Neos

I hit the ground hard. Blood was pouring from my nose and mouth. The older vampires were standing above me, smirking at my pain. I felt a rush of anger and jumped to my feet. I was tired of this happening at least five times a week. I threw a punch at the second oldest boy. He swayed as my fist slammed into the side of his head, but managed to stay standing up. They all laughed then started to pummel me again. As stars started to pop in front of my eyes, I managed to grab somebody's arm. I opened my mouth and bit his arm. He roared in pain as my teeth sunk into his arm. My teeth were longer and sharper than the teeth of any other vampire I had met. Everyone else stopped dead. I had just broken our clan's most enforced law. You weren't ever supposed to bite another vampire.

Everyone stared at me as I slowly lifted my head up and looked at them all. I saw pure disgust reflected in all of their eyes. Then, I felt electrifying pain in my neck. I fell, and as I did, someone behind me grabbed the back of my neck. Another jolt of pain ran through my body before I collapsed. Everyone started kicking me as I lay on the ground, curled in a ball. It was a while before I realized that everyone had stopped kicking me and were arguing with a girl twenty feet away. I could barely hear then as I struggled for consciousness, but I still managed to hear a little bit of it.

"You still have no right to beat him up like that!" the girl yelled, tears in her eyes.

"Sure we do!" yelled the vampire closest to me. "He's a freak!"

They all laughed at that, except for the girl who continued to bite her lip.

"He also bit Albert," added a short and scrawny vampire.

Everyone turned to look at Albert, who looked like he was about to throw up. He had his eyes closed and looked paler than usual. Then, without warning, he screamed. It was a high cold scream that pierced the night. He fell twitching to the ground, and all the while, his skin looked like it was bubbling. His eyes flew open and he screamed again. Then, he stopped twitching. He looked up at me and spoke, in a quiet voice full of malice.

"This is all your fault, Neos. You deserve to face the sun."

And then he closed his eyes again and melted, screaming as he did, until there was a puddle of melted skin, bones, and blood where he once was. Everyone turned to stare at me. The tallest vampire moved closer to me.

"What did you do?" he yelled at me, his eyes red with anger. "That's not supposed to happen when you bite someone!"

"I…I don't know," I stammered as I slowly got to my feet. "I only bit him o the arm…but"

"BUT WHAT?" he screamed, spittle flying from his mouth.

"He turned warm, right after I bit him. Instead of being freezing cold, he felt like he was a normal human with a fever," I replied, contemplating what had happened.

"You freak!" he yelled and ran at me, raising his hand.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt a sharp pain on the side of my head. That last thing I knew was darkness.

Lilly

I felt so mad! They knocked him out for no reason, and then banned him from the clan without even asking the elders about it. I looked down at Neos. His spiky, neon green hair was covered in blood and his pale face was whiter than usual.

"Neos," I muttered in exasperation, "Why do you do things like this?"

Neos stirred but didn't wake up. He got into more fights then anyone I knew. He also got kicked out of more clans then anyone I knew. This was our thirteenth clan that we had been kicked out of, and it started to become a habit. But the sewers of Ohio were really nice, so I was sad we had to go. I thought of where we could go next. New York maybe. Or California. Then, looking over at Neos, I scratched California off my mental list of new places to go. It was almost always sunny there and Neos, being albino, would be tortured there. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Neos

I woke with a start. A girl with long, blond hair was sitting next to me, muttering to herself. With a jolt, I realized it was Lilly. I sat up slowly, rubbing my aching head. I looked at Lilly. Her teal eyes were filled with tears.

"Don't cry Lilly," I said, feeling guilty. "It's my fault. Don't go blaming yourself again."

"It isn't that," she said, wiping her eyes. "It's just that I liked Ohio."

"I'm…sorry…I didn't realize," I began, but was cut off by Lilly.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Neos?" Lilly cried out. "Why?"

"Wha…what do you mean?" I asked feeling very confused.

"Get into fights and things like that?" Lilly said, starting to cry. "Why?"

"Lilly," I said halfheartedly, "Don't cry. And it's because I'm albino. The other vampires make fun of me, and then we start fighting."

Lilly got up and wiped her eyes. She walked over to where she slept and started throwing the few items she owned into a knapsack. I went over to where I slept and started to pack too. It didn't take long. I only had to pack five things. I sat down, knowing it would be the last time I saw this place. I wasn't sad about leaving, but there had been a few good times here.

