He had always been there in the background, silently standing in the shadows. And when I say he was always there, I mean he has been there for as long as I can remember. The earliest memory I have was when I was five or six years old. I remember running through the park at dusk and falling, tearing the knee of my pants and my palms.

I had run away from my parents in the park, insistent that I was old enough to play alone. I had been running down the path, my hair getting in my face and I didn't see the lifted root. I wasn't one to cry, even as a child but I remember the sting that ran through me, so it was no wonder that my lip quivered and a few tears slipped out.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up and didn't fight the quiver in my lip anymore, nodding and letting a few more tears slip. The man before me was a giant, blocking the rising moon from my eyes before he knelt down to be closer to me. He had hair longer than I'd seen on a man before, and brown eyes that looked the colour of chocolate. He had a funny voice, but he made soothing noises as he wiped the tears from my face.

"Running too fast?" he asked softly, looking at my bleeding palms and then to my knees.

I nodded and sniffed. The man pulled the bag from his shoulder and shifted through it before pulling out a bottle of water.

"Put your hands out, you need to clean them off," he said gently. I cradled my hands to my chest. Any time I cut up my hands or had scrapes, Mom always cleaned them with something that stung even more. I shook my head but the man was patient.

"I promise it won't hurt," he pushed, holding it out to me. I carefully held one hand out, resting it in his warm hand. He cradled it gently as he poured the water over it, and I watched it turn pink as it washed over my hand. Realizing that it wasn't going to hurt, I held my other hand out too.

"See, I told you it would be okay. Now, let's look at these knees, yeah? Do they hurt?"

"Stings a little," I said quietly. The man gave me a kind smile as he moved things around in his bag again and pulled out a rag. He pulled out what looks like a shirt. He folded it up and poured some water on it too.

"Just like last time, it won't hurt," he said. I nodded and moved my knee towards him and he gently wiped at the torn skin. I flinched when the shirt caught the ragged skin and whimpered. The man apologized quietly and continued to clean my knees.

Once he was done, he packed his things away and held his hand out. "How about we go find your parents?"

I nodded and took it, letting him help me stand up.

"What's your name?"

"Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers," I said quietly, tucking my hands behind my back.

"Then how are we to find your parents? My name is Dimitri," he said with a small smile. I looked up at him and rocked on the balls of my feet.

"Rose. But Mommy calls me Rosemarie."

"Rose. Little Roza," he said, holding his hand out to me. I looked from his hand to his eyes and shrugged. He simply smiled and let me lead him the way back to my parents. I was careful to watch where I stepped so I didn't trip again.

"Where are you from? Your voice is funny," I asked, making Dimitri laugh loudly.

"I'm from another country," he stated, lifting me up over a large log I was struggling to climb over in the dark. He didn't put me down and simply perched me on his side, following the path back towards the clearing in the park that I left my parents in.

I felt insecure this high off the ground, he was taller than Dad or Mom, so I clutched onto his neck, not wanting to fall. The dark was making me tired as we walked, and as we walked my eyes dropped, the feeling of his large, warm hand on my back encouraging a feeling of safety.

My eyes dropped and closed for a moment, and when I woke up I was curled up on the bench, my Mom standing over me with frantic eyes. After she demanded to know why I ran away, and what happened to my hands, I told her about my giant friend, but he was nowhere to be seen.

It was a few years later until I saw my mysterious friend again. I was fourteen years old and thought that I was old enough to make my own decisions. Again.

My friends and I thought we'd be okay to go to the movies when our parents thought we were at the mall. We thought we were old enough to meet up with some boys in the year above us. I was supposed to meet my friends there, but wanted to get some candy from the store, so I took another route to the theatre.

The alleyway was dark and damp and had a foul odour to it. There were a few voices further down the way when a voice called out to me with a name I had forgotten.

"Roza? What are you doing down here?"

I turned to find my giant friend standing a few feet away, walking briskly down towards me, the long coat he wore billowing out behind him.

"I'm going to the movies," I said dumbly but he caught my wrist and started to pull me away from the direction I was going.

"It's not safe for you down there," he said bluntly, pulling me along with him. I felt a flicker of panic rise in me and I opened my mouth to scream, but his hand laid over my mouth.

"I promise I'm not going to hurt you, but the men at the other end of that alley would have no issue doing so. I will escort you to the theatre," he said calmly, and I could feel a wave of calmness wash over me, almost as if the idea was mine to begin with.

I relaxed under his hands and nodded, letting him pull me along. The wind blew around us and I shivered, my clothes not matching the ones I wore when I left the house. Dimitri noticed my shiver and pulled me closer, tucking me into his side and wrapping the coat he wore around me.

