Aw! Dear readers, are you ready?! It is Vlad and Mina's anniversary! Now aren't you excited? I was to write this chapter. Hope this turns out as awesome as I thought it was. And I know for a fact you will like the ending! *enter evil laughter* Well, here it is, Mina's second Halloween in Bathory.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vladimir Tod outside of my dreams. I don't own The Gothic Maiden costume either as much as I wish. Uh… I think that's it…. Here! ENJOY!

21 Not Scared of Death

It was Halloween. Mina met Vlad exactly three hundred and sixty five days ago. Mina wanted this day to be remembered as the day they met. The day everything changed.

Vlad hulled the black hooded robe over his head and yanked the sickle over his face. As he spoke with Nelly he answered the front door. He saw Henry dressed as a gruesome zombie and Joss as who-knows-what. Mina wasn't there. Vlad looked around behind them to find the missing member of their group. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Joss, I thought you were dressing up." Vlad stated.

"I told you! Go on, tell him what you're supposed to be."

"I'm an anthropologist." Vlad turned to Henry, who rolled his eyes.

"Dude, can't you tell people that you're a serial killer or something? How am I gonna get Melissa to dance with me if my cousin's an anthropologist?"

"Maybe she'll think anthropologists are hot." Nelly spoke in a motherly tone from the inside of the house.

"I assume that there's no bid surprise at midnight this year."

"No. Why?" He asked her, she smiled.

"Good. Home by eleven, Vladimir." He rolled his eyes and followed Henry and Joss out the door and down the street. As they walked Vlad looked around and examined the area. He didn't see anything or even feel the pull in any particular direction other than the ground.

"Hey, where's Mina?" He asked Henry, who smiled and didn't look at him.

"Getting ready." He answered slowly; Vlad heard Joss chuckled next to him.

"Oh god."

"Don't worry; she'll meet us at the party. And you will see her right when she gets there, trust me."

"What did you do to her?" He snapped, he heard Joss scoff at his side and Henry just rolled his eyes. To be honest Vlad was worried about what they had done to her.

"Nothing, she picked everything out herself. We were just there." Vlad wasn't sure if he should trust his best friend about his cousin but decided to just wait until she came so he could see her himself. Yet he tried to imagine what she could look like. Yet every image that came to his mind was her in that vampire bride costume or some other vampire-based outfit.

As the trio walked up to Matthews house, a pack of girls stood on the porch. Vlad noticed Meredith, dressed a simmering she-devil. Vlad was just about to pass out.

"Meredith looks pretty tonight." Henry noted.

"Wow." Joss gasped, Vlad and Henry shot him looks that said to back off. Joss shrugged them off and stepped onto the porch. He smiled at the she-devil, who in turn smiled at his cousin. Vlad ducked into the party without a glance.

The party was mostly down stairs. Two couches, a pool table, a dart board, a DJ table, and a food table were scattered around an open area. Dark lights glowed randomly about as orange and black balloons floated around. Streamers of orange and black hung low over their heads.

A few people were dancing to the music, yet not all. Henry's name was shouted every so often from every direction for nearly an hour before he gave in. He left Joss and Vlad alone.

Not long after Henry left, Vlad felt the aching urge to look up from the hole in his shoe to the crowd. He eyes met immediately contact with a girl. She wore dark crimson satin around her. The top she wore was strapless and fell to jagged levels over her ribs. The crimson restarted at her hips, held tightly, a slit from the top to the bottom. Thin, see-through, soft, light material hung in broken strips over the skirt. Her hair, raven in the dim light, swirled in curls behind her. Thick, ruby red lips seemed to leer at him as she walked forward.

More veins of the sweetest blood showed than normal. Her leg, chest, shoulders, arms, stomach, and neck all showed. More veins meant more blood, more blood meant more danger, more danger meant more attraction on her part, more attraction meant more of her scent, more scent meant more hunger, more hunger meant more danger, more danger more threats. It was a vicious cycle.

Joss elbowed him as she stopped in front of him. "This is when one of you says something."

"Mina!" Vlad called in a shocked tone. Joss was just about to slap them both. Mina looked around the room and smiled widely, mocking his tone.

