The inspiration for this story came from a drawing by Cookie VanDeKamp. I'm dedicating this story to her. She's a great author with amazing ideas, and I'm really glad she's taken me under her wing. Thanks Cookie!

~Vampira~

The knock came late morning. I was in my room, polishing my armor, when my mom answered the door. I heard Garrid, Zoe's father, talking to my mom. I didn't think much of it. It was common for people like Garrid, Eadric, and Emma to come knocking on the door at any hour of the day. They would come for various things. Advice, potions, even just to chat about random things. No big deal, right?

So I was surprised when my mother walked into my room, eyes alight with worry. Garrid was right behind her.

I stood up immediately, searching their faces for clues. "Mom," I said. "What's going on?"

Garrid ran his hands through his hair, biting his lip so hard I thought his fangs would pierce his skin. He turned and started pacing.

Mom laced her fingers together, squeezing so hard they turned bright red.

I reached out and took hold of her hands, pulling them apart. "Mom." I repeated. "What is going on?"

Tears sprang into Mom's eyes, speeding up my heart beat. "Zoe's gone." she whispered, voice harsh.

Garrid's shoulders shook, and he charged out of the room.

Mom glanced after him, a tear dripping down her cheek, then turned back to me.

I was speechless.

"Francis?" she whispered.

I swayed as the world spun around me.

"Francis!" my mother exclaimed, leaping forward.

I struggled to keep from passing out.

Mom wrapped her arms around me, holding me up. "It's going to be alright." she murmured, though I could hear the hesitance in her voice. "We're going to find her, don't you worry."

But the whole time she was saying this, all I could think was. What am I going to do without Zoe?

Before I knew it, everyone was gathered in front of my house. Garrid had turned into a bat, and was comforting the frantic Li'l. Vlad, Caleb, and Ivan were clutching each other and whimpering, staring around with wide eyes. If anyone even took one step closer to them, they'd flinch away.

Emma walked over to where Garrid and Li'l were perched together on a branch. "Garrid, if you could manage to tell us what you saw, I think that would be very helpful." she whispered slowly. She watched his face carefully for signs of inability to speak.

But Garrid nodded. "Watch Li'l for me." he told Emma.

"Of course." Emma promised.

Garrid flew down closer to the ground and almost immediately he was standing in his human form.

It was so hard to look at his face. His features drooped, his eyes bloodshot and teary. His hair was a mess, sticking up all over the place. He looked nothing like the well-groomed vampire he usually was.

He cleared his throat, and everyone went silent. He took a breath, then began to speak.

"It was around 9 when I decided to check up on Zoe. Usually she's up at practically the crack of dawn, flittering about getting things done, you know how she is..." His voice faltered a bit, and he had to pause to compose himself.

I watched him sullenly, my emotions raging a tiresome war inside me.

A little voice kept playing inside my head.

You didn't even get to tell her you loved her...

Woah, said another voice. What are you talking about? Sure, she's my friend, and I care about her safety, but I don't love her!

Don't play around! Just admit it already!

I shook my head. What? Ew! Me and Zoe? Yuck!

But even as I thought it, I knew I was lying to myself.

My heart skipped a beat.

"I'm in love with Zoe." I whispered.

My mother, not hearing what I had said but assuming that it was something tragic, gave me a sympathetic look, giving my shoulders a squeeze.

Everything seemed to almost go on mute as I realized this. Garrid's voice faded into the distance, but I caught the rest of what he was saying.

"I decided to check her room, as a last resort. Maybe she was sick." He took another shaky breath. "But when I looked in her room, not only did I find her missing, but..." he broke off, and tears started streaming down his cheeks. There was no way he could continue.

Li'l fluttered forward, perching on his shoulder. She rubbed a wing gently over his cheek, wiping away a tear, then continued where he left off, her voice high pitched and soft compared to his. We all had to strain our ears to hear.

"The room was a wreck." she squeaked. "The curtains were tattered and torn. Her bed had deep indents pounded into it. The window was smashed, and her bookshelf was broken into pieces. It's clear that there had been a struggle." She gulped.

Emma stepped forward to face the couple. "You don't need to continue, that's all we need to know." She turned to the rest of us, face grave. "It is clear that she has not just disappeared. She was taken by force."

Eadric stepped forward, expression determined. "Let's start searching." He walked over to Emma, taking her arm and leading her down the path.

I followed my parents, still dazed by both my emotional discovery and the realization that Zoe had been kidnapped.

After a while, though, I decided to take off on my own. I couldn't concentrate with everyone around me. To me, it looked like they were moving too slowly, at a snail's pace. Maybe it was my amped nerves or the fact that the girl I loved had not been found yet. Either way, I went on my own.

I trekked through the woods, darting through tree after tree. I was going to find Zoe. I just had to. I wouldn't be able to live without her.

She was my whole world now.

After about an hour of searching, I had to stop and rest. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was going to pop out of my chest.

I leaned back against a moss covered stone wall.

And suddenly, I was falling! I tumbled backwards, rolling over and over myself.

Eventually, I landed on the ground. I let out a groan, my cheek pressed against the cold, dirt floor. Slowly, I pulled my head up and checked out my surroundings.

I was in a dimly lit, stone tunnel. I assumed it was underground, because of both the dirt floor and the dark.

Torches were chained here and there along the tunnel.

I got to my feet, unsheathing my sword and taking a wary step forward.

So far, so good.

I continued down the tunnel. It seemed to go on forever. I was just considering turning back, when I heard chains rustling.

I sprinted the rest of the way down.