 
The Meeting

Annabel Lee

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright 2004-2006

Revised 2019 Annabel Lee

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Dedicated to my loved ones for always standing by me through the good and bad times. Without your support I would have never been able to finish this book.

Table of Content

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter One

Fast as lightning, I fly from rooftop to rooftop. Their rusty old gutters squeal as my dirtied pale foot lands upon them. The wind whips past my face. My shoulder-length blonde hair is in tangles and snarls around my head.

"I must find a hunting place", I say aloud to myself.

But I am surprised that instead of words, it comes out in a ghastly snarl. Glancing over, the stray cats sitting atop the trash cans flee in horror. I am a monster, a beast. In a split second, I realize that I am standing in a puddle of clear liquid. The face staring back at me is no longer human, for it has morphed into something else, something far more terrifying. Quickly pivoting, turning my head, I start to run. Like a blur to the human eye, I run faster than I have ever run before. No place, no family to worry about or protect.

I am care-free, completely happy. Or am I? For the last hundred of years I have been trying to commit what you humans call suicide. Apparently it has not worked out. I failed. Just like I am failing at trying to find my prey. Darting through the alleyways, down the back streets, I think about what it would be like to be with a companion. I longed for a companion for far too long. Standing alone, encircled with white light, from the cracked street lamp above, is a shadowy figure. I sniff at the air, testing to see if it is prey or another predator. Cautiously I approach the figure that is across the street as not to startle it away.

Mm too. It is food. These thoughts keep radiating throughout my head.

For I have not hunted in quite some time. I sniff at the air once more. Sweetness consumes my nostrils and then clouds my thoughts. My fangs start to grow, the sharp point of them ripping through the top and bottom gums. Foot in front of foot, I half crouch and step forward moving toward the morsel in front of me. Getting closer, I can make out the shadow's silhouette. Looks like a man. Yes, I can see it now. The curves of his sides. Letting out a low growl from the back of my throat the man stiffens up as if to be frozen.

Just the reaction I am looking for. Claws at the ready to tear away the flesh that packages the victim's blood so evenly. Saliva starts to fill my mouth. I draw closer and closer. Sharp, deep growls keep radiating from the back of my throat. He stiffens up more. Sitting in a crouched position and ready to pounce. He turns his head. I jerk up from my position. Standing there perplexed, my eyes run down his frame. They go from his pin-straight ear-length ebony hair to his broad nose, think pink lips, and his pale, skinny face. My eyes shift towards the man's crystal blue eyes, then down to his petite form.

His attire consists of a black over-coat, light grey shirt, faded-blue trousers that snuggle close to his thin legs, and black shoes. What is such a creature doing alone in the dark? I could have ripped apart such an angel, such a soft-looking human. My filth-covered bare feet move inch by inch toward the man. All I can think of is holding such a frail-looking human in my strong arms and protecting him. Forgetting about my speed, I find myself just inches away from his back. As his back stiffens once more, I lean in and sniff his hair.

"What are you? Who are you? What do you want from me?" His voice shakes with terror.

Should I tell him? Should I reveal what I am to this beautiful stranger? I kind of want to have my existence known. I long for someone to know me. To no longer be alone in the dark.

"Why not sit a bit with me? I swear I shall not harm you." I whisper softly within his light-pink ear.

The expression on his face is full of shock. Are my fangs still out? Slowly I reach a pale hand up to check. Sure enough my fangs have not gone into their sheaths. Carefully I make them return. Just then, his melodic voice rings out and brings me out of my reverie.

"Who are you? Please, I beg of you, please don't kill me!" He pleads, his wide eyes looking up into mine.

Glancing down, I find how closely I am standing toward this human, so close that I can feel his warm breath on my frigid skin.

"I am sorry." With that I back a few steps away from him.

"Are you going to kill me now?" The man's voice quivers.

"No. I have no reason to. I just want to talk. If that is all right with you?"

"Um sure, it's fine.

Shock consumes me. Maybe I am not as scary as I have thought. Slowly I move toward the wooden bench; which is riddled with cracks. Sitting as close to the edge as possible, I raise my slender hand and motion him to come sit with me. Surprisingly he comes and sits down in the middle of the bench. In the same instance he settles down on the bench, he lets out an exasperated sigh. But I detect some anxiety within the breath he takes as well.

"Now you asked what and who I am. Is that correct?

"Yes." He whispers lowly as he looks at his two diminutive feet.

He glances up quickly, and we lock eyes. As he gazes into my eyes, it feels as though he can see right into my soulless body. It makes me feel almost sane.

Chapter Two

"I was born in a small town named Brighten. Like most families, we possessed very little. I lived with my parents and my nine other brothers and sisters. Back then it was common to have a large family."

Quickly I glance down to see if the fragile human is still listening. Sure enough he is looking up at me with eager eyes, devouring every word that flows from my mouth.

"At the age of six years my parents passed away from the influenza that was swarming all around. It consumed people left and right. They would just drop down dead everywhere. Seeing their faces gave me night terrors. My mind was filled with images of them, gray skin, blisters, sores, cracked lips, and dull eyes. Their bodies littered the streets and towns. Soon the influenza seeped its way into the little one-room house my sisters and brothers and I lived in. They all died off one by one, until only I was left."

I pause for a moment, remembering the death that surrounded myself and the faces of the fallen, until I feel a bit of warmth seeping into the skin upon my shoulder. This snaps me out of my deep thoughts. I jump, startled that is frail human is actually touching me.

"Are you all right?" The man asks as concern seeps through his words.

As I settle back onto the bench, it starts to creak. "Yes, I am quite all right. Just was a bit lost in the past."

A brilliant flashes across my lips. Through the darkness I can see his cheeks redden. He lowers his head while his hair falls lightly in front of his face.

"Shall I continue, or have you heard enough about me?"

"No! I would like to hear more about you."

I find myself smiling at this stranger. I am not sure why, but talking with this strange human is making me feel, well, happy. Also he is actually listening to me. What an odd human to not be frightened and to sit so close to such a monster.

"All right, I shall tell you more."

I cannot help but smile once more at this beautiful man. He blushes once more and slides down into the bench. Trying to hide his reddened face.

"Ah, where was I? Now I remember. I was at the part when the influenza was coming. My brothers and sisters all died off one by one, until only I was left."

Chapter Three

A large sigh slithers out from my mouth. My eyes wonder towards the human next to me. His head is lying lightly against my shoulder. I watch as his chest slowly moves up and down. His breathing is even, and so is his pulse. Taking in a deep inhale, I take in the air around the frail human. A smile crosses my face as I sense that this man is at peace. But within minutes, he starts to shiver a bit. I shift. Wrapping one arm around him, I lay him against the backrest of the bench.

Swiftly I slide my over-coat off and drape it over his limp body. He snuggles deeper within the coat and sighs. A smile of contentment comes to his lips. I inch closer to him, mesmerized by his smile and reddened cheeks. Slowly my hand rises up and lands lightly upon his right cheek. Soon he starts to shiver once more. I quickly recoil my hand. Light footedly I rise up from the bench and dash away, wanting to look back at the sleeping angel, but I cannot bare it. Wishing of having said goodbye, I think of how better off it is. Still I am glad I met that frail human.

Maybe I will be able to sleep well when morning comes. For I have not slept well in quite some time. Nearing the abandoned church, I cannot help but smile. Here I am, back at my humble abode. Without delay, I rush towards the large dark-brown wooden doors, swiftly sliding into the church. With my hands folded, I peacefully walk down past the row of decrepit wooden benches. The rats scurry around my feet. My body bends as I snatch one up with my hand. My fangs slowly unsheathe themselves. I can feel them ripping slowly out from my top and bottom gums. With my mouth open wide, I sink my fangs into the squealing rat.

Moments pass and the rat seizes to move. Blood trickles slowly down my parched throat. As I keep walking and sucking the rats around me dry, I cannot help but think of that fallen angel that I have met in the park. The way that his soft skin felt and the way his hair fell in front of his face. Thoughts of kissing his soft-looking pink lips come rushing through my mind. I shake my head vigorously from side to side. No, I cannot think of that human any more. I must stay away from him. If I were to get closer to him, that would put him in immediate danger. Yes, it is better this way.

With that I halt in the back of the church. Where an alter should be, there is a large tattered rug strewn about the floor. In this rug there are numerous colors that have faded over time. My knees bend and my arm extends to pull away some of the rug. There, hidden away in the shadows is a trap-door. The door is the same color as the floor boards, tarnished dark-brown wood. My hands slide slowly against the floor in search of the door. Suddenly my fingertip pokes through a hole within the floor and a sly smile dances across my lips.

With both hands, I slide my fingertips through the cracks, and lift the door up. I step on to the rust-filled ladder and pull the door and rug back into place. Once inside the hole, I clamber down the ladder slowly, as to not lose my footing. Droplets of water fall from the darkness and onto my broad, stiff nose. Down, down, down I go into the dark abyss. The only thing I know is darkness. Darkness is the only thing that has kept me company these hundreds of years. But for some reason, when I think of that frail human, I have this strange feeling. I guess you may say this is a feeling of something humans call hope.

As I near the bottom of the ladder, I jump down. To my dismay, I land within a puddle of clear stagnant water. I heave a deep sigh and move on. Foot in front of foot I make my way toward the dim light coming from the back of the cavern. Trying to forget the meeting that peculiar man, I can feel the rat's blood, that I consumed, start to flow through me. Adrenaline starts to heighten my senses. My emerald green eyes wander about, noticing every curve of the cavern walls, every crevice. Every bug that flies past my face I an actually see. Shaking my head slowly from side to side, I move forward. But once again my thoughts return to that beautiful stranger. Why can I not just forget him?

Oh well, maybe some sleep will do. Turning my head to the side, I strain my ear to listen to the world above. The sounds of early birds chirping start to envelope in my ear. After some time, I carry on down the passageway, drawing nearer toward the dim light. With a withered sigh of relief and a hint of tiredness, I really a medium-sized dugout in the cavern. My eyes glance around, taking in the tattered blanket strewn across the ripped up mattress. There is a medium-sized hole in the ceiling, making the sunlight shine in a corner of the room dimly. A rat scurries over my foot in haste.

Chapter Four

My eyelids flutter open. I glance up at the hole, which occupies the top right corner of the ceiling. Moonlight shines through. A sly smile crosses my lips.

"The night has come."

Slowly lifting myself from the mattress, I fling the blanket to the side. It is time to hunt. Running faster than the speed of light, I fly out of the dugout and down the darkened cavern. My hands grab a hold of the bars on the sides of the ladder. They squeal in protest as I clamber up them. Trying not to break through the door that conceals my resting place, I carefully slide my fingertips through the hole and lift the door up. Once out of the hole, I dash past the benches. Sliding through the doors, I scurry down the alleyways. Moments pass when I decide to stop and sniff the air. My nostrils flare wide as I pick up a familiar sent.

