This was it. It was over. Surely they would find and kill her, so why not end it early? She stepped up onto the chair, facing the coat hook proudly, like a soldier bravely facing an enemy gun.

She removed her belt slowly, cherishing the last moments of her seventeen years of life. She wrapped it around the hook and her slender neck so that when she dropped, she would hang until dead. Now maybe she could join her parents and family in the afterlife, or wherever they went when they died.

Finally, she kicked the chair out from under her and dangled, pitifully making a slight sound between a choke and a gurgle. She thought she heard the door slam open in the last few moments of consciousness, but let her eyes flutter shut for the last time; feeling light-headed from the lack of blood to her brain…

"Lily? Lily, NO!" Gerard had rushed into the room and saw Lily limp on her belt, which was acting like a noose. He hoped he wasn't too late and ran up to her. Gerard tightened the belt to undo the buckle.

Lily slumped forward over Gerard's shoulder. He held onto her legs tightly, trailing a hand up innocently to her lower back, shivering slightly in anticipation, to get an even better hold on her, and turned to the door.

Footsteps. They were coming! Gerard hissed in defiance at them and turned to the window. Guess this was the only way… He covered Lily as best as he could and tackled his way through the glass, his shoulder not holding her first, and out of the apartment window. A jump from the third story might have killed a regular man, but not Gerard. No, he definitely wasn't normal… He landed effortlessly on the concrete below. Brushing off a couple of shards of glass off of Lily and him, he turned to go.

Lily groaned quietly and Gerard sighed in relief, she was okay. He was really worried about her, and not just because she was his assignment. Correction, she had been his assignment. She was his friend first and foremost especially since it was before this whole 'watching' business. Gerard ran at full speed, which didn't wind him even the slightest bit, to the city park. The wind buffeted them harshly, cold like just before rain began falling.

Finally the park was in view; here there were many swings, and one rather large metal slide. There was also a concrete cylinder lying on its side, like one of those at a construction site. For what purpose this would entertain a child, he did not know. That was a new addition, thought Gerard.

As a child, he, Lily, and his other friends had enjoyed this playground. They would play without a care in the world. This was all before their sixteenth birthday. After that, they knew what they were, what they were born to be; vampires. All of them meant to become a vampire, except for Lily. But I'll explain that later.

Although they wouldn't be fully turned until 18 or 20, they had to know what not to do with their amazing abilities. This way, they would hopefully be less of a threat to the world.

Gerard grimaced, after training was somewhat difficult, trying to overpower instinct that told you to kill instead of blend in, guards around him even in his private moments, watching his every move... But those four years had really paid off; he could now resist the urge to kill the weak, random mortals on the street. He was scared to test anything else, like how far he could go with a human being without killing them. He had to get to somewhere safe for Lily soon.

Gerard carefully set down Lily in the gravel. He pulled off his heavy coat and put her inside the concrete cylinder. When she looked a bit better sheltered, curled up to curve with the inside, he laid his coat over her.

Her head… He looked around for something soft but found nothing. Gerard removed his black shirt, to reveal a white undershirt and his muscular upper body, and put it under her head.

This wasn't such a good place for her to hide and calm down, Gerard knew this. But where else could he go? Nowhere else but… Of course! Matt would definitely let Lily recover at his place. A slight drizzle began falling, making his undershirt see-through and damp. It clung to his muscles; it almost looked as if he didn't have a shirt on. His skinny jeans already hugged his lower body perfectly, every curve, every bulge visible.

He pushed back his jet-black hair that swept into his handsome face. Society would describe him an emo kid; lean with slightly long black hair, worn in the flippy style, of course. He was beautiful and highly sought, even by strangers.

Gerard picked up Lily again in his granite- hard and cold arms, this time bridal-style. His body was almost as cold as the concrete cylinder; he wrapped her tighter in his coat and shirt.

Again, he ran at full speed. Streets whizzed by, people barely glancing at him, too huddled together in the rain and the cold to notice his inhuman speed, and other turn-offs tried to mislead him. It would be about ten minutes to Matt's small house that was located in a small neighborhood, mostly inhabited by humans.

