Just then, the bell rang that signaled that first period was starting. “Bye Ayslinn! I’ll see ya later!” Shayne said as she started skipping down the hallway to her first class. Ayslinn smiled and walked across the hall to her first class.


Ayslinn thought that school was easy as pie. After all, she had taken these classes in different cities every year for 50 years. She walked into the classroom of Mr. Miles, her science teacher. She sat at her desk and pulled out her book. It was The Shining by Stephen King. She thought it was wonderfully written even though it wasn’t very scary. She had read this book more than 25 times, and it was one of her favorites. She had been reading for about three minutes when Mr. Miles started class.


He cleared his throat, walked to the front of the class, and said, “Class, we have a new student joining our class today. I’ll let him introduce himself and then we shall start class.” He then opened the door and let a student in. Ayslinn stared at the new student. She smelled the air as he walked in and he still didn’t smell human. She thought about it then she finally realized what he was. He’s a Vampire, she thought, just like me! As soon as she thought that, he said, in a voice that was as smooth as velvet, “My name is Vladimir Washington, I’m 15, my favorite time of day is night, and my favorite color is black.” Mr. Miles turned to him. “There is a seat over there beside Miss. Tudor, Mr. Washington. Take it.” Vladimir sat down at the desk and Ayslinn put her book back into her bag.


Mr. Miles turned on a video for them to watch, so Ayslinn risked it and sat next to Vladimir away from everyone else. “What do you want?” he asked. She leaned in a little bit closer so no one would hear her but him and asked, “Vladimir, are you a Vampire?” He smelled the air near her. “Are you, Miss. Tudor?” he asked with a smile. “Yes. I am. You never answered my question, so here is another. May I call you Vlad?” she replied happily. “Yes I am a Vampire, and yes you may call me Vlad. Now a question for you. What is your name?” “My name is Ayslinn, but you may call me Ay or Linn.” “Ayslinn is a very beautiful name, so that‘s what I shall call you.”


Ayslinn and Vlad talked for the rest of the class period and they soon found out that they had all the same classes. Before they knew it, it was Lunch period and Tony had just arrived at school. They met him at the rock that Ayslinn normally met him at in the morning. “Hey Tony!” Ayslinn said as she gave him a hug. “Who is this Ay?” he asked almost immediately. “The name is Vladimir Washington, age 15, my favorite time of day is night, and my favorite color is black.” Vlad said as he shook Tony’s hand. “He’s new here. And guess what!?” now Ayslinn was practically hopping up and down. “What?” Tony asked patiently. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “He’s a Vampire too!” she squealed. “Prove it Vladimir.” he said with all seriousness in his voice. “Fine. Meet me at the school fountain at midnight tonight and I will.” Vlad countered.

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At 12 a.m., Ayslinn is flying towards the school carrying Tony by holding his arms. When they got there, Vladimir was waiting for them. Ayslinn dropped Tony lightly on the ground and flew a little further, then landed and buckled onto her hands and knees. Vladimir zoomed towards her and knelt down beside her.


She was breathing irregularly and was trembling. Tony was then standing beside Vlad. “So you have her fly you all the way here?” Vlad said with bitterness in his voice. “We couldn’t take my Mom and Dad’s car and her parents don’t drive. What else were we supposed to do?” Tony replied matter-of-factly.


“I don’t know, but look at her! Vampires have immense strength and stamina and even that was barely enough for her to carry you here.” Vlad said with the same bitter tone. Tony sulked over to the fountain and sat down next to it, leaning against the cool tile. Vlad picked Ayslinn up and she didn’t even have the strength left to fight him effectively. He carried her over to the fountain and placed her in the freezing cold water, careful to keep her head up. He rubbed her arms and just sat in the water with her. The cold water gradually gave her strength, until she sat up, and said to Vlad “Thank you Vladimir. I have enough strength to get to where I can get the rest of my strength back.” she said while holding Vlad’s hand. She got out of the fountain, and jumped into the air. She hovered next to where Tony sat. “I’m never going to do that again. Next time, we’ll take the wagon.” she said with a wink.


Vlad and Tony watched as she flew up and up and up. She stopped when her silhouette was completely in the moon’s light. She threw her arms open and welcomed the light of the moon. Then she drifted slowly back down to Earth. As soon as she landed she said, “Now, weren’t we here to see Vlad prove himself a Vampire?” Vlad and Tony smiled.


“Yea Vladimir. Prove yourself.” said Tony as he moved over to Ayslinn’s side. “Ayslinn, would you mind being my assistant?” Vlad asked as he extended his hand to her, his palm up. “Sure!” she said laying her hand in his, her palm meeting his. He pulled her to him, as if they were dancing, then pushed off the ground. They spun around in the sky and then twirled back down to earth. Ayslinn’s hair had fallen out of its ponytail during this so she quickly fixed it. “There young Tony. Does that prove it, or must I throw Ayslinn then catch up to her before she falls to the Earth and catch her in my arms?” he said in an amused tone of voice. “Yea whatever. Now how the hell am I supposed to get home?” Tony replied moodily.


15 minutes later, Ayslinn and Vladimir were carrying Tony back home through the air. Once they got him to his house, Ayslinn turned to Vlad. “Can you come to my house and meet my parents? They would love to know that there is another one of us in town!” she said excitedly. “Sure. How old are you by the way?” he asked. “Oh, I’m only 50. How old are you?” she inquired “Older than you.” he answered smiling as they flew to her house.