"You snuck away again," he said his arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"I just wanted to go to the movies with my friends," I said looking up at him. My memory of him was hazy, but looking up at him, my memory wouldn't have done me justice anyways. He was what my friend Mia would call hot, but there was something about him that struck me odd. He hadn't changed a bit.

"A movie with your friends is fine, Rose. But sneaking off and getting into trouble that could hurt you is dangerous," Dimitri said, I could hear some sternness in his voice, but genuine concern was there too. And I felt a wave of guilt when I hear it.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my eyes downcast as we got back onto the main strip. Dimitri sighed and untucked me from his side and shrugged off his coat, resting it over my shoulders.

"You don't need to apologize," he said, "but you need to be careful. There are very dangerous people in the world. Especially at night. It's not safe for you at night, Roza."

I nodded and quickened my step to keep up with him. "How did you know where I was?"

Dimitri didn't answer right away but looked down at me while we stood at the crosswalk. "I just happened to see you when you turned down the alley.

"You're coming tonight, right?" Lissa asked me as we stood at my locker. I nodded excitedly as I dumped my books in the locker.

"I'm not missing this party, Liss. I will be there even if I have to climb out of my window."

Lissa rolled her eyes. "Didn't your parents install an alarm on your window?"

"Only for when it breaks," I said with a smirk. I rummaged through my locker for my lip gloss, knocking a few things over in the haste. Lissa ducked down to pick up my fallen things, coming up with a single paper.

"You're having dreams about him again?"

I looked at her and then at the sketch in her hand. Nobody ever believed me when I talked about Dimitri, but I knew I hadn't imagined him. And I saw him so vividly in my dreams over the years. But the dreams were becoming so frequent that he appeared in them at least once a night for the last few weeks. And any time I thought about him, I felt a tug in my chest.

"Yeah," I stated, taking it from her.

"Your sketch is beautiful," Lissa commented. I gave her a small smile and pulled my jacket on. I didn't like talking about it because it led to my friends looking at me with amused expressions. Mia insisted on calling me a 'dreamer' as of late, but it was starting to get annoying.

But I couldn't get him out of my head, so I did the next best thing. I drew him.

I took pride in my ability to draw, and it was the only way to make him real. Proof that he actually existed. At least I knew he existed. I had seen him in a glimpse only a month ago at my eighteenth birthday party. My parents took me out for dinner and when I stood up to use the washroom, he was sitting at the back of the restaurant. My eyes met his and he smiled at me, raising his glass in his own engagement of the celebration.

"What are you going to wear tonight?"

I thought for a moment. "Probably that pretty red plunge top and my black leather skirt. Not too flashy?"

"No, I think it'll be perfect," Lissa said, "I'll pick you up at ten-thirty?"

I closed my locker and nodded. "Sounds good. Just make sure to turn the headlights off before you pull into my driveway!"

Scaling down the side of my house was harder to do in a skirt than I remembered, but I managed it without falling or waking my parents. Lissa was impressed with my skill but sadly informed me that Mia got caught trying to sneak out.

"That's a shame," I said climbing into the passenger seat.

The party was in full swing once we got to Camille's, and I wondered just how much shit she would be in when his parents got home tomorrow. The house he lived in was massive, and I could only think of the disaster this party would cause.

And a disaster was right. When we walked in, the house was full of people, particularly drunk people. We had only been in the door for a few moments before a drink was pressed into both of our hands. The night was starting to drag on, and the longer I was here, the more I felt the same sensation when I dreamed, the pull, almost like a lead. I felt like I needed to follow an invisible string.

But I was also starting to feel anxious like something was about to happen.

The party was winding up and the crowd was becoming rowdy. I could hear hollering and screaming but I figured it was from a game of sorts, but when the screams increased, I became concerned.

"Rose, is that him?"

I looked at her and then followed her finger, finding it on my stranger. And he was heading right for us.

"Yeah, it is," I said stunned. I only ever saw him when I was alone.

"Dimitri," I said but became confused when I noticed the panicked look on his face. Dimitri grabbed onto my hand, and Lissa and started pulling us along towards the door.

"What is happening?"

"Who are you?!"

Dimitri didn't listen to either of us but pulled us towards him when someone burst through the glass door of the backyard, spraying us all with glass. I shrieked and looked behind me and I felt a chill run up my spine.

The man in front of me had eyes so red it looked like they were glowing. I sucked in a gasp but was whisked away before I could form another thought. I could hear the screaming increase and I stumbled over my feet, but Dimitri's hold on me kept me upright. I could see more people running away, or running towards people, pulling them down.

