A/N: So sorry for the long wait.I was having trouble with this chapter and when I finally finished it (and my muses stopped picking on one another) the site wouldn't let me put it up. --x It's not very long but I really wanted to to get something here. And thanks for all your reviews and welcome new readers.

Chapter 7

A beautiful young girl at the age of 12 in a long green field full of flowers of all colors and sorts, her red hair swaying in the breeze as she runs. Some of the flowers in her hand and others in her hair as a crown. She wore a plain light blue dress with short sleeves. The girl turned to a man watching her and hurried to his side. She smiled sweetly and handed the man a yellow rose. Her mouth moves but now words leave her lips. The man bends down to the young girl's level and smiles. The young girl becomes excited and hugs the man who returns the gesture. After a moment, the man releases the girl and she goes back to running in the field. The man gets up and hears something behind him. He slowly turns around to see and his face starts coming into view. As he turns, his inappropriate changes and he is-

A loud beeping noise interrupts Isabelle's dream. The tired girl moans from under the covers and throws a small plush toy at the alarm clock making the noise. She fails to hit it and it continues beeping but now even louder, calling her out of bed to the other side of the room to hit the snooze button. After doing so, and glaring at what she deemed the evil clock that she got for Christmas, she thought of the dream from only moments before.

"I'm getting really tired of this." She sighed opened the window to look outside. The sky was covered with dark clouds preventing the sun from coming through and brightening the day. "Great. Just great." She closed the curtains and turned from the window to change.

"This is perfect." Xeiasslm gazed out the window of the mansion with a smile. On days like this, vampires are able to go out during the day for however long the sun is hidden from them. By the look of the cloud cover, it could last all day and into the evening. Thomas came and stood beside her to look out the window as well. "You want something?"

"I will be keeping an eye on you." He replied, not giving her a second glance as he spoke. Xeiasslm opened her mouth to protest but saw this as an opportunity. Not only would she get some information from her "bodyguard" but she got to spend time with the hottie.

"Really now? Alright, but I'm going out." Derek came to pass the two and Xeiasslm took this moment to start her teasing. "You going somewhere?" She had a very good idea where he would be going. Derek just continued to walk past her without even recognizing that she was there. Thomas also noticed his presence and turned to watch him leave without saying a word and close the door. Usually Xeiasslm would pass this as normal behavior, but he seemed even more cold or distant than the previous nights. Xeiasslm turned to Thomas with a puzzled look. "What's with him?"

He turned back to the window, watching Derek stroll down the sidewalk. "I'm not sure. He's been acting like this since we came back." Xeiasslm hurried to the window and managed to get a quick glance at Derek before he turned the corner and out of sight.

"Hmm. Well his loss." With a quick spin she grabbed Thomas's arm and smiled. "Let's go. There's a few things I want to do." Thomas nodded.

Isabelle had been waiting outside her friend's house after knocking for a few minutes now. She reached into her pocket to pull out her cell phone to see the time, 9:30 am. As she put her cell phone away, the door was opened by a very tall teenage boy still in his pajamas. He had very short hair sandy blonde which was recently cut so it was even shorter than normal. His curious hazel eyes gazed down at her with a smile as he recognized the girl. "Oh, ello Izzy." He said in his usual loud tone. "Whatcha doin' here?" He glanced behind him to the living room where the TV was.

"Hey Russ." She smiled at the very tall 16 year old. "Is Reggie up?"

"Uhhh." He paused with an exaggerated thoughtful look and a hand holding his chin. "I don't know. Lemme check." Russell hurried from the door and to the right up the hall. She couldn't help laughing when she heard him call for his older sister, asking if she was up. There was a groan followed by an angry "Get out". A moment later another man, only an inch sorter than Russell hurried past Isabelle and up the hall telling him to leave his sister alone then came back to the open door where Isabelle waited. The man had black hair which was graying everywhere very quickly and wore blue jeans and a green button up shirt. He turned to Isabelle and smiled.

"Regina is," He paused for a moment to correct himself. "Or was still asleep."

"Ah." Isabelle nodded. "Could you tell her to call me then?" The older man nodded before exchanging good-byes and closing the door. As she walked away from the house, she began wondering what to do.

Derek sat at the bench at the park where he had last seen Isabelle, his head in his hands. He hated coming her but this seemed to be the only place where he could think clearly. The girl invaded his every thought making him furious. Soon his fist slammed against the bench. A few people glanced at him to see where the noise came from but quickly moved, except one, Isabelle. She was very happy to see him there and hurried to his side smiling. Derek ignored her for a few minutes, not aware of who it was. Seeing that she would not go away, he looked up with an annoyed look which quickly faded as he jumped to his feet.

"Lady Isabelle."

Isabelle blinked at her new title and laughed, she was not used to being called anything but Isabelle or one of her nicknames, and poor Derek was very confused. He opened his mouth to speak so he could explain himself but stopped when Isabelle had finished laughing. "Izzy is fine."

Derek regained his serious expression and shook his head. "No. That is inappropriate."

