****************

Kevin sat in the hotel bar, stirring his rum and coke with a straw. He had just spied tonight's dinner... a luscious brunette with the prettiest legs he had seen in a long time. He was feeling very amorous tonight. It had been so long since he had been with a woman. Months, in fact. Rhiannon had been his last. He needed sex. He could feel the tension in his body. The warm longing in his groin. His dinner glanced over at him and noticed he was staring. She smiled and walked over to him.

"Hi," she said, sitting on the barstool beside him. "I'm Carmen."

"I'm Kevin," he replied, giving her a sexy, sly smirk.

"Buy me a drink?" the girl asked, casually propping chin on her hand.

"Of course," he replied, signalling the bartender.

AJ sat in the back of the bar, watching everything Kevin was doing. AJ had been watching Kevin for some time now. He noticed that every night, Kevin found a different girl in the bar or at a restaurant, and he would take the girl back to his room. Very unlike Kevin to go through so many one night stands, AJ thought. Kevin wasn't a one night stand kind of guy. AJ knew something was up. He had watched as Big Bob had taken many, many girls out of Kevin's room, in various stages of consciousness. It had gotten a little better since Rhiannon had gone back home a week ago, but still... AJ wanted to know what was going on. He just knew Kevin was doing drugs with these girls. That's why they were all unconscious when they left his room. It was time for AJ to confront him. He couldn't let Kevin self-destruct without at least trying to help him. Kevin and the brunette got up from their stools, and AJ knew where they were headed. He followed, unnoticed. He had procured a pass key from the front desk, telling them that he and Kevin had swapped rooms because Kevin wanted the non-smoking room, but Kevin had forgotten to give him a key. The desk clerk didn't ask any questions, as she smiled and nervously handed him the key to Kevin's room. AJ made his way up the elevator and stood outside Kevin's door. His heart was pounding. He quietly slipped the key into the slot and saw the green light come on. He pushed the door open and entered the dimly lit room. The first thing he noticed was a dark, heavy black drape over the windows. What the hell? He sure didn't have one of those drape things in his room. He opened the door to Kevin's bedroom and walked in. Kevin's mouth was on the girl's wrist... Kevin immediately sensed AJ's presence and whipped around to face him. His mouth was covered with blood. Kevin's eyes narrowed with rage.

"Get the FUCK OUT!" Kevin screamed. AJ could see the elongated canines, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Holy shit!" AJ yelled, and he turned to run. Kevin was off the bed before AJ could even complete a step. He grabbed AJ's arm and whirled him around, pushing him against the wall roughly. Terror filled AJ's eyes as he stared at the blood on Kevin's lips.

"God, Kevin, please don't hurt me," AJ whispered, scared to death.

"AJ what the fuck are you doing in my room?" Kevin hissed.

"I... I was... Oh fuck. Kev, what's wrong with you?" AJ said, tears filling his eyes.

"Answer me, AJ. What are you doing in my room?"

"I was trying to help you. I thought you were doing drugs or something," AJ said, the tears spilling down his cheeks.

Kevin shook his head slowly and let go of AJ's shoulders. He turned his back on AJ and looked at the floor.

"You shouldn't have come in here," Kevin said softly. "Goddamnit, AJ, why did you have to see that?"

"Kevin, I'm scared. What's wrong with you?"

"Go back to your room, AJ. I'll be in to talk to you later. I have to get rid of this girl," Kevin commanded, taking AJ under his spell. AJ complied without speaking. Kevin went back into the bedroom and sat at the end of the bed, burying his face in his hands. The girl on the bed was beginning to come around.

"Kevin?" she said, groggily.

"Go back to sleep," he said harshly. "And shut the fuck up."

The girl laid back down and fell into a deep sleep. Kevin felt the room tilting and spinning. What the hell was he going to do about AJ? His hypnotic powers weren't nearly as good as Rhiannon's. He could make the girls forget that they had been bitten, but did he have it in him to make AJ forget what he had seen? Kevin was scared. He picked up the phone and called Rhiannon. She was out. He had no idea what he was going to do. First, he had to get rid of the girl. He picked her up and carried her out into the hall. He ran headlong into Howie.

"Kev," Howie said, smiling. "Having a good time tonight, I see."

"Yeah," Kevin said quietly, not stopping to speak. He carried the girl to the couch at the end of the hall and sat her down.

"You won't remember me," he said. "You won't remember any of this. You'll wake up in a few minutes, then you'll go back down to the bar."

