Being capture by a vampire and spent days and nights with him, you would have thought I would've known what his lips would be like. But it shocked me; it was unlike anything I have imagined. It began with the gentlest touch, really, is not even a kiss, just the gentlest touch of lips. But then somehow my hand ended up behind his neck and his well on the small of my back, our kiss deepened to the point where my body was set on fire, where I'm completely enthralled by this being before me. I just wanted to get closer.. closer… then suddenly Jace's face flashed past my mind, it stunned me and I pulled myself away from him with a slight gasp, fingers touching my lips.

"What-what are you doing?" I stumbled back a few steps, horrified.

He smirked, "Well, I don't know but I'm pretty sure you were doing it too."

"Stop, stop!" I held my hands up to stop him from interrupting, "you and me," I gesticulate frantically between the two of us, "this cannot happen."

"Why?" He asked softly, his eyes seeking mine, "why?"

"Is not as if you don't know the rules." A new voice entered the room, we both swivelled our heads to see Rix standing at the end of the bed, an amused smile on his lips.

"Don't scowl at me like that, Zeke. I really didn't want to see the two of snogging at all; in fact, I just came in to report that your fiancé is back." Rix now had a mirrored image of Zeke's face.

"We weren't snogging." I mumbled quietly, completely unaware of the growling shape behind me.

"Look after yourselves." Zeke exited the room hurriedly, shutting the door behind him.

"I didn't want that kiss." I said sullenly, falling back against the pillows, the image of Jace's face was lodged in my mind like a rock.

Rix shrugged and sat beside me, "Why is psycho in your bed?"

"Coz I like him." I didn't face him, still embarrassed about what had happened with Zeke.

"Someone must be thrilled."

"I don't see anything wrong with him." I argued then decided that I should direct the attention away from me. "What did you mean by the rules?"

Rix turned to me still smiling, "There are rules to protect us from doing stupid things. We have three rules, rule number one, the heir must marry his or her betrothed, rule number two, and there is absolutely no intervention between humans or vampires. Except with the cast of slaves or pets. Rule number three, if you decides to abandon the society, you're an outcast. If any vampire violated one of the three rules, the punishment is death."

"So Zeke must marry Aislin?" The sadness and bitterness seeped into my voice helplessly.

"It seems so, why? Are you jealous?"

I shrugged, hiding my face in the pillow again trying to block out the sensation of Zeke's lips on mine and the picture of Jace in my mind accompanied by the picture of Richard.

Richard! My mind was blasting off with panic bells.

"Hey, Rix. Who's Richard?"

"Richard?" A surprised look flitted across his eyes, "why would you ask about him?"

"Um, Zeke might have mentioned him once or twice." I replied nervously.

"Well, just stay well clear away from him. He's not someone you want to mess with."

"Why?"

"Look, Carmen." Rix looked around uncomfortably, the first time I've seen him cautious. "Richard is very old, older than all of us, except our mother of course. No one knows the exact date or century he was born in but he was one of the first vampires that walked on this earth. He was the sire of many vampires; he was respected for a long long time. He knows One thirty and five languages including some of the dead languages, he also has connections all over the world, he's a brilliant surgeon and scientist, he was also the first one to start a rebellion."

"What!?" I asked, incredulous.

Rix shrugged, still looking uneasy. "He was always a little crazy, maybe is because he has witness the fall of civilisations, or maybe he has seen so many things the rest of us haven't. He thinks that there is a better species out there, to rule us, to rule this word. But to be honest, he hasn't done anything dangerous since that rebellion. The queen is keeping a close eye on him but I wouldn't get on his bad side."

"Oh." Strangely enough my mind was entirely blank.

"So, looks like you're stuck with me for the rest of the day. What do you want to do?"

"What time is it?"

"About noon."

I sighed, glancing at the sleeping kid beside me. "Do you know anything about Lupa except that he's mental and everyone here thinks he's crazy?"

"You know Zeke is gonna be so happy when he hears I'm telling you all these things."

"Oh well." I said lightly, grinning at him, "you could always not tell me."

Rix smiled sat on the end of the large bed, facing me. "Don't be so rude, Carmen. I've spent hours spying on people; of course I know something about this strange little kid." He paused than a sly smile came over his face, "Of course you have to answer one of my questions."

Oh no. "Fine, what is it?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Tell me, do you like Zeke or not. No lying."

