A/N: Any characters you recognize aren't mine and neither is the world they live in.

Tavina: I'm glad you like it so far and I hope you keep liking it!

Demonsfangs: He'll find out eventually... I'm not sure when yet though. I'll write more Fritz (probably my next story-line).

And on to the story!

~*~

Nicole was trying desperately to pay attention to her English teacher, but it was nearly impossible. Not only was she completely uninterested in Shakespeare, but a conversation outside the door caught her interest. She cocked her head to one side so that she could better hear what they were saying. It was an unnecessary action, but her human habits wouldn't die. "Great, just what we need-another leech in the school," the boy was saying.

"Vitaliy is completely harmless, what makes you think that this one is any different?" The girl asked. As soon as Nicole heard the voice, she knew who was talking. It was Jack and India.

"This one had obviously just been changed, since as we haven't had any new students. New leeches tend to be unpredictable," Jack explained.

I'll show you unpredictable, Nicole growled to herself.

"Who is it?" India asked.

Jack was silent. Nicole could feel him stretching his senses towards her. She tried her best to be as small as possible towards him. "I can't tell," he said at last. Who would have figured Jack to be a witch. Or India for that matter. She didn't really like India anyway; this wasn't going to change her opinion. Jack, on the other hand, just didn't seem the type. He was too nice to be a killer.

"So what are we going to do?" India whined. "We can't stand around all day."

"Go back to class. I doubt this leech is very strong. We'll figure it out later," Jack said.

India made a frustrated noise, but did as she was told. "Nicole? Can you tell us what role language plays in the play?" Mrs. Geyer prompted.

Nicole looked down at her open copy of "As You Like It." She racked her brain for an answer. "Um... He uses prose when it's an informal situation and poetry for love and formal situations."

"Very good. Mark, what does Orlando do to profess his love for Rosalind?" Mrs. Geyer turned her attention to a new victim. Nicole slumped in her seat, glad to be out of the spotlight. English was Alexia's thing, not hers. She'd much rather take a science class than English. Shakespeare didn't figure into chemical equations, and for that she was thankful. She almost laughed aloud at those thoughts. Now that she was a vampire, what did school matter? She had all of eternity to learn these things. Then again, she graduated in May. If she didn't hang around it would be a waste of the last twelve years. That and Vitaliy would probably quit talking to her until she did graduate.

The bell rang to free them from class for the next ten minutes. Nicole shoved her book and binder into her purple messenger bag, slung it over one shoulder, and squeezed into the flow of traffic in the hallway. She stopped at her locker to grab her Physics book. She realized that someone was trying to sneak up on her. "Hey V," she said brightly just before he went to tickle her.

"Damn! I can't sneak up on you anymore," he pretended to pout.

"It's your fault," she teased.

"That's not fair. I said I was sorry! You know I wish that I could take everything back," he gave her puppy-dog eyes.

She laughed. "I know, I'm just playing." She kissed his protruding bottom lip. "I love you."

He kissed her back. "I love you too."

They hugged, and then dashed to their separate classes. Nicole dropped into her spot beside Alexia in Physics. Mr. Thornton was meticulously hanging his potato cannon from the ceiling. "Is he actually going to shoot that thing in here?" She asked.

Alexia shrugged. "He's done it before." She never looked up from the design she was meticulously creating in her planner. Nicole knew that she was determined to color every page in the small book. A pencil box was open on the table with every imaginable color inside. Nicole snatched a emerald one and began writing a note to Vitaliy.

The rest of the class filed in and took their seats before the bell rang. Nicole felt someone watching her. She looked around at the different groups of desks. Jack was staring at her. He replied to something that one of the girls at his table said, but his eyes never left Nicole. She repressed a shiver. "Jack is creeping me out," she told Alexia. She filled her friend in on the conversation that she had overheard last period.

"Did you tell V?"

"No not yet. I will at lunch," their conversation ended when Mr. Thornton told the class to come to the front for a demonstration. Jack came to stand behind Nicole, who was standing in the front because she was shorter than most of the class. "Leech," he whispered.

