• The gravel crunched under Gavin’s feet. His dark eyes stared blankly ahead, focused on the goal: a lit up cabin, about three miles away. To some, it would have been a horrible place, but to Gavin, it was home. The minute passed quickly, and Gavin’s mind worked furiously to try to come up with a good reason why he hadn’t been home by two, like his parents wanted. Instead, he was walking home at five o’clock in the morning, and with every step, it got more and more light. He would have to hurry if he didn’t want to get caught in the full rays of the sun. His pace quickened, and so did his mind. His cursed his incomptetance. He could kill people and them never know what happened, but he couldn’t come up with one excuse as to why he was just getting home? He could see his father walking out to the car to go to work. Charles T. Darke stopped and looked down the road to see if his son was coming home. When he saw Gavin coming, he let out an internal sigh of relief, but he kept a steely outer form and went inside to get his belt. Gavin continued his steady pace, wondering if he was going to get a “beating” or not.


    Charles was looking for his belt. Where was that blasted thing? It wasn’t in its usual prominant spot at the end of the bed. It wasn’t in the closet, the dresser or the bathroom. In fact, it wasn’t anywhere to be found. “You got lucky this time, boy.” He stormed out of the house, got into the car, and pealed out. Gavin moved out of the way as his father drove past him, flinging gravel everywhere. He glanced at the sky, checking the time. Five o’seven. His pace quickened when the sun broke the horizon. As the burning light hit his skin, he broke into a run. He reached the door, wrenched it open, and all but tumbled inside.


    He shut the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. He slowly caught his breath, and his thoughts turned to what had happened that night. He remembered the taste of Trinity’s blood, warm and sweet, as he changed her into the creature of her every dream. He, himself, a Vampire, her boyfriend, had changed her while she slept. He thought of the convulsing body, the face filled with pain. He saw, in his minds eye, her fangs breifly grow, then shrink back into her gums. He was jolted to awareness by his sister.

    “Where have you been?!” Rainne shrieked.


    Gavin looked up at her with the feeling of a drunken stupor.
    “I was at Trinity’s house...” Something in his voice must have alerted Rainne. “Did you...?”

    His slow, deliberate nod said it all. She looked at him, shocked. Trinity was her best friend. But she was so.. human. Would she make a good vampire? Rainne really did’nt think so.

    She turned and walked back into her room. Rainne had this terribly feeling in the back of her head that things were going to get bad. Really bad. She took her father’s belt out of her dresser and returned it to where it was supposed to be, then went back to bed.









    Gavin’s dream had taken an interesting turn. The whole time he had been asleep, he’d been seeing Trinity’s changing. Now, he saw her walking towards him, as sweet as ever. She fell into his arms, and he could smell the sweetness of her perfume. He looked at her face lovingly, but that sweet face had changed. It had turned into the face of his prince, Lucas. Lucus’ usually calm features were contorted with rage. Lucas was yellng, and suddenly, it was no longer Trinity’s body held. Gavin released his hold, and looked at his angry ruler. Long, lithe, and lean, he had the body of a serious killer.

    “Come see me,” he commanded, “and bring your little girlfriend with you. Or else” Then- he simply disappeared.

    Gavin woke up with a cold sweat running down his face, arms, back, and everywhere else. He stared at the ceiling. What could Lucas possibly want with Trinity?
    Knowing Lucas, it couldn’t be good.




    The great hall in front of the gates to the palace was one huge mosh pit, as usual. Individuals walked by, covered with glow-in-the-dark paint. Trinity was clutching Gavin’s arm with a vise-like grip.

    “What is wrong with these people?”

