"You're baking."

"Thank you, I didn't know," Lily's mother deadpanned as she pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven. A wave of heat hit Lily's face as the aroma of chocolate chip cookies made her mouth water.

Lily shook her head, "You never bake." Her mother set the tray on the counter, slipping off the red oven mitts.

"I know," her mother replied indignantly. "But we have a special occasion."

Lily pursed her lips, "Is there a holiday I've forgotten?" She leaned against there small kitchen table, barely big enough for the two of them. Not that Lily was complaining, Carfax Condominiums were very nice, and much better than Lily ever thought they could afford. Though the kitchen could barely fit two people at a time, their bedrooms were spacious and the bathroom was very nice. They'd barely lived there half a year, but Lily already saw it as home.

Plus, her friends Alison and Tom lived there as well. The twins and Lily had been inseparable since near birth, and Lily was elated to be living but one floor away from them. Of course their rooms were much nicer than hers. Their family had quite a bit of money, so their condo spanned nearly all of the twelfth floor.

Lily's mother pilled the cookies onto a plate, "We have a new neighbor!"

"Is it George Clooney or something?" Lily watched as her mother kept adding more and more of the cookies to the plate. "Seriously, you didn't get this excited when Renfield moved in." Though, granted, Renfiled was a bit of a freak. Okay, not a bit, a lot. Lily was fairly certain there was something wrong with this man's brain and had a theory that he'd escaped from an asylum. No one believed her though.

Her mother sighed, "No, it's Christopher Drake. He owns that building."

"Trying to butter him up?" Lily teased, bumping her mom on the side.

"No," Her mother handed her the plate, "You are."

"Me!" Lily's eyes grew wide. "Mom! I'm horrible with new people! If anything, I'll scare him away. I'll get our rent doubled! I'll..."

"Be perfectly fine," Her mother consoled, staring at her with her dark brown eyes. Lily looked a lot like her mother, except for the eyes. They shared the same fair skin and hair, but Lily's eyes were green while her mother's were brown.

The brown eyes rolled, "Take Alison or Tom with you. It'll be fine. Make a new friend."

"Ugh," Lily relented, clutching the platter closer to herself. "Do I get any information? Is he old? Young? Handsome? Ugly? Moderate..."

"I don't know, I've never met him."

"And you send me," Lily tsked. "Not good parenting, Laura."

Her mother had had enough. She never took kindly to her daughter using her first name. "All right, smart ass, go get your friends. You're meeting the new neighbor."

OOO

"What if he's a serial killer?" Tom munched a cookie as he asked the question.

Lily groaned, "That's what I said!" They walked down the hall to the stairwell, on their way to the thirteenth floor. The thirteenth floor was always a taboo place. Lily had been up there many times herself, but there wasn't anything but a short hallway and a door. The door lead to the master suite and the door was always locked. "At least we finally get to see the master suite." Lily said to her friend.

Tom nodded, swallowing his cookie, "Ali will be jealous." Alison had been at work. "I hope this Drake guy is hot. I mean Christopher Drake, sounds like a hot guy."

Lily rolled her eyes, "You have a boyfriend."

"I love John, but attractive men are always good for the eyes."

The opened the door to the thirteenth floor and Lily had the strangest feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't fear or nausea, those she had felt many times before. No, this was a new feeling. Not excitement...longing. Yes, the most strange and melancholy longing.

Lily tried to not let herself be sad usually. She had plenty of reasons to be sad, but tried to never think on them.

The one reason she found silliest of all was that she wanted a boyfriend. It was a stupid thing to feel sad about: how can you miss a thing you've never had? God, she hadn't even been kissed.

That same longing filled her as she walked down the hall, feeling trancelike...as if something were calling to her alone...

Tom knocked on the door, brining Lily out of her daydream.

Barely a moment passed before the door opened inward and Lily felt her entire stomach drop to the ground.

Him. It's him!

What? What does that mean? I've never seen this man...

Him! It's him! Oh my God...

She dropped the plate of cookies.

Lily's cheeks were on fire, "I'm so sorry!" She got to her knees and gathered the cookies that had bounced off the platter. "We brought these here to welcome you to the building and here I go dropping them all."

He had gotten down in front of her. She could not breathe. Air refused to flow into her lungs. Perhaps it could not get past the fire burning on her face.

"It's quite all right," He said with the slightest hint of an accent. His words seemed to fly from his mouth and encircle her head like birds.

Lily looked up, locking eyes with him at that same moment. His skin was even paler than her own, and his eyes a very peculiar shade of blue. He had this gauntness about him that made her wonder if he was ill. His dark hair was straight, and longer at the top than on the sides.

And he was so familiar. God, this was a face she had seen a thousand times. But where? How? She had not met Christopher Drake before this day. She had not even heard of him.

They both stood, never breaking eye contact as they did. Lily soon thought better of herself and looked at the tray.

"I'm Lily," she said meekly. "Lily Langly."

"Tom Harper," Tom quickly added.

Christopher smirked, as if he'd already known their names, "Christopher Drake," he said. "Please, do come in."

Tom gave Lily a quick glance before they ventured into Drake's home. Lily had the most peculiar feeling that she would've followed whether or not Tom approved.

The suite was actually very new and modern looking, with light walls and accents. They stopped in the middle, a circular room with windows, where a living area had been set up. Lily noticed that the windows were unusually dark and deduced that they must've been tinted. Strange, but with so many windows, perhaps it was necessary.

Lily set the tray on the coffee table, "How are you liking it here?"

"It's very charming," he sat in an armchair and Lily took the queue to sit on the couch. Tom soon followed, looking more uncomfortable than a student in the principal's office.

"You're accent, where are you from?"

He smirked, "Transylvania."