Although his neighbors might find his appearance strange, at least they weren't vampires, ordered to return Lily. It was a huge risk on Matt's part; he and Gerard might be labeled as kidnappers, surely sent to jail or executed. Especially for taking the princess, of all undead!

Gerard cursed himself softly and leaned down to softly kiss Lily's lips. The feeling gave him more energy and gave him more excitement, if that was possible. If he had a heart, surely it would be pounding harder than ever.

Finally, his house came into view. Gerard stopped in front of his blue door and knocked quietly three times. Instantly, the door opened and there stood Matt, handsome, stunning Matt.

Matt was Gerard's twin, if not clone. Barely anything was different from the two; the same lean structure, the same black hair in the same awesome style; it was almost looking into a mirror.

But, while Gerard's eyes were dark brown, Matt's were crystal blue. That and Matt's face contained a number of piercing (and some below the neck and torso).

One was on his eyebrow, a silver stud, one small hoop on his ear, lip and nipple, all also silver. The last mentionable piercing was yet another silver stud on his tongue. They suited him well, but most would say just by the slightest bit, Gerard was more gorgeous.

Matt looked at Gerard, noting his see-through shirt, then at Lily, then back at Gerard. A curious and happy smile crossed his face. He stepped aside to let Gerard walk inside. After they were over threshold, he shut and dead-bolted the door.

"Gerard, what a pleasant surprise," Matt sounded genuinely happy to see him. He turned to Lily, who had been set down gently on a couch.

"W-what? Lily? Lily Creighton? You're bloody mad, Gerard. What were you thinking?!" Matt's tone didn't sound nearly as furious as he was. Gerard knew it was his deadly soft voice that he used to keep himself from doing something like, oh let's just say, tearing someone's head off.

"Where else could I go?" Gerard gazed down fondly at Lily.

"The Royal Guard will be all over this place, and we'll be arrested! Don't you know that?"

"Yes. But—"

"But nothing! Now I'm glad for you to stop by time-to-time, but she can't stay here-"

"She tried to commit suicide, Matt." Gerard's brown eyes were now hard, he didn't like the fact that he had almost lost her. He looked up at Matt to see moisture at the corners of his eyes.

Gerard's expression softened and he stepped closer to Matt. He put one hand on his shoulder and the other under Matt's chin.

"Hey, it'll be okay. I promise if they come I'll throw them off your track." He moved his face closer. "Don't get so worked up."

Matt blinded, making the tears slide down, smearing down some of his eyeliner.

"I don't want anything to happen to you. How would I live?" The words were true enough, underlings couldn't live without their masters, and they died together.

Gerard was reminded painfully of his little sister, Cloe. She was a pretty girl; medium-length black hair, blue eyes, a slightly skinny face that was adorable in a smile or a cry.

Cloe had always worn eyeliner; Gerard remembered that it had flowed down her cheeks before he left for training. She was worried for him, sometimes the students were put to sleep, obviously too wild for the world. Cloe had tried to run after Gerard, trying to throw a couple punches at a couple guards and stirring up trouble more trouble with violence and profanities. They took her away and ended her life. She was so young…

Gerard looked at Matt, trying to resist the tears, trying to look strong for him.

"Nothing will happen to me, I'll be careful." He managed to get a smile on his face, though he knew that there weren't any promises he could keep forever.

Matt wiped away the tears and returned the smile, not quite sensing the dread behind it from the memories of Gerard's sister.

"Alright, you can stay for a while but when they come—" A snap outside, were they back?

Gerard held up a hand, silencing him instantly. He strained his ears; checking to see if another presence was visible. But outside was engulfed in dark, emptiness and silence once more. Whatever it was, it had left. He sighed in relief and lowered his hand.

"W-what was that?" Matt asked fearfully, so much like a child terrified from the imagination gone wild on a stormy night.

"Nothing, nothing, continue," Gerard encouraged.

"But if they come," he continued nervously, growing confident again. "I want to come with you. Don't tell me no, Gerard," he snapped when Gerard opened his mouth. "I'm coming."

Gerard held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright," he said with a smile on his face.

