Ah! Sorry for not updating! Here's chap. 19 finally. lol thanks for all the reviews and stuffies :3 you people are truly pure awesomeness

"Are you okay?"

I turned to Derrick, he was looking at me, concerned. His gaze made me uneasy for some reason. He was looking at me like... there was something wrong with me.

I fidgeted, "Yeah, I'm fine."

My eyes locked with his. He stared at me intently.

"Will you stop that, please?"

Derrick snapped out of whatever thoughts he'd been caught in, "What?"

"Looking at me like that," I mumbled, looking down at my hands.

"Holly." I looked up at him questioningly, "Your eyes..."

I furrowed my brow, "What about them?" I realized my eyes would be golden now. Why did that bother Derrick?

He copied my expression, "They're still... green."

"Huh?"

"Your eyes, Holly, they didn't change at all, they're still the same emerald green they've always been," he said, speaking more quickly, "And you know what else? You shouldn't be able to stand right now, much less fight! And win the fight! Against a vampire that's over two centuries old!"

I took hold of his shoulders, "Calm down! You're freaking out!"

He took a deep breath, "Sorry, I'm just a bit in shock."

"Ditto."

"Huh?"

I smiled at him, "It means 'me too'."

"Why didn't you just say that then?" he asked, confused. It was adorable, really.

"Because, why would I say that, when I could say a fun word like 'ditto'?"

"Is that even a word?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Is it in the dictionary?"

"I don't think so."

"Then it's not a word," he said matter-of-factly.

I gave him a side glance, "Just because it's not in the dictionary, doesn't mean it's not a word."

"Yes, it does."

"Is 'Derrick' in the dictionary?"

"No... but names don't count," he sniffed.

"But names are words, and according to you, if it's not in the dictionary, it's not a word. Names aren't in the dictionary, but they're words. So I'm right, it doesn't have to be in the dictionary for it to be a word."

He folded his arms, "But 'ditto' isn't a name, Holly, so it doesn't count."

"Ah, but it's slang, Derrick, and didn't you know they have whole dictionaries now, dedicated to slang? So there, it is in a dictionary." I smiled triumphantly at him.

He sighed in defeat, and looked up at me again. I could feel his eyes studying my new features, and suddenly, I wanted to know what I look like. How much have I changed? Do I look very different? Would people recognize me? Would my friends recognize me? Would my family?...

Suddenly I felt immense pain. Not the physical kind, no. I think I would have preferred it though, over this. My frozen heart broke in half. The thought that, now that I was a vampire, a monster, I could never see my friends and family again. I couldn't explain to Emily and Nick why I'd been acting so weird. My mom and dad would think I ran away, and they'd probably blame themselves, because they'll think they weren't good parents or something. But they were, and I'll never see them again. All the people I love, aren't apart of my life anymore. But worst of all, I think, is that Nick hadn't forgiven me yet, and I'll never get the chance to apologize to him now.

I wished desperately, that when I Changed, that all my human memories would have disappeared, so that I wouldn't have to feel this pain at all. It would've been a lot easier. But then again, looking back, there are memories I would like to keep with me, throughout my whole immortal existence. Things I never want to forget.

"Holly? Holly, what's wrong?"

Surprisingly, the sound of his voice eased my pain a little, because I realized, not everyone I love is being left behind in my human life.

"Nothing, sorry, I spaced out," I smiled apologetically at him.

"Are you sure?" Even as a vampire, I was still mesmerized by his golden eyes. They took my breath away, still.

"Yeah, I'm just... not used to it yet." Not used to how I could hear every little vibration in the house, mice scuttling inside the walls... birds perched on the roof... bugs crawling everywhere in the huge house, I shuddered. I hate bugs. And I wasn't used to the fact that I could smell everything within a half a mile radius. That's when I noticed Derrick had a scent. It was... sweet, and kind of bitter at the same time.

"You smell good." The words popped out before I could stop them, and if I was still human, I would've no doubt blushed a deep red.

He smiled brilliantly at me, revealing his perfect white teeth. His canines were sharper than a normal human's, but they weren't fangs, and I wondered about that, because I could've sworn I felt fangs grow in my mouth when I Changed. I opened my mouth to touch my teeth. No fangs.

"Something wrong?" Derrick asked, amused. I think he knew what I was wondering.

"I thought vampires had fangs."

He acted shocked, "How very stereotypical of you!" He laughed.

I glared at him and he laughed again, "I'm kidding. But yes, we have fangs. You just can't see them." Before I could ask, he bared his teeth, and, right before my eyes, his canine teeth extended and sharpened into deadly points. "See?"

I tried it, concentrating on my teeth. Grow fangs, grow fangs, grow fangs. Nothing happened. I huffed. "Why can't I do it?"

He chuckled, "It takes practice."

I tried again, this time closing my eyes tightly and thought of nothing but growing fangs. I felt a weird sensation for a half a second, and then opened my eyes, smiling triumphantly. "I did it!"

Derrick smiled, showing that his fangs were still there. "You catch on quick."

