Once again, I'm very sorry for the delay. Hopefully, each new chapter will come sooner each time. I ALWAYS appreciate reviews and criticism, and please, please, please, add my story to your favorites :)

Also, sorry for the lengthiness of this chapter, I had a lot to fit in!

-Rixer

I slowly slid the key into the ignition. Taking a deep breath, I rotated it to the right as far as it would go. The new engine sputtered for a few seconds, but the engine did not roar to life as I had hoped.

I looked toward the garage, and saw my dad standing there, a beer in one hand and the other limp at his side. He had a peculiar look on his face, somewhere between hopefulness and disappointment.

"Come on, baby," I muttered quietly to my car. I turned the key again, praying for the deep, satisfying growl of the engine. But nothing happened.

I decided to try it one last time, and then I would beg my dad to help me figure out what was going on.

I took another deep breath. In one, last, attempt, I turned the key it sputtered for a few seconds, and then it roared like a lion that had just woken up from a hundred years sleep, hungry, and angry.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and pushed the gas down, making the lion's roar even deeper and louder.

I shifted my newly operational car into reverse and backed out of the driveway and into the street. Pressing down on the brake and shifting into drive, I looked back at my dad. There was something on his face. Something I hadn't seen directed at me since my mom had died.

A smile. A small one, but still a smile, nonetheless.

I looked back toward the road and pressed gently on the gas. The car slid forward smoothly, but with a slight rattle toward the front. She had her kinks, but she ran, and most of all, she was mine.

I headed into town slowly, hoping that someone I knew would see me driving and come to question when I had acquired the glorious steed that I now sauntered around town in. However, my hopes were to no avail.

I arrived at the long driveway that lead to Heathridge Books and pulled into a parking space next to the old house. I got out of my car, making sure to lock the doors. I lived in a small town, but one can never be too careful.

I thrust my keys in my pocket and walked up the creaky wooden steps to the bookstore. The front door opened with a squeal, and a wave of the smell of old books hit me. It was kind of a bittersweet smell. I liked the refreshing smell of books, but the age of the books made them a tad bit musty.

The cool air conditioning came as a relief from the near-summer heat that was put off outside.

Mr. Heathridge greeted me as I came in the door.

"Good afternoon, Damian."

"Hey Mr. Heathridge. How's business today?"

"Oh, about the same. Thank you for coming in early today. I have some business that needs taking care of in Stockerton."

"No problem. I finally got my car up and running, so it won't take me as long to get here anymore," I said with pride.

He gave me an amused look and said, "Well, congratulations, young man. You certainly worked harder on your first car than most of the children in this town. I'll see you tomorrow then."

With that, he walked out the door and down the steps. I watched out the window as he got into his car and sped off.

It was funny, for such an old fashioned guy, his brand new BMW Z4 was pretty modern. And he drove FAST too.

I took my place behind the counter, opened up my book, and began reading.

"I've lived for hundreds of years Anabelle, and I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you."

Edwardo looked deep into my eyes, searching for something he did not desire, but he found nothing.

"Oh, Edwardo.. I want to see you sparkle."

I made a noise of disgust and shut the book, placing on the counter next to me. It was really hard to find a decent book anymore.

The bell on the door rang, and I saw Sprat walking in, Pixie Stick in hand.

"Hey Sprat, how's it going?"

Sprat looked up and me and smiled. "Hey Damian, I was hoping you were here. Me, October, Andrew, and Kristoff were going to go to this sweet goth club in Stockerton tonight. You in?"

Goth club? I wasn't exactly goth, but it could be cool.

"Sure man, I just got my car up and running, so I'll drive!" I said, once again, with pride.

Sprat's jaw dropped. "That's totally awesome man! Andrew has a car, but… well, you've seen it. I'll tell everyone to be at the school by nine so you can pick us up."

Sprat's eyes dropped the book next to me. His face twisted into an expression of horror.

"Oh god. Don't tell me you like that Dawnlight crap."

