CHAPTER TWO: THANKS FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID

I opened my eyes. Where am I? I got out of bed and looked around. Home? When did I even get here? But all too soon the memories of last night came whirling back at me. It took a lot of will power to keep my emotions under control. I sighed. Great, what have I gotten into now? Then, it hit me, Shikamaru and his gang were vampires? I grabbed my pillow and shoved it into my face to muffle the sound of my screaming. I wasn't scared, but I barely even knew these guys and yet, I was in love with one of them. But I had my doubts that Shikamaru loved me back.

Unfortuantely, it was a one sided love. I checked my clock. It was already past noon. The rain had stopped by for another visit and tapped at my window. The rain somehow had a nice melody to it. I sat in my bed listening to the sound of the rain, everthing seemed okay, but then my phone rang. I picked it up and checked to caller ID. It wasn't anyone I knew, but I decided to answer it anyway. I hoped it was Shikamaru or somebody from his gang.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously. I heard silence on the other line for a few minutes.

"Oh, hello, Arabella. It's me, Naruto." I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding. "So, are you feeling okay?" I thought over this for a moment. Sure, physically I was fine, but mentally I was a complete wreck.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay. Sort of." I said. I didn't really mean to say the last part, but unfortunately my mind was screwed.

"What do you mean by, 'sort of'?" He asked. I mentally sighed. Great. Now I had to talk even more than usual.

"What I mean is that...okay, I give. My mind is totally screwed. I can't erase the memories of the...pain." I had to hesitate for a few moments before saying words, because I was in a void of confusion, fear, and total loneliness. Naruto only chuckled.

"I feel you there, but I need to ask, who do you live with?" I paused. Not as in, I was so shocked that I couldn't speak, which is partially true. But I was always touchy about this subject, and when someone brought it up I was go in this phase where I'd completely freeze. My mind, my actions, and even my heartbeat. All I could get out was a mere squeaky sound. After a few seconds Naruto asked, "Arabella? Are you okay?"

His voice brought me back. I sighed.

"Sorry, Naruto. It's just that I'm really touchy about that, and when someone brings it up, my heartbeat, mind, and everything else stops. I don't live with anyone. T-they're all dead." I had to choke that last part out, which was so hard. There was only silence on the other line. Then, I heard the mutter of some voices. I'm assuming it was the rest of the group.

"Okay, well. We're going to have Shikamaru stay with you. If that's alright." Naruto said. I could tell he was just barely able to hide his glee. I nearly went into shock again. Shikamaru? Here? With me? No way! It'd be like my new dream coming true, but still. I hardly knew the guy.

"Naruto, why is he going to stay here with me?" I asked timidly. I could even hear the new tone of emotions in my voice. Man, that accident last night will be like another childhood trauma for me. Naruto chuckled.

"Because, we have no idea if that Kenny's going to come back for you. Yeah, Kiba didn't catch him." Okay, now I had originally thought that the first part was bad. But this news, it was pratically like someone had put the hold world onto my brain. I started to breathe fast. He was still out there, and I knew that even though he'd only gotten a taste. He'd definately would come back for more.

"O-okay. Send Shikamaru here. Quickly, please." I said. I needed Shikamaru here. I was scared, and I was lonely.

"Don't worry about it, he's already in your house." Naruto had a tone of laughter just barely edging in his voice. I said goodbye to him, and hung up. The door creaked open, and I saw Shikamaru's head pop in.

"Hey, Shikamaru." I said. I was slightly more friendly to mankind now. Or, more like the vampirism side of mankind.

"Hey." He said. He put himself in a position where he was leaning on the side of the wall.

"So, what do you want to do other than just stand there all day?" He shrugged in response. Shikamaru doesn't really like to do much. I cleared my throat, and I tried to stand to get over to him. Instead I toppled over and fell on the floor. Shoot, still not strong enough to stand?

"Whoa, don't push yourself too hard. The venom was already deeply in its tranformation stage before I could get it all out. Plus, I had to suck a lot of blood out." He picked me up and allowed me to lean on his shoulder. He scent was so, heavenly. As ironic as that is. I sighed.

"Shikamaru?" I whispered.

"Yeah? What is it?" His kind eyes looked straight into my frosty blue ones.

"Do...you want to know more about me?" I asked, still in a whisper voice.

"If only you'll let me." He replied shortly. I loved to hear his voice. It felt like a fresh wind when the soundwaves hit my ears.

