I'm Half Doomed & You're Semi-Sweet

"RICK, WAKE UP SWEETY" my mum's horrified voice, broke into my undisturbed sleep.

I forced my sleepy eyes open as hands began to shake my limp body. I let out an annoyed groan and rolled over, tugging at the duvet. What the hell was she up to?

"Oh, I'm sorry" mum said, kissing my cheek "You wouldn't wake up when I called and you looked so still and you left your window open and oh God I just got worried" she gave me an awkward hug.

My eyelids rested half way and I gave her a tired expression and forced back a huge yawn. I really wasn't in the mood to be discussing this when my brain wasn't working. I should have remembered how fearful my mum got and one of the biggest rules was to keep your windows locked tight.

"Mum, I'm fine" I croaked "I just got a bit hot last night and must have nodded off. Hmm what's the time?"

"Seven o'clock" mum said, looking at me with motherly eyes.

I contemplated what to do and decided to get up. Somehow I didn't even remember sleeping in my bed, I suppose mum tucked me in. I threw away the covers as mum left my room quietly. I lay there for a few minutes, thinking maybe last night had all been a dream. Morning sun shone in as I dragged my half conscious body to the window and stared out at my street, bathed in light and safety. A few people were seen walking past or drove. I defiantly had to change my clothes. Other than me smelling like dust and feeling sticky I smelt of vampire. Yes, vampires did have a smell to them. Like their own special perfume. It was sweet and was another alluring trick used to trance in their victims other than their good looks and hypnotism. It was quite hard to describe it. So guess it hadn't been a dream.

I quickly threw my hat on the bed and grabbed some fresh clothes -some which I kept here- from the drawer and decided to have a shower. My mum could probably smell me and complain about hygiene and was I wearing perfume? Too many smells filled my nose, a new appealing smell of pancakes. I quickly had a shower, got dressed, had a wash, put my annoying contacts in and wondered into the kitchen. My damp hair looked almost black and had soaked my shirt to my skin, very uncomfortable. A warm breeze was drifting in through the open window, causing the smell to swell in the air. Mum was wearing her blue apron and flipping the pancakes hastily with her spatula. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She looked towards me and smiled.

"Those clothes still fit, I'm impressed" she said giving me her motherly inspection.

I nodded half-hearted, not willing to explain that my Skeleton Animals tee with a skeleton cat on the front was slightly tight and that my socks didn't fit at all.

I sat at the table and slowly took off my hat. My mums rule to never wear hats at the table, still applied. I hated that rule to be honest.

"Those smell really good" I said sniffing, as she put a plate stacked with a tower of pancakes in front of me.

"Your welcome" she said, giving a smile and heading back over to the stove.

I squeezed a bottle of maple syrup in swirls over the pancakes like honey. I cut a bit off with my knife. The pancakes were warm and sweet, almost melting in your mouth.

I watched mum, feeling a bit worried. She wasn't her cheerful happy self nor was she in the talkative mood. She began to tidy the kitchen quickly, in her own world. Her face was holding something that was making her look so upset. When she washed the dishes she clanked and crashed them together, sounding like a concrete mixer. She seemed frustrated or upset. Had she somehow found out about Pete?

That turned off my appetite towards the pancakes left over.

"Mum, are you okay?" I asked, nervously.

"I'm fine" she replied stiffly, not turning my way.

I was sure she sounded like she was covering up something that was bugging her deeply. She began drying the dishes in utter silence and harshly as if she was trying to wipe the patterns of the china. She let out a little scream, causing me to leap up into the air and the plates she was holding to fall to the ground and shatter into fragments.

Mum automatically bent down and began to pick up the broken pieces. I rushed over to help and she began to cry.

"Everything is not fine" I said, carefully throwing a handful of china in the bin.

Her eyes got wet "One of my friends was murdered last night" she sobbed "They found her body completely drained outside her house".

I suddenly froze, feeling my breakfast churn dangerously. There was a chance I knew this friend. I knew mostly all of my mums mates. As a kid she always took me around when she went to visit. That made me feel sicker. But why hadn't I heard my Blackberry ring? Had I been in that much of a deep sleep? No, I never would unless my phone went flat. I felt it in my jeans pocket.

"When did they find her?" I asked, questions blocking my mind.

"A neighbor found her this morning while going to get his mail" she cried, looking filled with dread "They dunno why she even stepped out of her house".

