text: It’s dark, and the cricket song echoes loudly around me. The wind rushes past me and I watch the trees fly by as the stars stay in their place. The moon orange and full, still yet barely rising. The fast ticking of my bike wheel is the only unnatural noise. I look to the sky again, I see what looks like a cloud across the sky, like a river. Dimmer in the middle. The milky way. I look to the road, and watch as my light bounces on the lines. A cooling wind blows and rustles through the trees. Causing some leaves to fall. They flutter through the night, dancing like the bats catching moths above me. I hear frogs croaking in the ditches as I pass. Cicadas in the trees. The bats' and moths' fluttering wings. The leaves dragging along the ground in the wind. The crickets chorus sings louder then quieter. I see almost no sign of human existence, besides me and the road I travel. It is bliss. I see what looks almost like a large dead animal right in the middle of the road. I slow my bike down, so I can get a better look. Slowly I approach it, til I get off my bike. I see now, it's a person, laying across the road as if they've been hit. Though I see no blood or scratches. I wonder, is it dead? I get closer still, probably dangerous, but still. I see that is a teen boy, maybe my age, maybe a little older. He seems to be struggling. He looks at me with eyes that seem almost red in the moonlight. He looks at me with an expression of fear...do I see hope? I ask if he's okay. "Does it look like I'm ok? Do okay people just lay on a road?" He panted. He seemed exhausted. I sighed, he seems to have some humor. "Well no, you don't look okay. But when some one asks that they mean to ask if you want or need help." I swatted at a mosquito that was flying in my ear. They didn't bother me till I stopped moving. I keeled besides the boy. "What's your name? Why are you in the road?" He smirked at me. "My name doesn't matter. The reason I'm in the road isn't something you'd understand." He layed back on in the road, obviously exhausted, hungry even. I shifted to sitting Indian style. The the road was hurting my knees. "I could try to understand." I spoke in a softer voice. He looked at me with a sudden desperation. He sat up and faced me. his eyes piercing into mine. as if he was studying my soul. They didn't just look red any more. They were definitely red. I could see they were fading. like the life was dying in them. A shiver went through my spine. I'm no idiot. I don't play dumb. "are you wearing contacts?" I asked, suddenly intrigued. He smiled and showed his teeth. “no.” He had nice teeth. I saw the canines were exceptionally sharp. But they weren't extra long. A chill of excitement ran down my spine. I smiled at him, and he looked at me confused. "Why do you smile?" his expression becoming nervous. "are you what I think you are?" I whispered, looking deep into his entrancing eyes. "say it out loud, if you really think you know." I shifted closer, probably not a good thing to do. "A vampire right? child of the night, supposed servant of the devil." He nodded, "yes, sort of and no." He paused and looked away from me. "i guess you could call me child of the night. But but I'm not a servant of the devil just because of what I am. if I was I wouldn't be starving out here." "starving..?" I asked, already knowing what he meant. He looked at the sky, tracing the milky way with his eyes. suddenly a brilliant light shone from the distance. A car was coming, and we were sitting in the middle of the road. "GeT oUtTa tHe ROAD!" I screamed, terrified. Though the road was straight and we had time before the car was gonna pass, I ran. I grabbed my bike, and headed for the edge of the forest. I dropped my bike in the ditch and began to back into the forest. I wasn't supposed to be out here. I was supposed to be at home, asleep in bed, like a good teen girl. I waited till the car passed, then there was another right behind it. I waited, watching the road. one two three I begin counting. to calm myself, and make sure the cars were far enough away to not see me. five six I climbed a tree and sat in the branch closest to the top, but still strong enough to hold me and probably my bike. nine ten ... “hey” I nearly jumped out of the tree in fright. “oh mY GOODNESS, you scared the living hEll outta me!” “sorry, you were about to push me out of the tree. I didn't think you'd climb the same tree, or sit on the same branch.” he shifted closer to the trunk of the tree. I leaned on the trunk, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving me shaky. The silence is closing in, and I hear the crickets resume their song. I wonder if there's any bats in this tree. probably not, they're probably out, eating. “so you're starving huh. shouldn't it be easy to get...umm..food..?” I looked at him confused. He sighed again, and looked directly into my eyes. The red even dimmer now. bags under his eyes growing dark. “I can't just attack any human for food. It has to be consented. They they have to say yes, and i can't force it. it's been almost a year since the last time I was able to feed.” He looked deeper into my eyes, searching. then looked back out, at the stars. The moon wasn't so red any more, like his eyes, it was fading into a pale yellow. “You didn't ask me” I stated, in a suggestive tone. He looked at me, surprised, and hopeful. then his hope faded. “don't play with my head, I know you wouldn't.” I sat up, away from the trunk, and looked him in the eyes. “You can feed off me, I give you my permission. as long as it doesn't kill me.” Within less than a second he had me pinned against the trunk. He held my head back by my hair, and I could hear his breath, ragged. desperate. my heart was pounding, as