Author's note: The story is written from Gabriella's point of view. That's the reason why some things won't be explained immediately, but when Gabriella gets to it. As for the plot, the story follows Gabriella's life and her involvement with vampires. She mostly believes what she's been told so she won't even suspect at first what are true intentions of those around her. I started this story for my friends and decided to post it here because someone else might want to read it. I apologize for any grammar mistakes.

It was already 9 p.m. and my boyfriend Sean didn't come home yet. Good thing was that he usually didn’t return before midnight or I would be nervous like hell right now. Sean was the manager of one of the most famous companies in Croatia. It was a company that produced and sold all kinds of stuff. Sean tried to explain, but I forgot.

I’ve been living in Croatia for five months now and everything around me was still new, so I didn’t bother with tiny little details like what exactly my boyfriend’s company has been doing as long as we got the money. I was born in London, England and so was my boyfriend, but a good job offer can make you move all the way to the moon.

And when I remember how I thought I would never be able to live outside my own country! I’m glad I was wrong, because Zagreb was far from rush and stress of a big city like London and I liked it. Our house was a bit out of the city and it was gorgeous. Not to mention all the nature surrounding it and everything so peaceful. I could just sit on the balcony and enjoy it forever.

I looked at the books on the desk in front of me. My eyes hurt from reading so much, but I was a second year student and I couldn’t afford staying behind with anything. I was lucky they had some studies in English so language wasn’t a barrier. But I still decided to take some lessons in Croatian. I had no idea how long we would stay here.

I actually spoke few words of Croatian before I moved here. My grandmother was actually born here, but she married an Italian guy and went to Italy. My mother went to London, and so I ended up being named Gabriella Mane. Cute, isn’t it?

My head felt heavy, but I had to finish my work for today. I got up from the desk and went to the bathroom to wash my face. The bathroom was just at the end of the hall and everything in it was blue or silver. Yes, it was my boyfriend’s choice, but I didn’t mind as long as it was clean.

I splashed some water onto my face and looked at myself in the mirror. My face looked pale and tired. My dark, almost black hair looked like someone went over it with a truck. It was very long, coming almost to the half of my back. It was supposed to look awesome, but instead it looked dead. But who had time to take care of the hair?

When I looked at my dark brown eyes in the mirror, I saw redness in them. Great. Last thing I needed now was to look like a zombie. Did everyone have to know I was a student? I was happy actually that my boyfriend earned enough money, so I didn’t have to work too. I’ve always wondered how people managed it. Maybe I was just too stupid.

Suddenly I heard a doorbell. Who could it be at this time of day? Maybe Sean lost his keys. I didn’t think so. I looked at my blue jeans and black sweater, fixing it a bit and decided I still looked decent, even in my house clothes.

When I opened the door, I saw an unknown man standing there. He was much taller than me, which made him around 5 ' 11 ". His hair was short and brown, skin pale and eyes green.

“Yes?” I stared at him, obviously confused. Maybe he got the wrong door. I just hoped he spoke English.

“Does Sean Rennold live here?” the man asked in perfect English. I was surprised.

“Umm, yes. And you are…?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Victor. Is Sean here?” Victor tried to look past me into the house. He seemed impatient. I decided I didn’t like him. He didn’t even tell me his last name.

“No.” I said “He’s probably still at work.”

“Oh, yes! Listen, can I come in for a minute? It’s getting really cold outside.” he smiled at me “You must be his girlfriend Gabriella.”

“Umm, yes. Come in.” I said, not really happy about it. If Sean had told this guy about me, he must have been a friend. But I had no idea what Sean’s friend was doing here. Most of Sean’s friends were in England, and if they worked together, this man would know Sean wasn’t home.

Besides, I didn’t feel good with strangers in my house, especially in this new city. But I couldn’t just let Sean’s friend stand outside in the cold. It was February and snow was still covering most of the scenery.

I took Victor to the living room and offered him to sit down. He sat in one of my white chairs and looked around curiously.

“Nice house.” he said.

“Thanks.” I said “Can I get you something?”

“No, I’m fine.” there was something strange about the way he smiled at me. For some reason it was creeping me out. I couldn’t really tell why. The problem was I didn’t know what to do with him or what to talk about. Casual conversation wasn’t one of my best things.

After few moments of awkward silence, he finally spoke.

“Have you ever met a vampire?”

