Disclaimer: I do not own Night World, but these characters are my creations.

I ran frantically through the dark streets and menacing alleys. He was still following me, or, more like chasing me. Every once in a while, I chanced a look backwards, hoping to see no one behind; but it was no use, there he was.

I tried a few maneuvers to shake him off, running down one street, switching to another, abrupt turns, doubling back, everything. But still, every time I glanced back, there he was.

Soon, I came to a wide road, full of rushing cars. Throwing all safety precautions to the winds, I stepped out into the traffic. Immediately, the air was full of honks and loud screeches as all the vehicles swerved to avoid hitting me. I dodged the heavy cars and made my way to the other side of the road, back safely onto the pavement.

Glancing back, I saw that he wasn't there, he wasn't following me anymore. In my surprise, I almost stopped. Had I actually outrun him?

Noticing I was going a lot slower than I should, I mentally whipped myself into a run.

Cautiously, I made my way to an abandoned warehouse, which had been my hiding place for the past few days. I'd run there when I'd first found out, when he had first tried to find me.

I fled into my safe house, or, if I was to be more specific, my safe room, the only part in the whole building fit to live in. I pulled myself in through a window, and then, finding the door to my quarters, I let myself in. The door creaked slightly as I eased it shut, and finally, with a gentle 'thump', I was safe once more. I pulled a lock out of my pocket and proceeded to lock myself in the room, just in case. As soon as I was done, I sighed in relief, turned around, and gasped.

There he was, standing in the middle of my dark and dingy living quarters, looking right at home.

"Ho-how did you find me?" I managed to ask. It seemed like my heart had risen into my throat, and I had difficulty breathing, let alone talking.

He smiled beatifically, appearing to illuminate his surroundings. "I followed your scent," he answered me.

"Dang" I thought. I'd reminded myself only yesterday to buy one of those cheap perfume bottles to mask my smell. You know the type, the perfume with the terrible cloying odor, which causes everyone within a five-meter radius to automatically avoid you. I'd written a reminder in blue ballpoint pen on the back of my hand.

Now, trying not to draw attention to myself, I glanced down. There wasn't anything but dirt left on my hand, no traces of pen were left. No wonder I hadn't remembered.

"You know, it hasn't been easy, trying to find you," he said, "you've been hiding yourself amazingly well."

"I've been well trained," I replied, inconspicuously feeling for the lock on the door behind me. Finally, I found it, and I began to set the combination by feel.

He was still talking. "I know, but I had no idea you were that good." He noticed what I was doing, and in three steps was leaning against the door I was now frantically trying to open.

"Did you really think I'd let you get away again?" he asked lazily, reclining against my door as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

I let go of the lock and bolted to the opposite wall, as if that could protect me.

My training had instructed me that a room with only one entrance was easier to defend. But when your enemy was inside, there was only one way out. I crouched slightly, prepared to fight him to escape. Sensing my intentions, he too adopted a fighting stance.

"You can't win," he remarked calmly from his position near the door.

"I can try," I growled, and leapt at him.

He easily side-stepped my kick, so instead of hitting my intended target, I slammed against the door, which would have been opened if not for the lock I'd set.

I landed on my back, and in a flash, he was on top of me, pinning my arms to the ground, his knees on either side of my pelvis. His mouth in a grimace, he fought to keep me on the ground as I struggled against his iron-hard grip. In a stroke of inspiration, I got my feet under his chest and kicked him off me. I twisted, and landed in another crouch. Before he could recover from the previous blow, I flew at him. My force knocked him against the door, which crashed open despite the lock that had been set on it, and we landed in the hall.

Immediately, I stood and began to run to the nearest exit. All my instincts screamed at me to turn around, to not expose my back so dangerously. I should have listened to them.

Something knocked me into the ground, face-down. I struggled to stand back up, but he was on top of me again.

I tried to turn and kick him off once more, but he sat heavily on my thighs, preventing me from completing my intentions. My hands scrabbled against the floor, trying to find a decent weapon. I felt a wooden plank at the edge of my fingers, but he realized what I was searching for, and grabbed both of my hands, holding them in one of his. I was well and truly trapped.