"Ask the first question." I mentally prepared myself for his bombarding questions. Knowing Shikamaru, he'd probably want to know everything about me.

"How did your parents and everyone else die?" I shuddered and went into my freeze mode. Shikamaru shook me, and I came back to life.

"T-they...were murdered. By vampires." I said quietly. I remember the blood everywhere.

"What was your family?" He asked next. I couldn't keep this a secret forever.

"They were...demons. Specifically vampires, werewolves, and more." After years of hiding from this secret and hoping for it to disappear, I'd hoped Shikamaru would get me through this. We were in a moment of silence. I liked moments of silence. No talking.

"So, what were your parents?" Shikamaru asked. I felt a little secretive at that point. My mother told me that by the time I'd reach my sixteenth birthday, on the rising sun, my demonic powers would awaken.

"A vampire is what my mother was, and my father was a vampire also." I said. I wasn't born full vampire, because father had turned a vampire right after I was born. So, I was to stay a human until I was sixteen. And my birthday was in two weeks.

"So, are you a full born vampire?" He asked. I half wished that he'd ask normal questions. But I really needed to open the cap to my secret bottle.

"Not completely. My father turned a vampire right after I was born. But mother, she said that I would become a full vampire on my sixteenth birthday." Now that I had mentioned it, everything around me was slowly becoming more aware. I could smell new scents, and my agility had gotten better.

"When's your birthday?" Shikamaru asked. I hesitated before answering him.

"T-two weeks." I choked out. I wasn't afraid of becoming a vampire. No, I had even dreamed about this. But the problem was, would I kill everything? Just as my mother and father had? "Shikamaru. The people who killed my entire family. They were my own parents."

"That's cold. What ever happened to them?" The next part was the key to my trauma.

"I-I hunted them down and killed them. In revenge." I remember that chilly full moon night.

It was my birthday, and my vampire powers had creaked out by a bit. I walked into my house, carrying a surprise for everyone that I had bought. I opened the door and saw my parents, feeding on my own relatives. I dropped the crystal sculpture. The river of blood had seeped into my sculpture turning it red.

They turned to face me, their face streaked with the blood of my youngest cousin. The only fairy in the family. I screamed and covered my mouth.

"W-why, mother? W-why father?" I barely managed to choke out.

"Darling, we couldn't resist, and not to point out, they had started to hate us for what we are." Mother told me. I refused to believe it.

"Those are lies! They loved all of us! You're just a monster!" I screamed at her. She was next to me in a flash.

"Sweetie, they aren't lies. Not to tell you, that you're the same. As one of us." Mother gestured to herself and father. I wanted to kill them. My favorite rosary necklace cracked. And everything around me turned red. I gave a good hunt as mother and father ran. But, the worst part was the end.

I stabbed both my parents, who I thought to love, with a stake. The very same stake that I kept for five years.

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked. I hadn't realized that tears had started to stream down my face.

"Fine." I said. I had gotten back into my reluctant to talk stage. Shikamaru came to sit on the bed with me. "Shikamaru, what if I become like my parents?" I asked scared. He only laughed lightly.

"Arabella, the stuff that your parents did will never reflect on your actions. You're just who you want to be." By the confidence in his voice, I could tell that he, himself had repeated this to himself many times. In the heat of the moment, I told Shikamaru my last secret.

"Shikamaru, I-I think I love you." I whispered. Being a vampire, I'm sure as sure that he heard me right. He chuckled.

"Okay, to be honest with you. I think I like you too." I smiled. It wasn't love, but sure enough it'd become more over time. I held Shikamaru's stone cold hand in mine, ignoring the tiny spark that I felt. We leaned into eachother and had our very first kiss. He was, and always will be my first love.

AUTHOR'S NOTES ON THIS CHAPTER

Hey, there! So, hopefully you'll like this chapter. Yeah, I know it's short. My brain became dead after a few minutes, so I typed this as fast as I could. If I come up with a new idea, then it'll probably be in a new chapter or story!

Once again, I DO NOT OWN ANY NARUTO CHARACTERS, REFERENCES FROM TWILIGHT AND ROSARIO VAMPIRE! I DO OWN MY OWN CHARACTERS!

Oh, and quick note. Arabella's love for Shikamaru is supposed to be my fantasties. And also, I am going to drop my other story, The Accident. The plot started to get really stupid. So, yeah I'M DROPPING THE OTHER STORY!