CHAPTER 2

His eyes went wide for a moment before he got his poker face back, having the nerve to look bored of Claytons.

"Hey, we want to talk to you, punk." Kenny said, looking pissed.

Pfft, who's the real punk? Think about it for a second.

Like there would be any talking, Nicki thought numbly as the vamp was grabbed by Connor and Patrick and dragged outside. He wasn't doing anything to defend himself, considering he was a vamp he would've taken them down in a single moment. He had to be a vamp, he'd ordered synth. She looked over to the booth the vamp had been sitting at, the cup was untouched. Shit. He's a phony. A good phony. He can't handle himself, ohmigod, they're all going to beat the shit out of him, Nicki thought this over and over and couldn't get the irrational and rational part of her brain to agree on what to do. She could call the police and report assault at the diner, that wouldn't go far, the Clayton's were the sheriff's cousins. Even the sheriff was obligated to them. Great.

Nicki, without thinking, rushed to the register, where the boss kept the warning gun, the gun that broke up fights on the premise. She grabbed the gun and checked for bullets in the .22 Glock Boss had registered to the diner. There were no bullets in the barrel so she reached farther under the counter and grabbed the pack of bullets. She loaded the gun with numb expertise, considering that it was a Louisiana town. She pulled the snag back and walked out the door, where the vamp was fighting Kenny and Patrick. There were four Clayton's, all tough and willing to fight, and two other druggies, fighting for their place in the Clayton's superiority. Hah. Nicki thought as she approached the gang.

"Break it up!" She yelled, raising the gun in the air and firing once for effect. The shot reverberated through her arm, all the Claytons looked up and the other potheads just ran. "Get off the property before I shoot you all, don't think I won't." Nicki pulled the snag back again and aimed at Kenny for effect.

"Bitch, we'll be back to get you." Dave warned, but they all hurried off as soon as he finished his threat. Nicki hadn't realized she was sweating until a warm bead rolled down, between her breasts. She felt weak and shaky, but remembered her purpose and ran to where the vamp was laying on the cement, passed out. She wasn't assuming he was dead because vamps could only be killed by silver and wooden stakes through the heart and sunlight, they practically drank holy water as a joke to mortals, saying it tickled as it went down- it didn't harm them in the slightest. He was for sure a vamp because of the fangs he had failed to sheath when the fight started, and ended.

Nicki couldn't decide what to do and felt the need to get a passed out vamp in a parking lot out of the suspicious area, but the sun wasn't near the horizon. Nicki took action quickly by pulling her car around from the back and loading the vamp into the trunk. She felt bad and scared for putting a vamp in her trunk, but she had to get him to safety. He was heavy, too. She went back inside and gathered all her things and locked up behind her. The balmy autumn night did nothing to help her rid herself of the chills.

Getting inside the car felt like getting inside a barrier that protected her from the Clayton's, even though they had left, and that was the first good emotion she experienced that morning. Nicki turned on the car and felt it rumble to life beneath and around her. She pulled onto the highway and since no one was up at this time, she went at her speed. She thought of all that had happened that past night and thought of how big of assholes the Clayton's were being, even though the man was a vamp he was a person in their strange society and had the right to be, or so she hoped.

When she finally pulled into the driveway of her house, she had sufficiently calmed herself. She backed up so she could get the vampire inside the house without having to haul him all the way, smart eh? When she went to open the trunk she was met with a pair of icy blue eyes staring at her curiously, she jumped.

"Gosh, you are really good at doin' that aren't you?" Her attempt at being friendly failed and the vamp just raised his eyebrow, again.

He had looked like hell when she had put him in the truck, but now some of the scrapes disappeared and he just had a big bruise under his eye and a little blood was trickling still from a slash on his cheek.

He reached a hand up in the form of a truce and she gratefully took it and helped him out of the open truck bed at the same time. Thankfully the house was big and had a wraparound porch, so she could easily get him inside.

They both walked to the porch and as Nicki unlocked the door, she felt safe with the vamp and realized an act wouldn't have lasted this long and that he may actually not want to drain her. Nice.