Nicole ignored him. She decided that it wasn't worth the effort until she knew what to do about him. She was so busy ignoring him, that she wasn't ready for the potato cannon to go off. She almost jumped at the noise. Mr. Thornton was using the cannon this time as a demo on trajectory. He came up with a use for his potato cannon every week or so. It was funny how much he liked the thing. She was sure that the principal wasn't a big fan of it.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Vitaliy was a little pissed when he found out that Jack and India were hunters and he hadn't known about it, but there was nothing he could do. After all, Jack had called him "harmless"-they saw no reason to disabuse the pair of that notion. Alexia dissapeared long enough to go to the snack machines and returned with a bag of salt and vinegar chips, a swiss cake roll, a bag of sour skittles, and a coke. "That's what you're going to eat?" Vitaliy asked when he saw it.

Alexia nodded happily and dug into the chips. "Hell yeah, I've got all the important things."

"Whats that: sugar and salt?" Nicole had to laugh because it was the same thing Alexia had eaten at lunch since they came to high school.

"I got fruits and veggies too. The chips are potatoes and the skittles are fruit!" Alexia defended the meal.

"In your own little world," Vitaliy said as he ducked to avoid an open-handed slap. They were all in a much better mood after that. Nicole groaned as the bell rang and imprisoned them for the rest of the day.

After school, the three met up to go to a drama club meeting. They took seats in the front of the theatre. Vitaliy sat front row center with Nicole sprawled across the seat next to him and her feet in his lap. Nicole sat behind them, and leaned forward to make smart-ass comments occasionally. Mrs. Ingle pretended not to hear the comments, but smiled at them anyway. "This year, our fall play is going to be 'The Crucible'. Auditions will be on Wednesday, and the cast will be listed Friday morning outside my room. I have the monologues photocopied, so get them after the meeting."

Nicole groaned. She didn't know if she could memorize a monologue in two days! Alexia echoed her sentiments. "Two days! Yipe! I guess we're locking ourselves in my room to practice like usual."

"Can I come?" Vitaliy asked.

"Don't you always?" Alexia replied.

He laughed, and went back to listening. Nicole continued to worry about the audition. You don't need to worry, you always get a part, Vitaliy reminded her. She smiled. He always knew what to say. The rest of the meeting was just organizational. They elected officers and got some ideas for fundraisers. Selling candy sounded infinitely better than singing telegrams. The meeting ended an hour after it started. Alexia went up to grab monologues for the trio. She came back a few minutes later and handed them out. Both the guys and girls had three choices. Each monologue was about a page long. The girls were debating options as they came out of the semi-dark theatre and into the bright sunlight beyond. Vitaliy glared at the sun as though it would go away. "Get used to it while you can," he advised Nicole.

"What?"

"Damned sun."

They laughed. The sun didn't really bother Nicole. She knew it would eventually get irritating, but shrugged it off. It wasn't going to turn her to cinders and that was the important point. They walked around the building to where she had parked her Honda. It just made sense for the three to carpool since they all lived relatively close together and usually ended up going to the same place after school. "Hey guys, look," Alexia said quietly. Jack and India were waiting by her car.

"Hey Jack, what's goin' on?" Vitaliy asked nonchalantly.

"I don't know V, what is going on?" Jack answered.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do. You know exactly what he's talking about," India piped up. Jack must have stepped on her foot because she winced and shut up.

Nicole walked past them to open her trunck and throw her book bag in. Alexia followed suit. "No, India, I don't. Would one of you care to tell me what it is that I'm supposed to know?" Vitaliy replied.

"Stupid leech," India said under her breath.

"What was that?" Nicole asked, coming to stand beside Vitaliy..

"You heard me."

"Yeah, just like I heard you outside my English class earlier. For hunters, you two sure are careless. If you want to try and kill me, go ahead," Nicole offered. She held her hands out from her body in a come-and-get-me stance.

"That's not why we're here," Jack said quickly.

"Then why are you here Jack?" Vitaliy asked.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nicole watched Alexia. She knew her friend's pose. She was ready to pull a knife if things got ugly. Nicole decided that she would see about borrowing one before the night was over; it would probably be a smart thing to carry from now on. "Stay in your place," Jack's eyes narrowed as he gave the order.