Matt glanced again at Lily. "Is she really worth it?" he mused quietly.

Gerard ignored this and plopped down on a wooden chair, almost looking tired when he was in fact relieved.

"Aw, don't get sleepy with me… I wanted to talk some more… This is kind of exciting!" Matt's usual playfulness and easy-going attitude was back, suiting him much better than the seriousness he was using before to get his point across.

Something in Gerard clicked. He stood up and smiled almost wolfishly. Gerard stepped closer to Matt, his features grew seductive. His hand touched the side of Matt's face and gently slid down, past his lip piercing, his shoulder. Gerard pulled Matt closer to him, ever so softly, and pressed his lips delicately to his.

Gerard leaned his head back to take in the look on Matt's face, which was pure pleasure, in fact, and kissed him again. Soon, their lips parted and their tongues met each other, first tender, and then more rough. Gerard pulled Matt closer to him and in turn, Matt moved his leg farther and farther up his thigh, both of them getting more excited and fiercer with his tongue while also moving backwards into Matt's bedroom…

The Matt removed his hands for just a second to remove his shirt. He took off Gerard's as well and they toppled down onto the comfy queen-size bed that had been behind Matt's knees. Gerard continued to make out with Matt while gripping him tightly. They rolled over and now Matt was on top. He straightened up and grinned as he rocked forward and backward.

Feelings of thrill and joy surged through them both, making them feel… hornier. It was so natural, so wonderful for both of them. Matt came back down to mix his pierced tongue with Gerard's un-pierced one. Gerard again moved his mouth down, only this time a litter farther, to his bare chest. Matt kissed the top of his head and they did this, plus some more unmentionable things, for the longest of time.

When they had expressed their feelings for each other enough, they put back on all of their clothes and stepped outside the room. They smiled at each other and went back to tend Lily, who was still unconscious. How they wished that they could shower and sleep together, but tonight they would sleep in shifts, on a look-out for the Royal Guard.

Alright, explaining time. The vampires of this time had decided to go with a feudal system of government like the olden days. Y'know, lords, ladies, and peasants? Only they made a couple changes.

Sure the lower vampires, turned by higher, 'lord' ones, served those higher on the chain. But, they weren't considered peasants; they were more like underlings, students or helpers of those lords.

There were also kings, queens, and heirs to the throne. The Creighton family is this royal part of the vampire chain. Lily is strangely the princess or heir right now. But, she hasn't been changed yet, so she cannot technically take control if something were to happen to her parents.

Usually those destined to change turn at eighteen. But something dire has sadly happened; King Victor Creighton, now over 342 years of age, has been exterminated by a stake through the heart. The queen died a couple years ago and the throne is up for grabs.

The vampires who supported the Creighton family, who have organized themselves in an organization called the Royal Guard, have come to a decision. They were to inform young Lily of her fate, to be changed as soon as possible, and hope for the best.

This is where the story began. Well, Lily was told and panicked. Suicide seemed like the only way out, no matter how reckless or stupid it seemed.

But let's back up a bit, just to see what family Lily has come from, and how Gerard and Matt play into all of this.

Lily had a human mother and a vampire father. Her mother, Lora, was an only child and a mortal with parents that didn't care about her too much. This helped her with hanging out more with Victor. She didn't wish for any brothers or sisters, only for something exciting to happen to her. Lora definitely got her wish.

Victor was an odd vampire with two elder brothers (Soren, wise or prudent in Italian, and Jared), one younger brother (Seth), and one even younger sister (Ambrosi, or immortal/ undying in Italian). He got along fine with all of them, even when they were irritable, although he always sensed tension willing to break through at any moment (mostly oddly from Jared though).

His mother and father took care of their children as best as they could while being the king and queen of the vampires at the time. They didn't exactly get the same amount of attention, causing a jealous feud, but their parents couldn't help it.

Soren was changed at 35, odd now but customary back then, Jared at 30, Victor at 28, Seth at 25, and Ambrosi at 22 (they were all changed on the same day). When their parents died, Soren took charge of the throne and ruled for a good three centuries before Victor met Lora.