When they arrived she rang the doorbell. Her parents answered the door. She walked in, with Vladimir by her side. “Mom, Dad, this is Vladimir Washington.” she said smiling. Vlad stepped forward and bowed. “Mr. and Mrs. Tudor. Very nice to meet you both and your amazing daughter.” he said when he straightened. “Hello Vladimir. How old are you?” Mrs. Tudor said as her husband went into the living room and turned on the TV. “I’m 75.” he said as he went back to Ayslinn’s side. “Where were you two tonight?” “Tony didn’t believe that Vlad was a Vampire, so we went to prove it to him. I had to carry Tony all the way to the school and it took away so much of my strength that I could barely move when we got there. So Vlad helped me out by putting me in the cold water of the fountain. That helped bring some of my strength back. We just dropped Tony off, then came here so Vladimir could meet you.” Ayslinn explained in a hurry. Her mom laughed, then looked at her watch. “It’s only 1 a.m. so you two can go have fun. But you both must be back at this house by 5 a.m. Am I understood?” Mrs. Tudor said. “We will Mom! Don’t worry so much!” said Ayslinn as she ran back out the door with Vladimir’s hand in hers.

<> <> <>


“Vlad, do you have anywhere in the town you would like to go?” Ayslinn asked. “No. Do you?” he asked in reply. “Not really. Well, I guess we could always go explore in the woods on the other side of town. Do you want to?” she said while flying around in circles above him. He reached out towards her and grabbed her waist. He pulled her out of the air and closer to him. “Lets go to the woods. It sounds like fun.” he whispered in her ear. She leaped in the air and took him with her since he didn’t let go of her. He laughed and released her. Then they raced towards the woods.


They flew above the trees looking for a clearing. She found one with a waterfall and even a cave. They landed and she immediately went to the top of the waterfall and jumped into water below. He dove immediately to the bottom of the pool of water and met with her there. He grabbed her hand and together they raced out of the pool and onto the grassy area of the clearing.


“Lets play a game Ayslinn.” Vlad said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Sure. Do you have a game in mind?” she inquired. “Have you ever heard of Hunter and Pray?” he asked her while stepping closer “Yes. Lets play that! I‘m the Pray first! See if you can catch me!” Ayslinn said as she ran away faster than a cheetah. Vladimir ran after her.


As she was running, Ayslinn looked ahead for an overhanging tree branch. “There’s one.” she mumbled. When she was below it, she grabbed it and swung herself up into the tree that it was attached to. She sat perched like an owl looking down at the path she had taken for a minute then she jumped from that tree to the next one. She continued this way until she decided it was faster to run, so she hopped down from the tree and ran the way she had come.


As she was doing that, Vlad waited in the shadows near where she had jumped into the trees. As she zoomed past he stuck out his arm and caught her by her wrist. “Gotcha.” he said and grinned as he spun her around to face him. She grinned back at him. She brought her wrist up to her eye level, looked at his fingers there, then…… she bit him gently to make him let go. He did and recoiled. He got a glint in his eyes as he said “Why you little…” and began chasing her towards the water.


When she reached the waters edge, she turned to face him. He stopped at least a yard away from her and looked at her curiously. She smiled as she jumped into the air, did four and a half spins in the air and dove into the water. He dove after her and they met at the bottom. She swam over to him and took his wounded fingers in her hand and inspected them. She nodded towards the surface so they swam up to lay in the moonlight together.


As they lay there, in the grass together, she inspected his wounds more closely. “I didn’t hurt you did I Vladimir?” she asked nervously. “It only hurt a little bit Ayslinn. No need to worry about it.” he said reassuringly while looking at her with a soft expression on his face. Just then her cell phone started to ring. It played the theme from Jaws. Vladimir started to laugh. She answered it. “Hello?” she said. “Ayslinn… I’m sorry! Please take me back! Please!” The person on the other end sounded desperate. “Hold on a sec Greg. I have to put you on hold for a minute.” she said calmly. She put him on hold. “S***! I have got to learn to check the damn caller id before I answer the phone!” she said crossly. She put Greg back on the line. “Greg, I will not, I repeat, will not take you back. You are an asshole and you need to go away, before something bad happens.” she said with a fierce tone in her voice. “Fine. Whatever. But what I said is true.” he said before he hung up in defeat.


She put her phone away. “Who was that?” Vlad asked inquisitively. “Oh. Umm… just my ex-boyfriend.” she explained apologetically. “Come on Ayslinn. Time has flown. We need to get back to your house.” he said as he helped her off the ground and tossed her lightly into the air. They both flew to her house holding hands.

<> <> <>


They both stood on her porch a little while later. “Goodnight Ayslinn. I will see you tomorrow.” said Vladimir as he bowed to her. “You don’t have to bow to me Vlad.” she said softly. He looked into her eyes as he straightened. He reached behind her and undid her ponytail. “Please wear your hair down tomorrow at school. It’s beautiful.” He said gently as he ran his fingers through it. Then he pulled away and flew off.


Ayslinn went to her room and pulled out her laptop. Much to her astonishment Tony was signed on. She hurriedly sent a message, seeing that he had sent her some while she had been gone.

IBYTE: umm… hi

PIERCINS: where hav u bin!?

IBYTE: why do u wana kno?

PIERCINS: where u with HIM?

IBYTE: wht is ur issue w/ Vlad!? An yes I ws. We were explrin the woods.

PIERCINS: whatev. Im goin 2 bed. ‘nite L

>PIERCINS has logged off<



“God damn it!” Ayslinn yelled. She turned off her laptop and crawled under her bed covers. Soon she was dreaming……..

She was running, running. She came to a split in the path. At one end was Tony. At the other Vladimir. At her back was a killer. Which fate should she choose? Pain with Tony? Forever with Vladimir? Or death? She turned around and was face to face with the killer. Tears began to stream down her face. “Please spare them and take only me.” she said in a strong voice. “Oh God Ay! Don’t do it!” she heard Tony yell. “Ayslinn! No! Don’t do it! We can fight her off together!” she heard Vlad shout. And those six sentences said by them both, were the last things she heard.


