A/N: This little story is based off a book I wrote, so, yes, I do own everything. Aside from the characters themselves, of course. This is a behind the scenes thing that wasn't quite introduced in the book; Until the Creek Runs Red. The names used in this, however, are pen names used to protect the people's identities.

-Avarice walks in unannounced, holding Valentine's arm-

Avarice: -attempts to look over my shoulder- Toku, what are you doing?

Me: Nothing! -covers computer screen- Just a project.

Valentine: -cocks brow- Since when do you go to school, twerp?

Me: Ummm... -LIGHTBULB!- It's for Eta and Mishii! -grabs Mishii and pulls her off the desk where Eta and her had been sitting- See?

Mishii: Wai- What? Oh, ofcouseofcourse! She's helping with a project! -continues to babble, attempting to distract Valentine-

Eta: -while everyone babbles, sneaks over and begins uploading-

Avarice: Eta, what are you doing? -tries to peek over Eta-

Me: Emailing! It's important! -steps in between Eta and Avarice- Well, you guys should- uh, you must be doing something important! Don't let us get in your way!

Valentine: Eta, what the hell are you uploading?

Eta: DONE! -grabs Mishii and scurries away- Enjoy the book!

-Avarice and Valentine glare over to me-

Valentine: What the hell was she talking about, 'enjoy the book'?

Me: Well, uh, um... Eta! Mishii! You forgot something! -attempts to run away-

Valentine: -grabs my shirt collar- Not so fast, twerp!

Avarice: -reads over the uploaded material before eyes flash- BITOKU!

And I will not tell you the rest of that story. Enjoy reading... I hope it was worth the beatings of both a vampire and a vampire slayer X'(

Midnight Kisses

The night breeze kisses my pale cheeks only briefly before leaving me all alone again. The headstone that I lean up against is cool and solid against the small of my back, but I can't help but feel as if I have no support to keep me from falling backwards.

The wind lifts my dark heavy hair from my shoulders and I allow my eyes to slowly flutter closed. Nothing I can experience can ever top this off…

"Enjoying yourself, Patience?" a smart-assed tone says, a smirk thick in his voice.

I sigh and open my eyes to a tall, masculine, sleek pain in the ass standing in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest, "Why, yes, James. I was. I suppose you sensed that and decided to butt in before I actually experienced 'happiness', right?"

He rolls his ruby eyes at me, "Yeah, I just unlive to torment you." he grins, flashing his pearly fangs.

I roll my eyes at him in return and push myself to my feet, my military boots grinding into the dirt, "Don't I know it…" I cross my arms and glare at him, "Don't you have some innocent girl to harass, or did you already take that off your to-do list?"

He smiles, cocking his head at me, "No. I just thought I'd harass you tonight."

"What the hell do you want?"

He chuckles slightly, "Hostile tonight, hm, Patience? No matter," he shrugs slightly, a smile still on his lips, "I was just lonely, that's all."

I roll my eyes, "So? Find someone who could actually stand to be around you for more than five friggin' minutes."

"I've been around you for more than five minutes a few times before," he points out, still smiling as he leans against a large headstone to his left.

"And?" I scoff rolling my eyes again, "That's business, when you help me fight the naturally supernatural." I grumble as I looked down at the ground, "You seem to do a lot less talking then…"

He fakes a hurt expression as he clutches his black tee-shirt over the left side of his shirt, "Patience! How dare you break my heart like that?"

"Your heart doesn't even function, James."

He shrugs nonchalantly, despite my icy tone, "That doesn't mean it can't break, Patience."

I take a step closer to him, making my scowl as cold as possible, "James, for once, be respectful of my feelings and just get gone." I motion toward the other end of the cemetery, which led to the entrance.

His ruby eyes soften a bit, which seems out of character, to say the least, "Do you really want that?"

I hesitate. Honestly, who wouldn't? With his smooth, pale features softened and his shaggy brown falling the way it does, he looks just like an innocent little boy pouting after being scolded.

I sigh and run my left hand through my hair before looking into his glowing red eyes, "You're not going to annoy me, are you?"

The cocky arrogance makes itself right at home on his features once more, "Only if you beg me on your knees." he cocks his brow at me, a seductive smile playing at his lips, "You think that could happen sometime tonight?"

I roll my eyes before scowling at him but I can tell it's not as fierce as it had been, despite his inappropriate humor, "No. You can stay, though. But," I hold up my index finger and poke him in the chest, "if you even as irk my nerves-"

"I won't," he says, tossing me the beautifully carved and designed stake he'd carved nearly fifty years before. As I catch the swirling artwork, he smiles almost seductively, "Stake my heart and hope to die; consider me dust."

I narrow my eyes slightly as I trace my thumb over the delicate swirls in the oak before holding it up so he could see, "I think I'll hold on to this until you decide to leave."

He nods almost understandingly as he stands straight. He smiles almost genuinely before he sits down atop the tombstone, "I understand that, Patience, I do. Wouldn't want you to get angry without killing some thing to let off some steam, right?"