I snorted and replied, "No way, man. I picked it up off the shelf, thought it might be interesting. I was so wrong."

He laughed, and his horrified expression evaporated, leaving the regular old gleeful Sprat.

"Vampires are totally awesome and all, but really? Sparkling?"

"Yeah, it's pretty lame," I replied with a smirk.

"Well, I'll see you at nine; I promise you'll have fun!"

And with that, he skipped out the front door and disappeared around the corner.

I sighed and sat back in my chair, wanting the next five hours to pass as quickly as possible.

Work was fairly busy, which made the time pass a bit more quickly. Eight thirty rolled around, and I ushered a few stragglers out of the door and began closing up. I didn't want everyone to be waiting on my late ass to take them to the club.

I finished closing up around eight forty-five. I set the alarm, and hurried out the front door, but not before locking it behind me. I picked my keys out of my pocket, and started up my car. It took a few tries, but it started up pretty nicely.

I backed out of my parking space, and headed for the school. I pulled up in front of Bathory High, and Sprat, October, and Kristoff were already there, waiting for me.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" I asked.

October admired my car as she slipped into the back seat.

"Sweet car dude! Better than Andrew's piece of crap."

Kristoff slid into the back seat with October, while Sprat occupied the passenger seat.

"Speaking of Andrew, where's he at?" I asked.

"Oh, he and Vlad already left for Stockerton. Vlad needed a ride, and Andrew is a wee bit claustrophobic, so he didn't want to be squeezed into a car with four other people," explained October.

"Oh, okay," I said, shifting into drive.

Sprat made a radio static sound with his mouth and said, in his best impersonation of a plane pilot, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is your Co-Pilot speaking. We're looking at a smooth trip to Stockerton in a sleek and sexy beast of a car. Our estimated time of arrival is 9:01 at The Crypt Airport. If there is anything else I can do for you, just come on up the cabin and ask."

October smacked him upside the head and said, "Shut up, dork. Come on Damian, let's go."

I pulled out of the school parking lot and headed toward the highway.

The trip to Stockerton was pretty uneventful. We blasted some Metalcore, the preferred genre of the group, most of the way there. When music wasn't playing, October and Sprat would argue about music, accusing certain bands, or band members of being posers.

We finally pulled into the parking lot at the Crypt.

Sprat began his co-pilot act again, but a swift smack the head from Kristoff cut off his performance early.

I found a parking space, and we all crawled out of the car, stretching our arms and legs after the hour-long drive.

Sprat, Kristoff, and October walked ahead of me into the club. I followed them closely, not wanting to get lost. The inside of the club was decked out with a bunch of red velvet, as well as a lot of vampire stuff.

There was a bar without alcoholic beverages, as well as a lot of tables and benches for hanging out. Towards the back of the club was a large dance floor, and a few feet above that, a stage.

On stage, a few guys were setting up amps, drums, and a few microphones for the band that would be coming on momentarily.

I followed my friends to a bench, where we found Andrew and Vlad already sitting, along with a stunning girl with Raven black hair and skin like china.

October made the introductions to everyone who needed the introductions made. The black haired girl's name was Snow, and although I already knew who Vlad was, we'd never been formally introduced.

The band came on, and everyone rushed onto the dancefloor. The band was pretty generic, with heavy bass riffs, piercing guitar distortions shredding all over the fret board, a heavy double bass drum beat, and piercing screams from the man in front.

I moved with the music, and so did all the other kids on the floor. Soon enough, a mosh pit was started.

All the kids inside it were being thrashed and pushed around, having the time of their lives. I joined in a few times, but mosh pits had never really been my thing.

After the first band finished their set, everyone migrated off of the dance floor, back to their seats and to the bar.

I went over to the bar and ordered their special, a type of vampire energy drink. A girl around my age leaned up against the bar next to me, and ordered the same thing.

She was gorgeous. Her hair was mostly black as night, but in front of her eyes, as well as random spots throughout her hair, it shone a dark purple when the light hit it right. Her eyes were outlined in a thin layer of eyeliner, her purple lipstick matched her hair perfectly.

