Chapter 1

The sun rose early in the morning, streams of light flowing through the transparent curtains of the American's bedroom. Alfred groaned, cracking his eyes open with a sigh. "Damn… I forgot to close the thicker curtains…" He grumbled, sitting up as he carefully approached the window to close the curtains. His ruby pupils narrowed as he got closer to the source of the painfully blinding light; He let out a small hiss before he quickly closed the curtains. Alfred let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God… That would've been a bad way to start the day!" He stretched, smiling widely and baring his fangs.

Alfred F. Jones was a vampire, and he had been since he was a child. When heading home from dinner with his parents one night, they were attacked by a vampire. His father had tried to fight the vampire off, but he was first to go, and in a rather gruesome way; the vampire had ripped out his throat and left him to bleed to death. His mother tried escaping with Alfred, but she too was caught; their speed, as with any human, was nothing compared to a vampire's. Her death, however, came from the heart; the vampire had torn it from her chest and drank from her arteries. When Alfred was all that was left, the vampire killed him the least painfully, as he simply sank his teeth into the boy's flesh and sucked him dry. After killing him, though, the vampire brought him back as one of his kind to be his thrall. However, when he turned 18, his strength was at its peak, and he got revenge by forcing a wooden stake into the other vampire's cold, unbeating heart. And, though it was quite a nuisance sometimes, he'd come to terms with the fact that he was one of the undead now, and that couldn't be undone.

Being a vampire was rather lonely, though. He tried making friends, but whenever he did, they either ran away or tried to kill him. Everyone was afraid of him, and though he understood why, he wished they wouldn't jump to conclusions. He was a hero, after all! It was just hard to believe that a vampire could be good.

Alfred looked around his room in boredom, humming a bit. "I think… I'm going to try getting a friend, again. I can't take this loneliness much longer!" He whined, before covering himself in thick, dark clothing so that the sunlight wouldn't hurt him, and also so people wouldn't know that he was a vampire. He slipped on long, dark clothes, a bomber jacket, a hat, boots, and shades to hide any obvious facts.

He was about to leave, but as he grabbed the doorknob, he noticed another problem. His nails had grown out quite a bit, and it was impossible to manage them. They were long and sharp, and could cut through things very easily. Shit! How was he supposed to hide those?! He tried cutting them, but that just broke the fingernail clipper. He tried biting them off, but they seemed as hard as a rock when he did so. He tried putting gloves on, but they cut right through! "Dammit!" He cursed, before deciding to just stuff his hands in his pockets as he headed out.

Once outside, he walked around and looked at everyone that passed by. However, it was hard to get a good look because they all ran past him. He sighed, grumbling as he walked on. However, since he wasn't watching where he was going, he ran right into someone and knocked them both down. He heard the other person release a small yelp and a stream of curse words, as he, himself, chuckled a bit. Alfred got up and extended a hand to the other man. "Hey, sorry about that bro! Are you okay?"

He heard the person sigh, as he felt him take his hand and stand up. "Yes, I'm fine. What about- My word. I've never seen fingernails so grown out!" The person exclaimed in a shocked tone, his eyes widening as he looked at the nails.

Alfred mumbled a curse himself. He forgot about his nails! "A-ah, yeah, I like… I like growing them out. Weapons of defense against baddies or whatever, y'know?" He laughed nervously, as the dirty blonde man inspected his hand.

"How peculiar… I've never seen skin so perfectly white before…" The Brit hummed, as Alfred felt his cheeks burn up from the, what he assumed to be, compliment.

"Yeah, I don't go out much, I'm more of a gamer type." The other man looked up into his sunglasses, his eyes narrowing as Alfred backed away. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't get so close to me. We just met, after a- Hey!" He huffed as the blonde removed his sunglasses. Alfred blinked, as he was able to see him clearer now. His eyes were like a deep, green ocean, and they sparkled with curiosity and intrigue. His skin was also pale, but a normal pale, unlike his own skin, and it was absolutely unblemished. His hair was as golden as a setting sun, though it was a bit messy and randomly sticking out in every which way. He was… beautiful. Alfred visibly blushed as the Brit stared deep into eyes.

"What an incredible color… Deep and rich, like small pools of blood…" The other man mumbled to himself as he got a good look at the vampire's features.

After a moment of eye contact, Alfred cleared his throat to break the silence. "Hey, um… Can I get those back, please?" He asked, gesturing to his sunglasses.

The other blonde didn't seem to hear him for a moment, but he soon snapped back to reality. "O-oh! Right, right, of course." He nodded, giving him his sunglasses as Alfred put it on. "...I hope this does not come off as weird or creepy, but would you mind telling me your name?" He asked, and Alfred nodded.

"Uh, sure dude. It's um- It's Alfred. Alfred Jones." He smiled slightly, being careful not to show his fangs too much. "Would you mind telling me yours?"

"My name is Arthur Kirkland. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Jones." Arthur replied, as the American nodded slightly.

"Y-yeah. The pleasure is all mine bro… Aaaaaanyway, I'm afraid that I must be going now! See you later, Arthur!" He said, before quickly dashing away, though he tried to keep at a normal speed, so that he wasn't suspected, as he left Arthur standing there in awe.

A small smile crept up on Arthur's face as he hummed, watching Alfred run off at a clearly forced pace. "What an interesting specimen…"