The begining.

Justin ran into Amelia's room and hid under the bed and laughed.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "You do know he'll problably get you later while I'm not here", she said.

"He looks exactly like My first husband did when he died." She mumabled.

~~
Cinder glared at him. "I'm not nice" she said, truning to leave. "Why did you follow me!?" Sghe demaned. Suddenly the rain pick up, aand lighting and thunder started. She yelped, the lighting and thunder scared her. She quickly stood up, for she had fallen when she yelped.

~~
Patrick smriked,he laguhed slightly. "Sorry." he said. "For my strange thought."

~~
Tobias frowned. "Whatever." He said and walked on.

~~
Clover stood just down the hall. She knocked, for once. "Draven?"

"If you don't mind me asking...." Alex started. "What was your husband's name?" A feeling of dread had settled over her.
~~~~~
"I was bored," Seth shrugged. He frowned, and offered her a hand to help him up when she fell. "It's just lightning; nothing to be scared of," He said.
~~~~
Leanne smiled slightly, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"What strange thought?" She asked.
~~~~
"What?!" Draven thundered. He was furious, more than furious. He was pacing back and forth in front of his window, his face now makeup-free.
~~~~
Isabel told Elianna what had happened, and now she was laughing.

"I'm gonna go explore more," She said suddenly, and was off before she could say anything about it. She saw Tobias, and ran towards him.

"Uncle Tobias!" She shouted. Toby barked. "Uncle Tobias!!"

"Isaac Nelson." She said softly.

~~
"I wasn't scared!" Cinder yelled, but she was lieing.

~~
Patrick smiled. "You don't want to know." He said, laying back on her bed.

~~
She opened the door slightly. "Are you going to bite my head off?" She asked, no pun attended.

~~
Tobias frowned. "What?"

Alex froze. She just slowly nodded. Then she turned and ran.
~~~~
"Are you going to let me help you up or not?" Seth asked, sounding slightly amused.
~~~~~
"Sure I do," Leanne protested. She poked him, still standing next to the bed.
~~~~~
Draven frowned. "No, no. Sorry," He said. "Come in, and close the door behind you."
~~~~~
"Do you wanna play with me???" Isabel asked. Toby barked again.

Amelia got up and saw it was raining outside. SHe decided to go and hunt. SHe went out into the hall and knocked on Lia's door and went in. "Want to go hunting with me?", she asked.

Lia nodded. "Sure", she said and put down her book.

Justin ran out of the room. "can I come?", he asked.

Amelia shook her head. "no sorry but you're fangs aren't in all the way yet.", she said ruffling his hair and walking downstairswith Lia.

"It was very strange." partick said.

~~
"No-" She said standing up. then she jumped at more lighting. She clung to his shrit without relizing it. She quickly let go. "You saw nothing." She said.

~~
Clover nodded, and did as he said, slightly scared.

~~
"No!" Tobias yelled.

"Telllll meeee," Leanne whined, then smiled. She poked him again, still standing next to the bed. "Or do I have to force it out of you?"
~~~~
Seth involuntarily placed a hand on her back when she clung to his shirt, then quickly let go when she pulled back. He smirked slightly.

"Shall we go?" He asked simply. He was smiling somewhat strangely at her.
~~~~
"What's wrong?" Draven asked her, turning to face her. He was still angry, though not as much.
~~~~
Isabel stopped, frowning. "But....why?" She asked quietly. Toby barked again.
~~~~
Alex sat on the swingset in their backyard, staring at the dirt at her feet. She pushed herself back and forth, back and forth, slowly, slowly. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

Issac was married, she had known that. But that his wife would just show up, after so long----and she had put two and two together. He had a daughter. And a grandson. He had his own little family, and she had no place in it. She never had one. It was wishful thinking.

She had no place in his life at all. She hardly knew him, the more she thought about it. It was stupid. She was nothing like him, but they both had problems, that much was obvious.

Ella was watching her sister from the window. She had found out what had happened, but didn’t know what to do for her. She was feeling horrible; she could do nothing to help her sister.

