Rooming with Steve was going great. They got along so well, it felt to Darren like they had been friends since childhood. They rarely saw each other during the week since Darren slept during the day to work the night shift at the diner. Steve worked during the day at some firm in a local city so they only really saw each other on weekends. Steve was always fairly vague on what exactly he did for a living, but he always paid his share of the rent on time, so Darren never questioned it.

The first weekend after Steve moved in, they were bonding by watching one of Steve's favorite movies. It was a horror film that Darren had never seen or heard of. Although he had a TV, he never watched it. It was more for show than anything else since it seemed everyone had one.

"You've really never seen this before?" Steve had asked as it started.

Darren smiled and shook his head. "I don't actually watch that much TV. I hardly find time with all my work at the diner."

"Hey!" Steve said with a grin. "You know what we should do?"

"What?" Darren asked.

Steve pulled out his phone. "We should take a roommate picture!"

Darren shifted. "Oh. I don't know."

"Why not?" Steve asked.

"I really don't like my picture being taken," Darren lied. "Besides, I'm still greasy from work and I'd rather not. Let's just watch the movie."

Steve let it go, but that wasn't the last time Darren had to talk his way out of something that would tip Steve off on him not being human. Some of them were easier than others.

"Why do you have such thick curtains?" Steve had asked one morning as Darren was getting ready for bed and Steve was just starting his day. "Don't you like having sunlight?"

Darren had turned his attention away from the mail. "I do, but I find that its harder to sleep if there's any sunlight so I sort of trick my brain into thinking its still night when I go to bed."

Steve let out a long whistle. "So you spend your whole life in the dark."

Darren shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Why do you work nights?" Steve had also asked.

"When I first moved here it was the only shift available," Darren replied. "I could have switched to days after I had been working there for a while, but I was so used to having a night schedule that I just stuck with it."

There were other situations that were a lot harder to explain. Darren was able to get out to feed without being noticed since Steve slept at night and he usually did it on his way home anyway. However, things got harder when Steve noticed the scars on Darren's fingertips.

"Oh…" Darren looked down at his scars and tried to think of a story Steve would believe. "I got these from cooking. I prick myself a lot when I cut things."

"All of them?" Steve had his eyebrows raised.

"I've been cooking since I was little," Darren lied. "When you've cooked for fifteen years and are as clumsy as I am, you're bound to get more than a few scars."

"I haven't noticed you being clumsy," Steve noted.

"Trust me," Darren urged. "When you've lived with me long enough, you will."

Steve didn't look convinced, but he let it go regardless, which was a relief to Darren.

Other than Steve's occasional questions

Everything was going great for the first year until Steve started acting strangely. He was spending less time in the apartment and stopped being as social when he was there. Darren figured he must be going through something personal and gave him his space. After 2 weeks of this behavior, Darren decided to ask what was wrong.

It was early one morning. Darren had gotten home from his shift a few hours earlier and stayed up to catch Steve as he got up for work. When Steve stepped out of his room, holding a sport's bag, he was surprised to see Darren sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

"Oh…" Steve started, "What are you still doing up?"

Darren shrugged. "I thought I would stay up and see if I could catch you."

"Why?" Steve asked, seeming very on edge.

Darren stood. "You just haven't seemed like yourself lately. I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Steve shifted. "I'm fine. Look, I've got to go."

Steve began to head towards the door. Darren stopped him.

"Okay, but if there's ever anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, okay?"

Steve nodded curtly, seeming annoyed. "Fine. Can I go now?"

Darren stepped out of the way and Steve rushed out the front door, leaving Darren concerned and confused. Did Darren do something to upset him? If so, he'd liked to know what it was so they could work on it. If not, then what was Steve's problem?

Darren pushed his worries aside and went to bed. He figured Steve would speak up if he wanted to. Until then, there wasn't much for Darren to do.

The next night, at work, Mya called Darren into her office.

"Have a seat," Mya said and Darren did.

Mya cleared her throat and began, "Darren, you've been working here a long time."

"Almost five years," Darren inputted.

Mya smiled. "You are by far one our most loyal employees and one of the first people I come to when I need someone to pick up slack."

Darren listened intently, curious about where this was going.

"I've been looking for someone to fill the open night manager position for some time now," Mya continued. "And naturally, I thought of you first, but I am somewhat aware of your…unique situation." She gave Darren a sly look as she waited for his response.

"My…ummm…. I'm not sure what you're…." Darren hoped she hadn't found out about him being a vampire, but he didn't want to assume that's what she was talking about and accidentally reveal himself, so he just trailed off and waited for her to explain.

"Darren, I'd recognize those scars anywhere," Mya explained. "I knew as soon as you walked into my diner."

Darren gaped at her. "You knew the whole time? Why did you never say anything?"

Mya replied. "I wanted to show you I'm someone you can trust. If I had told you straight away, you would have freaked out and left."

She had a point. Darren would have run, changed identity, and started over somewhere else.

"That being established," Mya said. "I would love to hire you as Midnight Diner's night manager, but I know vampires move around a lot, so I'm wondering how much longer you are planning on sticking around."