Ayslinn woke up screaming, and with tears spilling down her face. 15 seconds later, her mother was in her room with her. “Ayslinn! What is it sweetie? What happened?” her mother said in a fluster. “N…nothing Mom. Just a bad dream is all.” Ayslinn said while still trying to regain her composure. Her mother left and Ayslinn looked at the clock. 6 a.m. Time to get up and get ready for school.


Two hours later and she was just arriving at the rock where Tony and Vlad already were. She went straight to Vlad. (He was sitting on the rock again) “Let me see your fingers.” she said firmly. He held out his hand. She took it and looked at where she had bitten him. “Only a few faint scars. That’s good.” she said feeling relived. “Scars from what?” Tony said in interest. “Oh. When we were in the woods, we played Hunter and Pray. I was the Pray. He caught me and I bit him gently to make him let go. I was worried.” she explained. Tony sighed in aggravation.


Then Ayslinn felt a tap on her shoulder. “Ayslinn? Can I please talk to you?” She spun around and was now facing Greg. “Why won’t you just go away!?” she cried. “I just wanted to talk to y-” he started to say, but Vladimir had gotten down from the rock and had moved in-between Ayslinn and Greg. “I think she said for you to go away.” he interrupted. “Dude, this doesn’t involve you, so back down.” Greg said in irritation. “It does involve me, and even Tony here, if you are an asshole to Ayslinn.” he said in an extremely calm tone.


“Move it you little punk.” Greg said as he shoved Vlad. Vlad was pushed back and into Ayslinn, who fell against the rock. She gasped as a point of the jagged rock face dug into her lower back. Tony helped her up and she went over to Greg, while shoving Vlad out of the way. Vlad realized what she was going to do, and followed slightly behind her to pull her away if she lost control. She continued to Greg until he was forced to back up a few steps.


“You bastard!” she cried as she jabbed him with the nail of her left index finger. “Remember what I said early this morning. I said that if you didn’t leave me alone, something bad will happen. Something bad will happen. I don’t know when, maybe now, maybe later, but it will happen eventually. You had better watch it Greg.” she said terrifyingly.


Tony, Vlad, and Ayslinn had all the same classes so they were inseparable all day. Wherever they were, Ayslinn was in the middle, Vlad to her right, and Tony was to her left. Since Tony was never behind them, he couldn’t see that whenever they would walk in the hallway, Vladimir and Ayslinn held hands. But other people did notice. They would point and whisper between each other. Tony couldn’t hear them, but Ayslinn and Vlad could.

<> <> <>


Tony had to go to work after school so it was just Ayslinn and Vlad as they walked to her house. “We caused many disturbances today just by us holding hands.” he said in wonder. “Of course we did. We’re two freaks with pale skin holding hands in the hallway. But most of the whispers were because the big rumor this year is that I was with Tony. Oh and the thing this morning with Greg and all.” she said matter-of-factly.


A few hours of walking around later-- “I have heard of Vampires having special abilities. Do you have one?” Ayslinn asked from her back yard up to Vlad who was already sitting in her windowsill. She gracefully floated up to him, and then sat beside him. “Yes dearest. I do have a special ability.” he said looking up at the moon. “So do I! Tell me what yours is!” “My special ability is to be able to be in the sun without what normally happens to Vampires happen. Not that cool.” “That’s amazing! Mine is being able to soak up my power from the moon. So I’m strongest on nights of the full moon.” she smiled up at the moon and her skin seemed to glow as she looked at it. “My mom said that I was probably blessed by the moon goddess herself.” Ayslinn said happily.


“Mrs. Tudor, my parents have decided to leave town for a length of time, and I was wondering if I could stay here while they are gone. May I?” Vlad asked Ayslinn’s mom 15 minutes later. “Yes Vlad. You may stay here for however long you need to. The guest room is across the hall from Ayslinn’s room. But you will have to share a bathroom, sorry if that is an inconvenience.” she replied before floating back out the front door.


Vladimir ran home, gathered everything he would need, and came back in less that half an hour, organized his wardrobe in 15 minutes, and organized all of his things in the bathroom in 5 minutes. Then he went back to Ayslinn’s room. She was in her closet, “What’re you looking for dearest?” he asked. “Get out. It’s a surprise for tonight.” she said smiling at him. “Ok. Where are we going?” he asked. “Same as last night.” she said turning back to her open closet.


Ayslinn tore apart her closet until she finally found what she was looking for-- her one black bikini. She put it on under her outfit for tonight-- a red mini-dress over skinny black jeans with big black leather boots. “That’ll surprise him.” she mumbled to her reflection. She brushed her hair, then went across the hall to Vlad’s room. He was already waiting at the door for her. “Wow. Very beautiful Ayslinn.” he breathed as he spun her around. Then they left for the clearing.

They were at the clearing 20 minutes later, and already there, was a picnic basket and a blanket. Vlad spread the blanket and they ate a fine meal of blood bags and raw meat. When they had eaten their fill Ayslinn stood up. “Want to go for a swim?” she asked mischievously. “Sure.” Then Ayslinn took off the mini-dress. Vlad’s breath caught in his throat. She took off the boots and her jeans. “Ayslinn…” Vlad’s voice held a warning. She ran, and dove as gracefully as a swan, into the water. Then she climbed out, wrung out her hair, and stood before him. “What?” she asked pretending to be innocent. “You were warned.” he said. Then he kissed her. Not softly like Tony had. Vlad kissed her hard, and it felt like lava was spreading throughout her whole entire body. When they broke apart, they were both gasping for breath.