"What's happening?" I asked.

Dimitri tucked Lissa and I against him tightly as he ushered us out of the house, dodging people as we went. I clutched to his shirt as we went, my eyes moving wildly as I took in the horrors before me.

"Dimitri, what is happening?" I exclaimed, but he didn't answer me and just kept pulling us along. I could hear screams and Lissa tried to turn towards the chaos, but Dimitri shifted us and blocked her.

"No. Don't turn around, just keep walking. It's not safe," he insisted cradling us against him. I looked at Lissa with wide eyes, and I could see my own fear reflected in hers. We were getting further from the house, but there were still so many people around.

I guess that's what happened when we were in the middle of nowhere.

Dimitri finally slowed his pace and loosened his grip on us. I pulled from his grip and turned to look at him.

"I haven't seen you in person for weeks, and when I do, you pull us from some kind of fight, and won't even tell me what's happening!?" I exclaimed, pinning him with my glaze. Dimitri opened his mouth but something caught his attention, and Lissa and I were pushed to the side as a figure flew toward us. Dimitri stepped forward and blocked the figure. But I then realized that it was a person. I stumbled to the ground and then crawled towards Lissa, turning to look back at Dimitri.

But the horrors that we fled from were standing in front of us. Dimitri was fighting with someone that ambushed the party, and I realized something quickly.

There was a reason I only ever saw Dimitri at night.

Instead of the dark brown eyes I had known, they were red as blood, glowing in the night as he engaged our attacker. Lissa lifted her head to watch, but I cradled her against me, shielding her from what was happening.

But I couldn't pull my eyes away.

I watched as Dimitri moved with speed and grace I had never seen. He moved in perfect time with the man he fought, as if it was a perfectly timed dance. I had never seen someone move so quickly. He took a hit that made my heart swell, a feeling rippling through me that it didn't recognize. Dimitri recovered himself and struck out, hitting the man hard before gripping the man's head and twisting sharply.

Finally, the other man dropped to the ground and Dimitri stood up straight, turning to look at us. Fear crawled up my spine as I watched the red glow in his eyes. The man who on multiple occasions come to my rescue was the exact thing he wanted me about in the night.

Dimitri saw the fear on my face and took careful, calculated steps towards me, hands out in a no-harm gesture, the red fading back to brown.

"Roza."

"What are you?" I whispered.

I woke feeling disoriented, not knowing exactly how I got here. I was in my bed, wearing the same shirt I went to the party in, but I had sweatpants on instead of the skirt. I had a bad taste in my mouth and I sat up, looking for the water I always kept on my nightstand when I saw something else out of the corner of my eye.

A scream built in my mouth but in a flash, he was there, kneeling on the edge of my bed, hand covering my mouth. I expected to rock backwards at the speed that he met me with, but his placement was gentle.

"Don't. I'm not going to hurt you."

I shook my head and pulled back, looking at him with wide eyes. "What are you doing in here?!" I whispered, looking to make sure my bedroom door was shut.

"How else do you think I got you back into bed without your parents realizing you were gone?" Dimitri asked with a grin.

"I thought that you would need my invitation to come into my house," I snarked, my jab at what I thought he was. Dimitri chuckled quietly in the dark, sitting back on the edge of my bed. I eyed him dubiously but he had an air of ease about him.

How could he be at ease when it didn't take an idiot to connect the dots? He hadn't changed since I was a child, I only ever saw him at night, and none of my friends or family saw him. Together with the red eyes, the conclusion came easily.

"I don't, but you have invited me in multiple times in your sleep," Dimitri said quietly with amusement. I felt my eyes widen and I covered my face with a groan. I knew I talked in my sleep. What did he hear?

"What are you?"

"What do you think I am?"

I looked at my lap and then up at him. "A vampire?"

Dimitri nodded. "Not the kind you think."

"Oh really? You mean don't want to fest on the blood of virgins? Why have I never seen you during the day then?"

Dimitri smiled at me. I don't know what exactly he thought was so amusing, but I was starting to get irritated.

"I have some things I need to explain."

I was completely dumbstruck as I sat on the edge of my bed, worrying my lip between my fingers. What he had told me sounded like it was all from a book, or a myth. Creatures that walk the night and feed off blood were easier to believe when it was made up, not when it was a reality.

"So, you're a vampire, but you don't kill people?"

"That's correct."

"And you can't go out in the sun because you haven't made a bond?"

"Yes."

"And you've been following me around my whole life because?"

Dimitri gave me small smile and relaxed on the chair he moved to. "Because of the bond."

"What exactly is this bond?" I asked, letting go of my lip.

