When Jez and I were alone, I started questioning her.

"Who else has he done that to?" I whispered, glancing at Jez from the corner of my eyes. She sighed, and answered in my head.

It started when he was a human. We found him at a strip club, but he was mutilated. Some chick didn't like what he looked like, and it totally messed him up. He was dying of blood loss. The story stopped for a moment as Jez turned to answer the teacher's question. Then she looked back to me.

After he was turned, we explained everything, standard procedure. But he was angry with us. He wanted to die. But he got used to it, obviously. I interrupted her by lifting a finger.

But who was the first? I asked again. She sighed, and glanced around the room. There was a few people staring at us, but most were looking at the front of the room.

Jane, but the kid is such a slut, she enjoyed it. The sound of hate it Jez's voice surprised me.

How old was Jane when she was turned? I asked, changing the subject slightly. Jez shrugged.

She doesn't know. We found her scrounging the streets one night. She was the first in our gang. Talon came next, and then Danie, and now you. She added with a smirk. The teacher called on me then, not that I minded.

We didn't get a chance to start the subject up again. When the bell rang, we walked out of the school together.

* * *

"Hey Jez?" I started, looking at her. We were sitting on a bench in the park, and I had started to think about Ryder again. She looked over at me.

"Yeah?" She asked, tilting her head.

"You've been here longer than I have, do you know a guy named Ryder?" She cocked an eyebrow at me, and I pulled up a picture of him, and showed it to her telepathically. Her face twisted into confusion.

"No, I don't. He's a vampire?" I nodded. She shook her head. "I haven't heard of him…" She seemed very disturbed by this. "And you've seen him before." It wasn't a question. I nodded.

"Yeah, after class. He heard me say I was a vampire. Scared the shit out of me." I said, looking around nervously. Nobody heard me. Good.

"I've never heard of him. Call me if you see him again, okay?" She asked, placing a hand comfortingly on my shoulder. Jez was a year older than me.

"Yeah, promise." I told her, and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

"I have to go; I'm meeting Kevin at 6. And then we are going out. Pick you up at…let's say 7?" She turned it into a question, and I smiled.

"Yeah, definitely. Now go. I don't want you to be late." She grinned at me, and then left at a human pace towards the car.

I looked around, as if I was expecting Ryder to pop up. I sighed, and lowered my gaze to my hands.

"Looking for someone?" I heard a voice say, and my head shot up. It was him, Ryder.

"Why so mysterious?" I said, ignoring his question. He shrugged, and didn't answer me. I pulled my cell phone out, so I could call Jez, but he shook his head.

"Please don't." He whispered, placing his hand over mine, the one that was holding the cell phone. I pulled my hands out from under his. "And why not?" I said. But now that I thought about it, he would probably disappear before Jez could get back here. "Why won't you let her see you?" I asked quietly, and he pulled me gently to my feet. He sighed.

"I've managed to stay hidden for this long." He said. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. I sighed, and stepped away from him.

"So……" I started, but I wasn't quite sure what to say. He took a step away from me.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come…" And then he was gone.

"Wait!" I called out, but nothing happened. I growled in frustration, and a few people looked at me. I shook my head, and opened my cell. "Jez?" I said into the receiver, after it had rung a few times.

"Yeah." Her voice sounded distant, and I could hear Kevin chuckling in the background.

"Jez, get me off speaker phone. I need to talk to you." I heard the air move, and she growled into the receiver.

"Make it quick Jesse. I'm a bit busy over here." I heard Kevin laugh again, and I heard more movement. "Kev- stop! Give me a sec!" She giggled, and I heard a door closing. "Alright, what is it?" She sounded breathless.

"Ryder." I said simply, and I could almost hear her eyes widen. "I just left!" She said in amazement. I sighed in frustration.

"So did he." I told her. She groaned.
"You have got to be kidding me!" She growled into the phone.

"Tell me about it. I just figured I'd tell you; go on back to whatever you were doing." The joking tone in my voice seemed to loosen the tension. Jez laughed.

"Yeah, alright. Bye Jesse." She said, and then she hung up.

"Bye." I said into the dead receiver. I sighed, and closed my phone. Slipping it into my pocket, I made my way towards the trees that surrounded the park.

As I weaved my way through the trees, a fog started to creep in. I could still see fine, but it was eerie. I broke into a dead run, slipping through gaps and holes. I was through the trees in seconds, and I made my way at a human pace back to my house. The fog was still moving in as I reached my door. The house we had was pretty small. We were renting it, and for the amount we paid, you would figure it was an eight bedroom, four bathroom mansion. But it was home. It had 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. My room had its own bathroom, as did my dad's. The kitchen was a bit small, and the living room left something to be desired, but it was all we had.

"Dad! I'm home!" I called ahead of me, and I heard shuffling from the living room. "Hey hon! How was school?" He asked, catching me in a tight bear hug. I laughed, and pushed him back as gently as I could. He nearly fell backwards. Shit! I internally cursed myself.

"Pretty good, I made some friends." Oh, and Talon tried to assault me, and I might have a stalker. Yeah, just a normal school day. He grunted as he regained his balance.

"Oh, that's good…" He said, folding his arms across his chest. I smiled at him, and then walked around him, heading for the stairs. My room was on the second floor. I reached the top of the stairs, and headed straight for my room.

"Hey dad?" I called down the stairs from my doorway.

"Yeah?" He called back up. I took a few steps out of the room so I wouldn't have to yell.

"I'm going out with my friends tonight. I won't be out late, alright?" I said as quickly as I could. It was already 7, and I told Jez I would meet her at 8. I heard him sigh.

"Yeah, alright." He said. It sounded like he wanted to tell me no, but I wasn't about to argue.

"Thanks!" I yelled, and I raced into my room. I only had an hour to get ready, and I was going to make the most of it.