"Why do I smell...myself?"

I turn the corner and glance around at my surroundings. Surprisingly I find myself in the same park that I met the fallen angel last night. Just then, in the corner of my eye, I see sitting on the bench is the very man that I met. A wide smile crosses my lips. I straighten up and in human speed saunter over toward the bench.

"Well, here we are again." I whisper into his light-pink ear.

The human's head snaps toward me as his body tenses up. But when he looks into my eyes, he smiles, and his whole body seems to instantly relax. A half smile comes to my lips. Why is he not afraid of me? I find that is rather odd.

"Yea, I hoped to see you again tonight." He speaks with a slight blush of the cheeks.

"You have hoped to see me once again? Might I ask why?" I cock my head to one side in confusion. Do I appeal to this human in some way?

" Well um you see."

He then lowers his head in embarrassment, his face growing redder by the second. As I drift closer toward him, my two slender fingers slip under his chin, lifting the face up towards mine.

"What is the matter?" I ask, concern ringing in my voice.

"Um here!" He says as I feel something heavy and thick being shoved into my chest.

The thrust makes me stumble backward a bit. Regaining my balance within seconds, I glance down to fine my over-coat within my arms. My eyes move up to look at him. The man in front of me is just standing there rubbing his head and mumbling "I'm sorry" over and over again. With a slight grin across my face, I take in how adorable he is being. I place my index finger over his lips.

"Shh please, there is no need to be sorry. Thank you for giving this back to me."

He nods his head only once as the smile upon my face broadens. I lower myself down onto the bench and beckon him to come over. With tentative steps he makes his way over toward the bench and settles down next to me. Once again I am taken aback at how this human is quite comfortable sitting next to a monster such as myself. He shyly glances up at me as he opens his mouth.

"I would like to hear the rest of your story. If you don't mind, that is."

Shock consumes me. No one has ever truly wanted to know about me. Let alone would want to get this close to me. I do not know what to say to this perfect stranger. Maybe I should share the rest of my story. I really want to have my existence known. To have at least someone remember who I am. But most of all, I want to share memories with someone.

"All right since I have told you about my human life, I will share with you about the time I died and was reborn into what I am."

The man looks up at me, eagerness showing clearly upon his face as he waits to devour every I have to say to him.

"His name was Alexander. He was very tall, sleek, and thin. I met him in a quaint little town called Monterrey. It was the times of the west. Apparently he was hiding from the Zanucks, men of God, men of the church. They called him the devil's spawn. But to me, he was much more than that."

Chapter Five

"One chilly night, when the moonlight was at its brightest in the blackened sky, I stumbled upon a small broken-down shack. I was walking for miles through the deserted dirt streets. My legs started to drag a bit, my stomach was making odd noises, and my head and feet ached. Finally, I decided to stop to catch my breath and rest. My hand reached into the sack, that I carried and pulled out a withered leather water jug. Raising my hand up toward my parched lips, I placed the opening of the jug on them. As I waited in anticipation for the water to flow into my mouth, my lips were met with nothing. Not even the littlest drop of water came out of that jug.

A sigh of disappointment slithered out of my cracked pale lips. But in the distance I saw something. I had to strain my eyes just to see it. There, in the pitch blackness of the night, was a rustic shack leaning to one side. Hope washed over me. Maybe I could take shelter I there for I had nowhere to go, and the wind was picking up rather quickly. So, I trudged forward toward the shack and stumbled through the wooden door. I sank down to the floor, wrapped myself up in the blanket that was lying there, and fell fast into a deep sleep. It seemed I slept for days, but it was only hours before Alexander found me.

While he crept inside, I could hear the floor-boards creak with every step. The steps were slow and far apart like he possessed long legs. My eyes fluttered open to a very angry, very scary figure. Looking up still half asleep, I examined my finder. He wore no shoes, but he had grimy tan feet, and long thick yellowish toenails. My eyes then shifted upward toward his tattered worn-out black cotton trousers, and then his bare tan sun-kissed chest. He had a muscular figure despite being thin. To complete his attire, he wore an old dress coat that had seen better days. Long brown disheveled hair covered his medium-sized head. What I looked at lastly was his eyes, crystal lake blue...just like yours."

As I whisper my last sentence, the man's cheeks start to turn a hue of bright pink as he glances down in embarrassment. A slight smile crosses my lips at his shyness as he tries to cover his face with his hair. Satisfaction consumes me as thoughts are flooded with ways of how I can see more of his adorable shyness. As these thoughts run through my mind, my hand extends toward him, brushing away the hair that is in front of his face.

"There is no need to hide yourself. There is no one around but me."

"It's because it's you that I'm like this." The frail human whispers.

Thoughts of holding and kissing this human come flooding into my mind, consuming my senses. Maybe I should just depart from this human before I lose myself completely and start to ravish his luscious skin. I mean, I have my over-coat back now. If I stay any longer, it just puts this human into more danger. The last thing I want to do is to cause harm to him. But for some strange reason, I cannot leave him. For all I want is to have this human by my side for all of eternity. As I let out a deep breathe, I lean back against the bench. Sounds of this human's pulse vibrate in my ears.

My eyes wander towards the face of the man sitting next to me. He suddenly pulls out a shiny contraption that he had stowed away and flips it open with his slender index finger. His eyes widen as he quickly shoves the device back into a pouch on the side of his trousers. As he quickly gets to his feet, my eyes watch his every move, taking in every curve of his body. The man swiftly turns towards me. His mouth opens slightly.

"I'm so sorry! But I have to go home now, it's getting so late, and I still have house work to do."

I cock my head to one side in confusion as to what house work might be. A smile crosses my lips as I put on a "no, do not be sorry" look upon my face and nod my head in reassurance. He smiles widely in response and dashes frantically away down the dimly light street. Here I am, now alone with my thoughts of only him. What a unique human. It feels as though something is pulling me toward him, something strong, yet unidentifiable. A strange thought crosses my mind. I grab hold of my over-coat and lift it toward my nose, inhaling deeply. Smiling widely, I pick up the sent of the human I was just with. Their sent is drenched all over my over-coat. The sweet aroma intoxicates me as I dizzily glide back to my humble abode, all the while thinking only of that fallen angel.

Chapter Six

Pacing slowly up and down the aisle, I try to think of his name. I have forgotten that we have not been properly introduced. The past couple times that we have met he either fell asleep or had to leave for something called house work. As I trail my index fingertip across the dust covered window-sill, I think and think of different names that would suit him. But nothing comes to mind that would be perfect enough for this fallen angel. It is noon time, the time when the sun is highest in the sky. Surprisingly I am not down in the caverns sleeping the day away. It is a very good thing that all of the windows are all boarded up. For if they were not, I would be burnt to a crisp!

Minutes go by then hours. As a sigh flouts out of my partially open mouth, my eyes wander out the window as they take in the blackened night sky. Now I can venture out. This church is hidden away in a thick over-grown woods. The existence of this church has been lost for centuries. I plan to keep it that way too. Drained of ruby blood, rats litter the dusty floor of the church. Darting between the large trees and shrubberies surrounding me, I cannot help but think of seeing that man again. I wish that someday he will allow me to hold him in my arms and maybe even kiss him. I can only wish and hope.

It is a long way away to the park where I met the perfect stranger. But since I move as quickly as the wind, it is no problem for me to get there. Darting through back streets and up alleyways, I suddenly skid to a stop, falling toward the ground, as to not ram into the human in front of me. The human quickly pivots around. I slowly glance up to find the fallen angel right in front of me. Embarrassment quickly fills me as they slowly bend down to extend their hand toward me. My hand lightly slips into theirs as I rigidly get up from the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asks frantically, still holding on to my hand.

"Yes, I am quite all right. Thank you for your concern."

The man smiles up at me tenderly. I flash a brilliant smile at him in response. My ears are enveloped by the beating of his heart as it starts to beat faster and faster. His cheeks redden a bit as he realizes that he is still clutching my hand. Our hands part and fall to our sides as we stand there in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. My lips part, taking in the air around me.

"I must apologize to you. For we have not been formerly introduced. My name is William. And what might yours be?" With that I extend my hand toward him.

"Oh um my name is Noah." He extends his hand and places it within mine.

Within seconds a slight shock radiates up both his hand and mine. He quickly recoils his hand, holding it tightly with the other. My hand falls to my side as confusion fills me. That was extremely odd.

"I must apologize. I do not know what has happened. That has never happened before and I hope that you are not injured."

Noah walks slowly over and reaches for my hand. He holds it tightly as his eyes wander up toward the grimace upon my face.

"It's okay, no need to worry."

A smile starts to cross my lips. "If you are sure."

Noah smiles widely. While still holding on to my hand, he guides me over toward the bench to sit.

Chapter Seven

The night is quite muggy, and the air tastes stale. Noah and I meet at our usual place, the place where my eyes were met with this beautiful stranger. I am filled with excitement and overfilled with joy. This is the first time Noah and I are actually doing something together instead of sitting on that bench talking. Do not get me wrong. I absolutely love talking to him for hours until the sun starts to rise. Always I ask him if he would like me to escort him home. But he always refuses. I wonder why. Maybe someday he will tell me. With the blanket in hand, I skid to a stop.

I walk up to the bench where Noah is waiting for me, in human speed of course. There he is, twiddling his delicate pale thumbs. His eyes are set in a hypnotic trance upon the darkened road. Shock consumes my entire body as I take in the grimace across his lips. A second later, I find myself by Noah's side, one arm wrapping around his sulking body.

" What is wrong? What could have put such a sour-looking expression upon your angelic face?" I lightly whisper within his ear.

His shoulders just rise up, grazing his ears, in a care-free shrug. My index finger extends and touches the underside of his chin, slowly and gently pushing upwards until his eyes meet mine. Staring deeply into his eyes, I ask him one last time.

"Please, Noah. I am your friend. You can trust me. What is the matter?"

Noah just puts on a forced smile. "Please don't worry a out me, William. I'll be fine. Let's go before it gets too cloudy and we can't see the stars."

He quickly gets up and grabs a hold of my elbow and dashes forward. While he keeps running, small giggles start to escape from his partly opened mouth. I smile at him, trying to do my best at running in human speed. As we dash forward, out of the corner of my eye I see Noah trip and fall forward. Swiftly I angle my body and move in front of him with my arms open widely. My back slams against the hard road as my arms envelope Noah's frail back. His head is buried in my chest while clutching on to my tattered white cotton shirt.

"Are you all right?" I ask breathlessly. For the first time, I am actually concerned for someone else's well-being.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry about that. Sometimes I get a bit too excited and I don't watch where I'm going."