That was very peculiar. Unless they had tricked her using their powers, but even that was not ringing a bell.

I wrapped my arms in comfort around mum, feeling her grief flowing. If they had only found her just this morning, it looks like I hadn't missed a call after all. My stomach still felt uptight though.

Mum grasped both my cheeks between her hands and looked at me deeply in the eyes, her hazel eyes wet and dull.

"I don't want to lose you" she said, lips trembling "It would kill me. Your all I have left".

Tears came to my eyes and I was hoping they wouldn't irritate my contacts. My mum, my protector. Her heart was only beating for my existence. If there was no me, she wouldn't last for much longer. We'd grown up too close. I was her son, her everything.

"Mum..." I didn't know what to say "Don't worry about me".

She forced a smile "Your in ways so like your father".

My heart felt heavy at her words. I worried so much about her. Stress was making her look older.

Suddenly my Blackberry rang. I didn't want to answer it, but by the ringtone being China Girl by David Bowie, I knew that it was Victoria calling.

"Mum, it's business" I said, quietly.

"Of course" she said getting up and making her way to the broom in the corner.

I jumped up and rushed out of the room while getting out my Blackberry. I answered "Hey, what's up?".

"I guess you heard about the latest attack" she said, sounding uneasy "Well Gabe spotted a specious couple and put me and you on Vamp Watch".

"Right" I sighed.

Vamp Watching was quite simple. Even though vampires were nighters, some dressed up extremely well and kept to the darkest of shadows, but that was only if they were starving or trying to act normal to others. Some would only come out on extremely cloudy days, preferably snowy or rainy storm days. Then again they had to be extremely desperate or dumb in my option. Their skin would surely bubble and burn. They were in true need of a high SPF sunscreen.

If we spotted something vampire, we would keep an eye on it, even if at day. Somebody's life could be in danger.

"Meet me at the park" she said with a smile in her voice "We're gonna have a little picnic".

My mum dropped me off at the park in her blue Honda Civic while on the way to Walmart. I hopped out and looked around the park, trying to spot out Victoria from under a tree. Too bad there were heaps of trees as well as people. The grass was a pale summer green with bits of brown, dead patches. A few people played fetch with their dogs, narrowly missing me. I walked past a lively playground, swarmed with kids, oblivious to the dangers that lay under their very noses. The sun was already beginning to bake against my bare arms. That was the trouble with pale skin. I needed sunscreen more than the vamps. I finally spotted her under a big Oak tree, sitting on a large colorful blanket with a picnic basket. Had to admit a lot of people around here had picnic baskets. She wore a dark blue knee high dress with sandals. It was safe to say I did not fit the part, still dressed in the same clothes. At least my hair was dry and my eye had stopped watering from the contact.

I wondered over and she smiled in welcome, gave me a quick look up and down and said "I decided to go for the romantic look or disguise".

I poked my tongue out sickly and she chuckled. I could see a couple not far away that seemed to stand out from the others. The boy looked pretty normal, but the girl not so. Even though she was dressed casually, every part of her skin was covered well and the tree shade helped. A giant sunhat protected her perfect pale face. Maybe she was a naturally pale girl with amazing looks and perfect figure, yeah and maybe I owned half of America.

I sat on the blanket and gave Victoria a questioning look.

"She's defiantly one" she said confidently, resting her hands on her lap.

"How?".

She rolled her eyes at me and looked up at the tree above her "She is always kissing his neck. I think before she was feeding off him. He acted all dozy".

I frowned and froze as the vampire looked our way with glowing eyes. Shit. Victoria quickly turned my head to her and a planted a kiss so quick on my lips, it left me dazed and confused. Mind freeze.

"Sorry Hun" Victoria said, cheeks pink "I had to make it look like we're a couple having a picnic, not two vampire hunters stalking a vampire".

She patted my shoulder and took a sandwich out of the basket. I blinked a few times and leaned back on my hands, enjoying the summer breeze. Victoria was a very good actor. She should have taken up drama or something as a job instead of this.

More people arrived and the park wasn't as private anymore. How long could they stay here for? It must have been lunchtime.

"Your mum knew the lady who was killed last night?" Victoria asked, straightening her hat so she could see me better.

I nodded slowly, thinking how mum was coping. She was probably frightened she could be next. A leaf from the tree above me, fell and hit me in the face. Was that a sign she was falling apart?

