Aiden liked bars. They were crowded, he could be anonymous, and people normally approached him, he didn't have to go hunting. It made him feel a little better about what he was, they came to him, the stepped into his web, it was like they were tempting fate and the majority of the time they lost. He had standards of course, he didn't feed blindly. He tended to try and find loners, people who he believed no one would miss. Of course they were still missed, and he had to hide every time he passed a missing poster, after so many years he thought the guilt would get easier, but it never did.

The bar was emptier than usual, though it was a Thursday night. He didn't need to feed, sometimes he just wanted a beer and someone to talk to, although there didn't seem to be anyone willing to have a conversation. He glanced across the bar and a man sitting on the other side caught his eye. He had never seen him before, at least not around the area. He looked sad; nursing was appeared to be a vodka tonic. Another lonely soul, maybe the night wouldn't be a total wash.

"Hey, I'm Aiden." He sat down in the seat next to the man, signaling the bartender for another beer taking in the sight. The man turned and looked at him, seemingly startled that someone would talk to him.

"Oh I'm not-what I mean to say is-not that there isn't anything wrong with it—I'm Josh." Josh looked back at his drink, ashamed. He meets one person in this town and all he can think is that he is being hit on. Why did he have to be such an idiot all the time?

"Nice to meet you Josh. Did you think that I was going to hit on you?"

"What? No, I mean, it would be fine if you did I just, I'm not into that. But you know if you are that is fine, be who you are. Just. Ugh, why do I speak?" Aiden laughed.

"Its fine man, I just came over for a chat, you seemed lonely over here, thought you might like some company." Though he hadn't originally come over to hit on Josh he couldn't help but appreciate his face, and arms, and goodness this man was attractive. "So, are you new to town, I've never seen you around here before."

"I just moved here, last week. Needed to get a new life."

"Bad break-up? Not that it's any of my business."

"Lets just say I've been through a life changing experience, and after that happens, well I guess its hard to go back to who you were before." Josh hadn't taken his eyes off his drink. He didn't know why he was even talking to his guy, though knowing someone in town might be a good start to a new life. He had never had many friends, probably because he was so strange. At least that is what his sister seemed to believe.

"Believe it or not, I know what you mean." Aiden turned his beer around in his hands. "A while ago I went through a major life change, and my normal life, it just seemed so far away. I left everything I knew and started a new life." - as a monster

"Does it get easier?" Josh finally turned to look at Aiden. "I mean, does the part of you that feels empty and alone, does that go away?" He met Aiden's eyes for the first time, and suddenly saw something that surprised him, at least a little. They were so sad, and empty, and although there seemed to be a grin plastered on his face Josh could tell that Aiden was as empty inside as he felt.

"I won't lie to you, you want to believe it does, you want to believe that you won't miss what life was before, but you do. Every day, as you get further and further from your old life, your normal life you think about getting back there, and if someone gave you a chance to do it again, to make a different choice, to stay home, would you?"

"I know that I would." Josh said that with a hint of regret in his voice. "Although, it wasn't really something I chose, it kind of happened to me."

"Well then, I don't know what to tell you pal. Guess you'll just have to suck it up and deal." Aiden needed to lighten the mood, and with a chuckle he slapped Josh on the back. That's when he caught the scent, there was no mistaking it, this guy was definitely a werewolf. "Oh wow."

Josh looked at him confused. "What is it?"

"I just realized-never mind. Look, I've got to get going, but I'll see you around I'm sure." He placed a few bills on the bar. "See you tomorrow Steve." He waved to the bartender and headed out the door.

Josh watched him go. "What on earth?" He mumbled to himself, which was strange. It was nice though, having someone to talk to. Maybe things would get better, maybe he had made a new friend. Although, keeping his condition quiet was of upmost importance. He placed a few bills next to Aiden's, waved a hand at the bartender and walked outside.

"I know what you are." Aiden was leaning against the brick wall as if he had been expecting Josh to follow him outside. Josh turned around, startled and suddenly panicked.

"What are you talking about?" Maybe he was playing a joke, maybe he just thinks he is gay or something. There isn't any possible way he could know about his condition.

"You're a werewolf." Aiden stepped closer to Josh, he was sure that he seemed menacing, though that isn't what he was aiming for. Josh let out a nervous laugh.

