A/N: Hey everybody! I'm Nicole, I've published on here before but I deleted it all about a year ago due to my mom finding out and biting my head off about it for reasons I still am unaware of. I hope you enjoy this story about a sexy vampire of my imagination and a stupid girl who everyone will be jealous of once they see how sexy the vampire of my imagination is. Yes. That is all. Enjoy!

Always, I've been frightened of anything out of the ordinary or supernatural. I'm afraid of anything like that hurting me or my friends and family, I'm afraid of encountering them, I'm afraid of being watched by them, and I'm definitely afraid of seeing them. I didn't even think they existed. But I was – as I usually am – wrong.

October is my favorite month because of its sheer eerie and spooky aura. Surprisingly, Halloween is my favorite holiday since I can dress up like a witch and see other people dressed up scarily without actually being afraid of them. I like carving out the pumpkins that I set at my door, and stretching cotton with plastic spiders fastened into them along the railing of my apartment. When the kids ring my doorbell, I like flickering the lights to creep them out a bit, but then opening the door with a hearty welcome and a handful of cheap candy.

Tonight, it's Halloween. Since exactly eight PM, kids and teenagers and some adults even have been ringing my doorbell nonstop, chanting 'trick or treat!' and collecting goodies from various apartments and houses. Its well near ten now, and since it's a weekday, most parents have probably already put their children to bed. I decide to eat the leftover Tootsie Rolls while I have a horror move marathon all by myself since my gay best friend bailed on me for a hookup at a party he went to. He's like a cat in heat when it comes to meeting other guys. Except he's always in heat.

After my favorite horror movie – A Nightmare on Elm Street – finished airing, I nearly jumped at the sound of the doorbell. I got up off the couch, stumbling slightly since my feet were practically numb from my high heels even though I'd had them off for a while now, yet I hadn't been motivated to change out of my short, lacy, witch dress or the fishnet tights I was wearing beneath it. Looking through the peephole, I growled the word: 'enter,' in a deep voice, hoping for him to get freaked out so I could have a good laugh. I saw it was a rather sexy looking boy, most likely around my age, clad in sunglasses and leaning against the mantle, far too close to my door. It made me feel a bit uneasy. I mustered up the best smile I could even thought I was hardly in the mood for more people to come knocking on my door. I unlocked the door and swung it open.

"Hello!" I welcome the stranger even though it was a bit odd having him in front of my apartment so late at night. Glancing at the clock on the stove in the kitchen, I saw it was nearly one AM.

The stranger smirked almost devilishly, and as he lowered his sunglasses, I could tell mischief was flooding his dark, mysterious eyes. His eyes studied my face and my body carefully – making me flush dark red – before he finally answered my greeting. "Trick or treat," was all he said, his voice low and husky. He grinned, revealing a set of surprisingly convincing fangs in the place of his canines.

"Whoa," I said in awe, leaning in to get a closer view at his teeth. Maybe it was a trick of the light or something. "Those look really cryptic, are you sure they're fake?" I joked, lamely of course.

He smiled though, despite the punch line being stupid, before pushing his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose. Within seconds the amusement was wiped from his face, being replaced by an expression I couldn't exactly read. It was then that I realized how abnormally beautiful and how defined the features on his face were. His hair was a light brown, coming down to shadow his eyes which were shielded by the unneeded sunglasses anyhow, and it also covered the tips of his ears. His nose wasn't big, but it wasn't feminine either. He had a well-defined jaw line; I could tell that even though the collar of his coat was folded up to keep his neck from the cold. And his eyes – I didn't know. They'd seemed almost the color of the sky when there's a new moon – pitch black.

He breathed in before slowly and seriously saying the next words. "Nah, I'm pretty sure they're not fake."

The modest smile I'd greeted the stranger with earlier was gone, and confusion wrote itself across my forehead in its place. Then I started laughing almost uncontrollably. This boy was funny! "Oh, wow, that was even more lame than my joke!" I gasped through my fits of laughter. "And my jokes are really lame!" As my hysterical episode died down, I searched for some way to tell he was really just kidding in his expression, but found nothing. He was dead serious. Maybe he was crazy or something.

"I don't see what's so funny. You shouldn't be laughing at me – you should be afraid of me." The stranger replied.

Now I was the one getting freaked out rather than him, like I'd hoped. "Oh-kay… Well, listen, you kind of are freaking me out with your pointy teeth and your mysterious coat and the sunglasses and your freakishly serious expression." I waited a few seconds for a response from him, but his face remained solemn. Taking a deep breath, I continued. "So yeah, I've been out of candy for a while, but I do have some really juicy red apples inside if you want?" Really? That's all I could say?