I lift my hand up and lightly place it on to the back of his head and smooth his hair. Ah, I could stay like this for all of eternity with him in my arms. But I know I am only a friend to him. For some reason I want more. I want to spend my life with this human. After some minutes pass, I shift around and pull Noah up from the ground gently. We walk slowly now, glancing from time to time up at the twinkling stars in the blackened sky. It seems like miles until we get to our destination. Trudging up the hill, I glance around us, sniffing at the air to make sure there are no predators stalking us. All seems clear. I lie down the blanket that I have brought with me from my dwelling place.

Noah walks over toward the blanket and lies down, stretching his limbs, I stand there admiring his beauty and beating heart. He glances up at me and smiles then motions for me to join him. I smile at him and slowly make my way over to lie next to him. Well, not right next to him per say. I stay a foot or so away from him. For I was quite excited to see him tonight that I have forgotten to feed. I do not want to kill him or spill his blood or even cause harm to him in any way. My eyes wander over toward Noah as he looks up at the twilight sky full of luminous stars. His head turns toward mine. A smile crosses his lips as he deeply looks into my eyes. The moon is full tonight, and it shines down across my face. Noah's face reddens, and then he looks away. My head cocks to one side in confusion as to why he would be embarrassed.

"Why is it that your face frequently turns scarlet?"

"Um...no reason." Noah mumbles while turning over to the other side that faces away from me.

My hand extends toward him and lands lightly upon his shoulder. I shake it gently.

"Please tell me what the matter is. I am not keen on how human's emotions come about in this day and age. For it has been hundreds of years since I have come into contact with a human."

But Noah will not budge an inch nor say a single word. I recoil my hand slowly and lightly sigh. Turning onto my back, I place my hands under my head. My eyes stare hypnotically up at the stars, taking in their sparkle and shine. Then in my right ear, I hear a ruffling noise of something moving at the bottom of the hill. Quickly I sit straight up, to better hear the strange sounds. My senses kick in, and a familiar smell envelopes my nostrils. Glancing over, I sigh in relief to see Noah is still there. But the noises continue.

Chapter Eight

As I inch down the hill growling, I can hear Noah's voice behind me.

"William, what are you doing? What's wrong?"

I just ignore Noah's questions and keep growling and snarling down the hill. Then...it jumps out from the bushes. The vampire hunter's greatest weapon, the Farfalla. It must have smelled me from miles away and come to investigate. Its gold and emerald-green eyes lock onto mine for a split second and then onto Noah's. Noah stops in his tracks as he takes in the four-legged slimy beast. The slime is a type of venom the church had developed. Letting it touch our skin is equal to being exposed to the sun. Thin dark gray spikes fold up and down on its back. You can say that also is a defense mechanism. As it starts to realize that Noah is human, the Farfalla backs off. Unlucky for me, the beast resumes its deep throat-ed growls and starts to stare me down.

I am unaware of its intentions for they are usually seen with a couple of hunters. Crouching deeper into my defensive stance, growls start to radiate from the back of my elongated throat once more. The Farfalla's mesmerizing heterochromia gold and emerald-green eyes, turn to bright white, the kind you find in winter as snow blankets the ground. Still in shock from this sudden change, I just barely get out of the way from the charging beast. Apparently they have been modified to match the speed of my kind for its jagged spikes rip into my side.

This could be trickier than I anticipated. Moving from place to place, trying to avoid the Farfalla, the gash on my side starts to open wider, blood spilling out and sliding down the side of my body. Out of breathe and losing more blood than I have even consumed, my legs grow weak and finally give out beneath me. In the corner of my eye, I see that the Farfalla is charging once more towards me. Now I know I am done for. Glancing to the side, I spy Noah frantically running toward me.

Chapter Nine

With both of his arms spread wide to shield me, Noah starts to shriek at the Farfalla to stop. I look up with heavy-lidded eyes as the beast skids to a stop. Its eyes shift colors once more, and it shakes its head vigorously from side to side. Noah's arms drop limply to his sides as his breath comes in and out as heaves. I can sense his elevated heart rate and blood flow. He glances back, taking in my disgruntled, bloodied form. With agony strewn across his face, he kneels down, lightly placing my head onto his lap.

"It shall be all right Noah." I whisper softly, giving him a smile.

"How are you supposed to be okay when you've lost so much blood? I need to get you to the hospital!"

"Shh, Noah, do not shed tears for me. I shall heal in time. I will never leave you."

I can feel Noah's body trembling beneath me. Oh, how I wished I could ease his suffering. To see him so upset disturbs me to my very core. Between Noah's sobs, I pick up a slight clearing of the throat getting ever louder. Noah pivots his head toward the sound. There, sitting quite still , is the Farfalla, who, in perfect English, and by the sound of it I assume it is female, said

"Could you please pry this splintered branch from my paw? It hurts terribly." She asks calmly as she lifts her front left leg up.

In compete shock, Noah gives a slight nod while getting up from the ground. With both hands and some minor maneuvering, the branch was eradicated from the paw.

"Thank you. In return, I shall help you heal him." The Farfalla says as she walks with Noah back toward my now fully limp body.

A warm yet wet sensation starts to glide over my wound. I can feel the wound start to close and flesh start to appear in its place. Even in my weakened state, I can still hear sounds around me, especially the voices of Noah and the Farfalla.

"He should be all right now, no need to continue on worrying."

"Thank you so much!" Noah exclaims as he kneels down and places my head upon his lap once more.

"I must extend my deepest apologies for my horrid behavior just moments ago. This is a new body, you see, and I am not quite used to it yet. My name is Lilly. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Noah sweeps his soft fingertips across my tensed forehead, brushing away the few strands of hair still stuck there.

"My name's Noah. It's all right, even though it was scary at first. But now it's okay. I just wish I can do something for him to ease his pain."

As Noah speaks, I start to feel droplets of warm wetness fall upon my forehead. Oh, Noah. I never wanted to be the cause of his distress. What should I do? My body has weakened to the point of having no movement left in my limbs. For that I cannot comfort him in the ways that I so crave to do.

"I must ask of you, why are you with this creature? Doesn't his existence frighten you? Of what he could do to you?" Lilly asks, confusion seeping in her words.

"The night we first met, I was terrified. I thought I would be killed for sure. But he was so kind to me. I never had anyone be kind to me before. The whole time he was telling me of his childhood I was waiting for when he would just suddenly turn on me and kill me. But he didn't do anything like that. He was in some way different than the others of his kind you hear about. He is kind and compassionate and thoughtful. I fell asleep in the middle of his story. Even then he was a perfect gentleman. He even put his coat on me so I wouldn't get cold."

"You are in love with him, are you not?"

The question must have shocked Noah greatly for his fingertips seized upon my forehead for a minute or two.

"I'm...I...I can't stop thinking about him. I find myself missing him during the daytime and wishing for time to go by faster just so I can see him I want to always be with him. But...how can I when I'm human and he being a vampire? Lately, day by day I find myself wanting more from him than just friendship. I...I want to become his lover and only his. So I guess you can say, yeah, I do love him. I've fallen so deeply in love with him."

Chapter Ten

As if awakening from a century-long sleep, slight groans start to slip out of my partially open mouth. My eyelids slowly lift to reveal the Farfalla lying next to me nestled in the grass and on the other side Noah with my hand tightly clasped in his.

"Noah" I whisper his name as my left hand slowly rises and lands upon his tear-stained cheek.

Noah's eyes widen as my hand starts to caress his soft skin. He places his shaking hand over mine and closes his eyes.

"I...I thought you were dead." Noah says while sliding his lips over my extended hand.

"But I'm so glad that I'm wrong." With that the tears that he was holding in start to flow from his closed eyes once more.

Within seconds Noah's sobs radiate throughout the still air, his whole body starting to shake and quiver. Is this what it feels like to be loved and cared for? To be wanted and needed? All these feelings that are blossoming inside of me are all foreign to me. But I do know this I will never be able to let go of Noah. For I am falling, falling deeper and deeper in love. An overwhelming feeling starts to come over me. It is filling my senses and clouding my mind. I must comfort him. I must hold him. I must keep him safe. With that, my arms envelope Noah's body; pulling him tight against my chest. My right hand slides up to the back of his head.

"Shh, it shall be all right. I am here and will not go anywhere, you have nothing to fear." As these words slide out of my mouth I can feel the dampness of his tears upon my shoulder.

Noah's breathing starts to calm and his sobs dissipate slowly until there is only the sound of his even breathing and slowed pulse.

"He has fallen asleep."

A female's voice rings out in the air, pulling me away from the bliss of holding my love. Glancing up quickly, the rogue Farfalla, from before, is just inches away from us, staring into my eyes.

"Oh, where are my manners, I must apologize tor my unsightly behavior earlier. You see this is a new body and I am just starting to get used to it. It did not help very much to have a twig stuck in my paw though."

I swiftly move Noah's limp body towards the side and start to my feet. With a slight bow, I introduce myself to the Farfalla.

"Thank you for healing me. My name is William. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

The Farfalla bows its head in return. "And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well. My name is Lilly.

"Ah, what an enchanting name. Tell me, what brings you here, and without a hunter no less?"

Lilly wearily sits onto the grass while a deep sigh radiates from her lips.

"I escaped from one of the hunter's laboratories. They were not killing our kind like they used to for hundreds of years. But experimenting on us instead. Within the laboratory they were trying to cross our DNA with the Farfalla's DNA. They wanted to create a new type of breed, a superior breed. In the wake of the experiments they ended up crossing my conciseness into this body. When I awake, I saw my beautiful body mangled in the corner. I grew frightened and ran. I ran as fast as I could. I...I had to get as far away from that place as I could. Thus, I ended up here."

As I stand, staring into Lilly's eyes, I take in this...this diabolical information. But only seconds later, soft, low groans start to envelope in my ears. Quickly pivoting, I take in Noah sitting up and rubbing his tired eyes. A strange calmness washes over me as I rush to his side.

Chapter Eleven

A slight smile comes to my face as I bend down to slide my fingertips across Noah's flushed cheek.

"I'm so sorry I fell asleep on you." Noah says as he gazes up at me with sleepy eyes.

"It is quite all right, no need to feel sorry. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did." Noah mumbles while looking away from my face.

Taking in the air around him, I sense some uncertainty. Concern and worry start to wash over me like waves beating against sandy beaches. My body slowly sinks down next to Noah's. As I settle down next to him, he turns his face toward me.

"I've been wondering something."

I smile at him cocking my head to one side, curiousness consuming me.

"What is it?"

"Um...well you see...I was wondering if you could finish telling me how you became what you are."

A slight frown crosses my lips as I avert my gaze from me.

"Ah, I see."

Glancing back at Noah, I take in his eyes as they widen. He takes in my furrowed brow and grim expression.

"Ah...well...I mean is...I don't have to know, you see I was just wondering..."

