Disclaimer: This story belongs to one of my best friends and I was more than happy to publish it for her. This is for you JZ!!!

Broken Bonds

The halls were loud and crowded, as to be expected in any type of high school before homeroom. My coed boarding school in upstate New York is only slightly different from the other high schools in the area. The school hosts students of human and vampire orientation. I looked around the crowded halls to see extremely gorgeous vampires mingling with the average looking humans, a dangerous act that our headmistress seems to think is okay as long as none of the humans found out that the beautiful students are really vampires.

I heard and extremely annoying noise and soon there was a caramel colored hand snapping in my face.

I shook myself out of a daze and realized that the noise was our warning bell and the halls were beginning to empty. I looked up into the large, almond shaped, brown eyes of my best friend Bianca. Her long brown hair fell over her face as she looked at me with a small smile that barely showed her well developed vampire fangs and said, "Spacing out again Jeanette? Come on, we have to go to class."

My name is Jeanette Mendez. My best friend, Bianca, and I are juniors in high school.

Bianca had been my best friend since seventh grade. She was also the girl that turned me into a vampire. I hated her for it at first, especially since we both got expelled from our last boarding school for breaking rule number one, but she was the only one that could really understand me and she's the only girl that I can really be myself around. Don't get me wrong, I have other friends, but they'd probably turn on me at any given moment.

I ran my fingers through my curly brown hair and smiled back at her. "Sorry, let's go," I replied.

Bianca winked at me before turning to another of my best friends, Erik. Erik and I had known each other since we were kids and he always treated me like a little sister. Many vampires nowadays are able to coexist with humans and get along very well. Erik was tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and extremely gorgeous. He and Bianca had started dating in ninth grade; he left our old school to come with us to this one. He's a real sweetheart.

We started walking to our first period classes. Bianca and Erik were about two paces ahead of me; they walked hand in hand and they looked like the perfect couple. We passed the quarterback of the human football team, Aaron; he was talking to a vampire cheerleader, which made my anger spike. We had been friends in eighth grade but he had started to act really rude to me after I told him that I had a crush on him. My feeling had remained the same since then, and it kills me every time I see him with another girl. Bianca and Erik both knew of my pain and the three of us glared at him and the girl as we passed. He pretended to not notice.

"Cool yourself down, I can feel your anger up here," Bianca said without looking back at me.

"As can I," Erik said.

It is common for the creator of a vampire to feel the strong emotions of their created vampire, but only can an extremely powerful vampire can relay emotions to other vampires or sense the emotions of another vampire. Erik must have a purer vampire bloodline than I thought, but they were both right, an almost visible aura of hate was surrounding me. I tried to think of anything that made me happy but the anger was still there.

Bianca and Erik walked into their Vampire History class and I continued to walk to my Vampire Sociology class, a class that all turned vampires must take until their senior year. It's a simple class that teaches you the foundations of being a vampire. The class is extremely helpful because it is common for young turned vampire to have trouble controlling their hunger and emotions.

I walked into the class and sat in my usual seat at the back of the class. A few girls who claim they are my friends began to talk to me before the class began.

Our professor, Professor Nichita, didn't come, instead to male vampires wearing suits and sunglasses came in and dismissed our class. They said we were free to go into any other class. I immediately started walking to Bianca and Erik's history class. My 'friends' wanted to come with me but I insisted they go with their real friends, of course I put it nicer than that.

I walked as slow at the humans to the classroom on the bottom floor. I thought about the last time I had any blood; three days ago. I was hungry. The older you get in human years, the less frequently you will get hungry; at least that's what they teach us in vamp sociology.

I walked down the stairs past the second floor, the floor only for human students. I smelled the sweet smell of humans that I hadn't noticed as much twenty minutes ago. I decided to ignore the smell and continue to the ground floor that vampires and humans share.

When I got to the history classroom Bianca and Erik had put their chairs together in the back corner of the room and were whispering something in each other's ears. There were only two other kids in the room, and they were leaving as I was coming in. I pulled a chair over and sat with them.