So quickly that I hadn't even any idea what had happened, the stranger grabbed my wrists and pushed me into my apartment, kicking the door shut with what I saw was a combat boot. He had me pinned against the wall behind my door in a flash, his grip menacing and his lips against the hollow of my throat. I swallowed in fear.

"You're – you're hurting – me," I managed to choke out.

He chuckled, and I felt the cool tip of his nose slide up my neck and onto my cheek, inhaling, leaving his icy lips right below my jaw. "Don't worry, if you keep quiet, I'll make it quick – you won't feel anything."

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you insane?" I tried to pry my wrists from his grasp, but he had some sort of other-worldly strength to him, so it was just about useless to struggle, but it didn't keep me from trying to get away. I stomped on his foot with all my might, but it did me no good. His boots were hard as a rock. I tried kicking him, but in my tights, I only ended up hurting myself. I attempted to knee him in the groin, but my tight mini-dress constricted my legs from reaching that high. I'd run out of options in less than seven seconds. "I'll call the cops! I'll scream!" I threatened him, hoping he would stop. "My neighbors are a friendly and protective couple!" I didn't add the part about them being elderly and already each having a foot in their graves.

He nipped at the skin of my neck playfully, almost. "Oh no you won't," he pulled back and removed one hand to take off his aviators and throw them somewhere behind him, but his hand was back on my wrist before he'd even finished talking. His eyes, which I could now see were a very deep shade of green, bore into mine, making me know indirectly that he wasn't about to talk shit. "Because if you do, I swear to God that I'll rip out your vocal cords, then make everything happen slowly. It'll be so painful you can never imagine it."

He leaned closer when I turned my face away from his intense gaze, his lips grazing the corner of my mouth seductively. "So do you promise to not make a sound?" he whispered into my ear, so quietly even I could barely hear it. I shook my head yes in response, whimpering slightly as the corners of my eyes prickled with tears that threatened to fall at any second. "Good girl…" He almost made it sound like I was his prey.

"I – can I just ask a question?" I whispered, choking up. At first it looked like he was annoyed that I'd already broken my promise about being quiet, but then seemed to let it go. He 'mm-hmm' –ed into the crook where my neck met my shoulder. He had easy access to the area as my dress was strapless and there was nothing I could do. "What – um, what is it that – that you're going to do to me?" I asked, breathing hard.

His voice was muffled against my skin, but I still could hear the words loud and clear. "Simple: I'm going to kill you. It's been a while since I drank and I could smell you from a mile away. I can only imagine how you taste." He placed the flat of his tongue against my neck, tasting. "Mmm, your skin tastes good, even. I'm really going to enjoy you." He paused before adding, "But right now, I'm debating whether I want to have my way with you first – I didn't expect you to have such a rockin' body."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I was offended, but I was so helpless I didn't even think about risking my last precious moments of life insulting him.

"Usually people with blood that smells as divine as yours aren't as… attractive."

"What? You want to drink my blood? You insane, crazy – man! No way! No way!" I started writhing against his body, pushing myself against the wall in an attempt to get away, but suddenly his body was lined up against mine like a jigsaw piece; I couldn't move at all – I could hardly breathe.

"I thought I'd let on enough for you to get the idea," he began, eyes peering into my own once again. "And what the hell is your problem? I told you to keep your damn mouth shut or else there would be consequences!"

"What's my problem?" I gasped. "I want to know what on earth your problem is!"

"Okay, well, first off, I'm a really thirsty vampire and you smell really good." He explained it all so casually. A vampire? That would explain the fangs… And the bloodsucking… "And, second of all, you're making me a really pissed off vampire, so if you don't want his to hurt, just let me get my business done and I'll be on my way." He didn't give me much of a choice, so I just turned my face away from him, revealing my neck to him so he could do as he pleased. It tickled when I first felt his hair against my shoulder, causing me to crane my neck in discomfort. To my surprise, the stranger backed away and let go of my wrists completely.

"For the love of God, what now?" he asked me bitterly. Was it masochistic to think this boy was completely sexy under the current circumstances? I rubbed my wrists, which were already had a dull hue of purple on them. His hands were the outline of the bruises. Now was my chance to run to my room and lock the door. Surely he'd give up once he knew there was no chance of me coming out until he did. But for some reason or another, my feet remained firmly planted to the ground.

"Nothing, nothing happened." I replied. "Your hair was just tickling me, that's all…"

"Tickling?" he looked lost in thought briefly. "Oh, yeah, that's a human feeling, along with remorse, love… And a bunch of other stuff I don't feel." Now he looked angry, and I truly did fear him then and there. The stranger slowly walked back over to me, grabbing my shoulders rather than my wrists this time, and pinning me to the wall once again. "Don't worry babe – it'll all be over before you know it…"

I could feel his hot, sweet smelling breath against the side of my neck, giving me goose bumps all over my body. Worse than that, I could feel two sharp points against the sensitive skin there, ready to puncture me and suck me dry; dead. The needle-like points kept pressing on my skin and the initial bite made me squeeze my eyes shut in pain. I couldn't stop shaking. I forced my arms between our bodies so he would keep his distance for one thing, and so that I could pinch myself. This had to be some horrible nightmare. This couldn't be real. But when the pinch actually hurt, and I heard this stranger gulp like he was swallowing, I knew that it was reality.