My brow starts to furrow more as I take in his franticness. He must have thought that he had wounded my feelings and that the subject is painful for me. I roughly hit my forehead while shaking my head from side to side. Noah just looks at me with confusion strewn across his face. I start to chuckle at his confusion and franticness. But it makes me happy that he cares for me that way. For I care for him very much that it makes my lifeless heart ache.

"No, please do not worry or get upset, you have not wounded my feelings. I am just surprised you would want to hear about that with what has happened. If you would like to know, I will tell you."

Noah inches closer while nodding his head in earnest. A smile crosses my face. I really do enjoy seeing him so excited it makes me feel so happy, a feeling that I have not felt in many decades.

"A new strain of influenza broke out. It was far more intense than the one when I was six years of age. The percentage of people passing away increased and kept increasing. Unfortunately, I thought it was the same as before. Despite worries and warnings from Alexander, I ventured out to go to the market. A few days later I caught the new strain of the influenza. For days I lay on the frigid floor not knowing that I was slowly dying. Alexander was beside himself with me running a fever. I was hot to the touch. It even warmed his dead flesh. Soon I started coughing up deep-crimson blood.

My skin was dried out. I had lip soars and purplish bumps covering every inch of my body. Alexander stopped feeding. Instead of feeding he stayed by my side. For each passing day my sickness grew more and more severe. It consumed my whole body, racing toward my heart. Then one night, Alexander started to speak very peculiarly. He spoke of the afterlife, that he could make it so my body lives forever but my soul would be damned. With my life hanging by a thread, I thought about what he had spoken of. On my last and final day, I knew Alexander could not watch and let me die like this. For he was alone and yearned for a companion.

I was half asleep when he came into the shack. I lay upon the floor wrapped up in the blanket. His hair was in snarls and tangles around his neck. Alexander knelt down beside me, wrapping one arm around my back and tilting my neck to the side. I could not resist what he was about to do. For I had no more strength left within my body. Out of the corner of my eye I saw fangs growing from the bottom and top gums in his mouth. My eyes widened in horror at what I was witnessing. He leaned his head slowly closer toward me and started to whisper that he was 'sorry' against the skin of my neck. With that I felt a sharp, stinging pain within the side of my neck and then in my wrist. I could feel my life slipping away. While my vision was getting fogged, my body arched up in incredible pain. Screams filled my ears. Oddly enough they were my own. Then...everything went dark."

Chapter Twelve

The sun is about to set as I venture out of the thick wooded area. A slight smile crosses my face as I pick up my pace. I sprint toward the park. Droplets of rain start to fall from the sky slowly. They land upon my icy cheeks and slide down my nose. Like a blur to the human eye, I speed through the alleyways and back streets. Just around the corner is where I first locked eyes onto Noah. As the rain starts to fall harder and faster, I start to slow my speed and walk out from the shadows. Now walking in human speed, I come towards the bench. But to my surprise, it is completely empty tonight. My eyes scan the area as I spin around, splashing in puddles as I run about trying to look for Noah. My ears pick up faint footfalls coming from up the street. I turn and squint my eyes through the rain to see a blurred outline of some strange-looking creature coming towards me.

Instinctively, I crouch down as deep growls start to radiate out from the back of my throat. I look up from my defensive stance to notice that this strange creature is actually Noah carrying some sort of parasol. A smile crosses my lips as I dash over toward the bench and settle myself down upon it. Minutes pass until Noah finally reaches to where I am. My eyes scan up his body, taking in his bone-dry clothes. Confusion fills me as I cock my head to one side. How on earth did he stay dry in such wet weather? A strange but sad look appears upon Noah's face as he takes in my drenched hair and soaked tattered clothing.

"William, you're soaked! Um William are these the only clothes you own?"

I slightly bite my lower lip and hang my head. I guess in this day and age people are able to own numerous pairs of clothing. Noah quickly extends his hand, wrapping his fingertips in between mine, and pulls me to my feet.

"I know what we are going to do tonight! Noah exclaims as he squeezes my hand tightly.

Without letting go of my hand, Noah leads me up the street, walking closely with me, and shading me with his parasol. The once-fuzzy lights that we passed now glow brightly as we enter what seems to be some sort of massive village. My eyes widely glance around me, talking everything in. For I have never been ad far as my humble abode and the park. Noah drags me alongside him so I do not get lost within the sea of people that surround us on all sides. Everywhere that I look I am either assaulted by the bright lights or completely in awe at the many different people walking the streets carrying strange-looking contraptions. But when my eyes always return to Noah, waves of happiness was over me. For I do not care much about the sea of people that I could easily tear to shreds. The only thing I care about is the human walking beside me, and that is Noah.

It seems like miles until we finally reach our destination, but in reality is only five minutes. Before me is a large building with strange clear walls that you can see in to. My eyes wander wander up to the metal sign hanging on top of the door. In grand gold lettering it reads 'Little Lottie Boutique'. My eyes turn back to Noah standing there looking at me with his beautiful wide eyes with a delightful smile dancing happily upon his lips.

"What is this place, Noah?" I ask as my fingertips slowly untwined from his.

"We're at my work. It's time to clean you up!

Chapter Thirteen

Noah pulls me through the doors, and we are greeted by a tall tan-skinned man with a brilliant smile. He instantly recognizes Noah, but then his smile starts to fade away as his hazel eyes move toward me. As I awkwardly stand there, his eyes quickly scan me over then moves back to Noah with a scrutinizing look upon his face. Noah releases me and walks over toward his friend, and they start to talk in hushed tones. My head cocks to one side as Noah saunters over towards me with a sly smile across his lips. He wraps one arm around my drenched back in a reassuring half embrace and leads me farther into the building. Faint sounds of water dripping behind us start to ring in my ears. Glancing back at the door, I can see a trail of water made by my ripped and aged cotton pants. The friend of Noah's comes over to us and quickly looks me up and down once more.

"No, honey, this will never do."

As he claps his hands together with a wide smile upon his face, numerous humans seem to start to appear out of every corner of this building. Some come up to Noah and lead him away from me. He glances back at me with a "do not worry" look across his face. As my eyes scan across his face, I grit my teeth together and slightly give a nod. If it will make Noah happy, I am willing to do anything. A small smile starts to cross my lips as I keep staring at him. Suddenly I feel a warm sensation start to wrap around my arm. My head snaps toward the warmness to find some of the other humans taking me by the arm and leading me to the other part of the building.

My senses heighten as more and more of the humans start to surround me, their heart-beats ringing loudly in my ears, making my mouth tingle as my fangs threaten to unsheathe themselves. Within minutes I find myself being pushed down into a red puffy medium-sized chair. The humans start to spin the chair around as they depart from me. Once the spinning has ceased, I shake my head slightly from side to side to clear it. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Noah sitting on a long red and black chair, reading some sort of flat, shiny book. A small smile crosses my lips once more. As I keep staring at the fallen angel, feeling a slight tap upon my left shoulder, my head snaps toward it. The woman behind me jumps about a mile high with terror in her eyes. Luckily that only lasts for a moment as I give her a dashing smile and put on the old charm.

"Dear madam, you have my deepest apologies that I have given you a fright just the."

The woman's cheeks start to turn scarlet in embarrassment. She places both of her thin hands upon her round cheeks and giggles.

"Oh my, you are such a gentleman! You know, many men that come in here are so full of themselves. But you are such a sweetheart!" She gushes as her face turns a brighter hue of red.

As she nears toward me with the scissors in hand, I am not sure what to expect. For I have never had groomed myself before. My eyes clamp shut as the sound of scissors snipping hair fills my ears. I then hear a soft sound of buzzing as a cooling sensation starts to spread across the back of my head. A long-awaited breath escapes my partially opened mouth. Trying to control my breathing and my animal instincts, my hands clench in and out. How am I supposed to adjust to this sudden change? But as my eye-lids flutter open, I glance over toward Noah. There he is smiling warmly up at me. How can I be afraid at a time like this? If this is what will put a smile upon Noah's beautiful face, then I will go through with it. For all I want to do is put a smile upon Noah's face. To always see him truly happy I will do anything.

As I shake my head from side to side, clearing my over-whelming thoughts, silence starts to envelop my ears. My eyes glance around the room, slowly taking in everyone's wide eyes, which are full of astonishment and wonder. They then shift to where Noah is sitting. But to my astonishment he is no longer there. Hmm maybe he needed to go to the bathroom. Before I could get up and go search for him, a warm sensation starts to wrap around my elbow. My head snaps toward the warmness to find the woman who had cut my hair pulling me up by the elbow and dragging me along to yet another part of the building.

Chapter Fourteen

All the humans around me keep shaking their heads slowly back and forth from side to side with whatever they keep dressing me in. I feel as though I am their doll and they are playing dress up with me. Like they are all little school-girls sitting in a circle deciding what I should wear, what looks good, and what looks horrible. My senses heighten to better help me scan the room in search of Noah. But there is no sign of him at all. Concern for is safety starts to rapidly fill me to almost the point of rage because I cannot seem to find him. Plus, the high-pitched squeals that are suddenly assaulting my ears do not help. Suddenly slight pressure lands upon my shoulder. My head snaps toward the sensation as I take in the hand that belongs to the man who had greeted Noah and me at the door. A reassuring smile crosses the man's lips.

Oh, sweetie, don't you worry about Noah. He's in the other room. I want him to be surprised when he sees the new you."

My lips part as a sigh of relief slithers out of them. I give a quick nod. With great difficulty I try to calm my nerves from the point where my fangs might unsheathe themselves due to the stress from being parted from him. Faint, tentative footfalls start to ring in my ears, the sound growing louder and louder with each step. I pivot around to see the woman who had cut my hair standing before me. Her face is flushed a hue of deep scarlet as her brown eyes gaze up at me.

"Oh my, oh my, you clean up very nicely. So I was thinking that maybe you and I could go grab a drink after we're all set her?"

Shock starts to wash over my body. No one in my entire life has ever asked me that before, even before and after what I became what I am. I have always been alone. No on would even come near me. But now, since I have encountered Noah, my life has taken a turn for the better. I can actually smile now.

"I am deeply sorry, but I am here with someone, and I believe it would be terribly rude to leave them here alone. So you see, I must decline your offer. If you will excuse me for a moment."

With a slight bow of my head, I leave the woman pouting and stamping her foot, as a young child would do if they did not get their way. I did not mean to upset her. I just know who I want to spend all of eternity with, and I am here with that person right now. Just thinking of this brings a smile upon my face. Sauntering up toward the human who greeted Noah and me at the entrance, I ask him when I will be able to see Noah once again. A smile crosses his lips as he asks me if I want to see myself first. My head cocks to the side in confusion as to what this human is asking of me. He places his hands upon my shoulders, spins me around, and pushes me toward a large reflective surface. My eyes widen in amazement at what I am seeing. Raising my hand up, it lands lightly upon my now clean shaven cheek. I cannot believe what I am seeing. Here I am, all dressed up in the newest fashion and style. Gone is my large beard and long, tangled hair. My eyes scan across my body, taking in my now shoe-covered feet, which are donned with long black shoes. They shift upward to my legs, which are encased in tight light-blue trousers. Then up further to find my chest and arms covered in a tight dark-gray long-sleeved shirt.

