Note: Horray! I finished this novel about... three years ago, but I've finally decided to polish it and upload it. x]

Again, no plagiarism please.

Also, please don't compare this to "Twilight", it will make me very, VERY angry. I also wrote this story way before the Twilight plague.

Last, but the most important, please enjoy the story and REVIEW! Thank you.
I would love any reviews, even unfriendly ones. If at any point in this story you find yourself unable to continue, please TELL ME! I'm always trying to improve.

I know this is an insanely long chapter... I was trying to pack a foundation that can properly connect to the rest of the story.

---

Chapter 1 ‑ The Chase

"'Vampire, noun. A corpse supposed to leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living. Vampires have been known to be sensitive to the sun and would perish in its presence.'"

Well I knew that.

"'Vampires disguise themselves as humans and live in the same world as the mortals,'"

A smile crept across her lips as the silvery moonlight stretched the shadows across her room. Long, slender fingers tapped quickly and almost soundlessly on the laptop keyboard, and with one last click of the mouse, the screen faded to black.

***

"Miss, are you waiting for anybody?"

Airis lifted her head, forgetting to put on a polite expression. She shot the voice who had disturbed her reading a hostile glare. Though she was slightly stunned when she saw no annoying or creepy face next to hers, but a very pleasing one. She turned around and scanned the area for other life forms that the boy might be staring at, but finally turned her head around when she realized that the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen in her life were burning into her skull. They belonged to a handsome man -- tall and sculpted, but radiating a childish charm, ripped straight from a pedophile's wildest fantasies -- of around seventeen or eighteen years of age. Well, he was more boy than man. The boy was sitting in the chair across from her with his elbows propped up against his thighs and his head resting in his palms and leaning forward to place his eyes at the same level as hers. Where did he come fr– damn, those are some sexy eyes! His eyes were a deep black, as dark and endless as space, yet glowing bright like the explosion of a supernova.

Through her raging hormones and reddening cheeks, Airis managed to close her mouth in time to put on a suspicious expression and reminded herself to be alert. The most beautiful rose bears the sharpest thorns. She lowered her head back to her book, though no longer processing the endless lines of black and white that screamed at her to turn her head and drink in the eye candy. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt a sudden weight drop next to her as he settled himself down in the seat next to hers. Well, I guess he really wants an answer. Airis raised her head again slowly, feeling as awkward as a Ballerina in a room full of Bikers.

"Hm?" it amazed her how many conflicting thoughts and possible responses ran through her head before they were all defeated by a single meaningless sound. Airis could imagine the sweet smile that must be casting a holy light upon her at this very moment, and she cursed every Thursday night spent obsessing over brainwashing soap operas. Airis raised her head to study the intruder of her silence – more out of curiosity than suspicion. Maybe this is the reason all the hot criminals never get caught.

The boy had relatively long hair for an American teen, since spikes were the apparent trend at the time, although the disheveled mess barely tickled his shoulders. It was a deep burgundy, and brighter shades of red flashed under the bright airport lights. Airis was tempted to run her fingers through it – or at least a comb. His face was as bright and innocent as his wide eyes, though his frighteningly pale complexion was a startling contrast against the smothering dark gems. Even though he was smiling, and it was one hell of a smile, Airis didn't feel her heart warm up to the crescent lips. There was a sharp bitterness hidden deep within the dark depths of his eyes. The boy reminded Airis of a cheerful terminally ill child.

AEx-excuse me? Airis realized she had been staring, almost gawking, at the boy for much longer than she had intended, and had focused more on the movement of his lips than the words that came out of them. She tried to smile, but her lips refused to allow even a tremble. She tore her gaze away from the stranger and finally managed a crooked expression. She stared awkwardly at a couple struggling to read a map a few rows away, attempting to distract herself.

AWhat's a girl like you doing in such a big town alone?

Airis raised her eyebrows. Well, guess who's coming on too strong. His voice was demanding an answer; yet he simply sat there, legs crossed, one hand resting on the shared arm of their seats with his chin resting on his hand, looking as harmless as a butterfly. Airis slammed her book close with more force than she had intended, and dropped it on the vacant seat to the other side of her, where she found it. It was a very strange and disturbing book about torture techniques and the supernatural.

ADo people in this town usually go up to random strangers and socialize? Airis looked up and met the boy's gaze. She was determined not to have a dumb-blonde moment and be swept off her feet by a handsome stranger who by a large chance, especially in this part of the woods, was probably some homicidal maniac.

AWell . . . the boy flashed his killer smile and put on a thoughtful expression. Airis let out a sound somewhere between a scoff and a moan and turned away, swallowing a giggle. She fought against her mind for the decision to stand up or to stay put. This is ridiculous, I'm letting a random boy get to my head. No matter how hot he may be, I can't let myself get distracted by those captivating eyes and long legs … stop it, brain! Just because I've been so deprived of hot people where I was from, and all I had time for was– Airis felt her brain skid to a stop as the glowing computer screen suddenly flashed through her mind.

Airis turned around and studied the boy's face carefully, no longer embarrassed about staring. She focused on that brilliant smile, which seemed a bit too enchanting for its own good. She watched with fascination and alertness as he ran his tongue across the top row of his pure white teeth, the tip of his tongue grazing his upper lip. The two canines were at an irregular length – or perhaps it's because she wanted them to be.

"Well," he repeated, his smile growing more tempting and sinister as he noticed her fixated glance. He paused, as if for effect, and Airis was just beginning to grow weary of the silence when boy suddenly stood up, "I suppose you don't have a place to stay? Not every tourist sits at the airport for hours waiting for nobody."

Well, excuse me. You're the one going around trying to pick up random girls. The boy's teeth bothered Airis, but she couldn't help but think it was simply a trick of the mind; besides, they weren't nearly as long or sharp as she thought they should be.

"I'm sorry, but stalkers are not my type."

"I wasn't stalking you, red-cheeks," his voice carried an air of annoyance, but his smile remained largely friendly; "I just thought I might offer a pretty lady a place to stay for a night."

If those words came from any less-sexier man, Airis would have slapped him.

Airis stared up into the dark eyes of the stranger, a quiver playing on her lips. She felt the same vibration in her chest and ringing in her ears as when she walked by music stores, except this time they were accompanied by an obnoxious thumping that made it hard to breathe. Her stomach contracted, as if aiding her heart in its escape out of her throat.

Don't say it, don't be reckless. Think it over; stop, stop! Don't you dare open your–

"You know what, I might actually take you up on that offer," Airis flashed him a smile and stood up. She frowned involuntarily when her full length only extended a little above his shoulder. Airis was not a short girl herself; at seventeen, five-eight is a reasonable height. Her mind let out a chain of curses and reprimands as her heart continued to beat up her ribcage. Airis felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, and her clear blue eyes carried a gleam that could easily be mistaken for the reflection of overhead lights.

The boy raised a single eyebrow, a mix of surprise and amazement, but quickly mirrored her smile with a cool one of his own.

"I never offered anything." A coy smile touched his lips.

Aw, big boy's backing off because he's no longer in the advantage? Airis smiled. She was never much of a flirt, or at least not a good one, but she felt a mischief pool within her, "You said you might offer, and I said I might take it … besides, have your charms ever failed you before?"

His grin was borderline illegal. It brandished the clear white teeth of a mischievous child, but his dark and alluring eyes caught her heartstrings and gave them a choking tug.

"I'll go get the car."

Airis stood outside out of the airport, rubbing her arms vigorously for warmth as the cold night air attempted to rip off her skin. She had not noticed how far the sun had already set below the horizon since she'd last seen it. She wondered how she managed to sit still at the airport for so long; maybe she just blanked out for a few hours somewhere along the hours and lost track.

The boy had waltzed back into the airport minutes after he walked out, and allowed Airis no time to change her mind. He had grabbed her by the arm with his left hand and picked up her messenger bag with his right.

"I hope you weren't hoping to stay for long," his voice carried a hint of poison, but he quickly righted himself, "because you can't possibly survive with this little amount of luggage."

He had dragged her along effortlessly, walking in wide strides through the airport with her as if they were old friends. Airis didn't struggle – it would've been useless even if she had, because his tight grip refused to allow the slightest movement.

A white Buggy Convertible sitting alone in front of the airport door greeted them; its glowing whiteness was eerie in the darkness. Airis was sure that parking in front of an airport was beyond illegal, but the fact that Disneyland bumper stickers covered the car bothered her much more.