"Werewolf, please. Those are just stories." Josh was backed into a wall now. This was it, this was how he was going to die, in an alley, killed by a stranger he just met. Perfect.

"I thought they were stories too, just nightmares to tell the kids so they wouldn't stray. Josh, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you; I just wanted to tell you that I knew who you were." Aiden realized how freaked out Josh looked; maybe approaching him in a dark alley in the middle of the night wasn't the right approach.

"Why?" Josh was still plastered against the wall.

"Because I wanted you to know that you aren't alone out there. There are other people that have conditions like yours, or similar."

"What are you talking about?"

"Society has labeled us monsters. But we aren't all that bad."

"Are you—Are you like me?" Josh let himself believe, only slightly that there was someone else out there, someone who had the same condition, he wouldn't be alone anymore.

"Sort of - I'm not a werewolf." Aiden sighed, he had never actually revealed the he was a vampire to anyone before, and not ripped their throat out in the following seconds. "I'm a vampire."

Josh didn't know how to react. Before he became a werewolf he would have laughed in Aiden's face, but if werewolves existed, that probably meant vampires did too, right? "You are a vampire?" He wasn't really asking, more of stating it again, trying to process the information.

"That's how I could tell you were a werewolf. You have a very distinct smell." Aiden thought that Josh was handling the news pretty well. Normally he got a scream, or people begging for their lives, of course he wasn't trying to kill him so that probably helped the situation.

"Okay. This is an interesting turn of events." Josh sighed and slid down the wall. When did everything turn so strange? First werewolves, now vampires, what's next? Was Santa going to fly in on his sleigh and tell him that dragons were real?

Aiden tried to offer Josh a small smile, but it didn't seem to help. He of course had had years to cope with the fact that all those monsters he'd heard about as a child, all the horrors in the world were real. He could still remember how it felt though, learning the truth. He slid down the wall so he was sitting next to Josh.

"When did it happen? The uh - attack?"

"Well…" Josh didn't seem to want to talk. He was staring at the wall in front of him.

"Fuck that was nosey. Sorry. Ignore me. I'll leave you to your thoughts." Aiden moved to get up but he felt a hand on his arm.

"I was camping with my fiancé and this other couple. We sitting around a campfire trading stories and we heard someone screaming in the woods. It was terrible. So the girls went to go find help and me and the other guy went to figure out what was happening. Then out of nowhere this creature attacks us. My friend, Peter, was ripped to shreds, and I survived with a few gashes in my arm. For a while I thought I had been lucky. That surviving the attack was the best thing to ever happen to me. Then it happened. I was sitting in a diner and all of the sudden I felt like there was something inside of me. Something that was begging to be released."

"What happened?"

"I bolted. That was my first transformation. I woke up in the woods next to a deer whose guts had been ripped out. I didn't know what exactly happened but I knew I had to leave. I packed my things and left. I've been trying to find somewhere to settle ever since, somewhere to live a normal life. Well as normal as I can be." Josh fell silent. It felt strange talking about it, but there was something about Aiden, something that made him feel comfortable, safe almost. "What about you?"

"Me? That is a long story, going back decades." Aiden didn't want to share, because he would have to admit that he chose this life, the life of a killer, a blood junkie.

"How long ago did it happen?"

"It was during the revolution. I was fighting and came across a pack of vampire looting soldiers of their possessions and blood. I was offered a choice, death or a new life." Aiden stopped, he had said to much.

"You mean you chose this life?" Josh stared at Aiden. "Why?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you. Maybe I thought living forever would be worth it."

"Is it?"

"No." Aiden was being honest, for the first time. He could still remember the way Bishop smiled at him, blood dripping from his teeth. Yet, it wasn't the fear that made him choose this life. It was the promise of eternity, but he never realized that eternity could be so lonely, especially when you want to kill all of your friends.

"I'm sorry." Josh didn't know what else to say. He suddenly felt as though he needed to give Aiden a hug, but realized that would seem incredibly strange and probably give the wrong signals. "So, what do we do now?"

Aiden pondered for a moment, what a strange question. He had never had to think about that before, mostly because he had always had Bishop there to guide him through each step. Teaching him to control it when he needed to, when and where it was safe to feed.