he lowered his head, and his lips grazed my neck, his breath cold, tickling my skin. “you sure?” He whispered, almost too quiet to hear. I nodded. He sank his teeth into my neck, I felt a snap, when my skin broke. I felt a wave of nauseating pain pass through me, and then the pain was gone. I can feel his lips on my neck, his teeth come out of the wound, and he drinks. I can feel him getting closer to me, he can't get close enough. He shifts closer, till his chest is pressing up on mine. He pulls my head back more with my hair. I can feel my heart beat faster, I gasp. my limbs are getting cold, and my head is swimming. I look out to the stars, the moon so full and bright. So, so full of life. my eyelids are getting heavy, I close them and relax. I feel my feet tingling. my limbs are growing heavier and heavier, as if i’m suddenly noticing gravity. I try to open my eyes, I try to move, but I can't.. my hands; that were gripping the branch I sit on, slowly let go. I can't hold on anymore, but I don't fall. He has me pinned against the tree. never have I felt so safe, so vulnerable and so alive, as while I feel like I'm dying. I feel him relaxing. letting go of my hair, and he pulls away from my neck. my neck feels cold, and naked. He touches my jawline and turns my head, to reveal the wound. my eyes flutter open, finally. I look at him, and he takes his hand from my face. I see little sparkles around my vision. I feel a trickle of warm run down the side of my neck, it gives me goosebumps. That's a feeling that I don't like. He takes his hand and slits his wrist with a sharp fingernail. I feel him dab some of his blood on the bite wound, and I immediately begin to feel better. I start to sit up, but he pushed me back by my shoulders. “rest for a couple minutes. it's not best to move right now.” I nod, and close my eyes again. i can feel my strength returning to me. I feel my mind clearing, as I take a deep breath. I look around myself. “You know, anytime you need to...feed, just ask, although, the answers always gonna be yes.” He looks surprised. “what time is it?” I worry. I gotta be home before four, my parents wake up at five. I look up at him. He looks at the moon, and around at the stars. “about three fifteen.” I see his eyes are very vivid now. The red is almost the color of blood, dark and deep. crimson. He he even looks more alive. “That's good. I'm about five minutes away from home..” I look down at the road below me. that's awful high, I realise. suddenly gravity seems drunk, and my world tips. I feel myself slipping. I look at him, everything happening in slow motion. He reaches his arm out to me, a little too late. I just miss the tip of his finger. I feel my feet slip off the branch. I'm falling...upside down, and I feel...weightless. The tree branch quickly gets farther away. I try to look behind me and do a flip in air. I see the ground, quickly approaching. I see my bike, still where I left it in the ditch. The ground is suddenly right there, and I hit it face first. but It didn't feel like I fell out of the top of a tree. It felt as if I fell out of bed. I sit up and look up at the branch I was sitting on. He’s not there.. “did that hurt?” I heard him ask from behind me. i turn around. “..no actually. How is that?” He sits down in front of me, in the grass. “well now you're going to be a transitioning vampire. The transition lasts a year. you'll have mild versions of vampire powers, and a mild aversion to the sun.” He sighs, “But if you want to stay human, any time in the following year just drink my blood, and you are cured.” The ground is uncomfortable. I can feel each blade of grass under me. I get up and look at the stars. some of them aren't stars, they're planets. I can see now distinctly which are planets. I can see mars easily. and Saturn. it's rings are positioned today just so, that they're almost invisible. I looked at his eyes again, so deep and beautiful. I could see the strands of his iris. I could see the stars reflection in them. The eyelashes that haven't fully grown yet. “I think I'll test this out for a while. Will you still be able to feed on me?” He walked to my bike and picked it up with ease. “yes, actually while you are transitioning, the blood is even better. but you're not just food to me, so do what you like. but once you're a vampire, I'll have to find other blood.” I nodded. “what if...i stay a transitioning vampire, and on the last day, you make me human. then we can start the transition over again.” I began to adjust my shirt and dust off my pants. he set my bike in front of a tree, so it was standing instead of laying in the ditch. I grab my purse. “that's clever..” He said, as he looked at me. I pulled a comb out of my purse. I leaned on a dead tree and brushed some dirt and knots out. The fall had made a mess of it. He was watching me as I did so. I pretended not to notice. but i ended up blushing. He was really cute. and this experience was quite intimate. at least I thought so. I honestly can't wait till next time. I blush harder at the thought. embarrassed, I brush my hair to cover my face. but I think he's already noticed. He chuckles, and looks away. “you should get home right?” i look at the moon. it's risin a little more since i looked last. maybe ten minutes ago. “no, I have a half hour to kill, and i don't like being home.” “what's wrong with home? I miss having a home to go to, but my family died off and my brother inherited the house. of course he died a couple decades ago. The house is his daughters now.” He seems to be lonely. maybe...no. I can't be thinking like that. I just met him. “dang,” i said. “it's gotta be hard with no place. I don't like home, but if I had my own id probably never leave.” I giggled.