I walked down the dark street, stretching my neck and arms as I went. When I got to an intersection, the Moon came out from behind a cloud, washing me in soft light.

I paused and looked up at it. I smiled, feeling my fangs lengthening. There was always more prey out at nights at a full Moon.

I continued down the street, my blood-red eyes taking in all of my surroundings. From the scent of the air, no one was out.

Huh. You would think there would be people out and about on a Friday night in the middle of the summer.

That left me two options: go downtown or hunt in a different neighborhood.

Or...

My smile turned into more of a sneer. There was an abandoned amusement park near here. Maybe some idiots would be graffiting the walls or buildings. Easy pickings.

I leaned up against a fence, closing my eyes. I focused on the shadows; I imagined them taking me to where I needed to go. Sound faded, then came back. I opened my eyes.

I was standing under a tree near the park. Though it had been abandoned for years, I could still make out the words on the sign: CASTLE OF NATIONS.

A memory flashed to the front of my mind: Mr. Derippe, Castle.

I frowned, making a fist.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps.

I glanced toward the sound. A girl was walking toward the back of the park. I'd say she was around my age, 16.

I grinned. Now the hunt begins.

I ran toward her, not being silent or cautious. She whirled around, when she heard me, freezing at the sight of my fangs. Then, she started sprinting, heart rate accelerated from fear.

I kept a good distance from her, prolonging the chase; the more adrenaline in the blood, the better it tasted.

When she started slowing down, I sped up. I tackled her and pinned her to the ground. She had started screaming, saying words that I couldn't make out.

I opened my mouth, bearing my fangs.

The girl went silent, eyes spread wide in horror, heart about to explode.

I bent down to bury my fangs in her neck.

Suddenly, pain erupted on the right side of my head. I was knocked off the girl.

I sat up, blinking the stars out of my eyes and rubbing my skull. I looked over at the girl and saw that someone else was with her: a boy wearing a grey outfit with a watching helmet. There was a pickaxe by his side. He was crouching next to her, helping her sit up. When he looked up at me, I saw a face that was drawn on with mud. In that instant, I recognized him.

"Climber!" I said with surprise.

He blinked. "Kelly?"

"Yes." I stood up and walked over to them. The girl cringed away from me, hiding slightly behind the mannequin. "Is she your friend?" I asked, sitting down in front of them.

Climber nodded. "Yes. Her name is Clarice."

I nodded to her. "Nice to meet you."

"'Nice to meet you'?" she exclaimed. "You just tried to kill me and you say 'Nice to meet you'?" She turned to Climber. "And how do you know a vampire?"

Climber frowned, cocking his head. "What's a vampire?"

Clarice glared at him.

"What?"

I sighed, smiling slightly. "A vampire," I explained, "is someone with fangs and red eyes that drinks blood from humans to keep them alive. However," I added, glancing at Clarice, "I am not a full vampire." I felt my eyes turn back to their normal color, hazel-blue, and my fangs shrink until they were normal-sized incisors.

Clarice blinked, surprised. "Umm..."

"Now I recognize you better!" Climber said, smiling.

Instead of smiling back, I winced at the memory of when I first met him, what he was referring to:

I had gone to the Castle of Nations Park, wanting to get a job there, mostly so I could get away from my step-parents and step-brother. I knew I was a vampire and I wanted to live away from humans that I cared about and might kill by accident because I was hungry. I had been only 10 at the time, but I knew that the Castle was responsible for animating all of the statues/mannequins and making then act like humans, albeit naive humans. He would be in charge.

When the Sun had gone down, I snuck out of my house and trekked 10 miles down to the park through sparse woodland. When I arrived there, I climbed over the wall and snuck through toward Castle, hiding in the shadows. After hopping another fence, I made to approach Castle, but then the window in front of it started glowing red. I quickly hid behind a nearby crate, frightened.

Then I heard a voice, a voice filled with power, the voice of Castle. "What can I do for you Mr. Derippe?"

A much quieter voice replied; I had to strain my ears to hear it: "There might be...a problem...with some of...the statues...in the park." He talked strange, pausing a lot.

"Which statues do you mean Jack?" Castle asked.

I took a risk and glanced out from behind the crate. A small man with a large top hat was standing in front of the Castle. He was missing his right arm; all that was there was jagged stone. Blinking, I realized he was a statue. He was saying something: "The one from...Pirate Island...at the entrance."

"Ah yes. That one. And what do you suggest we should do?"

I sifted, accidentally knocking a rock into the crate, making a noise.

The statue named Jack turned around. His face was rather expressionless. "What are you...doing here?"

I stood up and walked up to him and Castle. I cleared my throat, suddenly nervous. "I, er, wanted to ask if I could get a job here."

Jack blinked in surprise.

Castle laughed. "Let an underage human work at the park! That's one I haven't heard before. What do you think Mr. Jack?"