Alex looked up, her face a mixture of pain, sadness, and longing. Longing for what she could not have. Could never have had.

What she had ever saw in that man was a mystery even to her; but it was inevitable now. She had fallen for him, fallen hard. And she had her heart broken.

She wiped away a tear she didn’t realize she had shed. She knew it had been stupid to hope; Issac had been married. Death may have changed that, but she would still never be as pretty as any other girls here. She was nowhere near as charming either. She was a rough, violent, plain jane. She was foolish to think that he could ever look at her that way.

She stood up and starting walking down the sidewalk, feeling numb. She didn’t know where she was going, nor did she care. Her heart felt like a heavy weight, weighing her down with every step she took.

She visited her old friend Dominic's grave, and then headed towards their old secret hiding place. It was at the edge of the cemetary; a large tree trunk, hollowed out in the back. She didn't remember how they had found it, but just that they met there a lot. She slipped around the side and sat down in it, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the bark. She hardly fit anymore; she wasn't little anymore. She would give anything to see him right now. He would know how to cheer her up.

Amelia walked out side and ran through the trees looking for a deer or something.

Lia ran next to her.

~~~
Justin stood in the door way. he ran back upstairs and hid in Amelia's closet again.

Dominic was sitting high in the tree. As alittle boy he would have never climbed that high in the tree. He used to be scared of every thing.

"Hey!" he called. "Who are you!?" He damaned. When he was little he wouldn't have said it like that.

~~
Cinder frowned. "Yes." She said walking off.

~~
"Awww, can't I keep my fantices to myself?" Patrick asked.

~~
"You sound mad." Clover said softly.

~~
"I'm not three." He said, bitterly, "I don't play with little kids."

Alex poked her head out of the tree, and looked up at whoever was up in the tree.

"Who are /you/?" She answered him.
~~~~
Leanne felt her cheeks heat up.

"Um....fantasies?" She asked. "What do you....uhm....mean?"
~~~~
Seth followed her as she began to walk out of the forest. His home was this way too.
~~~~~
"Of course I am!" Draven said. "Some stupid little kid decided it would be amusing to put makeup on me while I slept."
~~~~~
"I'm not a little kid!" Isabel protested, standing up straight and looking at him.

He glared at her. "Dominic." He said, angerliy. He wouldn't have sounded so mad as a little kid.

~~
Patrick frowned. "I'm sorry I said anything." he said, and closed his eyes. "I was joking anyway."

~~
Cinder jumped again when more lighting stuck.

~~
Clover covered her mouth with her hands, tring not to laguh. "I'm sorry." She said.

~~

"How old are you?" He asked.

Isabel glared at him. "8," She said simply.
~~~~
"Dominic....?" Alex asked, crawling out of the tree and standing up striaght and looking up at him. "Is that....you? It's me, Alex."
~~~~~
Seth had to stifle a laugh at her jumping. "Scared?" He teased her.
~~~~~
"Oh..." Leanne mumbled. "Well, night," She said quietly. She was more tired than she had thought, and yawned as she started to leave. She paused, trying to decide what to do. She would sleep on the floor in here, probably.
~~~~~
"It wasn't funny," Draven protested.

"Little." Tobias said.

~~
"How old was he?" Clover asked.

~~
"No." She lied, but jumped again, when more lighting stuck.

~~
He sat up. "You want your bed back?"He asked.

~~
Domninic jumped down, something he wouldn't do as a little kid. "Alex?"

Draven shrugged. "2? I don't know," He said.
~~~~
"Am not!!" Isabel protested. She thrust her chin out defiantly, the perfect image of her mother. Only she had her grandmother's eyes.
~~~~~~
Seth laughed slightly, and grabbed her hand and started running out of the woods.
~~~~~
"Dominic!" Alex cried. She didn't have time to think of how he was here, but she hugged him nonetheless. Then she pulled back. "What...what are you doing here???" She asked.
~~~~~
"No, it's fine. You seem too tired to make it back to your room," Leanne said. "I'll take the floor," She yawned. "Besides, I normally end up there anyways." She took an extra blanket out of her closet and curled up on the ground near the bed.

Clover smiled. "he is too young to understand what he had done. You can't blame him."

~~
Tobias frowned. "Stop acting like a child then."

~~
Dominic frowned, suddenly remebering his feelings for her.

~~
"Hey!" Cinder called. "what's you doing!"

~~
He opened one eye. "Do you really want to know what I was thinking?" He asked, sliding down of the bed, and sitting next to her.

Draven frowned. "I can," He protested.
~~~
"Getting you out of here!" Seth called over his shoulder, and kept running.
~~~
"I don't," Isabel protested. "/You/ do."
~~~~~
Leanne looked at him. She suddenly felt nervous, but nodded.