Darren thought. "Well," he explained. "There is somewhere I need to be in about 2 years or so, but I can come back after. It should take about 6 months, maybe less."

Mya thought about it. "That's a long time for me to let you take off, but what we can do it have you unofficially act as manager until you come back. You will restock the shelves, balance the till, and all that until after…wherever you need to go. When you come back, I will name you the official night manager."

Darren was shocked. "That is so generous of you, but why wait for me?"

"Because otherwise I'd have to give the position to Erica. She's the only other person on the night shift and that girl is as useless as a wooden frying pan."

Darren couldn't help but chuckle. Erica was Mya's niece. She was 19 and working at the diner was her first ever job. She was the laziest person Darren had ever met and was slow at everything she did, which wasn't much.

"Are you sure it's not going to be an issue choosing me over family?" Darren asked.

Mya shook her head and shrugged. "She's young and inexperienced in the restaurant business. Plus, she's only been here a year. Even if she were the best waitress on the planet, it wouldn't make good business sense to promote her."

"Alright then," Darren replied. "Thank you, Mya."

Mya smiled. "You can go back to your shift."

Darren hadn't been planning on coming back to this area after Council. He had already spent a few years in this town and it was unwise to stick around much longer, but Darren couldn't help himself. He loved working at the diner and having a steady job, so he ignored his common sense. However, now he had to think of an excuse to tell people at work and his roommate why he was going to be gone for half a year.

If Darren had been more instinctive and less sentimental, he wouldn't have made the biggest mistake of his life by choosing to stay longer.

A few days after his conversation with Mya, Darren went out to feed on his night off. Everything went normally, but as he was climbing down the building's fire escape he spotted someone at the end of the alleyway. The lights from the street were facing Darren so he couldn't see the face of whoever was standing there. He was only there for a second before turning and walking back down the street. Darren didn't know what to do. What did that person see? Darren knew there was no way they could have known he was feeding since he did that inside the apartment, but they might have thought that he was stealing or committing some other sort of crime.

Darren decided to leave it be and go home. He left no evidence of ever being there except for the small scar the man living there would have on his ankle, but it was hardly visible and he may not even notice it.

When he got back to his apartment, it was dark. He crept through the kitchen and living room quietly to get to his room. He was always careful not to wake Steve, who wouldn't be getting up for at least an hour. Once he got into his small, cozy bedroom he undressed from his diner clothes and slipped into comfortable pants and a t shirt. He collapsed on the bed heavily, making the bedframe creak. It wasn't long until he drifted off to sleep.

Darren woke up to a sharp pain in his neck. He opened his eyes to see the shadowed outline of Steve standing over him. He pulled the needle out of Darren's neck and stood there warily.

"What did you just-" Darren tried to reach for his neck to feel for the needle hole, but his arms were stuck, tied tightly above his head. His feet were tied as well. "What are you doing?!"

Steve went to the window and pulled the curtains apart, lighting the room in dim moonlight, but it was bright enough to light up Steve's sinister looking face. He still held the now empty syringe in one hand and something else behind his back in the other.

"What was that?" Darren demanded harshly. "What did you just give me?"

Steve ignored his question and spoke as if talking to himself. "This should be interesting. We've never done a direct injection before, it's always been shot from afar or slipped into food."

"What has?" Darren asked. He tugged at the ropes, but they were too thick to break, even for a vampire. "What are you talking about?"

Steve walked over to the bed and waved the syringe in front of Darren's face. "I just made it so you can't call for help. Now you can't call out to any of your monster friends to come save you."

Darren stopped struggling against the ropes as he understood what Steve was insinuating. "What do you mean, 'monsters'?"

Steve pulled out what he had behind his back. It was a wooden crossbow. "Don't play dumb. We both know what you really are."

Darren glared. "You're a vampire hunter."

Steve pointed the crossbow and Darren, but didn't fire. He backed up until he reached the chair Darren had in the corner of the room, then sat down. He still had the crossbow pointed at Darren.

Darren reached out with his mind, hoping to locate Kaleb, Gavner, or other vampires he was linked with, but he could only find… nothing. Darren tried to send out messages.

"Gavner? Are you there?" No response.

"Kaleb! Can you hear me?" Still nothing.

In one more desperate attempt, Darren tried to send out a final message, "Dad, hello?"

When no replies came, Darren sighed and pressed his head against his pillow.

"Now," Steve started, "just sit still and this will go by a lot easier."

"What will?" Darren asked.

"I need answers to some questions," Steve responded, "and you are going to give them to me."

"And why would I do that?" Darren squinted suspiciously at Steve.

Steve smiled. "Because the only thing standing between you and burning to death is me pulling the curtains closed. Sunrise is only two hours away."

Darren shrugged. "You are just going to kill me anyway. That isn't much of a bargain."

"Oh but it is." Steve leaned back in that chair, but didn't lower the crossbow in his hand. "Because in exchange for the information I want I'm willing to offer you a chance to die on your feet. Isn't that what vampires strive for? A noble death? And burning to death while helplessly strapped to a bed doesn't seem very noble now does it?"