I was still struggling futilely when he did something that surprised me so much, I froze. He approached his face to mine, and he kissed my neck, right under my left ear.

After a few seconds, I jerked, trying to get free. That surprised him, and he got a kick in the back for that. He grunted at the pain, and sat more securely on top of me.

I'm guessing he took a rope out of his pocket, and the next moment I felt its rough strands against both of my wrists. I struggled harder, trying to free myself, but he managed to tie my wrists together. He let go of my arms and moved to my legs, and once they were secured, he stood up.

I turned around, and lay on my back, my hands practically screaming in pain, crushed under my body.

He smiled at me. "Maybe now we can talk more calmly," he said.

"Just end it already," I answered him angrily. "Kill me!"

That seemed to shock him, and his smile faded. "Do you really think that's what I want?" he asked me, a slight quaver in his voice.

Before I could prepare myself, he approached me and threw my bound body over his shoulder. I yelped in surprise, and began to kick him in his rock-hard stomach. He carried me through a few rooms, and finally set me down on a chair. He grabbed both my shoulders and stared into my eyes. "That's the last thing I want to do," he said quietly.

I looked away from his grave face and glanced around the room, trying to find an escape.

Noticing my wandering gaze, he took my chin with his hand and firmly forced my face to turn back to his.

"Look at me," he commanded gently.

I knew that I shouldn't listen to him, but his voice compelled me so strongly that I couldn't help it. I looked into his dark eyes, almost black in the little light that pervaded the room. Tears glistened in the corners, causing my breath to catch slightly at their beauty.

"Catherine," he said, pronouncing my name as if it was a chocolate melting in his mouth. "I love you."

Those three words shocked me so much I stopped breathing for a moment.

"I need you," he continued, "You're the only one-"

"What?" I interrupted, "But, you're one of them, and I'm a hunter. I thought you hated me, when you found out."

He broke away and walked towards the center of the room. "How could I hate you? Even when I found out the truth, I never did."

"But I kill your kind!" I exclaimed.

"I thought we could change that."

"It's in my blood, it can't be changed!"

"Oh, yes it can," he grinned at me, exposing his white teeth, which seemed to shine in the little light.

I froze. "No," I said coldly, "Never."

He stepped closer to me. "It's the only way," he whispered.

I struggled frantically, trying to free myself from the ropes, but they were too tightly knotted.

He licked his lips slightly, with one hand held my head, and with the other he parted my hair to reach my neck. Closer and closer he came, until I felt his cool lips against the throbbing pulse in my neck.

I'd held off saying his name, knowing the thrill that hearing it out loud would cause in my body. But now, I said it, "Peter." I closed my eyes, and, sure enough, there it was, the shiver traveling up my spine. I opened my eyes and begged, "Please don't."

"Sorry," he murmured, and then bit in.

I gasped as I felt my life's blood being sucked out of me, and I struggled slightly before giving in to the fatigue that came with blood loss.

Then, instead of pain, I felt comfortable, good, even. My neck being kissed stimulated me in ways I hadn't thought possible. The tingles spread into my lower stomach, turning into a fervent NEED.

It seemed all too soon when he stopped and took a few steps backward, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

I groaned as the feeling died, and I regained my senses completely, realizing exactly what had happened. I struggled weakly, knowing what would come next.

Peter raised his left wrist to his mouth, and with a horrible sound, tore the skin there deeply. He lowered his arm, and came closer to me, blood shining wetly on his lips. He pulled my head back gently, and pressed his injured wrist against my mouth. I closed my lips tightly, trying not to let his blood into my body. Annoyed, he forced my head farther back. His blood ran in trickles down my chin and neck, and also flowed into my nose. I choked as I inhaled the warm liquid, and coughed. The situation only worsened when instead of breathing air I sucked in blood.

Noticing, Peter released me from his hold and pounded on my back, trying to get the fluids to go down the correct tube.

Once my airway was clear, I took a deep breath, and sighed. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He had his stubborn face on, which looked adorable, but spelled trouble for me.

"Will you be good and drink now?" he asked me.

"No," I answered. If he could be determined, then so could I.

"I promise it won't hurt, and it's really quite amazing to be like me," he pleaded, but I shook my head resolutely.

He exhaled, annoyed. He glared at me as he sat down on the floor in front of the chair where I was seated.

"I could wait until you get thirsty enough to beg for it," he said threateningly.

I froze, he was perfectly capable of carrying out his promise, I knew it. And with the terrible coughing, I was thirsty already, and because of losing so much blood I was too weak to break free and escape.

He just sat there, staring at me patiently, letting his blood continue to trickle down his hand onto the floor.

Finally, I could take it no longer.

"Stop it," I begged, "patch it up or something."

I didn't really mind the dryness in my throat, but I was desperate to stop his life from flowing out of him. Could his kind bleed to death? I didn't know, but I certainly wasn't going to take the chance.

He shifted his position slightly, and I caught the shadow of a grin on his face. He probably thought that my thirst was too much, so he made no move to seal his wound.

He wouldn't bind it, and after a while, I came up with another idea. I'd tell him I wanted to drink, but actually stop the bleeding with my mouth. This wasn't exactly the brightest idea, but I was feeling rather woozy from the blood loss, and this was the best I could come up with.

I sighed and pretended to give up. "All right," I said, "you win."

He stood up quickly. "You'll drink?" he asked excitedly.

Instead of answering, I opened my mouth slightly. Once more, he pressed his injured wrist to my lips. I began to move my tongue and place it over the cut, but I wasn't ready for the amazing taste of his blood.

It tasted of sunshine, dew, flowers, of everything. Its heady flavor flooded my senses, causing me to suck greedily.

I don't know how long I drank, but suddenly, I knew I had to stop. I lapped gently one last time, and closed my mouth. Almost immediately, I fell into a stupor as the transformation began.

Cold and heat traveled through my body, burning and then freezing everything. In my mind, I could imagine both forces tearing through me, and I moaned in pain.

Through the haze, I heard a voice, his voice. He was softly singing to me, it sounded like a lullaby.

Sleep, sleep 'till the morrow,
And when you awake, then
There shall be no more sorrow,
And we'll be together again.

The song almost put me to sleep, but the pain forced me back into reality, into ice and fire.

This period seemed to last ages. Occasionally, I thought I felt movement, and other times I heard his voice drift in:

We'll be together again…

Finally, the pain died, and I opened my eyes.

I winced at the brightness of the fading light, and looked around.

I was still in the same room, but I was seated on the floor, untied, leaning against something soft. I turned and saw Peter, his head lolling against the wall, fast asleep.

I stood up carefully, so as not to wake him, and stretched luxuriously. I felt good, better than good actually, more like marvelous. Peter sighed softly in his sleep, and I turned back to look at him. He looked more beautiful than ever. I knelt next to him, and stroked his cheekbone, barely touching his skin.

I gasped in wonder when he opened his eyes. They weren't black, like I'd always suspected, but a blue as dark as the deepest part of the sea.

He smiled and took my hand. "How are you?" he asked.

"Wonderful," I replied, and then frowned. "You lied," I accused him.

He was startled. "About what?"

"You said it wouldn't hurt."

Peter stood up. "Yes, I lied," he admitted, and took my hand. He pulled me closer to him, and he kissed me deeply. We hadn't kissed like that ever since we were dating, before either of us knew what the other was.

After a long while, we separated.

"Now, we can be together for eternity," he said happily.

"Mmm, eternity," now that sounded nice.

Eternity

(A/N) Hope you guys enjoyed that little oneshot! It's just a little something I wrote two years ago when I was bored in school one day, and I found it when I was going through my stuff. I modified it a bit, but still, keep in mind that this was written some time ago, and if there are any mistakes, I am terribly sorry. Oh, and the lullaby is my own as well. Please review and let me know what you thought of it!