Ethan's POV

"I'll never let anybody hurt you," I whispered to Sarah. As the last words I said to Sarah left my mouth, my shaking came to a stop. Black spots began to appear in my vision and I stopped breathing.

"No!" cried Sarah. I could feel her teardrops fall onto my face. "I won't let you die. You're not gonna be dead! You're … gonna be undead! Like me!"

Suddenly, an unbearable, burning pain came through my neck. I realized that that pain was vampire venom, which was coming from Sarah.

Her hard, razor-like fangs bit into my soft skin. The venom spread through my body quickly. Though, my heart rate began to slow down.

Wait! Slowing down? It's not suppose to be doing that. It's suppose to be beating regularly. Why is it stopping?

The darkness was finally taken over. I didn't expect my death to be like this. Was this the end? I was dead now. Stern must be dead now too.

Another question that is running through my head: Is this how death begins? Is it just an endless vision of darkness with nothing but the color black? No, it must be more than that. I pictured it as seeing a very bright light in the sky. The light is so bright and beautiful that it was too hard to resist. You have the feeling of not wanting to go towards it, but you mostly knew that you have to go. Once you started following the light, there's no turning back. As you travel through the light, every bit of the pain you had just suffered through just leaves your body. Then, it won't be long until you enter the gateway to heaven.

It wasn't my choice to began with. Stern wanted my heart so he could be the most powerful of them all. If I die, so does he. Killing myself was the only way to save my friends.

Actually, I've never given much thought of how I would die. Probably by some vampire or an old enemy of mine. I just always knew that I was going to die somehow in some way.

A loud beating was coming from my head. It was loud and was like a rhythm. It was my heart. My heart was beating again.

That meant I wasn't going to be dead. I was going to be undead.

—

This was going to be longer than I thought. Has it been hours? Has it been days? Months? Years?

I felt my friends carry my body. The movement was burning my body so much. Sarah told me that during a vampire transformation it's best not to move, because moving will cause terrible pain.

Was this how a vampire transformation is like? You're like asleep for two to five days. I could feel vampire venom flow through me every second.

"Is his body suppose to be this still?" asked Sarah.

"Not unless you want him to be in pain," said Grandma.

I felt a squishy sponge which was soaked in cold water touched my body. Sarah slowly and gently soaked my body.

They also stripped me off my clothing and dressed me in some new clothes.

I could feel how big my regular-sized clothes were on me now. A pair of lips kissed both of my cheeks. It was Sarah.

"I love you, Ethan," she whispered. "I'll never stop."

I love you too, Sarah, I thought. I wanted to say, but I couldn't even move my mouth.

An endless fire burned through me from my skull to my feet. It was more painful than anything I've ever experienced. More than all of the beatings Hu Li had done to me. More than Sarah when she accidentally hugs me with her vampire strength.

After a few moments, I was finally able to gain control of my body again. I knew it. I was able to twitch my toes and my nose, and twist my fingers into fists.

Everything was suddenly becoming clearer. I could hear those light footsteps become louder and louder. I knew they were downstairs, but to me, they sounded like they were right next to my ears.

"Ethan?" said Sarah. "Ethan? Please, Ethan, move your hands, blink your eyes, wiggle your toes, do something!"

I stayed perfectly still. I didn't want to move. Sarah didn't have to be so afraid.

"Sarah, it is alright," said Grandma. "He doesn't want to move."

"I'm just so scared. What if I was too late?"

"You weren't. Listen to his heart. He's not that injured."

"I can hear it. But I must have done something."

"Sarah, stop doing that. I know you did everything you could to save him. Ethan is going to be fine."

A broken whisper. "Okay, Grandma. By the way, can you see his future?"

"Let me try."

My future? Grandma can see my future, can she?

"Grandma?" asked Sarah.

"I see it." Grandma answered. She gasped, "Wow."

"What? What is it, Grandma?" asked Rory.

"I see Ethan—he is immortal. He runs so fast that he looks blurry. His eyes are gold and his skin is pale. He's so amazing."

"He's going to be the most bad-ass fledgling in existence." said Rory.

Suddenly, the fire started burning more and more. I could feel every vein inside of me burn.

"The venom—it's spreading." said Erica.

"Poor Ethan," said Rory. "I could just feel the burning spread through him."

Suddenly, I felt my hands, which were on top of my stomach, being pushed up. Like a force lifted them up an stopped. Instead of feeling my hard, boney ribs covered by flesh and tightened skin, I felt my stomach going…abs? It was hard yet gently soft.

Also, I could feel my clothes fitting me perfectly. They weren't baggy or big anymore.

"Do y'all see it?" asked Sarah.

"Yep," said Rory. "The venom healed him."

"I can see it," said Erica. "He's got some biceps now. And abs. Hot."

Hot? I never imagined Erica calling me hot. Speaking of hot, the venom was growing worse. Hot. Too hot. Burning hot. Much too hot. It's uncomfortable! The burning pain was too much to handle.

"Ethan, I know it's burning a lot," said Sarah. "Don't worry. It's almost over, sweetie. I promise."

Suddenly, the burning started fading away.

Du-dunt, du-dunt, du-dunt, du-dunt, du-dunt. Du-dunt, du-dunt, du-dunt, du-dunt, du—

My heart! My heart stopped beating. It stopped!

Sarah started crying. I felt one of her teardrops hit the ground. It was an earthquake.

"Ethan," Sarah whimpered, "if you can hear me… open your eyes." I took a moment.

No breathing. No pulse. No heartbeat. It was time. My time as a vampire has finally begun.

My eyes opened.