• tab She hated people. She was the only one, (she suspected for miles) that looked Asian. She wasn’t even Asian!
    tab Heather stared at the three boys, too young to even think about flirting with girls, but old enough to drool over plastic boobs. Do you want a fortune cookie? they laughed. Heather couldn’t stand it. What, she thought, would get them to shut the f*** up?
    tab Men are cruel.

    tab She walked past them hurriedly, trying to ignore the snickers from the three boys. They lived two blocks away from school, and there was no way Heather could get to school without passing the white house filled with rude men and women- supposedly family.
    At school, the words and numbers passed by in a blur. Heather didn’t get school. Her participation was horrible, but there was absolutely no way a teacher could give her any grade below an A. Her homework was always neat and on time, and she finished tests faster then anyone else, never getting below 98%.
    tab Yet no one really got her. Her mind drifted in class, but the teachers had learned to forget it: Her grades were good, why bother her? But today was different. At last period, the classroom’s door’s glass rattled, and a tall boy came into the room. He had dirty blonde that flopped to the right side of his head, and steely gray eyes that pierced every girl’s hair- except for Heather. To her, he was just another boy about to tease her for her looks.
    tab “This is Shawn Fevers. He is new… and late. Sit in the back by Miss McCoy.”
    tab There were a few murmurs from the girls, probably stirring up some rumors that the new kid- Shawn- was already dating head cheerleader. When Shawn sat down, he stared at a note in his hand, as if it was some foreign object. Heather sighed, gazing out the window with longing eyes. The sun shone brightly, and birds seemed to be talking, actually talking to her.
    tab Shawn finally ripped up the note and let the bits flutter down to the floor. The papers moved on the floor, slowly, like dead leaves on the cold ground of December. The pieces crawled towards Heather, forming words on the floor. Heather, totally unaware of what was in motion, continued to daydream.
    tab Look! Look! The white tree pieces on the ground!
    tab Heather stared at the bird, it staring back at her with black, knowing eyes. Her eyes searched the bellowing flowers fields, before realizing the bird meant on the floor. Looking at the laminated floor, she saw the words that were burning into nothing, a steady strand of smoke streaming out. Heather read the final word just before it burned into nothing. Gently, she blew away the remaining smoke and sat back in her chair, glancing at Shawn every once in a while. Like the floor, the word were branded into Heather’s photographic memory.
    tab You are one of us.

    tab So now it was confirmed. They did exist. Or else, how would Shawn be able to do that with the paper? Was it some horrible magic trick? Walking into the girl’s bathroom just before she left school, she locked the door and lead back against the sink. Breathing heavily, she proceeded to do what she had been doing for the past year. Stuffing paper towels into her mouth, Heather sank down onto her knees, facing the sink. She gripped the top of the sink, and with her last breath, she let out everything. Her scream was muffled by the paper towel to the human ear, but bloodcurdling to all other animals and creatures. Heather dug into the porcelain sink, her fingernails cracking under the pressure. Visions passed through her head, and she saw herself, as usual, with the mysterious figure she decided to name Carl.
    tab After about five minutes, the pain and visions subsided, and Heather pulled out the wad of paper towels from her mouth. She slumped back against a wall, and for the first time, started to black out. A wave of panic came over Heather, but soon she stopped. The last image she had was of someone opening the bathroom door, kneeling next to her and just looking over her.
    tab Then Heather was gone.
    tab An hour later, she awoke to find herself in the forest, her head and feet slightly raised on a mound of sweet grass. Getting up, she felt her whole world spin, tipping from left to right like a boat. Out of nowhere, a man caught her before she hurt herself.
    tab “Hey, you can’t just get up and walk away after your first Aradorm. When I had mine, I couldn’t even think straight for a week, let alone get up and walk.”
    tab “Hrmmp?” Heather’s words came out mumbled.
    tab “Here,” the man said, “let me bring you inside.”
    tab Heather groaned loudly.

    tab The instant Heather groaned, Shawn’s knees buckled. That groan… Shawn couldn’t help but be reminded of the groan Jenn had made when Jessie, his brother, had professed his love for her. Aren’t we so romantic? thought Shawn. That groan- a sound only made twice in a vampire’s life- was full of pain and anger and lust and emotion… The first time would be when a vampire trusts his or herself to one. The second: when the vampire was ready to become “one” with another. Did it count? She was still in her Aradorm shock. Was this really that groan?
    tab As Shawn set Heather down, she screamed, piercing Shawn’s sensitive ears like icicles.
    tab “Shh… Helina, shh…”
    tab Heather, with her eyes closed, asked, “Helina?”
    tab Shawn nodded.
    tab “Your true vampire name. Mine is…”
    tab Heather’s eyes were still blurred, the man holding her cast in a shadow of illusions.
    “Vampires? You…”
    tab Heather stared hard into Shawn’s eyes.
    tab “My name is Shaine… Or, for humans…”
    tab Yes?

    tab Shawn.