“What?” I was shocked by his choice of topic. I knew vampires existed and I knew they were legal in most of the countries, which meant they had same rights as humans as long as they didn’t kill anyone. But I’ve seen vampires only on TV, because most of the vampire population was in America.

“Answer my question.” he was looking at me curiously.

“No.” I said “Why do you ask?”

“I’m a scientist.”

“Oh.” I didn’t believe him a bit. He didn’t look like a scientist in first place, and Sean didn’t have scientist as friends. Even though I wasn’t really sure. But then again, why would this man lie? And why would he be here? My mind was playing with me again.

“Do you know where your boyfriend works?”

I stared at Victor in surprise. His choice of questions was just beyond weird. Maybe he was really a scientist and social skills weren’t his best.

“Sean works for a company. I suppose you know that, if you’re a friend?” I made it a question on purpose. But his face remained calm and somehow amused.

“Oh, so you don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Nothing.” he gave me an innocent smile. This was getting weirder and weirder.

“I’m going to get me some coffee. Do you want some?” I needed to get away from this guy and think in peace for a moment. Maybe I should have just thrown him out of the house. But Sean wouldn’t be pleased to hear that…if this guy was really his friend. Damn! Why was I so paranoid? Well, who wouldn’t with a stranger in the house?

I didn’t wait for his answer and just headed for the kitchen. While I was reaching for a cup, I heard a noise behind my back. I turned around and saw Victor sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. I gasped. How the hell did he get here?

“What are you doing here? How did you…?”

“I can smell your fear.” he said, taking a deep breath “And I love it!”

“Shit!” I had a vampire in my house! A fucking vampire! I didn’t have to see his fangs to know that. My hand automatically went for a knife that was standing on my counter. I pointed it at him, unsure what was I supposed to do. I was shaking, but wasn’t going to let him near me. Not without a fight.

“You’re so sweet, you know.” this time he smiled and showed his fangs. Those white, sharp, pointed…Oh, God. I panicked, trying to remember anything that would help me in this situation. But all reasonable thoughts went out of my mind. Suddenly I felt the urge to put the knife against my neck, but I fought it and didn’t move a bit.

“Interesting.” he looked at me with amusement. I had no idea what the hell was so amusing about this. Was I supposed to beg or cry or something? I had no idea. But I couldn’t scream, even if I wanted to. I was just way too shocked and scared.

“What do you want from me?” I whispered, not sure did he hear it, but he did. He was a vampire after all. Shit.

“You.” he said, getting up from the chair in one motion. So it was true that vampires were incredibly fast and elegant. But to hell with that. He wanted me and that didn’t sound a bit good.

“Your boyfriend took from us, so were going to take something from him.” he said “The only fair way.”

“What?” I wanted to keep him talking. I knew if he went against me right now, I couldn’t do a damn thing. But even if a miracle happened and Sean got home earlier, what could he possibly do? I didn’t want anything to happen to him. But how would he feel, if he found me dead on the floor? No, I didn’t want to think about it. I just couldn’t. Or I would start crying and it was all over.

“Your boyfriend killed one of my king’s servants.”

“No, you’re lying.” My boyfriend just wasn’t involved with vampires and he couldn’t have killed anyone. I had no idea what the vampire gained with making me believe that, but most of the vampires I’ve read about in newspapers were psychopaths.

“Your boyfriend isn’t who you think he is.” the vampire was showing off his fangs and I couldn’t stop staring.

“I don’t believe you.”

“How much do you know about him, Gabriella? What do you know about the place he works at?”

“No.” I said. I still held the knife in my hand, even it started to hurt. I just couldn’t keep my hand in the same position for so much time. But if I lowered the knife, he could jump me immediately. Or the knife didn’t even bother him? Oh, God, please don’t let me die!

“Do you know where he gets all the money for this?” he waved his hands around the room. Something in my throat tightened. Was I going to believe a vampire is telling the truth?

“Do you really think a manager would get all that money? In Croatia?” he laughed “Well, lots of money yes, but this much in so little time…No! Your boyfriend kills vampires for money! And you had to move here, because in London they want his head on a plate.”

I didn’t say anything. I just stared at him. My brain tried to process what I had just heard, but fear completely paralyzed me. I didn’t know what to think. I knew that if I survived this, I would end up in the corner of the room with head between my knees, repeating this didn’t happen.

