Dave froze, his face inches from Marina's neck. Marina could feel her heart ramming against her chest, as if trying to escape her body. For a moment everything was still, then, with an infuriated growl, Dave pushed away from her and off the bed.

I'll see you later." He snarled. Then he was gone. Marina heard the apartment door slam a mere second later.

Very slowly she sat up and turned to look at the guy who was still hanging in her doorway. She had expected him to run out after Dave, especially since he claimed that there were policemen on their way, but here he was looking at her, and, strangely he didn't look drunk. In fact, he looked quite alert.

"Are you ok?" The boy asked, venturing a bit father into the room. "Did he hurt you?"

Marina stared at him emptily for a moment, then hesitantly said "He-hit me a couple of times…I thought he wanted…but his face was different, and his teeth…He was going to bite me! Why? Why would he do that?" Marina realized that she was babbling, but she couldn't stop herself. The moment when she had seen Dave clearly seemed to be replaying over and over in her mind. His face changing ever so subtly, his canines unnaturally long and sharp. She had known in that moment that she was going to die.

But she hadn't. This guy had saved her and she didn't even know him.

"I'm sorry," she started, and was horrified to find herself in tears.

Jordan Taylor cursed silently to himself as he rushed to Marina's side. He had no idea how to deal with a crying female, but he couldn't just stand there. So instead, he clumsily patted her back and offered awkward words of comfort.

Finally her tears eased up and she moved away from him.

"I'm sorry. I was just so scared. I'm Marina, by the way." He could tell she was trying to put on a brave face, but he could still see her mouth trembling with suppressed tears.

"I know." He smiled wryly at her startled look. "I'm in your AP History class."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"It's Jordan. And don't worry about it." He brushed aside her concerns with the air of someone who has more important things on his mind. Which, in fact, he did.

"Listen, I know you've been through a lot tonight, and you probably don't want to hear what I'm about to tell you, but you have to know. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but what you've seen tonight can get you killed. No, wait, let me finish." Marina had opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. "You probably already figured this out, but Dave is a vampire. A made vampire. Very recently made, actually."

Marina nodded, accepting this as fact.

"Go on."

She sat in silence as he told her about the Night World, about vampires, witches, werewolves and shapeshifters. When he finished with his story, she stared at the forest green plaid of her bedspread, absorbing the information and feeling surprisingly unsurprised.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She finally asked

"I need you to understand how big this is. When Dave showed you what he is, he sentenced you to death. The Night World has strict laws regarding this. It's vital to their own safety."

A shiver of fear ran up Marina's spine as she looked Jordan full in the face. "So how do you know all of this?"

He returned her look with utter calm. "I'm part of the Night World, too."