"What's up? Where are all of the teachers?" I asked.

"Well, the big vamps in suits told us that many of the teachers had to go to a meeting with the council to discuss legal issues and blah blah blah," Bianca replied.

They got into deep conversation about the term paper they were going to write; I sat and listened.

A sharp pain attacked my temples and my throat. I began to rub my temples as subtly as I could. Bianca obviously sensed what happened and asked, "Are you okay?"

A stupid question; I felt my fangs grow out of hunger and I growled at her. "No, I'm most certainly NOT okay."

Realization flashed through her eyes, "You're hungry," well no shit Sherlock. She stood up and took my hand in hers. Erik was right behind her. "Come on, I'll take you to the kitchen."

When she touched me, I felt her pulse. All throughout her hand I felt the blood pulsing. I pulled away from her and stood up. "Get away from me!"

She reached out for my hand again but once again I pulled away. My throat was suddenly on fire.

"Don't you dare touch me! You did this to me!"

Erik took a step toward me, "Please Jeanette, she just wants to help you."

He was too close, I snapped. I leapt at him and we both fell to the ground. My vision became clearer and I could see everything with sharp precision. The blue veins in his pale neck looked appealing. I didn't bite first; I just licked his neck once. I felt strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me off of Erik.

I looked into Bianca's sincere face as she said, "Okay, just calm down. I don't want to hurt you-"

"You should be more worried about me hurting you," I snapped back. I didn't even recognize my voice as I said that. I stood up and ran as fast as I could out of that classroom and into a different room. The room I went into had a few of my 'friends' and a few humans.

At the moment I came in, a girl decided to get a paper cut on the book she was reading. The smell of blood hit my nose instantly, as well as the other four vampires in the room.

I rushed over to the girl, smiled, and said, "Hey, I think you should go wash that cut off. I'll walk with you to the bathroom." The girl gladly accepted my offer and it took all of my sanity to not rip into her soft human neck right there and then.

She walked ahead of me out of the room. Before exiting I looked over my shoulder at the other young vampires. They looked at me with angry faces. Their faces were easy to read and it was obvious that they were jealous that I was talking a possible meal away from them. I simply bared my fangs at them and hissed before closing the door.

As the girl washed her hand in the bathroom, my sudden hunger had started to fade. I looked at myself in the mirror. There were dark circles under my brown eyes and my curly Latina hair looked slightly frazzled.

The girl talked as she washed her hands. Apparently her name was Jessica and she was expelled from her old school for getting into three fights. She talks as if I care, as if I'm not best friends with two of the most popular juniors in the school.

When the smell of blood wasn't as noticeable, I walked Jessica to a classroom of only humans. After she was there and safe, I started to wonder what Bianca and Erik were doing; if they were looking for me.

After wandering around the ground floor for about ten minutes my hunger started to come back. I smelled something; it wasn't blood though. The smell was subtle but I easily recognized it; Aaron. I let my nose guide the way. I walked in a zombie-like trance to Aaron. His scent was like a magnet to me in my hungry state. While mindlessly walking I imagined what it would be like to sink my fangs into Aaron's soft tanned skin. I imagined his sweet blood flowing into my mouth, giving me strength and real life, real feeling. I imagined the bond we could share. I've loved him since I'd first met him in eighth grade; why he never shared the same feelings I'd never know. I'm smart, funny, pretty, and fun to be around.

When his scent was stronger than ever, I realized where I was going. I was headed in the direction of the back doors leading to the outside field where some of the human boys would be having their gym class.

I reached the door and saw Aaron. His human gym class was playing soccer. He was wearing a tight shirt and shorts. He looked so yummy out there sweating. I started to open the door when I got the strangest feeling that I was being watched. I closed the door again and took a moment to survey my surroundings. When I double-checked that there was no one in the hall, I looked back outside.

Something is wrong. Someone grabbed me from behind and pull me away from the door. I tried to scream, but a pale hand covered my mouth. I tried to break out of the person's grasp, but the person was obviously a vampire and I was too weak. The person dragged me across the hall and into an empty classroom, where they locked the door behind us once we were in.

