This is my first story written at fiction press. I hope you enjoy!

Warning: Slash (male/male). Don't like it don't read it. Also, there maybe lemon or violence, it depends on what I want to do in later chapters.

Hello, my name is Aidan, and I'm dead. Well not technically… well, no, maybe technically… but the point is that I'm still living. I'm actually a vampire. You might not believe it, but then why would you? I didn't believe in vampires myself until awhile ago. This is my story, believe it if you want.

I woke up to the insistent beeping of the alarm clock, and rolled over, trying to get back asleep, waiting for it to turn itself off. It was this kind of logic that made people think that I'm stupid. I'm not, really. Actually, I'm already in college. I just turned seventeen, but I had graduated from high school a year earlier than the rest. I passed all my classes with grades 95 percent and above.

The alarm clock insisted that I get up with the annoying beeping noise, why was it going off so early anyway? I contemplated throwing it out the window and going back to sleep, when I heard a loud banging on my bedroom door.

"Aidan, turn that damn alarm clock off, its annoying, and get up or you're going to be late!" Well that pretty much decided it for me. At least someone agrees with me about the alarm clock.

I sat up and turned the alarm clock off, and stretched. I looked out the window above my bed, it was starting to rain hard. Great, a perfect day for a funeral.

Yep, that's right, I'm going to a funeral in an hour… no, wait, make that 45 minutes. I hurried up and got into the shower, and then got out. I looked at myself in the mirror. I have short red hair, bright green eyes, and smooth, pale skin. I'm not sure where the red hair comes from, neither of my parents had it, and I've never met my grandparents, though I'm not sure why about that either. I'm also 6 feet and 2 inches tall, and pretty thin, but I had some muscle there.

Everyone thinks I'm feminine and pretty and all that, but I can't see what they're talking about. True, I don't have too manly a look, but not so much that I'd call it feminine. Sort of pisses me off when people keep saying how much I look like my older sister, who I'm living with at the moment, but we don't look that much alike, do we? Besides, a guy shouldn't be called pretty. It hurts his pride. Or at least mine it does.

The reason why it's just me and my sister is because our parent's died a a few years ago in a car crash. Our Uncle Eddie brought us up for a little while, but he wasn't a good guardian. All right, he was a good guardian. A little too good if you ask me. He was always making sure I did everything right, and when I had free time, he made me work outside in the fields behind his house. Maybe he helped me to get to one of the best colleges in the country, but still. Uncle Eddie ended up getting sick, and had to go to the hospital. He died his third night there. You think it's sad? I do too, but there are worse stories out there then mine.

After Uncle died, Ellyn, or Elli, as she'd rather be called, was already old enough to live on her own. She took care of me like a mother. She's been a little distant lately though, and goes out all the time. I think she might have a boyfriend. I don't normally see her during the day, with her job and me going to college and a job of my own. But when I do, she's usually moody. She didn't use to be like that, and its really confusing, and I always have to watch what I say around her, or she'll snap. She's a girl though, I don't think I'm even supposed to know what she's thinking.

About the funeral, one of her friend's cousin died, and she's going to go to the funeral. Elli told me about the girl who lost her cousin, they're really good friends, but I can't recall her name at the moment. I didn't want to go to the funeral at first… actually, I still don't want to, but she's making me. She's in one of her odd moods again, and I figured it would be best not to argue with her or end up still having to go, albeit with a black eye.

Elli came into the bathroom after hearing the shower turn off and giving me enough time to get dressed. I started to brush my hair but she pushed me out of the way to mess with her own hair and make up.

She's really quiet for a while, I think she's nervous. I am too, and I don't even know the dead guy. Or is it girl? This is just wonderful.

"Does this make me look fat?" Elli turns to me, tugging at the bottom of her shirt. Yep, definitely nervous.

"No, not at all," I answer. The shirt really doesn't make her fat, but its not the shirt she should worry about making her look fat. I'm not calling her obese or anything, but here stomach has… rounded a little bit. But if I told her that, I think I'd be having a funeral of my own.

Elli has the same red hair I have, it's longer of course, though it only goes a little past her shoulders, and is almost always put up in a pony-tail. Her eyes are blue, and her skin is a little darker than mine, but just as smooth.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?" She asked me, but I shook my head, and finished up with brushing my teeth.

"I don't feel like eating in the morning. You know that," I told her, and she looked at me concerned.

"Come on, you should at least eat something, you're as skinny as a twig!" Of course I'm not, that's physically impossible. I'd like to see someone who actually is. Well, maybe not.

