Blood Lust © thatsvintage

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or the Night World Series. Original characters do not belong to me and all credit goes towards their rightful owners.

Full Synopsis: The Night World is a secret society that lives among the human race; it is full of vampires, witches, shape shifters, and werewolves that walk belong side us each and every day. Troy Bolton's world is soon turned upside down when he meets the new 'cats' in school. They're mysterious, deadly, and have a taste for blood.

This fanfic is Rated M for violence, strong language, and sexual content.

Chapter One

The New Wildcats

It was a chilly Wednesday morning, the wind howling loudly against the trees. Troy Bolton awoke with a start and stared blankly at the ceiling. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he slowly sat up as he listened to the groans of his house as the wind hit against it with tremendous force.

"I had that dream again," he sighed, lying back down on his bed. Tonight was the third night in a row he dreamed of the mysterious raven-haired girl. He heard the old oak tree give a great thwack, nearly colliding into the glass window. Troy glanced at the clock and gave a slight groan.

It's only 4:40, he thought silently to himself. Rolling over onto his stomach, he covered his head with his pillow, desperately trying to silence the sounds of the storm and fall back into his peaceful state of unconsciousness. He could have sworn he could hear the girl's whispers as he fell back into his slumber.

The hallways of East High roared loudly as kids returned from their three week break. The jocks gave each other firm back slaps while the cheerleaders squealed with delight upon the others returning. Troy walked down the hall, narrowly avoiding bumping into a couple that was deep in conversation. He sighed. There was nothing new about this school. No matter how long he stayed away, the cliques and stereotypes would all be the same.

Opening his locker, he glanced over towards the inside of his locker door, smiling a little to himself as he glanced over the Polaroid photographs of him and his friends. One was of him and Chad, right after going on their first canoeing trip with his father and coach, Jack Bolton. Another was of him and his girlfriend of six months, Claire Darwin. The photograph was taken the night they first met at Silva Lanes Bowling Alley. It had just happened to be a battle of the sexes that night and the girls also just happened to win. In turn, the guys had to buy dinner for everyone.

He ran his finger over Claire's smiling face and smiled inwardly to himself.

Absorbed in his own thoughts, he wasn't aware of an approaching figure behind him. Silently, Claire took her hands and placed them over Troy's eyes.

"Guess who?" She cooed into his ear. "I'll give you a hint; she's sweet, smart, captain of the cheerleading squad, and has an insanely good looking boyfriend." Troy chuckled as he turned around while placing his hands on Claire's waist, pulling her closer to him as he pecked her on the lips.

"Hey, babe. I missed you." He whispered while playfully rubbing his nose against hers. Claire giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well, gee. We only haven't seen each other since last night, Troy." She stated mischievously, her eyes gleaming under the hallway lighting.

Troy smirked and let go of Claire just as Chad Danforth and Jason Cross made their way over to the couple.

"'Sup, Troy?" Chad exclaimed, slapping his teammate on the back with such force, Troy had to stifle a grunt. Jason laughed as Troy glared over in Chad's direction.

Clearing his throat, Troy nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Nothing much; I can already tell this semester is going to be crazier than the last, man!"

"You're telling me! I've already spotted at least five cuties I want to get to know, if you get what I mean." Jason wiggled his eyebrows, causing Troy and Chad to laugh as Claire rolled her eyes.

"You're such a pig, Jason." She scowled. Jason and Claire had dated and broken up two weeks before she and Troy got together. It wasn't that much of a shock when she and Jason broke up; he had cheated on her with at least three other girls. Claire only found out about his alleged screwing around when she was anonymously tipped off during cheerleading practice.

"Hey, you know what they say. Don't hate the playa, hate the game." Jason said, shrugging his shoulders before walking off. Chad motioned for Troy to follow but Claire stopped him.

"You're still meeting me today after the first lunch, right?" She asked, giving Troy a slight frown when he looked up towards Jason's retreating figure before answering.

"Yea, of course; I might be a bit late. You know, with practice and all." Troy said, giving her a small, apologetic smile. Claire nodded though her eyes showed her disapproval.

"Don't stand me up like you did last time. I am not going to wait for you, I mean it." Without giving him time to say anything else, she promptly kissed him before walking off towards her class on the other side of the school.

