Chapter 2

"Brian, you can’t do that. I saw the look in your eyes, the way you kissed her. You can’t fall in love! You know it won’t work out. You know it!" Kevin nearly shouted, the model-like blond asleep in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder.

"I know, but, something just happened. It was fireworks. Lightening. I just…I don’t what to do. Honestly this is the first time I’ve ever felt this way, since before the… I don’t want her to die, I wanna be with her forever, live 10,000 lifetimes with her. No matter what happens Kev, I swear I’m gonna love her forever." Brian muttered, trying to explain, while trying to figure everything out for himself at the same time. He watched the beautiful woman sigh in her sleep and snuggle her face closer to Kevin’s shoulder, trying to draw warmth from his cold body. ‘She doesn’t know what’s about to happen to her, she’s gonna die tonight. For G-D’s sake, she can’t be more than 21. Poor child.’ Brian thought silently as she continued to blissfully sleep, not aware she was soon to be a feast for a group of the bloodsucking immortals.

The men finally got to the house and pushed the heavy oak door open, carrying the slumbering girl inside. Howie, Aj, and Nick rushed to help them get her to the dinning room, each man supporting a different limb. Brian released her as the other four laid her out on the large, walnut table. He quickly walked from the dinning room and towards the front door, not wanting to see the poor girl, in her final moments of her still short life. He heard her soft cries and pleas for the sharp pain to stop and for help, as each of the men drank from her, each enjoying her salty blood. Brian closed out the sounds and stepped out on the front porch. He listened to the soft humming of the distant grasshoppers, hoping that even for a single moment he could pretend none of this was real and he’d wake up, in a large soft bed, with a beautiful wife laying asleep next to him. His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening behind him. He didn’t even have to turn around to know it was Nick, coming out to try to cheer him up.

"Bri, you out did yourself with her! Wow, she was wonderful. And I know how much you hate to be there when she dies, so I brought you this." Nick smiled, his lips still rouge from his feast. He handed Brian a large plastic glass filled nearly to the brim with a thick crimson liquid. "I slit her wrist so you got some before the rest of the guys got it all."

Brian accepted the glass and began chugging it down greedily. The liquid was still warm and had a refreshingly salty flavor. He finished, not letting a single drop remain at the bottom and handed it back to Nick. Brian stood up and began to walk off the front lawn, heading for the road that led back towards town.

"Hey B-Rok, where ya going?" Nick questioned, standing up as well.

"For a walk, I just need to think. I’ll be back in a while." He murmured, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. Nick just shrugged and walked back inside the house.

~~~**~~**~~~

Brian walked down the dark alley way between the two large buildings, not really caring where his feet were taking him. He went back to his thoughts of moments ago, about this entire existence being all just a bad dream. Why couldn’t he just wake up next to his beautiful wife, just laying there sleeping peacefully, unaware of any of the horrible thing he had seen in his dreams? But no, this was all real, too real. The death was all around him, and it was going to be impossible for him to escape from. Suddenly, his sensitive ears picked up feminine cries and whimpers off in the darkness. His eyes, also enhanced by the vampirism, scanned through the blackness of his surroundings, finally spotting the struggling pair. Just noticing it for a split second, Brian shot forward, running with all his might towards them. A rather large, obese man had pulled a pistol out of his ankle-length raincoat and was pointing it at a shivering woman in a light purple dress. She was crying hysterically, trying to shove her purse into the man’s chubby hands. Before the man knew it, he was knocked to the ground, lifted into the air a good ways, then thrown head-first into a large metal dumpster.

Brian saw the woman crumple to the ground as her legs gave out in fear. She curled her knees to her chest and began to sob lightly. Brian recognized the woman by the gentle fragrance he had smelt at the party. It was Stephanie. He bent down next to her and lifted her chin, caressing her tear-stained face.

"Hey, are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?" he asked softly, trying to wipe all the tears from her soft, tanned cheeks. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his soft blue sweater. It smelt of warm cologne, but only barely, another scent was stronger. A lady’s perfume. She pulled away suddenly from the tender embrace, and began to hurriedly wipe her own tears from her eyes.

"I’m fine, he just startled me is all. Scared me nearly to death so, other than that I’m okay." Stephanie’s words were barely audible, even though Brian was only inches from her. She stood up hastily and dusted off her dress. Brian stood as well and touched her arm gently.

"Well still, it’s not safe for a lady to walk home alone. Can I walk you home?" he asked, pulling her body closer to his.

"Umm, okay, I guess. Sure, thank you." Stephanie smiled slightly, enjoying his soft embrace once again. She stared up into his eyes again, full of care, tenderness, and even a little spark of love, and gently touched his cheek. Pulling his face closer to her, she lightly brushed her lips against his, smiling when he pulled her closer and deepened it.