"Vlad!" She called back. Joss rolled his eyes, sighed, and turned away. He walked off, leaving Mina and Vlad alone. Mina smiled up at Vlad with her red lips. He felt his breath catch, blood race, and teeth attempt to elongate for unknown reasons. "I see you came as Death this year?"

"What?" He asked, shaking his head clear.

"Your costume…?" She asked, gesturing to him.

"Oh, yes! I am Death." He finally found his mind able to work and agreed with her. She held out her hand as she giggled.

"It's nice to meet you, Death. I'm Gothic Maiden." He stood still as she held out the hand. She laughed again and took his hand in hers and shook it. "You shack it, Vlad." He did as she instructed. "Happy day three hundred and sixty five!"

"Huh?"

"We met this exact day, last year." She informed him. He recalled that exact day vividly. She looked at him, down, to the side, and back to him while blushing. The same as she did the day they met. He wasn't sure if she did that purposefully or not. He shoved out the thought of her red cheeks.

"We did, huh? It was a good year, Mina."

"Yeah, it was." She bite her bottom lip and thought about if she should say what she rehearsed or not. Yes, she rehearsed it. With Vlad she always acted like a bumbling idiot, she wanted to have something right! "And I want to thank you for it, Vlad."

"Why would you need to do that?"

"Well, you are my one true friend here that isn't blood related to me. I do have other friends here but I feel like I just get along with you better. And I want to thank you for everything. If there's any way I could repay you, just tell me. I'll do it."

Vlad thought for a moment about saying something along the lines of 'let me drink from your neck' or 'follow me to a dark corner and I can drink you blood!'. He knew that if he were to do just that she would laugh. She found his constant vampire jokes as nothing but a play at the cause of their close friendship. And in their endless joking around he has had plenty of chances to drain the life force from his friend.

He decided to do the smart thing. "You could dance with me."

She grinned, the grin matching Henry's to such a degree he almost laughed, and took his hand. They danced to the fast music close together. Though she claimed to truly hate dancing, he had to admit that she was good at it. Her arms and hips swayed perfectly to the music as she held a permanent smile.

"I have a question!" She called over the music, leaning forward.

"Yeah?"

"If we both hate dancing, why do we always dance?" She asked him, he paused for a second before continuing dancing.

"I don't know." They continued to twist around with the song before she started again.

"I kinda really wanted an answer this time!"

"Well, maybe it's because we find it easier to be idiots with each other than idiots alone. That way we don't feel so idiotic." He shrugged, she laughed.

"But I always feel idiotic around you!" She took his hand and hulled him to the drink table. She drowned a cup of the punch meant to mimic blood. A flashed image of blood, not punch, running down her throat came into his mind. He shook it off.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I always feel like an idiot when I'm with you." He gave her a puzzled look. "No matter what I do you always take it a certain way. And I can never tell if you take it a good way or a bad way. So I always feel like an idiot unless you actually tell me if you like something or you don't. And also it doesn't help when you stare at me all the time."

"What? I don't do that!" He spoke in a rushed voice. He did stare at her, always just in thoughts of discovering the reason of their bond. "What would make you think that?"

"I can feel it. Enough said." She explained in a clipped voice. He turned his eyes away under the mask. "And I can tell you aren't watching me now." She poured them both some of the red punch and picked up the cups. He turned to her. "And how you are now."

She placed the cup in his hand and met his eyes for the first time since they stopped dancing. How could she have done that? He was sure she hadn't even peeked toward him in the time since they danced till now. And he was also wearing a mask; maybe she really did feel his eyes on her.

"How did you….?"

"Don't try and figure it out. It won't work; I've tried since I met you." She pressed her finger to the mouth of the mask. "I just thought I should tell you about it on the anniversary of the day we met."

"Thank you for telling me. Now I want to tell you something."

"Yes?" She asked him. He had second thoughts about telling her. Tonight would have been perfect for her to discover his secret. They had officially known each other for a year and it was Halloween. He couldn't think of a better time than now to tell her of him being a vampire.

"I…want you to answer a question for me."

"Anything, ask away."