Sharpay Evans made her way to Mrs. Darbus' drama and music theory class. Giving Mrs. Darbus a brief air-kiss, she made her way over towards Troy and the rest of the jocks. Chad gave her a quick onceover before letting the look of disgust take over his face. No doubt she was there to try and seduce Troy, again.

Sharpay sat atop of Troy's desk and gave him a slight tap on his shoulder. Troy tried his best to hide the grimace that so desperately wanted to make itself seen on his face. He looked up at Sharpay wearily and waited for her to say something or at least go away.

Flashing one of her winning smiles, she ran her fingers through his hair and laughed slightly when he pulled back. "Hey Troy," she cooed. He grunted in reply with an unreadable expression plastered on his face. Taking that as a chance, she hopped off of his desk and leaned over it, making sure her cleavage was noticeable as she looked him right in the eye.

Troy glanced down at her chest before moving his eyes back up to match her stare. Sharpay just couldn't get the fact that they were through. Two years ago, they ended up dating for a total of three months. The relationship ended with a broken vase and thrown shoe, both incidents were Sharpay's fault.

"Would you like to do a little favor for me, Troy?" She asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Her platinum blonde hair hung in loose curls on her back as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Before she was able to tell him what the favor was, the bell signaling that fourth period had begun rang.

"Alright class, please take your seats. Mrs. Evans, kindly remove yourself from Mr. Bolton's desk and find the seat I've assigned to you." Darbus clapped her hands, ushering Sharpay hurriedly to the other side of the room. Fixing her glasses, she began to pace slowly in front of the room. "Today we'll be reviewing Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Take out your notebooks and sit with your original groups for a couple of weeks back."

Chattering and sounds of chairs scraping against the linoleum floor echoed throughout the room as the students did as they were told. Someone tapped Troy on the shoulder for the second time that morning, snapping him out of his daze. He turned to notice that his group had already formed in the back and were waiting for him to join. Jason grinned and waved for him to follow towards the back. Troy stood and quickly made his way towards Chad who was of course sitting amongst a group of cheerleaders.

"What's the point of this assignment anyway?" Chad began as Troy took his seat beside Amber, one of East High's loudest—and bustiest—cheerleaders. "I mean, seriously. All this crap speaks about is how these two teens fall in love after knowing each other for what seems like a few hours and they both die at the end. If you ask me, this entire read was just a way to waste my break." Chad said grouchily. Amber gave him a sharp poke in the ribs.

"It's more to it than that, Chad. You would know if you'd paid any attention a couple of weeks ago." She rolled her eyes, not the least bit surprised that Chad hadn't. Troy grinned as Chad sent a glare in Amber's direction and quickly joined in on the discussion.

A bit of time passed before the class quieted into what seemed like hushed whispers. Troy didn't notice as he went on with his analogy on how the story should have ended. He noticed Jason looking past him and looked at him questioningly.

"Dude, what are you staring at—,"

Following his friend's gaze, Troy ceased all movement when he saw finally saw what caught his friend's attention. Recognition hit him like a ton of bricks as he gaped at the figure that moved through the door timidly. He couldn't believe it, it was her. The girl from his dreams!

He saw her unusually deep crimson eyes with the amber specks surrounding the irises, her long flowing raven hair that hung loosely around her shoulders and the small of her back. She had creamy pale skin that contrasted with her small pink lips. The clothes she wore were curve fitting and complimenting, making her seem like she'd just come off a runway. Troy couldn't help but stare.

She was beautiful, unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He felt as if he were caught in a trance, not being able to escape and strangely not wanting to. The girl seemed to float over towards Mrs. Darbus, as if she were a ghost. She handed Mrs. Darbus a single sheet of paper and was then pointed in the direction of her seat. She sat down without making a sound and looked to the front of the room, already appearing bored out of her mind.

Troy felt a nudging at his shoulder and glanced over to see Chad giving him a look. "See anything you like?" He whispered jokingly. Troy chuckled a little and shook his head. "Hey man, if you were single, I wouldn't blame you if you were to call dibs on her. I mean, damn. She is capital H-O-T, fine!"