"Stop struggling, you're nowhere near as strong as me."

The person was obviously a boy in his late teens, and what he said was true. I stopped struggling. The boy pulled me closer to him. I could tell that he was tall and I could feel his abs under his shirt from how tight he was holding me.

"If I uncover your mouth, do you promise not to scream?" He asked.

I nodded my head and he slowly moved his hand away from my mouth.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"That's not important. It's only important that you're meant to be with me. I love you, let me have you," he replied. His voice was like a soothing river flowing through my ears.

Something in my mind told me that it was okay for me to do what he said, but something small in the back of my mind told me to run away. I ignored that small part of my brain and nodded my head.

He licked my neck seductively then he released his death grip from around my waist.

I turned around to look at him. He was a few inches taller than me, very pale, blue eyes, and spiky brown hair. I'd never seen him before and he didn't smell familiar so I know he doesn't go to this school. I looked into his eyes and felt so drawn to him. My body acted of its own accord as I drew my fangs, bit my own wrist, and offered it to him. He looked into my eyes and smiled at me as he took my arm and licked the blood that dripped from it. I saw that his eyes had turned a blood red color, the color every vampire's eyes turn when experiencing bloodlust.

He released my arm but then wrapped his arms around my waist again and pulled me closer. I started to realize how hungry I was again when I saw the blue veins in his neck. I heard his heart beating at a steady pace.

"Go ahead," he said to me.

I didn't need to be told twice. I felt my aching fangs extend again and I bit into his neck. Since he was so much taller than me, I had to stand on my tip toes; as I did so, I pushed him against the wall and held him there as I steadily drank his blood. It was nothing like what the school gave us' he was sweet and pure. I could feel my energy boosting and some other changes taking place that were too hard to describe. The only word that could describe how I felt is: different.

I had tried to pull away a few times, but he only pulled me back closer. Only after I thought I wouldn't need any more blood for the next month did he finally let me go. I also realize that we were sitting on the floor at that time … well that he was on his back on the floor and that I was on top of him. He smiled at me.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"My name is Ian," he replied, "And you will be mine."

Then, without warning, he flipped me over so that he was on top of me and with lightning quick speed, he bit me. Shock ruled out all other feeling but pain did come after a few seconds. I wanted to scream but no sound would come out of my mouth. My blood felt like it was on fire.

"Please stop, it hurts!" I said after I regained my voice.

He pulled away from me and I could see my blood on his lips. "This is only the beginning. It will hurt for now, but I promise, the pain will go away." He leaned down to kiss me and I felt the pain begin to subside a little, but not as much as I would have hoped for.

"You want the pain to go away forever?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Then I need you to do something for me, and then we can be together forever. There are three easy steps to accomplishing what I want, and this is only stage one."

I nodded again, anything to make the burning pain throughout my body go away.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Step two is you have to kill someone."

The thought of killing someone to my vampire brain was a simple and easy task. "Who?" I asked.

"Aaron," he whispered.

When he said that, I think I had a mental breakdown. My heart wanted to say no but my body wanted to say yes. Different emotions were swimming through my mind. I felt anger and hatred for the way Aaron had treated me the last few years, but I also felt a kindness and warmth from the way he used to be nice and really sweet to me.

The years of silent treatment outweighed the few months that he was nice to me, I finally decided. "I'll do it," I said.

He smiled a dazzling smile and got off of me. Much more of the pain had subsided and it only felt like a nagging paper cut. I stood up and he pulled me close to hug me.

"Don't worry, after you do this I'll never let anyone hurt you. You'll be happy forever with me," he said before kissing me sweetly on the lips.

He let me walk out of the classroom and once again, I followed my nose to Aaron. Apparently the boys were no longer outside and I had to walk up to the human class only second floor.

As I was exiting the stairwell, extreme pain attacked my brain again. I grabbed my head and sat at the bottom of the stairs. "Don't do it Jeanette!!" It was Bianca's voice. I looked around the stairs but I didn't see her.

