Alright! The new chapter is up! I'd like to thank Stinger5 and Peckish Pixie for their encouraging reviews.

Scarlet Pools of Love

Chapter Two: The Lesser of Two Evils

More blood spilled from her wound as the mysterious man withdrew his fangs from her neck. He slowly turned the still frozen Chelsea around to face him. She was shocked to see that he was unearthly hansom. He had flawless ivory skin and his wet blonde hair cascaded past his shoulders. What drew her attention were his hypnotizing, sapphire blue eyes. He slowly brought his arm up and bit in to it. Then he removed his fangs and held out his wound to her.

"Drink of me," he said to her.

Finally getting her bearings, she ran like hell. She knew she couldn't just run inside her house, where she was defenseless. She took off towards Will's house, where she knew there were about a dozen guns.

The man suddenly appeared in front of her. He grabbed her and pushed her against a tall wooden fence. Bringing his wound to his mouth, he sucked his own blood for a few seconds. He then leaned in towards her as if to kiss her. Bringing his lips fully on hers, he used his tongue to push the blood from his mouth into hers and made her swallow it. His lips lingered for a few moments, until something abruptly threw him off of his victim.

Chelsea stood there shocked for a moment. The mysterious man who had been kissing her was now lying in a puddle ten feet away. In front of her was a new stranger. He had shaggy black hair that curled, smooth ivory skin, and bright green eyes.

"Come with me if you want to live," he said, holding out his hand to her.

'Alright, I'm going to ignore the fact that he stole that line from The Terminator. So, which evil am I going to go with? Well, this one saved me. I guess I better go with the lesser of two evils.' Her gaze shifted from this stranger to other for a few seconds. "Okay," she finally replied.

"Whatever you do, don't let go!" he exclaimed as he grabbed her. She was surprised to find that a large group of bats had formed around their feet and were now carrying them through the air.

"Holy shit! How the hell are you doing that?" she screamed. This was by far the weirdest night in her life.

"Meh, you get use to it," was his simple reply. A few seconds later, they landed in Chelsea's backyard. The bats seemed to disappear and he let go of her.

"Okay, what the hell just happened? Who was that guy? And who are you?" she immediately questioned.

"Well, that dude just had you cornered and I came to save you. His name was Astrophel. I'm Alden," he explained. Looking at her, he noticed the wound on her neck. "You've been bitten. You didn't drink his blood, did you?" he questioned.

Chelsea's blue eyes widened as she remembered what happened earlier. "EWW! Gross! That freak spit blood into my mouth when he kissed me!" she exclaimed. She proceeded to spit and try to cleanse her tongue of the awful germs she had attained.

"Then I'm going to have to kill you," he stated. His fingernails elongated as he approached her menacingly.

"What!? But you just saved me! Why would you kill someone that you just saved!?" she screamed. 'Great, so going with the lesser of the two evils wasn't the best idea. Good bye cruel world!'

"Humans can't drink vampire blood. If they do, they turn into bloodthirsty monsters that are no longer human," he explained, continuing to approach her. His claws were now raised and pointed at her throat. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stood there waiting for her eminent doom. Alden suddenly stopped and looked at her questioningly. "Why aren't you trying to defend yourself? You should have transformed by now."

"I don't know! You're the expert here, not me!" she yelled. 'If he's going to kill me, why doesn't he just get it over with?'

"Only those that were born with vampire blood are immune to its effects. You aren't a vampire, are you?" he questioned her.

"No! I can go out in the sun, eat garlic, and touch holy water and crosses! I probably wouldn't survive getting a stake through the heart, but that could kill anybody!" she exclaimed.

"Hahaha! Are you kidding me? Those stories are off the wall. For your information, sunlight doesn't kill vampires. Our skin is just really sensitive to it. So, all it does is burn really badly. It's not the actual garlic that repels us, it's just the smell. With our enhanced senses, anything that smells bad smells ten times worse to us. The whole crosses and holy water deal is just a story. And like you said, a stake through the heart could kill anyone," he explained to her.

"Yeah, well I'm still not a vampire!" was her genius reply.

"Let's just chill for moment, alright? So, we know you're not a vampire. Maybe you're descended from vampires," he stated.

"Both my parents are normal humans," she answered.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that one of your ancestors wasn't a vampire," he replied. "Can we please finish this conversation inside? We're both soaking wet."

"You're not going to try to kill me, are you?" she questioned.

"Why should I? You haven't become a bloodthirsty monster," he told her.

"What about that Astrophel guy? Will her try to come back and finish me off?" she asked.

"Nah, he's not the kind to stick around when he knows that he can't win the fight," he answered. With that she led him through the back door and into the kitchen.

"Wait here. I'll bring you some dry clothes and a towel," she said before going upstairs to her parents' room. It didn't take her long to find a towel, some pajama pants, and a t-shirt of her dad's. As she entered the kitchen, she stared in horror at Alden. He was standing near the refrigerator, chugging a glass full of red liquid. She let out a strangled yelp and fainted.

"What!? It's just tomato juice!" he said to the now unconscious Chelsea. 'Yep, there's no way that she could be a bloodthirsty monster.' He thought this to himself as he sat down the empty glass. Picking her up, he decided that he better find her bedroom and let her sleep there. She was going to need all the rest that she could get at the moment, because Alden was going to get to the bottom of this and find out the truth behind this girl.

So, what did you think of this chapter? Yes? No? Maybe? Anyway, I really enjoy reading your reviews and finding out what you think of this story. So, please review.