Chapter 1

The Beginning Of The End

Okay, so I guess I'll start at the beginning. My names Roxanne Vegas. I had just turned 16 a week before that night. I was on my way to a big party for my parents anniversary. I had never been big on parties, but I had to go, and there was no arguing with Mom. The hotel where the party was being held wasnt far from our house, so I walked. I took a shortcut by cutting in through a couple of alleyways in the backstreets. Big mistake.

I saw a tall figure walking towards me. It was a man, definitely a man. Of course I panicked, that was what I was raised to do, panic if I saw somebody approach me. He kept looking at me, well, more like staring. I dont think he even blinked. Then I realised I wasnt moving. I'd gone into shock. Oh crap.

"Hello there." said the man.

"Hi." I replied, quickly trying to weigh my options and deciding what to do. Crap, I left my cellphone at home. Typical. I always knew my forgetfulness would be the death of me.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked me.

"That isnt really any of your business now, is it?" I replied. Maybe I could trick him. Yea, good luck with that, said the voice inside my head.

"Well, I think it is," he told me. He stepped closer, and I realised that his irises were bright red, and he was really pale. He was really beautiful, but in a scary way. I might even be attracted to him if I wasnt afraid he was going to kill me. Or not.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused. I considered running. I wished I'd signed up for track this semester.

"Come with me." he said, it sounded like an order but his tone was very calm. All I could think was Oh crap, Im gonna die! I hope I make it to heaven! I decided maybe I could fight him. I took tai-kwon-do classes for five years. Thats gotta count for some thing, right? Wrong.

"No." I said, firmly, preparing myself for a roundhouse kick if necessary. But he didnt even try to fight me. He just picked me right up, like you would pick up one of those tiny dogs!

"Hey, put me down!" I screamed. Then I shivered. I didnt realise how cold it was until just now. Or was it just him? Then, he started to run. At like 100 miles per hour. This could not be possible, it was a dream, I was sure, I was gonna wake up any minute now...

He put me down when we came to a completely deserted street, out of the alleyways. It was about time, too.

"You know, if this is your way of getting me to like you or something, it aint working. Youre completely messed up!" I shouted at him. I was surprised my voice still worked in a situation like this. He never answered me. He just kept staring at me. It was really starting to annoy me.

"Okay, I accept the fact that youre gonna kill me, can you just get it over with and put me out of my misery?" I asked, when I finally decided I wasnt getting an answer.

"Im not going to kill, you. I was, but I decided not to."

"Then can I go?"

"Not yet."

"Why the hell not?" I was getting angry now. I was late for the party, and Mom would be getting worried. I got no answer again so I started to walk across the road. I didnt know where I was going, but I was happy as long as it was away from this freak. Next thing I know, he bites me. Bites me right on the neck! I screamed and a car came along and nearly ran us over before he could fully sink his teeth in.

And then came the pain.

"Holy crap!" I screamed, and then I couldnt stop screaming. It felt like I was in a bath of fire. And that was just the outside. The pain inside me was undescribable, so painful I could even realise what was going on, or my surroundings. Why the hell am I in so much pain? I kept thinking. I realised that I had stopped screaming because it hurt too much to even open my mouth. I just kept my eyes closed, I didnt want to know where I was.

Then, suddenly, the pain just stopped.

I opened my eyes, reluctantly. I looked around. I could see really clearly. It was like watching a HDTV, but better. Weird. I could smell everything too. What happened, have I been reincarnated as a dog? Then I realised I was in a room, on a bed. Then I saw him. Staring at me again.

"That was fast, it usually takes three days," he said, "its only been a day and a half."

"Wait, what?" I said, "what takes three days?"

"For you to change." he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Into what?" I asked, but did I even want to know?

"A vampire-"

"A WHAT?"

"Im a vampire. I bit you, so now you have been changed into a vampire too."

"Oh crap! Why did you do this? My parents are gonna kill me! I dont wanna drink blood! Wait a minute, vampires dont even exist, theyre myths, made up, stories, fake, people just made them up -"

"No were real! Youre a vampire too!"

"Im not! And if you think youre a vampire, you need a shrink!"

"Come with me, I'll prove it!"

"No, screw you, creep! Im going home!"

"You cant go home."

"Why not?"

"Youre one of us now."

"Yea, sure, whatever. If I come with you will you give me answers?" If he was a "vampire" then Im Michael Jackson. Which I'm not.

"Okay." he said.

"Where are we going?"

"Hunting."

"Why?"

"This is how Im proving it to you."

"Wait-" and then it clicked. "When you say hunting you dont mean people, do you?"

"Youre catching on fast." he said.

I said I would go with him, deciding it would be funny to see this crazy guy try to drink somebodys blood. Hopefully he would get arrested. On the way he explained all these things about vampires to me, like what happens to them in the sun and how they dont sleep. For someone whos brain isnt functioning properly, he seemed to have a very vivid imagination. Or he was reading too much vampire fiction. After a while we came to a forest.

"You smell that?" he asked me.

"Yea," I replied, because I did, but whatever it was, it didnt smell appetising.

"Thats the scent of two lost hikers. One for you and one for me."

"Im not eating them, or whatever."

"Dont they smell delicious?"

"No, they smell worse than my Grandma's meatloaf did. Ugh." I shuddered at the memory, it seemed so dim, so far away, so long ago, even though the last time I had it was last week.

"Youre the first newborn Ive ever come across that dosnt go crazy on their first hunting trip."

"And youre the first person older than six that Ive come across who thinks theyre a vampire."

"Come on, I'll prove it to you."

"Yes, of course you will." And he did. He approached the two hikers and pounced on one. He put his lips to her neck and drained her body completely of blood. It was all over before the other one could blink. Then he turned to the other hiker.

"Here, hes all yours." he said to me. I was still in shock. Oh, no! I really was a vampire! I was going to have to drink this poor mans blood and end his life! What was I going to do?

"I cant," I replied, after what had seemed like a very long time, "I dont want to kill people."

"Youre going to have to anyway so I'd advise you do it now."

"Fine, I'll try, but I told you, he smells like crap. No offence,"I looked at the hiker as I said the last part. Poor man. I walked slowly over to him and looked at his neck, knowing that I would not enjoy this experience. "Im so sorry," I told the man, who was whimpering quietly. I kept thinking to myself that maybe this man would be better off dead, he would be quite messed up after seeing that anyway. I pressed my lips to his neck an bit. A drop of blood touched my tongue and I dropped him. "Gross!" I shrieked. It tasted worse than that time in first grade when the other kids dared me to eat dirt. How could this guy enjoy this? Actually, what was his name?

"What? You dont like it?" he asked, apparantely shocked.

"Umm... yea, this guys blood tastes like dirt!"

"What? Let me see..." he went over to the man and took up where I left off. He drained him completely. "Whats wrong with you? His blood was even nicer than the womans!" he shouted at me.

"I dont know, maybe I'm some kind of special breed of vampire who eats human food?"

"Thats not possible!"

"Im just trying to help! I didnt ask for this okay? You did this to me so.... fix it!"

"Look, I dont know what your problem is or how youre doing this, but all I know is youre not normal and I cant deal with you anymore, youre driving me insane!" on that note he walked away. He actually walked away. What the hell was I going to do now?

"Oh well, I didnt like him anyways," I said, then realised I was talking to myself. I started walking off in the opposite direction, hoping to find other vampires. He had just told me all about them, so I knew there had to be others. Just not around here.