Midnight

"Your skin is icy cold not to mention deathly pale, you're insanely fast and incredibly strong, your name is old fashioned and you're unnaturally good looking," I say whilst staring at an orange squirrel with a massive butt which is moving slowly along a tree branch.

"So?" he asks me in a bored tone.

"You're obviously not human," I say forcefully.

He goes silent. "So?" he whispers again, this time into my ear.

I jump a mile into the air, completely unaware he had moved. Man, he was so stealthy! Another reason he was bad boyfriend material. "I know what you are," I stammer.

"Say it." He orders sharply from behind me. "Out loud."

The hairs on the back of my neck are standing poker straight. My hands are sweaty and my body is shaking but apart from that I am fine. The squirrel, which I have nicknamed J.Lo, has just jumped from the tree branch and is now lying on its side totally out of breath, the lazy fart.

"Say it!" he barks in a frightening tone.

"Vampire." I whisper a tad dramatically. The whole forest goes silent, I swear, it's like all the creatures are listening in on this conversation. I turn around to face him, "You're a motherfucking vampire."

He ignores my usage of filthy words, "Are you afraid?" he asks me, looking serious yet sexy. His usually hazel eyes look darker and his gaze is intense. I avoid looking him in the eyes as there is a real danger I may swoon and pass out, Wuthering Heights style.

"Nope." I reply, though my heart is racing along at an alarming pace. He narrows his eyes. I decide to change the subject. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen," he replies quietly.

"How long have you been seventeen?" I wonder aloud.

"A while."

"Exactly how long is that?" I press.

"I'm 117 years old okay!" he snaps angrily.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," I breath. "You look good for your age."

He smirks slightly and takes a step closer to me. I hold my ground, actually I'm too afraid to move but he's not to know that, right? Suddenly he grabs me by my arm and flings me onto his back as if I am a sack of potatoes, there isn't even any time to scream before we are zooming through the forest, he charges up a hill and I keep my eyes tightly shut the whole time. The wind whips through my hair and I think I swallow a bug. I'm so gonna kick his ass when he puts me down.

Finally, after I'm beginning to think I will pass out he stops and basically shrugs me off. What a gentleman! I stumble to the ground and manage to stand up, the world is spinning crazily and I have to force myself not to be sick, though throwing up on Gerard does cross my mind.

"What the hell is your problem, dude?" I wheeze. I want to punch him but don't have the strength to lift my arm. Damn you, puny human body!

"You need to see what I look like in the sunlight," he says, he looks at me as if he is in serious pain and walks forward towards a patch of sunlight that is peeking through the dense tree branches.

"I need to see a friggin doctor," I mutter to myself but I watch curiously him as he steps into the sunlight.

As soon a the sun hits him, something extraordinary happens to him, his exposed flesh begins to sparkle. I mean, glittery sparkle. He unbuttons his shirt and his perfectly toned torso begins to shine also. "This is why we don't go out in sunlight, Stella," he tells me, in obvious agony.

I gape at him in amazement. "What the fu...?" I whisper. "Dude, you're sparkling!" He gives me a pained look. "I thought vampires were supposed to be gangsta and shit, but you're sparkling! What's up with that?!" I demand.

"This is the skin of a killer, Stella," he tells me before disappearing behind a giant rock.

I follow him feeling outraged, "I used to think vampires were cool, but you've totally ruined that bad ass image they had," I moan to his back. He stops and turns around to look at me.

"I've killed many people, Stella," he confesses gravelly.

"How? By unleashing the power of your glittery flesh on them?" I chuckle to myself.

He steps closer to me but my fear of him has been somewhat dampened. He shines like a disco ball for Gods sake! "You have no idea how dangerous I am," he whispers smoothly. "Everything about me draws you in. My face, my voice, my hair. Even the way I smell makes you weak." he leans into me and I inhale his scent. He smells so good, I want to take a bite out of him.

He sees the expression on my face and moves away, "Like I even need those things." Suddenly he is moving, he runs so fast it is a blur. He ends up on the other side of the forest, "As if you could outrun me!" he shouts. I watch in awe as he takes off again, this time he lands on a huge grey rock, he picks up a boulder and throws it powerfully at a nearby bush. "As if you could fight me off!"

I survey the damage he has just done to the poor bush. "Dude! You just killed, like, so many plants!" I yell at him.