"I'm sorry" she said, quietly "I would never want to die like that... or Lily and Claire".

I looked at her with soft eyes. She never liked to talk about the past especially about death and especially if it was about her two friends dying in front of her. For a while she'd gone into a traumatic state that had seemed to last for ever and had scared us, not knowing what she'd do. Nor had she ever told us the story of that night. She seemed to read my mind.

"We heard there was a secret party at the hall up town" she said, watching the girl and his mate "We were party girls and careless, but we sneaked out and went to it. It was a pretty wild party, I guess the vampires found out and a few went. Me and my mates were walking from the party and I guess some of them followed us. Lily tried to fight them off, but..." I put my arm around her shoulders. She looked so scared "They drained her till her screams stopped and her eyes rolled back into her head. They then turned and tried to...hurt Claire, but she fought them off until they all grabbed her wildly, breaking her bones and threw her at my feet" she looked at me with tear soaked eyes "If you guys hadn't came in time...".

She cuddled into me, not daring to finish the sentence. I felt so helpless. I couldn't picture Victoria going against the city rules, but I also couldn't picture her not in our hunting group. She could have been dead like her friends. I remember those girls bodies, so cold, white and dead. It made me feel nauseated, but hearing Victoria's agonizing screams from my apartment was a nightmare on it's own.

"Your not gonna die" I said, comforting her my best "We wont allow that".

"Your sweet Patrick" she whispered, sitting up "But everyone's life is planned out from when they are born, we just don't know it or what will happen".

I looked at the grass, feeling cold inside. I could die today or any day ahead. My dad had gone too young and unlike those girls, my dad had probably been ripped apart.

All this talking and thinking about death was putting me off the idea of lunch.

"You look very pale" she said to me.

"I'm good" I lied. Best understatement, man.

Suddenly Victoria's Blackberry rang, playing a Green Sleeves tune.

"Heya Gabe" she said, answering.

Her eyes suddenly seemed to widen in horror, the color drained from her face. I suddenly felt scared, not another attack surely.

She hung up and looked at me, unable to speak. The breeze seemed to get colder and stronger.

"We have to meet at Joe's place, urgently" Victoria managed to say "He wouldn't say why, but he sounded frightened".

As I drove to Joe's place in a rush in Victoria's little convertible, I felt completely frightened and disconnected from the world. In fact frightened enough to run that red light Victoria didn't even notice. As long as the police weren't around we were cool.

Joe was our friend who wasn't a hunter, just a normal music loving guy. He'd gone off to England for a concert and was staying their for a few weeks. We could not travel anywhere to out run vampires. I'd forgotten that he was returning today. All this stress on my brain was horrible. But what could be so urgent?

As we arrived, we jumped out and rushed over to Gabe and Andy who were standing outside the door. Andy looked pale with folded arms. Gabe was agitated, all warning something was horribly wrong. I could feel it.

We didn't speak, we all waited for Gabe.

"I'm sorry guys" Gabe said to me and Victoria "Your running around, but this is more important than that shit I assigned you to" he looked almost panicky as he opened the door "Be careful".

What the hell was going on? Why should we be careful of our friend?

We all slowly walked into the house. The curtains were all closed, giving it a depressed, stuffy feeling. A figure with bushy hair was sitting in the chair so still. Joe.

Me and Victoria automatically crept closer until Andy and Gabe grabbed us. I didn't understand what was wrong. I was getting frustrated, but then we spotted Joe clearly when he looked at us and my world died even more around me.

His eyes were black holes instead of the sea blue. His tan skin paled to a sickly color and sharp fangs sticking out of his mouth. He was one of them.

I felt the blood drain from my face to my feet and saw Victoria cover her mouth, smothering her horrible scream. Joe was staring at us not with welcome and missing, but with thirst and wildness.

"No" I heard Victoria whisper in fear.

I was frozen in place, forcing myself to stay calm and not to pass out. Joe was a vampire. Why did they let him across the border? No matter how much I tried I couldn't get it around my head. My friend, now a blood sucking creature. My legs began to tremble like shaken jelly as he eyed us up as if he was choosing between us.

Me and Victoria got pulled back out the door. Victoria burst into tears and ran into Gabe who hugged her tightly, resting his chin on her head. Andy wiped his forehead with the black of his hand and locked the door.

"We'll keep him locked up" Andy said, looking at the house "We have gone over every part of the house with Holy Water. We can't let him starve so we'll get him some animal blood somewhere. He won't like it, but it won't kill him".