"You know I don't like eating in the morning," I told Elli, and she frowned, but then shrugged. We had had this conversation a lot of times. Once, she practically forced me to eat, and I ended up getting really sick afterwards, though she blames it on bad milk or cereal or something. In the end she won't win, so it doesn't matter either way. Besides, she's been eating enough for both of us lately, I think she's nervous about something. She does eats a lot when she's nervous, but it could be something else.

It seems there is a lot I don't know about my own family. Now that's just sad.

Elli finished in the bathroom and joined me in the living room and sat down on the couch beside me as I flipped through the channels on the TV, but there was nothing on at the moment.

"Um, Aidan, there's something I should tell you," Elli said, looking down at her hands clasped on her lap. I looked over at her, frowning. She looked at me, apparently about to tell me, when she must have seen the digital clock behind me, because she gasped and got up, heading towards the door.

"Come on! We have to hurry up or we're going to be late!" She said and was out the door before I could ask her what she was going to say.

By the time I was sitting beside her in the car, I had already forgotten all about it.

I should mention to you that my sister and me have quite a bit of money in the bank, we just don't use it. Elli says she doesn't want to use it unless it's for a big emergency, though I think it's because our grandparents gave it to us. I've never met them before, but Elli has, and I know that she hates them a lot, but won't give me a reason why. I think Elli will probably use the money to pay for my college tuition.

We got to the church that was holding the funeral with a lot of time to spare, and I was yelling at my sister for making me get up so early to get to the funeral too early. At least in my mind I was. There was no way I was about to get myself humiliated in front of a bunch of strangers because of a girl beating me up. That would be so embarrassing.

It's not like i'm a weakling or anything. I might look to be on the slight side, but I've taken on people bigger then me before. I have a knack of getting into fights with certain kinds of people, but I've won more than I lost. I usually fight against those guys who try to talk tough and look muscular and everything and joke about me looking feminine. They're the ones that start it, I just decide to be the one to end it. I can get along with other people that don't piss me off too much though.

My sister is the only one I've never won a physical fight with. It's not like I'd actually hit her or anything, no way, she's a girl, so I just sit there and take it, or run if I can. If she'd been born as a boy, I'd probably still lose. But its not like she's abusive or anything. I can win a lot of the verbal fights, only cause I come up with quick remarks and make her really mad until she eventually gives in, but she's pretty smart herself, though she didn't go to college. I think so that she could have more time to take care of me and hold on to a job.

While I was staring out the church window at nothing in particular, I didn't notice that the church has filled up with people for the funeral, and that it has already started. By the time I finally do notice, people are already filing out towards the cemetery behind the church, following the casket as they bring it out into the rain. I see my sister walking with her friend that had lost her cousin, Sarah, I think. I'm bad with names.

I feel really sorry for the girl, she's about the same age I am, and is too young to have lost a loved one. I don't think I'd be able to take it if Elli died.

By the time I get to the gravesite, everyone is already there soaking wet from the rain, and the preacher is already halfway through his speech. There are a lot of people crying, and I feel like crying myself. I've been to far too many funerals, I think, my parent's, my uncle's, and this guy's whose name I still don't know, though I know that it is a guy now. At least that's something. I go and stand behind Elli and her friend who is crying her eyes out, and my sister is putting her arm comfortingly around the girl's shoulder, talking to her soothingly.

I usually think about my own death at night. I wonder if I'm scared of death, I'm not really sure. I think I have a small fear of it, but I've mostly just accepted that it is inevitable, and will happen no matter what I do to try and stop it.

I looked up, startled, from the patch of dirt turned mud that I was staring intently at. I looked around at the people beside me, but they were listening to the preacher, who was now calling someone up to talk about the dearly deceased.

I don't know what startled me, really, so I resumed my study of the mud at my feet. It felt as if someone was watching me, and I think that the little hairs on the back of my neck would rise if they weren't already plastered to my body with rain.

I started looking around me, but I saw nothing, at least until I look at the big tree quite a few yards a way and I see someone standing underneath it. Is it a friend? I think about asking Elli, but the person standing underneath the tree is hard to see because the rain is making it hard to look through, and Elli would just get angry. I think it was a guy. It seemed like a guy, he was pretty tall. At least taller than I am, but that didn't really mean anything. Elli was the same height I was, and I've seen girls that had almost towered over me.

I wonder why the person doesn't just come over, was he not invited to the funeral, but wanted to come anyway? Maybe he was staying underneath the tree because it shielded him from the rain. Or maybe he was visiting someone's grave.