They both sat back down on the blanket. “I was thinking that maybe I would skip school tomorrow. Would you be kind enough to join me?” Ayslinn asked with her voice full of hope. “Sure. I would love to spend a day playing hooky from school with you.” he said in response. She smiled. Then Vlad began rummaging around in the basket. He grabbed a bunch of rope, then motioned for her to get up. “Where are we going?” she asked in earnest. “We are going to make a swing.” he replied with a smile.


A little while later, they were in the woods, looking for a tree to make a plank-seat for the swing. Ayslinn spotted the perfect tree, and chopped it down with her bare hands. “Ouch. There are tons of splinters in my hand.” She said, looking at the side of her left hand. “Maybe you should get those out Ayslinn.” He said agitatedly. “No, I’ll be fine.” she said, so he pulled a knife out of his pocket, and began to carve the tree into what they needed.


Ayslinn had gone back to the clearing once she was dry and put her clothes back on over her swimsuit. She noticed that she had left her iPod in these jeans from when she hid it from her parents. So she put the earphones in her ears, turned it on, and Decode by Paramore started to play. She returned to Vlad and sat down on the ground, watching him work. The next song on her iPod came on. It was Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. This was one of her favorite songs. By the time that song was over, Vlad had finished the seat for their swing and had even attached the rope to the tree and the plank to the rope securely.


Vladimir and Ayslinn were both laughing as they both stood on the swing and swung back and forth, going extremely fast and high. “Ready? One, two, three!” shouted Ayslinn as she and Vlad jumped from the swing to the ground. “Look. It’s dawn.” Ayslinn pointed out. “Come on! I have to get home!” she exclaimed as she got ready to run off. “Why?” he asked. “Really Vlad, look at our clothes.” She said with a laugh. He did. Their clothes were torn and covered in partially dried mud. “I see your point. When we get home, can we take a nap as well?” he asked earnestly.


When they were back at her house, Ayslinn headed to her closet. She threw open the door and peered at what, for a normal teenager, should have been a mess. She wasn’t normal, so neither was her closet’s neatness. She went over to her stack of t-shirts and picked out of one of her favorites, did the same with her jeans, and arm-warmers. The end result was this—a black shirt with a big white skull on the front and with the words “Beautiful But Deadly” in red gothic letters, a pair of black bootleg jeans, and fishnet arm-warmers. She opened her door and Vlad came in. “That shirt states both the obvious and the not so obvious.” He said with a shine in his eyes. Ayslinn yawned and crawled up onto her bed and as she fell asleep, she saw Vlad getting a blanket for them both.


When she woke, she felt Vlad’s arm wrapped around her shoulders lightly. She opened her eyes and got up slowly, as not to wake Vlad. “No need to be quiet. I’m awake.” he said. Ayslinn went noisily down the stairs still half asleep. When she got to the kitchen, she saw a steaming hot mug of blood on the table for her. “I thought you might have wanted that.” Vlad explained from behind her. She grabbed it and took a sip. She sighed contentedly. “Thank you Vlad.” she said with appreciation. “You’re welcome. Now, what shall we do today?” he responded. “I wish I weren’t a Vampire just so I could go where I want to go today.” she complained. “Where, if you weren’t you, would you want to go today?” he inquired. “Oh, just the beach.” she sighed as she raised her arms above her head. She glanced at her left hand as she did so and saw something that caught her attention. ”Hey! I had a ton of splinters in my hand! Where did they—” she stopped as she saw Vlad’s face. He was looking at her with a huge smile on his face and his eyes were smug. “What did you do to my hand?” she said as she put her hands on her hips “Well, while you were asleep, I took out all of the splinters that were in your hand.” Ayslinn gasped as she heard this and then threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you Vladimir.” She murmured in his ear.

Since Ayslinn and Vlad couldn’t decide where to go, they stayed at her house and played assorted games. Arm-wrestling didn’t go so well— they ended up breaking the glass on the coffee-table. Monopoly didn’t go as bad— it was just so boring they decided to stop playing it. Chess— it was the perfect game for them both. It required smarts, problem solving, strategizing, a keen mind, and –for vampires— very fast reflexes, and since they both had all of these things, it was extremely fair.


At lunch time, Vlad called a time-out in the games to make lunch, so Ayslinn relaxed on the couch. She was dozing so she didn’t sense Tony coming in the front door. Tony kicked the arm of the couch, which woke Ayslinn. “Tony? Why are you here?” she asked him. “Why aren’t you at school? Or are you to busy having fun with him to come?” he asked with hate in his eyes as he glared at where Vlad had gone. Ayslinn flew from the couch and she stopped right in front of Tony. “What is your problem with Vlad? What has he ever done to you?” she asked angrily. “He has done nothing... yet.” he responded. “Then why do you hate him so much?” she prodded. “It’s a man thing Ayslinn, so you wouldn’t understand.” he stated. “I really resent that you said that Tony.” She said with a grimace. “Dearest, he hates me because we both wish for your love.” Vladimir said as he entered the room and stood beside her.


Ayslinn gasped. She looked at Tony, looked at Vlad, and finally came to rest on the front door. “Ayslinn, it’s day time. If you go out there, people will see what happens to your skin in the sunlight.” Vlad reminded her softly. She nodded as if agreeing and threw herself onto the couch. “Why couldn’t you have both just told me straight off the bat?” she whined. Then she remembered her dream. “Oh s***! If what I’ve seen is a glimpse of the future then— oh crap!” she cried as she sat up. “Ayslinn, what do you mean?” Tony and Vlad said as tears started to roll down her cheeks.