The boy clicked his tongue, a slight disappointment washed over his eyes, but he dutifully moved toward the white car. He rounded the rear of the car, then slowed to a stop. His head was up, and his gazed focused on something shiny behind the white vehicle.

It took Airis a while to notice that another car was double-parked next to the white Buggy, blending perfectly into the darkness. It was shiny, black, and new – complete with tinted windows and no strange decorations. It looked expensive, very expensive. Her eyebrows raised when she noticed that the metal wheel covers each contained a small cross engraved in the center, and at the front end of the hood sat a tiny silver statue of a blinded angel holding daggers.

Kinky.

The boy stared at the fancy car motionlessly, and Airis almost thought she saw a dent appear in the trunk cover of the Buggy as his hand pressed down on it. She couldn't see his expression with his back turned to her, but a slight uneasiness swelled up in her stomach and warred with the adrenaline hijacking her sanity.

"So, which one's yours?"

The boy didn't respond, and Airis was almost convinced he had not heard her or just counted on her to guess, until he finally turned around slowly – reluctantly, not peeling his gaze from the car until his neck could not twist anymore. He stared down at his hand on the car, frowned, but didn't lift it. He looked up at Airis and smiled – a distraction. Airis did not allow her gaze to wonder, and caught a glimpse of his hand passing quickly across the trunk and the dent fill itself. If she had blinked, she would've missed it. Well, she did miss the dent filling part, but she figured that's what happened, since when his hand was raised, the metal was smooth. He glanced back at the black car again, a subtle confusion, longing, and rage in his eyes.

Is he jealous? Really, what is with boys and cars.

Suddenly, he whipped his head around and stared at the airport door. The action startled Airis, and she spun around as quickly as her tangle of feet would allow, her heart fluttering.

The glass doors glared back at them in motionless silence.

"The white one," the boy's voice made her flinch yet again. He was completely calm, as if he had not moved at all. His voice was cold and distant; Airis almost thought she had imagined it. She pressed a hand to her heart and knotted her brow.

"And here I was thinking I'd finally struck gold," Airis attempted to crack a joke, but she heard a tremble in her own voice that she had not expected. Her erratic heartbeat that had echoed in her ear from the second the boy caught her gaze had not stilled. She had brushed it aside as the effect of hormones or fear, but she felt no fear or excitement now. She had been through some situations in her life she would call creepy and unpleasant, but at this moment, everything – including the air she breathed – drove her insane. She felt the strangest urge to run as far and as fast her legs could carry her, but an overwhelming emotion she dubbed as curiosity rooted her to the ground.

"If you're looking for the sunrise, the east is that way."

"W-what?" Airis blinked. She realized she was lost in her thoughts and her eyes stared unfocused and unblinking at the empty airport lobby behind those silent glass doors. She heard the voice but didn't process the words. She turned around quickly, but the boy was no longer in view. A slight jolt of panic ran through her – the bastard still had her bag.

The driver's side door slammed as the boy's figure emerged from the car. Airis had not even noticed that he'd gotten into the car in the first place. She opened her mouth to ask where her bag was, but caught sight of a dark lump in the backseat through the window.

"I thought you were going to stand there until the sun rose," the boy glanced up at her, the iciness gleaming up at her behind his bangs betraying his crescent display of teeth. Airis caught his gaze wandering almost involuntarily to the ominous black mass behind the white Volkswagen. His grin pulled down to a scowl, but when he turned his attention back to the girl, he was smiling again.

"Shall we?"

His voice was casual, but Airis could hear the urgency in his voice. His eyes shot screaming daggers at her.

Airis nodded slowly and moved toward the rear of the car. Before she could even reach the handle, the boy somehow positioned himself between her and the car. He stood with a relaxed expression, as if he was standing there all along, and gave the slightly ajar passenger door a push – which appeared to be soft, but sent the piece of metal swinging vigorously aside to reveal the beckoning leather seat.

"I'm Airis, by the way," she thought it wouldn't be right to get into the car of someone who didn't even know her name.

Airis smiled – if you can call a nervous twitching of muscle smiling – and slid carefully into the passenger seat. It didn't take a half-minute for the soft purr of the engine to hit her eardrums.

The car slid out and around the black car. As they passed, the boy was rigid, his gaze staring much too intently on the road ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel as if he was trying to squeeze juice out of the thing. Airis reacted sluggishly, and by the time she turned around to look into the window of the black car, the front end of it had disappeared from the side view mirror.

