Disclaimer: I don't own Blood and Chocolate or any of its characters. If I did, I would be a better writer. I do own Fortress(aka tess), the main chara of this story.

Heh, well this is actually kinda my first fanfic. Like I had one before, but I took it down…it was real dumb.

This takes place when the pack still lived in West Virginia.

Fortress of Tears

Chapter 1 — Bitten

Legend has it that if you were bitten by a werewolf, you could turn into one. But then, many uncountable stories like that exist in our world. Like, if you drank from the pawprint of a werewolf, or smeared on a magical salve, you could turn into a werewolf yourself. But even though legends are based on some kind of truth, they differ from it, if only by a small bit. But that small bit could make all the difference.

Fortress was a girl living a regular life in (they don't really say the city that the pack was in). It was a nice place, real quiet and full of sun and wind.

It was the last school dance of the year. Everyone would go, and so would Fortress. It was almost the end of the school year, so mind as well kick off your shoes and party. Nothing could go wrong.

On that night, Tess (her nickname it's easier to write) and her gang of friends were hanging outside to catch some fresh air out in the near-summer breeze. A slow dance was starting to play, and her friends went back in to dance with some of the guys, leaving Fortress outside.

God, the night's so beautiful, she thought, staring up at the scattered glittering gems in the sky.

"Hey."

Tess whirled around, startled, her mini skirt twirling. Looking for the speaker, she found herself looking up to a buff-looking guy (haha) leaning against a tree. A sudden gust of wind came up, blowing his dark hair from his face. Curious, she walked over to him.

"Hey, do I know you?"

"Nah. My sis goes here. You probably don't know her."

"What's your name?"

"…Axel…"

Huh...Axel…what a strange name…

"Oh… Well, I'm Fortress, but my friends call me Tess."

"I know…"

How does a guy that I don't know know so much about me? That's just scary. Maybe he stalks me…She shuddered at that last thought.

"You wanna walk around? You know, just to talk?"

"…Sure…But my friends are expecting me to go in soon," she said, pointing to the entrance of the gym.

"That's fine with me. It'll only take a sec." He started to walk to the back of the gym. In the moonlight, she saw that his eyes glowed red for some reason.

Probably just my imagination, she told herself, What kinda guy has red eyes?

Awkwardly she followed the guy, keeping her distance. Who was this guy? How did he know who she was? And why was he leading her to the back of the gym?

She bumped into something. Looking up, she saw that the guy had stopped and had hit him by accident.

He turned around. She noticed once again the tint of a crimson glowing in his beautiful emerald eyes. Backing up, Tess started getting nervous.

"A-a-a-axel…"she stuttered, "W-what are you doing?"

He copied her, taking a step forward when she took one back. Her heart was beating so fast. What the hell is he thinking? What does he want with me? Suddenly he lashed out his arms, locking her arms behind her back.

"I'd love to dance with you 'n' all, but I've got better things to do than dancing." His hot breath burned her neck as he whispered to her. Tess opened her mouth to say something, anything, even scream, but the words were caught in her throat. With a swift movement, Axel slashed at her neck, with fingernails much sharper than they had been only moments before. She collapsed to the ground, clothes soaked with blood. He was licking the blood from her throat.

What's wrong with him? I…I need…to get outta here…before…it's all over…

Footsteps echoed in her mind, followed by a huge gasp. Something dropped to the ground. Clouds of black seemed to surround her, dragging her down. Is this a dream…? I wish it would end already! Please…please…end…end…end…

so what'd ya think? heh yea i know, this chappies kinda short n all...but i promise the next one to be longer! if you thought that it wasnt really short at all...well my editor thought so. ill give her a proper thanks next chapter. when i dont feel so lazy. laterz!