This is the last chapter I think I am going to upload for today :P It's midget size! 8D

Shadow took Gwen's hand in his. He raised her hand and pricked one of her fingers with her sharp fingernail. She hissed, but didn't make an attempt to run as he squeezed it and a large drop of dark red blood emerged. His eyes glowed slightly, and he licked the drop from her finger with a cool wet tongue. "Shadow, you're seriously starting to scare me," Gwen warned him.

"Your blood," Shadow said. "It's incredible." He squeezed her finger again, and ran his tongue feverishly over the blood. She pulled her hand gently away from his.

"Stop that," she said firmly.

Shadow froze. His eyes narrowed. "What is it that you want, Gwen?"

"I want the truth spoken to my face! Not through a mere poem, but coming from the man who WROTE the poem. You need to realize that to me this is mind boggling! Not five minutes ago, I didn't believe vampires existed! God damn it Shadow!" Gwen took a deep breath and paused for a minute. "Just tell me the truth, to my face, and don't cut corners."

Shadow sighed and grasped her wrists. "I will say this loud and clear. I am a vampire. I'm immortal. I have lived as an immortal being, if you can call that living, for 150 years. I was transformed in an alley in south-western Mobius.

"I had a human life that wasn't worth shit. I used to be an unpopular teenage kid who was on some kind of jacked-up crack. It was killing me, but an immortal spared my life. I remember specifically it was my 15th birthday when I was transformed into what I am today.

"When we get to more recent history, I drink the blood of our breed and others that live here. I am the one responsible for the murder of Star the echidna last night. I drank that poor girl's blood so that I wouldn't be so tempted to suck YOU dry. That would have been too painful to bear. I wish to live with you forever."

Gwen blinked and tried to take in his words. Shadow, a murderer?

He continued. "I can't help it. This feeling..." He put his hand on her heart, where he could feel her lively pulse. "It doesn't want to go away. It's like it's sewn into my soul, and I don't know how to pull out the threads and free you."

He paused. "This might sound awful of me to say, but I don't want to be in love with you. Immortal plus mortal equals not happenin', especially when one wants to drink the other's blood.

"It's so difficult to control myself," Shadow sighed. "I make one mistake, and I could kill you."

Gwen flinched. "Shadow... don't look at it that way."

"Okay, I won't think about it then." Shadow's hand ran across her chest. He stopped on her right breast. He smiled and laughed slightly. "If you knew what I was thinking right now, however... I bet you'd be pissed off."

Gwen frowned. "I have a feeling I already know, and it's not happening here. There's no way I'm gonna let you do that." She paused, then grinned. "Not yet, at least. Soon. You don't need to wait long, just until I'm ready."

Shadow smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

"OH MY GOD, WHAT?!"

Gwen froze where she was. She knew that voice all too well. "Sonic?!"

The cobalt hedgehog stepped out from behind the trees surrounding Gwen and Shadow, his eyes wide and his expression shocked. Shadow jumped away from her, holding up his hands as if he were under arrest. Or as if he hadn't been touching her. "DUDE! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Sonic ignored Shadow, ran up to Gwen, and shook her shoulders for a moment. "What did you just say to Shadow?"

"You heard me! You should know," she replied, her head swirling.

He let go of her shoulders. "I was hoping I misunderstood, actually, if you two were referring to actually having real sex. That's just DISTURBING!"

This made Gwen snap. "When was it your duty to decide my feelings?!"

"You know I care about you! I'm not going to let some crazy bloodsucking vampire seduce you!"

Gwen growled and said something she thought she'd never get to say. "Oh for fuck's sake! I know he's a fucking vampire! Just let me love him and leave me in peace. Besides, I know you're just jealous of us. I know you want me. I can see it by the way you're always STARING AT MY BOOBS!" Her voice rose to a crescendo.

Sonic opened his mouth to say something in response, but nothing came out. Gwen sighed, and her tone lowered to soft but firm. "Look. I care about you, too. You're one of my best friends. I enjoy spending time with you. I just don't feel the same way about you as I do about Shadow.

"Shadow and I have a lot in common. He's a serious guy who could protect me if we ever had to go into battle. We both love art. We're both against Christianity. We're highly educated. We have the same opinions on many things. He's already proved that he can stay in control of his blood lust whenever he's this close to me." She motioned to the half a foot long space between herself and Sonic.

"Are you sure it's true?" Sonic asked.

"Yes! Now just get out of my ass and shut the fuck up!"

Sonic stood there, motionless for a second, then bowed his head. He knew he had been defeated, and walked away. Shadow sat down next to Gwen on the bench that she had dropped on after her speech. "You showed him," Shadow said, trying to brighten the sudden down mood by smiling. "I had no idea a girl could talk like that. It was fucking awesome."

Gwen didn't look up at him, and Shadow's face fell. His pressed his lips together into a thin line. "Are you scared?"

"Of what?" Gwen asked, still staring at the increasingly soggy ground.

"Me."

She met his eyes. "No. Not any longer."

"You should be, you know," he said matter-of-factly.

Gwen barely heard him. After a few minutes, she grinned at him. "You need to come to my house tonight."

Oooooh! I wonder what she wants :) You'll have to wait a few days for Chapter 15 :D Au revoir!

~ GABL