*Chapter One*

"Yeah, I get that stuff about Twilight and all; I'm just saying that maybe you guys should give Spongebob a chance," Saffron argued for what seemed the millionth time. Beth sighed heavily.

"Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are hot, though! Spongebob's just... well, a sponge," she retaliated. Lizzie joined in by cheering and saying the occasional 'yeah!'.

"Look, you shouldn't need a fit guy to make something good. That's really shallow. Spongebob Squarepants is..."

But Beth wasn't listening to Saffron anymore. She stopped walking and grabbed Lizzie's arm, pulling her back. Saffron didn't notice at first; only when Lizzie started yelling.

"Hey! Beth, what the hell? You're scratching me. Get off!" Lizzie protested, trying to get Beth to loosen her grip. Her light brown hair whipped at Beth's face, but the 14-year-old didn't care. She was staring ahead, completely frozen.

About ten feet ahead of the trio was a group of vampyres and a human – no, wait... there were three full vampyres, three vampyre fledglings and the one human girl.

Two of the full vampyres had unusual Marks, however. Instead of the standard sapphire blue tattoos, framing their faces, those vampyres had blood red ones. Beth was amazed – she had never seen this sort of vampyre before. She had never seen any sort of vampyre in real life before, but she had seen them on TV, and these red tattoos weren't the norm.

"Look," Beth whispered in amazement to Lizzie, who followed her gaze. As Lizzie's sky-blue eyes rested on the group, she gasped aloud. Saffron also saw the seven people ahead of them – who were walking slowly in their direction, picking their way through the patches of lethal ice and fallen tree trunks.

"Oh, my God! Vampyres!" Lizzie squealed breathlessly, joining Beth in little bouts of giggles and a lot of excitement. Saffron did not share their ecstatic feeling, though; she had met vampyres before.

"Okay, so what the fuck are humans doing out in this weather?" the human girl demanded, coming to a stop and putting her hands on her hips.

Already disliking this so-obviously stuck-up blonde girl, Saffron raised her eyebrows, looking the girl up and down with her soft brown eyes.

"You're human," Saffron pointed out, causing the blonde to roll her eyes and snort in disgust.

"Yeah, smart-ass, but I'm with a bunch of vamps," she sneered, her cold blue eyes scanning Saffron and her friends.

"And one of those vamps seriously wants to knock your bobble hag from hell head off, Aphrodite," another blonde – this one noticeably more friendly – stated.

"Ditto, Twin," a third person joined in. This one wasn't blonde, though; she had skin the colour of cappuccino and thick, dark, glossy hair that waved gently down to her curvy waist.

This was why Beth, Lizzie and Saffron all frowned at the use of the term 'Twin' – the friendly blonde was extremely wait, and so the pair were so obviously not related.

"Whatever, Dorkamese Twins," the stuck-up blonde – Aphrodite, apparently – commented. The black girl was just about to retaliate when one of the two boys present stepped in front of her.

"Shaunee, honey, calm down. We all know Aphrodite is a bitch – leave her to it," the guy told the black girl in a calm voice. While he was speaking, Beth took not of his appearance.

This boy was cute in a sort of gay – but not completely over-the-top – way. He had dark brown hair that was perfectly cut and incredibly smooth-looking, zit-free skin. On his forehead was a sapphire blue crescent that stood out against his pale features. This guy was only a fledgling, as were the two 'Twins'.

Beth's gaze shifted to the other boy in the group, who definitely did not look gay. Lizzie was already staring – well, more like gawking – at this boy, but more at his tattoos than actually at him. This second boy did not have sapphire blue Marks; his were red, and those of a full vampyre. The scarlet tattooing that framed his eyes reminded Beth of arrows – the kind you use in archery.

Tearing her gaze away from the boy's unusual Marks, Beth studied his face. He wore a cute-but-cocky smile that gave him a sarcastic look, a straight nose, a strong chin and the most enchanting big brown eyes. Before she could stop herself, Beth found her gaze lingering on the boy's lips, which were nice. Really nice.