"Have you, or are you ever scared of me?" She was taken aback by his question and showed it in her expression. "Have I ever frightened you?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"At times you seem like you want to avoid me or don't want to be there."

"If anyone should be asking why the other seemed to be avoidant, it should be me. I have never tried to avoid you, Vlad. I have never been scared of you, never will be. It's not possible." She ran her hand over the mask. He felt the pull just specs away from being satisfied. She grinned in a teasing, wicked way as she spoke. "I'm not afraid of Death."

"Mina!" She whipped around to find a group of four girls. "What's up?"

"I got to go, Vlad. See you tomorrow? Bye!" She waved softly as she rushed over to her other girl friends. The girls immediately started to interrogate her about the pale boy.

"Why do you guys care? He's just my friend." The girls all rolled their eyes and dragged Mina along the rest of the night as they partied. With or without Vlad, Mina had to admit that it was turning out to be a good night.

During the next hour or so Mina had found herself chatting and dancing with her friends. Yet right in the middle of her dancing with Rachel, Lisa, and Megan she felt a force turn her head. It didn't cause pain, but it shocked her. She ignored it to be nothing. Then she felt as if some invisible person had gutted her. She nearly flew back as she gasped for air and stopped dancing. Her friends went hectic until she shoved it off.

"I'm fine! Vlad! I need Vlad! I need to find him!" She ran off toward the stairs above in attempt to reach Vlad. She gripped her eye as she stumbled up the steps.

The pains she felt were faint, but there. She felt them full force as they happened yet the pain was minor. The impacts were the worst. She eventually found her way through a crowd in the backyard. She saw Vlad being pushed around by Tom and Bill.

"Vlad!" She called out as she attempted to go to him. Bill gripped her arm and shoved her away as Tom headed for Vlad. Mina turned to Vlad in defeat; all she could do was already ruined.

Vlad was pinned to the ground by Bill's foot on his chest. She felt the weight on her own chest yet not the flash of pain Vlad showed. Tom's foot hovered over his face, she feared for Vlad. Yet as Tom came for him, Mina saw Vlad shove back. Tom flew to the other side of the yard as if he were not a giant wall.

Both bullies got up and Mina felt two hands grip her upper arms to help her up. It was Henry and he asked her blurred questions of what had happened before meeting Vlad's eyes and seeing recognition. Vlad stood and brushed himself off. Matthew's mom burst out of the house just after it had ended.

"What on earth is going on out here?" She shouted. Tom and Bill were already long gone. She hulled Vlad inside the house and gave him ice. Mina felt a faded sting deep in her eye as he pressed it to his eye. What? She has to share physical pains with him now too?

"This is ridiculous." She grumbled, low enough so neither Henry nor Vlad heard them. Matthew's mom called Vlad to tell her about the fight.

"What happened?" Henry asked.

"They were just being their charming selves. But I handled it." Mike, Mina was never good with names and only knew him as Mike, sat down on the other side of her. He spoke over her to Vlad, she leaned back.

"I've never seen anybody who could knock that guy on his butt- he's a wall." Mina noted that Vlad was receiving many smiles from the crowd. She saw him take pleasure in his glory and she smiled at him too.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, and reached out to see if it hurt to touch the eye. He winced; she winced in unison with him. She discovered the closer she was to him the more connected the pain was. She chuckled at the thought that she knew how stupid it would be to ever slap him. Not that she would anyway, but it was a good thing to know.

Nelly flew into the room in a rampage. Vlad was forced to leave the party. Henry was once again pulled away from his cousin and Joss was nowhere to be found. Mina followed them outside the house and to the car.

Vlad slinked into the passenger seat and slammed the door. He smiled and gave her a wave through the glass; she couldn't help but feel bad about his eye. Nelly was just about to get in the driver's side before Mina stopped her, leaning over the top of the car.

"Nelly, don't go so hard on him. He didn't do anything, I was there." Nelly smiled an all-knowing smile and nodded.

Why did everyone give her an all knowing smile so often? It's like they all knew something she didn't and it bugged her. She felt it had something or everything to do with Vlad's secret. For a moment she actually believed he was going to tell her tonight. But since he was going home she figured it will have to wait once again. And also, yes Mina wasn't there for the entire fight but she felt most of it. And other than shoving them back, Vlad never really did anything but insult them.