The new girl shot a glance over in their direction, seeming slightly amused as if she'd heard everything Chad had said a few seconds before. Troy gave her a friendly half wave and was relieved when she did the friendly gesture back. Her lips curved up into a shy smile as she looked away from him and down towards her book.

Troy felt himself gazing at her longingly, taking in her small frame and features. She glanced back up with her piercing crimson eyes, causing Troy to blush having been caught staring. He quickly turned back around where Chad and Amber were laughing over a joke Troy had clearly missed. He sighed and wiped the perspiration from his brow and began scribbling diligently on a piece of paper, waiting for the period to be over.

He felt the new girl's eyes boring into him as he wrote down nonsense on his paper, desperately trying to remain interested in the conversation but failing miserably. This moment was too surreal for him, he couldn't believe—as corny as it sounded—the girl of his dreams literally just walked into his classroom.

Ten minutes later, Mrs. Darbus cleared her throat. "Okay class, please rearrange your desks back to their original spots and chat quietly until the bell sounds."

The sound of chairs and desks scraping against the linoleum floor echoed through the class once more as everyone did as they were told. Different voices filled the room during the process until the whole room was droning with muttered conversations. Troy sat at his desk, debating whether he should look back at her or not. He hardly knew her, but he couldn't help but feel so attracted to her. The bell rang before he made his decision and his heart sank a little. He looked back finally, only to realize that she was already gone.

That was weird. He hadn't even seen her get up; much less pass him to get out of the out of the classroom. Standing up rather quickly, he made his way out of the room as fast as he could while scanning the hallway, looking for her. He felt someone tap his shoulder and spun around, nearly colliding into someone else. "Sorry," he apologized quickly before his breath caught into his throat.

She smiled at him, showing off her pearly whites. "Hi there." She said softly, her voice strangely soothing.

"Hey, yourself." Troy said, clearing his throat to rid of himself of the lump that formed.

Yea, that's a perfect first impression, Troy. He thought, annoyed with himself. He heard her giggle lightly and watched as a smile played at the corners of her mouth. He realized that he liked her laugh, it was pretty cute.

"I'm Gabriella Montez." She said, interrupting his thoughts.

"I'm Troy Bolton. It's nice meeting you." He stuck his hand out awkwardly.

"Troy," she said, as if testing his name on her lips. She gave him an absent look and suddenly smiled again. She reached for his hand slowly, as if afraid to touch him. Before their hands made contact, a boy reached up and snatched Gabriella's hand away with a quick jerk. Troy appeared startled as he looked at the boy who'd interrupted so rudely, whereas Gabriella didn't appear fazed at all. She calmly took the stranger's hand in hers and whispered something into his ear. Troy blinked as her lips moved with inhuman speed, her choice words not reaching Troy's ears.

The strange boy kept his eyes locked on Troy the entire time, only looking away when Gabriella released his hand. Troy noticed both their right hands contained some sort of ring that held a beautifully designed black rose, entwined in silver vine-like thorns. Before he knew it, they were both walking away, the boy's hand on her back, as if he were guiding her. Gabriella's crimson eyes met Troy's one last time before disappearing around the corner.

"Bye, Troy." She called softly.

Infuriated, Gabriella grabbed her brother's arm roughly and made him follow her outside, into the courtyard. He hissed in protest but quickly stopped when she dug her fingers into his arm. She soon noticed her fingers were grasping air and uttered a silent curse.

"Ian, get out here." She hissed.

Hearing him chuckle behind her, she whipped around and watched as he flitted around the courtyard carelessly.

"What's wrong, sis? Did I ruin your fun?" Ian asked, an amused look plastered on his face as he ended up directly in front of Gabriella once more.

"Knock it off. What the hell was that?" She demanded impatiently.

"What was what?" He asked, putting on his best innocent act. Gabriella hissed and let her fangs slide down, warning him that she was soon going to lose her patience and that he was going to lose his head. He put up his hands in mock surrender.

"Whoa, little kitty, put the fangs away. I have a good reason why I did that." Ian waited until his sister's fangs slid back into place before starting his explanation. She watched closely as he let out an exasperated sigh.