“Oh God, oh God, oh God.” Ayslinn repeated that over and over as she cried and rocked back and forth. Tony and Vlad stared at her with worry. Ayslinn managed to tell them about the dream even though she was freaking out about it. “I should get back to school. Bye Ayslinn.” Tony said shiftily. “Bye Tony.” she said, and he ran out of the door.


“We aren’t going out tonight, for your information!” Ayslinn shouted across the hall. “And why not?” Vlad shouted back. “Do you know what tonight is Vladimir Washington?” “Nope. What is tonight dearest?” “It’s the night of the New Moon!” “Oh... so you wont have any strength tonight?” “Not much strength, but some.” By this point in the conversation, they were both in the doorways to their own rooms. “That’s ok. We can stay at home tonight dearest. Maybe young Tony would like to join us?” he said with a mischievous smile. “Ok... wait a sec! What are you planning?” she said worriedly.


After her family, herself, and Vlad had eaten dinner, she called Tony. “Hey Tony. Would you like to come over and watch a movie or something?” she asked. “I’d love to Ays. I’ll be there soon. Bye.” Ayslinn took a shower then put on clean clothes— a pair of black, dark purple, and red pajama pants, a black tank-top, and a pair of dark purple and red socks. She was curled up on the couch sipping a mug of warm blood, when Tony walked in the front door. “Hey Tony. I made you some hot chocolate.” She said with a warm smile. “Thanks.” he smiled back at her. “Hey man. What’s up?” said Vladimir as he walked down the stairs in only his boxers and jeans. He had a hand towel and was drying his hair with it. “Huh!? You live here now!?” he said in astonishment.


“My parents are out of town so I’m staying in the guest room for a few days. No big deal.” Vlad said with an impatient wave of his hand. “What movie should we watch guys?” Ayslinn asked them. “I don’t know... how about Alien Vs. Predator?” Vlad suggested. “Or how about we watch Resident Evil.” Tony suggested. “Oh, definitely Resident Evil!” she said confidently. She got up, and took her now empty mug to the kitchen and came back. Vlad had already put in the DVD and Tony had dimmed the lights. They both sat on either end of the couch, so she used Vlad’s legs as a pillow and Tony’s legs as a foot-rest.


By time the movie was over, Ayslinn had fallen asleep. Tony noticed first. “Hey... umm... Ayslinn’s asleep. You should probably take her up to her room.” He said nervously. “Right you are young Tony. Wait here and I shall be back.” he whispered in response. Vlad got up and picked Ayslinn up effortlessly. He held her like you would a baby, and she woke up enough to wrap her arms around his neck and nestled her head in his shoulder. He carried her upstairs, unmade her bed, and put her down in it. He pulled the sheets up to her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “Good-night my dearest.” he whispered lovingly, as he came out of her room, shut the door, and headed towards the stair railing.


“Hey.” said Vlad. He was standing on a balcony overlooking the stairs and he jumped down. “How are you getting home?” he asked Tony. “Oh, I just called my Mom. She’s coming to pick me up.” Tony said while turning pale. “Dude, you don’t look too good. You ok Tony?” Vlad asked in genuine concern. “Why do you care?” Tony countered in defense. “I care because she cares. I also care because I don’t want you collapsing on the floor, Ayslinn walking in, her thinking that I bit you, and her hating me for centuries.” Vlad explained. “Oh, and why do you call me ‘young Tony’?” Tony asked. “Because you are young in me and Ayslinn’s point of view. I’m 75, and she’s 50. You are 16 and are therefore young compared to us. Here’s your Mom. Good-bye. We’ll be at school tomorrow if Ayslinn isn’t freaking out again.” He said with a smile then pushed Tony gently out the door.


Vlad ran up the stairs and into Ayslinn’s room and found her laying in her bed, reading. Vlad laughed. “We should have him over more often.” he said happily. “You didn’t eat him, did you?” she asked as she put her book on her night-stand. “No dearest, I didn’t eat him.” he said with a sigh as he crawled up onto the bed next to her. “Is it true… what you said about why he hates you so much?” she asked hesitantly. “Yes Ayslinn… it is.” he replied in a whisper as he put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry for freaking out.” she said while drifting of to sleep. “It’s ok Ayslinn. There was good reason to.” Vlad responded her as he stroked her hair.


Meanwhile, Tony was with his Mom in the car. “Who was that boy?” his mother asked him. “Oh, that was Vladimir Washington. He’s a new kid at school.” Tony answered. “Why was he at Ayslinn’s house?” “Because he’s living there while his parents are out of town for a week.” Tony sighed. “He’s not… living in Ayslinn’s room is he?” she asked tentatively. “No! Ayslinn would never allow that, and neither would her parents! He’s living in the guest room.” Tony practically shouted. “Ok dear. Let’s go home.” his mother said.


Ayslinn and Vlad were woken after they had slept all day by a bat that hopped onto the bed, and curled up on Ayslinn’s stomach like a puppy. “Oh, welcome home Fang.” Ayslinn gave Fang a few pets on the head. “You have a pet bat?” Vlad asked. “Yea. So? I found when he needed help and kept him as a pet. I couldn’t resist his cute little eyes. I mean, look at them.” she responded as she held Fang out to Vlad’s face. Fang blinked and then looked at Vlad’s hair. “He has the most piercing ice blue eyes.” he remarked in astonishment at the same time that Fang flew into his hair and started playing with a few strands. Ayslinn and Vlad laughed. “He’s still a baby. He can’t help it.” she said in between bursts of laughter. Vlad picked Fang out of his hair and put him on Ayslinn’s desk. Ayslinn calmed down as he did so. “Your laugh is beautiful Ayslinn. You ought to laugh more often.” Vlad complimented as he got back next to her on the bed. “There’s not a lot of funny things that go on here.” she said as she blushed at his compliment. “Fine then. I’ll give you something to laugh about!” he cried as he started tickling her. Ayslinn squirmed and tried to roll away while she squealed and laughed hysterically. She gathered her strength and pushed him over and started to tickle him back. Vlad laughed hysterically. As she was tickling him, Ayslinn saw that it was dusk and then flew from the bed and out of the open window. She hovered with the tips of her toes on the window-ledge. “Come get me if you can Vlad!” she cried as she turned and flew at the speed of a bullet, towards the beach on the opposite side of town.


Once there, she landed on the fine sand. She looked up and saw Vlad on the horizon, so she walked slowly towards the waves. He landed on the same exact spot she had landed on, just as her toes were a foot away from the water. It had gotten dark and there was no moonlight, so Ayslinn looked paler than usual. She sat on the sand, took off her socks, and just sat there looking out over the water. “You ok Ayslinn?” Vlad asked, concerned. “Yea. I’m fine.” she whispered. She stood up, and walked slowly into the salty ocean water. Vlad followed her.


She swam underwater until they came to a group of dolphins. When she saw them, she motioned for Vlad to meet her at the surface. “You hang back at first ok? They know me but I’ll have to introduce them to you so they don’t attack.” she said, then dove back under. A little while later, Vlad watched as Ayslinn swam with the dolphins as if she were one of their own. She swam back to him and grabbed his hand. They both swam with her ocean friends until dawn.


Ayslinn and Vlad emerged from the ocean holding hands and with seaweed all over them. To a passerby, they probably looked like walking bundles of seaweed, but there was no-one on the beach except them. They peeled off the plants, and started the walk home, holding hands.

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“Where have you two been!?” yelled Ayslinn’s mom as soon as they walked in the front door. “Mom, chill. We just went to the beach.” Ayslinn started in with her defensive tone of voice, while still holding onto Vlad’s hand. “You could have given our entire existence away doing that!” Ayslinn’s mom yelled. “But we didn‘t!” Ayslinn threw over her shoulder as she ran up the stairs.


An hour later, Vlad walked up the stairs. He had spent the whole time downstairs apologizing to Mr. And Mrs. Tudor for keeping Ayslinn out too long. He stopped at his door and he heard something. It was Ayslinn. She was in her room with the door shut, and from what he heard, she was crying. “She doesn’t need to cry. She shouldn’t have to.” he said to himself as he went into his room and got into bed.


Vlad woke in the middle of the day, by his door being opened slowly. He pretended to be asleep, on the alert and ready to defend himself if needed. There were soft, tiptoeing footsteps coming toward the empty part of his bed. He opened his eyes and saw Ayslinn. “Ayslinn? What are you doing in here?” he asked in earnest. She said nothing, just climbed into the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Ayslinn?” he asked. She just rolled over so she was facing him and buried her head in his shoulder. Vlad noticed that on her ice cool face, there were warm tears.

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When Vlad woke up, it was 6:30 p.m. and Ayslinn was gone. He got up, threw on clean clothes, and headed into the kitchen. Ayslinn was at the table in her pjs, reading something. “What’s that?” he asked her as he sat down across from her. “A note from my parents. There is one for you as well.” she stated. Ayslinn handed both notes to him.



Dear Ayslinn,
We are sorry, but there was an emergency involving some of our friends in England. We had to report there to help. We don’t know how long we will be gone, but you are old enough to take care of yourself for a while.
-Your Mother and Father

Vlad then looked at the one for him. It wasn’t opened which means Ayslinn respected his privacy. He smiled, then opened the note.



Dear Vladimir,
We have entrusted our daughter in your care for the time we are gone. You are to protect her and our secret, from all of those that wish to get close and expose our family. Be safe and be careful.
-Mr. And Mrs. Tudor

“They have friends in England?” Vlad asked Ayslinn. “Not that I know of… but they don’t tell me everything.” Ayslinn said while she shook her head. “Oh, ok then. What would you like to do today?” asked Vlad while he stuffed the note in this pocket. “Well, today is Saturday… Why don’t we invite Tony over and we can all just chill?” she suggested sweetly. “Sure, I’m cool with it, just let me call him ok?” he smiled happily and turned towards the house phone. “No, I will just IM him ok?” Ayslinn smiled and ran to her room and then to her laptop.

IBYTE: Tony, you there?

PEIRCINS: Yea im here

IBYTE: come over, Vlad an I wanna hangout and you can sleep over if you want.

PEIRCINS: sure, its all good an I wanna sleep over, go to the playground, all three of us this time tho

IBYTE: really? Ok! Come over asap! Bye!



Ayslinn shut down her laptop and flew into her closet. Vlad was already in there, which surprised her. “Why the hell are you in my closet!?” she yelled at him angrily. “Because I would like to help you choose what to wear.” he said calmly and softly. “Ok, fine. Come on, lets get an outfit together before he gets here.” she said as she stopped being angry


Ayslinn, with Vlad’s help, had gotten together an awesome outfit. She was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, a dark purple tank top with a red skull and crossbones on it, and her pair of red and dark purple Converses. She stood in front of the mirror and looked at her outfit. “Wow, we make a good team.” she laughed. “Yes, we do don’t we?” he chuckled and ran his hand through his hair nervously. Ayslinn giggled quietly and she started to braid her long hair as she hummed quietly to herself. “Would you like me to braid your hair for you Ayslinn, that way you can do your makeup and we can be ready faster?” Vlad asked swiftly. “Oh, um, ok sure!” she answered shyly and she started putting on her eyeliner slowly. Vladimir brushed her long black silky hair gently, then proceeded to braid it in a neat loose and kind of messy braid for her. At the end of her hair, he secured it with a silver ponytail holder that had a charm that had her initials on it in blood red script. She finished doing her eyeliner and then turned to face him. “You look beautiful Ayslinn.” he whispered, and then he kissed her cheek softly. “… Thank you Vladimir…” she whispered as she blushed slightly. Vlad took her hand gently and led her out of her room and into the living room.


