Last chapter…

Kakashi shut his eyes tight and waited for the final sting, for the life to flow out of him. But it didn't come. Instead, he felt Sasuke's lips, an unearthly cold, playing about his neck. Something about it seemed seductive and playful, as was to be expected…but there was something different in those lips. He seemed hesitant.

"What are you waiting for?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask hoarsely.

"Shut up," Sasuke growled. Yes! That growl, those words…it could have been the old, human Sasuke talking to Naruto. The next moment all traces of that boy were gone though, as a thin knee pushed its way smoothly between Kakashi's legs and pinned him against the tree, sending shivers through his body. It was almost as if the old Sasuke and the new one, the demonic one, were fighting for dominance. If Kakashi had a hope of survival, the old Sasuke had to win out.

"Why are you doing this, Sasuke?" It was a miracle Sasuke's heart didn't break right then…Kakashi's almost did. No, the words had the opposite effect – Sasuke pulled down the corner of his victim's vest, exposing more tanned skin to the chilly night air.

"I told you," he said gruffly, "I have to get rid of my past, I have to destroy the human named Kakashi, who taught me too much of what I know." He dragged his nails into Kakashi's chest painfully. His lips were a deathly white to match his skin, and Kakashi knew he didn't have much time before the boy went entirely insane with his ravenous hunger.

"You don't want this," Kakashi said sadly.

"Yes I do." It came out childishly, and both of them knew it.

"No, you don't. You never wanted any of this to happen. And now you just want to get rid of me so that no one will be around to remind you of that. You feel like you're trapped, and this is the only way out. But it's not. It's not a way out at all. Killing me will make you more of what you are, and you'll never forget it. You know I'm right, that's why you--"

"I thought I told you to shut up!" Sasuke shouted. He shook Kakashi violently and forced him back into the tree. His bangs fell into his face. "You can't talk yourself out of this one!" His eyes were burning again, but it wasn't with the lusty hunger of before. It was desperation. The old Sasuke had almost won – Kakashi knew what he had to do. Sasuke was right – there was no time for talking.

The vampire leaned in close for the final bite – and Kakashi kissed him.

Not on the lips. Actually, he wasn't quite sure where he kissed him, but Kakashi's mouth had captured one part of Sasuke's face, and that's all that mattered. They stayed there, frozen, for a long while. Their heartbeats pounded simultaneously, echoing in their ears and through the night. Sasuke's iron grip loosened slightly after a moment and he flopped back onto Kakashi's lap. All the fire was gone from his eyes, replaced with helplessness, and Kakashi knew who had won. The hands on his vest went slack, and one word escaped Sasuke's pearly lips.

"Why?" He was shaking.

"That wasn't the way out. There is an escape, I promise you – but killing me isn't it. And I know that if you attacked me like that, while you were blinded by wrath, you would kill me." Kakashi had thought of a way out. He had no idea if it would work, but he had to try. Once he did…there was no going back.

"There is no way. I've thought of millions of ways to escape Itachi and the Akatsuki, but he'd always find me, and I'd still be…" Sasuke ran a finger gingerly over his fangs.

"Then maybe you don't have to run away from them," Kakashi said. His strength was coming back. He used it to lift a hand and push sweaty strands of onyx hair behind Sasuke's quivering ears.

"But I don't want to kill anybody!" Sasuke cried out. His forehead fell against Kakashi's collar.

"Transform me."

Sasuke looked up.

"What?"

"Transform me," Kakashi repeated. His voice was steady, though his heart was throwing itself against his throat. "I can keep you sane. We can keep each other sane. Together we can run from the Akatsuki. We can live under aliases, and feed off animals. It'll be better than being Itachi's slave, at any rate, won't it? And I won't let you murder anyone. I promise you."

"You're giving your life away, sensei," Sasuke murmured huskily. Ruby eyes glimmered with tears beneath the moonlight. "Why would you do this for me?"

"I think you know," Kakashi smiled weakly.

They fell into each others arms, droplets of blood from Kakashi's scratched chest merging with Sasuke's midnight cloak.

"Are you ready?" asked Sasuke, allowing his fangs to slide fully from his lips. He looked like a demon…yet somehow he was even more unimaginably stunning than before.

In the infinite moment before Kakashi replied, thousands of thoughts raced through his head. One of those thoughts was a line he didn't remember reading from that book:

On Halloween, if you see a shadow cross your path

Or a stain that wasn't there before

Beware! it may be a vampyre's wrath

That will silence you for evermore.

He grinned that grin that Sasuke was so used to seeing, a smile that he used to use when he was late for training. From the lightness starting to grow over the hills in the east, he knew the dawn was approaching. Then he looked into Sasuke's face, thrown into shadow against the horizon. Perhaps they would be those shadows, the ones that small children are afraid of, next Halloween. Or maybe they would have killed each other by then, driven insane with the lack of blood. Who knew.

"Yes," he whispered. Sasuke closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and the next thing Kakashi knew was more ecstasy and pain combined than he had ever felt. Blood poured out of him; he writhed beneath Sasuke's body, clutching the vampire's robes as he was filled with an indescribable emotion. And he smiled. If there was one thing he knew, it was that they would stay together til the end, no matter if the end came within weeks or if it was an eternity away. They would live, if you could call it that, by night, surviving off each other.

And the sun would never rise for them again.

--END--

Happy Halloween!