Darren pressed his lips together firmly. Steve had a point. To die by the sun in the state he was in would make for an embarrassing end. Hesitantly, he asked,

"What exactly do you want to know?"

Steve smiled and leaned forward. "For starters, is Darren Shan your real name?"

Darren didn't say anything.

Steve rolled his eyes. "How about this? You must have questions too, right? If you answer my questions, I'll answer yours."

Darren thought for a moment, then nodded. "My real name is Darren Crepsley. My turn: You've been living with me for the past year. Why kill me now?"

"I couldn't be sure you were a vampire at first, so I started testing you. I asked about you working nights, the scars on your fingers, and tried taking your picture." Steve began mindlessly stroking the crossbow in his hand as he asked his next question. "How many other vampires are in the area?"

Darren glared. "Well, I can't tell you that with my mind blocked off can I?"

Steve cocked his head to one side. "Huh…. The serum has only stopped vampires from sending out messages. All their other telepathy powers worked. I guess direct injection is stronger."

"How did you learn so much about vampires?" Darren asked.

Steve chortled. "I studied them of course. Vampire hunters have been around for centuries. In that time, we've learned what was true and what were myths."

"How many of you are there?" Darren asked.

Steve shook his head. "Not so fast, it's my turn. Where's that buddy of yours who came into the diner last year?"

Kaleb. Darren knew that was who Steve was talking about, but he would rather burn in the sun than betray his friend.

"He's just a friend of mine. No one important."

"Is he a vampire?" Steve asked.

Darren shook his head. "Now you answer my question. How many vampire hunters are there?"

Steve shrugged. "I doubt anyone has counted, but hundreds at least."

Darren shifted where he was laying. He could feel the rope digging into his skin.

Steve tensed, tightening the grip on his weapon. When Darren relaxed back on the bed, Steve relaxed slightly too. "I have one more question. What happens to vampires every 12 years?"

"What are you talking about?" Darren asked.

"Hunting down vampires is a lot easier than you'd think, but we've noticed that every twelve years, most vampires are harder to find. It's like most of you just disappear. So, what happens every twelve years?"

Darren said nothing. There was no way Steve could make Darren tell him about Vampire Mountain. He would gladly die before giving away the location of vampires' only sanctuary away from humans who thought they were evil.

"I know you know. So come on." Steve leaned forward in his chair and looked Darren in the eye.

Still, Darren said nothing, then, he suddenly got an idea.

Steve stood up and walked over to the bed. He pressed the tip of the crossbow below Darren's chin. "Tell me."

"Fine," Darren said, "If you really want to know. Every twelve years, certain vampires go into hiding from humans. It's just time we take to get away from human life and spend alone time either in forests or caves or wherever there's somewhere isolated. We aren't very social by nature, so it's nice to be able take a break and be alone for a while."

Steve looked at Darren, trying to tell if Darren was lying. Darren tried making his face look as bland as possible. When Steve seemed to buy his lie, Darren breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"This is your last question," Steve informed him. "Make it good."

Darren looked Steve straight in the eye. "What was in that serum you gave me?"

Steve pulled out a vile from his inner coat pocket. It was clear and Darren could see that it was half-full with a thick, clear liquid. He sloshed it around in the bottle a bit before returning it to his pocket. "Now that I won't tell you."

Darren lifted his head. "I'm going to die anyway, so why not just tell me? Come on, humor a dead man's final wish." Darren kept his head raised just high enough to block Steve's view of his hands. Larten had taught him years ago how to get out of ropes and handcuffs, so it was easy making quick work on the ties around his wrists.

Steve answered, "To be honest, I can't tell you. There is a scientist that's with us that discovered how to make it and has been distributing the serum to vampire hunters all over the world." Steve smiled. "It's actually a very good business."

Darren felt the ropes around his wrists loosen. He held the rope in his hand, to make it look like they were still tied, and lowered his head again. "How do you manage to track vampires? We can move remarkably fast."

Steve smiled and stepped closer. "Oh, I know, but we have our ways."

"What ways?" Darren asked.

Steve laughed. "You're out of questions." Steve stepped next to the bed and pointed the crossbow at Darren's chest, right over his heart.

Before he could fire, Darren let go of the ropes above his head, freeing his hands, and lunged at Steve. He pushed the crossbow up right as Steve fired, sending an arrow at the ceiling. Darren grabbed Steve by the collar of his jacket and slammed his head against the bedpost. He did this twice before he managed to knock him out. He let Steve fall to the floor and untied his feet. He leapt off the bed and grabbed his small travel bag from his closet. There wasn't much in it – Kurda's map, a few vials of blood, bandages, etc. – but he always kept it packed in case he ever needed to make a quick escape. He had never needed to until that night.

Darren flung the bag over his shoulder and was about to leave when he glanced back at Steve, still unconscious on the floor. He bent down and turned Steve over on his back. He slipped a hand under Steve's jacket and felt around the pockets until he found the vial of serum. He slipped the vial into his bag and rushed out the door.