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I think this was the most nervous I have been in my entire life. Right now, standing outside Dr. Harrison's office, raising my arm to knock on the door, I imagined all the ways this conversation would go.

I had to tell him that I knew he was a vampire. There was no way around that. The ultimate product could vary, though. For example, he could accept that I knew his secret, and we could still be great friends and happily skip through a meadow of rainbows and cotton candy. On the other hand, he could decide to kill me to keep his secret under wraps. Personally, I preferred the former.

I gulped down my fear, and rapped on the door three times. After a few seconds, the door was opened, and the smiling face of Dr. Harrison was revealed.

"Hello, Alice," he said. "What can I do for you? We've already had our session."

"I know," I said quietly, "but there's something I need to talk to you about. It's extremely urgent."

Dr. Harrison hesitated, and looked behind him. "Well, I'm with someone right now, but I'll be done in about half an hour. Can it wait that long?"

"I don't think it can," I replied earnestly. "It is extremely, extremely important. It concerns not just me, but you."

This seemed to bring Dr. Harrison a change of heart. Or, a change of something. I wasn't sure if he had a heart. Do vampires? I made a mental note to ask that.

He walked over to a harried-looking boy that was seated in the chair across from his desk. He told him that there was an emergency, and he must leave immediately. I'm not entirely sure the boy understood what he was saying, because he mumbled something about making it to the opera theatre on time.

Dr. Harrison then approached me. I was still standing in the door. He looked concerned, but not exactly for me. Maybe he knew that I had figured out his secret. I feared the worst.

"Let's go for a walk," he said, taking my arm. "It's lovely outside right now. It's twilight."

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"So what's on your mind?" asked Dr. Harrison. We were slowly strolling along a winding path in the garden. Dr. Harrison was correct in saying that it was lovely outside. The sky was a rich mix of pink, blue, and black. It gave the appearance that a brilliant, new painter was using the sky as his canvas.

I took a deep breath. I might as well cut to the chase. There was no point in making irritating small talk when my questions were about to burst through my skin and litter the lovely sky with their sheer quantity.

"Vampires." I only answered with one word, but I knew that this was enough when I saw a look of realization and fear spread across his beautiful face. He quickly shook it off, though, and put on a façade of calm and peace.

"What ever are you talking about?" His question was weak, though. Even he realized that his voice wasn't normal. He was obviously lying, trying to protect this elaborate alibi he had been using for so long.

"I know you're one," I said matter-of-factly. I was surprised by how calm and collected I sounded. My heart pounded at a million miles an hour inside my chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Then, he dropped my arm that had been looped through his. "I must be going, Alice. I suggest you go to bed, because you are obviously having delusions."

I caught his arm before he could get far, though. His skin was cool and hard beneath mine.

"Don't play dumb," I said. "You might as well admit to it. I have some questions for you."

He looked around, as if to check to make sure no one was around. Of course, there weren't. All the crazies were enjoying free time inside.

"How did you find out?" His voice cracked.

"A friend told me," I said quietly.

His perfect mask broke, and he pounded a fist angrily on a small table. It shattered underneath his fist, and my breath caught in my throat.

"It was that damn Anne-Elizabeth, wasn't it!" he screamed at me. Fear filled my body, and I slowly nodded. At this point, I was just hoping he wouldn't crush me like that poor little picnic table. Perhaps I should have just kept this secret to myself.

His rage cooled, though, and he looked at me with a small smile. "I apologize for that outburst," he said in a gentlemanly voice. "I just don't exactly have an ideal relationship with that young woman. I'm sorry I scared you."

"It's okay," I said quietly. In reality, it wasn't. I wouldn't be surprised if I died of a heart attack at this very moment.

"So, you know I'm a vampire," he said slowly, as if testing the words in his mouth. I don't think he liked the way that sentence tasted. "I think I knew that you would find out eventually, though."

"How did you know?" I asked.

He smiled. "Alice, I know you're not crazy. In fact, you're extremely bright. I should have known that Anne-Elizabeth would find you. She doesn't exactly respect the boundaries of the third floor."

"I'm in the same boat as her," I said with venom. "Neither one of us belongs here."

He slowly nodded. "That is true." His genuine concern was very evident. "But your parents won't let you go home, and Anne-Elizabeth is only safe here, where I can protect her."

"Protect her from what?" I asked. "Please, tell me everything. Everything about vampires. I must know."

He took a deep breath. I assumed that this would be a long story.

"I was born in Jamestown, Virginia in 1660. I lived a normal life with my family. Nothing of much importance had ever happened to me until my twenty-fourth birthday. I was getting married that day to a girl named Molly Roberts. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had jet black hair and gray eyes that seemed to bore into your soul. You remind me of her so much. I guess you could say that's why I've taken such an interest in you.

"Well, I was on my way to my wedding in a church that was on the other side of the settlement. The path to the church went to a small wood. I'd made this journey many times before, so I didn't think that anything could possibly happen to me there. In my human life, I was always a little behind schedule, so of course I was late on this day. I was running at top speed, desperately trying to get to my own wedding on time. I was just about to make it out of the wood when I heard a voice behind me.

"'Where do you think you're going so quickly?' it asked. The voice was high, and soon, the figure stepped out of the shadows and I realized it was a woman. In fact, it was a very beautiful woman. Her beautiful face didn't match her blood-red eyes, though. Before I could answer her question, she pounced on me. I tried to fight her off, but she was so strong and fast. I felt something puncture my skin, and then she left. I thought the worst was over, but soon, my body was on fire. At least, that's what it felt like. I could never even imagine this amount of pain. I wanted to die. Death wasn't so bad, I decided, if it ended this pain. Now, this pain seemed to last three days. The woman had dragged me off into the deep woods, so no one ever came across me.

