• John sat and watched the night go by. He cared little for the sounds of the night, or the danger that the robbers and muggers that the dark might present. This was his time. This was the time of the vampire. John wore a black shirt, and over that a long black jacket. He also wore black pants, sneakers, and had dark red hair grouped together in thick vertical spikes atop his head. On his face he wore a pair of dark sunglasses that completely hid his eyes, and a black bandanna across his mouth. An observer might have thought him about sixteen, although rather tall for his age, but would not have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Just the way he liked it.
    He had recently fed, which always put him in a good mood. As he looked up at the stars, his mind wandered back almost a hundred years ago, back to when he was a human…it had been dark. John could barely see anything. But he wasn't worried. He knew the streets like the back of his hand. And anyway, he was armed. On his belt he wore a fine knife and was very proficient with it. He turned the corner. He was almost home. It was just a few more streets. Then, like a shadow, a woman seemed to appear in front of him. He noticed in the light of a nearby street lamp that she was amazingly beautiful, with everything about her body perfect without a single flaw. Her dress was extremely expensive, with all the hues of the rainbow and beautiful embroideries all across her body. The one odd thing he noticed was that her eyes appeared slanted, with pitch-black pupils. John felt some kind of strange attraction to her. She took a step forward. John unconsciously took a step back.
    "Don't worry," the woman said, "I won't hurt you." John put a hand on the hilt of his knife. She noticed, but seemed hardly concerned. She motioned for him to come. At the some time, John heard a strange voice in his mind, telling him to go with her. He knew that something was amiss here. Backing away, he drew his knife.
    "Fine then," the woman said, suddenly turning cold, and a cold pit of fear formed in his stomach, "We'll do it the hard way." With speed beyond what any human ought to have, she lunged at him and…
    John shook his head to clear the unwanted memories. Reminiscing would serve no purpose. He got up off the wall he had been sitting on, and walked off down the street. He really had no destination. There were a few hours left before dawn, so he just wandered about. His sensitive ears caught the sound of music in the distance, but this was not unusual, as parties were fairly common here. One way was as good as another, John mused, so he followed the music into a large park with a magnificent fountain set into the center. Several speakers were set up and blasted hip-hop music.
    There was a large group of people around the fountain talking, dancing, or just chilling. He could tell that the majority of the people here were vampires; while about a fourth of the partygoers were human who either didn't know they were vampires, or didn't care. Two girls who looked barely into there teens were close by. One of them seemed to become hypnotized and lethargic. The other one, who was clearly a vampire, grabbed her and tilted her head, allowing her access to her neck. She bit down and began to feed on her. Even as John watched, the body grew limp, the heart stopped, and the breathing quieted. The vampire casually tossed the body away, caring little for its fate any more.
    He sat on the edge of the fountain, lost in his memories. His thoughts were interrupted a moment later when saw another vampire approaching him. She looked about his "age," with night black hair and a pretty face. A large male vampire flanked her; his muscles were outlined clearly against his shirt. He had a menacing glare, and looked like he would rip John in half. But John could tell that of the pair, the female was more dangerous.
    "Hi," she said, stopping just in front of him. "My name is Laura. This is Spike," Laura motioned behind her at the imposing vampire flanking her. "Who are you?"
    "John," he replied.
    "John…" she repeated, "Hmm…I've never seen you here before. And I know everyone here. What are you doing here?"
    What am I doing here? John thought. "Watching the world go by," he finally answered.
    "Oh really?" John didn't like the look she gave him. "I'm hungry," she declared. "John, why don't you get me something to eat?" Laura pointed at a girl dancing not far away.
    "No."
    "'No?'"
    "That's right."
    "Why not?" she growled, getting angry.
    "Why should I kill a person just for a good meal?"
    "Why? Why? Why should a human kill a cow then, or a chicken?" she began to get very angry. "It's because we're higher up on the food chain, that's why. Evolution liked us more. That's why!"
    "It's still wrong."
    Laura grabbed him by his shirt and easily lifted him off the ground. "I'm stronger then you think. I don't think you want me as your enemy. Go kill her."
    "No," he whispered.
    "Fine," she growled, and threw him to the ground. He felt several ribs cracking and also broke his wrist. "You smell like a human, too." She strode over to him. "You don't want me as an enemy," she whispered, and she and her cohort walked away.
    Others began to go too as dawn was approaching. Everything was taken away, even the numerous dead bodies. A few humans milled around for a while, but they gradually dispersed. John sat on the edge of the fountain again, in no hurry to go anywhere. He wasn't afraid of light, as so many of his kind seemed to be. He also had to give his broken bones time to heal. The wounds weren't serious, and they healed in about fifteen minutes. As he waited, he watched the sunrise. "How long has it been?" John asked himself. When was the last time he had seen the sunrise? Or even the sun for that matter? He really didn't know. Still, he enjoyed basking in the sun's rays for the first time in years. He felt cleaner, purer somehow as he walked back to his house.