We sat across from one another on kitchen chairs, lounging by a half-open window and talking about whatever came to mind. Enjoying the warm casualty of our conversation and the cool breeze of the night air. In the next room music thumped with a bass befitting any alternative/pop nightclub mix, and mortals spoke the hurried small talk that would end in a night of passion or a morning of regret. people drifted in and out of our space, breaking what we said into meaningless garble. But she held me to our spot by her mere vitality, and I held her, with only a little charm. She wore simple overalls and a loose white T-shirt, her full blonde hair bouncing gaily just below her shoulders. I was in my usual attire- dark trousers, dark silk shirt, and an unassuming trench coat. I could smell what others would smell on her- a musky spicy perfume, in her hair and on her wrists, but I also could smell what only I could smell- her sweat on her back and her blood beneath her skin, smells that bound and held me better that and chain ever could. As she spoke I watched the muscles in her neck and jaw work.. Her skin was smooth and inviting, taut in places, and I yearned for it, to touch it, to kiss it, to bite it, to taste it. She said something pointed and I replied, making her laugh, her head thrown back- with only a great exertion of willpower did I keep myself from leaping out of my chair on top of her- dark laughing eyes, eyes that would have smoldered if she were like me.

"Hey punk, who you think you bumpin' into?"

"Pro'lly some faggot."

"Yea? Well watch this faggot kick yo ass." Smack slap crash the inevitable drunken house party fight started in the next room. Eager violence voyeurs left the kitchen and her and me alone. My hear beat faster as I realized now was my chance to seduce her, in a way that only I could, in a way that she would never be seduced again. I felt my canines lengthening and growing in anticipation. I maneuvered my jaw to compensate for these fangs.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked. I trembled.

"Because you're beautiful."

"Me? I'm drunk. I mean, your eyes actually look red!" She threw back her head and giggled. I could control myself no longer. My hunger consumed my mind and I leapt. I held her cheek and jaw with one hand, my other on her shoulder. I pierced her neck, like so much tissue, and the hot bitter blood leapt into my throat. She moaned, softly- they usually do- and i fed. Quickly, someone would wander in shortly- but oh! Those few seconds! The alcohol in her blood was an amusing tickle in my stomach, but her life and richness as I drained her made my heart beat all the stronger- her heart beat too- I could feel it, taste it, it resisted what I did at first but finally gave in, giving her life to me with every pulse. It beat weaker and weaker, until she died, and I tenderly licked the wound to hide it. For a moment I swam in the ecstasy of the moment- my face was flushed, my jaw trembled, my eyes rolled back.

But I got my teeth to recede, and I wiped the blood from my chin. I picked her up and walked out of the kitchen. We passed someone who was walking in- he smirked and said, "Another wasted one. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, buddy." I smiled and walked on, through the other room. Like a groom with his bride I carried her out the door, over the threshold to her new afterlife. Down the street In a secluded and dark place I gently lade her down. After I brushed the hair form her face I tore at my wrist and held the bleeding gash to her mouth. Her lips quivered, then her eyelids fluttered, and she was sucking my blood like her life depended on it- and it did. The pain of her feeding shot up and down my arm, wrenched at the hole in my chest where a human heart would have been, tugged at the very force which allowed me to rise night after night, a pain so intense and delicious that I could scarcely see out of my burning eyes, but I loved her, and when she'd had enough I made her stop. Realization overcame her hunger and she stared wide eyed at me with fear, a terror she had never felt before, the terror of her very soul slipping away to be hated, and then forgotten. Gently I picked her up again, and I smiled.

"Now you will be beautiful forever," I said. Then I ran off with her, into the night.