Chapter 2!!!!

I remember this forest from somewhere, but...where?

All I know is, I have to get out of here before the said "wolves" attack me. I kept moving for a while, but I was losing my strength as I moved further into the forest. The darkness didn't help much either.

Suddenly, I heard growling beyond the bushes, which made me jump. I panicked and began to quicken my pace as much as my feeble strength would allow. The growling grew louder as I moved faster, and I almost leaped out of my skin when I heard a howl. The wolves finally emerged from the trees, surrounding me completely, preventing any escape I may have had planned.

It didn't take long for them to attack by pouncing on me. They ripped through my skin like butter, and bit like chainsaws against wood. I was screaming in fear and pain throughout the whole procession, until it was finally over. I was completely mauled. After the retreated, the pain never went away. I was lying on the ground, the blood from the bites and scratches oozing out of my body, draining the life away from me. I felt like I was dying, and I was dying.

I couldn't move a muscle, for it caused too much agony. So I lied there bleeding, in the middle of an unknown forest. Suddenly, I heard something emerging from the forest trees. It wasn't the wolves, or any animal for that matter. It was Rick, he found me.

"I told you so." he said, a smile in his voice.

"It's time to die, sweet Cassidy." He stepped into the moonlight, and I could now see his features clearly. I almost choked. I suddenly remembered why this forest looks so familiar to me.

"You..." I managed to say. He was still smiling, and coming closer to me.

"You're from my dream." I finished. His smile disappeared, he stopped walking towards me.

"Dream?" he asked.

"Yes. I had a dream exactly like this. I was bleeding, surrounded by forest, you came, and then...I screamed, as if you were going to attack me. Only, in my dream, my eyes were red, and they're not in reality."

His smile returned, and he started to move in my direction once again.

"Lucky me." he began. "If your eyes were red, I would die trying to kill you."

I moved away a little, but it was of no use. He was way too fast, it was inhuman. He was at my side in just a second. My heart stopped.

"Say hello to your mother for me..." He said before he closed his eyes and leaned in closer to bite my neck. As I stared at my reflection in the pool of my own blood, since I was unable to move away from Rick, I noticed my eyes changing color, turning red. I didn't know what it meant, or if it had any significance at all, but I didn't have time to think of any reasoning.

Rick had bitten me while I was distracting myself. He was sucking the life out of me, I could feel my death coming closer. The pain was unbearable, the agony indefinite. I screamed at the top of my lungs. I expected just a simple, girl scream to come out of my mouth. Instead, I got an intense, piercing, painful scream of agony that washed over the silent forest like a blanket of horror.

As I was screaming, Rick let go of me. I stopped screaming, only for him to start. His scream didn't have the same fireworks as mine oddly did, but I still couldn't figure out why he was screaming in the first place. I stared at him in immense pain by the looks of it, and then, he glowed a brilliant white light, for an unknown reason. It lasted for only a mere second, and then this blinding shine was transferred to me, and it settled there.

"What just happened?" I asked myself. Rick stared at me with huge amazement. I was almost amazed as he was, for my wound and scratches had just healed themselves in a split second. I was virtually unharmed. I stared in disbelief, as did Rick.

"Vampiress..." He said. He looked completely terrified, and he suddenly took off. Slow, for him, which was odd.

I didn't know what was going on. I only knew that Rick was telling the truth, that I was a vampire, or "vampiress," which must be the term for a female vampire. The thing is, I never imagined these things were real. Vampires, that is, but it turns out they are. They have been co-existing with the world as I knew it. Worst of all, I am a monster. Which makes me wonder, are there others? Werewolves? Mermaids? Even Satan? How can I ever be sure of anything anymore?

Anyways, I have to get home. Dad's probably already reported me missing.

I got up from the ground, completely healed as I was, and walked into the forest on my way home.

hr /hr

I woke up tired as a dog. Last night I told Dad everything, except for the vampire details. I left those out. I expected to feel an intense amount of bloodlust, whatever bloodlust feels like, after I turned into a Vampire. But surprisingly enough, I felt fine.

What I did feel an intense amount of, was strength. I'm pretty sure it's from the "white light" that was transferred from Rick to me, but I'm not completely positive. It's not like I spend my nights studying vampire myths. But something still bothers me, why was Rick so fear stricken after the transfer? Well, the good news is, my terrible dream is gone. The bad news is, I have a new dream. It wasn't bad, really, it was just weird. I dreamt that I was telling Greg I was a vampire. As if I would ever do something like that. He'd probably lock me up in an asylum. Anyway, reality aside, in my dream he acted fine. Actually he acted like he already knew I was a vampire, like he was already prepared for me to say exactly that.

But now, in the real world, I have to get ready for my day with exactly him. Unlike my dad, I didn't find the time to tell Greg what happened. Or, my partly forged version of what happened, at least. So, basically, I'll be forced to lie to everyone about what happened last night.

Life's a bitch. Well, mine is, at least.

Love however, is a different story. The doorbell rang, and I'm guessing it's most likely Greg. I went downstairs to greet him. Dad wasn't home, so we had the day, as well as the house, to ourselves.

