Disclaimers: all the characters present are my own and are individuals although they may resemble certain LJS characters. The names Vasili and Andreios I got from one of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' book "Hawksong" These characters are not in anyway the same as Atwater-Rhode's. Some concepts present are not mine but LJS'. The story is not created to make profit nor do I get any.

SUMMARY: I got the plot of this story from one of my dreams, here goes: Krysta Greenwood is a vampire. Her friends, two brothers, are also vampires. One good, one evil. Both have feelings for Krysta. All three have made a pact to avenge their parents' deaths. They undergo a mission which asks one of them to forget that they are a vampire... to be human.


TO BE HUMAN

Chapter 1

Krysta Greenwood awoke with eyes wide open. It was how she naturally woke up. Alert. Ready. She could easily jump from her bed to counter an attack if the opportunity arises. She was, after all, a fighter. She could see perfectly in the blinding darkness. It was one of what she calls 'gifts.' She stood up gracefully from her bed and walked towards the bathroom. On her way she focused her eyes at the clock, which read 4:07am. She never needed to sleep much, she thought. "Besides," she said out loud, "I have training today," as if someone was there in her apartment to disagree with her sleeping hours. She switched the light on in the bathroom and saw herself in the body-length mirror in front of her. Long dark brown hair cascaded down past her shoulders silk like. Her eyes, which were deep, glowing green was her family's trademark. Her ancestors had a unique shade of green eyes that earned them the name Greenwood, a tree that possessed a rare green colored bark under its brown one. Her skin was lightly tanned, a golden brown, which was considered unusual for her kind. But of course, she remembered, what made her different from all other mankind are her teeth. Krysta used her tongue to poke her canine teeth, which began to lengthen. She was a vampire.

It had been a habit to check her teeth every morning and see if they still expanded when pressure is placed on them, wishing it wouldn't. It was only a wish though. She was a lamia vampire, the kind of vampires that are born as vampires, and always will be until they become stupid enough to get staked. For her it was a curse to be a vampire, if only she had the choice of being human. She never admitted that to anyone, it would be considered a weakness. You either hunt or be hunted, and Krysta was not comfortable with being hunted. So Krysta never showed emotion, she was as hard as stone. That way she was strong. But there are advantages of being a vampire nonetheless. One of her most powerful gifts is telepathy. She could read into peoples' and vampires' minds if she wanted to, knowing no one can read hers because she was too good at blocking everything out. This gift is useful against the powerful and ancient Elders of the Night World. Again she glanced at the clock, which showed 4:10am. "Better get going girl," she smiled wickedly as she spoke to her image on the mirror, "You're not known for being late."

The sky was beginning to loose its darkness when Krysta reached a building. She had been running for thirty minutes as a warm up before her training. She of course could have ran faster but she had let her legs take the pace they wanted. As she entered the door she was greeted with the smell of concrete and dust. The building had never been finished when the humans in charge ordered to stop the project, and they never really planned to have it demolished. It temporarily served Krysta and Vasili as training ground. Krysta walked inside the main room and saw Vasili. He too was a lamia vampire whom she had known since she was eight. His family, the Stonehawks, had moved in the same town where Krysta lived. You could tell that Vasili had traces of Spanish in him. He has black wavy hair that reaches just above his shoulders, deep brown eyes that sometimes turn black. His skin was whiter than Krysta's, but it was as milky and soft. He was about two inches taller than her.

She stood only a few inches in front of Vasili, after assessing him. She tilted her head towards his, her eyes held the same intensity as his. Then a moment of understanding passed between them. "Someone could get lost in those eyes," Krysta whispered, and waited for less than a second to see his surprised expression. Then she attacked. At first Vasili was caught off guard making Krysta's moves effective. She jumped behind him and as he turned around she kicked him in his chest followed with a left hand punch to his beautifully structured nose. Her combo made Vasili stagger backwards. When he met her gaze she saw a trickle of blood around his nose signaling that it was broken. "It'll heal," Krysta said with a mocking sympathetic smile.

"Are you finished with your games?" Vasili countered, and fought back with fierce movements. This time he wasn't off guard. Both vampires exchanged kicks and punches and every now and then someone would hit target. Every now and then someone would pin the other on the ground, then release them and resume fighting. This was how they grew to be as strong as they are now. Through their battles with each other, they learnt each other's techniques and weaknesses, they learnt to predict the opponents next move and even learnt how to use their telepathic powers along with their physical blows to seriously damage the enemy. After almost three hours they mutually decided a truce and officially stated that the training for today has ended. They sat down on the bare room. The floor was cool which was refreshing against the skin after a heated fight. Krysta could see that the sun shone brightly outside their isolated arena.

Then she heard someone coming and quickly stared at the door. She noticed this a fraction of a second earlier than Vasili because he turned his head towards the door after she did. It was understandable though, not only could she feel or hear someone coming she could also read the visitor's mind better than Vasili could in a farther distance. She knew who it was and made sure she had control over herself. Silently she held her breath as he walked in.

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Andreios Stonehawk, the almost spitting image of Vasili. His hair was shorter than Vasili's and it was straighter. His face doesn't bear malice like Vasili's nor does his face emit anger and causes fear to humans. Andreios is the younger brother of Vasili. Andreios and Krysta are the same age, both eighteen this year, while Vasili was turning nineteen. Andreios is not only younger than Vas, he is also nicer. All the Night People considered him a weak vampire because he had a kind heart. To Krysta he was a good soul. Something she wanted to be. She loved him for being kind even if that meant he was considered weak, but of course she had never told him her feelings. She had a reputation to maintain. Cold hearted, ruthless, powerful, cunning and beautiful. She could never tell Andreios how she felt and he would never be able to read her mind. So he would never know. But one thing she did know was how he felt about her. How could she not, she was a powerful telepath and even if she wasn't his feelings were as bright as day to a new vampire. Blinding. He loved her even though Krysta had lived all her life fighting and being mean to him, forcing him to stop feeling that way about her.

He had been there after she was badly injured against four werewolves one night when she was out hunting by herself. She just called him with her mind and he was there in an instant. He helped her recover and even amused her along the way by telling her stories of how he helped humans when they were in trouble. If only I had the courage to tell him, Krysta thought. She was snatched back into reality when she noticed Andreios was looking at her, and she happened to be staring at him. "Are you alright Krys?" Andreios asked. His voice sounded nice, not rough but sort of musical. He looked like he just fed because his skin was glowing. She could feel herself wanting to melt to his gorgeousness but her stone strong self-control would not give in.

"My name is Krysta, not Krys or any other hunny bunny name you can think of Andreios," Krysta retorted instead. "And since you asked, I was fine resting here till you arrived." She couldn't help the vehemence in her voice and her cold stare. She couldn't help notice the amused smile Vasili was wearing but most of all she couldn't help but wince as she noticed Andreios recoil and feel hurt. Any trace of happiness he had when he walked in was rapidly fading.