Thank you so much Jasmine-angela, NamikazeMia, and saphira88 for favorite-ing my story! You guys are awesome! So I got this chapter done early and decided to give it to you. Enjoy!

A week had passed at Cross Academy and no one seemed to care about me. I could sit in the middle of the front row in class with my hand right in the teacher's face and he would not call on me. What was worse was that the smell of blood seemed to follow me everywhere. How many vampires could there be on campus?

"Hey, Ayane!" A chipper voice called. I silently groaned as Yuki and Zero approached me. They were the first human and vampire to acknowledge my existence in a positive way. "How was your day?" Every day she asked the same question, and it was annoying at first. But it dulled down after the fourth day.

"Same as always." I answered automatically. Since classes were over, I needed to get to Michael and make sure he was okay.

"Are you going to come see the Night Class?" Yuki asked eagerly. "They have been interested in meeting you."

I bit my lower lip. "I'll come and look at them, but that's all the time I can spare." I decided, retreating from the Sun Dorm bridge and walking with the Disciplinary Committee.

The wall of fan girls was impenetrable. Even though Yuki tried to coax me into pushing through, I climbed into a tree and watched from above. I had no worry, since my jeans kept me modest.

The doors swung open and several gorgeous girls came out. Many of the Day Class boys melted into little puddles of stalkish love then and there. Some guys can out, and they were quite handsome.

Then he came out.

Dark brown hair fell into his red-brown eyes. He was taller than the other Night Class boys, and far more handsome.

Many of the girls called to him, but he ignored them. He suddenly stopped, making the other students nervous. His eyes drifted up to me, and that's when his scent hit.

Blood.

Something inside me snapped. Fear and anxiety rushed through every muscle in my legs. I jumped down off the branch I'd settled on and I took off with more speed than I'd ever used since...since I was fifteen.

His hands gripped my waist as he kissed my neck fiercely. The pain of his fangs entering my veins lasted less then a second, but the sound of his slurping my blood never seemed to end.

"That's enough." Jacob's harsh voice sounded in that darkness. The figure left me exhausted and low on blood.

Jacob turned on the light in that nightmarish room. The bed I laid on was stained crimson for obvious reasons. "Now Anne," he said with a horribly lusty sound in his voice, "your mother and I have been thinking."

'Heavens no! The more they think the worse off I am.' A tear slid down my pale cheek.

"Since I have so much...fun with you," he continued as he ran his hands on my upper thigh, "we thought our customers might like a bit of that."

My body seized up. I couldn't see anymore, but I could hear the yelling as my legs took off on me. A baby crying made me realize I had Michael in my arms, my little one year old. I ran for hours, maybe days, I wasn't sure. The black film over my eyes wouldn't lift until I heard water slapping onto earth. I blinked away the darkness to see the ocean. 'That's not possible.' I thought, staring out at the ocean.

'It is.' My thoughts suddenly pointed out. 'But...but I was in Great Falls, Montana."

A small sign came into view. "Welcome to Fort Bragg, California." I tried to take another step, but my legs became gelatin under my slim figure. I held fast to Michael, who had fallen asleep. I joined him, and for a while thought I was dead. But I wasn't.

I was able to stop running after I reached a fountain. 'Why didn't Zero make me react?' I asked my inner self, since she knew all about my abilities.

'He didn't present as great a threat to you and Michael.' She responded in her usual cryptic way.

The cool water felt good on my face as I cooled down. "That was quite a run." A rich voice came from behind me, bringing back the scent of blood.

The handsome vampire that originally caused me to run stood behind me. And he was complimenting me. That wasn't what I was used to.

I gave him an innocent smile. "Thank you."

"You looked quite alarmed."

I chuckled a bit under my breath. "I wasn't expecting to run into a lot of vampires here." I retorted.

It was his turn to be alarmed. "How-"

"I can tell a vampire when I see one." I answered his question quickly and sat down. My legs had a healthy burn running through them, aka my legs hurt a lot. Sure, running almost 1,500 miles was much farther than forty feet, but I hadn't been running like then for two years. Gimme a break.

He gave a soft smile and sat across from me on the stone fence. "My name is Kaname Kuran."

I looked at the ground. "I'm Ayane Fujikawa. Pleased to make your acquaintance." A sharp stone jutted out near my black knee-high boots.

I went to get up and purposely fell down and cut my hand on the edge of the rock. "Dangit." I swore, shaking my hand to numb the pain. The laceration went down my lifeline, not exactly where I meant to cut.

His eyes flooded with crimson, and I knew my test was working. But as quickly as it came, his eyes returned to their regular color. "Are you alright, Ms. Fujikawa?"

"Yes." I assessed what I saw. He had good control over his thirst. Good for the both of us. "I should be heading back to the Sun Dorms."

"Be safe." He joked as I headed for the bridge. The sun was dipping low into the west, and I knew Michael wouldn't be happy I was out late. He's a pretty cranky almost-four year old.

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