Mr. Jack looked at me. "Well...I don't think...she would be able...to work well...with the others." He looked up at Castle. "Anyway...don't we have...enough children...working here already?"

"Good point," Castle said. "I'm sorry girl, but you have to leave now."

I turned and walked away, climbing over the wall like I was in a trance. I was walking by a food court when realization hit me.

I am not going to work at this park. I have to go back to my house and risk ripping out the throats of my family if I get too hungry. All because of a talking statue and a living castle.

Suddenly, every ounce of me was filled with rage.

I slammed my arm against the door to the food court. It opened and I fell inside, calling out. My head hit the ground hard, making my head spin for several moments. I groaned, feeling nauseated.

"Are you alright?" a voice said, making me jump in surprise. Whirling around, I spotted who had talked: a mannequin dressed as a mountain climber. He was holding a sponge and bucket, which he set down on a table, and walked over to me.

"I'm fine," I said, pushing myself up. I brushed off my clothes. Surprise was being replaced with the rage.

"You can sit down if you want," the mannequin said, smiling at me. "I don't normally get to talk to any humans, so I would like some company."

I looked toward the far door. "I better get going." I snorted. "Mr. Derippe and Castle wouldn't want an 'underage human' to stay at the park, now would they?"

He tilted his head to one side. "Is something wrong?"

The rage was about to burst out of me and into the open. I swear I could see the shadows in the room flickering, forming into the shapes of swords. Or was it my imagination?

I grinned at him. "Does wanting to destroy Jack and Castle count as 'wrong'?"

He nervously took a step away from me. I ignored him and started yelling at the ceiling. "Of course I can't work here! They just don't want a weakling around! And I'm too young. As if! I'm smarter than these statues! Just because I l-" I broke off when I noticed a pickaxe leaning against the wall. I walked over to it and picked it up.

"Th-that's mine," the mannequin stuttered.

I hefted it over my shoulder. "Mind if I borrow it?"

"To-to do what?"

"Just bash in a statue's head."

"You ca-can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Castle w-won't be happy!"

I laughed. "Why would I care what he has to say! He...he..." A shudder ran through my body. I felt empty: no rage, no hate, no nothing.

I shakily sat down on a bench. I set the pickaxe on the table. I shook my head. What just happened? "I'm...I'm okay."

The mannequin still looked nervous. "What happened?"

In a shaky voice, I explained.

When I had finished my story, the mannequin spoke, with sympathy in his voice. "I am sorry about that."

"Thanks," I said, smiling slightly. Then a thought hit me: "What's your name?"

"I'm the Climber. And your's?"

"Kelly."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but a gong sounded from somewhere deeper in the park. Climber jumped up, grabbing his pickaxe as he went.

"What was that?" I asked.

"The park will be opening soon," he answered, putting the pickaxe back against the wall. He walked back over and grabbed the bucket and sponge. "I have to get back to work."

"Okay." I stood up. "I'll go now."

Climber nodded to me. "See you around."

I turned and exited the food court, retracing my steps until I was home, mind whirling about all that had happened.

All of this passed through my mind in seconds. I was different from that helpless ten-year-old now. I was 16. Shadows bent to my will. And I was a ruthless killer.

Clarice asked, "So when did you guys meet?"

"Several years ago," I said quickly, "before the park closed."

Clarice hesitated, then said warily, "A friend of Climber's is a friend of mine." She held out a hand. "Just don't try to rip out my throat again."

Smiling, I shook her hand. "I promise I won't."

My stomach grumbled. I let go of Clarice's hand and nodded to Climber. "I have to go. I'll probably see you guys again."

"Goodbye!" Climber called as I turned and entered the trees.

It took me several minutes to find a random person and drain him of blood. I had just wiped my mouth when I heard a cheery voice behind my: "Hello!"

I whirled around. A man was standing behind me. He wore a white shirt and brown pants with an orange overcoat. A yellow bandana held back his dirty-blond hair. He looked human, but his right arm was stone-gray, along with a scar over his right eye; I deduced he was a statue from the park. A black raven sat on his shoulder.

"Hello..." I replied slowly, standing up.

The man tilted his head to the side. "You're a vampire?"

I stared at him coolly, letting my incisors lengthen and eyes turn red. "So what?"

He held up his hands. "Whoa there! I was just asking."

"Whatever." I turned my back to him.

I heard something rushing toward my head from behind. Ducking, I whirled around.

A blade slammed into a tree next to me, where my head had been seconds before. The man let go of it with a psycho-happy smile on his face. "You're quick!"

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before trying to decapitate me?" I snarled at him, standing up and taking a step away from him.

"Fine." The man pulled the sword out of the tree. It morphed back into the bird, which flew back on his shoulder. "I'm Karl, and this is Arma." He smiled. "And shouldn't you introduce yourself too?"

"My name's Kelly," I spat at him, turning back into the trees, ignoring him.

"That's not very nice..." I heard him murmur.

I rolled my eyes.