You never actually believed in vampires. Of course, you read Twilight and even a few Anne Rice novels, but that's just it. They were stories. If someone had told you vampires were real, you would've laughed. But of course, now you know better.

You met him one night during early autumn. The leaves were beginning to turn and it was that time of year when you were able to wear shorts in the morning, but needed a jacket after the sun set.

You were taking a shortcut through the park that was across from your apartment building. You wanted to get home fast because you had a frozen chicken alfredo dinner waiting for you that you had been thinking about since you got to work that morning. Food is the only thing that carries you through slow days at work.

As you walked up the poorly-lit, wooded trail through the park, you heard a low moaning sound somewhere on the path ahead. Your heart skipped a beat.

Oh my God! Don't tell me someone's doing it in a park!! you thought to yourself, sucking in a breath. You hurried along, keeping your head down.

The moaning grew louder. You heard a slurping sound, like someone was licking an ice cream cone as obnoxiously as possible.

You cursed quietly to yourself as you realized you'd have to pass them. You decided to make as much noise as you could to let the "lovers" know you were coming. You filled the air with coughs and a loud, fake conversation with your sister.

You were so into making your performance convincing that you tripped over something in the path and went flying into the dirt. You scrambled for your phone when you realized the noises from before had stopped.

"Are you okay?" A deep, powerful voice hit your ears, and all of a sudden your body grew incredibly warm. You could see a dark shadow above you, and you shrank back.

"I—I have a knife," you stammered. Of course this wasn't true. But at that moment you wished it was. "I'll cut you."

"You're bleeding," the voice replied, not seeming the least bit concerned about your threat.

You couldn't see anything, but you could feel something running down your leg. You shakily got to your feet, but otherwise, you were fine.

"I'm alright," you peered up at the shadow above you. "It'd be nice if I could see your face."

You heard a chuckle. "You really shouldn't walk through here by yourself." The voice drifted farther away from you and you followed it. You were lead to a streetlight at the end of the path. Under it stood a man. His hands were in his pockets. He smiled at you. As you got closer to him, you noticed some strange red blotches on the front of his shirt.

Your heart skipped a beat, and you paused mid-step. "Your shirt."

"Hm?" The man cocked his head in a way that would have been adorable in any other situation. He still had that cute little smile on his face. "What'd you say?"

You stared up at him; wanting to run, to scream. But you couldn't do anything. After what felt like an eternity, you were finally able to turn away from him.

He cursed under his breath and you heard him come after you. You froze. "Please don't!" Your voice came out in a high squeak.

He stopped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Can you please look at me so I can explain?"

You took a deep breath and turned to face him. Your hands began to tremble, so you balled them up into fists. "Please don't hurt me..."

"I'm not going to hurt you." The man's quiet voice was almost melodious. "Can I walk you home while I explain? It's really not safe for you right now."

"Fine. But if you touch me, I'm going to call the police." You crossed your arms and led the way to your apartment.

As you walked, you glanced up at him. "Well?" There was a bite in your tone that slipped in unintentionally. "Start talking."

"Right," the man sighed. "How familiar would you say you are with... vampires?"

You stopped walking and studied him. He came to a halt beside you and kept his gaze level with yours. You couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. He had a small face and a gorgeous complexion. You gazed into each other's faces for a moment before you found your voice. "You said... vampires?"

"Yup. You know, fangs, an aversion to sunlight?" A flicker of amusement crossed his features, and his lips quirked upwards momentarily. "Those two things are true, by the way."

"Wait, what?" You took a step back. "You're a vampire?" You backed away from him. Your heart was racing and for a moment you wondered if he could hear it.

"Please don't be scared." The man's voice was low and velvety. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to take you home. That's it."

"Why?" you asked, a heavy tremor in your voice.

"There are others. Others that won't hesitate to—" He cut himself off and averted his gaze. "They won't hesitate to kill you."

"What do you mean? You mean vampires are real?!" You couldn't wrap your head around the idea.

"Yes." The man nodded. "We feed at night. When the seasons change like this, it gets harder to find people to feed on. Some of us get so desperate that we force-feed on people against their will. And still others get depraved enough to go for animals." He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"So," you began, pushing past the croak in your voice. "What were you doing? I could hear you... moaning." Your face radiated heat.

"I was feeding." He said it as simply as if he was asking for your phone number. "It's been a few days since I've fed, so I'm sorry if I got a little..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So there was a person back there?" You turned back on the path, peering into the blackness behind you.

"Yes, but they're really not important right now. You're still bleeding, and if the others catch wind of it, they'll be on top of us soon." The man took your hand and hurried you along.

You heard a low scuffling off to your right and gripped the man's hand tighter. He squeezed your hand. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

The noise grew louder. The man glanced down at you before biting his lip and taking you up into his arms. "Sorry, but we—"

At that moment, another man in a tattered dress suit stumbled into your path. He looked at you for a moment, then a slow grin spread across his face. "Weeeellll," he drawled. "Look what I've got here. A beauty and a small-fry."

"She's mine," the man holding you growled. "I claimed her."

