Emilee

Max’s P.O.V:

Shit, I’m late. I guess he won’t care. If he is what he says he is, he’s got all the time in the world. I checked my phone. 2:09am. I wasn’t very late, at least. As I was jogging, I thought several times of turning around and forgetting about it all. No one really wanted this fate, did they? Was I wrong for choosing a type of death? I shrugged it off, it didn’t matter. No one had lived my life, either. No one had put up with the pain day after night after day for 17 years...No one understood. I rounded the corner of the street and finally saw the old abandoned house he’d spoken of, impressed with myself for not getting lost. He’d told me to enter through the back, so I did as asked to. In my heart, I hadn’t expected him to show at all. Hell, I didn’t even believe his form existed. Vampires? The whole idea seemed preposterous. But I was desperate now, desperate to free myself of my life. I was never one for suicide tho. I searched the small house for signs of life – and death, finding none. No one was here. Maybe time was still important to him. I sat down on the rotting old couch in what was once a family room and sunk down low. Now what was I to do? Was I to have no choice but to live in a cruel world, teased at school and beat at home? I had nothing going for me. Someone tapped their fingernails against the doorframe beside me. I looked up into the blood-red eyes of my soon-to-be saviour. Everything felt so intense all of a sudden. What was I doing!? He sat beside me. Right beside me. I could feel his breath on my neck.

“Are you sure about this Max?” he asked. I stared into his eyes and saw nothing but the power he had. The power I’d have.

“Yes. Ronnie, just do it.” He smiled wickedly, a smile I’d seen so many times before. I was almost certain he was an evil person at heart. I met him at the train station one night. It was the night dad went too far and I needed a friend to lean on. He was a good friend, but the trust wasn’t there between us. To him, I must’ve seemed like a pathetic kid, crying like a loser. To me, he was a dangerous kid, the kind of kids I tend to hide from in school. But he was far worse than a petty school bully.

“I’ll have to explain it all first tho, okay?” I nodded. “You can’t tell anyone what you are unless you plan to kill them, or else they will most surely be hunted by my kind and killed. That’s the main rule.” I gulped.

“What if they guess?” I asked. Ronnie shrugged.

“I guess that’s okay then, as long as you don't make it obvious. Also, I’d just like to tell you to be careful. You’ll need more sunscreen, and glasses. Ohh...and stay away from people for at least a week, maybe two.” I needn’t ask why. “Ready?” he said in a strange voice, almost seductive.

“Yea.” I closed my eyes and waited quietly. I wasn’t quiet for too long. He sunk his teeth into my neck and sucked. At first it felt good, but then I was screaming in pain and terror. He didn’t stop. Things went black, and slowly they faded.

I groaned at the sunlight in my eyes as they flickered open. “Shit!” I grabbed at my neck in agony. “Ronnie!?” I called, but no one came. I needed him right now. I needed someone to explain how I was still alive. It wasn’t until I got up and realised my need for blood that I finally believed the situation. I was a vampire. It was real. I managed a faint smile, the first in a long time. I needed to get home and explain myself. But I couldn’t, could I? If I told my family they’d be killed. I blinked back the tears trying to escape my eyes. They’d guess I assumed. I hoped my mum still loved me the way she had before I became this.

By the time I made it through the front door, I was definitely not myself. I was snarling, but unable to contain it. I wanted to kill them all. Ronnie said a few weeks. Only a few weeks. I ran upstairs into my room and backed into the corner furthest from the door. They came running after me, slamming the door open and demanding to know where I’d been all last night, but stopped yelling once they saw me. I must’ve looked like a real animal. My mum fixed her gaze on my neck and backed away, dragging Jessie out with her. Dad looked angry, but not daring enough to cross me. I’d finally won. He slammed my door and locked it securely. I wasn’t going anywhere.

After a while, I started to hear things. No one’s talking, but I can hear them. Am I going insane!? Mum’s worried about me, I can hear her. My dad’s angry and confused. Jessie’s interested. They all know what I’ve become. How do I know that!?