I grinned and reached up to touch my newly acquired fangs. They were impossibly sharp, I could tell, but they didn't pierce my skin.

Derrick suddenly grabbed my hand, sending an electric shot up my arm, and creating butterflies in my stomach, "Come, I want to show you something."

"It's so beautiful." I marveled at the sunset. It was so much more in focus, so much easier to see the blend of the colors, to see the beauty of it. We sat in the back yard of the Sorenson's mansion. It was a beautiful garden, with many different kinds of flowers aligned in the shape of a star. In the middle, there was a fountain, an old one. It looked early 19th century maybe. It was standard, with three levels of pools containing water, that overflowed into the next one, at the top of it was an angel with huge wings, his hands cupped together aimed outwards, where the water spouted. Even though it was slightly plain and unoriginal, it was somehow more beautiful than any others I've seen.

Derrick and I sat on the edge of it, arms brushing slightly. The butterflies never went away. "It is beautiful isn't it?"

I looked over at him, and he glanced at me, looking like he was about to say something else, but he didn't. I admired his profile in the setting sun, until he caught me, and smiled at me.

"Hey, Derrick?" I inquired.

"Hm?"

"Why do you think my eyes are still green?"

He gazed at me for a few minutes, "You're special, Holly. You've always been special," he told me softly.

I looked down at my hand, inches away from Derrick's and shook my head, "I'm no one special. I'm just a freak of nature."

Suddenly my head was jerked up by Derrick's hand. I stared at his beautiful face as he spoke, "Don't ever say that. You are not a freak, Holly. Not even close. You're much more than you see yourself as. Believe me, I know. You, and only you, are the destiny of every vampire on this earth, even if you don't know it."

"I'm confused..." I said. Nothing made sense. What did I have to do with all the vampires in the world?

To my disappointment, Derrick took his hand away from my face, and angled himself toward me, leaning forward, and speaking in a rush I wouldnt've understood if I was still a slow human, "There's something I must tell you, Holly. I'll start at that the beginning. About a hundred years ago, there was a... prophecy, I guess you could say, made by one of the Old, one that had the power to see far into the future. He saw a girl, a human, who was Changed by an unknown vampire. The girl had emerald green eyes... and they stayed that way, when she became a vampire. The Old One saw her fight Gabriel and win. You see, Gabriel is- was an Old One. The Old are sort of a vampire council, powerful authority figures that enforce the rules that go along with being an immortal. William or I will explain these rules to you later. Gabriel was thrown off of the Council because he had dark thoughts about our future. He wanted to slaughter humans with no mercy, only changing the ones with potential. He wanted to rule the world, Holly. He was exiled from France, where the council resides, and now he's here, trying to regain power, to create an army. The only thing that can stop him... is you, Holly. You are the key to his failure."

My head was swimming, "A-are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious, I wouldn't make this up."

I clutched the edge of the fountain for support, "How the hell am I, of all people, supposed to stop some super old psycho vampire guy from taking over the world?"

"You fought a 200 year old vampire with exceptional fighting skills, and won. Right after you Changed, I might add. I know you can do it, Holly."

I decided to change the subject for a second, "Speaking of that vampire that was trying to kill me... was he your brother?"

He looked uncomfortable, "...Yes, that was my brother."

"Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"Because... I'm not really who you think I am, Holly. I'm a bad person- er, vampire. I've killed... so many people," he looked ashamed, "Lucian, my brother, he was the one to Change me. Luke is in league with Gabriel, a faithful servant. Gabriel had changed him shortly after he was exiled, seeing that my brother was a strong man, a good fighter. Then my brother Changed me, more out of service to Gabriel than love, I think. I was given an assignment, to kill the girl with emerald eyes," he looked up at me, "Once they figured out it was you, I was sent to join the Sorenson's coven. Then I would get close to you, and eventually kill you before you were Changed."

"Why before I was Changed?" I asked shakily.

"Because after, you'd surely be unstoppable. And I can see now, it's true."

I looked down at my hands. Derrick is- was supposed to kill me? All this time... he only talked to me because he was sent to murder me.

"Don't worry, Holly, I won't kill you. Never."

I believed him. "Promise?" I asked, giving him a half-smile.

"I swear it," he said, smiling at me.

I didn't let it sink in yet, the fact that I was supposed to save the world. I didn't want to waste this moment panicking. Not to say I wasn't already shaken, I was. I was moments away from hyperventilating.

Derrick took my hand, stroking the back of mine with his thumb, comforting me. I looked up at him, as he stared down at our interlocking hands. His jet black hair fell slightly into his eyes. I brushed it away unconsciously, and Derrick lifted his face, inches away from mine, to look at me. All I could see were his eyes, I was drowning in pools of gold. The unnecessary breathing I was doing became ragged, and I'm sure if my heart wasn't made of ice, it would be beating a mile a minute. And before I knew it, our lips met in a kiss that I would never, ever forget throughout eternity.

Gah! Finally they kiss, right? Review :D