I just stared at Andy with a shocked expression. Feeding the lion vegetables. That couldn't last. He patted my shoulder.

"We'll keep him safe".

It wasn't naturally to lock any person or thing up. Everybody turned to leave and I decided to start my walk home. It looked about 3 or 3:30 and it was daylight savings. I'd wasted most of my day at the park and it would take a while to get home from here. If I took the shortcut maybe, but I needed a good walk to help my mind. All the shock of the past few days was stacking up, causing blocked thoughts and it all had to do with vampires. These creatures were destroying everything. Ripping everyone's hearts apart and bodies.

I pushed the bridge of my hat over my face as I felt hot tears form behind my eyes making them warm and irritable. I couldn't even enjoy the scenery I passed. Traffic zoomed past with a swoosh, people exercised or their dogs and jogged past, pushing me off the footpath. The sun glistened in the pale sky which held little candyfloss clouds. The warm breeze blew around me like a shield of protection. The road and footpaths loomed ahead, but my eyes were on my feet.

Slowly I walked across the grass, heading over to a swing set available to the public. I sat on one of the two swings and rested my head against the cold chain and rocked the swing slowly back and forth, just thinking and being miserable in peace with nature.

Time seemed to fly by and I didn't even notice people rushing around like ants before it rained, until the warmth disappeared from around me, replaced with cool shadows. Well at least Joe couldn't escape tonight. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, like they were watching me. I could either try and make an impossible run for home or a nearby house. I quickly got up and walked quickly onto the footpath and looked both ways. A few people were just parking into driveways. Twilight was approaching. I broke out into a run and ignored everything around me, I at least had to try, right? I kept taking curious looks back at the sun which seemed to set faster behind me. I slowed to a breathless jog. This was ridiculous.

"Shit" I gasped, almost tripping over the pavement.

"That's what they all say" a male voice replied, defiantly not mine.

"AHH" I cried, jumping onto the road and running flat out in the opposite direction.

My legs protested against my actions, but it didn't stop me. Apart from the pain in my chest and pounding heart.

"Running on the road, very safe" the voice said again in a sarcastic tone, sounding familiar.

I stopped and spun around to nothing but thin air and the darkening street ahead. I panted heavily and looked hopeless. Was a split personality finally setting in? I wouldn't be surprised. The air got colder.

"Where are you?" I answered back to the voice. Talking to yourself, I was loosing it.

I heard a rough chuckling and even though lost I kept looking around me, feeling scared and nervous. The street lights came on, helping me see as the sun finally disappeared. Oh great.

"Not at your level, a bit higher up".

So defiantly a vampire, ooo if things couldn't get any worse. In the city vampires were classed higher than us. We were nothing but puppets compared to them. You should never question that either.

I jumped as I heard a smash and the plastic covering from the street light fell next to me in pieces. I gave a confused look and looked up to the light.

"BOO".

I almost fell over backward onto the asphalt road in alarm. A figure was perched on the over hanging streetlight, swinging his legs back and forth while balancing so well. I squinted my eyes to try and make out the figure.

The figure jumped and slid down and around the pole, landing softy at the bottom, out of the spot light. He titled his head to the side, sniffing the air lightly.

"Found you".

My mind finally kicked into gear and I remembered. Pete said he was gonna meet me tonight, where ever that or I was. It had completely jumped my mind. I took a few deep breaths to control my heartbeat. Wonder how he felt about that?

"Oh" I said stiffly, walking over to the shadows "Right". The street was now completely lit up.

His chocolate brown eyes scanned my face and I forced myself to look like nothing was bothering me. His blank face turned into a toothless smile. Either he knew something was up, but didn't wanna say or I had been too clever which I doubted.

"Not the smartest thing you've done" he said, standing close to me "Wondering around at night...alone".

"To be honest, time flew before me" I said, telling half the truth.

He nodded understandably "Or were you just soo excited about our little date?".

I gave a little edgy look and he gave a low chuckle. Who would be in a hurry to spend time with a vampire?, unless they wanted to die early.

"Lets head off then" he said, giving a full smile, full with pearly white teeth and sharp fangs.

I felt sick just looking at them. Forget about, knifes, bullets and needles. Fangs caused more pain and were ten times as worse. Be careful, my brain warned.

"Okay" he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the road.