“What movie are we gunna watch tonight?” Tony asked as he came into Ayslinn’s living room just a few minutes later then the two vampires did. “How about something that is really gory.” Vlad suggested. “Nah, I’m not in the mood for gore… Ayslinn, you chose.” Tony replied as he went into the kitchen and popped some popcorn. “Ok, but no complaining!” she called after him and giggled as she picked up a DVD and put it into the player then tossed the remote at Vlad and skipped into the kitchen after Tony.


“Tony, may I ask you a question?” she asked shyly as she sat on the counter next to where he was standing. “Uh, yea, sure Ay.” he smiled at her encouragingly. “If I asked you to, would you sleep in my room with me tonight?” Ayslinn mumbled and blushed. “Look at me Ayslinn.” he said coaxingly and stood in front of her with his hands on her knees gently. Ayslinn just blushed more and turned her head away in embarrassment. Tony stroked her blushed cheek and she pulled him closer with her legs that were now wrapped around him and then, Tony turned her head slowly and kissed her softly on her lips.


Ayslinn kissed him back and he placed his hands on her waist and she noticed that his hands were cold. She broke away from the kiss and looked into his eyes. “Tony, why are your hands cold?” she inquired worriedly. “Because your house is kind of cold. I’m not sick.” he answered her unasked second question. “Ok, well feel free to turn up the heat if you are too cold. Uh, can you let me go please Tony?” she said as her throat started to burn and her eyes changed as her canines elongated and sharpened. “Oh!” he yelped, startled, as she jumped off the counter and practically flew down the stairs. Vlad came in and got some meat from the freezer. “Where did Ayslinn go?” he questioned as Tony rubbed his mouth with his sleeve and drank some of his water. “She got a hunger pang and went to the basement for some blood.” Tony replied carelessly as he retrieved his popcorn. Vlad leaned against the door of the fridge and smiled. “Go ahead and wait in the living room. I need some blood too.” he said as he went down to the basement in search of Ayslinn and some blood.


“Ayslinn? Are you down here?” Vlad called as he came to the basement door and opened it quickly. Ayslinn was drinking blood, and when Vlad had come in, he had interrupted her. She dropped the blood bag and lunged at him, crashing him against the wall and he noticed that her eyes were nearly black, with no gold at all. “Ayslinn… It’s me… We are the same creature, remember?” he whispered to her. She dropped him and her eyes went back to being gray with gold flecks. She looked at him and her eyes got wide and she ran up the stairs.


“Ayslinn, feeling better?” Tony asked her as she came into the kitchen. She stopped, looked at him, then ran faster out the front door. Vlad came running up the stairs after her, but stopped at Tony. “What did you do to her!? She just ran out the front door!” Tony yelled. “I didn’t do anything to her, but she did do something to me. It was quite odd.” Vlad said. “What do you mean?” Tony said, confused. Vlad explained to him what happened in the basement, and when he was done, Tony was more confused than ever. “That makes no sense…” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, but we have to go find her, come on!” Vlad said, then walked out the front door with Tony.


Ayslinn stopped at the clearing that Vlad had made the swing in. She was breathing harder than normal, but she felt good. She heard someone to her left, in the woods, so she crouched and prepared for an attack. “Hello Ayslinn,. It’s been a long time.” said a girl that looked maybe 17, with wildly curly red hair and silvery green eyes. “Who are you?” Ayslinn asked the girl, as she stood up out of her crouch and sniffed the air slightly. “Oh, you don’t remember me? I have grown some, but not so much as that you shouldn’t recognize me.” she said as she smiled. Ayslinn saw that her teeth were sharper than normal humans’ teeth. “You watched as I was attacked by that werewolf, you didn’t do anything to help me. Then you came to my home and threatened my life, along with my mother’s, and two days later, I found her dead body exactly where I was attacked!!” she screamed at Ayslinn. “Quilbry? That’s you!? Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I really do regret not helping you.” Ayslinn said as she fell to her knees in front of Quilbry. Quilbry smacked Ayslinn with all of her strength and Ayslinn flew to the edge of the clearing. “I don’t believe you, b****!” Quilbry shrieked as she ran at Ayslinn, as she was getting to her feet. Quilbry picked Ayslinn up like a doll and tossed her to the ground again, but let her get to her feet this time. “You want a fight? You got it!!” Ayslinn said as she lunged at the other girl and cut her with her sharp nails. As the two girls were fighting, Vlad came into the clearing with Tony behind him.


“Anthony, stay back please. Ayslinn is fighting with someone… Do you recognize who she is fighting?” Vlad whispered into Tony’s ear. Tony looked and saw Quilbry dodge Ayslinn’s attack, then counter-attack. “Is that…? No, it cant be her… It just can’t be her…” he muttered in response, as he stepped completely into the clearing. Ayslinn and Quilbry both caught his scent as the wind blew it towards them, and Quilbry began to walk toward him. Ayslinn stood in shock, as she saw the red haired girl pull a knife out of her back pocket as she was walking towards Tony. Vlad rushed out into the clearing as well and although he startled Quilbry, she kept going towards the two guys. Quilbry walked faster and Ayslinn could see that she was planning on attacking her closest friend. “NO!!!” she screamed as she stared to go after Quilbry, but all of a sudden Vlad was behind her, holding her back. “TONY!! RUN!!” she screamed as she began to cry, and her tears were of blood.