The license plate passed through Airis' gaze, but all her brain processed was the fact that it looked like a name.

During the whole ride, neither of them spoke. Airis stared out the window, browsing through the cloud of thoughts in her head as one would attack the 50% off rack at the mall. Most of them circled around the validity of her sanity and the boy sitting next to her.

He doesn't exactly look like a murderer… but then again, if murderers looked like murderers, then nobody would be murdered.

She closed her eyes, then slid her eyes open to glance at the boy, feeling strangely conscious of his presence for the first time since she had sat in the car. He seemed uncomfortable in his seat. He drove with a slight frown and an aura of distain, looking as if he was wearing wrong shoes on wrong feet.

For the first time, Airis began to study the interior of the car. Winnie the Pooh and Piglet grinned up at her from the backseat cover in highly suggestive poses while Tigger performed another masochistic stunt with his tail. Eeyore sat in his corner-of-depression-and-angst under a tree, staring at his own behind. It's like high school in the Woods.

Airis decided to turn around and spare herself when she noticed the back window, which was lined with stickers of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It disturbed her that she actually liked the backseat cover. The guy either had a split personality and peculiar taste, or sucked at the whole stealing thing.

Her thoughts began to blur and her eyelids drooped. When was the last time she ate or had a good night's sleep?

Silent.

"Where are we going?" Airis muttered, attempting to prevent herself from falling asleep from the heavy silence.

"Now you ask?"

The answer came from her right ear, not her left. Her eyelids flew open – she had not even noticed she'd closed them – as she realized that the engine had been cut off, which caused the sudden silence, and the rush of cold air she had felt was from opening of the door.

She climbed out of the car. Something felt very, very wrong. The air around her carried an aura so heavy she could almost taste it, and a restless feeling like tiny bugs gnawed at her insides. She couldn't find an answer for it in her mind, and somehow everything looked so much more dark and menacing – she looked up and realized that the streetlights down the entire street were off. Well, that's cheerful.

"A blackout?"

Airis didn't like to believe that there were many unexplainable things in life, but at this moment, an unexplainable force caused her to turn her head violently; her eyes focused immediately on a white house across the street and down the road from the car. She stared at the walls painted gray by the darkness and the windows almost made invisible by the dark curtains that shielded the interior of the house from view. It wasn't a very peculiar house – square and white with a single garage space and no lawn. The most unusual thing she could find with it is that it rose to four stories – rather tall for a house of its style. There were also no windows on the fourth floor, and it took Airis quite a while to realize that the house had another floor, and not a weirdly shaped-roof.

There was a black lump on the front porch.

"Do you like that house?" the boy's voice echoed the slam of the car door.

"Can't say that I do," Airis mumbled, but followed as the boy began to move, almost running to keep up with his wide strides.

"Well, that's my house you're staring at," he paused to glance at her over his shoulder, "You'll have to like it now."

Airis nodded, not really listening. She glanced back at the car, which sat alone in the darkness with an air of sadness. If that was his house, then why did he park the car so far away?

"Street cleaning," the boy answered her thoughts. He turned his back to her as they approached the house, and Airis realized that the black lump was her messenger bag. She felt her throat tighten, and she glanced back again at the distance between the car and the house.

The night air was weightless as it tickled her lungs, but her body felt heavy from the tense atmosphere that pressed down on her. She picked up her bag, her fingers involuntarily flinching as they first made contact; she was almost afraid the bag would burst into flames or sprout acid. She flung the bag across her shoulder without much damage, and closed her fingers around the thick strap in reassurance.

"Wouldn't the other people mind that you're bringing home a stranger?" Airis tried to make small talk as she fidgeted nervously with a loose thread.

"I'm afraid we'll probably never find out," the boy caught the confused silence from her, "I live alone," he added and stuck his hand into his pocket, drawing out a clutter of loud jingles.

"Really? But you're so young!" Airis lifted her gaze, a kind of warmth flushing out the jitters in her stomach.

"What does age have to do with anything?" Airis listened for sadness in his voice, but it was simply flat, "Alone is alone."