"That's right," Lily blinked. "Uh, my mother told me that. I forgot." Her mother had said nothing of the sort. Why had Lily know that? I'm insane... Lucky guess.

He looked away from her and the buzzing in her head stopped. "Would you two like anything to drink?"

"No, thanks," Tom answered first. "I actually have to leave for work soon."

"Oh, forgive me," Drake stood, straightening his black coat. "I did not mean to keep you."

"No, it's fine," Tom stood, and Lily followed suit. "But I should be off.

Lily wanted to stay. Which was crazy. She didn't know Christopher. He could very well be an axe murderer. Or a womanizer. Or a...

They were at the door, "Well, I hope we see each other soon." He shook Tom's hand and said something about how nice it was to meet him. Tom grumbled something back.

Christopher locked eyes with her again. God...she knew him. How did she know him? She had the most distinct feeling that he knew. There was this small smile at the corner of his mouth that teased her.

"Lily..." He took her hand, but instead of shaking it, brought it to his lips and kissed it.

A library. She was in a dark library in an old manor home. He was there, sitting by the fire as he often did. He stared at the flames, resting his head upon his hand, gazing at the thing that could very well kill him.

Lily felt herself smile as she crossed to him, reaching his chair and perching on the arm rest.

"You seem broody today," she pouted.

He smirked, "Bad weather, my dear."

"Are you thirsty?" Lily extended her arm out to him. He smiled at her, extending his fangs and biting into her flesh...

Mina stumbled, "S-sorry," she blinked. "I'm really clumbsy today."

What was that?

Drake smiled as if he very well knew what that just was.

OOO

"That was the weirdest thing of my life," Tom said immediately after Drake closed the door.

Lily nudged him, "Shh! He might hear you."

Tom shook his head, "Did you know him, or something? It seemed like you knew him."

"I've never seen him in my life," Lily said, trying to hide her expression. The words felt like a lie in her mouth, but they were true. And there was no way she could explain what she had felt to Tom. She'd sound crazy.

Tom opened the door to the stairway, "Well, then he's super into you. It was like he was having sex with you with his eyes."

"Tom!" Lily felt herself blushing again. Tom only laughed, starting down the metal stairs.

"Sorry, Mary. Didn't mean anything by it."

Tom, Ali, and John all had this annoying habit of referring to her as Mary whenever she acted like a virgin. Or a prude. Or too innocent.

They were stopped by a man sitting on the stairs. Lily knew immediately from the messy red curls that it was Renfield, the resident lunatic.

Okay, he wasn't really a lunatic. Most people thought he was eccentric; Lily though he was nuts.

He was hunched over, muttering to himself as he typed something on his phone. He looked up, and screamed very loudly when he was Lily, causing her to trip back on the landing.

"My apologies!" He stood, helping her to her feet. "I thought you were someone else. You two have the same aura."

Lily brushed off her jeans, "It's fine. Me and who?"

Renfield glanced around, as if searching for danger, and then pointed upward.

Lily shifted; just Renfield being weird. You two have the same aura... Maybe that was why she felt so connected to Drake. Okay, now I sound crazy.

"But it is good, him being here," Renfield said with breathy laughter. "He does ever so need his queen."

"His queen?" Tom asked.

Renfield looked grim, "I mean...I mean he came here for his queen. Do you understand, Lily?" He looked at her most desperately with his wild, hazel eyes.

Lily nodded, afraid to upset him. Why should I know what he meant? Why not Tom?

Renfield nodded, "Good. Good. He's a very good man."

"Yes," Lily shifted, backing up. "We actually have to leave..."

"Of course," Renfield said with a most peculiar little bow. "He's just so happy his queen is here-I mean-his queen brought him here."

"Yeah..." Lily backed up again, nearly slipping on a stair. "See you later, Renfield."

Lily and Tom darted away, but his words stayed in her head.

How crazy am I to be believing a madman?

His queen...his queen...
OOO
"You weren't allowed to tell her anything," The Master said angrily . He stared down with his horrible red eyes, and the servant squealed as if it were burning him.

The servant wept, "I...I said nothing, master. She didn't know what I was talking about."

"So you said something," The Master's voice seemed amplified. It echoed back in a demonic way.

The servant screamed, "No! No master! I-I didn't mean to!"

"You know," he moved closer. His words burned like ice. "You are not permitted to speak to her."

"She needs to know!"

The master kicked him hard in the chest, and the servant wept again.

"It would be faster if you just told her, master."

"That's not the way of it," the master spat. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have business to attend to, Renfield."
OOO
There was a knock at the door.

Lily looked up from her book, glancing around the small condo. Her mother was out, auditioning for a new show. Perhaps the audition was over and she wanted to be let it. It wasn't the first time she'd lost her keys.

It couldn't be Tom or Alison, they had keys of their own.

It's him, something in her brain whispered. It sent an excited shiver through her body and she didn't know why.

Lily set down the door, went to the door and looked out the peephole.

She opened the door, "Hi."

Christopher Drake smiled, "Hello, Lily." He pulled her plate out from behind her back, "You left your plate."

"Oh, God, thank you!" Lily let out a sigh of relief. "My mom would've killed me."

He nodded, "We wouldn't want that."

"No," she laughed a little. "Uh, would you like to come in?"

He sighed, "Alas, I can not. I've business to attend to. Thank you, however."

"All right," Lily felt her heart drop a little.

Drake backed away, but hesitated for a moment.

"I'll be having a home warming party in the near future. You and your mother and most welcome."

"Cool," Lily said. "That would be great."

He nodded again and left, and Lily tried to piece together what exactly had just happened.

What wrong with me? I'm never like this. I don't get squirrelly about guys.

Lily shook her head and went back into the condo, tossing the plate onto the kitchen counter.

Get it together, Lils. Get it together.