"Please, you're not evil like that boy! Don't hurt Aaron." Her voice was in my head; how she did it was a mystery.

"We have a bond Jeanette. You're very special. You're life energy drew me to you and made me turn you. You have an undiscovered power that no other vampire has. When you discover your power and I discover mine we will also have each other's power. That's our bond, do you understand?" She said rapidly.

"Yes, I understand," I replied.

"This boy, Ian, he wants to break our bond. We learned about this in class a few weeks ago. A really powerful vampire can break someone else's bond by sharing blood, having the weaker vampire do any deed, and sealing the bond by making love. All of this has to be done voluntarily, consecutively, in that order, and on the night of a full moon. Don't let that idiot Aaron make you so angry that you want to kill him. Ian claims he loves you, but that's a lie. Don't let him fool you! Don't do anything he says because that means he has power over you and if you obey that completes step two of breaking our bond and creating a new one. Our bond is a natural one because I am your creator."

"She's lying."

Ian was at the top of the stairs. He looked angry.

"That girl, your creator is lying to you. I would never do anything to hurt you. It's her that wants your power. She sensed your high energy level when you were a human and she wanted your power for herself. As soon as you develop your powers she's going to kill you."

The sound of his voice was so calming, so soothing. I wanted to believe him, but Bianca had been my best friend for years. It was hard to believe that she would lie to me about something so important. I had doubts but the sincere, loving look in his eyes reassured me.

"He held out his hand. "Come here," he said.

I stood and began to walk to him.

"NO!!!!" Bianca's voice in my head screamed. The pain began to subside and her voice started to fade.

I took his hand and he pulled me closed again. He picked me up bridal-style. Then, he ran. I'd never met any other vampire that could run like that. I buried my head in him chest to keep the wind out of my face and from stinging my eyes. He ran to the dorm room I shared with Bianca.

We went in and he dropped me on the bed and locked the door behind us.

"Your friend wasn't lying about one thing. We do need to make love to seal our bond," He said seductively.

He came over and sat on the bed beside me. He started to kiss me. Something started to feel wrong. I pushed him away.

"I'm not ready for this," I said.

He smiled reassuringly at me. "Don't worry; it'll all be over soon."

He continued to kiss me. The room was dark and I could feel his hands all over me. It felt right but it also felt to wrong. I pushed him away again, but harder this time.

"I said stop," I growled.

He sighed. "I don't want to hurt you. Your friend was also wrong about something else, steps one and two have to be voluntary, not step three."

His eyes started to glow red and he pushed me down on the bed. He kissed my lips and said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your choice."

I decided to do the less painful option, which was to sit and endure everything. I let my body relax and I felt his relax too.

"Good girl," he said as he kissed my cheek.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door. I looked up in time to see it get torn to pieces. I saw Bianca in the doorway in a fighting stance.

She hissed an extremely catlike noise at Ian and he growled back in response.

"Get away from her," she said.

Ian stood up and got into a defensive stance.

"You are a disgrace to vampires everywhere," Bianca said before leaping at Ian.

He jumped at her at the same time. They hit each other in mid air and fall to the f=ground with a loud thud. They were scratching and biting at each other. The sight of them made me want to scream.

That's exactly what I did. "BOTH OF YOU STOP IT!!!!" The scream was loud enough to make me want to cover my ears. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see them fighting.

"STOP!!!"

(0~0~0~0~0~0)

I sat u bolt upright in my bed. My face and hair was wet with sweat. I looked out the window. It was raining but through the clouds I could see the light of the full moon.

I heard Bianca stir in her sleep. "What's wrong?" she asked in a groggy voice.

"Nothing, just a bad dream," I replied. I think she was back asleep before I even finished the sentence.

Was that all it was? A bad dream? I could barely believe it myself. Everything seemed so real.

I looked out the window as lightning struck and through my sleepiness, I would bet my life I saw a boy with spiky brown hair pass my window.