A/N: I'm soo sorry that it took me half a year to update! But I'm glad I've finally found the time to do so... In case my faithful readers haven't lost their interest in this story after such a long time: There's a summary of the first eleven chapters in chapter 12, and here follows a summary of chapters 12 -14:

The next morning Marissa wakes up, and though she is confused at first, she finally accepts that Alex has really been with her the previous night. So she concludes that Alex has to be alive. That evening she waits for her until late in the night, but Alex doesn't turn up.

The next evening, Marissa waits for her again...

"Alex," she whispers in quiet determination, her fingers closing around the knife firmly. "I'm coming."

Alex realizes that she needs a job, as she doesn't want to live off Victoria's generosity forever. Victoria takes her to LA to meet Marc, who leads a special vampire-hunting-unit. He offers Alex a special training and subsequently a job as a vampire hunter. Alex promises to think about it.

After they return to the O.C., Alex pays Marissa a visit, as she wants to make sure that she's alright. She arrives in last minute to stop Marissa from another suicide attempt.

Marissa demands to hear the truth, and Alex finally tells her that she is a vampire. They kiss and end up sleeping with each other.

The next morning Marissa wakes up beside an apparently lifeless Alex, and she panics. Alex wakes up and tries to calm Marissa, who is completely confused and finally leaves the house.

Alex was not even able to cry. She was a monster, and it seemed Marissa had finally understood.

15

Just be sure you don't hurt me. Those words still rang in Alex' head. Too late. She had hurt her again. I should have never shown myself to her again, Alex thought miserably.

She had now been pacing up and down her motel room for nearly an hour, trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings.

I should have somehow anonymously alarmed Summer – she could have taken care of Marissa. But no – I was egoistic enough to do it myself. And now I have managed to hurt her, again.

"FUCK," Alex yelled and boxed into the nearest wall. She didn't even notice the pain in her raw knuckles, and hit the wall again, and again.

Several more minutes passed until Alex slowly began to register what she as doing. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and silently counted to ten.

When she opened her eyes again she was actually surprised to see a dint in the wall, splattered with – not much, but anyhow a few drops of – blood.

Alex groaned – she was evidently still far from having her temper under control. She went into the bathroom and while she was letting cold water flow over her sore hand, she heard a knock on the door.

"Hang on a sec," she called out. Victoria must have forgotten her keys, Alex figured. She had told the older vampire what had happened earlier on, and as ever so often, Victoria had patiently listened. It had felt good to tell someone about it, but afterwards Alex had felt the need to be alone – so Victoria had gone out to somewhere, in order to give her some space.

Alex carefully dried her hand with a white towel. Not a speck of red, she registered as she put it back. She walked over to the motel room door and opened it.

"Hey, did you for---"

"Hi, Alex," came Marissa's breathless voice.

Alex just stared at her, motionless.

"How come...Why... I... How – How did you find me here?" Alex finally managed to articulate.

"Well... someone you know rather well just paid me a visit," Marissa said with a slightly thoughtful voice.

After she had sat at the beach for a while and had more or less calmed down, Marissa had gone back to the apartment, hoping beyond hope that Alex was still there. But – of course – she had found the house empty.

She had felt a new wave of despair wash upon her – how ever was she supposed to talk to Alex again?

A knock on the door had broken the silence in the dark living room, making Marissa flinch. She jumped up and ripped open the door.

"Al--" But there stood not Alex, but another woman she had never seen before.

"I... Sorry, I was...," Marissa stumbled, then she shook her head and cleared her throat, "What do you want?"

"I am here to help you," the woman said, a smile spreading on her lips. With a strange feeling of foreboding, Marissa switched on the light. A part of her noted that the woman in front of her had to be one of the most beautiful people she had ever seen. But it was the woman's mouth she was staring at, or more precisely the two sharp, white canine teeth.

"I see that you understand," the woman said softly. Surprise had by now left Marissa's face – the only emotions visible now were horror and fear.

"You do not need to fear me. I am a friend of Alex'. And it was not me who attacked her."

Marissa stared at her for another moment, then she slowly nodded. "Would you like to come in...?"

Alex' eyes widened in surprise. "You met Victoria?"