Lora had no idea that Victor was dangerous, or that he was a vampire (the soon-to-be king, at that), only that he was the best thing in her life. After she did, however, she was relieved, finding all of her questions answered about him. It was a close and fast relationship, soon they had Lily. Her mother was 22 at the time, he 328.

They were happy together, raising Lily and having a close eye on her. Four years later Victor's elder brother died at a sad young age of only 336 years. Lily was close to Soren, as was she to Victor's other siblings, but didn't quite understand that he had been murdered, or that he was gone forever. Investigators never captured a culprit. Jared didn't take the throne because he was thought to be too wild and weak to run the vampires. So, Victor, Lora, and Lily moved on up to royalty. The Creighton family was now envied, listened to, loved, and watched.

But what of the other family members, you might wonder?

Before Soren died, his wife Terri was pregnant with their son Charles. He was born and raised without a father, finding that very difficult at times, and became attached almost dangerously close to all he knew. Because of his good looks, he gets away easily with many relationships. He has two underlings, Nyx and Robin. Terri was murdered in 1994, leaving Charles closer to his friends and family. Very close.

Jared stayed away from his family, furious that he couldn't take the throne. In all the 344 years he has lived, he has only had three underlings. One of those, his first, Joyce, was the human mother of his son Zach. The day after Zach was born; Jared finally changed Joyce into a vampire like him. He did not want to kill Zach inside of Joyce, and they both wanted a child. Joyce bottle-fed Zach and took extremely good care of him, as did Jared. Jared also had two other underlings, Shane and Cody.

Seth married a woman named Heather and had two children, Flora (21, changed in 2004 when she was 18) and Eric (19, changed in 2006 when he was also 18). This is very rare for a vampire; usually they can only have one child at most. Heather died after having Eric.

After that, Seth was in a major grief abyss and Flora grew to be a spoiled brat who did whatever she wanted (hence the four underlings she has). Eric, on the other hand, grew decent, but horribly shy most of the time. Overall, Seth has practically no control or comfort for his children, no matter how much he loves them.

Ambrosi was raped by some man twice, once in 1985 and again in 1997. The result was Gerard and Cloe. Surprisingly she didn't die after having Cloe, but she did murder the rapist. Ambrosi doesn't have much control under her children, but they aren't half-bad. Gerard doesn't really respect her and Cloe is dead after trying to prevent her brother from going off to school, but things could be worse, right?

Now you might be asking yourself, but what about Matt? Well, Matt is Gerald's underling and friend. No, more than friend, oh how to put this, boyfriend. He's very protective about that bit, yet Gerard seems to disobey the rules and sometimes slip up like, for example, when he kissed Lily. Going around kissing other people instead of himself upsets Matt, not to mention Lily is Gerard's own cousin! Yet, where everyone stands family-wise strangely doesn't apply to Gerard, or any of the Creighton family, really. That basically wraps up the family tree.

Anyway, Lily was saved by Gerard. Gerard was taught a little bit by Victor, as well as the school he went to, but he's still not the wisest vampire around. He has some knowledge, even though at times he doesn't use it as much, and the body of a twenty-two year old. A very attractive one at that. But I won't go into that once again. Now back to the story…

Gerard pondered what to do next. He knew that anything he would want to do, Matt would follow without a question. But that made room for recklessness to happen.

He dipped a cloth into a small basin of water, provided by Matt earlier, and started to clean up the dirt and small cuts on Lily's face. Gerard fondly swept back some of her long, straight red hair and resisted to urge to kiss her once again.

"Matt?" he called out softly.

"Yeah?" Matt was behind him now, he placed a hand on Gerard's shoulder.

Gerard stood up and faced him. "What if…"

"Yeah?"

"Well…" Gerard dropped the cloth back in the basin, sending water droplets everywhere on the hardwood floor.

"Go on…" Matt prompted, walking into the kitchen to get a towel to wipe up the water.

"D'ya think we could disguise her? Scent, name, appearance, history, and personality- wise? Maybe that could work?"

"Well…" Matt started drying the spot on his hands and knees, knowing Gerard would be distracted a bit, with an impish grin on his face. After about a minute, he stood and took the items into the kitchen. Realizing his feet were wet, he removed his socks to reveal his black-painted toe nails.