"Yeah," She said. "I do." She sat up and faced him.
~~~~~
"Dominic....why are you here?" Alex repeated herself, frowning slightly. She was happy, so happy, to see him, but she had to wonder.

Luna was wlaking through the woods trying to find her way out, because it had started raining. It wasn't helping the Isis was pulling her in otehr directions as well.

Amelia found a small group of deer and slowed down. Lia slowed down as well and got low so they couldn't see her.

Patrick frowned. "I'll show you instead." He said and leaned over, pressing his lips grenily to hers.

~~
Clover frowned. "Yes you can, but it wouldn't be right."

~~
Nelly opened the door, without knocking. "Do yu really think it's safe to back talk to him?"

~~
Tobais walked away without a word.

~~
Cinder frowned. "I was fine!" She lied.

~~
"Whty are you here?" Dominic asked, anwser her qustion with one of his own.

~~
Nicole saw Luna.

"Just hanging around the neighborhood," Alex joked. Then she smiled sadly at him. "I died, and then me and Ella came back here. There's many others here, like us---who are dead," She said quietly.
~~~~
Draven glared at her, then sighed.

"You're right, you're right," He mumbled. Then he looked at Nelly, his eyes narrowing slightly, his old demenor back suddenly.
~~~~~
Isabel glared at him, and then ran back to her mom's room, Toby close at her heels.
~~~~~
"No you weren't," Seth said, and kept running.
~~~~~
Leanne's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't pull back, however. She kissed him back softly, her hands at her sides. She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. She finally understood that she liked him. He was the only one here, well him and Darren, who didn't judge her and who actually liked her. She realized now that she liked him, too. A lot, actually.

Patrick was momentarily surprised, when she kissed him back, but he didn’t complain. Matter of fact, he had been expecting her to pull away and hit him.

He had kissed girls before, but he had never liked any of those girls as much as he liked Leanne.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, a small smile gracing his lips as he kissed her.


~!~

Andrew sat up in bed. He suddenly felt . . . Happy. But he didn’t know why. Then he remembered the bond. Why was Leanne so happy!? It was coming from her so strongly, that his nightmare, something about the night he changed Leanne, had been cut off, and chased away. Soon his own anger masked her happiness.

He breathed in quickly, and clamed himself so she wouldn’t feel his own feelings. He become great at hiding his feelings from her, but she wasn’t able to do that yet. He didn’t even think she knew that, if she tried hard enough, she could hide her feelings from him.

He quickly got up and walked down the hall toward her room.

‘Patrick.’ She was thinking something about Patrick. Andrew almost didn’t want to know what.


~!~

Patrick was about to pull away when the door opened. Andrew was standing there, and then Darren appeared. Patrick quickly broke the kiss, looking like a little boy who just been caught, but pure happiness shone in his eyes. She had kissed him back! That just told him that she felt the same way about him that he felt about her.

He was so happy, but Darren, Darren looked hurt. He too liked Leanne, but he had been too scared to tell her, let alone kiss her! He wasn’t just hurt that she had been kissing another guy, it hurt even worst to know that she was kissing his best friend. And then there was the fact that he had seen them kissing, that just added to the hurt.

He knew he should have been happy that his friend found someone who didn’t just want use him, but he wasn’t. Every other girl Patrick had kissed before Leanne only kissed him to get something from him; human girls who found out he was a vampire wanted him to make them immortal; Vampire girls kissed him to get to his father’s wealth. Darren knew that Leanne kissed him because she liked him; she was already immortal, and she didn’t know about his wealth.

But why did the only girl that liked Patrick for Patrick have to be the only girl that understood Darren!? Darren didn’t think it was fair. He was over 600 years old, never once in those 600 years did he like a girl like he liked Leanne, and Patrick, who was only about 300 years old and had tasted the sweet lips of a girl so many times before, had to like her too, and steal her away with one simple kiss.

Darren took a step back and looked away, he closed his eyes tight as if he was fighting back tears, but vampires couldn’t cry. No matter how much he wanted to, Darren couldn’t shed a single tear. His hand were shaking, he clenched them into fists.

“I’ll go.” Finally managed to say, and disappeared.

Andrew frowning. “Get over here.” The bond was strong now, and it was still growing. She would do as she was told.

Patrick stood up.

“Is this what you do when I’m not looking?” Somehow he sounded more like a worried older brother, then an angry master. He didn’t understand why, so he ignored it.

“Would you cut her a break?” Patrick asked

“Leave!” Andrew said, annoyed.

Patrick smirked, and walked up to Leanne, he took her hand, and kissed the top softly. Then he stumbled back to his room. He laid on his bed, but sleep couldn’t find him. He was too happy, he didn’t think he ever been so happy, never! He liked Leanne a lot.