“Quilbry… Do you remember me? I’m Tony…” he said as she got within earshot. “Tony? Is it really you?” she whispered as she put the knife away again. “Yes, it really is me. I missed you when you ran away…” he told her as he put his hands out to show her that he had no weaponry. “I missed you too Tony.” she said as they hugged just as they had, when they were younger.

<> <> <>


“No, Vlad, you don’t know who that is!” Ayslinn said as she struggled against his firm grip around her. “Ayslinn, you need to calm down… Your eyes are completely black again…” he whispered in her ear softly as he walked her back into the woods. “N…no… They can’t be…” Ayslinn murmured as she stumbled back to the clearing and to the pool of water. “Ayslinn, come on, I have to get you home.” he said as she knelt at the edge of the water and looked at her reflection. “My tears! My eyes! No, it can’t be!” she screamed as she slashed at the water with her nails. “Ayslinn! Calm down, it’s gunna be ok.” Vlad said as he tried to comfort her, but was failing. She whipped around and faced him as she stood up and her eyes got even darker and she wiped away her tears. “Shut up you ignorant loner. You have never been different than you are now. I was evil, but I was changed with the power of love, and became a good vampire, one that makes friends with humans, goes to school with humans, and rarely drinks a living creatures blood.” she said menacingly, then flew away, towards her house.


“Tony, I can’t believe you are actually friends with her.” Quilbry said as she smiled and pulled her wild hair into a tight ponytail. “Yea, she was exactly where you said she would be that night, but how did you know she was there?” he asked as he pulled her into a hug again. “I just knew, I don’t exactly know how I knew.” she stammered nervously, but Tony didn’t notice as he grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes. “Need somewhere to stay? I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind you staying with my family.” “Yea, that would be really nice Tony, thanks!” she replied as she smiled brightly at him. “Come on, lets go! It’s a long walk, but my mom doesn’t expect me home until tomorrow, because I was gunna sleep over at Ayslinn’s house.” Tony grabbed Quilbry’s hand and they began to walk back to his house, on the dark streets.


“Ayslinn!! Come on, it wasn’t that bad was it!?” Vlad shouted as he burst in the front door of Ayslinn’s house. “…go…away…” she said, trying to keep calm. “No, I will not leave. This is my home too, for now anyway.” “Go save Tony… She is going to hurt him…” Ayslinn whispered from her bedroom, behind a locked door, to Vlad on the other side. “How do you know that?” “My dreams told me… Just go now, while I get prepared for the fight ahead.” she said louder, as Vlad finally obeyed and left her there in her room.


Ayslinn was running around her room trying to find her amulet and her precious silver cross. “God damn it! Where the hell are they!?” she screamed to herself as she dug through her jewelry box in haste.


“Hey, I have to go to Ayslinn’s house for a second ok?” Tony asked Quilbry, after they had gotten through his mom and they were setting up the extra bed in his room. “Why?” Quilbry looked at him from across the bed with her beautiful silver-green eyes. “Because I just need to!” he yelled as he dashed out of the room, and into his mother’s car. Tony was anxious and scared as he drove to his best friend’s house, his mind full of horrible things Quilbry could do to Ayslinn. He didn’t know her past, but he didn’t care, all he cared about was her future and her present.


Ayslinn heard a knock on her bedroom door, and when she opened it, there was Tony, with her cross and her amulet. “You left these at my house…” he mumbled as he pushed past her and she closed the door, locking it yet again. “Why would you bring these back to me? She doesn’t know about this, does she?” Ayslinn managed to say through clenched teeth. “Just take them, and she is the reason I met you, and was able to save you from killing yourself that day!” he snapped at her as she turned to face him. “Get out of my home…before she catches you here…” Ayslinn commanded as she collapsed onto her bed from exhaustion.


After a brief nap, Ayslinn hopped out of her bed, and went into the hallway to wait for her turn in the bathroom, due to the fact that Vlad was currently occupying it. She pounded her fist against the door. “Hurry up!” she yelled to him, rolling her eyes and shifting her weight from foot to foot. “Jeez Ayslinn, calm down…” he muttered as he opened the door, letting out steam and standing there wearing only a towel slung around his hips. Ayslinn smiled and slid past him, into the bathroom. “You, Vladimir, are an extreme bathroom hog!” she laughed as she closed the door and started to brush her hair. Ayslinn was going to shower, so she took off her clothes, except for her bra and her short-shorts, and started the shower. As she was waiting for the water to heat up, she decided to brush her teeth, and while she began doing that, Vlad swung open the door, and this time he was wearing jeans. “Ays--” he stopped mid-sentence when he saw what she was wearing, cleared his throat, and tried again. “Ayslinn, are you ok? After what happened in the clearing… I was worried about you.” he stared into her eyes and realized she looked like she wanted to cry again. “I’m fine…but thank you for being concerned… So much is happening right now, I just need a constant here with me, and I don’t have one.” Ayslinn started to cry shimmering tears that were perfectly clear, like jewels, as Vlad pulled her against him and held her while she cried. “Let me be that constant. Sweetheart, I will always be here for you. I love you.” he told her as she stopped after a few moments. “I… I love you too…” Ayslinn replied in a whisper.


Vlad and Ayslinn were curled up in her room on her bed, watching Fang hop about on her desk. Vlad kissed her neck softly and she shivered. “Is it ok if I told you that I don’t want to go out tonight?” he murmured against her skin. “Yes in fact, it’s perfect. I don’t want to go out either.” she replied, giggling as his breath on her sensitive skin at her collarbone tickled her.


Tony and Quilbry slept soundly, and unbeknownst to them, Vlad and Ayslinn became closer than ever, giving each other everything they could of themselves.