It hadn't been smart to stay out so late with Lois and Daisy—and of course Frank. On these long summer days it was too easy to forget that time flew as quickly as ever.

"See you later Rose!" Lois called back to me. I waved at her and her brother and sister, Daisy and Frank. Frank stayed back to kiss me goodbye, much to the delight of Lois and Daisy. They giggled, but I just blushed slightly and kissed him back. Frank and I were to be married as soon as I turned twenty, mother wouldn't hear of me being married in my teens. So I was waiting for another six months. I lingered on the corner of the street, watching the three Jones siblings meander their way home. The air was starting to become slightly cooler, which was a relief.

I walked quickly, because my neighborhood wasn't the safest at night, though it was one of the better ones. My dress stuck to my back with sweat—reminders of the awful summer heat that made me long for a swim in the creek that my family had left behind when we moved to the city in search of work for Dad. Baltimore, MD was bigger than any city I'd ever been in, and we moved here because my grandparents had some property that they'd recently left my Mother.

I passed the bright lights and the steamy coffee shops, the sound of swinging jazz weaving it's way out the darkened doorways of clubs that Mother would never let me peek into. The dark was falling quickly now, and so I started walking even faster, because Mom would need my help to watch after Opal and Jeanie and Donald while she tried to get a decent dinner on the table. Times were harder than they had been—we had been fortunate that we'd had a place when we moved, and that some rich banker had wanted to buy our farm. We were the lucky ones, I thought, as I passed a man asleep in a doorway, his hair wild and unkempt and only covered by a ratty old blanket.

Behind me a tall figure detached itself from the shadows and I heard the footsteps in my wake, sending tingles up and down my spine.

I realized that I could pass for a well-to-do young lady, with my new dress that I'd saved up for nearly a year to buy the fabric. It had been in celebration of my engagement to Frank. It was new, the edges still slightly stiff, and combined with the matching purse that was larger than the one I normally carried, I realized that I looked like a prefect target for thieves…or worse. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I glanced behind me and saw a dark young man with a sinister expression behind me. The footsteps that I had heard…

I was scared, talking to myself in a steady whisper, trying to calm down. "Get a hold of yourself, Rosie, you're imagining things, he's probably just going home and has nothing to do with you."

But I started to run when he came closer. And he ran behind me, confirming my fears. Clumsy in my ridiculous high heels, I was stupid and tried to lose him with my knowledge of the alleys in this area, instead of running to the brightly lit streets where someone might help me. The breath came short in my lungs and my throat was tight with fear, making it impossible to scream.

And then I tripped in the corner of an alley, just as I realized that I'd hit the dead end I'd been determined to avoid. The man was right on my tail and he leaned down and grabbed my wrist, grinning in a way that made me tingle with dread. I tried to shake him off and crawled backwards away, but he was stronger than I was.

Then a threatening snarl rang through the alley and a streak of pale something crashed into the man, knocking him completely off of me and making me jerk to the side, cracking my head hard against the wall. Dazed, I watched as the pale and beautiful man bent over the would-be thief and seemed to be doing something around his neck. The thief thrashed at first, and then the strange man flicked the thief's neck to the side and he went limp. I screamed at the dull crack that sounded.

A few minutes passed before my strange savior turned aside, a trickle of blood running down his chin from his mouth. His bright ruby-red eyes seemed to rove over me hungrily. Vampire. The word echoed through my head. He was painfully handsome, like an angel. Something that beautiful couldn't be evil, only his eyes seemed to belie an angel as his identity.

I unsteadily pulled myself up and backed up as he looked at me with the same strange expression.

"What," I began in a whisper, "What are you?" I asked the beautiful man. He shook his head and I could see that his whole body was tense, like he was reigning himself in.

I heard a low muttering that I could barely make out. "Leave her alone—innocent—how did she realize so quickly—Carlisle—sorry—"

He lurched towards me and I staggered back to the wall, pressing my back desperately against it, wondering whether he was any less dangerous than the man lying dead and bloodless in front of me.

"Who are you?" I said in a stronger voice that trembled, betraying how absolutely petrified I was.

He looked at me appraisingly. "You know what I am." He replied in a mesmerizing voice that reminded me of honey and black velvet. I nodded, realizing that I did know what he was. A vampire, but he couldn't be evil—or I'd be dead already. I somehow saw in his fearsome eyes that I wasn't in danger from him.

"Rose Adams, tell no one what you've seen tonight. Go straight home, you'll be safe on the way." He instructed, and I nodded, dazzled. For that voice, I'd agree to anyone. I hazily wondered how he knew my name, and he suddenly smirked—an unexpectedly human expression on him. Had I said that aloud?

"Thanks." I mumbled, trying to clear my head. He nodded and then he grabbed the body and was gone.

My dress was dirty, my purse a few feet away with its meager contents scattered about the alley. I swiftly gathered my things and dusted off my dress so that Mother wouldn't scold me. I hurried home as the vampire—or angel—had instructed, my mind lingering on the scattered images of the past few minutes. That beautiful young man, glorious in his terrible beauty, killing that man. I shuddered, breathing hard as what had just happened came crashing down.

I hoped I never saw something like that again, though a part of me wished to hear the honey voice and see that achingly perfect face.