But deep down he was wondering why Darren looked so hurt. He didn’t think about it for long, his joy pushed those thoughts out of his head.

Sleep soon stole him away.

~!~

Darren appeared in the ally way of a small town somewhere in Europe. It was night here, already. Darren started walking deeper and deeper into town. He needed to think, he needed to forget. He wanted to cry, but just like Leanne, that wasn’t something he could have.

It was quiet and peaceful here. It was a Vampire commune, hidden deep in the mountains of Europe, away from humans. Most of the vampires who lived here drank only animal blood, there wasn’t a human for miles.

Most of the vampires here were born vampires, there were some of the older made vampires, any other made vampires would be here because of there masters, and only a hand full of dhampirs. This was because most dhampirs were usually left with their human parent. Dhampirs were rare, anyhow. Matter of fact there was only one dhampir child here at the moment; a little girl named Lure.

The town was old and walled in, but still had all the modern adaptations; running water, electricity, etc.

Darren had been raised in the old, falling apart castle that was just out side the commune’s walls. Pamala and sisters had found him after his family was killed, and brought him back here, and raised him in the castle, in secret. If another vampire found out he was there, they would have killed him.

It was about 300 years after he was turned into a vampire that he met Patrick, who was six at the time. Patrick had been a klutz as a child. When Darren and Patrick met, Patrick had fallen into the fountain that was in the middle of the town’s square. Darren had been the one to pull the little, wide eyed boy out. Patrick’s golden eyes had fascinated him, even among vampires, that shade of gold was rare.

As Patrick grew up, they became friends. Sometimes they would leave the commune to visit human towns. It was on one of these visits that he met the author of Dracula.

Once they even visited the commune that Patrick was born in. It was a larger commune under the control of the Lurelacks. This is when Darren found out about the extent of the Winters’ wealth.

Darren finally looked around. He was in the town’s square. He sighed and started to walk to the edge of the town.

At the edge of the town, pushed right up to the wall was a small house. Pamala and her sisters were still at the castle, but Darren preferred to be around people. So, he lived on the inside of the walls. But there was a reason it was against the wall, if you climb down to the basement you’d find an entrance to a tunnel. The tunnel led to the castle. Pamala didn’t like the idea of him leaving her, so she made him live in the house connected to castle.

Berfore he was able to open his door, Lure ran past him, she was only about eight or nine. She was crying. Chasing her were two boys, born vampires, about nine or ten. Even in a commune of vampires she was picked on for being different, dhampirs were different.

He sighed, and quickly sent the boys back home, then went inside, without accepting Lure’s thank-you.

Darren quietly walked up the steps, and fell on top of his bed. It was so quiet, and his mind kept going back to that kiss. It made him so sad. And the worst part was he went there to finally tell her. He was going to tell her when he gave her the book, but he lost his courage.

Oh, what was he going to do?

Pamala walked up the stairs, her jewelry ringing softly, and sat next to him one the bed. Their bond was strong, he couldn’t hide his feelings from her. She could tell Darren was upset, sad, hurt, and heart broken. She had known for awhile about his feeling for Leanne, but she never knew her name.

She ran her fingers through his black hair, almost like a overprotective mother. “Darren, what’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing.” He said simply.

She knew he was lying. She frowned, and leaned forward, her dark red curls fell brushed against Darren’s face. She was looking him in the eyes. “Please tell me.” She said softly. She was always careful about forcing him to do something.

“I don’t have anything to tell you.” He said, rolling over on his side.

She stood up, her anklets jingling. She was of average size, with long dark red, curly hair, soft blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin. She wore no shoes, with gold anklets, bracelets, armlets, and necklaces, and her white clothes made her look like an exotic princess. “Darren,” She said with a frowned. “Tell me!” She commanded.

He sat up and turned to her, glaring, but the words slide of his tongue, he told her everything.

“Oh, Darren.” She whispered quietly, softly, pityingly. “I’m so sorry.” She added.

Darren heard, and sensed her pity. “I don’t want your pity!” He yelled, and disappeared.

~!~
Cinder glared but said nothing more.

~!~
Clover frowned and looked at Nelly. "Who are you?" She demaned.

"I told you; my name is Nelly Bird." She laguhed sightly. "You would have to know me to get that joke." She said when Clover gave her an odd look.

~!~
"How did you die?" He asked after a moment. He asked it quietly, as if he wasscared to find out.

Luna felt that someone was watching her and looked around but couldn't see anything through the rain. She tried to ingore the feeling and kept walking holding Isis's leash tigher.