Beth looked away from his lips and took note of his hair colour. It was a sandy colour; the kind that could never decide whether it wanted to be blonde or brown. Beth was pleased to see that this boy was about her height and although he had a slim exterior, she could see muscles under his tight shirt.

He was her kinda guy!

It wasn't until Lizzie elbowed her in the ribs that Beth realized she was staring. Not only that, but she was being spoken to.

"Oh, um... sorry. I've – I've never met vampyres – or fledglings – before. It's a bit..." she trailed off, trying to find the right word to describe it.

"Distracting?" the black girl offered.

"Exciting?" her blonde 'Twin' suggested.

Beth smiled weakly, slightly embarrassed.

"Both, I guess," she replied.

"See, Twin – told you we have a sort of sixth sense," the black girl stated matter-of-factly, nudging the blonde.

"I never disagreed with you, Twin," her white friend responded with a huge grin.

Seeing the frowns on Beth, Lizzie and Saffron's faces, the male blue fledgling stepped forward with a polite and friendly smile.

"You'll have to excuse Shaunee and Erin. They have this weird mental connection that makes them twin-like. As you can see, they obviously aren't related, what with Shaunee being a lovely caramel colour and Erin being extremely white, but you soon start believing they truly are related," he explained with a small chuckle. "I'm Damien, by the way."

"Thank you for appreciating my blackness," the black girl, Shaunee, said to Damien. He shrugged.

"No problem, honey," he replied, his friendly grin still in place. Beth nodded internally. Yep, definitely gay (she wasn't homophobic or anything, though – her mom was gay).

"Oh my Goddess! You two have amazing shoes! Let me see," Erin shrieked, glancing down at Beth and Lizzie's feet. They were both wearing flat leather boots (it was too icy for heels), but Beth's were rounded at the toe and had buckled across the ankle, and Lizzie's had a pointed toe and no buckles. Erin and Shaunee were wearing similar shoes.

While Beth and Lizzie squealed about shoes with the Twins, Saffron started to speak to the female vampyre with the red tattoos, who she saw was wearing cowboy boots, just like she was.

After learning that the girl was called Stevie Rae, had a major Oklahoma accent, love Kenny Chesney and had a soft spot for Spongebob Squarepants, Saffron decided to get down to what she was really interested in – Stevie Rae's unique Marks.

"So, um... I don't mean to be rude, but... why do you have different colour Marks than regular vampyres? I've only ever seen blue vampyres and fledglings up close before – I've never even seen red ones on TV..." Saffron babbled. Stevie Rae frowned.

"You've met actual vamps before us?" she asked, avoiding the question. Confusion was written all over her face. Saffron understood this – vamps and fledglings spent most of their time at the House of Night or being famous. It was unusual for a human to have met a vamp in person whilst knowing fully what they were – usually their Marks were covered with some sort of special powder.

"Yeah. Well, the ones at the House of Night here in Tulsa, anyway. My sister was Marked, but her body rejected the Change," Saffron looked momentarily distant before getting back to the matter in hand. "Your High Priestess met us at parent visitation and after Elizabeth... died. I got an uneasy feeling about her, though..."

"You met Neferet?" Stevie Rae jolted as she said the name. Frowning, Saffron nodded. "Oh, Goddess. Zoey!" The Okie girl's former perkiness gone, Stevie Rae called over the other female vampyre – this one with the standard blue Markings (although she had more of them than was normal) – with panic in her voice.

"Yes, Stevie Rae?" the summoned girl inquired. Saffron guessed this was Zoey. Stevie Rae bit her lip.

"Saffron's met Neferet."

Everyone fell silent, even the Twins, Beth and Lizzie.

"Holy shit," Erin stated.

"She's actually met that bitch?" Shaunee added.

"Ah, hell," Zoey muttered.