He felt like he'd been walking for hours. The smell he thought of as "death" was now much weaker, and he also was much cleaner than before. His hair was less knotted and sticky but now just too unmanageable. He glanced round; he knew where he was now, a few streets away from the Nabootique. Would they be glad to see him? What would he say? He felt his hands begin to shake.

"What will Howard think?" He gasped, once again catching his smooth tongue on his sharp fangs that hung where his canines used to be. He put one hand over his now open mouth and felt them. In disbelief he shook his head.

"This isn't happening to me," he thought. "I'm Vince Noir. I'm made of candy floss, I can't be dead…"

He turned the corner, looked up and gasped. The Nabootique, same as ever, only there were notices outside the shop. Lots of them.

He ran over quickly filled with excitement and dread. Half of him glad just to be home, the other half worried about his new look.

As the notices came into view he saw how many of them were pictures of himself. He put his hand on the cold window of the shop and read aloud.

"Missing: Vince Noir. Last seen outside Costcutters. 24 Hallam street. If anyone has seen him, please contact Howard Moon on 07944796451"

Vince read the notice over and over again.

"They were worried over me?" he said softly, his voice full of regret and depression. He spun round quickly to see that the street was full of pictures of him.

"How long have I been gone?" he whispered, looking into the black void known as space.

The door opened with a familiar creak and ring of a bell. The air smelt damp, but, sweet, something about it. Just so yummy, he couldn't put his finger on it. He could hear someone's quick breathing. Howard.

"Shit!" thought Vince, as he realized that the sweet smell could well be blood.

"I'm sorry, we're closed," called someone from the store room.

"Howard?" Vince breathed.

"I said we're closed," the voice called once more.

Vince panicked. He threw one hand over his face as he realized how strong the scent was becoming. He could hear shuffling of feet coming closer, a heartbeat.

"I shouldn't be here," he thought quickly. The scent was so luring. It was becoming too strong now. He squeezed his nose shut with his fingers and closed his eyes.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to a squint fearing the worst, it was Howard.

"Vince? Is that you?" The tall man questioned.

Vince stayed quiet, trying not to catch the scent once more. His throat was burning like someone had set fire to it. He felt so thirsty.

"Vince?!" he asked once more.

"Yeah, it's me," he whispered slowly sighing at the sight of his friends shocked face. He wanted so much just to go and hug Howard tell him everything would be okay and that he was sorry. But things had changed now, Vince wondered whether he should just leave as if he had never existed, But Howard had seen him now. It was impossible.

"No, it can't be!" the man gasped. "You're dead!"

Yeah, you've got one thing right, Vince thought. "No, I'm here, how can I be dead Howard?" he questioned.

"Vince, I've missed you so much!" Howard exclaimed, Pulling Vince to his feet, He forced himself to stay down but the older man's strength pulled him up with ease. "Where have you been?!"

Vince opened his eyes wider. He looked just the same as before, same fashion sense, same cappuccino stain moustache. The older man smiled, tears staining Vince's shirt as he pulled him into a hug. Vince gasped as his hand moved away from his nose. Howard smelt… so nice. Almost tempting, so tempting. Like, he just had to…

"NO!" Vince screamed, pulling away from Howard, and clamping a hand over his nose and mouth instinctively.

Howard stared at the young mod, still in mid shock. "Vince, what's wr—"

"—GET AWAY FROM ME!" Vince screamed once more, realizing how much he sounded like an animal. How much his throat was burning. How much he just wanted—

"I have to go…" he spat, running out of the door leaving the confused older man behind.

He'd run for what seemed like miles, not in any particular direction, just away from the shop. Away from Howard. It was dark still, 3 AM. People would be waking soon. He wandered into a nearby alley. It began to rain softly.

"What the fuck have I done with my life?" He spoke in almost a whisper.

Vince rubbed at his swollen red eyes with the back of his hand and took a deep breath. It had been weeks since he had last been home, to the dusty flat in the Nabootique, to what he called civilization and now that he'd finally been back, it had struck him. He'd been missing for months but to him it felt like only a few days. The tears he'd thought he'd finished shedding fell gracefully down his cheeks as he took another step forward down the dark void of the alley. His legs gave way slowly as he slumped against the nearby wall next to him. He let his body slowly slide against the building he was just in, and pulled his jacket over his tiny, pale, stick-thin body, leaving his face exposed. He pulled the hood of it over his dull, lifeless hair as the rain started falling harder.

"I know you'd be pissed if your precious hair got wet." He mocked what Howard would have said in this situation if he was here with him. He tried to laugh but failed miserably.

Hours passed, Vince ignored the glares, the whispers of crowds and the gasps of disgust of people who had walked by the mouth of the alley. The rain seemed to poor harder as Vince's thumb glided over his tiny gleaming blue iPod he'd stolen from the shop as he left. He realized how it didn't work as much now, he pondered it for a second. After realizing he was dead and had no body heat he gave up on trying to find all his favourite tracks and stuck to shuffle. He had no intention of listening to the meaning of the tracks that played through but he had to take his mind off the bigger picture. Howard.

Everyone would be worried about him now back home. He was precious Vince, the sunshine kid. He struggled to crack a smile. How weak that sentence was now. Sunshine… He was far from it. He sighed and continued listening to his tracks.

"Hey, what we got ere den?" someone called from the distance.

Vince sighed, He wasn't in the mood to be pushed around, he was hungry, wet, and his hair was a mess, not that he cared so much now.

"Hey babe, you all alone?" another person called.

Drunken laughter filled the air, Vince looked up slowly. Three teenagers all dressed in black hoodies, baseball hats and terrible music coming from their phones walked stupidly toward him. He laughed quietly looking back down at his knees. A small joke Howard had once made about chavs filled his mind as he lifted his head up to rest against the wall and turned to look at small gang who was only a few feet away from him now.

"What you laughing at?" one of the more intelligent of the bunch interrogated him.

Vince stopped laughing and sighed before looking right into one of the boy's eyes. He noticed the youngster jump, but he stood his ground, obviously not wanting to look scared in front of his friends. Vince let his head relax again and rest against the wall. Tucking his iPod in his pocket, he laughed once and stared up at the night sky. A bottle flew and hit the side of his face, the fragile object mashing into thousands of tiny pieces as it scattered around him. Vince picked up one of the shards and examined it in his pale fingers.

"Do you believe in life after death? I didn't, It's not as genius as it sounds." Vince sighed, slowly getting to his feet. His coat dropped from over his head as he stretched his body out to his full height letting the cool rain pour all over his exposed skin and soaking his hair. He flashed his teeth towards them. He watched as the boys backed away slowly.

Vince pounced.