I felt my arm stretch and yank against it's socket as I tumbled under his pull. My legs couldn't even keep up with him or his speed. There was something so creepy and wrong about walking the night with a vampire. Maybe it was the risk of turning out to be their meal. I could of at least brought a weapon or something.

I looked at the world bathed in darkness, feeling so exposed and unsure. The shadows were threatening and the mood felt cold and depressing. But I'd never really seen the city like this properly. I kept looking around in wonder. The streetlights, glowing still stars against the big black sky.

"You humans, being deprived from the night, it's kinda stupid" Pete said, dragging me towards a small park.

I ripped my arm out of his grasp with force and bit my tongue hard, wincing in pain. Really shouldn't have done that. That would bruise well.

"Well, maybe if you vampires didn't leech off us, we wouldn't have to hide in fear" I said in an annoyed tone, not caring who he was.

Pete gave a taken aback look and frowned "It's not our fault some of us are born one" frustration painted on his face.

I shook my head and charged off across the grass. This was such a bad idea and now it was too late. This wasn't like the old times, we were now totally different. We had extrordinary beliefs now and we weren't budging.

A quick glance behind me and he was standing in the exact same place I'd left him. Good riddance. Sulking wasn't gonna work on me, even if there was some chance of me walking around and getting teeth dug into my neck. I couldn't careless right now. I had better things to worry about. Stupid things. They should all die...again.

Something cold suddenly grabbed my wrist and spun me around so fast I felt dizzy and stumbled. Pete's teeth were inches from my face, ready to bite. Of course I wouldn't go down easily. I'd fight and he'd probably break me like a twig. I yanked my wrist and he tightened his grip. More pain.

"You think you know, but you have no fucken idea" he hissed.

I bit my lip. Never had I heard him swear before. It was harsh and threatening. Best to keep my options to myself, unless I wanted to be six feet under, drained of blood and dignity. I guess I didn't know, but I still didn't care.

I felt his grip loosen and I yanked my wrist. He let me go and I stumbled backwards.

"Now" Pete said, staring through his straight black bangs at me "Are you gonna be good or are you gonna be snooty? because the vampires can have you".

I didn't answer. I just frowned and gritted my teeth. Not off to a good start. We were two negatives and he had such a nerve.

"Lets rephrase" Pete said, putting on a composed face "Names Pete Wentz, the vampire of Chicago and I'll be your tour for the night and protector" he extended his hand out to me with a salesman smile.

I always thought sales people's smiles were creepy and a strained put on to hide the truth and pretended to be so trusting. Such a deceiving task.

Carefully I shook his cold hand and replied" I'm Patrick Vaughn Stump, hunter and human of this God forsaken city, walking the night with a vampire" I forced a big smile back.

He smiled and nodded, a twinkle in his eyes. I went to have my hand back, but he wouldn't let go. Panic filled me as I tried to yank my hand, stumbling and struggling, pulling and puffing. A smug, evil smirk crossed his red lips and I furiously tugged harder. My arm was beginning to ache under the strain. I let out weird squeaks and yelps as I strained against him.

"This. Is. Not. Funny" I panted, still yanking.

He was standing so still, his smile widening in pleasure. My body weight and strength against his wasn't even making him move or sway. He was like a concrete statue, in fact this was like a tug of war game against an Oak tree. It made me feel weak and exhausted.

"Your right" he said, happily "This ain't funny" I heaved a sigh "Cause it's freaken hilarious".

I growled and gave a massive yank with all my left over energy. Just then Pete let go. My arm retracted like elastic, pushing me back. I lost my balance and fell backwards into a flower bush with a short yelp.

Pete burst into laughter and I flipped him off while trying to stand up again. I dusted my pants off and looked at the damage. Luckily that plant was planted by the council, cause I'd kinda destroyed parts of it into a flat patch.

I shot him a furious look.

"Your so easy to fool, dude. Anyway, lets head over to the pond".

I put my hands in my jean pockets and followed him like a lost duck, following a dog. The grass looked all black, cold and rough while the trees stood like pillars, holding up the big blanket of sky. It looked forever and ever. A few street lamps were set along a footpath which followed around the pond. The water lay like a still, black grave. No light, no hope, no escape.

Pete picked up a flat stone and threw it up and caught it with a cunning glint in his eyes. I gulped deeply. Was he gonna stone me to death?