~~~~~~

Amelia ran towards a deer that was farthest away from the others and took it down quickly and drank it's blood. When she was finished she hid behind some trees so she wouldn't scare the other deers away anymore, so that Lia could feed as well.

~~~~~~
Lia quietly walked towards the group of deer and lunged at the closest one, she barely missed it and went for it again when it stopped not to far from her. She killed it easily this time, and drained it of it's blood. She stood up again and walked over to Amelia. "Ok ready to head back?", she asked wiping the lite bit of blood, that was on her chin, off.

Amelia nodded. "Yeah", she said and they started to head back to the manor.

~~~~
Justin eventually came out of his hiding spot and walked through the halls boredly.

Leanne didn't even think about the fact that Andrew could probably feel what she was. The bond wasn't that strong yet, at least she didn't think so, but right now only one thing was running through her mind. 'Patrick.'

She didn't understand why he was doing this all of a sudden; she didn't understand why she was doing it, either. She hadn't thought of him this way until a few moments ago, when he had kissed her. It was as if a whole new world had been opened up to her now, a new way of thinking.

She had never kissed a boy before, though Andrew forcing her to drink his blood popped into her mind. No, that didn't count. She didn't like him, and he had only done it to change her completely. No, this was different. She liked him.

When he pulled her closer, she didn't protest, but instead her hand found his, and she intertwined their fingers and held his hand tightly. It was only when the door opened and Andrew was standing there. Her cheeks were bright red and she released his hand immediatly, stumbling to her feet, but her stockings made her slide and land on her stomach right in front of Andrew. She looked up at him, grinning sheepishly. She was embarrased, sure, but that was it. nothing else----

And then she saw Darren.

Leanne was very good at reading people; perhaps it was her years of doing nothing but that in high school. Her friends and her made it into a sort of game; people watching.

She saw how hurt he looked, but she didn't understand. Why would he.....unless he.....

Everything made sense then. Him giving her the book, everything. Did he....did he like her too?

She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head though she still lay on the ground. She heard him say 'I'll go', and opened her eyes and was about to protest, but he was gone.

