The sky was tinted pink and gold. Mira sat in the lengthening shadows, watching the sky change.

"You realize that what you're doing isn't really smart?" A voice called out from behind her. With out turning around, the answered.

"Since when did you know anything about smartness?" A sudden wind blew her raven-colored hair across her face. Her emerald eyes remained fixed on the sky.

"I never said I was the smartest." The voice replied.

Mira turned around. She was met by a pair of blue-green eyes, partially covered by brown hair.

"I do believe, Derek, that just a few months ago, you said you were smarter than most."

"Than most. Not all." Derek replied.

Mira rolled her eyes and turned back to the sky. By this time, the sun and its light had almost completely disappeared.

Derek took a seat by Mira.

"Why do you do it?" Derek asked.

"Do what?"

"Watch the sunset. Why?" Derek asked again.

Mira chewed her lip in thought for a moment before answering his question.

"Because it's the one thing out of all of this that makes me feel human." She finally answered.

Derek laughed.

"What makes you feel human again?" Mira asked.

Derek stopped laughing and looked at her.

"I try to forget about being human. It hurts too much. It hurts to think of what I've lost. I try to focus on what I gained." He replied.

A laugh came from behind them. Derek and Mira turned around.

"Looks like Derek had an emotional breakthrough."

"Shut up Brian!" Derek yelled jokingly.

Brian flicked his head, moving the black hair out of his blue eyes in response. He took a seat by Mira as well and then turned to the sky.

"You know, for vampires, we're pretty pathetic." Brian said after a while.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Derek and Mira asked at the same time. They looked at eachother and laughed.

"Think about it. We've been together since the beginning. And when we are apart, everything seems to go wrong. Compared to a lot of the others we're pathetic. Hell, compared to Ezra, we're nothing. She never needed anyone." Brian said bitterly.

"Ezra's also 729 years old." Derek pointed out.

"And she was a heartless, overly independent bitch when she was alive." Mira added.

Brian laughed.

"It's a good thing we moved out! She'd have killed you if she heard you say that!" Derek exclaimed.

"Well, the sun is completely gone." Mira said as she stood up.

"I feel the need..." Brian began.

"The need to feed!" Derek finished.

"Come on you losers. Let's head to the blood bank. Then it's out clubbing." Mira called out.

"Last one there is a dirty rotten maggot!" Brian called out as black angel wings sprouted out of his back. Mira and Derek followed suit and they were soon airborne. They flew in tandem, swooping, circling, and diving together like they had been for 45 years.

It was completely dark when the trio arrived at the blood bank. Mira approached the back door. She knocked twice and waited. The door opened. They stepped into the small, dark, room. A light suddenly flicked on, temporarily blinding Mira, Brian, and Derek. When their eyes adjusted to the sudden light, they saw something unexpected. A guy around 17 with curly brown hair and brown eyes stood in front of them. All three vampires tensed, expecting the worst. The boy noticed this and smiled, revealing pointed teeth. Derek and Brian relaxed. Mira did not.

"Where is Alex?" She asked sternly.

"Alex had other matters to attend to. He left me here because he knew you would show up" He replied.

"What is your name?" Mira asked.

"Sean. My name's Sean."

"Tell me something Sean." Mira said suspiciously. "Alex is about my height, correct?"

Sean nodded.

"With blue eyes and medium length blonde hair, right?"

Sean shook his head this time.

"Brown eyes with short brown hair." He replied.

"One last thing. What's the name of Alex's pet snake?" Mira asked.

"He doesn't have a snake. It's a bearded lizard named Truffle."

Mira finally relaxed.

"Alex left him here." Mira said to the others.

To Sean she said, "Why did Alex leave you here? Where is he?"

Sean shrugged and the replied, " He told me to tell you Darama Blaka and that he knew what he was doing."

The room was silent for a moment. Brian shook his head.

"Why does he keep doing this to himself?" Derek asked no one in particular.

"Because he still loves her." Mira answered.

"Uh, so, what do you guys want?" Sean asked, changing the subject.

"AB negative, you got any?" Brian asked.

Sean smiled.

"We had 17 AB negative donors come in today."

Brian's eyes grew wide.

"17 pints of AB negative blood?'

"Actually 20 pints. We had a few come in yesterday."

"It's been a while since AB negative came through this part of town." Mira said.

Brian and Derek nodded in agreement.

Sean left the room to go get what was needed.

