Freaking A, Silver thought as she rolled in her bed. Silver, if you don't get some sleep, you'll be dead.

Huck-huck! The voice laughed in her head. She moaned and held a ruffled pillow over her ears, as if the voice was on the outside and not in her head. Silly vampire, you can't sleep anymore!

She growled against the voice again, and tried to close her eyes defiantly. "But I can go out in the sun!" she whispered to herself, and the voice inside her head. It didn't register to her how crazy she'd sounded. "Vampires don't go out in the sun either, do they? But I did today. And…so did Dan…"

Dan. His face filled her mind again, and she saw herself becoming hazy with the fantasy of them dancing together….

Dancing? Wait…I hate dancing…

And then she fell asleep.

When she woke up, her first thought was: ha! Take that you little…voice thingy.

Then she thought about the fact that Dan said he was going to be at school, and that whipped her out of the bed. She threw on a black t-shirt and some jeans she hadn't worn in forever because the knees were ripped, and looked at herself in the mirror. Even though she got more sleep than she had in a while, she still looked like she hadn't slept in days. There were bags under eyes and blue and purple bruises. And her black eyes looked deader than ever.

"Ugh," she moaned, and then whipped a hand though her hair. She took the brush off her dresser and started combing through the tangles. She'd always been pale, but her skin looked almost chalky. She could pass for sick, she thought with a grin. Oh yeah, got the flu, can't go outside for gym today… Yeah, that might work. If she got a "doctor's note".

Walking downstairs, she smelled the putrid smell of eggs and thought briefly that she hadn't had anything to eat yesterday. Just a couple of fries at lunch, but that was it. She wasn't hungry either, though, but still she made herself go downstairs with an air of sickness. Her mother instantly took the bait. "Oh honey, are you okay? You don't look so good."

Oh I'm fine, just fine. I only found out yesterday that I'm a vampire, I can't go out in the sun because it burns my skin, I can't eat anything because the smell of food makes me wanna barf, and then there's this mysterious Dan Midnight, who I have no idea who is, and is so insanely cute that my stomach turns over when I think about him.

Yeah, I'm just fine.

"Ugh, I don't feel well at all, Mommy." Instantly the acting skills Silver acquired yesterday kicked in, and she sat down at the kitchen table and let her mom put a hand over her forehead.

"Well, you don't feel hot…" she frowned.

"But I don't feel too hot either!" Silver whined, biting her lip. "I feel like I'm going to throw up." That didn't take any acting skills; that was true. The eggs frying on the stove made her stomach feel like it was going to burst, and she quickly got up. "On second thought, I'll tough it out and go to school. I just remembered that I have a big test today, that I cannot miss. Sorry."

"Want me to take you to school?"

"No, I'll run." She paused after she said this. What? Run? She never before in her life even so much as had the urge to run anywhere. She hated running, in fact. But now she wanted nothing more than to get out in the cool air- God was on her side today, because the clouds were forming a thick blanket over the sun- and just start running.

Her mother noticed this too, and she raised an eyebrow as she walked over to the stove to cook some more eggs. "Eat first."

"No, really, I have to study for the test. I'll just get something at school."

She narrowed her eyes at Silver. "No, Silver Stone, you will eat something."

"I can't! I have to go to school." And before her mother could say anything else- oh she was so going to get her butt kicked later on- she walked out the door into the dense fog.

Fog. She never noticed how beautiful it was. She started running through it, feeling the wet hit her face, her chest, her arms. She laughed and heard it ring throughout the air before her.

And then she was looking at her school.

Her school was five minutes away travelling in car; at least ten even if she was running. But she just got there in two minutes flat.

During the night, when the fog is at most,

All the vampires come out to boast,

And now as one's running through the day,

All the vampires can come out to play.

The voice echoed through her head, and she stopped to listen to it. All the vampires can come out to play? She didn't understand one bit. It scared her though; what if it was true? What if the vampires were really going to come out and play? She bit the inside of her cheek and walked the rest of the way to school, feeling the sun starting to peak out of the blanket, like a child.

How was she suppose to get through the day, through her classes, if Dan was staring at her like that?

He was insanely beautiful, she thought again. Oh goodness was he. But she made herself focus-don't give yourself away, don't show him how beautiful you think he is- on other things; she had much practice keeping her feelings away from other people.

After English, a note was dropped on her desk. She looked up just as Dan walked away.

Unfolding the note, ignoring that her hands were shaking, she read it slowly once, then twice, and then once more.

Meet me tonight, where the world ends.

More riddles and more mysteries. Silver was starting to feel cramped with questions.

Where did the world end?

And, with a sudden burst of knowledge, she knew where.

The End Castle was on 29th street. It was broken down and old, and kids would often go in it on dares. But Silver knew this place was right, somehow. And she knew no ghosts or witches would pop out at her.

Only vampires.

She walked through the rubble she tingled with excitement. The moon talked to her; told her to move on, to keep moving even though she thought it was creepy. She knew it was going to be okay. Dan was there, anyhow. And it was midnight.

His figure was leaning against a broken down wall, facing out toward the moon. One leg was crossed over the other, and his arms were crossed too. It was the classic, I am who I am and don't mess with me pose, and suddenly Silver had the urge to giggle. "Hello."

Dan turned around and squinted his eyes at Silver. "What, no holy water? No crucifix? You are a risky little girl, aren't you?"

She shook her head, smiling. "But I'm not a girl. I'm a vampire."

He smiled too, and the moon's glare shone off his teeth and his eyes. "That you are, love. That you are."

Silver's smile stretched wider.