The house was clean thanks to her ability to keep things clean. Her mom abandoned her at age fourteen to run off with a real estate agent, whose face looked like a constipated pig, and the property was already paid for, so she was fine on her own, and now an adult anyhow. She let the vamp get inside then wordlessly went downstairs to her emergency synth supply. She picked out a bag and came back upstairs, the vamp seemed angry, but she didn't know specifically what he was angry about. He was sitting at the table and glaring at whatever seemed closest. In her photo, she was wearing plain overalls, reading a book with her hair in a ponytail. Dmitri, her sex-prone brother, had taken that after their mom abandoned them, he was already a senior in high school and didn't bother her peace but occasionally came by for money. She always gave it to him.

The vampire seemed to notice her for the first time and rested his gaze on her. She walked to the cabinet with the mugs and grabbed the most respectable one; it was plain black and didn't have a chip in it. She silently filled it with synth and stuck it in the zapper. When she pulled it out and turned to hand it to him, she almost collided with him. He was right behind her, again.

She backed up a little and handed him the synth. He took it from her and stared at it a moment. While he was still fascinated with the mug Eugenie turned and snagged a hand towel and doused it with warm water on one end and cold on the other. She walked to him slowly and when he didn't stop her, she softly dabbed the cut until it was clean. Then she went to the freezer and grabbed some ice and wrapped it in a clean towel. She placed the ice on the bruise and held it there while he sipped some of the synth. He just stared at her with his hard green eyes and she stared back, enraptured. Wait a sec, green eyes, what the hell?

After he gulped down the rest of the synth, she took the mug from him and placed it in the sink and filled it with water. When she turned on the water, he came next to her and watched her soap it up and wash it.

After she finished, she went to sit down on the couch and motioned for him to come sit down as well. A while of silence ensued, but it wasn't uncomfortable, they were both tired and beaten- except him literally. Finally Eugenie decided to start a conversation. She didn't know his name, either. "I'm Nicki, what's your name?" She cocked her head to the side, as if to show genuine curiosity.

He seemed startled by her sudden want for conversation but answered anyhow, "My name's Sterling."

Nicki couldn't explain how she felt, he was inducing her with his fever, she was getting caught up with him and she was enjoying it. Suddenly his words hit her, she laughed.

He seemed startled by her laughter, "Sterling-!" She broke off, unable to formulate a coherent sentence.

Is it me? she thought. 'Cuz that's a hella funny name. He seemed preoccupied with figuring out what she was laughing at. That was unusual considering vamps were always very focused on the task at hand. Maybe that was the task at hand, to get rid of her. Or just to get the hell out of there. Am I coming on too strong? Is he finally realizing that I am a wonderful draining bimbo? Nicki started to panic and decided that this always happened to guys she liked. They weren't interested in her they were interested in what they could get out of it. Lots, if they played it right. But she remembered that she was just a dreamy-eyed virgin, and considering his looks, he got more than what would be expected. Surprisingly, that snapped her out of it pretty quick and she got up and started to walk away.

He grabbed hold of her arm.

Nicki turned around. He can probably smell my virginity, she thought dully. Vamps had abilities that humans would only dream of, but also humans hated them because their mortal senses would be increased by a supernatural rate, they could smell emotions, they could hear your thoughts if you open yourselves up to them, they could do things that would slow your mind.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly.

She did her best eyebrow raise and answered innocently, "Nothin'" She put her accent on in full. He had an accent, but it was faint and only came out noticed when he said certain words. Maybe Scottish or Irish, sure sounded like it, even though his total vocabulary for the past twelve hours had been about fifteen words. Hello, how are you, with only a little else for good measure.

The vamp didn't look convinced. Hell, a retard wouldn't be convinced. "Can I do something to soothe you?" He asked, his voice like water rushing over river stones.

"Uh, well, I don't think there is much that you could do, I've met another vampire, I've broken up a bar fight, and I've helped you get through the daylight, and what are you so amused about?" I finished with a question, his face giving away amusement.

"I'm not a vampire."