How long have I been watching her for? It seems like forever, I can’t use my heartbeats to count since its ice cold and dead. I leaned closer against the tree, hoping its branches would cover me completely. Down below, a beautiful creature stood on the bank of a pristine lake. She had hair the color of a raven’s feathers, which framed an ivory face with azure eyes. She wore a satin white dress that hung on her thin frame. She brushed her dark locks behind her neck, exposing a vein that pulsed with life. I grit my teeth as my fangs protruded from my mouth, signaling my hunger for her blood. I held myself back, knowing that another part of me thirsted for her. When a Vampire thirsts for a human with his or her need for blood, and his soul, it only meant one thing. It meant that we were fated to be mates. The girl stepped closer to the lake, and dipped her feet in, ripples interrupting the moon’s reflection in the water. She reached into a pocket on her dress, and pulled out something that glinted in the moonlight. It was a sharpened blade. My eyebrows rose, as if on their own, in confusion on what the girl was doing with it. The scent of salt wafted through the air, suddenly out of nowhere. I quietly slipped down the tree to get a closer look at the precious human by the lake. She had tears in her eyes, liquid diamonds that flowed down each cheek, and her body shook from keeping down the sobs she spent. She took the blade and slid it across each wrist, letting her blood out and drip into the water, dispersing like paint. My senses reeled from the sight, smell, and sound of the blood. Temptation was knocking at my door, and I stupidly answered it. I jumped down from the tree, and landed in the water a few feet from the girl. The lake water sloshed and splashed around my legs and I stalked closer to her. I grabbed her arm with one hand and wrenched the knife out with the other. Fear shone in her royal blue orbs, as they reflected my crimson gaze back.
“Who are you,” she asked, “what are you doing here? Let go of me!”
She tried to squirm free of my grip, but groaned in pain from her mutilated wrists.
“Why did you injure yourself?”
Her gaze changed from fear to shock at the question, and she bowed her head.
“Because no one needs me, I’m just an ugly, useless person who’s unfit to live. My mother regrets my birth, my father wishes I was a boy, and my friends are jealous of the nothing I have,” she explained, breaking down a little more.
“There’s someone out there who needs you.” I whispered in her ear, before I kissed the spot where a thick vein throbbed in her neck. Her body went rigid.
“No there’s not, if there was I’d know who it was,” she whispered, more tears sliding down her face. I released one of her wrists, and cupped her cheek, painting it with her blood.
“You’re right, you would know, and I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Alesandro Aleazar.”
“Are you trying to say you care about me?” she asked, her tears failing to fall more. I traced her jaw line with my lips, making her let out a small squeak.
“Why try? I’m convinced I care about you. I imprinted on you, marking you as mine.”
“What did you do to me,” she finally managed to pull away, favoring her wrists, “what even are you?” she asked.
“I’m a Vampire.”
“Yeah, and I’m a fairy queen,” she responded, sarcastically.
“I wouldn’t be surprised; you’re as beautiful as one. And not to put a damper on the mood, but weren’t you bleeding? Dying, in another sense?”
She looked down at her wrists, gasping as she realized the cuts were gone.
“They’re healed,” she whispered, astonishment blooming on her face, “You are really a Vampire. What is one of you doing around here?”
“Companion searching, and the one I want is standing right before me. By the way, does she have a name, or can I just call her Beautiful?”
“Um, I’m Bethany Whitstoch,” she said, as blush reddened her face.
“So can I call you mine or should I just go somewhere else? I promise I’ll always be here for you, and take you away from your rather despicable family. You’ll be immortal as well as me, and I’ll have to fight other Vampires to make sure they keep their meaty claws off you, so what do you say, Bethany? Want to be my mate?” I held my hand out to her. She was silently hesitant for a minute, and then finally took my hand. I smiled, baring my fangs.
“Alright Sweetheart, this will only hurt for a minute.”