    “Ahem.. These.... ‘people’.... aren’t exactly people.. they’re kind of... immortal... Like you and me”
    She looked up at him with “confused” written all over her face. “Just like ..? Oh..” She looked at the crowd with even more anxiety than before.
    Gavin began pushing through the crowd, trying to get to the wrought iron gate as quickly as possible. He was waylaid by a willowy blonde, who actually looked halfway normal.
    "Gavin." She flashed him a million dollar smile. "Rae" Gavin bowed and kissed her knuckle."How good to see you. It has been far to long, I must say." She did that smile again. "Yes, yes it has. Why don't you drop in, um, unexpected sometime?" She winked. Gavin stiffened, and Trinity drew in a sharp breath. She glared at Rae. Gavin tried to push past her, trying to avoid an ugly conflict. Rae's slim hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to face her. "Is that the runt that Lucas is so upset about?" She sneered. "He really needs to get his prorities straight. Oh, and tell your sister to back off of Lucas. He chooses me. That's what he me." Gavin nodded. "I'll be sure to tell her"
    "And make sure he doesn't try to start anything with the newb. I don't need anymore competition."
    Gavin coughed. "She's not available."
    "Uh-huh. Sure. Well, i hope he oest try to make her go back on it. I would hate to have to kill someone so early into their new life." Trinity shrank behind Gavin, her cheeks turning dark crimson. He was her only protection at this point. "And anyway," continued Rae. "If she resists him, he may well kill her. You know this as well as I do." Trinity was beginning to like this Lucas fellow less and less the more she heard of him. Between what Gavin haad told her on the way over and what she was hearing now, he sounded like the unsavory sort, the kind you wouldn't want to be alone in a dark alley with. As she was thinking of all the terrible possibilities, she was jogged to awareness by a gentle tug in her arm. Gavin's grip on her tightened, then he yanked her closer to him. He pulled her almost in front of him and whispered, "I don't want to lose you in this crowd. You still smell human."
    Trinity noticed that the large majority of the crowd was eyeing her hungrily. Gavin kept her in front of him, where he could see her, holding onto her forearms, steering her through the crowd. She stumbled on the cobblestone walkway. the whole crowd seemed to jump at her. Gavin pulled her back up. "please don't do that again."
    When they reached the tall,, menacing gates, Gavin pushed the red button on the intercom. Instead of simply hearing a voice, a burly guard appeared on the little screen next to the button.
    "whaddaya want?' He asked gruffly. Gavin stepped closer "i have a meeting with prince Lucas" The guard snorted doubtfully "everybody has a meeting with Prince Lucas. Gavin spoke a little louder, but Trinity had no idea what he was saying. "Lucas a réclamé une réunion ou elle va mourir!"
    "Oh, est-ce vrai?"
    "Si."
    "Si je peux demander, pourquoi?"
    "Je lui ai changé sans l'autorisation de Lucas."
    "C'est pas juste, entrent en jeu."
    Gavin turned to Trinity and smiled. "its always good to know a second language, eh?" The gates opened, and the couple stepped through. As they walked down the path, they didn't notice they were being watched. The stranger stood back in the shadows and observed their every move. He watched the girl stoop down to observe a flower closer. Gavin pulled her back from the flower. "i wouldnt do that if i were you" he heard him say. The flower snapped at the empty air where her hand had just been. She looked in horror at the beautiful, deadly flower. The stranger quietly extrcated himself from the thicket, and went farther up the path.
    Trinity was standing in the middle of the path, and she refused to move. "I.. I... Oh my god." She looked very carefully at each flower as they walked up the path towards the victorian doors. She came to the realiztion that, these flowers, they were't meant simply for decoration, they were a trap for people like her, who were very nosy and wanted to get a closer look at everything.
    There was a vine crossing the path infront of them. "hmmm," mused Gavin. "seems to me the lucas has let the place go a little bit.."
    "nonsense!" Gavin looked up, and bowed, pulling the gaping Trinity down with him. Lucas smiled. "im simply trying something new. A more.. wild side." He smiled. "good day, prince lucas" Gavin stood. "you wished to speak to me?"
    "Ah, yes"Lucas offered his hand to help Trinity up. He looked her up and down. "This is your girlfriend, eh? Not bad, Not bad at all."
    Trinity blushed furiously.
    "Yes, this... This is Trinity"
    "That is a very interesting name. And do you, by any chance, speak?"
    Gavin nudged her after a second, and she nodded, but said nothing.
    "Well, then, speak!"
    "I..I..I.. G'day prince lucas." she sputtered.
    Gavin smacked his forehead with his palm. Lucas looked at her in amazement. And somewhere to their right a gardener was laughing his a** off.
    "Are you always this articulate?" Lucas teased.
    Her cheeks were burning terribly hot now. "I... I..." she buried her nead in Gavin's chest. He wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Maybe we should go inside?" He suggested. Lucas nodded and led the way into the palace. When they stepped through the deep mohaganey doors, Trinity couldn't decide where to look first, there was so much to see. There were, of course, the ladies of the court, dressed fit to kill, their gowns covered in gold plating and strings of pearls weighing down their necks. Then there were the jesters. Trinity assumed they were humans by the age of some of the fools. The crowd of spectators surrounding them was growing. They had obviously just started a new show. But, the most breath-taking thing, laying in the center of all this fantastic chaos, was a silver tounged, onyx scaled dragon, something thought to just be a ledgend. "Here. Bellatrix!" Lucas called. The dragon stirred, then raised its great head to look sleepily at Lucas. "Come here girl!" She got up slowly, shook herself, then delicately walked over to them and nuzzled her master affectionately. Lucas ran his hand down her glimmering black scales. She was making a noise equivalent ot a cats purr, except coming from a dragon, it was a bit more terrifying. Trinity's mouth was agape with amazement. Gavin looked at the dragon with obvious distaste. It had tried to eat him a couple of times, most likely on it's masters orders. The dragon met his cold gaze and appeared to smile. Lucas patted the dragon's head and, her que taken, she turned and trotted away from the trio back to the center of the room. Trinity's eyes followed the dragon, wonderstruck. She couldn't believe how lucky she was today. Lucas smiled at the gaping girl. "Let's go to the study, shall we?"
    Once again, he led the way to their destination. As they walked up the thickly carpeted hallway, Trinity looked at the pictures lineing the way. They held many, grave-looking, yet beautiful people. Their eyes seemed to follow the group down the hall. Then-
    "Lucas, why do you always have to lead your guests down this hallway? They scare us!"
    Trinity screamed, and jumped back. She looked around in a panic, trying to figure out who had said that. "i'm right here, you dolt!" She looked in amazement at the talking picture of a tall, elegant, and right at this point, red-faced man in front of her. "What? Never seen a talking picture before?"
    "n-n-no"
    "well now you have!" The portrait bellowed. Lucas grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway, calling behind him for gavin to follow. He skided to halt in front of a tall, dark cherry door and pushed her inside. Gavin slid inside, and lucas slammed the door shut. "sorry about him. he gets a little irate." Gavin laughed. "a little?" Lucas didn't answer. He gestured for them to sit down, then went over to the bookshelf and stood there looking at the books for a minute. Gavin watched him closely, and stood up. "Lucas?" The prince turned around. His good guy nature was gone. no longer was he laughing about one of his predecessors. His blue eyes blazed angrily. He looked like he was having a hard time controlling himself. He shook, and Gain couldn't be entirely sure, but he thought Lucas' fangs were extending and retracting in his gums. He came at them, and Gavin pulled Trinity behind him, not sure what Lucas was going to do. Lucas advanced and grabbed Trinity's arm. He yanked her out form behind Gavin and snarled. "How dare you change this little runt of a human?! How do you know she won't use her new found powers to kill off anyone she doesn't like, thus exposing our whole race?!" His grip on her wrist tightened, and he twisted her arm so that his wrist was exposed. "Do you see this tattoo," He screamed. "Do you know what it means?" She shook her head. "It means i am responsible for making sure that my whole race isn't s**t outta luck when things like you come along " Trinity didn't get a very good look at the tattoo before Lucas yanked her closer. "I'm gonna finish you before you even get the chance to expose us all" He dug his nails into her skin. The skin broke, but then lucas got a big surprise. The blood that came out was not red, but silver. Trinity gasped in pain, and lucas released his hold on her, reeling away. She fell to her knees, gripping her wrist in pain. Gavin tore a peice of his shirt off and wrapped her wrist tightly. She looked up at him in wonder. "Why is my blood silver?"
    Gavin turned to ask Lucas, but he only turned in time ot see the rest of his prince's face crumble.



