The Most Important Rule

"Hello, Chaysie."

I spun around to meet the owner of the crisp, cold voice. I tried to take in his facial features, to see if I could recognize him, or at least so I could remember his face later on…but I couldn't. The only thing I could see was his eyes.

Who knew gray could be such a beautiful color? His eyes were so bright they seemed to be glowing, making them look silver. It was like I was gazing at two moons.

I found that I was unable to look away. His gaze was so alluring...

I quickly realized my mistake.

Rule #7: Never lock eyes with a vampire.

Vampires can hypnotize you, but only if you make eye contact.

"I need you to remain very calm," the vampire continued, as if I actually had a choice in the matter. "I'm not looking for a fight."

I narrowed my midnight eyes at his silver ones, which only made the vampire laugh. "You're a strong one," it commented. "For a human, at least."

"What do you want?" I asked icily. I was surprised I was even capable of speaking; it seems like it didn't have as much control over me as I suspected.

"That's because I don't," it replied, reading my mind. "Like I said, you're strong."

"You didn't answer my question."

The vampire's eyes glittered; I assumed it was smiling.

"I want

-_-_-_-

The last thing I could remember was an incredible amount of pain searing from my neck. It was the after effects of the vampire bite, and the pain was so unbearable I blacked out.

I was resistant to wake up at first, and it took me an entire minute just to open my eyes. The first thing I realized when I was up was that I was in a bed. My bed. At D.a.r.c. headquarters. I could tell exactly where I was just by looking at the ceiling. I slowly sat up. The wound at my neck throbbed a bit - I felt it, and I noticed that it had been bandaged up.

That only meant one thing...

"THEZ!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. As soon as the word left my mouth, I could hear running footsteps coming towards my room.

"Chase!" Robert Thez sighed with relief as he burst through the door. "You're awake."

"Apparently," I replied. "Now tell me what happened."

Thez had taken the time and care to bandage up my wound for me. Usually, he would leave me to do it myself; he would call this a 'punishment' since I was careless enough to get bitten. But when Thez actually did heal it, that means that he was trying to make something up to me. And that means he did something that would get me very, very angry.

Despite the fact that Thez was my boss, I didn't really treat him as if he was my formal superior. He was still fairly young, after all; he was only in his mid-thirties. However, the dark circles he constantly had under his eyes and the premature gray streaks in his scraggly brown hair made him look older.

"What do you mean 'what happened'?" Thez asked, coming over to my bedside and pulling up a chair. "D.a.r.c. backup found you in the alleyway, passed out. The pain from the bite must have gotten to you."

I shook my head, confused. "What about the vampire?"

"You killed it," he said as if it was obvious.

"No, the other vampire," I said impatiently. How did no one notice it?

He furrowed his eyebrows. "There was only one, Chase. And it was already in a pile of dust."

"But I swear I saw..." I muttered, more to myself than to him. "It was definitely there! It had gray eyes, which looked almost silver...and it - it - "

Thez was giving me a skeptical look. "You may have imagined it," he said. "The pain of the vampire bite could have caused you to be delusional." Thez was always using logic; he was always reasonable. This characteristic of his was quite annoying - but at the same time, it really helped. He was more of the computer-research person when it came to vampire hunting.

I shook my head stubbornly. "But it was so real!"

"Well, what can you remember from this other vampire?" he asked. However, he didn't sound genuinely interested; I got the feeling he was only humoring me.

"Its eyes," I immediately answered. "Its eyes were so vivid; they're imprinted in my memory."

"Anything else?"

"I - um...Well, I didn't really see his face clearly," I admitted.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"...There's nothing important I can remember." I was feeling quite stupid by this point.

"There's not much I can say, kid," he sighed, "except that it was a dream, and nothing else. Nothing from your memory seems solid or clear enough for it to have actually occurred."

I frowned. "But I swear...It snuck up behind me and put me under mind control...And the badge...Wait! The badge!" I exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. Thez jumped from my reaction. "I found a badge, or a pin or something," I explained quickly. "It was lying on the ground, and it's silver."

I patted my pockets, and quickly found what I was looking for.

"Ha!" I yelled triumphantly, holding it up in the light so the surface shined. "See, at least this is real."

I handed it to Thez.

"That's not a badge..." he muttered, bending over the small metal circle and observing the emblem carved into the surface. "It's a crest of some sort. Similar to the symbol of a group or a cult."

"Ooh," I cooed in curiosity.

"It's an odd type of silver; very light, and cool to the touch," he observed, thinking out loud. "The engraving on the front probably means something significant..."

"Like what?" I asked.

Thez frowned. "No clue. I'll have to look into it," he replied, placing it in his pocket.

Then he suddenly looked back up at me, beaming smile on his face. "Come down stairs," he offered cheerily. I was surprised by his sudden mood swing. "There's breakfast waiting for you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What's the catch?" I asked. Like I said before, the only way Thez will do stuff for me is if he's trying to make me not get mad at him.

He hesitated. "You'll see," he said finally. "But you have to come downstairs first. You need food in your system, anyway."

"...Fine," I grunted.

Thez, satisfied with my response, got up and left the room. I rolled out of bed and clumsily made my way over to the mirror. My shoulder-length hair, which was normally silky and straight, was currently in the form of a horrid mess. I quickly ran my fingers through my hair, untangling it the best I could. I decided that I should change my outfit, as well. I was still in my hunting clothes, which consisted of cargo pants, a tight tank top, and gloves. Despite the fact that it was practically a uniform, it was kind of normal-looking. But they were comfortable clothes that I could move easily in, and that's all that really mattered. I quickly undressed and threw on a pair of faded jeans with an old t shirt.

I looked in the mirror again. My appearance hadn't improved much: I still looked like a wreck. Oh well. Not caring about my looks any more than a guy would, I decided to head downstairs to grab a bite to eat.

"I hope we have ice cream," I said, speaking mostly to myself. I walked into the kitchen and headed directly towards the fridge, not paying much mind to anything else. I opened the freezer and stuck my head inside. "Is there any mint chocolate chip left or did I eat it all already?"

I heard Thez walk into the kitchen. I turned away from the refrigerator and turned to look at him - and a sickening realization came over me.

The person that had walked in to the room wasn't Thez.

He was fairly young, with sort-of long hair that fell past his forehead and into his eyes. His skin looked like porcelain compared to his dark hair and black clothes. And his eyes…his eyes were an unnatural color blue. They were practically glowing.

This man was a vampire.

There was a vampire in my kitchen.