Sarah's POV

the following day – in an alleyway somewhere downtown

I grab the white oak stake from beside the battered dumpster and snake my fingers around its hollow handle. They say that these things are the only sure way to take out a vampire…
So then, why do I have one? Haha… I'm pretty sure that you'd like to know.

Erica's going to regret the day she crossed onto my territory. "–I hope you burn…" I whisper through gritted teeth, but the stake falls from my hand – singeing the ground beneath me at the drop of a dime. "What in the–" I breathe, contemplating the reasons in which I could no longer hold the treasured murder weapon. In my mind, I ponder the childishness of my deeds – whether or not the extremity of my actions justify the offense in which I took a few weeks ago. If not, then is it really worth the drama?

To be honest, I don't even know. I mean, I love Ethan, but that dying somebody deep down inside can't come to terms with this dynamic change in our relationship.
–My mom taught me a quote once. She said, "abide quickly in your stepping stones, for one day they will turn a new, and will no longer be stepped on… by you."

I look down at the scorching stake burning a char into some poor old lady's withering flower pot – it amazes me that something could even grow in this disgusting ass alleyway. I grab the stake and flash to Whitechapel's creakside a block that-a-ways. With a final once over, I toss the stupid thing into the water – I watch along as a piece of my idiocy travels upstream.

Well, so much for teenage cliché's about a best-friend/boyfriend showcase. No fairytale ending about how I got the guy back from the evil ex best-friend who stole him in the first place. Ha! Fuck it. All my life I wanted money and power, and now I'm a vampire unleashing hell shower. There's so much in this city for the taking… and it's all at the grasps of my fingers.

Erica's POV

Saturday-Noon

"Sarah's gone AWOL". Ethan says to me as we stroll the boardwalks of Times Plaza. Why he chooses to break the ice with talks of Sarah, of all things, baffles me… but hey, at least he and I finally get a chance at some alone time – and right about now, it's all feeling like poetic justice.

"–so what do you mean, she's gone AWOL?" I reluctantly ask. "Well, she hasn't been around for the last couple of days. Benny's been talking to her lately, but even he hasn't heard from her. I'm… worried." As sincere as he could be, I could the see pain in Ethan's eyes as we talked about this. "What exactly is worrying you?" I ask. "I'm afraid she may go off the deep end…" he replies. "–I mean, she's been on edge lately… have you noticed?"

I nod my head – "yea, I have noticed. She has never been like this, I swear... I mean, way before you and Benny and that idiot Rory came into the picture, Sarah and I were inseparable. I was lame—" "Was being the 'key' word…" Ethan interrupts. A genuine smile arouses from me to complement his amusement. "Thanks boo… but yea… I was that, and she was the one who loved the more exciting things in life. But suddenly, we were changed and all of that totally went out of the window. She and I were still friends, but then you guys came into the picture. With as much time as she was spending with you, she and I kinda… fell off the loop, I guess…"

"Fell off the loop?" Ethan teases as he blinks at me. "Who says that?" "I DO!" I snap. Ethan erupts into a fit of laughter that I can't break… so, like the little lady that I am… I'm just going to ignore him and make him buy me something…

Ten Minutes Later

"Erica…" Ethan groans several minutes later after some intense cold shoulder. "Yes… honey?" I reply bitter-sweetly. "Are you ignoring me?" "Hmmm…." I contemplate. "I could be. What does it mean to you?" I tease. "It means that you should knock it off – stop being such a big baby!" (GASP)

I tense at the accusation. "How dare you? I'm being the baby? What about you, Ethan? Worried about your bestie? News Flash kid, she's a grown-ass-vampire-woman… she doesn't need our help." Ethan disagrees. "You may say that now, but she's never been so ramped up over something this stupid. I mean, she's really bonking out over this. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" I begin, "I think the bitch has gone crazy, personally… but I mean, I am not my sister's keeper. If she's gone on some power trip, then let her. She'll come to her senses one of these days, don't you think?" Ethan smiles and shrugs his shoulders at me. "You know what… you've never been so right, Erica… You know, it's about time that I eliminate some of the unnecessary stress in my life."

Ethan's expression turns sour, as if he's struggling to talk about this. "What do you mean, Ethan… what's been bothering you? Is it me? Have I been stressing you out?"
"–NO!" Ethan protests. "I-It's not you… I promise. I've… I've just been thinking… Erica…"

"Yea… and you've been thinking about what, Ethan?" I ask, completely oblivious to where this guy was going with all of this. "I've been thinking… about leaving school, and running away with you, Erica… I-I… I want to become a vampire."

I stare down into Ethan's face – my mind blown and screwed to the point at which I can't even muster up the words to argue. "Ethan… that is not a good idea." I manage to say after a moment's pause. "Why isn't it, Erica? I'm tired of this place! There's more to this world, than the petty thieves and crooked heads here in this supernatural -wasteland we call home. There's more than Whitechapel."

"–and what? You believe you're going to find it in changing your fucking species and running off with me on some crazy Bonnie & Clyde experience?" "No, that's not what I'm saying. I don't just want to run off with you on some crazy vampire rampage shit… no… that's not me Erica…"
"Then what are you, Ethan, 'cause I'm pretty confused right about now. What do you want from me?" I plea.