"Okay, you delivered you little message. Get out of here Jack," Nicole said coldly. Her entire body was rigid with anger. Where did he get off telling her what to do? Jack grabbed India's arm and dragged her away, his bleach-blond hair looking almost transparent in the glinting sun. Nicole handed the car keys to Vitaliy. "You drive, I think I'd run someone over right now."

~*~

Nicole threw all her energy into the auditions. She practiced her monologue long into the night and in the few minutes she had before her name was called to audition. She walked to the front of the stage and took a deep breath. The speech was about two minutes long and ended hysterically with "I want to open myself! ... I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!"

When she had finished, Nicole finally paid attention to who her audience was. Of course Mrs. Ingle was there, since she was directing, and Mrs. Robbins, who was always assistant director. She almost fell off the stage when she saw India sitting in the second row with a clipboard. Apparently she had been elected as stage manager for the production and would obviously help with casting. Wasn't that a peachy thought? Damn, I knew I should have payed more attention to who was at the meeting and elected as what! Without betraying any of her inner emotions, Nicole bowed and thanked them, then walked off-stage. She wandered out into the hall and collapsed against the lockers where Vitaliy and Alexia were rehearsing together. "I like that, but try to sound more upset on 'she thinks to dance with me on my wife's grave!' After all, you're supposed to be upset and desperate," Alexia was saying,

"Speaking of desperate, I desperately need to start praying I get a part," Nicole said.

"Why?" Vitaliy leaned beside her. "I'm sure you did great."

"Oh I did, it was fantastic. But, my monologue won't be the problem. India's stage manager. She won't let me get a part, or at least not a good one," Nicole sighed.

"What? Who elected her?" Alexia exclaimed.

"I don't know, I guess that's what we get for not paying any attention at the meeting the other day," Nicole said.

"There is no way that Mrs. Ingle will let her have that much power over the decisions," Vitaliy said, "After all, when haven't you gotten a good part?"

Nicole smiled at that. Vitaliy was right, she'd get the part she deserved. When the cast list went up the next day, she had been cast as Abigail Williams, Vitaliy would be John Proctor, and Alexia had gotten the part of Elizabeth Proctor. The roles were a scource of amusement for the trio. "So, when are we having the wedding V?" Alexia joked.

"As soon as I finish Semiary," he countered.

"Oh yeah, a vampire in Seminary, that would be amusing," Nicole laughed.

India stumbled upon them as they were coming down the hall from the casting list. "So, you like your parts, do you?" She sneered.

"What is your issue?" Nicole asked.

"You're a leech. I don't need an issue."

Nicole brushed past her without another word. She didn't say anything else until they had all taken their seats in their government class. No one else was in the room yet, so they had some time to talk. "What are we going to do about her? I think she's on a mission to make my life miserable," she moaned and put her head on Vitaliy's shoulder.

"I don't know. Have you talked to Gabriel yet?" Alexia asked.

"Nah, you've seen him more than I have lately. I'm not sure what he's up to. He's almost never home unless you're there."

"He's helping Fritz and Devon get their new place set up and everything now that they've moved out. Apparently they're both completely inept at setting up a house and appearing normal. Devon refuses to leave the house during the day and then prowls around the neighborhood at night. Last night he killed someone's cat because it scared him."

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"Anyway, I think for now we're just going to have to suck it up and ignore her. If she becomes a serious problem, we'll deal with her then," Alexia continued.

"To you it won't ever be a serious problem!" Nicole ran out of the room. She needed somewhere to be alone for a while. She ducked into an empty classroom so that no one would see her just dissapear and brought herself back to her room. Her parents were at work and her little sisters had gone to school. She flopped onto her bed and buried herself in a pile of silky pillows and soft sheets. Her tears left dark trails on the lighter silver fabric of the pillows. Out of habit, she reached for the black stuffed tiger that Vitaliy had given her when they first started going out. She hugged the animal to her chest. "Oh Kali, what am I supposed to do? I almost wish I could go back to just being me. I don't want this anymore." Nicole pulled the covers over her head and eventually passed into oblivion

~*~

End part one...

I hope you liked it. Even if you didn't let me know what you thought, thanks!