"You're so proper." She paused for a moment. "No more of this Lady Isabelle stuff. I'm not of any nobility. You can also call me Belle." He nodded.

"I didn't expect to see you at this hour."

"I could say the same to you." She teased and sat down on the bench. "I didn't always roller blade so often, but." Derek sat down next to Isabelle, a little curiosity in his eyes. "It helps clear my head." He began wondering why she was talking to him so freely, but soon remembered she didn't know what he was. She told him about her father and his car accident. How things changed after he went to the hospital. Her brother and father becoming even more worried about her, and that he should have been out of the hospital a couple days ago. She talked, he listened, and two vampires watched not too far away.

Xeiasslm sat with Thomas behind a tree and some bushes. "Yes!" She whispered. "I just knew they were going to meet. Now if only I had a camera."

"Wha- You're not planning on black mailing him?" Thomas asked quietly.

The vampire waved her hand. "Nah. He doesn't have anything I want. The pictures would just give me teasing rights for, oh some many years." She smiled slyly at Derek and the human girl making Thomas wonder about her sanity. "I wonder what she's talking about though."

Thomas sighed, seeing that they weren't going to be leaving any time soon he made himself comfortable on the grass and watched Xeiasslm and would glance at the sky for any changes that way they could hurry back if the sun decided to come out. Xeiasslm would get closer every five minutes and he was certain he heard her humming the Mission Impossible theme, up until she turned herself into a cat so she could get even closer. He shook his head as she got under the bench to eavesdrop on their conversation. Of course she wouldn't consider it eavesdropping since she was no longer a vampire. It was her loophole, she would reason.

Xeiasslm was unable to hear very much of their conversation since Isabelle stopped to look under the bench. She smiled at the black cat and got off the bench to get a better look. Derek was uninteresting in the cat but watched Isabelle try to encourage it to come out. He didn't see it so didn't know that it was Xeiasslm. "Oh come on kitty." Isabelle continued to call the cat to her but Xeiasslm refused to be seen by Derek. He would know it was her immediately and wouldn't be able to listen to them. "It won't come out." Derek told Isabelle who was moving her hand side to side across the grass in hopes to get the cat out. "It's too stubborn."

Xeiasslm looked at Derek and was tempted to scratch him. 'I'll show you stubborn.' She thought and was about to come out from under the bench when two large hands grabbed her from behind.

"Oh, is this your cat?" Isabelle asked the man. Xeiasslm looked at who picked her up so she could scratch his face but stopped when she saw it was Thomas and relaxed in his arms. Thomas noticed this and felt a little uncomfortable since not only did he pick up a woman he barely knew but Derek was casting a nasty glare at him telling him to leave.

"No, but I know who she belongs to and must return her quickly." He blushed when Xeiasslm started purring and laid her head against his chest. The poor vampire was very embarrassed since the cat he was holding was a woman and considering where his hands were to hold her, he wished to let her down as soon as possible. Isabelle was focusing more on the cat than Thomas's face so she didn't notice. She was very fond of cats and had begged her dad many times to have one. "G-good day." He rushed past them and out of the their view so he could set her down. Xeiasslm went back to her normal form once she was on the ground and laughed at the blushing Thomas.

Though they were out of sight, Derek stared at the spot where they vanished. "Such a pretty cat." He heard Isabelle say and turned his attention back to her. "You seemed a little distracted once the guy came." She smiled knowingly. Derek wasn't sure how to respond or what she was thinking. 'Does she know that I know them?' He asked himself. "Were you getting a little jealous?" Now he was even more unsure of what to say and felt his cheeks get a little warm. Isabelle laughed at his surprised look and ended up using him for support to keep herself from falling off the bench.

'Oh no.' He thought to himself. 'I think Xeiasslm may be right. Am I falling in love with this human girl?' He looked at Isabelle who was starting to calm down and smiled. 'It will be alright, as long as she doesn't fall in love with me, she'll be save.' Isabelle had quieted down and turned to Derek, surprised to see him smiling at her. She smiled back and Derek realized that he was still smiling and quickly turned back to his serious look, making Isabelle laugh once more.

"Whoa, did he just smile at her?" Xeiasslm asked Thomas. The two had been watching from a good distance and were amazed at what they saw, Thomas even more so than Xeiasslm.

"I believe he did." He replied. "He hasn't smiled since his-" He quickly stopped himself.

Xeiasslm looked at him curiously waiting for him to finish. "Since his what? His goldfish died?" She teased, not understanding how significant Derek smiling was. Thomas ignored her comment and continued watching his friend enjoying the presence of the human beside him. Since the day before he became a vampire, Derek was happy.

What niether group knew was that they were all being watched. More specifically Isabelle was being watched by a very curious vampire. His smile grew when he saw that with the human girl was his old friend Derek. "Who knew that such an interesting girl would lead me to him? Delightful." He moved from his hiding spot and started up the path out of the park. "I shall have to pay him a visit once she helps me find his hiding place."