"You know what mom said. We can't get too close to these…humans." She noticed he struggled with the last word, as if saying it were a challenge. He looked at her and shook his head sadly. "We have to stay away, Gabs."

"Why are you so riled, Ian? I was simply introducing myself to him. I wasn't asking him on a date!" She threw her hands up and let them fall back down to her sides limply.

"I know, Gabs. However, you know we can't be too careful. Let's not have a repeat of what happened in Montreal—," Ian was cut off as Gabriella grabbed his neck and slammed him into a nearby wall. Her eyes flashed dangerously as she tightened her grip.

"I told you to never bring that up again." Ian laughed wildly and looked his sister in the eye.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? Be sensible, dear sister. Gather your wit." Gabriella snarled, her crimson eyes turning to a menacing shade of cardinal. The amber in her irises blazed as her pupils began turning into slits. She hissed before throwing him down on the ground, allowing herself to regain control of her anger. A minute passed before she was able to think clearly. Surveying the damage she caused, she shook her head at her mindless behavior; the wall was caved in to where Ian's body had been thrown against it. The impact caused the brick to crumble, leaving a small crater in the wall.

Sighing inwardly, she made a mental note to have that fixed before anyone noticed. Looking towards her brother, she moved over towards his body and in one swift motion had him back on his feet. His face was deathly pale and Gabriella noticed that breathing was becoming somewhat of a challenge for him.

"Have you fed this morning?" She asked, speaking low so only he could hear. They were alone in the courtyard but her instincts took over. Ian shook his head slowly, his eyes reflecting his hunger. "We'll talk about this later then."

Why did you wait so long? She thought to him as they made their way through the school as quickly as "humanly" possible.

I don't know, he mentally sighed. The halls were crowded and noisy. A group of girls glanced in their direction and one gaped.

"Are they new here?"

"Oh my God, who are they?"

"Are they together?"

Gabriella held back a grin at the questions that were asked left and right. Stares and shy glances were cast in their direction as they made their way to the front of the school.

Cat, it isn't polite to listen to other people's conversations, she heard Ian think dryly. Even mentally, his voice was weak. Ian usually called her 'Cat' in a way to tease her, but the name stuck after awhile.

Gabriella figured the name defined her personality; a silent, strong, independent vampire.

Sharpay and Ryan stood by Sharpay's locker, watching the strange new 'couple' make their way outside.

"Where could they be going? School just started." Sharpay said, mostly to herself. Ryan glanced at his sister, instantly recognizing the thoughtful expression plastered on her face.

"Shar, don't." Ryan said. She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. The sly grin that tugged at the corners of her lips told him that she wasn't listening.

"Oh, come on, Ry," Sharpay pouted, picking lint off of his shirt and patting his shoulder. "We could use some excitement in this hick town." She began walking, towards the double doors of the school entrance.

"But are you seriously going to just spy?" He jogged to catch up to her before grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Why, of course. I mean, why the hell not?" She let out a small laugh that sounded more like a scoff that made her hair bounce over her shoulder. "Look Ry, if you don't want to go…" She trailed off, somewhat hoping he'd object. When he didn't, she rolled her eyes and stalked off. Walking down the steps, she scanned the school yard for the pair but was only greeted by the sight of endless rows of grass.

"They couldn't have left that quickly." Sharpay mused. She scanned the yard one last time and uttered a small sigh.

"Having fun spying, Shar?" A voice whispered in her ear suddenly, startling her. Sharpay spun around and nearly tumbled down the rest of the steps before grabbing the rail to balance herself. Her legs felt like twigs as she tried to calm down.

Ryan gave her a look of concerned and grabbed her arms, trying to help her. She shoved him away. "What is with you? I could've snapped my neck!" She screeched angrily, feeling her heartbeat slow down just a fraction. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, taking a deep breath before looking his sister in the eye.

"That's why you shouldn't snoop around all the time, Shar. Besides, what have they got to hide? They're new here; hardly anyone will pay attention to them."

Sharpay wasn't so sure.

Gabriella leaned against the bark of an old oak tree, waiting for her brother to finish feeding. Birds chirped happily overhead, their songs echoing inside of her head.

At least they have a chance at happiness, if not I.