"Can I help you?"

I realized that the words had come from the mouth lined in purple lipstick. I also realized that I'd been staring at her for the better part of the last ten seconds.

"Oh, um, no, sorry." I quickly looked away, hoping to avoid further embarrassment.

She laughed and held out her hand to me. "I'm Luna, and you are?"

I shook her hand and said, "Damian"

She smirked and said, "Well Damian, is there a reason you were staring at me?"

My face turned bright red.

"Well, um, I just thought you were, you know, cute."

She giggled and covered her mouth with one hand.

"Well thanks," she said, taking her drink from the bartender.

"That'll be $3.50, miss," he said. Without missing a beat, I handed him $7.00 for both of our drinks. He took the money and handed me my drink.

Luna looked at me with a small grin and said a quiet thank you.

I awkwardly looked back towards my friends sitting in the bench, and as my eyes fell on them, they all quickly snapped their heads away from me, and pretended to be in the middle of a conversation.

"So, Damian, you want to sit down?" I looked back at Luna as she spoke.

"Oh, yeah, sure." We sat at a table for two a little way away from the rest of my group and drank our energy drinks.

"So, where do you live?" I asked, trying to get some kind of conversation going.

"Here in Stockerton. And you?"

"Well, I'm originally from New York, but I moved to Bathory a few months ago," I replied.

"Oh, so that's why the kids from Bathory were staring at you," she said with a giggle.

"Uh, yeah. I came here with them."

We finished our drinks as the next band came on stage and started playing. Everyone ran back on to the dance floor and started dancing once again.

We sat at the table awkwardly for a few moments, before she cleared her throat, looking right at me.

"Um, do you wanna dance?" I asked sheepishly.

"Finally!" she said with a long sigh. She grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dancefloor.

The music was heavy, so we jumped around as the quick and heavy beat pounded on. I watched Luna as she jumped up and down. She had her eyes closed, and it was like there was nothing else in her world except the music. She was really gorgeous.

The song ended, and the band started up a slower song. I looked at Luna, only to find that she was already looking at me. I got closer to her, and she put her hands on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her waist and we began to sway with the mellow beat.

As the song went on, she laid her head on my shoulder and I pulled her closer to me.

The song ended, and heavier music took over once again.

Luna took her phone out of her pocket and checked the time.

"Crap," she said under her breath, "I have to be home soon. And it's a fifteen minute walk, so I have to get going."

"Don't worry," I said, "I can give you a ride home."

She gave me a small smile. "Oh, you have a car too? Well, I suppose I could use a lift."

I told October, Sprat, and Kristoff that I would be right back.

"Use protection!" Sprat whispered to me mischievously. I rolled my eyes and took Luna's hand as we walked out of the club.

The ride to Luna's house was quiet, except for the soft music that glided from the radio. Luna directed me to her house, and we pulled into her driveway. I opened her door for her and walked her up to her front door.

We exchanged numbers, and she unlocked her front door.

"Well, I had a great time tonight," she said, smiling at me.

I returned the smile. "So did I."

"Call me sometime," she said. "I'd really like to see you again."

"I will."

"Well, good night," she said, moving closer to me.

"Goodnight," I said, as I leaned in and kissed her purple lips.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it was amazing, all the same. She gave me one last smile and slipped inside her house.

I sighed, her purple lipstick fresh on my lips.

I stepped down from her porch and got back in my car, heading back toward the Crypt. I parked my car out back and started walking toward the front door.

Out of the alley I heard a slight moan of pain and I slid my back against the wall. Slowly, I peeked into the alley.

It was Vlad and Snow. They must have been making out or something. Vlad was giving her a hickey on her neck or something. But… It almost looked as if Vlad was… drinking from her. He pulled away, and Snow fell into his arms as something shone inside Vlad's mouth. His teeth.

No, his fangs. He had fangs. And they were stained with blood. Snow's blood.

Vladimir Tod was a vampire.