"This kid is obviously new to the whole vampire thing." Mira said to the other two.

"How can you tell?" Brian asked.

"Will you just shut up and trust the woman?" Derek replied smacking Brian on the back of the head.

"Both of you need to knock it off." Mira said testily.

Derek and Brian shot each other dirty looks and did as Mira said.

Sean then returned with three large glasses full of blood.

"You won't be joining us?" asked Mira curiously.

"No. I ate earlier." replied Sean.

Mira shrugged and answered, "Suit yourself." Then to the others she said, "Bottoms up."

The three vampires downed the blood in the glasses and slammed them down on a counter. Then with a gleam in her eye, Mira announced that it was time for clubbing.

"Which one are we going to tonight?" Brian asked.

"I was thinking of Midnite Meet." Derek replied.

"What's wrong with Duran?" Mira asked.

"Nothing other than that we go there almost every night." Derek complained.

"Fine. But we have to hit the arcade tonight." Mira said.

"Deal." Brian and Derek replied at the same time.

Mira, Derek, and Brian thanked Sean and headed out to Midnite Meet. Once they arrived, they went straight to the head of the line to have a word with the bouncer, Martin.

"Hey Martin. How's it going?" Mira asked, giving him a hug.

"Not bad Mee, not bad at all. You guys finally coming to see me again?" He asked.

"Yeah, the guys talked me into coming and seeing you again." Mira replied.

"Not that she doesn't love you." Brian said.

"All right you guys, head on in. Don't get too wasted tonite. I'm tired of having to get you guys a ride home." Martin said.

"Don't worry. I'll keep them from drinking too much." Derek said smiling.

"It's you I worry about, trying to out-drink every one." Martin yelled at his retreating back.

They entered the club and were hit by the pounding music. The trio headed towards a booth in the back of the club where they usually hung out. They sat and surveyed the crowd, looking for any other vampires, or worse, someone who might recognize them for what they were and try to take them out.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my overly worried buddies." A voice yelled over the booming music behind Mira.

"She broke your heart again, didn't she Alex?" Mira asked without turning.

Alex flopped down on the booth with a sigh, sloshing some of his JD out of the glass. He took a drink before answering her.

"Yeah. I don't know what I was thinking, going back to her like that. I have no idea why I thought we could still work out." Alex said gloomily.

"How long have you been here kid?" Brian asked Alex with a worried look in his eyes.

Alex thought for a moment before answering.

"Two hours maybe? I dunno. Not long enought to get completely smashed, so I need to stay here for a bit longer." Alex said, words slightly slurred.

"How many have you had?" Derek asked.

"Three or four. And not all of them were Jack Daniels either. The first two were really weak." He replied.

"Looks like we won't be hitting the arcade tonight. We should probably keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't drink the bar out of business." Mira muttered.

A guy walked over to the table. He was rather tall and skinny with medium lenghth dark brown hair swept out of the way of his brown eyes.

"You know what? That dress would look great...on my bedroom floor." He said to Mira.

"You would know, wouldn't you Rob?" Mira said to him.

"You know you liked it there too." He said with an impish grin.

"Do you two really have to subject us to this?" Derek asked.

"Yes, they do. Continue. I want details." Said Brian, rubbing his hands together.

"You fucking perve. Why do I even bother hanging out with you losers?" Mira asked no-one in particular.

"Because you love us that damn much." Derek said, beaming.

"What ever. Rob, come with me. We're going to get a drink." She said grabbing Rob by the wrist.

Derek, Brian and Alex watched the two walk off towards the bar.

"I remember when Dara and I were like that." Alex said while remembering.

"Ugh. Come on dude. You can't seriously still want to get involved with her again. This is the...drop the two...carry the one...fourteen...nine...one...that's thirteen...972nd time she's done this to you. The fourth time this week and the 16th time this month. There is something seriously wrong with this picture." Derek said to Alex over the thumping music.

"One. Why the hell, Derek, are you keeping track of that kind of shit? Two. I had the last count at 1024 grand total. Three. We're not drunk enough to continue this conversation." Brian said heading over to the bar.

"Why the hell are the two of you keeping track of things between me and Darama? Is it some form of amusement to the two of you?" Alex asked, almost angrily.

"For me it is. When I'm bored and tired of counting the grains of sand in the hourglass on my desk, I try to count how many times she's broken your heart. Brian just wants to screw her brains out. He keeps track of this kind of thing when he's depressed and looking back at all the opprotunities he missed, when he's in a good mood, knowing that history will repeat itself, or when he's bored like me." Derek said plainly.