Dimitri leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "Vampires like me are born, not bitten. We mature around the age of twenty-five and then stay that way for years. I was born on 1706. The bond is something like an attachment to someone, like a tether. You can feel it, the closer you are to them. The person you're connected to is a life mate, although I think the word used now is more of a soulmate. We are both for that person. I was born a long time ago, but I haven't ever taken interest in anyone until you."

"So, the more you're around me, the more you become human?"

"More or less," Dimitri said with a slight shrug.

"And you think that I'm your mate?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

Dimitri looked a little uncomfortable at the question. "What is your earliest memory of me?"

I pulled my comforter over my lap and toyed with a frayed string. "Um. I think in the park as a kid. And you cleaned me up. Then you carried me back to the main part of the park."

Dimitri nodded and I could tell that he remembered the day by the look on his face.

"That wasn't the first time I met you," he said, "I was there the day you were born."

I furrowed my brows and sat up straighter, shaking my head. "How were you there?"

"Remember when I said mates can feel a pull?" I nodded. "There was this feeling in my chest the day you were born. I sometimes volunteer at hospitals because I can help the patients who are in the most pain go peacefully."

"You kill them?" I whispered in apprehension.

"No, no, I don't kill them. I can make them believe they don't feel any pain. The same way I made you feel safe enough to tell me your name when you were a kid, or got you to come with me when you snuck out."

"So, you have this like, weird mind control thing?"

"We call it compulsion; we can influence people."

I nodded but a question floated in my head. "Have you used it on me?"

"Yes," he said and I squirmed a little, "But only twice. Like I said, in the park, and in the alleyway. I used it only because I needed to."

I got up from the bed, stumbling because my foot got caught in the sheets and crossed the room, wanting to put some distance between us. I didn't know what to think or feel. I didn't necessarily like the idea of someone being able to influence my decisions without realizing it.

"Why me?"

Dimitri gave me a lopsided smile and chuckled. "Roza, I didn't pick you personally, it just happens."

I furrowed my brows and crossed my arms over my chest, swallowing roughly. "What does this mean? How does it work?"

Dimitri stood up and stretched his legs a bit, walking the length of my bed and moving the drape away from my window to look out, and then let it fall shut.

"I think I've told you too much for one night, I don't want to overwhelm you," he said but I glared at him.

"You haven't told me enough, damnit! I deserve to know more if some guy has been stalking me since birth!" I exclaimed and winced at the volume I used. Dimitri sighed and walked towards me, well he was actually just there in front of me in a blink, hands resting on my shoulders gently.

"I will when I can," he said quietly, kissing my forehead before disappearing into thin air just as my bedroom door opened, my dad standing on the other side with bleary eyes.

"What are you hollering about in here?" he asked looking around my room. I sighed and shook my head, feeling back that I woke him.

"Nothing, sorry. I was watching a movie last night and I didn't turn it off. I kicked my tablet off the bed and it hit play. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I said apologetically, hoping that he would buy it. Thankfully he did with a sleepy nod and pointed to the floor in a vague direction of the bed.

"Don't break that, we aren't buying another because you keep kicking them off your bed in your sleep," he mumbled as he closed the door and shuffled back to his room. I yawned and bent down to pick up the tablet, straightening up to find Dimitri standing in front of me again. I jumped and the tablet slipped from my hands, but he easily caught it with a chuckle.

"I've taken up a lot of your time tonight, I should let you sleep. The sun will be up soon," he said setting the tablet on my dresser.

"You're leaving?" I asked, feeling a little disappointment in my chest. I thought it was stupid of me to feel that and frowned to myself. Dimitri sighed and took one of my hands, cupping it, pressing a kiss to my palm and then holding it to his cheek.

"I have to, you need to sleep. I will see you soon," he said gently, the warmth of his hand radiating through mine. Knowing what I knew now, I was surprised that his skin was warm to touch, but remembering back to those times I saw him as a kid, he was always warm then even in the cold.

I nodded solemnly and pulled my hand away, still frowning. Dimitri chuckled and brushed my hair away from my face.

"This – what you're feeling – is what I was telling you about. That sadness is because you know I'm leaving. It will get easier, I promise," he said gently brushing his thumbs against my cheeks. I didn't know how to respond so I just nodded and stepped toward him, wrapping my arms around his waist. It felt like the right thing to do like my body had a mind of its own.

Dimitri hummed in contentment and wrapped his arms around me, tucking me into him and resting his face on my hair. I held on for a bit, feeling warmth and security seep into my body.

"Sleep well, Roza," he said quietly as he led me back to my bed, pulling my comforter over me after I laid down.

Let me know what you think!