"Care for a game, Stumpy?" he asked, looking towards the small pond.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, but picked up a flat stone, caring not in anyway to cut myself. That's all I'd need.

"See who can skim the stone more times across the pond" he said with a untrusting smirk "Humans first".

I rolled my eyes and stood on an angle. I posioned my hand and where I wanted it to go, trying to ignore the feeling of Pete's eyes on me. I flexed my wrist and let it go. As far as my human eyes could tell, I did six skims, pretty good for me. I heard Pete behind me snort in laughter. I spun around and gave him the 'evil eye'. He had nothing to laugh about.

He shrugged it off and stood, ready to throw.

"I'm sure your no big shot" I snapped, folding my arms across my chest.

Pete grinned "Would you bet your blood on that?, cause I haven't feed tonight".

I gasped and felt a chill go down my spine, making me numb. Having fun with a thirsty vampire was defiantly not on the top of my Life List. What an asshole.

"Prick" I spat like venom.

He ignored my remark and threw his stone. My mouth fell open as his stone kept skimming right across and went into the reeds at the end of the pond, followed by a loud quacking and splashing. He'd hit a flamen duck. Wow.

Pete gave me a smug smile and gave my neck a close sniff, causing it to tickle. I jumped away and stomped my foot like a spoilt child, not getting his way.

"That was not a fair game" I said as matter of factly "You can't put normal human strength up against immortal super strength".

"I've never been one for rules or fairness" he mumbled and then spoke up "Lets head into town, I'm sure your hungry".

Well now that he mentioned it, I was kinda peckish. I gave him a stiff nod and walked off. He skipped after me and put his arm around my shoulders. Vampire tooo close my brain complained.

"Um personal space" I suggested, trying to escape.

"Just cause I'm here, doesn't mean your safe" he whispered in a low voice I had to strain to hear. It was as if someone was listening "Stay close and anyway they might think I'm hanging out with a vamp".

I would never become one of them, not even for desperate measures. I'd rather be fully dead. Why not do the job correctly?

We walked through the empty streets in complete silence, parts were bathed in darkness, holding the shadows. Or vampires. The only time Pete took his arm off me quickly was to put the black hood of his hoodie on his head., giving him a dead and wild look. It was like death was beside me, leading me to hell. Well at least he could fit his clothes now. His tight black skinny jeans, black and white Chucks, black hoodie with a white bat on it. All this black was shadowing, making his pale skin glow, especially with his almost black hair, black eyelinered eyes and blood-red lips. His perfect skin, face and figure all called out VAMPIRE and nothing more or less. Not even plastic surgery could achieve such things. Thats why some changed themselves for the beauty. I must have looked unperfect in every way next to him. All humans would.

Pete gave me a weird look and I realized he must have seen me staring. Too embarrassing. I looked up the road, face flushed. Crap. I tried to pull away, but Pete wouldn't allow that.

"Calm down" he laughed "It's not my your fault I'm naturally inhumanly beautiful and if your blush, sudden rush of blood did effect me, I'd be telling you to run your ass off. It doesn't bother me"

"What about a papercut?" I asked, eager to know.

"Run".

I swallowed the lump in my throat. That was a very creepy response. Okay, never cut the skin. A question burning in my brain came into focus. Of course if you were curious and had a vampire as a friend you'd probably wanna know. Anyone would, right? I said it before I'd thought it through. Always when I got nervous did I do that.

"What do I smell like?" I asked, hesitantly. It sounded so strange.

"Patrick, please" he said in a sharp beg.

Right. Not smart, at least not now. Lets not touch of that issue. I mentally slapped my brain.
I saw his hand fist on his side and I felt scared again. Pure fear. I was actually hungering this guy. Like a gazelle walking around in front of a lion's pen. Hopefully he could control his thirst.

My fear reduced slightly when we walked into the city, heading towards Kane's Cafe which was the only cafe and diner that risked curfew. People could hide there or get something to eat. The owners, they only cared about the money being brought in. Open 24/7.
We stopped a few metes away from the cafe and Pete pulled out some black gloves from his hoodie pocket and put them on carefully. He pulled his hoodie hood more over his face and let his bangs hang carelessly over his face. The only thing noticeable was his lips and flowing fangs. Surely he wasn't thinking about going into the cafe with me? This was true protection. The cafe, with lights?, but that's exactly what he was doing. He hesitated like an unsure animal before taking a step into the cafe.
The cafe was warm and extremely quiet, making it look twice as big. Pete headed over to a table in the corner. I walked across the marble tiled floor and headed towards the cashier who kept staring at Pete with a nervous and gingerly look. She looked like she possibly wanted to make a run for it, but turned her attention to me. She had a Gothic look to her, but her clothes were more like a designer, fashion freak. Short black skirt, dark orange tee. I'm sure her skin went paler at the presence of Pete.