"Psh. Brian can have her. I'll give him her address and a bottle of wine and tell him to have a good time." Alex said.

"Awesome. He'll be glad to hear that he can have Darama, Mira will be glad to learn that you're finally over her, and I'm happy because now we can both drink with out thinking about the good times we had with that slut." Brian said cheerfully.

"We? What do you mean we? You were doing Darama behind my back? Before I was over her?" Alex said, slightly scaring Brian.

"Ummmm...Yeah?" Brian said, cringing, expecting to get hit. When it didn't come, he looked at Alex.

"Wow. Stooping to sleeping with you? She really is a slut." Alex said with a laugh.

"Yeah I know. Hey! Wait! What do you mean stooping? I'm not lower than her or something like that!" Yelled Brian.

Alex just laughed at him.

"Look at them over there laughing. It's good to see Alex in a good mood again." Mira said grabbing her drink off the bar.

"Yeah. He's no fun when he's in a bad mood. You know?" Rob said to her.

"You wanna come back to the castle with us? Staying by yourself has to be boring and lonely." Mira said hopefully.

"Yeah, I might. God know's there's never a dull moment with you guys." Said Rob jokingly.

"If I didn't love you so much, I'd probably take offense to that and stab you through the heart with a wooden spoon." Mira said with a laugh.

Rob stopped laughing and stared at her.

He said to her, "You wouldn't really do that to me, would you? I mean, you wouldn't really stab me through the heart with a wooden spoon, Because you know that with enough force, a spoon can act kind of like a wooden stake and I'm too young to die."

"Don't get all hysterical. Don't piss me off and you won't wake up with one sticking out of your chest." Mira said, drinking some of her Jack and Coke.

"You are such a little sadist, you know that?" Rob asked her.

"Robert Deemer, that is extremely rude and offensive." Mira said with a mock hurt look on her face.

Rob laughed at her. He said to her, "I'll be right back."

"Alright." Mira said to his retreating back.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" A guy asked Mira as he walked up to her.

"Get lost. I'm taken." Mira said irritably.

"Oh, well, that's too bad. I was gonna show you a real fun time." The guy said.

Mira snorted. "You wouldn't understand my idea of fun." She said.

"Oh really? Is it because you're a vampire?" The guy asked. Mira stopped, frozen in shock. She took a better look at this man who obviously knew what she was. He was of average height and weight. He had medium length brown hair, and blue eyes. The eyes were what caught Mira's attention. They were just blue. They weren't crystal blue, pale blue, gray-blue, blue-green, they were the most non-descript and average blue imaginable.

"What do you know about vampires?" Mira inqired.

"I know that you and your buddies are harmless enough when not provoked. I need something from you though. I know that none of the guys will give me half a chance. I'm hoping that I'll get a little bit of help from you."

"What do you need from me? Wait, let me guess. You're a 'Slayer' and you're new in town and need information on who's who and what's going on. Am I right?" Mira asked.

"Close. I am rather new in town, and I do need information. But for the most part I know who's who. I just need locations."

"Well, you might as well ask the wall over there for locations. I don't know shit and even if I did, you wouldn't know. So my advice, scat before something happens to you." Mira hissed.

The slayer turned a silver crucifix over in his hand. Mira eyed him warily.

"Are you sure you don't know anything at all miss?" He asked her.

"I'm positive." Mira said.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's go outside and finish this conversation." The slayer said, pressing the crucifix into her back. Mira grimmaced in pain and headed to the back enrance of the club. Mira slipped her hand into her pocket with out the slayer noticing. She dialed Martin's number and prayed that he would realize that something was wrong and come looking for her. The slayer suddenly pulled the crucifix off of her back and slammed her into the brick wall.

"Tell me what I want to know or I swear to God your friends will have to bury you in a test tube by the time I'm through! Do you understand me?" He yelled in her face.

"I understand you. You need to understand me though. I don't know anything." Mira said slowly

"Liar!" The slayer yelled pressing the crucifix into her stomach.

"Alright!" Mira yelled in pain. The slayer pulled the crucifix away.

"I'll tell you something you really need to know." Mira said close to tears.

"Tell me." The slayer said.