~~~**~~**~~~

"Where the hell is Brian? He should be back by now! He’s only got two hours until dawn. He’s absolutely out of his mind!" Kevin fumed, punching the wall with his fist. Forgetting the supernatural strength that came with being a vampire, he punched a hole in the dark navy wall.

"Dammit Kev, just sit down. He’ll be here before sunrise. He knows what happens if he’s not. Now quit punching holes in my wall before I punch one in you!" Aj bickered, standing up from the zebra print couch and examining the damage done to the wall. The front door opened and shut abruptly, as Nick walked into the house with a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"The body’s gone. I threw her in the river. Is B-Rok® back yet?" he asked, taking a seat in one of the decorative chairs next to the sofa.

"We were just arguing about that. He should be back any minute." Howie, the short Latin man, said calmly.

~~~**~~**~~~

Brian’s arms linked with Stephanie’s as they walked down States Drive, towards the Heaven’s View apartment complex.

"Thanks for saving my life, Brian. I don’t know how I’ll be able to show you how grateful I am to you. How will I ever repay you?" she smiled softly, holding onto his hand. Brian just smiled and squeezed her hand slightly, contemplating what to say to her next.

"Well you could do me the honor of meeting me tomorrow night. Say about 10:30, in the west side of the park. Okay?" he asked, walking behind her up the stairs to her apartment.

"I’d love to. I’ll be there. But why so late, can’t we meet for lunch or even dinner?" She questioned, giving him a quizzical look.

"Because I work all day without a break and night is the only free time I have." Brian lied, expertly.

"Okay, I’ll be there. You have a date." She grinned, finally reaching door 13. "Well, this is my place. Would you like a cup of coffee?" she asked, hopefully. He shook his head.

"Nah, it’s nearly morning and the guys will worry about me." Brian replied.

"Well okay. Thanks again for everything, I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for you." She hugged him tightly, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Brian cringed at her choice of words. He let her hug him, slowly letting the tantalizing scent of her perfume hypnotize him. The scent was different, now that it had mixed more with the soft saltiness of her skin. He hadn’t eaten enough, he realized, feeling the blood lust come back stronger this time. He felt the warm skin of her neck brush against his cheek. He slowly turned his mouth to her pulse point, his hot breath rustling her ebony hair.

Stephanie felt his soft, warm lips connect with her neck, as his strong arms wrapped more tightly around her. His hot tongue gently licked her skin, trailing up and down her throat. She encircled her arms around his shoulders, keeping him close to her. The sensation of his touch burnt her skin, leaving her wanting him more and more.

Brian felt her arms go around him and couldn’t help but love the strong yet gentle and tender embrace they were in. He felt his fangs retract, as he softly licked and kissed her skin, enjoying the slight shudder that ran through her when he kissed near her ear. The urge hit him, fast and furious, instructing him to simply tear through her soft skin and feast upon her. His sharp fangs gently scraped down the column of her neck. He shut his eyes and prepared to bite in.

"Brian, are you sure you don’t want to come in?" Stephanie whispered, breaking Brian from his trance.

Brian heard her gentle voice ring out in his ear, pulling his mind from the urge.

"I’m sorry." He muttered, pulling away from her. "I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow night." He kept his eyes to the ground as he hurried away from her, and ran down the stairs.

Stephanie stood at her door, confused and slightly shocked by his strange reaction. She walked into her apartment, slightly dazed by the night’s events, and rubbed her neck. Something warm and slick came off on her hand. Blood. She hurried to the mirror and cleaned it off with a Kleenex. She had some how gotten a small cut on her throat.

~~~**~~**~~~

Brian ran most of the way home, finally reaching the 3-story, brick house. All four guys stared at him peculiarly when he walked into the living room.

"Where in the hell have you been?!" Kevin yelled, "You only have forty-five minutes until sunrise! Surely no kill is worth that."

"Kill? What kill?" Brian asked, confused.

"Well you have a bit of blood stained on your chin, so we just figured…" Aj muttered, looking up at him from the couch. Brian quickly wiped his chin to see a crimson smear across his palm. Her blood.

"So Bri, who’d ya kill this time? Another old, homeless guy?" Nick inquired.

"Or a drunk trying to find his way home?" Howie added, nonchalantly.

"Or maybe it was that beautiful brunette from the party?" Kevin muttered, softly, his eyes not once leaving the television screen. Brian shot him a unrecognizable glare.