"What would you like?" she said with a lipstick smile.

Wonder how many times she'd said that?

"Hmm a plate of hot chips and sauce" I began "A coffee, flat white and..." I thought about Pete, something to make him seem more less dead "...a glass of water".

She tiredly typed it into the computer and I swiped my credit card and typed in my pin. We stared at each other boredly and indifferently until the transaction was complete. I could see her temptness to glare at Pete, like a creature in a cage. But she seemed to know better.

"Have a nice night" she chimed, handing me the reciept.

I smiled and walked back to the table and sat down. Pete looked awkward and nervous in these surroundings.

"You don't need to stay here" I said, looking at the lights around the place.

"I'll be fine" he said sharply, obviously not wanting to continue that conversation.

I remained quiet, not wanting to rock the boat anymore. The least thing this cafe needed was a fatality. I licked my lips as the plate of chips witch sauce, a coffee and water was set on the table before us. Pete raised an eyebrow confusedly.

I dipped the chips in the sauce and chewed on them. Pete sniffed curiously, lapping up the scent of chips.

"Want some?" I asked, politely.

He shook his head, then speciously looked at the sauce. He put the sauce bowl up to his nose, just sniffing then turned his attention to my drink. He never knew what all this stuff was. I felt sorry for him. So much wonder in his eyes that glowed under his straight bangs.

"You sure you don't want some? Come on" I said, waving the chip in the air, in front of him "Their tasty".

"Food does nothing to me anymore" he said, shooting a quick look at the cashier, then back to me, speaking in a whisper "I want what I can't have".

I swallowed the lump of mashed up chips in my throat and my stomach felt nauseated at his words. My hand pushed away the left over bowl of chips.

"I don't feel so hungry now".

Pete smiled and jumped up with grace. I stood up slowly and gave Pete a nervous, awkward look. Great in all the time today, I now have to go to the bathroom. Jesus.

"Lets. Go. Then" he said, downing the glass of water in one shot.

I let out a shiver. This was embarrassing. My face was burning like a forest fire. "I need to go to the bathroom" I whispered, shifting onto another foot and looking at the cashier on the corner of my eye.

He gave me a confused look with a head tilted to one side. Of course vampires didn't need bathrooms, since they were dead and they never ate anything but blood.

"Okay" he said, still confused "I'll wait outside then".

I rushed away to the bathroom, did my buiness, washed my hands, stared at the bathroom mirror and tipped the cashier as I left. She'd need it.
Outside, Pete was leaning against the glass wall of the cafe, looking at the sky in a trance. He finally felt my presence and looked at me.

"What did you just do?" he asked, just blinking.

I snorted and huddled up "Humans eat what you call food. The stuff our body doesn't use has got to go somewhere" I really didn't feel like disgusing this issue. It reminded me of Biology class. God hope he knew about the birds and then bees, because I was keeping as far away from that as possible.

Pete stared in silence finally speaking "Oh" he screwed up his face "That's gross dude".

I rolled my eyes and walked off. He followed me slowly. So here we were in the dark night, alone. This was how vampires lived, just wondering around. I'd never really had enough time to explore the night at my own pace. As we were walking he suddenly stopped me. I flintched and looked at him.

"It's late" he said, quietly "You should get home and I..." his eyes darkened to almost black as he squeezed my shoulder. Ouch. I understood exactly.

"I think so too" I said, nervously.

We walked all the way to my mum's house since it was closer. The night was now strongerly dark, this was the perfect time to come out if you were one of them. When we walked up the path he stopped at the door.

"Hope I didn't scare you too much tonight" he said, smiling with cobalt eyes.

"No, it's cool" I said, looking around the front yard. I was kinda fearful.

My heart jolted in fright as Pete gave me a hug. My feet couldn't even touch the ground. Jezz he was really strong, causeing my breaths to turn into gasps. He placed me back on the soild ground and let go.

"See you another night" he said, looking at the sky and with that ran off into the shadows.

This night had difantly been wierd and unormal.