"Let's go," I said to Lilly.

Standing up, I looked around. Over in a corner a few rats scuttled around. Other then that, I saw no other living thing. Sighing, I picked up my knapsack. I took one last look at where I slept and climbed out of the sewer. When Lilly climbed out I turned to face her.

"So where are going to go?" I asked her.

"I was thinking about New York," she replied.

"I've always wanted to go to New York!" I said, happy my wish was being granted.

A few days later, we were outside a sewer at New York City limits. Lilly spoke up for the first time in hours.

"Neos," Said Lilly uncertainty.

"Yes?" I replied.

"If you're an albino, why is your hair green?" she asked, looking a little embarrassed.

"I have no idea," I replied. "It was white when I was two, but I think it has to do with me becoming a vampire."

"Mmmmm…" said Lilly.

"Let's stop here for the night." I suggested.

Lilly nodded her agreement and went down. I followed and was asleep in minutes. In my dreams, the laughing and continuous chanting of "Loser" was all I heard.

Lilly

It was almost daybreak judging by the light trickling in from the sewer's entrance. I sighed, looking over at Neos. He was twitching in his sleep, probably tortured by a bad dream. I sighed again and reached into my bag. I grabbed my diary and a pen and began to write. Neos screamed and his red eyes flashed open. I quickly shoved my diary and pen back into my bag staring at Neos.

"What's wrong?" I asked, scared of an answer.

"Nothing," he muttered angrily and turned away from me.

I sighed and looked out at the sky. It was getting really light out.

"I really should get some sleep." I said halfheartedly.

I tried to sleep. But my mind was too cluttered with thoughts. By the time I cleared it and fell asleep, it was already noon.

Neos

I woke up again at dusk. I got up and looked around. Lilly was still asleep. I went to the opening and climbed out. There was a house about 100 yards away. I frowned. Lilly and I were "vegetarians" which meant we drank the blood of animals, not humans. That meant I would have to drag the animals that I drank blood out of somewhere hidden. I moaned. This was going to be a pain. I started up towards the house, thinking there might be some rabbits under the patio. To my delight, I found four fat rabbits. They were easy to catch and I sat down to enjoy the moment. Plunging my fangs into the fattest one, I began to feast. As the blood began to pour from the rabbit, I heard a gasp from behind me. Turning around, I saw a girl that looked about 12, the same age as Lilly and a year younger then me. She looked a little faint, probably from seeing me eat, and her eyes were popping.

"What the..?" she gasped before fainting.

I smiled guiltily. I was happy when I scared other people because I rarely ever did so. Then I sighed. This girl couldn't be out here all night. She might die or get attacked. Grudgingly, I picked her up and was halfway to the door when she opened her eyes. She looked into my face for a full minute, and then let out a heart stopping scream. A light clicked on in the house and I heard movement. The next second, a man called out.

"Katie? Is everything all right?"

The girl in my arms screamed again and I dropped her, running back to the sewer. I got inside right as the front door banged open. A very fat man in pajamas stepped out, looking around. Spotting Katie, he ran over to her, shaking in fear.

"Katie!" he cried. "What happened?"

In a shaky voice Katie told him everything. She even pointed at the sewer I was in. I was about to go wake Lilly to get her to leave when the man laughed.

"Don't worry sweetie," he said in a calming voice. "You just had a bad dream. And were sleepwalking by the looks of it too!"

He chuckled again and carried Katie inside. I waited a few minutes before wandering outside again. The three skinnier rabbits had disappeared and the fat rabbit had bled dry. I sighed and went looking around. Under a bush, I found a very frightened baby fox. It looked like its hind legs were broken and it was abandoned. Picking it up, I found it was extremely light. I lowered my head and plunged my fangs into its neck. It had a spasm and started twitching, but then it fell still. After sucking it dry, I found a stream and threw the body into it. Watching it float away, I felt a twinge of remorse.

I shrugged off the feeling and walked back to the sewer. Halfway there I paused, feeling a pair of eyes watching me. I turned and looked at the house. There at the front door was the girl, staring at me with huge eyes. I started to run to the sewer to get out of sight when the girl did the strangest thing. Instead of screaming, she called out to me.

"You! Vampire!"

I stopped dead. Slowly, I turned around. Katie was running towards me. I involuntarily took a step back. No human ever approached a vampire before.