    Trinity sat dumb founded in one of the plush chairs, an untouched glass of brandy in her limp hand. On her face was a listless expression.
    Lucas lay dead on the floor. "What happened?" Gavin sat across from her. "I haven't a clue. I've never heard of a vampire's blood being silver," Trinity's wrist had already healed, but now there was something new on her wrist. The tattoo had disappeared off of lucas' wrist and was now on her wrist. "But i do know that only the ruler of all vampires ever has that tattoo. Maybe we should ask the royal historian."
    Trinity sighed deeply. "I know why you were trying to convince me that i didn't want to be a vampire, now."
    Gavin chuckled. "This," He gestured at lucas and then at the rest of the room, "Is not what i meant when i was telling you there were things you wouldn't like about this world. I was more talking about the fact that, like Lucas, many vampires hold a strong animosity towards the new vampires for quite a while, and in the time period of about a year, the recently changed will have every one of their new skills tested to the limits. Lucas was just the beginning. But", He paused, "If that tattoo being on your wrist means what i think it means, you are the new ruler; in which case we may very well have a full out war on our hands."
    "how can I possibly be the new ruler?" She stood up, and went on without letting him respond. "I just became an effing vampire,and suddenly, I'm expected to rule a nation of vampires?" She threw her glass against the wall. It shattered, drops of brandy and shards of glass flying everywhere. She stood there, crying into her hands. "Gavin, I'm scared" said the muffled voice behind the hands. Gavin walked over to her and put his hands on her upper arms. "It's going to be OK." He pulled her into a strong, reassuring hug. Trinity buried her head into his chest, crying even harder than before. Gavin stroked her hair soothingly. "I'll be here to help. I promise." Her arms wrapped around his neck. "I know gavin. I trust you."



