"It's not my job to get the water! Rudy's stronger than me and can actually pull up the bucket without trouble." I argued. Rudy was an African slave we purchased 4 years ago. He was very strong and hardworking, just what we needed to replace my father who had died shortly before is purchase. "Well if you're so intent on not doing work then go find him. Check in the barn, that's where we found him last time he disappeared. "I took a deep sigh and trudged out the door, bucket in hand. I lifted my skirt In hopes of protecting it from the inch layer of mud covering the trail to the barn. My father and his brothers built the barn when my mother was pregnant with me. It was a tall red square surrounded by a small nook of forest. As a child, I would always be frightened walking down the path, fearing the imaginary monsters that hid in the trees. I had outgrown those childish fears, being 16 I was now braver and less incompetent. I pushed open the huge red doors with difficulty. I was always very weak but I had a pudgy figure, not something most men of the time enjoyed. I was always a very misunderstood girl. I would laugh at the wrong times, talk to the wrong people, discuss the wrong topics,. I wasn't the most eligible bachelorette in town, but I don't think I really cared. I was always waiting for someone as off putting as myself to sweep me off my feet.

"Rudy?" I shouted feeling the wall, trying to find the lantern. My hand hit into the light and turned the nob. The light flickered revealing the stacks of hay piled into the corners. I squinted in the dim lit darkness. CLANG! The lamp fell from its hook and I ran back startled. I tripped over something and fell to the ground. I groaned, my ankle had twisted and I felt something wet dampening my skirt. I looked down to see it was covered in blood. I quickly moved my legs to see what I had tripped over. Rudy's cold, dead body was lying at my feet. His eyes wide with fear, his neck punctured and covered in blood.

I let out a scream but it was muffled by a quick hand. Pulling me back and slamming me into the hay. I kicked my legs and pushed out of the hay onto the dirt ground. I looked up to see a boy in a white shirt and pants, his shirt slightly stained with blood. He had short dark hair and a white pale face. He had black tattoos around his neck and arms. His face was kind and handsome, even smeared with blood. I got lost in his beauty, his dark eyes staring into me. The reality of the situation dawned on me. Just as I was about to scream there was a whiff of air and the boy was atop me. I could see his face more clearly now. His chin was dripping with blood,

I reached up, in a sort of trance, and parted his lips revealing the sharp fangs underneath. My mouth was agape with wonder, my eyes full of curiosity. "Beautiful." I breathed out. He grabbed my wrist, quickly but gently. His eyebrow rose. "How curious." He said, his voice was very calm, his accent foreign to me. "Why do you say this child?" I took a deep breath gathering my thoughts, choosing my words wisely. "You appear so immaculate, but with a part of the lips you become seemingly malevolent and forbidding. Your appearance is a hypnotizing concealment that hides your true nature, your natural weapon." His grip on me loosened as he looked at me seemingly attentive. "You appear to be a keen human." he paused "Are you frightened?" I looked away from his gaze, realizing how unafraid I was. "No," I said, looking back at him. "I know you are going to kill me so I find it foolish to fear the inevitable." I swallowed and grit my teeth. "I beg of you, make it swift, I do not wish to be in immense pain long."

He quickly leaned in to me, his mouth an inch away from my neck. "Do you wish to live forever?" he whispered "Do you desire immortality? To walk among the living as elders and predators?" I closed my eyes and nodded. I was a survivor, with a choice between life or death, I choose to live, no question. "I want to live." I whimpered. He chuckled, his teeth grazing my neck. "Then live you shall, but first, you must die." He bit hard into my neck causing my blood to spill onto the hay covered ground as I lost consciousness.