AN: My first story on !! I don't know how well this one will be, though. I just got the idea one day and thought I'd write it down. Turns out I got pretty far into the story. It isn't finished yet, but I'm still working on it and I'll post new chapters regularly I hope. I've never done anything like this with my original stories before, so I'm a little wary of the outcome and the feedback I'll be getting. Just please be gentle!

Chapter 1

There’s something wrong with this. The thought kept flitting through Damon’s tired mind. He didn’t know what could be wrong with it, just that something definitely was. Maybe it was just nerves. He had, after all, been driving literally all night. And being in the cramped Viper wasn’t helping his mood much, either. He and his brother Kale had begun the journey at seven in the evening and driven all night and into the day. It was now noon of the next day.

They stopped at a gas station to swap out, and Damon settled into the leather cushions on the passenger seat gratefully. Damon was beginning to realize that he might care a little too much about his brother. He reached down beside the seat and pulled the lever that would let him lie back, groaning as he stretched out. He ran his fingers through his black hair.

“Did I mention I’m very appreciative that you decided to come with me to Illinois, Damon?” Kale asked from the driver’s seat. Damon felt the pull of the car as it took off into traffic.

Damon, whose entire back had gone numb from the sudden stretch of lying back, grunted. “Yeah. Whatever.” After a moment’s thought, he continued. “I left my beautiful southern California mansion with its seaside location, so that you can enjoy finishing high school.”

“Didn’t I just say I appreciate you coming?” Kale responded. “And you didn’t have to come you know. You could’ve stayed home. You could be sleeping the day away in your bed right now, you know.”

Damon punched him in the arm hard enough to make him jerk the wheel and swerve into the passing lane on the interstate. “You know very well that I won’t leave you alone.”

“Yeah,” he said and smiled whimsically. “Thanks.”

Damon grunted unintelligibly again and reached behind him for a black baseball cap to pull over his eyes while he slept.

He didn’t dream. It was those car dreams where you can tell you’re asleep, but you can still hear everything going on around you. He could hear the cars that whizzed by outside the Viper as Kale sped along the interstate. He could hear his brother’s soft cursing when something happened on the road he didn’t appreciate. He could tell his brother was speeding—and were he human that fact might concern him—but not only did he trust his brother, he also knew nothing could happen in a car wreck to kill him, most likely. Sure it might hurt and when he finally got up he would kill his brother for wrecking the ninety thousand dollar car.

When Damon awoke again it was night outside, and he was alone. He pulled the seat up, rubbed his tired eyes and aching back, and noticed the glow of a gas station sign through the illegally dark-tinted windows. A glance out his window showed him a gas pump and a few vicious looking guys in an old pile-of-junk on wheels. One of their back windows was nothing but a black trash bag.

And he didn’t like the way they were staring at his car.

He looked over at the gas station, where he could see Kale’s back as he paid for the gas. Damon got out of the car—locking the passenger side on his way out—and walked over to the driver’s side. Kale could probably use a break, he wanted to stretch his legs, and if those guys tried anything he would be better prepared to deal with them.

He drummed his fingers on the top of the sleek black car, fretting impatiently. He didn’t have a weapon—he didn’t feel the need to carry one around—so if he killed three grown men with his bare hands, someone was bound to notice.

Kale, Damon whispered to his brother’s mind in a singsong voice, making it sound more like Kaaaaale.

Yes Damon? His brother responded.

We’re about to have company try to take my car from me, and if you don’t want your cover as a high school student blown then I suggest you get out here with my keys so we can get out of here. You always have to stop in the worst parts of town, don’t you? Damon chastised.

Kale turned around calmly in the building and headed back to the car. Damon was about to breathe a sigh of relief when his steely gray eyes flashed back to the junkie car. The men had moved away from it, and they were heading to the gas station.

No, not the gas station, Damon realized. To Kale.

“Kale!” Damon shouted. “Get over here, now!”

The three guys turned to glare at Damon. They separated, two running for Kale, and one changing direction and taking off for Damon. As soon as the human reached him, Damon flicked his arm out, backhanding the man across the face and sending him to the ground in a dirty heap.

“Damon!”

Charcoal gray eyes turned toward his brother’s electric blue ones. Kale raised his arm as the two thugs reached him and threw the keys to the Viper. They landed at Damon’s feet, and he stooped over to pick them up hurriedly. He made a fist with the keys, sticking them out between his fingers. Then he went to his brother’s aid.

The first one was taken by surprise, and Damon managed to sink the keys into his back, just off to the right of the spine. When that human fell, the other turned in time for Damon’s fist to connect with the side of his head.

“Are you all right?” Damon asked, grasping Kale’s shoulder to steady him.

Kale nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good. Let’s go. We’ve been here too long.” Damon turned and led Kale to the car. The guy Damon had backhanded was getting to his hands and knees. As he passed by, Damon grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.

He glared at the groggy man for a few brief seconds, and then dug his canines into the man’s neck.