But what I find most perplexing is my hair. I have never gotten it cut in my whole human and immortal life. It is in some sort of odd shape that I could never have imagined was possible. They have cut my hair extremely short in the back and sides and left the top a little bit longer. This style I have come to understand is what humans call a faux hawk. As I turn toward the man standing next to me, a wide smile crosses my lips.

"May I see Noah now?"

He smiles and nods his head slowly while clapping his hands together. The humans that are working around us start to disperse. The man stops rapidly clapping his hands together and pivots toward me.

"Okay! I'm so excited! Noah is going to just love the new you. All right, now you stand behind this floor mirror here and I'll be right back with Noah."

His eyes quickly scan up and down my body, gives me a wink and departs to go fetch Noah. As I stand behind what this human called a floor mirror, I start to count the minutes that are passing by. Both anxiety and excitement wash over my body in heavy waves ad my mind is filled with Noah and his dazzling smile. Soon my senses heighten as my ears pick up faint footsteps coming from the other end of the establishment. Adrenalin quickly starts to replace my anxiety, and my excitement starts to grow as the footsteps become louder and louder. My senses also detect nervousness in the air. Cautiously, I peek around my hiding place. The sweet aroma of Noah instantly assaults my heightened senses to the point where my fangs are ready to unsheathe themselves. With a couple of deep breathes, I walk out from behind the floor mirror.

There, standing in the middle of the establishment is Noah and the tan-skinned man. His hand is across Noah's eyes. The man's excitement radiates throughout the air as I come closer and closer toward them. As I come to a stop a foot away from them, the man lifts his hand off of Noah's face. Within seconds of doing so, Noah's widen in amazement as his entire face starts to change to a deep hue of red. A slight smile dances across my lips as I take in Noah's reaction. Yearning to hold him in my arms starts to fill my body as I walk closer toward Noah. His elevated hear-beat starts to envelope my ears. My eyes scan over the bulging vein that lays beneath his skin upon his neck. Stopping just inches away from Noah, his eyes start to quickly scan over my body from top to bottom and from bottom to top. His lips part as some air escapes from them.

"You look...amazing." Noah breathes out as his mouth stays slightly ajar.

My slight smile widens as I take in Noah. He tries to hide his blushing face with his hair. I raise my hand up to brush away the hair that he has moved to cover his face. My fingertips slide under his chin as I slowly lift his face up. Our eyes meet, and in an instant it feels as though the whole world around us starts to slowly melt away and we are the last two left.

Chapter Fifteen

As I approach, I see a dark figure sitting upon the gloomy-looking bench.

"Noah?"

"William?" The voice rings out in comfort and reassurance at my presence.

A wide smile spreads across my lips as I start to walk closer towards the bench in human speed. After what seems like hours, but is only mere minutes, I finally reach the bench. My smile quickly fades as my eyes take in Noah's battered body. His face is covered in bruises and dried blood. As my eyes run over the rest of his body, they take in his shirt, which is ripped in numerous places. One trouser leg is torn off, and there are deep bruises covering his arms. Noah sits there looking up at me with only his left eye open for the other eye is swollen shut. A deep bruise starts to form around his swollen eye.

"Will..." His voice trails off as he falls forward off the bench.

Moving swiftly, I catch Noah in my arms. Cradling him softly, I start to sprint toward the forest that conceals my living quarters. Gliding along, trying not to rock Noah around too much, I keep glancing down at him. Fury and rage consumes my body and starts to threaten to take me over completely. Who could have harmed this fallen angel? Why would they even harm him? I knew I should have just left him after our first meeting. Maybe then I could have spared him from this. Moving around the trees and shrubberies as best as I can, we reach the church just in time as the clouds starts to form overhead and threaten to burst with rain.

We slide through the doors as the rain starts to come dripping down from the sky. With Noah in my arms, I walk swiftly past the benches toward the aged rug. While slowly swinging Noah over my shoulder, I kneel down in search of the door that is hidden in the floor. My fingertips curl around the medium-sized hole, lifting up the door as I shift my body and start to step onto the ladder. Slight groans start to radiate from Noah's limp body as I gradually step down the ladder, going deeper into the caverns below. Drops of water trickle down from above, landing upon Noah's back. While gritting my teeth, I step off the last step on the ladder and onto the dampened ground. I continue down the tunnel in human speed as to not cause any more harm to Noah. It seems like miles until we reach the dim light that is coming from my resting place.

Once inside the dugout, I quickly walk toward the mattress. Laying him gently down, I start to walk away to find the blanket. His arm flies up, fingertips wrapping around my arm tightly. With tears in his eyes he begs me not to leave him. I walk backward and lower myself down upon the mattress, a sigh leaving my parted lips. Moving myself around, I slide my arms around him gently. Rocking him slightly back and forth, I lightly kiss the top of Noah's head. Within seconds Noah breaks out in sobs as tears stream down his face. What should I do? Is this how Alexander felt when I was sick? Totally helpless?

"Shh, there is no need to be afraid. I am here with you and you are safe. Beautiful angels should not shed any tears."

My hand slowly rises up and lightly wipes away his tears from his reddened cheeks.

"I...I'm sorry, but I just can't stop!" Noah stammers out as he clutches on to my shirt

As Noah continues to sob, I try to think of a way to calm him. Sliding two fingers underneath his chin, I tilt his face upward. I move closer toward Noah. His heart-beat starts to fill my ears as it picks up pace. Within seconds my face is just inches away from his. My eyes loo deep into his watery ones. I take in his scarlet cheeks and the warmth that is radiating off of his body. Before I knew it, my lips are pressed against his.

Chapter Sixteen

Our lips move in sync, his cheeks getting redder by the second. I can hear his heart-beat picking up pace. My hand slides up and stops on his warm cheek. My eyes close tightly. My senses heighten as I take in his intoxicating aroma. But to my surprise, his lips suddenly leave mine. As my eyes flutter open, I take in Noah gasping for breath.

"Noah, are you all right?"

With a slight nod his eyes roll back, and he collapses onto the mattress. While shaking my head slowly from side to side, I pull the blanket over Noah's unmoving body. Maybe I was too rough with him? For some time I lay there staring at his chest, making sure he is still breathing. Sure enough, I can see his chest moving slightly up and down. Trying not to disturb him, I slowly shift onto my back. My eyes close for some time until I sense another presence coming toward us within the cavern. My body snaps upward as I sniff at the air. With eyes now wide, I remember that I did not put away the rug or shut the trap-door.

To make matters even worse, what I smell in the air is a Farfalla. With haste I move him to the darkest part of the dugout. My senses heighten as to hear any growls. But the only thing I can hear is the Farfalla trudging along. It is extremely strange to not hear any other footsteps other than the Farfalla's. No human footsteps at all. Maybe the hunters are waiting for the Farfalla to draw me out. As fear for Noah starts to wash over my body, I crouch down in a protective stance.

Growls start to radiate from the back of my throat to ward off the thing. But instead of departing, it just keeps growing nearer and nearer while...laughing? My growls start to grow more defensive as the laughter gets louder and louder. Suddenly through the darkness I see two large emerald green eyes peeking out at me through the thick darkness.

"Lilly, is that you?"

"Hahaha, you are too ignorant, William. You save a human's life, but you neglect to protect yourself and your resting place."

Out of the shadows emerges what seems to be a Farfalla, but it is only Lilly. Quickly straitening myself upward, I walk swiftly toward her. With a bow of my head, I greet her. She bows her head slightly in return with a smile across her mouth.

"Where is that human friend of yours?"

"He is asleep on the mattress. He seems to have fainted. I am not too sure what is wrong with him. Unfortunately, I came across him in a battered state, disoriented and badly wounded."

"Do you believe they got a-hold of him? You two do seem rather close, and you know the repercussions of getting too friendly with the humans."

"I am not quite sure if that is what has happened. Regardless I do not believe he would betray me."

Lilly just nods her head in acknowledgment to what I have said to her. I tenderly run the back of my neck until faint groans start to envelop my ears. Lilly glances over to me with a puzzling look upon her face. Like a house on fire, I run toward the mattress. Once there I take in Noah's pained expression. Sweat is streaming down his face. I lift my hand up and place it lightly upon his forehead. Noah feels hot to the touch. The warmth of his skin quickly seems into my frigid skin. Concern fills my entire body. To steady my nerves, I start to take a few deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth.

Chapter Seventeen

"What is best for him now is the hospital." Lilly whispers as she stands just behind me.

My hand rises up to my chin, rubbing it roughly from side to side. With a nod of my head. I slide my arms around Noah's limp body, pulling him close to my chest. Bolting out of the dugout, I fly down the long cavern. Coming to a stop to shift Noah over my shoulder, I clamber up the ladder and fly out of the trap-door and through the doors of the church. Glancing up at the sky I can see grey clouds that have filled the air. At least the rain has stopped for the moment. My blazing eyes search for the nearest hospital. Running south, I find myself before a hospital with a large sign that reads Rose Hospital.

Ramming the glass doors with my back, I start to holler. "Help me please! I need assistance!"

A doctor comes rushing towards Noah and me. They recognize Noah right away as the first thing out of their mouth, "His father again?"

I am not too sure how to respond. For any mention of what I am could tip off the hunters. My head nods slightly in agreement as I am too terrified of losing Noah.

"Who are you, a friend of Noah's?" The doctor asks as the nurse comes rushing over with a long bed on wheels.

"Yes, I am a friend of his." I whisper as they slide Noah's limp body from my arms onto the bed.

As Noah writhes in agony, the doctor rushes him through a large wooden door that automatically swings open. Before I could walk through the door with them, the nurse gently grabs my arm and tells me to stay here. I slightly nod, The nurse hurries through the door. Feelings of hopelessness start to fill my body as the door swings shut. My eyes wander around in search of a chair for me to sit down and collect my emotions.

Pivoting around I walk up a corridor a little bit, and lo and behold, I find an odd-looking plastic blue chair to sit in. Lowering myself into the chair, a long-awaited deep breath escapes my partially opened mouth.

How could this have happened to Noah? What did the doctor mean when he asked if it was his father again? My mind is riddled with numerous scenarios about how Noah could have gotten so battered. I should have been with him. He would have never gotten this way if I was there protecting him. If it truly was his father, he should have said something to me about it. Will he even be all right? He looked as though he was in immense pain. My eyes drift up to the off-white wall that is right in front of me. Anger starts to fill me, replacing my confusion and hopelessness. Quickly I stand up and start to pace down the corridor.