She heard Andrew tell her to 'get over here', and surprisingly, she obeyed. She realized now that the bond must be stronger. She stood up and stood at his side, her face a mixture of confusion, happiness, and something else that was hard to identify.

She wondered why Andrew sounded like he actually cared about her. She doubted he did; she was just his 'slave', as he had put it so many times before. She shrugged it off, and felt Patrick take and kiss the top of her hand. She offered him a small smile before he left.

She was so confused. So very confused.

Part of her was ecstatic that he liked her, for she realized now that she had felt the same all along.

The other part was sad, heartbroken.

She realized now, that if Darren would have told her the same thing when he gave her the book, she would have kissed him instead, and never realized that she had feelings for Patrick. But now she knew; she liked them both, and it seemed as though they both liked her.

Great. Just great. As if she didn't have enough to deal with already, what with being undead and all.

She turned slightly to Andrew. She still wasn't embarrased that he had seen her kissing him; that wasn't what she cared about. Not now.

Then she rmembered that he said they would be able to feel what each other was feeling. Did that mean he knew....knew that she liked both of them?

She tried to clear her mind, make it so that he wouldn't know, couldn't know, but she knew that clearing her mind wouldn't change her feelings. So she let her mind race, never once coming to a stop.
~!~
Seth soon emerged from the woods. He let Cinder's hand go, and looked at her.

"See you tomorrow," He called over his shoulder, and started to head home. Though he didn't really have a home. He stayed in an empty house a few doors down from hers, as he now realized. No one lived there, and so he had just taken up residence there
~!~
K.C. was asleep. She was dreaming. She didn't know why, but she felt happy.

She woke with a start, and looked around her room, blinking sleepily. She stood up and realized how hungry she was. It was dark out. Perfect time for hunting.

She grinned, flashing her fangs, and was out the door a few moments later. K.C. didn't drink animal blood like most of the others; no, she preferred a more....organic diet. Humans.
~!~
Draven suddenly recognized her. Nelly. She was his personal guard from the castle!

He didn't understand why he didn't recognize her before. But the real question now was this; why was she here?

He would go along with it like he didn't know who she was for a while. He didn't want her to know that he knew. He wanted to figure out why she was here without her knowing that he knew.

He looked back and forth between the two girls in his room, his face stoic, thinking.
~!~
"Murdered," Alex said quietly. "We---me and Ella---were on our way home from school. I convinced her to take the alleys, even though she was always telling me how dangerous it was...." She cut herself off here, struggling to hold back tears. "A man tried to mug us. Of course, I fought back. I suppose I've changed a lot since you knew me, Dominic. I'm---different. But anyways, I fought back. He killed Ella, slit her throat right in front of me." A single tear slid down her cheek, followed by more as she continued to speak, her voice tight with tears. "I tried to fight him off, but rage made me blind." Her voice rose higher with each word, as she struggled to hold back the tears. She would never, ever let herself be seen this way in front of anyone but him and Ella, and even she didn't like that. But she was happy to see him again. "He killed me. Then----I woke up here."

She shrugged and smiled sadly at him, but it was cut off abrupty by a sob. She was so embarrased, standing here with her head buried in her hands, sobbing like a baby. But maybe it was all the tears that she had held in for all these years. Who knew.

Something slipped though the bond. "Two!" He exclaimed. "My My." He smriked.

~!~
Cinder ran off, and quickly went in side.

~!~
Clover frowned. "But why are you here?"

"I don't have to anwser to you." Nelly said. "I have my reasons, and those . . . . I can't tell a soul about. Not yet." She started mumabling something, something she did when polting an counter attack of some srot.

Clover clearly thought she was nuts.

~!~
Dominic wrapped his arms arund her, and held her close. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cross to a bad subject."

~!~
Dimitri opened his window, his music playing loudly, for once it was in english.

~!~
Nicole suddenly came up beside her. "It's not safe here." She said.

Luna jumped when she suddenly saw Nicole. "Why isn't it safe?", she asked her confused.

Isis barked at Nicole.