The second chapter fresh out the oven. And for those who are reading this, you have my thanks!

TWO

I looked at her with a look that I hoped would not convey my appetite, "Your blood."

I pulled myself closer to her, resting my arms on the bar top. I leaned in towards her ear. "And if you can keep a secret." I didn't wait for a response. "I'm a vampire." Slowly I pulled myself back, trying to contain my visceral appetite for her.

She didn't answer for what seemed like an eternity, a thought that made me chuckle a little bit. She took my laughter for something else entirely.

"Well what exactly is your name Mr. Vampire?" a wide smile on her face. She wasn't taking me seriously, only playing along in a fantasy she imagined.

"William." I answered in my mostly gentlemanly way, making sure to tip my hat in respect.

"You're name is Bill?" She laughed. I imagined this is what an angel's laughter sounded like.

"No, my name is William." I responded, deflecting her reaction. "How many vampires do you know named Bill?"

Mockingly she began to count her fingers, after she reached 4 fingers she looked back at me teasingly. "Well considering the amount of vampires we get in these parts." She was still playing along with what she assumed was a game. "That makes you the first, and since that's not your name, that makes zero." She seemed pleased with herself. I wanted to taste her blood right there.

As she bounced off to another customer who had been vying for her attention, I sat dumbfounded. She had taken me as a joke, something I had not intended, but then again I rarely told my secret until just before the bite. Her energy was infectious, it was obvious in the way she interacted and related to the townsfolk, something I could not say for myself, despite the fact of myself being a vampire.

I found it hard to take my eyes off of her, like a predator waiting to pounce. It was more than just a meal I found in her; there was something about this woman, this human woman. I wondered to myself what it might be and fell into deep thought.

In the corner of my eye she began to walk over ignoring the catcalls from some of the patrons at the bar. She stopped for just a split second in front of me, her hands tightened in a ball before loosening them and turning to the bottles in front of me. There must have easily been over 40 bottles of assorted liquors, mostly whiskey from the smell of it. She grabbed a bottle, how one could decide to pick one out of many I couldn't understand. Spinning gracefully like a natural ballerina she turned back to me, pouring me a shot, her smile returning. It looked perfect on her.

"So are you here to be the next sheriff?" she asked innocently, I had no response. "I only asked." She paused. "Because, I can smell the gunpowder from your weapon." She waited for my disbelief, when there wasn't any. "Most people here don't carry a weapon on their person, so I'm a little sensitive to the smell." Again there was silence. "I hope I didn't weird you out." She said it such a pleading tone that I felt like I had committed a terrible crime.

"Weird? You are talking to a vampire you know." I said in a tease, playing along with the game I had apparently created. We shared a laugh, it felt like we shared a life.

I pulled back my duster half across my backside revealing my piece. It was 6 shot revolver, a standard arm in these days, though I had taken care of it tremendously, making sure to shine the metal to match the silver engravings on the handle. I watched as she pulled away, I hid my armament back underneath the duster.

"I don't like guns much" she exhaled as though someone had knocked the wind out of her.

"A man has to defend himself when he wanders Miss, there are all sorts of trouble out there." I thought of the men who hunted me.

"Please William, call me Julia"

"Julia." Her name rolled off my tongue like a spell. "I think I can handle calling you that." I smiled my best practiced smile, it felt crooked.

She managed a weak smile back. "But you never answered my question." Her face becoming more serious, it didn't suit her. "What are you here for exactly?"

"Honestly I don't know Julia." My voice a little off by the question. "I guess I am just passing through." I tried to phrase my words carefully. "Why did you ask about my wanting to be a sheriff? This seems like a fairly big town, to be undefended, well that just doesn't seem right."

Her face was blank, her voice containing hidden emotion. "He was attacked. They say it was coyotes, but I've never seen claw marks that big on a man, and the bites!" She shuddered, lost to herself in thought.

While she was consumed in what I imagined what grievance I could not look her in the face. I reached out for her arm to comfort her, but her scent reminded me that I was hungrier than I thought. Once my hand touched her silk like russet skin she awoke from her stupor, pulling herself away from my comfort. As she walked off it felt as if the sun had ceased existence and I was the dependant earth. Another tender came out, another woman who was also beautiful, but she held no desire to me. I left the shot at the bar as I got up, hearing a man lift it greedily before drinking it. He could have it.

The rest of night seemed quite as a whisper as I became lost to thought. Eventually the party winded down until it was only the drunkards and I left to sit in true silence. I felt impatience set in, I could no longer wait. It was not like me to be so impatient, I had waited for her return, yet she never came. I struggled to contain the rage I felt at that realization. It would be better for me to return to my room, it felt like the only thing I could count on in that moment.

Sure enough I was wrong; I had forgotten to factor in human ignorance, especially when under the influence. A man much larger than me, a whole head taller with arms thick like fresh cut logs and no doubt if I were a mere human would be much stronger than me stepped into my way. He looked me up and down, assessing my worth, his assessment must have been the thought of whipping me, and I smiled.

"You stay away from Julia stranger, I saw how you made her cry, and I have no problem doing the same to you." He flashed a grin that revealed at least 2 missing teeth. I hoped to make it more.

Before he could blink my boot was on his chest, and this man who looked to be the size of two big men went airborne. Through the double set doors he went before skidding halfway through the thoroughfare, I could smell his blood. The mix of anger and bloodlust became too much, he would sustain my hunger. In the split of an instance I was over his body, my true smile donned on my face. I watched amused as his face changed as well, but instead of a fang bearing smile it was a mask of horror. Yet, my bloodlust started to wane, and in it a primal fear to protect myself took place. I looked up from his body as he lay there breathing heavily, across to the horizon.

I watched as over the horizon came the first rays of light.

I watched as over the horizon came the .