"Yes?" I said in a low hiss, hoping to scare her off.

"Wait up." She called unfazed.

"What the…?" I muttered under my breath as she caught up with me.

"My name is Katie," she panted. "I wanted to apologize for earlier."

"It's o-ok." I stammered, very confused.

"I was…was…" she babbled, looking very embarrassed.

"What?" I asked impatiently.

The sky was looking lighter which meant the sun was rising. I didn't have much time left aboveground.

"Well," she said, gathering up courage. "I was wondering if we could, you know, be friends."

I stared incredulously at her. This was unheard of. Never before had a human been friendly with a vampire, let alone want to be its friend.

"Su-sure." I said weakly, still in a daze.

"Also, sorry about earlier." She said, looking embarrassed again. "It was just I thought you would attack me."

"I'm a vegetarian," I replied. "I don't attack humans. "

"Oh." said Katie, turning pink

"Who was that man from before?" I asked eager to change the subject.

"Oh, that was just my dad, Fern." Katie said yawning.

"You should get some rest." I said looking at the shadows under her eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow night, ok?

"Ok, that sounds great!" Katie said, yawning again. "Well, good night."

"Night." I said stunned at what had just happened.

I walked back to the sewer and sat down opposite Lilly. Yawning, I curled up in a ball and went to sleep. From then on, I met Katie every night. After two months, I started to bring Lilly with me. At first she and Katie were cold towards each other, but after a few more months they became accustomed to each other.

It had been thirteen months since I had first met Katie and I was a little nervous about tonight. It was a new moon so I was at my strongest, but last night Katie had told me she'd overheard Fern plotting to kill me. I was still worried about it and was late getting out of the sewer. Lilly was already outside, having an animated chat with Katie about something. As I drew closer, I could hear what they were saying.

"Well, my dad is a jerk and an overprotective man," Katie was saying, "But I don't think he'll actually kill Neos."

"I hope not…" said Lilly. Then spotting me she cried, "Neos! Over here!"

I walked over curious about what they were discussing when a gargled wail pierced the night, followed by a whistle of something splitting air. Before I could move, Lilly knocked me out of the way of a wooden stake. She gasped and her eyes opened wide as the stake slid into her chest with the sound of a key going into a lock. She fell to the ground with a thud, twitching in pain. I stood there, horrified at what just happened. Lilly looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears, and blood trickling out of her mouth as it tried to form words.

"Neos," she gasped, "I'm so sorry."

Then, her eyes closed and she drew a great, shuddering breath. Her head tilted sideways and she was gone.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A ghostly, unearthly sound rent the still night air. Only as I felt anger and sadness surge through my body, did I realize I was the one who yelled.

"Neos, no!" cried Katie, but it was too late.

I had lost all control. Through the red haze clouding my mind I could feel my body twisting and mutating. My last sane thought was muttered aloud.

"Well, at least we know why my fangs are extra long," I hissed sarcastically, before I was consumed by the darkness.

Katie

I couldn't believe my eyes. Neos had transformed into some giant, wolf like monster. Except wolves weren't 50 feet high, didn't have a giant axe coming out of their head, didn't stand on two legs, and definitely didn't have wings. Neos let loose an earsplitting roar that shattered the windows on our house. He backed his paw up, and then rammed his claws into Fern's chest. My scream was lost as a gargling wail ripped from my dad's lips as blood began to gush from his wound. Neos flipped him paw over, letting Fern fall all the way to the ground. He was dead even before his body hit the ground with a bone crunching snap.

Neos turned towards me and lowered his head. I felt the axe rip through my stomach and, as my warm blood drenched my abdomen, I screamed. Then blackness engulfed me and I knew no more.

Neos

I felt a jolt of shock as a high pitched scream cut through the red haze surrounding my mind. I felt another jolt of shock as I realized one of the bleeding bodies was Katie. I fell down, and as I did, I changed back into my normal self.

"No!" I screamed, starting to cry.

I started to run back to the sewer. Reaching it, I swung inside. Running to my spot, I haphazardly shoved all my stuff into a bag. I was about to leave when I remembered Lilly. Running over to her spot, I grabbed her stuff and shoved it into my bag as well. Then, climbing out of the sewer, I began to run. Where I was going, I neither knew, nor did I care. All I wanted to do was disappear. Which I did.