"Do I have to answer that?" I whined, regretting ever asking him about Lupa.

"Yup." He grinned like an excited three-year old.

"This conversation will remain strictly confidential." I levelled an accusing finger at him, "is that clear?"

"Of course." His voice suggested the exact opposite.

"Ok, I will only answer once, is that ok with you?"

"It has been either a yes or no."

"Fine. The answer is yes."

Rix's eyes widened for a moment and I could just kill myself right now. Then a moment later he had pinned against the bed, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"I knew it!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now tell me about Lupa and would you please let me go?"

"You let Zeke hold you but not me?" He retreated instantly to his side of the bed, hurt entering his voice. "Meanie, I'm not telling you about Lupa anymore."

"Do as you like; I'm entirely fine with you walking with Barbie again."

"You hang out with Zeke way too much." Rix mumbled, sending a mock glare in my direction.

"Lupa?" I prompted.

"Lupa first came to us about seven years ago. Richard came back late that evening because of some important meeting, anyway he came back carrying Lupa in his arms. He didn't speak much about him of course, just said that he found him on the streets and he had some kind of mental disease. We tried to call different doctors to see if he could heal but he was still a complete nut case. It wasn't until four years later based on a pure coincidence, we were departing from London to meet up with an old friend but Zeke forgot his nice cashmere coat, so he sent me up to find it. As I was going up, I found Richard's door open, which was extremely rare because he never leaves his door open. So as the curious person I am, I crept into his room. His room was tip-top perfect, everything was in its place, there are not even dust mites on the drawers I seriously had my doubts about him being a guy. Anyway, there was a notebook sitting on his marble desktop so I went over and flipped through it." He stopped and looked at me, "you sure you want to hear the next part?"

I nodded slowly, determined to find out the truth.

He gave me a weird look like half a smile and half a grimace before continuing, "It was full of notes on the human body, vampire body, werewolves, and even faeries. The notes were horrifying, some written well over a century ago and some very recently. Though they were all based on the blood system and the muscles, some of the pictures were frightening. Then I saw a profile of Lupa, apparently he has the senses of a werewolf and the body of a vampire and so extremely weird traits from faeries. Richard basically created him, he somehow had taken blood from two different species and somehow injected into his system when he was still a human, probably two or three years old, then immediately he turned him into a vampire. That problem was that after two years of observing him, Richard found out that his mental state remained at the age of three. What the worst thing was that Lupa wasn't the first, but he was the first experiment that had worked. I can't look through all of it, that notebook was like two bricks thick and I'm pretty sure I heard Richard coming in. So in a state of panic I opened the window and jumped just in the nick of the time. Of course, Zeke was incredibly pissed at me that not only I did not get his coat and we were also late for the flight." He sighed and nervously glanced at the door, "After that, Richard hated me even more."

"That's horrible!" I whispered, shifting closer to Lupa.

"Yes well, don't tell Zeke or Richard, or else I will be as good as dead!"

"You're already dead." I pointed out.

He gave me a smile then tensed as the room creaked open slowly, the atmosphere of the room suddenly darkened. The wooden door continued to creak bigger and bigger to reveal a girl dressed in a maid's uniform holding a cup of water, brown eyes smiling at us.

"Master Rixon, Prince Zeke wishes to speak with you." She managed to bow while holding the water. Still waiting for Rix to go, he sent me one worried look before quietly walking out of the room. She then came and sat next to me, still smiling.

"I'm Kayla and I will be your maid for the time of your stay here, miss."

"No need to call me miss, we're both the same, is that water for me?"

"Yes, Master Zeke ordered it for you."

"He did?" I glanced at the drink skeptically, wondering if he had put anything weird in it.

"He said it was clean and if not you can punish him." The girl was smiling a little as she handed me the cooling glass cup.

"Thanks. Kayla." Already taking a liking at this girl, she gave me a small wave before exiting the room with her head slightly bowed.

I gave the water a small testing sip to see if there was anything weird about it but it tasted fine. So I gulped the whole thing down and lay beside Lupa, one arm draped around his shoulder when the world suddenly became a lot more quieter, the room seem to be playing a trick of me, tilting it sideways and blurring anything. That was not water, was the last thought on my mind before the drugs pulled me under.

When I woke again, it was night outside. I turned onto my right side to find Lupa starring down at me with a smile.

"You're awake!" He yelped excitedly, tugging at my hand.