It was funny how many stupid things I thought about, but right ones couldn’t reach me. The vampire looked behind his back, searching for something I didn’t know about. Then faster then I could see, he ran to the front door and opened it.

“Come in!” he yelled. I thought I was going to faint when three more men…vampires, entered the house. I lowered the knife because I couldn’t hold it anymore. Tears appeared in my eyes. Against one vampire I maybe had a chance, but four of them? Fuck!

One of them entered the kitchen, looking at me with his black eyes. He was around 5 ' 9 " and he wore black jeans and black leather jacket. There was nothing under the jacket, except his bare pale skin. He looked like one of the models or athletes. His abs were impressive, but he didn’t look like a bodybuilder.

His hair was black, semi-long and a bit curled at the ends. If I didn’t have a boyfriend and he wasn’t a vampire, I would be so attracted to him. They said on TV that vampires looked attractive to humans, but Victor didn’t look like that. This vampire was just…perfect.

He looked at me for a moment and Victor came to stand next to him. The other two vampires stayed in the hall.

“She was born on Saturday…on special days.” there was a strange smile on Victor’s face “The king will love this one.”

I didn’t like the way his voice sounded. But how the hell did he know I was born on Saturday? Handsome vampire looked at me for a moment and then at Victor.

“Get out! Now.” his voice was cold and thick with anger.

“But…” Victor wanted to say, but the dark vampire just glared at him. I had no idea what was going on, but the rest of the vampires went out of the house. The dark one stood there watching me, his face serious and angry a bit. He got close to me in a second. I wanted to raise the knife, but I dropped it instead.

He managed to grab both my hands with just one hand and roughly pulled my hair, which made me try to at least kick him. But I couldn’t move because I was pinned between him and the kitchen counter. I could feel his strong body like a wall against me and I knew he could crush me if he wanted to.

He jerked my head back, exposing my neck.

I wanted to scream. But before I could do it, he pressed one hand against my mouth and sank his fangs into my neck. I realized he let go of my hands, but when I tried to push him away, nothing happened. He didn’t even feel it! Something was going on, because I could no longer feel the pain in my neck. Maybe I was in shock or he used his powers on me. I had no idea.

The horrible feeling of him sucking my blood and the sound of it was driving me crazy. I had to do something. His hand was still on my mouth. I bit his hand as hard as I could, feeling the taste of his blood. I wanted to throw up.

Suddenly he let go of me, looking at me as if I were something shiny. My whole body was shaking and I thought I was going to fall down, but I kept supporting myself on the kitchen counter. My breath was coming out in choked gasps and my heart was threatening to jump out. He moved away from me, sitting on the chair Victor was sitting on before.

The look on his face was strange…he looked like he was thinking hard on something, then he looked at me. His black eyes were overwhelming. They were so deep and suddenly I knew he was very very old. There was some knowledge in his eyes. Like he knew everything about the world that I didn’t.

“Go!” he said. I heard him, but I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. I put my hand on my neck and realized the wound he made wasn’t bleeding anymore.

“Damn it, go!” he said it more urgently this time. I would say he was angry again.

“I know you have a back door. Get the fuck out of here!” he yelled at me.

“Why?” I had no idea why I asked. I guess it just didn’t make any sense to me.

“Because you’re bonded to me now.” there was a smile on his face suddenly and it made me shudder. Everything on his face screamed: evil.

“I’ll find you no matter where you are. I’ll come in your dreams.” he said, licking his lips “And I’ll enjoy chasing you, sweetie. Now, run and don’t spoil the fun! Or I’ll do even worse things to you…right now.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. He meant what he had said. I ran for the back door. I didn’t care was he following me. I was just hoping he didn’t change his mind about letting me go…for now. Before I left the house, I heard Victor yelling from the other part of the house.

“Alexander, we have to come in! Come on!”

Alexander…his name was Alexander.

The night was cold and dark, but I ran down the street as fast as I could. I knew they would hunt me down if I didn’t reach the main street soon. I could hear cars passing by and in few moments I was on the street. I looked around in panic, there were people walking calmly down the street.

No matter how much I wanted to stop someone, I knew they would think I was crazy. I probably looked like I escaped some kind of institution. But would vampires dare to attack me on the main street with people there and so many cars passing by? I hoped not.

My best friend lived few blocks away. I just needed to get a bus or something. I was hoping it wasn’t too late for that and I was praying Sean wouldn’t come home before they got out.