My eyes soften involuntarily. Thing? Why did he just say that word like he was… disgusted?

Hesitantly, I take another step toward him, a different intent than before. I touch his shoulder gently as I look up to try to see into his face, but our height difference almost makes that impossible.

He looks down at me with a well-balanced mixture of shock and confusion. But the innocent expression only lasts a few moments before his cocky face regains control and his tone from before changes to a far more seductive one, "That 'tortured thing' line worked?" he chuckles softly, "Thought you'd be tougher to break than that." he lets out his 'tsk-tsk' noise softly, smiling down almost evilly, "I'm really disappointed, Patience. I expected more of a chase."

I smile, ignoring his attempt at sadness with inappropriate sex humor that would've gotten him beaten to a bloody pulp any other time, "James."

He cocks his brow at me, confused, "Patience."

"I saw that look on your face," I say, my smile disappearing, "when you said 'thing'."

Almost too quickly, he pulls away from me and shakes his head, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

I shrug slightly, seemingly dismissing it so as to draw him out, "Okay, fine. Maybe I just imagined it."

"Damn right ya did!" he almost yells, back up another few steps to keep his distance but that doesn't affect the way his anger seems out of control, "What the hell kind o' look would I get, anyway? I'm proud, and I'm strong, so there's no reason for any kind o' 'look'."

I cock my head slightly, nodding, "Uh-huh. So you talk this much all the time, then?"

He'd opened his mouth to retort something, but now he closes it as he looks down at the ground. After a long, silent moment, he looks up at me, his eyes narrowed to almost slits.

"Do you remember what you used to want from me?"

My flesh begins to crawl as I see where he's headed with the conversation. I shook my head, "No, James. Don't you even-"

"Do you remember you request?" he continues as if I hadn't even spoken as he takes a huge step toward me. Instinctively, I take a step back as he almost hisses, "Remember how you'd pleaded with me?"

"The past has nothing to do with this!" I shout, waving my hand with the stake in it as a warning.

He disregards it completely as he closes the rest of the distance between us and grabs a hold of both of my shoulders, bringing his face so close to mine that I could feel his cold skin emanate the chills he caused everyone, "Remember that night?" he looks up at the sky and smiles, not looking down at me as he continued, "It was a clear night like this when you bared you neck to me and asked me to drink." his harsh gaze turns back down to me, "You remember when I refused?"

I push him away as his claws start to dig into my shoulders, "You told me you weren't hungry!" My hands clench into fists at my side, "What, does that make you some kind of noble?"

His glare softens again, almost until it's a gently gaze before he looks down at the brown grass. He shifts uncomfortable as he continues in a quiet voice, "You don't understand, Patience…"

"Why the hell not?"

He looks up at me, calm as can be with a straight face as he continued, "Because I wanted to bite you."

"Then why-?"

"Because!" he almost yells, his face snapping up to face me. He takes a deep breath and continues slowly, in a normal voice, "Because I didn't want to turn you into… a monster." His eyes grow more focused, more intent, as he stares into my eyes, "I didn't want to turn you into me."

I scoff even though I begin to fall for the act, "Trying to play the soulful vamp now, right?"

He shakes his head, causing his sandy hair to fall perfectly once again, "I wish. Patience," his eyes seem to grow saddened as he touches the upper left side of his chest, "I don't have a soul."

Invisible strings tug, trying to pull my still-beating heart from my chest. I feel so weak and defenseless that I can't help but cross the distance between us and wrap James in a soft, gentle hug.

His arms hang limply at his side, as if in shock. I feel intrusive and slightly embarrassed that I'd even done it in the first place but I stay exactly where I stand, keeping my arms wrapped gently and firmly around the vampire.

'What the hell are you doing?' my mind screeches at me, 'He's dangerous! He's killed people! More than once! Get the hell away!' But, I just… don't. For some reason, I don't even want to. I want to comfort James, even though he'd never done so for me. I want to make him feel safe around me, secure.

After a few seconds, I feel his cool arms wrap around me, completing the embrace and sending chills down my spine. But not the kind you get when you're scared. The good kind.

"James," I say softly, "how old are you? And don't say 'between one and one thousand'."

He hesitates briefly, "I'm older than you."

"How much older?"

He sighs, "Enough years to put a good-sized gap in our age difference."

I pull back from his chest and look up at him, but his smooth features betray no emotion as he speaks, "What?"

I furrow my brow and cock my head to the side, "Why are you afraid?"

He furrows his brow, as if confused, "Afraid?"

I nod.

He lets out a laugh that much reminds me of a hyena cackling and pulls his arms away from me, "Afraid?" he continues laughing, talking when he could find a chance to pause, "What… the hell… caused you… to think… that?"

Even as he continues his laughing hysterics, I lift the oak stake I'd been about to drop when I held him in my embrace.

Almost immediately, his laughter ceases as he looks me over and his eyes stop dead on the stake raised in my right hand.