"After the multiple days, the pain began to lessen. Soon, it was gone. But when I got up, I realized that something was different. All of my senses were heightened. I could hear a deer running halfway across the forest, and I could see for a few miles. But most of all, I could smell blood. And the blood smelled so good.

"I, at that moment, realized what I had become. As a young boy, I had heard legends from the Native Americans about half-humans that lived forever and drank the blood of innocent people. I had become a vampire. I instead went crazy. I didn't want to be a monster! How could this happen to me? I was just a young man in love. Why did my life have to change like this when I had just figured out what to live for? I went into a deep depression.

"The one solace I had was that I would never bite a human. Although the village nearby, that was full of living humans, smelled so good, I refrained. I just kept in mind that I would not become a monster like that terrible woman that had changed me. Instead, I drank the blood of animals. It never fully satisfied my thirst, but it was enough. Resisting humans was a daily struggle for me, but whenever I felt like I was going to snap, I thought of my Molly. I thought about how distraught and enraged I would be if anything would happen to her because of me, and it calmed me.

"Finally, after about three years, I was able to come out of the forest. I knew that I couldn't go back to Jamestown. Using my enhanced hearing, I learned that everyone there considered me dead. The most popular story was that I was mauled to death by a black bear. Don't ask me how people would have known that, though, but oh well. So, I knew I had to move on. I did make one last trip, though. I visited Molly. It was the middle of the night, and I crept into her room. She was sound asleep. I'll always remember the way she looked, like an angel with her dark hair spread around her head like a halo. She was my angel, but I knew I could never have her. So, I left.

"I went farther south and lived by myself. My appetite was sustained by bears and deer. It was a lonely life, but I knew that I could never be with a human. I learned that Molly eventually moved on and married my best friend. I can only hope that she ended up happy. My lonely travels ended soon, though. In about 1750, I decided that it would be in my best interest to go overseas. I swam to London. The journey was difficult, but my vampire strength allowed me to go great distances. When I needed rest, I simply spent a day or two on an iceberg. After a few weeks, I made it to London. The smell of new blood was intriguing, but I resisted. I resumed a quiet life in an apartment that I rented from a little old lady. For money, I worked as a shop clerk. Whenever I needed to hunt, which was about every two weeks, I would take a Sunday off and go to the country, where I would hunt animals. After about two years of living this way, I met another vampire on one of my hunts. At first, I was going to attack this vampire, but he calmly explained to me that he hunted animals as well. He was a man named Carlisle Cullen, and he was a doctor. I became friends with this man, and I accompanied him on his travels through Europe. We lived together for about a hundred years, and it was great to finally have someone to spend time with. He actually inspired me to become a doctor. Not a medical one, though, but a psychiatrist one. I studied at Oxford, and it was an amazing few years. By this time, blood was really not much of an issue for me. I had been trained for so long to feast on animals that I could be in close contact with humans without an overwhelming desire to kill.

"We decided that we should try out our luck in the States. In 1845, we once again swam the Atlantic to New York City. There, we parted ways. That was the last time I ever saw Carlisle Cullen. I heard a rumor once that he headed towards Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, but I don't know for sure. I, however, decided to try my luck down south. I continued to be a psychiatric doctor, but I could never stay in one place for too long. I couldn't, because it was terribly suspicious that I never aged. Then, the civil war broke out. The country was in chaos. I had to go underground to avoid being drafted into the army. While I was underground, I ran into another coven of vampires. These weren't like me, though. They drank the blood of innocent humans. Their leader's name was Maria, and she was pure evil. She took advantage of the broken time to create an army and become powerful. She tried to draft me into her army. To avoid them, I had to head north, but I was attacked before that could happen." Dr. Harrison pulled up his sleeve, revealing multiple crescent-shaped scars. "They're not just there. They're all over me. They tried to kill me.

"And I know what you're going to ask. If I'm immortal, how could I die? Well, a vampire can only be killed by another vampire. And this vampire's name was Jasper. He was ruthless. I was pursued by them him for a few years. Finally, though, when I made it Alaska, I found a coven of vegetarian vampires, and I took refuge with them. About two years ago, I decided it was safe to come back to the south. I found a job here at Copperfield, and the rest is history."

I stared at him. So, this man was nearly 300 years old and he was a vampire. This was overwhelming.

"Wow," I said quietly.

"Yes, I suppose that's a good way to describe it," Dr. Harrison said with a laugh.

"Please, tell me more about vampires," I said.

"Well, we can go out into the sun. We just choose not to, because our skin sparkles like a million diamonds. It can be rather distracting. We never sleep either. Most vampires choose to drink human blood, but there are a handful here and there who refrain."

"But what is the deal with the vampire that's after Anne-Elizabeth?" I asked.

Dr. Harrison shook his head solemnly. "He's what you call a tracker. He smelled her blood, and decided that he would have to have it. She needs to be kept here so I can protect her in case he ever decides to come back to finish her off. That way, I could fight him off."

"And kill him?" I asked quietly.

"If necessary," he said seriously.

"This is all so hard to believe," I said.

"I'm sure it is," he replied. "But you have to believe me. I wouldn't make something like this up."

"No, I know you wouldn't," I said. I took a deep breath. "So, you won't hurt me?"

He let out a small laugh. "Of course not," he said. "I would never hurt a human, but you remind me too much of Molly."

I smiled. "Well then, I suppose I'm glad for that."

He escorted me back into the building. That night, I drifted off to sleep relatively easily, but that was only after checking under my bed for any red-eyed vampires.

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Hm… a tracker… perhaps it will become a problem…. Mwahahahaha!

Edward love,

broadwaymbw