Gerard waited patiently until Matt finally had an answer.

"That's actually a good idea." He sat cross-legged in an arm chair across the room from him. "Dye her hair, burn her records, make new records, give her some make-up, new clothes, I know a great make-over person…" He trailed on and Gerard smiled. "She could be the little sister I never had!" Matt returned the grin and stood up. "But of course, calls will have to be made. Excuse me."

Gerard knelt and gently stroked Lily's hair; he wanted her to live happily. He sighed for almost what seemed like the hundredth time that day and stood to go sit by the rain-streaked window, half concealed in shadows.

Matt reappeared, putting his skinny phone into one of the pockets of his tight black jeans.

"Alright, it's all taken care of. She'll be over in a few." His face contorted in anguish. "You didn't do anything to her while I was gone did you? Then I wouldn't know who to hurt; you for touching my sister or her for allowing such monstrosity to my boy."

Gerard laughed and Matt joined in. They were quiet, of course, but it felt good to laugh again. They stopped short when there was a knock at the door.

They stood completely still, hoping that the person would leave, but the knocks continued.

"Matt?" called a female voice.

"Come on in." Matt sighed in relief and opened the door quickly to reveal the glamorous woman on the other side.

She had pale, ivory skin that was flawless. Her slightly large, tan eyes were half-opened and framed with make-up. Although she didn't need it; she was beautiful without it and her blood-colored dress. Anyone near her would definitely hide and take their guy with them.

"Matt, it's really you? Gosh, it's been forever…" The woman seemed relieved as well and began twirling one of her golden locks.

"Cass… an… dra?" Gerard marveled, hypnotized by her beauty. Something in the back of his head nagged at him, but he pushed it aside.

"Gerard's here, too?" Cassandra let her arm fall to her side and her eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, Gerard!" A smile brightened her face as she ran up to Gerard to give him a hug.

Cassandra immediately recoiled before their bodies could touch. She was down on all fours now, like a dog preparing itself to leap at an enemy. A snarl was now on her face.

"Oh…" Cassandra swayed uneasily and hit the ground.

"What the—"

"Cassandra!" Matt cried, rushing over to her side.

"Matt… She's different somehow…" Gerard said feebly as he tried to grasp what had just happened.

"I know… Gerard, she's used to my scent but not yours."

"What are you talking about?" He thought that Cassandra was one of those lucky few who weren't changed. The last time he had seen her was when he was twelve and she was ten. They were playing at their favorite playground. Then Gerard had to move…

"Well, she's… a werewolf."

Shock rippled through Gerard. "What?" he demanded, involuntary fury surging through him.

"Yeah. After you moved she was so upset, as was I, and we ran. We went to the forest just beside Deception Pass bridge and… well there were wolves." Matt winced, unhappy from the memory. "They bit her and we barely made it back to our hideout. We hid in that chamber below the bridge and I tried to nurse her back to health. Turned out that wolf was infected and she was never the same." Tears formed again at the corners of his eyes. "It's my entire fault! I should have been bit, not her!" His head dropped and he started sobbing.

Gerard didn't know what to say. He came closer to Matt, putting his arm around his shoulders. Matt turned towards him and cried softly. Gerard cooed him, as a mother would to her child until he finally noticed Cassandra's stench.

It wasn't like before; he could still remember her sweet scent from all those years ago. Somehow it made the hairs on the back of his neck rise and created an urge to tear her apart. It scared him, so he picked up Matt like he had Lily and stepped back farther away.

"W-what are you doing? She needs help!"

"Yeah, I know," Gerard sighed as he put Matt on a recliner. "But I don't think I'm used to her scent either. It's taking every ounce of my willpower not to kill her." And it was true, too; Gerard's hands clenched tightly at his sides and all of his muscles tensed.

"Oh," Matt's eyes darted to Cassandra's unconscious body and he rose. "Well, I'll get it, then."

Gerard groaned playfully. "Just don't stink like her when you're done." A smile touched his lips and he walked over to Lily.

Matt stuck out his studded tongue childishly and went over to Cassandra.