour into the aisle. The woman beside me sat in her seat for a while until half the passengers were gone. I was grateful when she finally rose and settled into the line. I followed suit, waiting patiently until I was finally freed from the cramped aisle. I let out my breath, feeling triumphant that I hadn't gone crazy packed in so tightly with the alluring scent of blood everywhere.

Vivian sat as still as a doll by the terminal's exit. She looked like a doll, though- her long black hair in tight curls, her skin porcelain-smooth and white as ash. Even her clothes were neat and somewhat old fashioned. She turned her crystalline gold eyes to me as I neared her. "Good to see you, Kristine," she greeted happily, her still face sliding into a perfect smile.

"It's only been one day," I laughed, leaning over and hugging her. Vivian had only been fourteen when she was changed nearly sixty years ago, and she was short for her age, so she looked rather young and immature. But she was far from it- she was deep and cautious and quiet.

Since it was my first time changing cities since I had become a vampire, Vivian suggested I move with her to her house in Iwnis. She would join her friend Maureen, who had practically raised me once I had become a vampire. Maureen was nearly forty years old when she was changed, yet, like all vampires, she was just as beautiful as any younger woman. Far more, actually, but we never valued beauty. It would never cease to annoy me how people would gawk and chatter about me as I passed by. Any human would long for attention such as that.

"Sorry I'm late, the plane took longer than I expected to get off the ground."

"You wouldn't have been late even if the plane touched down years from now."

I laughed. "I'll never be as patient as you, even if I live to be a thousand."

"That's very possible," Vivian replied impassively, without a hint of humor.

"Should we be off now?" I asked, changing the uncomfortable subject.

"I suppose," she answered with a sigh, then added quietly, "My patience does have a limit, whenever a long wait can be avoided. Buses are so slow. Maybe we should just run to Maureen's."

"We should lay low; after all, we just got here," I scolded under my breath.

She rolled her eyes and grinned slightly, a morbid grin. We walked through the gleaming marble lobby out to the parking lot, which wasn't quite so extravagant as the inside of the terminal and airport as a whole. The bus whined to a stop, puffing and choking as it waited for passengers. People flooded into the bus through the narrow sliding door. We got in last. The seats were all full, some people standing with a grip on the rails above. Upon our passing two men shot up and offered us their seats with coy smiles.

"Thank you," I replied quickly, and their expression of embarrassment turned to wonder. My smile faltered as I sat in the chair, turning my attention to the window and trying to ignore the glances the other passengers were giving us.

"This bus should only take about ten minutes," I commented to Vivian.

She grimaced. "I could walk home faster." I few eavesdropping passengers chuckled, but my face hardened at the sincerity in her tone.

I turned my attention back to the window. We passed by a large, cream colored stone building with a full parking lot. The sign by the entrance declared "Joyce High School". It flashed by and out of sight quickly. My expression shifted to one of wonder. I hadn't been to school in decades. Not that I had ever needed to go- I could remember all the lessons from high school as a human. I'd even spent a few years in college. But I had some desire to just be there, to be around humans once again in a familiar environment and fell… normal. As normal as I could feel.

Vivian turned to gaze at me. I could tell my longing was being picked up. She had the ability to sense the condition of others- if someone was sick, she'd know. If someone was lying, she would sense it. She looked in my direction, puzzled, trying to see what I was staring blankly at.

Neither of us talked for the rest of the trip. I was thankful when the bus finally screeched to a halt at the bus-stop. With a surge of joy I noticed Maureen standing beside the bench. I leapt from my chair and pushed through the crowd, jumping into her arms. "Maureen! It's so good to see you!" I gushed. She was like a mother to me, taking me in after I was changed and left out in the woods. She had to move soon after I was back on my feet, and now that it was my first time to move I went immediately to her.

"You look well," she exclaimed approvingly, her amber eyes glowing with the smile that lit up her whole face. "And Vivian, dear!" she exulted as the little vampire departed last from the bus. "It's good to see you, too!" Maureen grabbed her up in a hug; Vivian laughing with embarrassment.

"Are we going to your house now?" I asked, casting a nervous glance towards the cloudy sky. There was a break in the clouds that threatened to release the sunlight.

She nodded gravely. "It's going to be sunny for a while, so I'm afraid we'll all be stuck in my house."

I grinned. I had yet to see her Iwnis house. I remembered her house clearly from Carden, Michigan, an old-style mansion that had been in her "family" for hundreds of years. I remembered teasing her about how obvious it looked; a vampire in an old mansion, secluded on a dark hilltop by an ominous forest. She joked that it kept suitors away, which I hadn't found quite so funny.

"C'mon, let's go," Vivian coaxed us, lifting up my tote and her own in one hand, then thought about it and put it down. "Can you carry it?" she asked Maureen.

The old vampire nodded. "Less suspicious," she agreed, and flipped the bag easily onto her shoulder. I picked up my own and we veered right into the woods by the bus stop.

It felt good to stretch my legs after so long cramped up in vehicles and walking at humanly possible speeds. The three of us sped through the forest, our keen eyes catching each tree and root even as they passed by us at dizzying speeds.

I let my mind wander slightly, thinking of what the world would be like if humans knew the truth about vampires. Undoubtedly the panic rooms would be full to the brim, though even those wouldn't protect them from a vampire's astounding strength. We were put in a world that wasn't made for us, I thought glumly.

With a jolt I stopped, noticing that Maureen and Vivian had stopped. I looked up through the breaks in the trees and saw the sunlight begin to filter through them. Maureen cast a warning glance back at me, and I looked over her shoulder to see the end of the forest and, beyond that, the end of a cliff. Scattered orderly under the cliff's shadow was a well-to-do looking development with two-story buildings crafted expertly with sloping tiled roofs and carved pillars.

"You live in a development?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, you probably do to avoid suspicion, but that makes it harder to avoid detection."

Maureen laughed. "No worries," she replied, her voice as smooth as chocolate, "the street I live on is the very last one, on the rim of the development. And the only other houses on that street are empty." She paused and put a finger on her cheek. "They're apparently 'haunted'."

Me and Vivian grinned. "You're so bad," Vivian admonished jokingly.

The three of us began to leave again, but were distracted by the sunlight. It spilled down suddenly, not too bright but certainly bright enough. I looked nervously at my bare forearms, sparkling dimly as the sun's beams touched them.

"Get into the shade some more," Maureen instructed sternly, and I nodded curtly and side-stepped under a tall, nearly branchless tree. I hurriedly shrugged on the jacket tied around my waist in an attempt to blend in, and the other two did the same. I perked up slightly when somewhere nearby I thought I heard a twig snap. I swiveled my head in the noise's direction, pursing my lips as I breathed in slowly through my nose. No unusual smells, just a few squirrels and somewhere far off, a deer. Since neither Vivian nor Maureen had heard anything apparently, I dismissed the event and suggested we hurry while the sunlight was still dim.

We started off again at a slower, less conspicuous pace as we neared the edge of the cliff before sliding over the edge cautiously and letting go, falling freely until we hit the ground below with a loud booming thud. The earth below us had dented slightly, but we stood up and brushed ourselves off casually. Luckily the cliff was an easy jump, not more than a hundred feet up. I could tell which house was Maureen's – the one with its Christmas lights already up and running less than a month before the actual holiday. I grinned brightly and Maureen led us excitedly forward.