"Please – " I whimpered helplessly, feeling lightheaded. I reached up to grasp onto his broad shoulders for support – it felt like I could black out anytime now. "Please, don't – don't kill… me…" I tried again.

The gulping sounds stopped. I felt him pull his fangs out of my neck, and pull back to look at me, his eyebrows pulled together and his expression troubled. His lips were red with blood that was smeared all over his mouth, and it was rather disgusting, but I sighed in relief anyway. "Please, just don't…" I whispered. "I can make a deal with you, anything…"

"Like what?" he whispered. "Make it quick."

"I, uh, well – I'll give you a place to stay. Surely you don't have anywhere to go…"

"Not good enough," he mumbled against my neck huskily, and it felt like his tongue was lapping at the wound. He was about to sink his teeth in again, but I tried something else.

"Wait, wait, wait!" and he did. "What – what would you suggest? Isn't there something – that you want?" I swallowed hard.

"Right now, there's nothing I want more than your blood, because it's the best damn thing I've tasted in seventy-four years."

"Oh-kay… Well could we at least sit down and talk about this like normal human– I mean, people?"

He chuckled at that, seemingly forcing a smile. Sighing, he said: "Yeah sure. Whatever." He stepped away from me, putting his hands up as though he was surrendering. "The mood's lost anyway."

"Mood?" I asked, wondering how there could have been a mood for that predicament.

"Yeah, didn't you feel it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Despite his personality and the stupid wicked smirk he had, he was downright sexy. I guess he had to be, to attract people to him.

"Feel what?"

"Huh… Weird…" he mumbled. I still wanted to know what he was talking about, but I decided I'd pushed my luck enough for one night.

"Bathroom's down the hall so you can wash your mouth," I muttered, going farther down that same hallway into my room, shutting the door behind me. I went straight into my bathroom, grabbing my washcloth and soaking it under the warm water from the tap in the sink. I looked in the mirror, my eyes immediately looking at the reflection of my wound. My blood was smeared all over my neck and shoulder – I guess I could say he was a messy eater? I smiled despite my current situation and dabbed the warm cloth on the two miniscule, but quite sore, holes at my pulse point, wincing. As soon as I was all cleaned up, with two bandages on the bite marks, I changed into a more comfortable attire of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. I finally came back out of my room to find the stranger leaning against the door mantle that lead out from the hall.

He'd turned around as soon as I'd turned the knob on the door, even though it was almost silent, and I concluded it was some superhuman vampire thing. I walked past him, but motioned for him to follow, flopping down onto the couch in the small living room of my apartment. I couldn't exactly afford much, being a college student and all. The stranger sat down on at the other end of the couch, bringing his boot-clad foot up to rest on his knee.

"So," I began. "What are your terms and conditions?" I pulled my legs up onto the couch, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"I'm… already having second thoughts about letting you live…" he told me, his soft features cast with torn decisions. His reply immediately made me tense up in fear. He said he'd let me live!

"What – why?" I cried, my hands beginning to shake and my nerves returning.

"I told you a lot, about who I am, and what I do… I only said what I said because I figured you were going to die anyway; it's not like I was breaking any rules…"

Great, so there were weird secret societies of covens of vampires living together? Hopefully there was no such thing as the Volturilike in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. I hoped he didn't sparkle in the sun either. "There are rules?" I asked, almost rolling my eyes at how cliché this all seemed.

"Yes, but one of the rules is to not tell you those rules." He told me, giving me a close-mouthed smile after he did. He muttered the next part under his breath, but I heard it. Hopefully you never will.

"Why didn't you kill me?" The words came out of my mouth before I'd even had a chance to think about them.

He scoffed. "Maybe one day I'll…tell you."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand roughly. "Does that mean you're going to let me live, and it's over?" I asked happily.

He tilted his head back, exposing his neck, and let out a loud laugh that bounced off the walls of the small living room, echoing through the halls and the kitchenette. It was abnormally sexy, and inside the four walls, it suddenly felt abnormally warm. "Yeah, right. You cheated death. You cheated me!" he exclaimed, looking back at me. "Not without strings attached."

"Which are?"

"First off, you can't tell a single soul on this entire planet about what I told you and what happened...back there. I promise you now, that I will kill you if you ever utter a single syllable about what I am to anybody."

That was easy enough. I, myself, didn't even want to remember all this, let alone tell anyone about it. Not even my gay best friend, Christian.

