Under the Moonlight (It's Too Dark to See)

December waited for me to get out of detention before walking home.

"I hate bus schedules," I mumbled, pulling my peacoat closed around my body.

December nodded. "Yeah. This rain shit sucks."

I smiled. "I kinda like it. The rain? It's calming. Nice to listen to when you attempt to sleep."

She laughed. "You're a regular poet today," she said, pulling her long red hair into a ponytail.

She really was gorgeous, too. Her crimson red hair, chocolate eyes, pale porcelain skin, and thin face made her look like a model. She was slim, curved in all the right places, with narrow hips and small shoulders. Her chest was raised slightly, and she often complained about her B-sized bras when she slept over at my house (as I power-cleaned my room to make sure it was presentable and threw my bras over my shoulder into the hamper), but I thought she'd look strange with a chest like mine.

She was highly popular. The girls wanted to be her, and the guys wanted to have her on their arms. She was Matt's girlfriend--that was how I knew her--and I sometimes thought the only reason she hung out with the loner goth chick rather than her futbol or cheerleader mates was because I was her boyfriend's best friend's kid sister.

However, she assured me it wasn't.

"D'you hear that...?" I asked as we crossed the street to the convenience store.

"Yeah. Sounds like something--or someone--got hit..."

"Should we go check it out?"

She shook her head. "No. Absolutely not."

I looked at her. "Are you insane? Somebody could be hurt!"

"Instinct tells me they'll be fine." She looked over her bony shoulder, then grabbed my wrist and took off, dragging me behind.

I stumbled. "Dec!" I yelled. "Slow down, damn it!"

She slowed to a walk as we rounded a corner, then peeked around the side of a building.

"Don't move..." she mumbled.

"Clue the dumb human in, will ya!?"

She waved her hand to quiet me, then listened intently to the rain. "Clear," she said after only a few seconds, though it felt like an hour. "Let's get to your place. And fast."

She grabbed my wrist again and zipped down the street, and I was tailing straight behind her.

December dried her hair with a towel as I pulled on my pyjama capris and a camisole.

"Okay," I said, pulling my sopping wet hair up into a ponytail. "Start telling me what's going on."

December sighed. "Alright, fine... First of all, you have to promise not to freak out on me."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Talk!"

"Here's the first thing you need to know--and I don't want to upset you or anything, but... The first thing you need to know is that most of the things Gavin has said to you are false. Facades. Ruses."

"Like...?"

"I'm sure he told you about Sean--the tall, pale, blonde."

"Yeah. Said he and Ian were lovers. Or something like that. And that Sean begged Ian t--"

"Wrong," she said, cutting me off abrubtly. "Sean didn't beg for anything. He was happily married. To a beautiful woman, at that. They had, like, four kids together." She paused, looking at me. "Ian just wanted a hole to fuck, so he went out to find the best looking man in Wales and snatched him up."

"Which one's Ian again?" I inquired.

"Ian Watkins--tall and tan. Brown hair. Olive eyes. He's the leader of the Vampiric Society that Gav...in...is..." She trailed off and stared at me. "What's so funny?"

"That guy! He's an idiot! The night Gavin and I met, he was like, 'Oh let's suck a hunter's daughter's blood!' You expect me to believe he's some high-up vampire dude?"

"All an act," December said blankly.

I stopped laughing. She was being completely and utterly serious.