"I would never do that to her."

"Oh really, well just realize this now. When she finds out what you are, she’ll never want to see you again. Or she might go to the police and they’ll come after us, and once again we’ll have to leave. If you get too involved with her, and she says a thing to anyone, I’ll kill her myself. So if you ever think about seeing her again, you may want to reconsider it." Kevin stated, standing and walking past Brian, towards the kitchen.

"Kevin, if you touch her, I’ll…" Brian sputtered, angrily, "You’ll regret it." He finished, shoving Kevin slightly.

"Sure Lil Cousin, whatever you say. Hey, I got an idea, why not invite her over for some drinks and dinner, I’m sure she’d love to meet the guys. Then we can make her one of us and you can have her forever. Of course, you would be sharing her, but you’d be happy, right?" Kevin smirked, evilly, watching the fire of anger grow stronger in Brian’s blue eyes.

Brian’s face went dark, his fists clenched at his sides.

"No, no." He muttered, turning away from everyone, who were watching the argument with great interest, and headed for the basement. Nick stood and quickly followed him, leaving his video game on pause.

"B, wait up. Kev didn’t mean that, he’s just been worried about ya, that’s all. And if this chick tells anyone, they’ll either lock her away or come after us. As for making her one of us, I think it would be a splendid idea, to help you feel better about this…" Nick explained, until Brian abruptly cut him off.

"No one deserves to be like this. No matter how happy I’d be with her, she shouldn’t have to go through this."

"I’m just trying to help ya out, Pal." Nick frowned, seeing Brian’s point all too well, and actually feeling sorry for his heartache.

~~~**~~**~~~

"So Aj, what are we doing for Brian’s birthday?" Howie asked, breaking the awkward silence that had left with Brian. Aj just shrugged, and grinned playfully.

"I was thinking strippers. What do you think Kev?"

"I think we should give him what he really wants. That brunette was a nice looking chick, so if we follow Brian and he leads us to her we can ‘borrow’ her, and have her ready for the party." Kevin smiled at his own cunning. Nick slowly came trudging for the basement with an exhausted sigh.

"B decided to hit the hay early. What were you sayin’ about his birthday?" he asked walking back to his spot in front of the television set to finish his game before dawn.

"That chick he’s been making such a fuss over." Kevin smirked, cryptically. Nick looked up and gave him a confused stare.

"I think what Kevin is trying to say is, we kidnap her, once we find out where she lives, and prepare her for the party, then…" Howie stopped and gazed over at Kevin curiously and continued, "Well I’m not sure what after that but… Kev?""Well that should be obvious, we let her and Brian be alone for awhile and if Bri doesn’t completely drain her I’ll make her one of us." Kevin filled in, nonchalantly.

"What? You wanna turn an innocent girl into a vampire? Brilliant, except the one tiny fact that Brian, aside from being thoroughly pissed, would beat you senseless." Nick argued, shutting his game off and standing to head to his coffin.

"Brian just needs something to make him happy again. And with that girl’s help, we’ll have the regular, cheerful Brian back. If we give him something he wants and needs then he’ll thank us and be happy." Kevin explained carefully, not really believing any of it. Brian would only be back to the normal Brian if he wasn’t what he was. But he is a vampire and he can’t change that, so the girl is the best bet to make him even partly normal again. "So do we agree?"

"I guess it will work. I would like Bri to be happy again." Howie agreed, half-heartedly. He didn’t agree with what they were going to turn that poor girl into but anything to cheer up Brian.

"I would still like strippers, but I guess we can just save that for my birthday. Alright, I’m here to help out." Aj nodded, not really sure about Kevin’s reasons but what the hell, a chick around the house could be fun.

Nick was the only one who didn’t answer. The other three stared at him waiting for his answer. Nick thought about it for a second longer and shook his head.

"I’m not going to help to hurt the girl in anyway but I’ll help you find her. I really want Brian back to normal, and maybe this will work out for the best." He said, finally, feeling more dread build in his stomach at the thought of betraying Brian.

"Fine, all we gotta do is find her." Kevin stated, as the four walked down the wooden steps to the basement.

"Brian told me where she lives." Nick muttered, causing them all to stop mid-step. Kevin turned around and stared at the younger blond, smiling proudly.

"Good job, Nick. Let’s get some sleep then we’ll work out all the plans tonight. Sweet dreams, Fellas." He patted Nick’s back and they all went to their coffin and climb in.

"I’m sorry Bri." Nick whispered, closing his lid tightly.

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