He hops down and approaches me with his arms wide open. "You see why I didn't want you to uncover our secret?"

"I'm surprised no-one else has figured out your little secret before." I shake my head in amusement.

"You're different from anyone I've ever met Stella. You're unique," he continues to walk towards me.

"What can I say?" I shrug, feeling a teensy bit nervous at the hungry look in his eyes.

"Stella," he says my name softly and I shiver. He stops when his face is inches from mine. I look up at him and he gazes deeply into my eyes. I gulp and begin to feel light headed again.

"Why did you hate me so much when we first met?" I ask him.

He sighs and moves away to stand by a tree, "Every human has a different scent. Yours is the most powerful scent I have ever encountered in my life. When I first saw you....how can I put this? I've never wanted to drink a humans blood so much in my life." He smiles at me apologetically.

"Is that why you disappeared in my first week here?"

"Yes. I had to get away or I would almost certainly have killed you-the attraction to your scent was that powerful. But after a few days I started thinking to myself; how can one simple human girl chase me away from my home? That's when I decided to come back. Plus, I'd fed and I was feeling a lot stronger, more in control of my desires." he glances at me briefly before continuing. "When I got over the fact you smelled so good, I could see you more clearly-not just as a meal but as a real person, and I liked what I saw. Stella, has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asks me abruptly.

"Erm, no," I reply, not liking where this is heading.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I have seen them all. Literally," he pauses and looks at me with those impossibly gorgeous eyes. "I'm in love with you Stella," he announces and I gasp. "I want us to be together."

"Erm...well, I never saw this coming," I stutter and look wildly around for an escape route. He observes my reaction and in the blink of an eye is standing in front of me again.

"Don't you feel the same?" he asks me with a wounded expression on his angelic face.

"Yeah..no..I mean, you're hot and all. It's just, dude, you're a vampire!" I say in exasperation. "Plus there's the age gap. You are WAY too old to be dating a 17 year old. There are laws against theses types of things." I tell him.

"Nothing can keep me away from you Stella. You are the one I have been searching for my entire life," he says solemnly.

"You need to keep searching because trust me, I am not that girl," I turn and attempt to walk away.

He grabs me by my arm. "I love you Stella." He spins me around. "You are my life now." He gazes into my eyes and I begin to feel week again. For a moment I start to consider what having a vampire for a boyfriend would be like. It could be interesting; he's good looking, strong, fast. He obviously cares about me, he has saved my life once before. But then the infamous internet site creeps into my mind, I cannot disregard the advice it gave to me.

"And so the tiger fell in love with the sheep," he says and moves his lips closer to mine, no doubt to kiss me.

Bizarrely, I am calm. My thoughts travel to a piece of advice my mother gave me when I was a child and it is something I have carried with me my whole life:

Men may be stronger the us, they may be taller and faster, but honey, if you kick them in the nuts, they will go down.

I swing my leg back and kick Gerard with all my might in his groin. His eyes snap open in shock and he falls to his knees in pain. I jump back and watch as he doubles over on the ground, he gasps and clutches his man area.

I stand back triumphantly with my hands on my hips. "Screw you, you bloodsucking scumbag!" I yell. I turn and flee into the forest, running as fast as my legs will carry me, praying Gerard won't give chase. I reach the clearing when I hear a roar of anger behind me. That makes me run even faster. With every passing second I expect to feel his hands on my shoulder ready to spin me around but it never happens. I make it out of the forest and back into the school in one piece.

When I get indoors I run right into Chase, he steadies me and takes in my wild appearance. "What's up with you Stella? You look like you're being chased by the devil himself."

"It's something like that actually," I gasp. I turn to look outside the window towards the forest anxiously. So far there is no sign of Gerard, I breath a small sigh of relief.

"Are you okay sweetie? Shall I get you a drink?" he offers kindly. I nod and he leaves to find me some water.

I run my fingers through my hair and attempt to straighten my clothes a little. When I realize it is a lost cause, I turn to face the window again to see if Gerard has emerged from the forest yet. I freeze in absolute horror, standing on the other side of the glass is Gerard himself, his face is nearly pressed against the glass, he is so close I can see his eyes are a murderous coal black and his face is twisted in fury. I take a step backwards and crash into a table.

"You can't run from me forever Stella," he whispers and then he smirks. For some reason this terrifies me more then anything else and I nearly scream. I blink and he is gone. I realize I may be in some serious trouble.