We sat on the couch for a while, stuck in a long, awkward silence. Finally, Greg was brave enough to break it.

"So...what happened to you last night?" he asked, curiousity filling his eyes. I saw a little bit of fear hidden in them too, but I just acknowledged it as concern for my gunshot. I'm sure he was surprised to see me completely healed, but for some reason, he didn't look it. However, my eyes turned back to normal, so at least that won't give away anything.

I told him my forged version of the story, and it killed me to do so. I hated lying to Greg, I felt like I was keeping so many secrets. At the beginning of our relationship, we promised not to keep any secrets from each other. I just broke my promise.

He looked at me suspiciously for a second.

"So, that's it then?"

"Yeah, that's it. Were you expecting something more?"

"He didn't say anything about vampires?" This caught me off guard. Was another one of my dreams coming true?

"Uh, yes, he did. Why?"

"Well, one of the reasons I was scared yesterday-" Yesterday, could it really have been only yesterday?

"-was because he only hunts vampires. Which would mean that you are one, and it just seemed absurd to me. Tell me, are you a vampire? I won't send you to an asylum, I promise." Wow, can he read minds?

"How do you know about all this?" he sighed before telling me.

"I used to be a vampire." This shocked me. I instantly wanted to know everything he did.

"What do you mean, used to be?"

"Rick took away my powers, I'm not a vampire anymore."

"You have to tell me everything. I'm so new at this. I-"

"So, does that mean you're a vampire too?" he smiled at the idea. I understood why. I was so depressed this morning when I found that I would have had to keep all this information to myself. But it turns out that I won't have to.

"Yes. Actually, Rick said I was a Vampiress, but it's basically the same thing." Greg froze, for reasons I didn't know of.

"...A Vampiress...are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course I am. A Vampiress is just a femaile Vampire, isn't it?" He shook his head slowly. He still looked surprised.

"No, Cassie, it's not."

"What is it?"

"Just...tell me what really happened last night, because I don't think you are a Vampiress."

"Uh, sure. I guess..." I told him everything. The conversation between me and Rick, the blood, my scream of agony, the white glow transfer...even my dreams. Including the one I had about today, and how they both came true. He looked even more shocked than before.

"I don't believe it...You really are a Vampiress."

"Yeah...so what..."

"So what?! Do you realize what this means?"

"Actually, no. I don't. What is a Vampiress exactly?" he sighed again.

"You were partly correct. You can only be a Vampiress if you are a woman. But...that's not all a Vampiress really is.

"You see, a Vampiress, is an extremely powerful Vampire. More powerful than any other, except other Vampiress's of course. What the light transfer really was between you and Rick was a power exchange. You got his powers, when it was really supposed to be the other way around. But since your eyes were red, it wasn't possible for him to take away yours."

"What happens when my eyes are red?"

"It means you are a full-fledged vampire, or Vampiress in your case. Before you discover your true 'destiny' as a vampiress, you are only half-vampiress. Once you discover your powers or are told about what you are do you then transform. Your case is a little odd though."

"Why?"

"You already discovered your powers before Rick."

"I did?"

"The dreams, Cass."

"The dreams..." I thought about it for a minute, and then the answer seemed so clear to me.

"They weren't dreams, they were premonitions."

"Right, you had the power to see in the future. A power only a Vampiress can posess. Now that you have gained Rick's powers, there's no telling how powerful you really are now."

"Why? He couldn't have been a Vampiress, he's a man."

"He wasn't a Vampiress. He was a Vampire Hunter. They hunt Vampires for their powers, and the more blood they take in, the more power they absorb. Rick was very powerful, he has taken a lot of future Vampiress powers."

"But...how did I get his? I didn't even bite him or anything."

"With your scream."

"My scream??"

"That's another power of yours. Another one that comes with being a Vampiress. The scream of agony, it's called. It transfers the pain your feeling, emotional or physical, to your enemy. Sometimes it's enough to give you their powers."

"Alright, I'm getting most of this. Bit if I'm a full Vampiress now, why aren't my eyes red right this second?"

"You only turn into a Vampiress when you need to. When your hungry, or are in trouble."

"I'll have to suck blood...?"

"Yeah, you'll get used to it. Trust me."

"Okay, but, you were a full vampire once before, right?"

"Yes, I was..."

"So, if it kills Rick to bite a full Vampire, how did he get your powers?"

"I was extremely weak. I was just learning how to be a Vampire. I was only a two day old Vampire, the most. Then from being shot, bitten and scratched by the wolves, I was easy prey. But I didn't go without a fight. I used everything in my power to weaken him, but it still wasn't enough."

"What kind of powers did you have?"

"Not much. Like I said before, I was new, so they didn't have much time to develop. What I had within those two days was speed, which every vampire or Vampiress is born with, of course the Vampiress's are faster. Anyway, speed and illusion."

"Illusion?"

"I could create things that weren't real, but if I had learned to control it better, and not make it so obvious that the illusions were fake, then other people would think they were real too. I could create siren sounds for criminals, people's greatest fears coming to life. It was great while it lasted."

"What kind of powers do I have?" He smiled.

"Endless."