"Well…you did say I could have a place to stay…" he began, counting the terms off on his slender fingers. "I'd also like new clothes. Since I hardly ever drink from men – disgusting – and it's not like I can drag a suitcase around with me everywhere I go, this is all I've got. You'd be surprised at how boring it gets wearing the same clothes for longer than a year."

I grimaced at the thought of him feeding off anyone. It was sick, and that was from my own personal experience. "Is that all?"

"You might not like the next one, but hey, I've lived long enough to realize it's easier to just not give a shit and threaten anyone who doesn't comply with your demands."

"Oh-kay…"

"Like I said, your blood is the best thing I've tasted in a really, really long time…"

I saw the resolve in his eyes before I heard the inaudible click in my brain. "No. Nuh-uh. Don't think so."

He moved his foot from its resting place on his knee and inched a bit closer, staring at me almost hypnotically. "Uh-huh…" he argued, but it seemed like he didn't have any doubts about him winning the hardly-considered-to-be-a-debate. Now the room was really feeling warm. But when I continued to shake my head 'no,' he threatened me. The stranger was leaning over me from my right, one of his strong hands in my hair, pulling my head back to reveal my neck. "No deal, then. I guess… I'll just have to bite you again, right now…" I didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence.

"Okay, okay, okay!" I replied, angry. "Just get your damn hand out of my hair, it hurts."

He immediately untangled his fingers from the long strands that cascaded down to almost my bottom and curled naturally at the ends. His hand trailed down onto my throat, right on the place he'd bitten me earlier, and felt the band aids that were there, a confused expression crossing his features. He put his hand back in my hair and pulled again, giving him access to the area. "What the hell?" I heard him say before muttering something about allergic reactions to vampire bites, until he paused then burst into hysterics as he realized what they were. "Band-aids?" he asked me, and for the first time that night it looked like the smile reached his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" I asked, reaching behind my head to pull his hand away.

"Here, I'll show you what you're supposed to do." He told me quietly, after his laughter had subsided but that same arrogant smirk remained etched across his almost-red lips. I winced as he ripped off the band-aids that were covering the small bruised welts faster than the human eye could follow. Before I could object, the stranger put his mouth to my neck and licked a clean stripe over the wounds, and I couldn't say I didn't like it. He pulled back as quickly as he'd leant in and smiled at me. "There." I reached up to touch my neck, and the welts were gone.

"Wow – that was… pretty cool, actually. You've got like, super-spit!" I exclaimed, and he rolled his eyes. "What else can you do?"

"In good time, baby, in good time." I didn't appreciate the pet name.

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever," he said, falling back on the couch, his boots unlaced and kicked onto the floor in record time. He placed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, sighing in contentment. "Ah, I forgot how nice it feels to actually lay on something that isn't made of cardboard."

I scoffed, getting up from the couch. "Well, I have to go to university tomorrow, since I've actually got a future, so if you don't mind…" I walked into the hallway and opened the closet, grabbing an extra pillow off the top shelf and a warm blanket as well, going back into the living room and throwing them both at him in slight anger at how arrogant he was. He caught them both without even opening his eyes.

"Trust me, babe," he began, emphasizing the use of his pet name for me, "it's gonna take a lot more than flinging soft pillows at me to piss me off."

"Stop calling me that!" I almost growled at him. My hands were at my sides, fisted.

"What should I call you then, tiger?" he asked, opening one eye to look at me, raising an eyebrow.

"By my name!" I replied, and it was then that it dawned upon me that I hadn't actually told him my name, and vice-versa.

"Mind telling me what that might be?"

"Alexa." I sighed in defeat. "What about you, Mr. Vamp?"

He chuckled. "Don't call me that." With that same stupid smirk, he added: "My name's Salem, but you can call me whatever you want. Kinda cute when you're angry."

"Salem?" I asked curiously, the anger fading. What a strange name. Maybe it was a nickname of some sort; surely no one would name their child Salem. I'd never heard of it before, at least, but it was unique. Mysterious. Sexy – I'd been using that word way too often tonight.

"Yeah, Alexa?" he replied. My name rolled off his tongue like it was music. He made me like my name for once in my life.

"I'm going to bed." I stated, my eyebrows coming together, wondering why I said that.

"Mmkay," he stretched. "I can't say the same for myself. I just got up." His answer was weird, until I remembered vampires were nocturnal creatures.

"Good – goodnight." I said simply, nearly running down the hallway to my room and shutting the door behind me. I headed over to my bed, pulling the covers down and crawling in. I'd usually start counting inside my head to help myself doze off faster, but I hadn't even gotten to three before I'd fallen into a deep sleep, filled with strange scenarios that certainly made more sense than what had happened that night.

A/N: Soooo? Did you like it? Review please! c: