Sorry about the wait. I've been busy. Anyway, here it is. I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it! :)

I started to panic. A vampire? How? Why? Why did this have to happen to me? What do I do now? My family, my friends. Would they miss me? How would they deal with my death?

I couldn't go back home. I couldn't be around any humans. I knew I would just kill them all, like the monsters that killed me. I didn't want to be anything like them. They killed my friends and turned me into one of them. I wouldn't become a monster.

I stood up. It happened so quickly that I thought I might have been standing up already. It was as if I just had to think about doing something and it would happen. Very slowly, I reached for my blazer pocket. I searched around and picked out a pink pocket mirror.

I flipped it open, slowly, expecting to see nothing – vampires didn't have reflections, that was a commonly known fact. When it was open, I saw the most beautiful face that I could imagine. I was so shocked to see this that I wanted to scream. I couldn't, though; someone might find me. Instead, I gasped in horror and leaned back, onto the wooden walls of the barn.

This was not me. I did not look even half as beautiful as the reflection in the mirror. What had happened to me? This face that I looked at, was pale white. Her bottom lip was slightly too full to match the upper one. Her cheekbones were smooth and pronounced under her smooth, flawless skin. Her nose was perfectly straight, as if it had been sculpted by gods. I saved the eyes for last, knowing what I would see. I was right. Her eyes were bright red and I looked away in fear. Those eyes sent chills through my cold, dead body.

From what I had seen in the mirror, I hated what I had become even more. I knew that my new life would be consumed by killing humans. I did not want to be a killer, even though there was no way of stopping it. I would stop it, though. I would not be a killer. I was determined.

I stepped out of the barn, not wanting to be seen. As soon as I thought these words, I felt a coolness wash over me, as if I was covered in a cool gel. I ignored this and passed it off as a new vampire feeling.

I saw humans standing in the school field, around a pile of charcoal bodies. There were parents, crying at the loss of their children. I saw my Mum and Dad talking to a police woman. I could hear their conversation with my new sharp hearing.

"I'm sorry, we weren't able to find the body of your child." The police woman apologised.

"Why? Where could she have gone? Have you checked everywhere?" Mum wailed.

"Yes, we've looked in every room. There was no-one else."

My Mum weeped into my Dad's shoulder. The police woman walked away and left them to their sorrow. It hurt me inside to see my loving parents crying over the my death, when I was only a hundred metres away from them. I wanted to run over and hug them, to tell them that I was okay, but I didn't want to hurt them and I wasn't sure of how much control I had over my thirst.

The wind blew a scent towards me. It smelled familiar, yet I did not recognise it. I went closer to where it smelled strongest. As I inhaled, I realised that it smelled similar to me. It was a sweet scent and I could smell tones of rose and lilly. I smelled more like vanilla and cinnamon, but still very sweet.

The scent seemed to be stronger as it went south, which meant that they were headed that way. I knew that this scent must have been one of the vampires that attacked my school. Near to that trail was another sweet scent. This one smelled like freesia and jasmine. Both of the trails were going South. I didn't want to run into them, so I turned to face North.

I ran past the school that was no longer mine. I ran away from my family, leaving my old life behind. I pushed up the speed and the scenery flew past me. I had always been quite fast, but my breathing slowed me down. I remembered that I didn't actually have to breathe, so I could run without interference.

I didn't know how long I had been running, but my phone vibrated in my pocket and I saw the time. It was almost five o'clock. It would be dark soon; in Winter, the days are shorter. The reason my phone was vibrating was because it was ringing. My parents were phoning me. I longed to answer, but it would raise their hopes that I would come back. I ignored the call.

I was still running while I looked at the screen of my phone. I only noticed this when the signal disappeared. I stopped running and looked around me. I was surrounded by countryside and everything had a hint of green. The ground was wet, like it had just been raining. It was twilight now, so it was very quiet. I recognised the place that I had reached. I was in the Lake District.

I had come here a few months ago, with my friend, Emma. We had been on holiday with her family. It was a very exciting and wet holiday, despite the fact that it was Summer when we went. I knew that there were many public footpaths here, up mountains and around lakes. I ran up a mountain that was far in the distance, one I knew was too dangerous for any human activity.

I settled on a fallen tree, in a forest, on the top of this mountain. A few hundred metres away, there was an unstable cliff edge, half of which had already fallen into the lake below. This forest was strangely peaceful. The floor was carpeted in ferns and wild-flowers. The trees were covered in soft, green moss.

The wind blew softly, through the branches of the trees, rustling the leaves. The forest had a wet, natural smell about it. I explored the forest, weaving in and out between trees. I came across another vampire scent, much further into the depths of the green trees. This one was fresh, only a few minutes old. It smelled like lavender and rosemary. I was curious so I followed it.

The scent led me through a small field, back into the forest and over a babbling stream. I saw more and more of this scenery, where I had planned to stay. It was beautiful and full of wildlife. There was many deer around, yet they all ran from me. I wondered what another vampire was doing here and if they had known I was here.

I followed the trail for another half an hour. It was dark, now. There were no clouds, yet there was no moon. A new moon. The stars were bright, however, too far away to provide any light for this planet. I didn't mind; I didn't need any light to see with my new vampire eyes.

As I followed the trail, I saw deer lying in my path. Why would a vampire have killed a deer? Surely, the blood from a deer would be insufficient. I disregarded it and continued along the trail. I noticed that it was getting weaker, which meant I was falling behind. I was walking at human speed because I was more comfortable with it. The vampire that I was following was obviously going faster.

I picked up my pace and the trail got stronger. I came across a mixture of many vampire scents, then. There were notes of honey, sage, hyacinth, lilac, honeysuckle and syrup, as well as lavender and rosemary. It was a very sweet mixture of scents and it was pleasing to me, although, I was confused at why so many vampires would be in one place, together.

I followed the mixture of sweet smells and they led me to a cosy cottage, snug in the entrance to a cave. The cottage had a brick path leading up to it and tulips lined the garden, which held freshly mown grass. The cottage looked old, with grey stone bricks and a slate tiled roof. Ivy crawled up the walls and around the small windows. The door was wooden and had a metal letterbox, halfway down. A chimney reached out of the roof, black smoke coming out of it and was almost as tall as the ceiling of the cave. There was no way into the cave, other than going through the house; the cottage filled the entrance.

I was wary about other vampires, but my curiosity got the better of me. The cottage was inviting and I wanted to go closer. Cautious, I crept up to the tiny wooden door. I raised my fist to knock and paused to listen. I heard a number of voices and tried to hear the individual whispers.

"I don't know why she's here. Why would anyone come so far away from humans?" A young male whispered in angry confusion.

"Maybe she just wanted to visit." A motherly sounding woman said.

"Visit? No-one knows that we're here." The male retorted.

"She's probably just passing through."

"Why would anyone be passing through such an obscure place?" A young female questioned.

"She might have caught the scent from the bottom and followed it." Another male suggested.

"She is here, you know." A new male voice said. There was a pause. "She is going to knock in about a minute."

Were they talking about me? How did they know that I was following them? Did they see me sitting on that log? From the different voices, I could tell that there were at least five vampires living in this cottage. Could there be more? I wanted to know the answers to my questions, so I decided to knock. I listened once more.

"Well, we don't want to frighten her away." The motherly woman said. "She's probably scared knowing that there are so many of us here."

I heard movement and then it was silent. Were they waiting for me to knock? I knocked twice on the dark, weathered wood. I waited for someone to open the door. I felt a sudden regret and fear. Should I really have knocked? There were so many of them, all together. They could easily harm me. They were all probably very powerful and civilised. They must be, to own a cottage and to keep a regular habitat.

Thinking of this, I was afraid. I wanted to run away, just in case they weren't friendly towards visitors. I wanted to hide behind a tree and watch what they did. I wanted so badly to not be seen. Again I felt this coolness come over me. It wasn't calming, but it reassured me. I still did not know what this feeling was or why it kept washing over me. It seemed to occur when I didn't want anyone to see me. I wondered why this happened. Was it just a common instinctual feeling for vampires?

Why was I so worried? Now that I had this cool gel feeling, I could think more clearly. They were discussing me, but not in a harsh way. It was more of a confused discussion about why I was here, not an angry one. Also, one woman seemed intent on not scaring me away. This must mean that she wanted me to stay. But why would she want me to stay with her? She sounded motherly, so maybe she just wanted to make sure I was okay. It seemed unlikely, but it was a possibility.

It had only been seconds since I had knocked on the door. My thought process was very quick, as was my running. The door opened slowly, at human pace. They mustn't have been being very careful, so as not to frighten me.

I still had the cool feeling over my body, so I was confident and I didn't feel the need to run. I still wanted to hide, but I was rooted into place by wonder. I still wanted to know how they knew I was here and why they were here, so I stayed put.

The door eventually opened wide enough for me to see inside. There was a staircase opposite me, a spotless kitchen, to the right and an inviting living room, to the left. The colour scheme was made up of golds and warm browns. It was inviting and felt like home. The warmth from the fire hit me like a wall of heat. It felt so good to be warm again, after being cold for so long and knowing that the rest of my life – no, existence – would be spent being cold.

In the doorway was a curvy, motherly looking woman. She was beautiful, like most vampires and she smiled. Her skin was pale white and smooth, contrasting to her rich mahogany hair, which fell in thick curls, past her shoulders. She was wearing indigo jeans and a brown cardigan. Her brow furrowed and her strange amber eyes searched her beautifully floral garden. She looked past me and began smelling around where I was standing.

"Russ?" She called in her honey voice. "She's gone."

She said this in evident disappointment, as if she was looking forward to meet me. I was confused and why she said that I was gone. I was here, wasn't I? Why was she looking and smelling for me, if I was standing right in front of her?

A tall man, with dark hair appeared next to her. He also had the same amber eyes as the woman. He was dressed simply in a white, casual shirt and jeans. He looked around in the same way that the woman had. I didn't know what they were doing. Was this how they treated all their visitors? That seemed unlikely. It was weird enough that they were doing it to me. The man stood straight and closed his eyes.

"No, Jen, she's here. We just can't see her." The man called Russ confirmed.

What did he mean? Why couldn't he see me? The woman, who Russ had called Jen, seemed to want to know the answers to these questions, too.

"What? What do you mean 'we can't see her'?" Jen was frowning up at him, disbelievingly.

"She is right here. We can't see here because she has a visual shield."

"Do you mean that she is shielding us from seeing her?"

"Exactly."

"You can come out. We won't hurt you. It's okay." Jen raised her voice, thinking that I was far away, not in the doorway.

She sounded genuine, which made me feel okay about being seen. But how do I get rid of my 'visual shield'? How do I put it down and let people see me? This coolness that I kept feeling must be what my shield feels like. When the shield came up, I didn't want anyone to see me; I wanted to hide. Maybe, if I concentrated, I could convince myself to not want to hide. This might work, so I decided to try it.

I wanted to go into that warm house. I wanted to meet all the other people. This woman, Jen, who looked so loving and kind, really wanted to meet me. She was disappointed that I was unsure about being seen. She must have felt hurt when she learned that I didn't want her to see me. I looked into the amber eyes of this pair. I saw the kindness in them and I wanted to please them. If letting me be seen was what it takes to please them, then I would.

I felt the cool gel slowly washing off me. It appeared to have been laid on quite thickly. I must have been very cautious about meeting these people who seemed so good-hearted. I looked into their eyes and saw them fill with delight as I appeared, in front of them.

"Hello, dear. My name is Jen." Jen stepped forwards, coming closer to me. Her arms were stretched out and I realised that she was going to give me a hug. I leaned slightly towards her and returned the gesture.

"I'm Russ." The tall man announced in a deep voice.

"We're so glad you came to visit us." Jen gushed. "Come inside! You have to meet everyone."

Jen caught my hand and dragged me into the warm, comforting house.

Okay, I hope you liked it! Please review!