He walked back to his room and closed the door. He sat on the couch and thought about what to do about AJ. He couldn't tell Rhiannon. She might want to kill AJ to keep him quiet. No. She wouldn't do that. Or would she? He'd just have to make sure AJ never said anything to anybody. But how? God, this was awful. Kevin made his way to AJ's room and knocked softly. At first, AJ didn't answer. Kevin knocked louder. AJ opened the door and stared at Kevin.

"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" AJ asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Let me in," Kevin said, pushing him aside. Kevin fell into a chair and propped his forehead on his hand. AJ sat down on the couch and crossed his arms.

"Well?" AJ said, "I'm waiting." "AJ, quit being a dick. I'm gonna tell you, ok. Just give me a few minutes to figure out how to say this."

AJ nodded and looked down.

"Something happened to me," Kevin started,"about a year ago. I met this girl at the gym..."

When Kevin finished his story, AJ's eyes were as big as saucers and his mouth was hanging open.

"You're... a... vampire?" AJ whispered.

Kevin nodded, unable to look his friend in the eye.

"You're shittin' me," AJ said, laughing a little.

"AJ, would I really joke about something like this?" Kevin snapped, as he looked up into AJ's eyes. AJ could see the pain on Kevin's face.

"No. Oddly enough, I don't think you would," AJ said, sighing deeply. "So... am I the only one who knows?"

"Yes. And I would like to keep it that way, ok?"

"Yeah. I can see why," AJ said, nodding. "God. This is just... so weird. So what's it like?"

"Well, some parts are cool," Kevin said softly. "I mean, I don't ever get sick or hurt. I won't get old. I can read people's minds and control their thoughts to some extent. Sex is fucking amazing now. I don't have to eat or drink. There are a lot of amazing facets to it. But I can't go into the sun anymore. And I have to drink... blood."

"You won't ever get old? Or die?" AJ asked quietly.

"Nope. This is me. Forever."

"That's cool," AJ said. Kevin could hear the awe in his voice.

"But AJ, all the people I love, well, except for Rhiannon, will get old and die. Then where will I be? I'll be alone."

"But Kevin, you'll be young forever. You'll always look like... well, like you. And that doesn't suck, I'm sure. You're a good looking guy. And you have all this power. Can you look at crosses?"

"Of course," Kevin said, rolling his eyes. "And I can go into churches without being struck down by lightning. And I can see myself in the mirror and have my picture taken, obviously. And garlic doesn't bother me. All that shit you see in movies is a bunch of bull. Now a stake throught the heart, I'm not sure about. I've never been confronted with that one. Sunlight apparently does hurt, though. I've never experienced it. But from what I hear, it's really bad."

"Do you miss anything?" AJ asked.

"Yeah. I miss the sun. I miss being able to walk through the woods and on the beach. I miss seeing the sun set. I miss cheesecake. I miss chocolate. I really, really miss chocolate."

"So you can't eat at all?" AJ asked, his brow furrowing.

"Well, technically I can, but only in really small amounts and if you eat the wrong thing, it makes you sick. Every once in awhile I'll eat a few M&M's or something like that, or I might drink a little wine. But other than that, I haven't really tried. Rhiannon can eat if she wants, but I don't know how she does it."

"So... Rhiannon is... a vampire, too?"

"Yep. She made me. She saved me, I should say."

Kevin actually felt better being able to talk to AJ about his life. It was kind of like he was unloading some of the burden. Kevin loved his new life, and he did embrace it, but sometimes it got stressful. Especially when Rhiannon was not there. It was lonely. He looked up at AJ, and saw the smile on his face. AJ was in awe of Kevin now. Even more so that usual.

"Kev, this is just so amazing," AJ said. "Can you make other vampires?"

"I guess I could," Kevin said, shrugging. "I've never thought about it."

"Would you do it?" AJ asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe."

AJ nodded. They sat up for the rest of the night, talking about Kevin's new life, and what it was like. Kevin told him about Lorelei and Stephen, and how Rhiannon had taken care of him when he was so scared.

"I love her, AJ," Kevin said, smiling. "She's the best. She thinks of everything."

"So, is she the one you're going to spend the rest of your..." AJ stopped, and looked embarassed. "I mean, is she the one you're going to spend forever with?"

"I think so," Kevin said, still smiling. "She's must incredible. We don't have sex or anything. I never thought I could be this close to a woman and not have sex."

"I would," AJ said, snickering.

"Would what?"

"Have sex with her. She's hot."

"AJ! Don't you think of anything besides sex?" Kevin asked, laughing.

"Not recently," AJ replied, smiling.

next