I sat up glancing around the room, finally noticing the silent shadow that stood by the door.

"Zeke?"

"Yes?" His voice was calm and cool, yet it still sent a shiver through me.

"You're back."

"Not for long, I will have to spent the night with her. Look after yourself." There was no emotion in his voice.

I felt a wave of disappoint, then I kicked myself. He's a vampire; you've got Jace, who has been your best friend for god knows how many years. Yet my heart still beats a little faster each time I see him.

"Oh, that's fine." I kept my voice cool and indifferent.

"Night, Carmen." He said quietly and walked out soundlessly.

"Night." I whispered back softly at the empty air.

"You like him, don't you?" Lupa was suddenly there, looking up at me with wide blinking eyes.

I laughed and batted him away, "As if you will understand, do you feel better now?"

"I'm good."

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Is about half past eight."

I did a slow mental calculation; I've slept for nine whole hours! But at least it was night now, and maybe tonight I will actually see Jace again.

"Someone's been in this room before. Someone else strange, not wavy boy or lover boy."

It took me about two minutes to work out who wavy boy was, and then it took me another minute to work out how he know. Rix had said he had werewolf senses, so tracking smell would have been natural instinct.

"Do you know who it is?"

He shook his head slowly then sat on the carpet again, "I'm bored, is there anything to do?"

"I don't know, do you want to go outside?"

"No, the outside is dangerous, I would rather stay inside." I looked at him in astonishment, surprised to see something intense brewing in his eyes, his face hardened into another mask, for a moment, he didn't look three, or fifteen, he looked like what he should be. A creature with power and wisdom, but after a moment or two, it was gone. He was back being to the three-year old self.

"That's fine, I will think of something." Wondering how on earth I'm supposed to keep a three-year old in a fifteen year old body entertained. I mean I know how to deal with kids, but kid in a teenager body? That's way out of my league.

"Carmen? Is not rocket science, how about hide and seek?"

I raised an eyebrow at the sentence, what a strange combination of sarcasm and happiness.

"Sure, this room's huge."

"Ok, I will hide first then." He grinned and disappeared into the darkness. I sighed and sat on the bed, wondering how I had ended up here as a vampire's slave entertaining a mental kid. Just then the window creaked slowly and a figure dropped silently onto the carpet.

"Jace?" I whispered softly, stalking towards the figure.

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here!?" I whispered urgently, frantically looking around the room.

"The kid, don't worry he won't tell."

"How do you know about him?"

"I saw him, duh." He rolled his eyes dramatically then suddenly folds me into a bear hug.

"Why are you here?"

"My sister was killed after two years you left, then about a week later, a group called Guns and Crosses came to recruit, claiming that they are freedom fighters. At that time, I had no one so of course I followed them. Over the years, they trained me up to be a vampire hunter, how to recognize them, the smelt of them, and how to kill them. I won't rest until I've avenge my sister's death."

"Oh." I said quietly, almost sadly.

"Are you upset?" He tipped my chin up gently, his eyes searching my face.

I shook my head, not wanting to hear anymore of cruelness and injustice. "Can we just stay like this?"

I held my head against his muscled chest, hearing his steady heartbeat against my ears. He rocked me back and forth gently and I wandered if we could stay the whole night like this, secure and wrapped in each other's embrace. Of course, I was wrong.

"How very nice so comforting." A haunting voice entered the room with a click. "Too bad it will have to end so soon, love."

We looked up in astonishment as Richard strolled into the room, one hand holding a two by four. I barely had to register what had happen, before his fingers pulled the trigger and fired.

Author's Note

Everyone, I'm pleased to announce after killing myself for the entire whole day I've finally finished this. Even though I've done must of the thinking in French class. To those of you who actually bothered to read through Rix's explanation, thank you, to those who didn't I strongly suggests you to go back and read it.

I hope we're getting some Richard fans; he will be appearing a lot in the following chapters! Finally over 100 reviews! Thank you so so much to everyone reader, I love you all, you're all awesome!

Zeke: You despicable human! I wasn't even mention in this chapter!

Loren: Yeah, you haven't mentioned me in ages!

Me: *Glaring* Loren, shut up. You're coming up in the next chapter anyway. Oh, and everyone please don't forget to review! If this gets over 12 reviews, I will update within the week. Promise.

Did anyone actually read through this the whole way? Is probably the longest Author's Note I've ever done.