"Ohh." The other man ambled forward. "That so? Well, if I kill you, she'll be all mine. Isn't that right?"

Faster than either of you could see, he was in your face. You could smell his breath, hot and reeking of decay. "Oh," he breathed. "She's gorgeous. I'll enjoy her blood."

The man holding you took a step back. He set you down, hiding you behind him. "Hey," he murmured. "You don't know who I am?"

The other vampire must've seen something in his expression because his eyes widened. He stumbled back a few steps. "You're... No way..."

"That's right..." Your savior—if you could even call him that—sounded confident. His whole demeanor changed. "I'm the Prince, and I claimed this one. She's mine. Do me a favor and tell the others to stay away from this area."

"Y–yes." The vampire in the suit vanished with a breath of wind before your eyes.

After a moment, the man turned to face you. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," you murmured.

"Good," he smiled, reaching for your hand. "That performance should buy us quite a bit of time."

"Wait," you replied. "Performance? You mean you're not Prince of the vampires?"

"That's right," he grinned. "There's a rumor that we have a Prince in some far-away country, but no one knows what he looks like."

You laughed despite the situation.

He was surprisingly friendly, for a vampire. After a short time, you began to feel at ease being with him. Finally, you reached your apartment. "Well," he sighed. "We made it."

"Yeah," you replied, gazing up at him. He was really quite handsome. "I'd invite you in for a drink, but I don't..." You trailed off, giggling.

"Oh, I'd love a drink," he grinned. "We can eat and drink anything humans can, we just need blood. Actual food doesn't provide any sort of nourishment for us."

"Oh..." you murmured. "Well in that case, please come in."

"Ah." The man stopped at the threshold of your apartment. "Your leg. I can heal that for you, if you want."

"How? Some super vampire-power?" you asked. What else can vampires do?

"Sort of," he replied. "It's going to sound gross, but our saliva has amazing healing capabilities. So I just need to—"

"Lick my leg." you finished, wrinkling your nose.

"Well, not exactly." He shook his head. "As long as the wound comes into contact with it, it'll heal. Do you have any tissues?" You found some Kleenex in your purse and handed him a few. He proceeded to spit into the tissue and pressed it against your wound.

After about a minute, he removed the tissue and the cut was fully healed. There wasn't even a scar.

You moved to the couch, and drank together. You sipped on a fruity beer, and he chose a glass of vodka and cranberry juice.

After a few drinks, you gathered enough courage to ask him a question that had been nagging at you since you met him. "What does it feel like?"

"What," he asked, glancing at you as he drained another glass of vodka.

You felt your face flush. "When you... you know..."

"Oh," he nodded, catching on to what you meant. "Would you want to find out?"

Your heart skipped a beat and he chuckled. "Did you hear that?" Your blush deepened.

"Yes," he laughed. "You don't have to let me if you don't want to. It doesn't hurt or anything, though. In fact, you might even enjoy it." He winked.

"Okay," you murmured, covering your face with your hands.

"Really?" You could hear the smile in his voice.

"You promise it won't hurt?" You peeked at him from in between your fingers.

"I won't hurt you," he whispered, gently taking your hands away from your face. "We'll start slow. If anything I do does hurt, just tell me, okay?"

With that he got up and stretched. "It'll be easier if we're laying down."

"O–okay." You led him to your room and sat down on the bed. He sat down beside you and gently kissed your lips. As he was kissing you, he undid a few of the buttons on your blouse, giving himself easier access to your neck. He trailed kisses down your jawline before lavishing attention on your neck. You sighed.

When his fangs brushed the skin of your neck, you shuddered; running your hands through his hair.  His lips left your neck for a moment, coming back up to meet yours.

When his fangs finally pierced the skin of your neck, you moaned. You could feel pressure, but it wasn't unpleasant by any means. He groaned against your skin.

Your hands were exploring the planes of his back and stomach beneath his shirt.

His fangs punctured your skin again, sending another wave of pleasure through your veins. Your nails dug into the skin of his back. You buried your face in his neck; your breathing shallow. He tugged on your shirt and you let him take it off.

The act of this man feeding on you was honestly better than any sexual encounter you had ever had.

He broke away from you, running his fingers idly across the skin below your bra strap. He rested his forehead against yours, grinning. "How was that?"

"Wow," you breathed. "It was like..."

"Yeah," he grinned. "We feel whatever you feel. So it's the same for us. Those moments when you completely lose yourself are the best."

You blushed. "Sorry I scratched you..."

He laughed. "It's okay. Didn't feel bad at all." He leaned over and pressed his lips to yours in a sweet kiss.

After a while he got up and moved to your window, looking out at the city skyline.

"Hey." You came up behind him, resting your hand on his shoulder. "Will I ever see you again?"

The man turned to face you. "You want to meet a vampire again?" He gave you an amused smirk.

Your face reddened. "Well, I was just... I mean..."

He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. "I'd come back. If you wanted me to." He pulled you to him. "I had a good time tonight. I'm glad you tripped." He laughed.

"Idiot," you murmured against his chest.

"Goodnight..." His voice faded away as he did, in the space of a breath.