But if he was visiting someone else's grave, why was he staring so intently over here, but then I had another thought. He is staring at me. Now that's just plain creepy. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he is looking at the girl, Sarah. But the more I think about it, the less I believe it. I'm probably just being paranoid, like Elli is always telling me that I am. I swear there are people out there that can read minds.

I was staring at the other man when I noticed Elli tugging at my sleeve. I looked at her and noticed that the funeral was pretty much over, and people were already leaving. Man, I've been spacing out so much today.

"I'm going to stay at Sarah's house tonight, so go ahead and go home," Elli said, holding out the keys to the car. I took the keys, she would call me when she wanted to go home and I would have to go pick her up.

I took one last look at the tree, but the man was gone. I shrugged and hurried off towards the car, wanting to get out of the rain, though I doubt it would matter much anymore since I was already soaked to the bone.

The rain had let up a little bit since I left the church a little over half an hour ago. I went home and changed, but I got bored, and decided to drive around a little. Eventually was bored of that, so I decided to go to the park not a block away from the church I had left earlier.

I parked the car in the parking lot and sat there for a while. The rain had let up a little bit, but it seemed that was as far as it was going to. I sighed and got out of the car, not caring about getting wet anymore. I walked towards the path that led through what had been once called woods, but most of the trees had been cut down.

The path led through the trees, around a large lake, and I walked around it. About halfway to the other side, I left the path, and walked into the woods, making my way around the trees and thorny plants. There was practically path there. Well, there once was a path here, but it had been covered up and a new one made after too many kids had gotten lost, after leaving the path, probably sure they could find it again.

I had been down this path many times, and I knew where it led. I walked for a few more minutes, and I eventually got to a small pond, with an old bench that people must have forgotten to get rid of. I sat down and sighed, wishing for a shelter from the rain, because it was starting to get annoying trying to keep the water out of my eyes.

I sat there for awhile, staring out over the small pond. It wasn't much, it was absolutely filthy from all the trash that was thrown into it. I doubt there are even fish in it anymore. But then again, was there ever? I'm pretty sure it was man-made.

Great, now I'm starting to get myself even more depressed. I start thinking about how everything is pretty much artificial, it really bothered me how everyone was messing everything up, and now we have global warming, just around the corner. Sure, we don't worry about it now, but we will when it's far to late. Apparently, in a few more years, it will be to late.

I sat back in the bench, hoping that it wouldn't break underneath my weight, as it was threatening to do with all the creaking it did with just one small shift.

I think I almost fell asleep out there in the rain when I felt that there was someone watching me again. I looked up quickly, and yelped, before digging my feet into the dirt, trying to push my self back. The bench decided that it was it's time to leave this world, and apparently wanted to take me with it. The legs started going sideways, and I was still trying to go backwards. I somehow managed to break the back of the bench off and I fell off and onto the wet ground.

I got up, blushing furiously, trying to get the mud off my back. I looked up at the thing that made me yelp in the first place, or should I say person. The person looked at me with amusement in his eyes, seemingly trying not to laugh out loud, and I could see him struggling to keep himself from smiling, but halfway failing because I could see the corner of his lips turning up.

"U-uh, sorry 'bout that," I apologized for no apparent reason, blushing even harder, half embarrassment from falling in such and undignified way, but mostly because he was kind of hot. Wait. I didn't just think that I was blushing because he was hot, right? Well, maybe it's because he is, though, and it's not exactly as if I could deny it. But seriously, I never think guys are hot.

I stood there, confused for a moment, when I looked back up at him, and he was still trying to stifle a laugh, which made me angry.

"If you're going to laugh, then do it and get it over with!" I all but yelled, though now it seemed he had it under control, and only coughed.

"You'll get sick if you stay out in the rain," he looked at me, as if he was studying me, so I decided to study him too, and completely forgot that I was going to say something back at him.

He was only a few inches taller then me, and a little broader. He had black hair and eyes, his hair was wavy and reached halfway down his ears. His skin seemed very smooth, at least as much as I could see, anyway. He was dressed completely in black, like he was going to a funeral, or just came from one, though I wouldn't doubt that was what filled up his whole wardrobe.

I noticed that he noticed me watching him, and I looked away face flaming, much to my humiliation.

"You should be a bit more careful alone in the woods you know. You never know when there might be some kind of lunatic out for blood roaming around," he said ominously. I think I probably should have been afraid, I heard what he said, but at the moment I wasn't really paying attention.