"Martin is right behind you." Mira said. The slayer turned around, ready to fight. In truth, Martin was not behind the slayer, but his predictable reaction gave Mira a chance to attack. Faster than any human could hope to move, she bent down, grabbed a piece of broken glass, and sliced the slayer across the back. He cried out in pain. He turned on her, rage burning intently in his eyes. He swung at her, but she dodged it. He pulled an oak stake out of his pocket and grinned madly.

"Looks like I have the upper hand now, vampire." He said to her. Mira's eyes widened. She stood, apparently frozen with fear. The slayer pounced suddenly and with out warning, planning to drive the stake throught her heart. Mira moved out of the way almost too late. The stake went through her left shoulder, only an inch from her heart. She screamed in pain. Mira turned suddenly, causing the slayer to lose his grip on the stake. Mira jerked the stake out with a cry of pain.

"You think you're pretty smart, don't you vampire?" He asked her. Mira's sight was fading. She leaned against the wall and slid down, leaving a trail of blood. The last thing she saw was Martin punching the slayer in the face.

"Mira. Mira sweets. You've got to wake up for me baby. Come on Mira. We've lived a lot longer than we should have. You can't just up and leave me like this." An almost hysterical voice said. She felt something warm hit her face and slide down. She slowly opened her eyes. She saw Rob hanging over her in tears.

"Wh- what are you crying for?" Mira whispered. Robert's face lit up with a smile. He pulled her close and squeezed her tightly.

"I thought we lost you! You wouldn't answer us. I was so worried about you, I almost felt for a pulse. That would have been pretty useless." Rob laughed through his tears. Mira laughed too.

"How bad did Martie mess that slayer up?" Mira asked.

"He's going to be hurting for a while. Let's leave it at that." Rob said. Mira sat up and looked at her surroundings. She was back at the castle that she shared with Brian and Derek, and occasionally Rob.

"What's all that yelling?" Mira asked.

Robert smiled and said, "Brian and Derek are taking their frustrations out on that slayer that tried to kill you."

"Two wrongs don't make a right Robert." Mira said.

"No. Three do. That's why I hit him too." Rob said smiling, showing off his pointed cainines.

Mira smiled, shook her head, and said, "You are all alike."

"Robbie! Your turn to play beat up on the slayer poser!" Brian yelled coming through the door. "Oh, Mira, you're awake. Rob, go take your turn. I'll stay here and keep Mira company."

"Alright." Rob said standing up. He bent down and kissed Mira on the forhead before leaving the room.

"Are you guys seriously beating that guy up?" Mira asked, bewildered.

"Uh, what would you say if I said yes?" Brian asked.

"Why are you guys doing that?" She yelled.

"He nearly killed you! Do you want us to let that slide? Do you really think we're going to just forgive and forget? I don't think so! Mira, you need to understand that." Brian said angrily.

"I know he nearly killed me. But he didn't." She replied. Brian just shook his head, brown hair falling in front of his eyes.

"You don't get it do you? I don't care that he didn't kill you, he came way to close for comfort. The only reason he didn't finish you while you were lieing in that alleyway is because Martin showed up. You scared us all to, well, not exactly death, but you almost scared us off of this plane of existance. That is something you need to understand. Though you are still alive, you almost didn't make it." Brian said, trying to make her understand.

"I want to go see him." Mira said quietly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I think you should rest."

"Brian, it's almost sunrise. I think I've rested enough. Besides, he's two doors to the left. I can smell the blood." Mira said.

Brian sighed and answered, "If you insist." He held out his hand to help Mira up to her feet. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself out of bed. Surprisingly, they didn't sleep in coffins. Only on special occasions. They slept in regular beds. The only difference from their rooms and a normal teenager's room was that there were no windows. Sunlight would kill them. Mira wobbled a little bit. Brian continued to hold her up until she regained her balance. She stood for a moment and then shook off his asistance. She walked to her bedroom door and stopped suddenly. She was no longer wearing her black leather mini-skirt and dark red tube top she usually wore to the clubs. She was wearing a black and white spaghetti strap top and black and white yoga pants with Jack Skellington and Sally Stitches on both the top and bottom.

"Who changed me?" Mira asked. Brian blushed.

"Robbie changed you. We had to get you cleaned up. Rob took care of you." He replied.