The lock clicked as the boy turned the key in the door. Through the metal motif that decorated the glass Airis could see a winding staircase covered by a maroon carpet. She looked around awkwardly. There were eight mailboxes stuck into the wall, each with a number.

"It's an apartment."

"Very observant," the boy smiled at her.

"So you don't live alone."

"Well, I'm sure once upon a time 'alone' was defined as being surrounded by strangers, but now, I'm living the dictionary definition," the boy pushed open the door and stepped aside while gesturing with his hand, indicating for her to go in.

"So this entire house... apartment belongs to you? What about parents?" Airis was amazed. Maybe the guy wasn't a creepy stalker who picks up random girls; he seemed rich enough to pay for his one-night stands without worrying about the law.

"What about yours?"

"Do you know how annoying it is when people answer a question with a question?"

The boy simply smiled and let the door slam after her.

---

Airis shuddered as the icy cold touch trickled down her skin like the morning dew sliding off of a leaf. She felt every fold of the bed sheets press deep into her back like the dull edge of a knife and the sound of her heartbeat screamed symphonies in her ear.

The boy was showing her the supposed guest room when he "tripped" and pinned her down on the bed. He was cold and heavy, like a deep-frosted pillow. He was surprisingly strong despite his slim figure, and Airis found it hard to breathe as he pressed down on her with his body, freeing his hands to toy with her hair and flesh – examining her like a piece of meat.

She attempted to bend her knee or shift her arm, but found that to be impossible with the dead weight on top of her. She squeezed her eyes shut as a shiver ran down her spine, but forced them open immediately after, fear and caution shining a clear blue. The boy stared down at her, his dark eyes digging holes in her flesh. She avoided his gaze.

"You're not meant to be held," he whispered to her long white hair, as it poured from between his fingers and fell across her eyes.

"W-what?"

"Shh…"

"I bet you think that you have nothing left to lose," his fingers curled in her hair and the strands wrapped around his fist. Airis sucked in a sharp breath as the sudden pain tugged at her skull. He released her hair, which spread helplessly around her face, "Following a stranger so recklessly, throwing your life away."

Airis attempted to speak, but she found no strength. Suddenly, all the courage was drained out of her. Please, God, let me live. That was the only thought that filled her mind, crushing everything else into tatters. She knew she had nothing to live for, nowhere to go, and the world held nothing for her but lonely nights. She knew, but every cell in her body screamed desperately for the chance to see the sun rise again.

He breathed against her neck – Airis felt his body press down heavily against hers, but did not feel another heartbeat to match. She felt like crying – not from the fear that shook her to the core or the shivers that cut her breath short, but from the icy coldness of his voice. He spoke with a calm but hopeless tone that would've brought her to her knees; his voice brought to mind the image of a butterfly crashing repeatedly into a painted flower.

Airis flinched when a cold finger wiped the tears away from under her eyes, and caught her reflection in two soulless dark gems.

"Do you know what fear tastes like?" he leaned in closer, so close her breath bounced off of his skin and back onto hers. He slowly whispered in her ear, his voice like a poison that seeped into her pores and slithered through her veins.

I do. The tears swarmed out of her eyes so quickly it hurt, but they were silent and raging, like a muted waterfall. She wasn't afraid, no, not at all.

She heard a slithering sound next to her ear, a sound similar to the squish of meat in a grinder. Suddenly her mouth went dry, and she could feel the bile and acid swarming from her stomach. Her body began to convulse, and her breathing came in ragged splurts.

"Goodnight Airis."

Her mouth opened in a loud gasp as her pending scream exploded into laughter, a bitter and salty taste stinging the sides of her tongue.

Squish.

---

Note: A lot of people have told me that Airis' decision was not believable. However, I find it to very reasonable. I took down the previous explanation, since it didn't seem to serve its purpose well.

Now think about it. From the details given in the story:

She is on the computer alone, in the dark.
She's been sitting in the same seat at the air port for so long, she lost track of time.
She was researching vampires, and she expected to meet a vampire.
All of her possessions summed up to the clothes on her body, and one messenger bag, which is mostly filled by her lap top.
She thinks a lot, and her thoughts are mostly very random.

From those, you can easily conclude that Airis is not a very cautious person, and that she followed him in the heat of the moment, as her alternative option was to continue sitting there and stare at nothing.

Also, her decision will be further supported in later chapters.

If you disagree, feel free to argue.