Co-working with Dakotah Rose Young-Ateara! I hope you all enjoy it.

1. Nathan

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

– Robert Frost

"Hey baby, want to be my partner in crime?"

I looked over my shoulder to find a tall, blonde woman with scary, long, red nails staring at me as if I were a delicious meal. Funny how she is more a meal to me than I am to her… Funny how I can't look at her like that because I'm trying to be a nice guy despite my curse…

"No, thanks." I replied nicely.

She made a face, insulted by my rejection, before turning around and walking away, looking for a new victim. A woman like that certainly would find someone who would fuck her senselessly and leave her after it was done. What a curse that was as well.

I turned back to my untouched drink. Why was I here again? Oh yes. Trying to escape boredom. That evil plague followed me ferociously, hoping to torture me and then kill me.

A vampire's life is quite sad, unlike what the movies and books usually tell. The idea of living forever is appealing, yes, but it's also a terrible bother. What to do when you cannot sleep? What to do when you can only feed from one only thing? What to do when you have forever and most of the people you meet don't?

I was changed in 1989, when the Berlin's Wall came down. My mom, a poor naïve British girl, had fallen in love with a German man who took her to Germany after she got pregnant with me. They lived happily for six years and then my dad disappeared. The next time I saw him he was in my mom's room, sucking the life out of her. He had been turned into a vampire to fight in some unknown war between the vampires and the Children of the Moon. When it was done, he came back to us with the idea of changing us into the happy family we should have been. Unfortunately to my mom, her blood was too sweet and too tempting for my dad and he didn't stop until he had drained all blood from her. When it came to me, he apologized, saying he couldn't live alone forever, and bit me. I killed him a few months later, after I had learnt how to survive as a vampire.

But I don't kill people anymore. After I murdered my dad, I decided to go for another way: animals. Later on, I found a few others who also had that life style and they called themselves vegetarians. So, yeah, I guess I am one as well. Thanks to that, my eyes, instead of blood red, are golden. Pretty cool, eh? Not really. Women get too interested in them. Or my perfect bone structure, or my strength, or my good looks (because being a vampire means being beautiful and, since I don't like attention, that sucks)… I don't want romance. I've never looked for it because, honestly, who would want a monster? Another monster, perhaps? But isn't that a mess in the end? Isn't that…unhealthy?

Although many vampires have a mate, I can't see myself with one. I've too many issues to share with someone else. I don't like anything. I have human addictions – I love smoking. I would smoke all the time if I could, but people would get too suspicious. Stupid people. Stupid everything.

"Hey sweetie, want to…"

"Not looking for a partner in crime, thanks." I interrupted, pissed off, without bothering to look at her. "Move along."

I heard her sniff and then walk away. I could smell her anger from the distance. Hell, I could hear her complain about me to her friends, saying I was arrogant and she deserved better than what I had done and…. Blah, blah, blah!

Human women have a problem: they are taught to be needy. They have the all concept of being a bitch completely wrong. Stand up for what you want isn't the same as showing off your body and pretending to be hard to catch.

"He didn't even look at me!" I heard the obnoxious girl still complaining.

Sighing, I stood up, left my drink behind, and walked out of the bar.
As usual, the cold night didn't embrace me as it did to humans. My freaking stupid skin is way cooler than any reachable temperature in America. (I do hate everything about me; I just don't want to admit it out loud.)

I looked up at the dark sky, clouds hiding all the stars. I have recently arrived at the United States of the America. I don't know why I left seven years ago. I did see much on my trip around the world, but it wasn't fun doing it alone. Nothing is fun when it's done alone.

Anyway, I've decided to stop in Seattle for a while. I had never visited this town before and I was curious about it. Some vampires told me it was a fine city to stay as a supernatural creature. I guess it's because it's near Forks and La Push where the shape-shifters and the Cullens live. I've met the Cullens a few times. Edward understood my point of view in life as a vampire. We kind of got along. We're not exactly best friends, but… two monsters who accept their monstrosity do have some fun conversations.

I took out my pack of cigarettes and lighted one up. Ignoring a drunken man asking for a cig as well, I kept walking. When he started to follow me, I ran in vampire speed until I stopped at a small river in the middle of the woods.

I sighed once again, although I didn't really have to do it when I was on my own. After all, I didn't have to pretend to be human when no one else was around… Maybe I'd do it for me. Pretending not to be a monster was my way to survive. As if I was doing a nice job… I've tried to kill myself a few times. I've never actually went all the way because I'm a coward. When I'm about to, I think to myself "What if there's something out there for me? What if something good comes up and I'm dead?"… I'm so naïve, aren't I? Just like my mother. But she ended up dead, she had an easy fate.

I lay down by the river, noticing the position of the moon. In just a few hours the sun would come up. If it weren't a cloudy day, I wouldn't be able to go out among the humans. Did I forget to say that my freaking stupid skin sparkles in the sun? I'd rather burn, to be honest.

I closed my eyes, inhaling slowly the smoke of the cigarette. I held it for a while until I had enough and exhaled it.

I kept this routine for a while, watching the sun finally rise on the sky, joyful and bright as always. My face and hands immediately started to sparkle, showing off my royal freakiness.

I, sadly, finished my pack of cigarettes and, frustrated with that fact and life itself, I closed my eyes and counted to ten very, very slowly.

You know what my mom used to say? "Life is beautifully ironic, my son, enjoy it." I never believed in it. I mean, I know life is ironic, but beautiful? I can't really see it. But what can I say or do? I'm a monster. I'm ugly and I'm partially alive. My beauty means death, my sparkling skin means freak, my golden eyes means a nice monster, but still a monster. Who would love me? Who would put up with me? What kind of beauty could the world give me after all I've done?

And then I heard it. A small crack of twigs. I opened my eyes, curious, sat up and looked around, trying to find out who or what provoked that sound.
Then, I saw her, trying to hide behind a tree, shy and adorable. If my heart had been beaten, it would have stopped. If I could breathe, my breath would have been taken away.

For the first time in my existence, my eyes saw true beauty.