"I guess we keep on surviving." Aiden turned to look at Josh, whose fear had faded into a stoic mask, his emotions hidden beneath the surface. "But at least we aren't alone, I mean, sorry. That sounded strange, I was just saying that-"

"No, we aren't alone. I like that; maybe we could help each other."

Josh smiled at Aiden, and Aiden reached out and gave Josh's hand a quick squeeze, but pulled back quickly because although it felt right he was sure that Josh probably thought he was the strangest person. And even though they had just met Aiden felt like they were going to be good friends, mostly because Josh made him feel like he wasn't so alone.

"So, what do you do?" Aiden and Josh had met up at the bar again and had almost immediately found each other.

"Well I was training to be a doctor, you know saving lives and all that, but I kind of left the program. Basically, I'm unemployed."

"I work at the hospital; maybe you could get a job as an orderly or something. Come in tomorrow and I'll make sure that you meet the right people."

"You don't have to do that." Josh was embarrassed. He wasn't sure why either, a job would be nice. He could stop living in the shitty one bedroom apartment he had found.

"Come on, what are friends for?" Aiden winked at him.

"Oh, we are friends?" Josh glanced at Aiden to see a hurt look on his face. "I mean, that's great, we should be friends, I just wasn't aware that we were calling each other friend, what I was trying to say is that, never mind. Tomorrow at the hospital, I'll be there. Thanks." Josh downed the last bit of his drink. "Well I guess I am going to call it a night. See you around, friend." Josh nudged Aiden and walked away, muttering to himself what an idiot he was being. This is why he didn't have very many friends, why did he have to be so incredibly awkward all the damn time.

"So what's it like? Being a vampire?" Josh had slid into the empty seat across from Aiden in the hospital cafeteria. He had been working there for two weeks now and Aiden was still the only one he was comfortable talking to.

"What do you mean?" Aiden studying Josh, his five o'clock shadow looked more like a three day shadow and there were dark bags under his eyes. "Have you been sleeping?"

"Don't avoid the question. I mean, there are all these myths about vampires, like you can't go out in the sun or you are afraid of garlic and crosses."

"The majority of those are exactly that, myths. Although crosses or any religious symbol affects us in a weird way." Aiden's eyes flashed to Josh's Star of David, and he starting wondering why it hadn't affected him. Maybe because he knew that he wasn't a danger to Josh. There wasn't a single part of him that wanted his blood, probably because he was a werewolf, but knowing that he would never attack Josh allowed him to let his guard down a little bit more than usual.

Josh nodded his head absentmindedly, as if there was a song playing in the background with a really good beat. "Josh, have you been sleeping?"

"Huh? Me? Um, no. Not really. I have rats in my apartment, I've been picking up all sorts of extra shifts so that I can afford a new place, and the full moon is tomorrow. The dreams always get worse as it approaches."

"Where do you go, to transform?"

"The woods, I found this semi secluded spot, campers don't normally go there. So far is worked okay, although getting home sucks because I can never find my clothes." Josh laughed, but it was hollow. Couldn't he just sleep through this month, it wasn't like he was going to miss out on anything. Why did he need to go out and kill things when he transformed, why couldn't he just curl into a ball on the grass and sleep for the night. Would that be so bad, so impossible?

"Well you know, I could pick you up tomorrow, if you wanted." Josh was pulling off the wrapper of his water bottle. "Josh, are you even listening to me?"

"What did you say? Sorry, I've been completely out of it." Josh didn't look up; he just continued pulling at the label.

"I said that I could pick you up after your transformation, if you want. A familiar face might be what you need." Aiden wanted to grab Josh's hand and make him stop fidgeting.

"You would do that?" Josh raised his eyes and stared at Aiden. He wasn't used to people being so kind to him.

"Yeah, I've got the day off tomorrow, and I could bring you a change of clothes so you don't have to walk around naked." Aiden smiled; maybe he could forget the change of clothes on accident.

"That would be amazing." Josh couldn't believe it, maybe telling someone about his condition would be helpful after all. It was nice having a friend he didn't have to lie to all the time. "Well, I had better get back to work; I'll see you tomorrow then."