"Real love…" he replies, simple as that. "Like Mary J. Blige put it Erica… I'm done soul searching. I've found the one for me. I found my real love, and it's you…"

"Ethan…" I breathe. "–as flattered as I am, I love you too baby… but trust me, this (I gesture to myself with one hand) is not the life God intended for you. It's not the life he intended for any one of us." "You're right…" Ethan agrees. "It might not me the life he intended for any of us… but I know you were intended for me… and all that I want right now is to spend the rest of eternity with you… like you… and maybe one day… we can be human again… together…"

"Human again? you're already human Ethan, and honestly, I don't see why you would want to go and throw it all away just to be with me. You and I are already happy… baby, why do you feel the need to change things?" Ethan takes me by the hand and leads me to a sit-alone bench near the edge of the boardwalk. "I guess it's like this babe…" he begins to explain.

"You're not going to be eighteen forever… what's going to happen when you graduate high school in a couple of months. Hmm? What… you're going to go to college? What about when you're done with college, what are you going to do then, settle for a day job?" The things Ethan brings up take me off guard – I mean, no one's ever spoken to me about my future this way…

"I don't think that's the life for you, Erica, and you know it. You're going to be young until the day God himself comes back to save world, until then… you're going to see family members die, friends die… need I go on?" I shake my head in a, 'as a matter-of-a fact, NO' type of way and eagerly way for him to continue. The irony. "Look, Erica… you're going to see so many things in these last days… why not make me immortal… let's see them together…"

"Ethan… I don't know…" I honestly admit. "I mean… I guess what I'm saying is that I'm going to have to think about it… okay? We'll talk about it later." Ethan sighs, but reluctantly enough he pulls it together and we continue on about our day as if the whole SARAH conversation never happened.

The day passed, and I spent the following contemplating the many pros and cons of turning Ethan. I mean, if he truly loves me, then spending whatever time we have left on this planet together in immortality would be an awesome thing. But regardless of the sincerity of his love, turning Ethan is a very drastic decision in itself. I don't know what undeserved misconception has tainted his perception on life, but if given the choice, I would've retained my ticking-time bomb of a heartbeat.

Life, the most precious thing given to us at birth, is such a miraculous thing, and I didn't know its value whilst it was in my possession – but now that I'm without, I cling to whatever traces of my past life that I can find. Yet, Ethan… the seemingly love of my life, wants to go and throw it all away on the whim. What am I going to do? Aside from a best friend whose gone MIA… my babe wants me to kill him. And let's not forget, run away from Whitechapel in hopes to find the great American dream, or something.

I sit in my bedroom – rummaging through all of the knick-knack things I might want to drag along. I'd made up my mind – I decided to take Ethan up on his offer, but I hadn't told him yet. I mean, I wasn't one hundred percent on the whole, undead thing, but I was at least going to fake it until I made it on our way to burning that bridge.

I grab my sexiest-red cocktail dress and toss into my duffle bag – shit… just last week I had to ball on 'em, but in this thing… I am going to knock 'em dead…
–But anyway, I digress…

I decided it best to give my parents the old dupe. It seemed the best way to break the news was to compel them and not break it at all. At the end of the day, the task proved harder said than done, and before long, I found myself strolling down Oak St. towards the Morgan's residence. Ethan and I stayed a few blocks away from one another, which would have made personal time a breeze if it weren't for the other factors ( .Benny) in our relationship.

I spent the majority of the walk, causally contemplating my options. Ethan's proposal had my brain scrambles all night and day, and now, here and now, I was finally going to lay it all to rest. I've never been the type to cover all bases, so when Mrs. Morgan opened the front door and took a whim of me and an overly stuffed duffle bag, I had nothing to say.

"E-Erica? Dear, what are you doing over this time of day with a… with a… is that a sleeping bag, or something?" Poor misguided woman. "No Ma'am" I replied, "–this isn't a sleeping bag. I… I er… I just…" "–Erica and I were just leaving, mom…" interjects Ethan, miraculously appearing from nowhere. "Oh you were? Well where are you going?" Ethan groans and makes to explain to his mom. "–We're going downtown. There's a festival happening right now in Times Plaza, and the longer we wait, the more we miss… 'kay mom?"

"Alright, be back before dark, hun." Mrs. Morgan smiles and closes the door. It shuts SLAM, right in our faces. "Well… that was rude…" I grumble in hush-tone. "What's with the bag, babe?" Ethan asks as he makes to carry it for me. "Ethan, you can't ask a girl on the wildest escapade of her dreams and expect her not to pack a traveler's bag."

Ethan groans at my explanation as he struggles to lug the bloated duffle bag. "I guess you're right... but this thing… is HEAVY.!"
"URGH!" I groan, snatching the bag from his possession. "Stop being such a baby." After an ambiguous eye-roll, Ethan fumbles within his jacket and comes out with a pair of tiny white vouchers. "–What are those?" I ask, reaching for the petite scraps of parchment. "–lemme see…"

"These, my darling Erica, are a pair of plane tickets. A one-way trip for the both of us, straight to Starlight City… What do you think?" "Hmm… I'm thinking, how in the world did you get these?" Ethan frowns before returning the tickets to the confines of his jacket. "With money I've saved up since my last birthday, alright?" he barks. "–Yea, whatever. Fine!" I cry. "–I won't ask you anymore questions.

"Look babe…" Ethan reasons, "–I'm sorry… but all I'm saying, is that I have these tickets… and they're one-ways to Starlight City, the place where dreams come true. C'mon, you know the stories… What do you say… you in?" I blink at him with utter frustration. "Of course I'm in, stupid…" Ethan exclaims aloud, "Yes!" overjoyed at my capacity to compromise. "–But I'm not turning you…"

Ethan scowls. "Well, that's still up for discussion, but we'll talk about that later… shall we?" I stare at Ethan with the eyes of an unsure hopeful about to risk it all on a leap of faith. "Yes babe, we shall… to Starlight City…" I beckon. Ethan smiles, "–to Starlight City."