Marissa nodded, her eyes never leaving Alex'. "Yes. She filled me in on some more details on what actually happened to you... And she told me that I'd find you here."

Alex felt a painful sensation in her chest. "She had no right to do that," Alex said heavily. "You should not be here. Don't let all this crap affect you. Return to a normal life – you deserve that. Don't worry about me. I understand why you're disgusted. I'm a monster, I don't belong in you're life."

"No, Alex--"

"Really Marissa, I understand why you left earlier. You deserve to lead a normal life..."

"Damn it, Alex! You don't understand at all! I didn't leave because you're a vampire. I don't care about that! What I do care about is you! I thought you were dead, for fuck's sake! I thought so again!"

Alex just stared at Marissa, once again at loss for words.

"Alex, don't you get it, I'm sick of losing you. I love you."

"But... I'm a monster... You deserve better..."

"So you keep saying. But you know what would really make you a monster? If you'd make me leave and break my heart all over again," Marissa said dryly.

Alex stood still, as if rooted to the spot. Marissa, who now had tears running down her cheeks, slowly stepped forward until the space between the two girls had become very small.

"Marissa...," Alex croaked.

"Please, don't send me away," Marissa stumbled, "Give us a chance. We'll--"

"Shhh," Alex said and softly wiped away Marissa's tears. She gave Marissa another long and intense stare, and then pressed her lips to Marissa's.

Suddenly, Marissa's arms were around her and the two girls stood there in the doorway, locked in a strong embrace, lips never parting.

*

The sound of waves crashing down on the shore filled the silence of the night. Alex and Marissa were sitting at the deserted beach, hand in hand, watching the sea. Marissa was resting her head on Alex' shoulder, and Alex was leaning her own head back against it.

After Marissa had appeared on Alex' doorstep, the rest of the day had gone by quickly, with them talking for hours.

They had only dared to leave the house after night had fallen, and now they were silently enjoying each other's company.

Marissa sighed. "What's going to happen now?" she asked quietly.

"Who knows," Alex muttered.

A few moments of silence passed, then Alex spoke again. "Victoria knows this man, Marc, who leads a kind of unit that hunts vampires – vampires like the one who attacked me. They asked me to join."

Marissa lifted her head and turned her head to stare at Alex. Her face was full of fear, and Alex, noticing this, gave Marissa's hand a squeeze and quickly added: "Don't worry. I will never leave you again. I swear."

Marissa nodded slowly, and her expression became softer again. "So what about the vampire hunting?"

"Well, I'd have to undergo a training before I can actually go and hunt vampires. In LA. That'd take about a year..."

"I'll graduate from high school in about a year," Marissa said thoughtfully.

Alex smiled at her. "Exactly..."

"You know, I've been thinking about studying journalism for a while now... If I'd work as a journalist one day, I could go with you, wherever you'd have to go."

Alex gave Marissa a surprised look, which slowly turned into another smile. "We could travel the world together."

"But I'd have to go to college for at least three years," Marissa said, frowning.

"Well," Alex said slowly, "We could move to another state, somewhere where no one knows us... I can't walk on the streets openly here. You could study journalism... And I could improve my combat skills and just work, earn some money. And I guess I could go on a 'mission' from time to time, to help Marc and Victoria to hunt down a vampire. I'm sure they would grant me some more time before I begin to work full-time as a vampire hunter."

"Yeah... As long as you don't stay away for too long, I'll allow you to go on missions," Marissa said, smirking.

"Oh, so that's how things are going to be from now on? You're going to be the mistress, controlling your poor wife?" Alex asked grinning.

"Wife?" Marissa asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, I'm not planing on ever letting you go or leaving you again," Alex said matter-of-factly.

The two girls smiled at each other, and Marissa lay her head on Alex' shoulder again.

A wave crashed down at the shore. Then another, and another.

"Tide just turned," Alex whispered.

Marissa and Alex looked at each other for a long and intense moment. Then their lips met in a sweet kiss. Something major was about to change in their lives.


A/N: Okay... this was the last chapter. An epilogue will be up in a few days. I hope you enjoyed the update – and forgive me for taking so long to write it. But I would have never, ever abandoned this story!! :)

Thank you for all the reviews!!

Cheers!

- Elanor