She sensed a presence nearby and shot a glance towards her right. Ian was silently approaching, his chin dark red and dripping. She felt herself smile a little.

"Are you always such the messy eater?" She took a few strides and stood in front of him, trailing her finger across his chin. A drop of blood hung onto her finger tip and she hungrily sucked on her finger till none remained.

He didn't seem to notice that the blood was there before and quickly wiped it off with his arm. Walking past her, he settled next to the tree Gabriella had been standing by only seconds before. Puzzled, she stared at him, trying to read his thoughts. She drew a blank. He was shielding his mind away from her, not letting her enter willingly. Gabriella looked away, feeling her head throb violently from the strain.

"When will these urges stop?" He asked softly.

Gabriella's head snapped up in his direction once more and gave him a look of pity. She didn't have an answer for him. She didn't think she ever would. She felt a tug inside of herat the sight of him. He seemed so hopeless, vulnerable even. Gabriella looked away, not being able to look him in the eye.

"Why did you do this to me?" Ian urged, not noticing his previous question went unanswered. Her eyes widened slightly and forced herself to look at him. Though his misty gray-blue eyes were glazed over, she could tell he was waiting for an answer.

"Please, Ian. Don't." She sighed, leaning back. Not now, she thought silently to herself. She didn't want to have this conversation, she refused.

"No, I want to know why, Gabriella." He was losing his temper. "Do you know how hard it is to fit in with these humans without hurting them? Do you realize how easy it is for someone to expose us? Why the hell would you make me go through this?" By now, he hadn't bothered to keep his voice at an even level. It echoed off the trees, into the dense forest.

"You know why I did it, Ian. Did you really want to die?" Her voice, in contrast, was calm and steady. He shook his head, turning away from me. She lowered her eyes and stared at the ground. "That night would've been your last night. But I saved you. I saved you, Ian. If I had any other choice, I would have went with it—," She trailed off at the sound of leaves rustling and wood cracking. She looked up to see that Ian was punching a tree.

A single tear ran down his pale cheek. "It isn't fair." He whispered, mostly to himself. "Mother called me her special boy. I was the only one who wasn't affected by the vampire blood coursing through my veins." He looked in her direction, his eyes wild. During his reminisce, he settled down on the ground, his legs having given out on him. Gabriella gathered enough courage to kneel down beside him. He continued. "I was the only one who could live a normal life. I didn't have to worry about snapping someone's wrist just by grabbing them. I didn't have to worry about thirst. I didn't have to worry about the Nightworld and the clan."

All the while she simply held him while he ranted. Of course, Gabriella wished she could take back what she gave him. Because of her, the vampire blood within him awoke. Everything in his life ended, the very same day she saved him, he was reborn into his inner self.

People consider them monsters, the freaks of nature. Hollywood portrays the members of the Nightworld as blood thirsty demons, who only feed to kill. Who sleep in coffins during the day and walk the night. At least they have one thing right; vampires do need blood to survive, but are only take it in small amounts. Without it, they would suffocate and die. One of the main rules of the Nightworld is to never kill a human host. The one that was next in line was to never fall in love with a human. The consequences of any member of the Nightworld getting discovered by the humans resulted in automatic death to the human and the deceiver. Gabriella vowed to make sure that didn't happen to her or to her family; she owed them that much. She knew deep inside how hard it was for Ian to be the monster he tried so hard not to be for so long. If only she could take it back and still be able to have him there with her.

Gabriella noticed after a few minutes that he was silent and looked over at him only to find him staring at her, now fully conscious of his surroundings once more. She opened her mouth to apologize but he held up a hand and silenced her.

"We should get back." Dropping her hands to her side, she stood. Not daring to look over at her brother, she inhaled the chilly air.

I couldn't help you without hurting you, she thought softly. I promise I won't let you get hurt by me or anybody else.

Ian looked over at her and nodded solemnly and the both took off towards the school.

A/N: Okay so I decided to give this story a complete do-over because it was completely horrible when I reread it two years after making it. I have to say, I am actually satisfied with this remake. I hope you guys are too and I sincerely hope I get reviews on this story! I really have a lot of ideas and I have a feeling it will turn out great so if you guys don't mind, please feel free to leave a review.