I hold the stake out, palm flat, "You're afraid of this though." I look up to meet his gaze, "Right?"

He looks down at the wooden stake in my hand briefly before looking up and making eye contact with me once again, "I used to be."

"Really?" I question, gripping the stake as I raise it into my battle-mode moves, "This doesn't scare you?"

He looks down at me, not the stake I gripped tightly in my hand, before taking a step toward me again. He rips his shirt, exposing his pale, muscular chest. Before I could recover from shock, he grabs my right hand, the one wielding the stake, and pulls it closer to him. He holds my hand tightly, so as to make sure I wouldn't drop the stake as he pressed the pointed end against the skin on the left side of his chest.

I look up at him, confused, "What're you do-?"

"Go ahead," he says plainly, without emotion, "If you're going to threaten me with that thing, you might as well enforce it."

My eyes widen slightly. Is he crazy?

He pushes onto my hand, allowing the stake just enough force to break skin and cause a thin crimson stream to roll down pale perfection.

I pull my hand away, and he lets go, allowing the oaken masterpiece to clamber to the ground. I look up to him, my eyes no doubt wide with confusion.

He sighs and touches my cheek with his hand, gently tracing patterns with his thumb, "I'm not afraid to die, Patience. I've lived an eternity through hell. After the first hundred years, things got messy. I lost control of my bloodlust and killed simply for the joy. Just for the pleasure."

I can't believe how he says it with no emotion and I open to sneer something at him when he continues on.

"I became more of a monster than just after I turned. A beast. An animal. For the longest time, I welcomed the titles and the terror-filled eyes convinced it made me the bigger man. But, the longer I lived, the more I realized I wasn't a man, that I would never be a man. My heart ached, only it didn't on account that my heart didn't beat. My soul left the moment the demon took over my body, so I didn't know what hurt or why. To avoid the thoughts, I went out hunting."

"Hunting?" Did you really need to ask, you twit?

He nods, "Out for lunch. I convinced a single woman that I needed aid, and so she invited me into her home, eager to give help. I stabbed her in the back, draining her dry of blood. That seemed to help, so I turned to leave. But…" he trails off, as if lost in thought.

"But?" I say, eager for the talk of death and murder to be done, "What happened?"

"I heard a song one of those baby mobile things that sing lullaby's to get the kid to sleep." he shakes his head, "It was recent, considering all my years, but I'd never seen one of them. I headed upstairs, ready to get rid of any witnesses that might have been visiting. That's when I heard it; there was a soft cry."

I gulp, attempting to get the dryness out of my throat. Was there a kid?

He nods, as if reading my thoughts, "There was a baby, woken by the slight commotion I'd caused. A baby boy. He was crying for his mother, and I felt a strong pang in my stomach at the thought that his mother wasn't coming to tend to him. Ever."

I look up to see silent tears rolling down his porcelain cheeks. I almost open my mouth to reassure him, but, still, he continues on.

"There wasn't anyone to take care of him, and I couldn't do so myself, considering we were two totally different species. The mobile continued to sing sweetly to him and he seemed to drift off slightly, despite the strange… thing standing in front of him. There was no telling when someone would stumble upon his home, and he would most likely have starved. I couldn't leave him to that…"

Afraid to even ask, my voice nearly quivers, "What'd you do?"

"I…" he looked down, removing his hand from my cheek, "I killed him while he slept, while the lullaby hung in the air."

My throat feels tight and dry, but I manage to nearly squeak, "Why are you telling me this, James?"

A sad smile playing at his lips, he gently touches my hair as he looks back up to me, "I don't want to keep secrets from you, Patience. Even if it makes you hate me even more, I want you to know about my life. I want you to know me. And three-hundred sixty-seven."

Dumbfounded, all I was able to say was, "Huh?"

He smiles softly, "That's how old I am."

I don't know what did it, or why I do it, but I grab hold of his torn tee-shirt and pull him down toward me until his icy lips pressed against mine in a sweet, passionate kiss.

I'm sure he was surprised because, at first, because his arms had stayed where they were, but his lips were beginning to work and his arms finally wrap around me in a tight yet gently embrace.

If it weren't for my stupid necessity to breathe, I'm sure James would hold me and kiss me for as long as we both pleased. But, as it were, I'm not a vampire and I actually had to breathe.

As I press my head against the hollow crook of his neck trying to catch my breath, James presses his lips against my hair, "You really are a strange human, Patience."

"Thanks," I smile. I love you, too, I think. Of course, how can you admit your love to a vampire?

A/N: Did you enjoy it? I enjoy writing about my kind and seeing the way humans impact our senses, however, I cannot reveal the results to you; what with revealing too much about the vampire secrets and all. If you're wondering what happened after Eta and Mishii deserted me... Well, I'll be sure to explain that in another story, for it was very long and painful. I've never been so glad that vampires are immortal... Well, please review! (Or die! X3... I may be kidding. You'll find out.)