Later on at that party Mina felt a shaking hand on her arm. She turned to find shy, geeky Eddie Poe. She offered him a kind smile, feeling compassion for him.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a sweet tone, trying to be nice.

"I… Vlad let me borrow this." He held out a bundle of cloth and a mask on top. She realized Vlad wasn't wearing his costume when he left, he didn't even have it with him. "You're with him all the time, you give it back to him."

"Eddie, why don't you do it?" She asked kindly.

"No!" He almost shouted at her, she almost took a step back but didn't. "I—I mean I just don't want to. I'm busy, that's it. Just give it to him." Mina had to admit that he was so shy she was amazed he had the guts to speak to her. She never saw him talk to anyone before outside of class. And she didn't even know that he knew she was friends with Vlad. Was she with him that much?
"Okay. But Eddie, are you avoiding Vlad?"

"No—No I'm not. He—I just—got to go." He mumbled and stalked off.

"O…kay?" Mina spoke in a whisper. Well she was getting tired and it was about time for her to go home. Not that she had to, but she was getting rather tired and bored. Henry was who-knows-where with Melissa and Joss was nowhere to be seen. She knew that if she were to just leave they would know she was home; she wasn't the one who gets caught making out in corners.

As she listened to the sound of the late trick-or-treaters and her shoes against the cement, she walked towards her home. Last year she would have been as lost as ever in these streets. Yet now she didn't even have to look where she was walking. She found herself slowly ascending the porch to Vlad's house. She ran her knuckles over the wood, not sure if Nelly was asleep of not.

Vlad answered the door; his eye looked well already, way better than someone who just received the black eye just over an hour ago. He smiled widely at her when he saw her, she blushed and smiled back.

"Hey Mina, just heading back from the party?"

"Yeah, it was getting boring without you there." She caught a hint of pink on his face in the dim light but she wasn't sure. "Anyway, Eddie Poe wanted me to give this back to you." She held out the costume.

He picked it up and tossed it somewhere inside the house. He then turned back to her and leaned against the door frame. He smiled down at her, she felt uncomfortable.

"What is it?" She asked softly, looking but at him through her thick, black mascara covered lashes.

"I was just thinking that I want to thank you for being such a good friend too this whole year. You thanked me; I want to thank you too."

"You can thank me by answering two questions for me."

"Anything." He fixed his thumbs into his front pockets in a laid back position.

"Do you think of me as just the cousin who never leaves her cousin alone or as a person you would hang out with even without Henry?"

"Mina, I think of you as my friend. If I had met you instead of Henry all those years ago I would still be your friend. If Henry wasn't here I would still be your friend. You're one of my closest friends and I wouldn't trade that for anything." She went red enough to match her costume. "If you were just going to stand there and blush the whole time, why'd you ask?"

He tone was teasing but it caused her to go shades darker.

"Thank you." Her response was more air than words. "Next question; were you planning on telling me 'the secret' tonight? I mean, you seemed like you did. But I can't be sure. It was just the way you said—"

Vlad held his hand up to stop her, she went silent.

"I was thinking about it. But I knew tonight just wasn't the night. So, to answer your question, yes I was. To answer the question your thinking of asking, no I will not tell you right now." She laughed and he smiled. "Are you sure that's all I can do?"

Mina shifted back and forth from foot to foot and bit her lip. She went on her toes in a flash, pressed her lips toward him, kissing him, and turned to walk away. She smiled widely to herself as she walked down the drive way with Vlad standing in shock on his porch.

"You've done enough."

Yes, allowing her to give him a short kiss on the cheek was all he needed. She smiled the rest of the night while wondering how Vlad interpreted the peck on the cheek. It was a good Halloween; she didn't have anything at all to complain about. And for once since she met Vlad, she fell right asleep and dreamed of him rather than think of him all through the night.

Aw! Aren't you all proud of Mina and wondering how she found the guts to do that? Candy, my friends, candy is a powerful substance when around Mina. The results are often frightening. Lol. But anyway, did you like it? Want more? REVIEW!