    Shauna walked through the door of Sunshine for the Christ Catholic Highschool. She felt like turning around and simply going home, like she did every morning. She did not belong here. That much she knew. She kept her eyes down, following her normal morning path. She knew it by heart. She avoided a few nuns in the hallway, veering far to the right. She stopped at the cafeteria door, and poked her head in to see how many people were there. About a hundred so far. She stepped inside, and scanned the crowd for the one familiar face.

    Mark's head his lifted. Shauna was in the room. He could sense her beating heart, smell her sweet skin. He tossed his medium length dark auburn hair out of his eyes, and layed his hand on his cheek. Where was she? He couldn't believe the feelings he had for her. There were three hundred girls in that school, but she was the only one who made his heart race. Well, what was left of it at least. He didn't realize that he had spaced out until he felt her right next to him. He looked up. And there she was, smelling like strawberries and cream, as usual. He stood up and pulled her close, kissing her with the force and passion befitting true love.

    When they pulled away, thye noticed the people around them whispering. What was their problem? They did this pretty much every morning. Then somebody started laughing. Mark turned to see what was so funny- and saw it. But he didn't think it was so funny. In came Mr. Summers. He had obviously been watching the cameras again. He walked up to them swiftly and purposfully.
    "Will you please follow me to my office" It was not a question, but a command. He led the way back to the office(also known as the hell hole), Mark on one side, Shauna on the other. The door opened, Mark and Shauna stepped through, and the door shut behind Mr. Summers. He sat down behind his oak desk, then did that annoying arch thing with the fingers that all principles do when they are upset. "Children..." Mark grit his teeth. He was not a child. "Children, I don't know what you want from me? Expulsion, perhaps?" Mark went to speak, but Shauna's hand on his arm stopped him from saying something stupid that WOULD get him kicked out. "No, i don't think that's what you want. That's definately not what i want. Then i would be giving you more time to see each other," Shauna looked at Mark in alarm. They didn't get to see each other that often. Mr. Summers smiled and went on. "This is a school to help you break your juvenile habits that you can get away with in public schools. Or, in our more sad cases," He looked at Mark hard. "Rid the student of an evil spirit that plagues him." Mark's parents had sent him to the school because they thought he was possessed by a demon. He wasn't, but when his parents had seen him and he still looked like a hooligan to them, they informed the principal that they were not putting him back in public school until he looked like a normal child. Mark had never looked like a normal child. He had always been very good looking, with a dark personality and a talent for finding, or more commonly, making trouble. Mark forced himself to smile the most demonic, toothy smile he could manage. "Mr. Summers, I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about and that if you were to send me home there would be even more to worry about because my mother would be livid. In case you've forgotten what happened last time you tried to send me home." Mr. Summers leaned back in his chair, trying to look unalarmed, but he was. Mark could feel it radiating off of him. "Mr. Goldberg, I can assure you that if i told your mother what you and," He glared at Shauna. "her were doing this morning, she would be more than willing to take you home." Mark snickered. "And I can assure you that she loves Shauna and that if you were to talk of her in that tone, she would rip you limb from limb. And she would also say if you can't control us then you weren't doing your job properly. Then she would go to the school board and have you fired for your inadequecy." Mark smiled at him in with what looked like a true smile. Shauna looked between them warily, wondering who was going to break first. Five minutes passed, but neither had realeased their hold on the smile they had. Shauna spoke for the first time.
    "Uh, Mr. Summers?" He jolted. "Yes?" He asked curtly. "May I go? I don't want to be late for class." Mr. Summers nodded curtly. She got up and fairly jolted out of the tension filled room. Mr. Summers watched her go, then turned back to Mark. "Would you go wait in the lobby, please?" Mark left, and when the door shut, Mr. Summers picked up the phone.



    Mark ran his fingers through Shauna's hair. He looked at her face as she slept peacefully with her head on his chest. His mind turned to what had happened at school. Expelled for kissing. NOW he'd seen, and heard, everything. Shauna stirred next to him, but he barely noticed.He continued to stroke her hair and stare off into space. "Mark?" He tensed up, then relaxed. Shauna stared up at him with those intense eyes, asking him a question. "Yes baby?"
    She looked down, tracing circles on his chest. "Are... Are you ok?" He snorted cynically. "I'm fine, I just don't know how im going to explain this to my mom.." She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. "What- me being in your house, or getting expelled?"
    "Both."
    The front door slammed. His mother's voice called out
    "Mark! Come out here! I know you're here!" He smiled darkly down at Shauna. "Stay here, and what ever you do, don't leave this room until i come back, ok?" She nodded in agreement, and Mark walked out of the room.