I glance up at the large clock that is occupying the middle of the wall. As my eyes fall toward the floor, I try to keep my speed slow. My hand rests heavily on the back of my neck. Just what are those doctors doing with Noah at this moment? Loud footsteps start to fill my hears as I sense someone coming up behind me. I pivot to see the doctor that took Noah at the entrance of the hospital. As he stops short, about a foot away from me, my eyes take in his forehead. Beads of sweat are sliding from his forehead down his long, withered face.

"You've gotten Noah here right in time. It seems that the blows to his abdomen has burst his appendix. He his in surgery right now, so you will have to wait until we put him in a room."

A deep and long breath escapes my lips. I guess all I can do for him is to wait. I give a slight nod at the doctor with a small smile across my lips. He smiles back at me, pivoting and hurrying away. Trudging back toward the chair I rub the back of my neck once more. As hours pass, I sit while glancing back and forth from the clock to the floor. My feet start to get restless. Quickly I rise and pace the corridor once again. After what seems like hours of pacing up and down, I turn to see the doctor, whom I have talked with earlier, quickly walking up the corridor with some documents shoved in his face. He glances up, and a smile crosses his lips. I smile in response as hope fills me with news of Noah.

"Hello there. In all the commotion, I wasn't able to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Dorian." With that he stretches out his large hand toward me.

I lightly take the doctor's outstretched hand and shake it with a blank stare in my eyes.

"We have to keep Noah here for some time, just to make sure the operation went smoothly. It's good to know he finally has a friend that he can count on to take care of him."

I thank the doctor while flashing a dashing smile as he shows me to Noah's room.

Chapter Eighteen

We walk silently down the corridors, taking left and right turns until we reach a room on the right hand side. As I walk through the thick dark brown door my eyes take in the room. It is a quaint room with only one bed and one rather wide window. The walls surrounding me are a faded hue of green. Lastly my eyes land upon the bed where Noah lays. His face lacks color and his body looks limp.

Walking closer towards him, I can see that his eyes are closed. Relief washes over me as I can clearly see that he is no longer in pain. My eyes glance around his body, taking in the wires that cover Noah's body. They move to these strange looking tubes that are coming from within his skin up to large bags of some sort of clear liquid. The whole scene and atmosphere does not feel well or look pleasant. The scent of the doctors has seem to dissipate as another scent fills my senses. I glance around myself to find a tall brunet nurse checking the bags of liquid. As she looks towards me a small smile crosses her lips.

"You take real good care of Noah here. He's had a rough life and needs someone reliable and stable to take care of him. Can I count on you?"

I flash her a dashing smile as my lips part. "Of course madam you can count on me. I will take extra special care of Noah."

Her cheeks start to flush a hue of pink as she excuses herself. She departs from the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. I smile at myself as my head shakes from side to side. Humans are quite interesting. Walking up to the bed, I pull up the burgundy cushioned chair behind myself. Sulking down into the chair I prepare myself for a long wait before Noah awakens. My eyes shift towards the window to see the sun slowly rising over the hill top. With eyes wide with horror I quickly stand up and rush over to close the thick dark green shades. Heaving a large sigh, I trudge slowly back to my seat next to the one I love. Once within the chair I fall fast in a deep sleep.

It is not until night falls that I awaken again. My eyes flutter open to find Noah staring at me with a blank stare within his eyes. I stretch my arms up as a wide smile crosses my lips. He smiles back at me in response. Leaning closer towards the bed I place my hand lightly upon the top of his head. Within a split second of my hand landing upon the top of Noah's head a loud beeping noise starts to fill my ears. Confusion fills me as I glance around the room in search of the source of the beeping. With no luck of detecting the source, my eyes fall to Noah, his face is a bright hue of red. As I take in his flushed cheeks my body bends so I can whisper within his ear.

"You know you gave me such a scare. I do not know what I would have done if I were to lose you."

Noah's face starts to turn scarlet as his body temperature starts to rise. I lightly touch my hand to his forehead, making sure he is not burning up once again. No, no fever here. I turn my head to one side as I am not sure what to do. The beeping noise is still in the air. Within the beeping is also the sound of Noah's heartbeat rising. This beeping seems to coincide with Noah's elevated heartbeat. Quickly moving away from the bed, the beeping starts to dissipate and soon it is gone completely. A frown comes across Noah's face. Walking back towards the bed I place my hand upon his cheek.

"Why do you frown?"

"Did I worry you?" Noah whispers.

Shock consumes me as he hangs his head in shame. I slide my index finger under his chin and lift his face up so I can look into his eyes.

"Of course you worried me. Noah...I do not see myself with anyone else but you. If you were to be taken from me I do not know what I would do. What I am trying to tell you is...I love you."

Chapter Nineteen

Noah's eyes widen as I confess my love for him. His face grows scarlet once more as his chapped lips part.

"I...love you too."

A wide smile dances upon my lips as I look deep within his eyes. Once again it seems like the world around us starts to slowly melt away as we are the only two left. It seems like hours until his eyes break away from mine. I move swiftly backwards, my body bends as I settle down into the chair. Silence fills the room as my mind is filled with thoughts of only Noah. My soulless body fills to the brim with happiness at the fact that I have finally found the one reason to keep on going in this endless life.

The brunet nurse wonders in and out numerous times, checking the bags of clear liquid and among other things. Leaning forward I gently place my hand on top of Noah's gauzed up hand. He moves his head slightly so that we are facing each other once again. A slight smile crosses my lips as I look upon my love. Noah faintly smiles back in response. His lips part and a small groan slithers out.

"Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?"

Noah just nods his head slightly. Confusion fills me as to what question he was answering yes to. A small clicking noise fills my ears in the direction of the door. As the door opens a different smell comes wafting into the room. This sent is not of the hospital staff. My head snaps towards the door. My eyes are met with a thin tall woman standing there. As I take in her disgruntled appearance my head cocks to one side as I see some resemblance of Noah within her. I slowly turn back to look at Noah. His face is full of rage as his lips part.

"Why are you here?"

The woman at the door puts on a rather fake shocked expression while raising her hands and placing them on both sides of her pale cheeks.

"What do you mean Noah? I am your mother after all."

The woman removes her thin hands away from her cheeks and places them upon her hips. As she walks slowly up towards the bed I sense Noah's rage has fully consumed him. This is not good. He needs to rest if he is to get better. Something seems extremely off about this woman. I do not care if she claims to be his mother. For my senses are telling me not to put my trust within her.

"How did you find out where I was?" Noah demands through clenched teeth.

"Oh you know a little birdie told me."

As Noah tries to sit up his face starts to contort as if waves of pain start to assault his body. My hands rise up, landing upon his shoulders as I gently push him back down. His mother saunters over toward us keeping her hands upon her hips. Soon a small sensation of warmness starts to spread over my shoulder as I am trying to make my beloved comfortable. My head snaps up as I glance over my shoulder to find his mother there. Her bony fingers wrapped around my shoulder.

"Well, well, well what have we here?"

Her light blue lust filled eyes slowly scan across my body, moving up and down. Her red lipstick covered lips pucker as she slides her hand slowly down my arm. Utter disgust instantly fills my body as her hand slides up my arm and across my chest. Pivoting around my eyes look upon Noah as he is trying to settle back into the bed. I smile slightly at him as my hands rise up to fluff his pillow. Noah starts to relax as a smile crosses his lips and his eyes look up into mine.

Once again I feel a slight sensation of warmness across my skin. This time the feeling is spreading across the back of my neck. My head wearily turns towards his mother to find her fondling my neck with her fingertips. With the last shred of patience I have left, I turn my body fully and with great discomfort gently place her hand in mine. Her eyes grow wide as her cheeks start to redden. With a deep breath I flash her a dashing smile.

"Please madam will you not sit down for a bit?" I ask of her as I gesture to the chair that is next to Noah's bed.

"Oh darling, please call me Susan." She purrs as she slumps down into the chair.

I walk around to the other side of the room and settle down in a hard plastic red chair. Susan turns towards Noah with a sly smile across her lips.

"Now tell me Noah, how did you ever get such a handsome friend here?

With great difficulty Noah sits up in bed. His face twists in pain and agony.

"Well mother, I met him in the park."

"The park, you must be joking me."

Noah crosses his arms in full fledged fury as the beeping noises start to fill the entire room making my ears ring . But Susan did not stop there at her taunting. It seems to me that she thoroughly enjoys getting Noah extremely upset.

"Now that you have an actual friend you can go out and pick up some nice girls."

My eyes shift from his mother to Noah as I sense that all of the anger has completely gone and in its place lies sorrow. His tightly crossed arms fall limply to his sides, a grimace appears across his face. My eyes shift back to Susan. A deep sly smile dances across her lips as her face is beaming with self-satisfaction.

"Well now I have to run. I've got a lot of things I need to do."

While getting up form the chair she smirks a Noah then spins around to face me. Quickly I rise from my seated position. She saunters over towards me, stopping just inches away. Susan raises one hand and places it upon my chest. Sliding her hand slowly down the middle of my chest, she stops at the top of my trousers. She slowly slides her hand over my trousers and rubs my crouch. My hands flash up and land upon her shoulders. I lightly push her away from me. Noah's mother gives me a wink, pivots around, and walks swiftly out of the door. I glance back at Noah, his face red with anger.

Chapter Twenty

I lay my head upon the crisp white hospital sheets that envelop Noah. His hand lightly touches the back of my head. My eyes close for a spell as I feel his warmness sink into my flesh. I look up to find a wide smile across his lips. I smile in return as a small sigh slithers out of my partially opened mouth. Taking his hand within mine, I lean up onto the bed. There are no beeping sounds filling the room, as the doctors have taken him off of that horridly loud machine. I swear that thing was keeping me up all day. With my heightened senses his accelerated hear-beat still echoes within my ears.

Happiness consumes my whole body as I lean in closer towards Noah. My hand rises up grasping his chin lightly as my lips land upon his. They touch softly at first but within seconds they start to move faster. My hand slides up the side of his face and stops at the nape of his neck. Sliding my tongue into his mouth, I slide it slowly across his tongue. As my fingertips curl around the back of his neck, I pull him closer to me. Shock consumes me as I feel Noah sliding his tongue along with mine. Passion over comes my senses as our mouths move faster together.

My other senses heighten to that of a beast as the sounds of blood pulsating through Noah's veins envelope my ears. Before my animalistic side takes over I pull away from him. My hands flies to my mouth, checking to make sure that my fangs have not unsheathed themselves. Relief washes over me as they have not come out. I glance down at Noah as a slight frown inhabits his face. Smoothing the top of his head gently I smile down at him.

"I am sorry I cannot control myself. I do not wish to harm you. Maybe it is best to not kiss while I am in this state. You are after all a fragile human."