"Oh." Mira said flatly. She continued out of her room. She walked two doors to her left and opened up the door. She saw the guy from the night before with his hands tied over his head. Rob was infront of him, punching him in the stomach. She didn't let the others know she was in the room

"You mother fucker! Trying to pick on who you think is the weakest vampire. You're not so tough now are you? Trying to kill the only woman I've ever really loved. I can't believe you! Playing at slayer isn't so much fun when you're on the losing end is it? How about I stab you in the fucking shoulder with a wooden stake? How about I leave you in a fucking alleyway with no one to come and save you?" Rob yelled.

"Enough." Mira said calmly. Robert stoped and turned to look at her. The slayer from the previous night looked up at her, his face covered in blood. Robert came over to her.

"What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting." Said Robert in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine. I'm just here to show that poser over there how it feels to be at the mercy of someone who doesn't care if they live or die." Mira said with no emotion in her eyes. She pushed Robert to the side and walked up to the slayer.

"What's your name kid?" She asked.

"Why do you care? Kill me and get it over with."

"I need to know. That way I can notify your parents that you died in a tragic car accident on your way home from the club." Mira said coldly.

"Joseph Kaps." He said flatly.

"Joseph Kaps. Not very original." Mira walked away from him and walked over to a wall. She hit a pannel on the wall and it slid to one side. Multiple different weapons were revealed. Her eyes flicked over all of them. They stopped on a small group that looked extremely out of place. A wooden spoon, a potato peeler, a pearing knife, box of bamboo splinters, several yards of fishing line, a foot and a half of rusted barbed wire, a blow torch, a box of safety pins, an office stapler, two boxes of paper clips, a box of cigars, seventeen zippo lighers and four cans of cheap hairspray.

"Why, Mister Kaps, did you decide to pick on me?" Mira asked him, eyes on her favorite weaponry.

"Shit." Brian, Derek and Rob said at the same time.

"I figured that you would give me information with less of a fight than your friends would." Joseph said, spitting out blood.

"You know, lieing to me isn't helping you any." Mira said, hand going to the pearing knife. Her hand stopped, just short of it, as if she were re-considering her choice. Her hand continued forward after a moment's hesitation. She pulled the knife from it's resting position as gently as if she were plucking a flower to send to a lover.

"Derek, be a sweetheart and get the salt from the other room." Said Mira, turning the knife over in her hands, grinning at the way the knife reflected the light. Knowing better than to go against Mira when she was in one of these moods, Derek complied.

She turned to Joseph and said, "You know, you really picked the wrong vampire to try and kill. I really am a little sadist." Joseph's eyes widened as she began to advance on him, knife in hand.

"You know, you don't have to do this to me. Your little boyfriends did a pretty good job earlier." Joseph said, getting scared. Mira lengthened her fangs a bit, and then smiled a cold, heartless, ruthless, uncaring smile.

"But you see, Mister Kaps, that is where you are wrong. I do have to do this. You see, it's how I cope. I'm a very isolated person. I keep all my emotions bottled up inside, until finally, I explode. I either hurt myself or I go on a killing spree. You, Mister Kaps, are my release before I hurt someone I really don't want to." She walked over to her victim. She made a cut, one inch long, 1/8 of an inch deep on his forearm. Kaps cried out in pain.

"Derek, the salt please." Mira said sweetly. She held out her hand and Derek obediently placed the salt shaker in her hand. Mira unscrewed the lid and took a pinch of salt between her fingers. She positioned her hand just above the wound.

"Tell me something, Mister Kaps, who were you going to kill last night?" She asked him.

"Does it matter?" He spat.

"Yes, Mister Kaps, it does." Mira said sprinkling the salt over the wound. Joseph cried out in pain.

"Ready to talk yet?" She asked, still dusting the wound with salt.

"Bite me you sadist." He groaned.

"That can be arranged. But I have other plans for you." Mira stood up and walked over to The Wall of Weaponry. Her eyes flicked over the weapons again. She grabbed a box of paperclips and the blowtorch. She unraveled one of the paperclips and rebent it into the initials "JK".

"Why JK?" Joseph asked.

"Why Joseph, don't you recognize your own initials?" Mira asked. She started the blowtorch and heated the make-shift brand up. Once she decided it was hot enough, she pressed it against his skin. Joseph screamed in pain. After a few seconds, Mira pulled it off of his skin.

"Now Joseph, the longer you lie to me, the longer I have to torture you like this. Now, who were you going to kill last night?"

"Brian. Brian Kamara." He cried. Mira stopped and looked across the room at her friend with a wide-eyed expression.