"Hey," he said, probably trying to get my attention, but I wasn't even looking at him anymore. What I was looking at was this snake about two feet long making its way over to us. I couldn't see it too well, since it was dark since there where clouds over the moon, but I could make out the markings on it's back, and I figured it was most likely foreign, and I wasn't sure if it was harmless or not. I doubted the other guy knew it was there, because he didn't even look at it.

I probably should have said something to him, but I was too distracted by the snake that was starting creeping its way over a log and then it stopped, I think it died. Most likely because it wasn't in its own natural habitat.

I knew that the other man was walking towards me slowly, and out of the corner of my eye saw him looking confused, and a little annoyed.

I was still trying to figure out why the snake was here in the first place, and wondering if it really was dead, because I was contemplating on poking it with a stick which probably wasn't smart on my part. I was about to walk over to find a stick long enough to poke it with, when I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, and I jumped.

"O-oh, um, yes?" I said, wondering what the other man was wanting. I suddenly got really nervous, and tried to step back, but the man held onto my shoulder, looking at me curiously.

"Are you alright, or are you already sick?" He asked, and I looked at him, confused now too.

"I'm fine, why?" I asked, forgetting my nervousness. I've been forgetting a lot of things lately I thought distractedly, missing what he said next.

"Did you say something?" I asked him, but he just sighed and let go of my shoulder and stepped back.

"Why are you out in the middle of the woods?" He asked, but I didn't really feel like telling him the reason. Elli always said I acted childish. But then again, I don't see why I have to tell my reason to a complete stranger.

"Maybe... because I want to be?" I said, looking at the snake I decided was dead. I want to poke it. Maybe it was playing dead, and knew I wanted to poke it, and was trying to draw me into a sense of security. Wouldn't it roll over to do that, if it were playing dead? That's what they do, right?

The clouds passed over the moon, and I could see the snake. Yep, it's foreign. Some kind of Mexican pit viper I think. I'm also pretty sure its venomous. I decided that I didn't want to take my chances by poking it.

"There could be dangerous things out here." Like the snake, maybe?

"What about you? You say its dangerous, yet here you are," I told him. I think I surprised him. Or maybe confused him, I don't know.

"I may be one of the most dangerous things," he smiled, and I saw a flash of his pearly whites.

"Well then, I think I can defend myself then," I said rather confidently.

"But what if I'm stronger, or I have a gun or a knife? Don't you think you should run?" He said, giving me a creepy grin and he had an odd look in his eyes.

"Well then, I'd pretty much be screwed then, wouldn't I? If you're stronger, then you could probably outrun me, and if you had a gun, you wouldn't even need to run, now would you? And then what use would it be for me to run if I was going to die anyway?" I said. He looked at me strangely, then started chuckling.

"What?" I asked confused. If I thought about it logically, that's what would happen, right? If he came after me with a gun, I probably wouldn't have a chance. Well, if he had good aim I wouldn't. But then there was also the darkness, so he wouldn't be able to see too good. I could probably also hide behind a tree or something. Huh...

I noticed the rain was getting harder, and could hear thunder in the distance. What was I going to do for dinner? I started thinking, I didn't feel like cooking anything. I didn't really feel like eating really, but I knew if Elli found out that I didn't eat anything, she'd throw a fit and yell at me. I should really get home though, because I have things to do tomorrow.

I started walking away, and I moved around the snake that I swear just moved, but that might have been because I tripped over the log it was laying on.

"Hey, where are you going?" The man called behind me, and I jumped. I'd forgotten all about him.

"Home," I said, and started walking again. I almost jumped again when I noticed the other man walking beside me.

"What were you looking at back there?" He asked, breaking the silence. At first I didn't remember what he was talking about, but then it came back to me.

"Oh, that's right. There was a snake. A dead snake, but a snake." The other man stared at me a moment, then chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked. What the hell was so funny about a poisonous snake that could kill me?

"Nothing, nothing. Its just that I could be a deranged psychopath out to kill you and you are more interested in some dead snake."

"Hey, hey, it might not have been dead," I tried defending the dead snake, and he grinned, but left it at that.

It was quiet for a while as we kept on walking. By now, we were at the lake, and heading towards the parking lot.

I thought about asking him his name, but when I looked over, the man was gone. That surprised me a bit. When did he leave?

I got to the car and sat down in the driver's seat, realizing too late that my back was still covered in mud. Elli is going to kill me.

This is the end of the first chapter, I hope you like it. Please leave a review, I'd appreciate it.

Oh, and one more thing, you might have noticed in my story, but I kind of ramble a little bit, sorry bout that.

I revised some of these chapters.