I slowly slide my fingertips up his pale arm. "I...do not wish to spill your blood."

As my eyes look into Noah's, I am filled with sorrow. But his eyes are full of compassion and understanding. My body beds as I sulk down into the chair next to the bed. Laying my head gently upon the bed once more a heavy sigh leaves my lips as I grit my teeth.

"Maybe you should go hunt. I appreciate that you want to protect me and stay by my side. But I'm in a safe place so there's no need to worry."

I glance up at Noah who is smiling warmly down at me now. With a slight nod of the head my body rigidly rises.

"You will be here when I return? It will only take a little while."

Noah's smile widens as he takes my hand within his.

"Of course I will be here. I promise."

I flash him a slight smile. His cheeks turn a hue of scarlet in response to my smiling face. Pivoting around I drift quietly out of the room and out of the hospital. About three miles away from the hospital I find myself crouched in an alleyway searching for some prey. Leaping upon empty wooden crates brings me back to the night when I first met Noah and how beautiful he looked under that light. Sighs start to flow out of my parched lips. A skittish rat scampers across the ground. I snatch it up. As it squirms withing my hand, my fangs start to unsheathe themselves, ripping from my top and bottom gums. I deeply sink my fangs into the rodent. Blood starts rushing down my dried throat.

Adrenaline starts pulsating through my veins. I can feel my senses heightened as my strength starts to regain itself. My eyes scan around myself in search of more rodents. As I spot a few, I dive for them, scooping them up and sucking them dry. Once my thirst is quenched I make my way back towards the hospital as I dart through the alleyways and backstreets. As I near the hospital I decide to take the main streets, slowing my pace down to that of a human. Strolling through the doors, I make my way to the elevator. As I squeeze into the crowded elevator all that crosses my mind is that I should have bought him some flowers. Before the doors could shut I slither my way out of the elevator.

Sauntering back into the streets I go around the corner in search for a street vendor who is sells flowers. After quite some time my eyes wonder across the way spotting a small cart with a withered old woman selling flowers. Glancing at all of the flowers within the cart, I see none that would suit Noah. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a single white rose with a hint of red; the symbol of purity with a hint of passion. Mesmerized by the flower I gently pick it up and purchase it.

Dashing back towards the hospital, I swing the doors open and clamber up the stairs. After a few flights of stairs I make it to the floor where Noah's room resides. Quickly I walk down the corridor to his room, beaming with happiness while wearing a wide smile across my lips. Opening the door, as to not wake him, I slowly walk into the room. Glancing towards the bed, I find it...empty.

Chapter Twenty One

As shock consumes my body I place the flower upon the bed side table. Walking swiftly over towards the bathroom, within the room, I knock loudly upon the dark wooden door. But there came no answer. Quickly opening the door I find that it is empty. Panic starts to set in. Rushing towards the door I pull it open. The hinges squeal in protest as the door swings open. Grabbing the closest doctor by the collar, I drag them into Noah's room.

"What is this?" I sneer into the doctor's frightened face.

"Where is he? What have you done with Noah?"

The horrified doctor starts to tremble within my grasp.

"I...I...I don't know what you are talking about!"

Fully fledged fury consumes my whole body as I start to shake the doctor back and forth.

"Call Doctor Dorian!"

As the grip I have on the doctor's collar tightens they take out a small black device. With shaking hands they press numerous buttons. Within minutes Doctor Dorian comes rushing into the room. Shock consumes his face as his hazel eyes grow wide, taking in the scene.

"Please, Sir, let go of that doctor." He pleads as anger seeps through his words.

"First tell me what you have done with Noah! Where is he? I swear if I do not see him here safe and sound I shall personally throw you both through that window!"

Pretty soon I will be reduced to turning the whole hospital upside down to find him. Within seconds of my demand my ears pick up the sound of a doorknob to the room turning slowly. My head snaps towards the door. Noah comes walking into the room. With a blanket in one hand and drooping eyes he waltzes past us not noticing a thing. With a large yawn he trudges towards the bed and lies down. He unwraps the folded yellow blanket and drapes it over himself. Doctor Dorian looks at Noah perplexed that he did not notice the scene at all.

As my grasp on the doctor slacks they slide out of my hand and crumples onto the floor. Doctor Dorian helps the terror stricken doctor up into a chair and hands them a plastic cup filled with water. Rushing over towards Noah I wrap my long arms around him, pulling him closer to me. He lets out a deep sigh as he snuggles his head into my chest. Lightly I touch my lips to his clammy forehead. Noah looks up at me with a questioning look upon his face.

"I was so afraid that I lost you. When I returned to the room you were nowhere to be found. Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine. I was cold so I went and got another blanket."

My arms around him fall as I take his hand in mine. Noah snuggles down into the blankets as I slide down into the chair. My ears pick up large and heavy footsteps coming towards us from behind. I glance behind me and notice that Doctor Dorian is standing next to the bed. Anger radiating off of him in large waves.

"I expect there will be no more outbursts from your friend here Noah."

"No, I promise he will behave." Noah says innocently batting his eye lashes.

Doctor Dorian cannot help but smile as he walks away dragging the other doctor with him out of the room.

Chapter Twenty Two

It is the day that Noah and I have been waiting for. The day he gets discharged from the hospital. A nurse comes in right when the sun is about to rise to take out what the humans call IV's. I move aside so the nurse can do her work. Noah signs some sort of papers. The nurse leaves and Doctor Dorian comes in one last time. He asks me to wait outside. For him and Noah to discuss some things. As I wait in the corridor my feet become restless. My hand rises and lands upon the back of my neck, rubbing it slightly. Minutes pass until the door slowly opens.

Rushing into the room towards Noah, Doctor Dorian gives a slight nod of the head as a warm smile crosses his lips. He departs the room as I bend down and touch my lips gently to Noah's cheek. A smile dances upon his lips as his eyes look up into mine. I place his hand in mine as I help him up from the bed. Placing my arm around his back, I lead him out of the room and out of Rose Hospital. Once outside my arm slides under Noah's legs. Hosting him up, he wraps his arms around my neck tightly. I bow my head down, my forehead touching his as softly whisper into his light pink ear.

"Close your eyes."

Noah slightly blushes as I start to speed off. Like a blur to the I speed through the streets. Swiftly moving past the humans and the obstacles that surround us; I make it to my beloved forest that hides my resting place. As I come to a stop Noah's eyes flutter open as a light breeze swirls past us. Flashing a wide smile his eyes widen and cheeks start to redden a bit. Slowly I enter into the darkened forest. Everywhere around us are lush green shrubberies, with gigantic tall dark-brown trunks of trees, and bushy dark-green leaves. Noah's eyes widen even larger taking in the natural beauty of the forest.

My eyes wonder towards the sky. There I see the sun trying to shine through the trees. Horrified, my pace picks up as my hand lightly falls over his eyes. Right before the sun could shine upon the church we slide through the doors. A slight smell of something burning fills my nose. As this smell assaults my senses I feel a twinge of pain coming from my left arm. Glancing down I take in my charred flesh. The sound of dripping blood rings within my ears. Noah glances up at me as I hurry through the doors.

Carefully I shift him onto my shoulder as I walk slowly past the benches. Using my foot to push way the rug, my body bends as my hand searches the floor for the hidden door. My fingertips poke through the hole as my fingertips curl to lift the door up. Once inside the opening of the hole, I grab the rug and the door. Pulling them both back into place, my arm wraps around Noah's back. As we descend down into the caverns. I step carefully down the ladder. Reaching the bottom I swiftly jump down, landing on my now shoe covered feet. Smiling slightly at myself I gently swing Noah around so that he is now within my arms once again. I pull him close into my chest. He snuggles his head within my chest and sighs lightly in contentment.

Now at a rapid pace, I make it to the dugout in the cavern and gently place Noah onto the mattress. Grabbing the blanket I drape it over him. He snuggles down into the mattress as I lay beside him on my side lightly stroking the side of his face. Noah starts to nibble on his lower lip. Within seconds his lips are roughly upon mine.

Chapter Twenty Three

My hand rises up and lands lightly upon his scarlet cheek. Noah wraps his arm around my neck pulling me towards him. As I open my mouth and slide my tongue against Noah's, my hand lands upon his side. His tongue is warm as it wiggles and slides along with mine. In an instant our bodies are rubbing against each other's. The friction is almost too much to bare.

Our lips move faster as I feel Noah's body temperature rise. His elevated heart-beat echoes within my ears. My hand slides under his navy blue shirt, slowly sliding it up and down down his side. Noah's breath starts to come in and out in gasps. Remembering that he is still healing from his wounds I slow down my assault upon his lips as I break away from him. My eyes wonder down at Noah as I take in his startled expression.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asks, concern ringing within his voice.

"No my dear. I just do not want to cause you any more harm. For your wounds are still healing. I do not wish to rush you."

Noah's eyes widen as his face turns redder.

"There's no need to worry about that. Plus you're not rushing me at all. I want to become one with you."

As I take in what he has just confessed to me, both my mind and body are filled with the overwhelming desire to make him completely mine. He inches closer to me; wrapping his arms around my neck, he presses his lips upon mine roughly. My arms rise and wrap around him as I lean forward. My body pushes on his lightly until Noah is laying onto his back. My lips part from his as they trail down his warm neck and across the collar bone. I glance up to see Noah's face; his eyes are closed tightly as he bites his lower lip in anticipation.

A sly smile crosses my lips as my lips slowly slide up the other side of his neck. My hands slide underneath his shirt once more, they run slowly up and down the sides of his middle. Fingertips slide his shirt up as they expose his hard pink nipples. I slide my tongue from the top of his trousers to the middle of his chest. My tongue slowly makes its way further up and around the right nipple. Running my tongue around and over the taught nipple, my left hand slides up the middle of his chest. I use my fingertips to tease the free nipple, pinching it slightly as I encase the other within my mouth.

Slight moans start to radiate from Noah's partially opened mouth as my mouth lets go of the nipple only to drape it over the other one. With each lick and pinch the moans grow louder. As I slide my hands down both of his sides his moans start to grow longer. My hands slide up again, sliding his shirt off this time and throwing it to the ground. I look at Noah's reddened face. He smiles at me in response as I look into his eyes, as they sparkle in the darkness like two blue diamonds. Once again a wide smile spreads across my lips as I bend down and kiss him roughly. As my mouth eagerly assaults his, my hands start to undo his belt buckle. Noah slides his hands in my shirt and down my muscular chest slowly. I can feel the adrenaline pulsating through both of our bodies. His hands rest upon my hips as his mouth becomes more eager against mine.

Within a few seconds he pulls my shirt off over my head while I unbutton his trousers. Our lips part as we smile at each other; holding each other closer than before. With haste I slide both Noah's trousers and under garments off. His eyes widen and his face grows scarlet. I lean up and unbutton my trousers, taking both the trousers and under garments off. Noah's eyes grow even wider as he takes in my completely naked and muscular body. My eyes slowly scan his now fully naked body as lust starts to take me over. I lean down slowly placing one hand on the back of his neck. My lips lightly brush across his cheek bone as I whisper into his red hot ear.

"It will be alright. I promise I will protect you. I love you Noah. So much more than you even realize."

I lightly press my lips against his as I slowly move him around so he is on his hands and knees. My slender hand lightly caresses his back as I take the tip of my erect penis and slowly rub it around his pulsating hole. One hand lands upon his right hip as the other slides around the front. Fingertips wrap around his fully erect and dripping wet cock. Noah lets out an erotic moan as my hand starts to move up and down the shaft. Moans start to flow from his mouth as my hand quickens in pace. More moans escapes his partially opened mouth, as he bucks his hips while pushing against me in ecstasy.

My hand slides from his hip down the side of his thigh. Noah's breathing start to come in and out in heaves as sweat drips from his face. A small smile of satisfaction crosses my lips. Once again I rub the head of my penis around the hole, slowly making it wider. As slow as I can manage my penis starts to slide into his throbbing hole. Noah's body starts to tremble as he grabs onto the mattress. His body arches as he lets out a loud moan. Within seconds my hand is filled with a warm type of liquid. I cannot hold back any more as I thrust my cock deep within the tight hole. Soon moans start to flow out from my opened mouth. My hands clamp around his hips as I start to thrust faster. I lean forward, kissing his back.

Within a couple of minutes of thrusting Noah's body starts to move with mine. The dugout fills with sounds of moans and groans from both of our mouths. My hand slides around once more and takes hold of his stiff cock. I start to slide my fingers around the shaft as my hand moves up and down. Noah's intoxicating moans become louder. I rub the head of his dripping penis as his body temperature starts to rise once more. My thrusting grows faster and faster as my fingers wrap around the shaft once again; moving my hand faster than before up and down. I close my eyes as we moan together louder and louder. Noah's body grows hotter with every touch I make. Sweat is running off of him now as I make one last thrust. We moan in unison as a warm substance fills my hand once more and my seed shoots out and into this trembling body.

"I love you William." Noah moans quietly.

Chapter Twenty Four

We lay there entangled in each other's arms for what seems to be hours. My long fingers are running through his soft hair. I smile at him and he smiles warmly back at me. Moving closer towards him I kiss him lightly upon the lips. Noah smiles as I kiss him. His arm wraps around me, pulling me closer towards him. Slight laughter escapes my mouth at his cuteness. Never before have I ever been this happy. I look deeply into Noah's eyes as I roll over onto my side, taking him into my arms. He snuggles his head deep within my bare chest. Smoothing back his hair I start to hum an old hymn that my maker once taught to me. Noah glances up at me with a puzzling look upon his face. I look into his eyes.

"You know my dear, I still have not heard your story." I say as I slide my fingertips slowly up and down his arm.

"Oh...you really don't need to know that stuff."

A slight frown crosses my face as I look deeper within his eyes.

"But I would like to know everything about my lover."

Noah's face reddens as he gives a slight nod of the head and kisses my chest lightly. My hand rises and lands upon his back, sliding it across his smooth skin slowly.

"Alright, but it's not a really happy story. My parents used to fight about every little thing they could think of. At the same time I was also getting into trouble at school. My mother decided to divorce my father. Mom got me and my brother was old enough to be on his own so he left home. My mother started to take up drinking and doing drugs. She never was at home at night and just slept all day. She got really sick for a while so I had to drop out of school to take care of her.

Soon she started bringing her druggy boy friends home. One time she brought home a really bad guy who just stole our stuff and left without a word. So after that I begged her to go into rehab. She did it for about three weeks and checked out to come home. A week after that we lost the house from her not paying the rent. Living on the streets, we too traveled from place to place. Then she met 'the man of her dreams' and they soon got married. A month later he got my mother back into drugs and drinking.

We moved into his shabby apartment. Mom started working at a restaurant a couple of blocks away. Every time she left for work her 'amazing' husband would try to hit on me. Of course I would refuse him. So because of that he would end up beating me and my mother didn't even want to notice what was going on. When I turned 18 I moved out and started living with my father. He enrolled me back into school and I got to graduate. It was tough getting caught up with not having an education for some time.

Chapter Twenty Five

Noah's nose tilts up as he sniffs at the air.

"William...I smell something burning."

I slide my charred arm behind my back and just shrug my shoulders. Noah glances behind my back. His eyes widen in horror as he takes in my bloodied arm.

"Your arm! You're bleeding!"

A deep sigh slithers out from my parted lips as I slowly take my arm out from behind my back. Noah's eyes grow even wider as he takes in the burnt to a crisp arm. His eyes search around the dugout then land upon the floor. Getting clumsily up from the mattress he grabs his shirt from off of the dirtied ground. I watch as he starts to rip his shirt into shreds. My head cocks to one side in confusion as to what he is going to do with a ripped apart shirt.

Noah climbs back onto the mattress and quickly moves towards me. He lightly grabs my charred arm and starts to wrap it up in the shredded piece of cloth. My eyes watch his as he frantically dresses my wound. A slight smile crosses my lips. I lean over and lightly kiss his warm cheek. Noah's face reddens for a moment as he bites his lower lip. Once he has finished dressing my wound, he gazes up at me with a sadness within his eyes.

"How did you get hurt so badly? If I had known you were so hurt I wouldn't have done that with you. I would have taken care of you."

I watch as tears start to flow down Noah's reddened cheeks. His hands fly up towards his face as he sobs violently. Uneasiness fills me as I wrap my arms around Noah's sulking body and bring him into my chest.

"Noah...do you regret that we made love?"

Noah's head shakes from side to side rapidly.

"Why are you so upset my dear?"

"Because I should have noticed you were hurt. I should have noticed it."

A small sigh slithers out from my parted lips as I slowly shake my head from side to side. My hand rises and lands upon the top of his head, smoothing his hair.

"Shh there is no need to be so distraught. I just was caught in some sunlight that is all."

Noah looks up at me with watery eyes and flushed cheeks. I sigh heavily.

"I can only go out when the night falls. The reason being is because the sun will burn me until I am a pile of ashes. That is just how it is. There is no reason to be so upset. Okay?"

He nods his head as I raise my hand up using my fingertips to wipe away the tears that are still escaping from his eyes.

Chapter Twenty Six

You could feel the cold water droplets spewing from the captivating waterfall. Staring out across the landscape, while we sit atop a white and gray speckled rock. Noah is gazing up at me.

"William do you remember when we were first hanging out and you told me about Alexander?"

"Yes, what of it?" I say smiling down at him entranced by his angelic face.

"Well...I was wondering...what happened to him?"

My smile fades into a frown as a deep sigh escapes from my parted lips.

"One night we were sleeping in the shack. The Zanucks were on to us. We assumed that nothing would come of it. But...we were wrong. They came in full charge, smashing through the door with torches ablaze. Alexander moved into a defensive stance in front of me. He was hissing and snarling at them angrily. Growls started to radiate from the back of his throat as he deepened his defensive stance. One lucky Zanuck did get close enough to drive something sharp through Alexander's leg. He fell to the ground instantly.

My eyes were wide with horror. I did not know what to do. As they took hold of Alexander I leaped at them trying to pry their hands off of him. But...it was no use. Some of them forced me back into a corner as they dragged him outside. Within seconds my animalistic side over came me as I decapitated them. I came out of the shack slowly, covered in fresh human blood. It was enough to make a new born vampire go mad. Alexander spotted me and yelled towards me to run away and to escape.

But my anger consumed me. I was not going to abandon him. His screams of agony filled my ears as they nailed his hands and feet to the wooden cross. A couple of them spotted me in my fit of rage. They charged at me with their immaculate spears of light. The electricity shot through my body faster than a speeding bullet. I writhed in agony across the dirt road, as the wretched Zanucks laughed uncontrollably. Within minutes they started to bash at my body with their diamond boot spurs. The spurs slashed my arms, legs, and stomach.

I could hear growls coming from deep within Alexander's throat. Crimson red blood started to trickle out of the slashes that they have just given me. Laying there in the dirt, my breathing came out in heaves through the pain. The Zanucks grabbed hold of my hands and dragged me towards the cross. They stopped a couple of feet in front of Alexander. The head of the group took one of the torches and lit the cross ablaze. I tried to break free of their grasp but they held me firm and I was already weakened greatly from my wounds. As I screamed into the midnight air, the head of the group nodded their head and they dragged me away."

Heaving another heavy sigh, my eyes turn back out towards the waterfall. Noah inches towards me and wraps his arms lovingly around me. Glancing down at him, a smile crosses my lips. I bend my head down and lightly press my lips to his. His face grows crimson as he smiles widely up at me.

"Now that I have found you, I want to give everything to you. If I had a soul and a beating heart I would give them to you. But what use is a soulless monster without a beating heart?"

My head rises as I place my hand upon the back of my stiff neck, rubbing it back and forth slowly. His hand rises and lands upon my chin. As his fingers wrap around my chin he slowly pulls my head down towards his. Withing a couple of seconds his lips are softly against mine. After a couple of minutes he pulls away.

"'William you do have a soul, a beautiful one. I wish you could see it."

My eyes widen in shock. Never before have I been told this. A wide smile dances across my lips as I am filled with warmness. For the first time in my life I feel warmth on the inside. He tenderly wraps his arms around me as he climbs into my lap. He places his head upon my chest as my arms envelope around him. We sit here for hours watching the stars twinkle overhead. My eyes are gazing at the top of the waterfall as my ears are filled with the sounds of rushing water. But then...something catches my eye.

Chapter Twenty Seven

My keen ears pick up faint whisking noises behind the waterfall. A pale fave appears within the darkness on the left hand side of the waterfall. My hands clench around Noah's shoulders. Heightening my senses, I notice that the whisking noise is no longer in the air. The face still floats there. Piercing crystal blue eyes stare into my soulless body. Suddenly a small smile appears upon the face's pale lips. It is almost as if he has not died. Like a ghostly figure, a face from my past.

"William, what are you staring at?" Noah asks puzzled as he stares into my eyes searching for an answer.

"It is nothing my darling. Shall we return?'

With a slight nod of the head from Noah, I slide my hands under his legs sweeping him up into my arms. Swiftly standing up, I jump from rock to rock. Once we get closer towards the bottom I leap off landing onto my two nimble feet. Glancing back at the waterfall, I see that the face has disappeared. I shake my head slowly from side to side. It must have just been my imagination. To simply put it, the face cannot belong to him, Alexander is deceased. Noah limply wraps his arms around my neck. Walking off into the woods, my pace picks up to a fast sprint. Picking up speed I dodge around the trees and shrubberies that inhabit the forest.
