I began to put all my things away while I looked around the studio apartment that I was now living in. The furniture was already there and all I had to bring were my clothes, bed sheets, the necessities, and college textbooks to keep my cover realistic.

The place seemed very light and cozy because of the couches that surrounded the fireplace. Next to the kitchen and little dining room was a small staircase that led up to my bed. The best part about the staircase was that each step was drawers. On the side of the staircase was a small narrow closet. Right under where my bed is was a small square that had room for a small desk and a lockable trunk that looked like a bench. I knew it would be a perfect place to hide all the weapons I had. What I liked most about this little office was that there was a door so that everything would be secure in there.

According to Victor, a female hunter used to live in this apartment and she owed him a favor. That's how he got the place for me. There was no way they could afford this place. Even though Julianna is rich, there wouldn't be a way to take care of the people in Hawthorn Academy and living here at the same time.

Before it was dark, I decided to work out for a little bit and then watch some TV. I planned to go into Mystique again to see if that vampire who saved me would be there. I doubted that he would, but it was worth a try.

It was weird that the vampire chose not to kill me. All the vampires I encountered throughout my life were killers, like the one who killed my parents and the one who killed Melissa and Darren back in California.

I was eleven years old when I found out that vampires existed. One came in my house and attacked my parents. My mom hid me in a secret compartment in the closet so that the vampire wouldn't find me. I remember how I had nightmares after that, seeing my parents' necks ripped to shreds and their blood everywhere. I lived with my Aunt Cynthia after that. She didn't like the fact that I was a troublemaker at school, failing my classes, and hanging out with the wrong crowd.

It was when I was sixteen I found out about my parents and Victor being hunters. I told him to train me and help me find a way to kill them so I could avenge my parents. He didn't want me to at first, but since I was persistent about it whenever I talked to him, Victor finally allowed me to.

He told me how Julianna and him were planning to open a school in the countryside part of London for future hunters. He said that he could get me in when I turned eighteen, but I had to promise him that I would study my butt off to get ahead of the hunters so I can skip the education and go straight to training. So after that, I studied the folklore, read the teen fictions, and watched the movies. Victor even sent in documents for me to read.

As soon as I turned eighteen and Victor sent me the ticket to London, I walked out of my Cynthia's house and went straight for the airport. I didn't look back or anything. It was time for me to get everything straightened out to fight off those bloodsuckers.

The sound of my cellphone vibrating woke me up. I picked up from the coffee table, looked at the caller ID, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"How's the apartment working for you?" Julianna asked.

"It's great. I just finished settling in."

"What are you planning to do tonight?"

"I'm thinking about heading back over to Mystique and see if the vampire will show up there. Maybe it's his hang out spot."

"Alright, call us tomorrow and tell us what happened. Be careful, Jazlyn."

"I will, thanks, Aunt Julie." I hung up the phone and looked outside. I didn't realize that the sun was already down and that it was eight at night. I got off the couch and headed over to my drawers to find something to wear. I decided to settle for my dark ripped jeans, my purple halter-top, with my boots, and my mom's jacket again. For accessories, I got my silver hoops and my silver chained cross necklace.

I looked in the mirror once more to make sure that I looked good before I grabbed my knife to put in my boot again. I decided not to hide a stake in my sleeve so that it wouldn't seem like I wanted to kill the thing, even though I really did. Since that vampire already saw me with a knife, I figured that he wouldn't be too suspicious. He just might think I like protecting myself.

The club wasn't that packed tonight so I was able to get in without waiting in line. First, I walked around the club, to see if he was here. When I knew he wasn't, I walked over to the bar to order myself a Long Island.

"Looking for someone?" the bartender asked as he gave me another drink.

"Sort of," I sighed. "I was kind of hoping this guy I saw the other day would be here. I guess I was wrong."

"Maybe you're not," a voice whispered in my ear. I quickly turned around and there he was with his green eyes and his dimples.

If only you weren't a vampire, I thought. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and leaned against the bar. "I'm a night wanderer," he smirked at me.

I snickered, taking a sip of my drink. "Sure, you are."

"Bad day, Baby?"

I almost spit out my drink, "I'm not your baby."

"You'd like to be though, wouldn't you?" he grinned. "I bet any girl would love to be my girl, if they knew who I really am."

"No, they wouldn't."

"Really? Ever since those books and movies came out, our race has become the want in every girls' dreams. I bet it was even in yours, but you just don't want to admit it."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes.

"I think that means a yes," he muttered, poking my side and making me squeal. "That's a cute sound." He did it again and laughed when I squealed.

I pushed his hand away. "Stop it."

"But it's so cute, Baby."

With that, I headed towards the club's exit. Maybe it was a bad idea for me to go on this mission. I can't handle this vampire's cocky self. Seriously, are all vampires like that?

Before I could go through the crowd on the dance floor to head to the exit, I felt a cold hand grab my wrist and pull.

I nearly slam into the vampire's chest. My hands rested against his chest and his hands were resting on my side and lower back. He lightly placed his fingers under my chin and made me look up at him.

"You're not leaving yet."

"Says who?"

"Me," he smiled, showing off his dimples. "You're dancing with me tonight."

"No!"

"One dance and, I promise, I'll behave for the rest of the night."

"What makes you think that I want to hang out with you for the rest of the night?"

"Because I'll follow you around like a lost puppy if you don't," he answered. I looked deep into his eyes. He was telling the truth.

"I don't want to dance."

"Are you hungry?"

I shrugged, "A little, but..."

The vampire grabbed my hand and guided me out of the club. He took me to a restaurant that was a few blocks down the street. It was a nice Italian food place with dark furniture and candles on the tables. There were black beaded chandeliers hanging around, giving us dim lights and plum colored walls that oddly felt relaxing. We pulled me to the table that was at the corner of the wall so the chairs were right next to each other. He pulled the chair out for me and waited until I sat down for him to sit down too.

"You are going to love the food here," Harry mentioned to me as we sat down. I moved slightly closer against the wall, hoping that he noticed, but he did. "Still don't trust me, I suppose?"

"Maybe," I played around with my fork. "What's it to you?"

"I don't want you to be scared of me."

I snickered, "You drink human blood for a living. How am I not supposed to?"

"I don't always have to drink human blood," he admitted. "I can drink animals' blood if I really wanted to."

"Then, why don't you?"

"Because it's not as appetizing as your kinds' blood. Think about it: would you rather have a steak or a cheese burger from McDonald's?"

"Steak," I answered, simply.

"Well, humans are my steak while the animals are McDonald's."

"Oh," I looked down. "Are you going to drink from me?"

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

He leaned in closer to me, centimeters away from my face. I felt uncomfortable with him being this close to me, but I was too frozen by his eyes to move away from him. "You really want to know?" He ran his nose against my shoulder lightly, making me stiffen. I stiffly nodded at him. He chuckled, "It's because I like you."

"Why?" I whispered.

He rested his head against his hand, staring deeply at me. "Because you're beautiful, mysterious, strong willed, need I carry on?"

The waitress came over to us to ask for drinks. I noticed that she had her eyes fixed on the vampire and had jealousy in her eyes when she looked at me.

"The best bottle of wine you have, please," he said, not taking his eyes off me. She nodded and walked away.

"I'm sure you used all these tricks on the girls you hooked up with during however long you were a vampire for."

"Maybe one or two," he nodded. "The other girls I just drank from."

I made a disgusted noise. "Well, at least I'm protected," I said, pointing at the silver crucifix necklace I was wearing.

"You think that would stop me from staying away from you?"

"It should...shouldn't it?"

He smiled, "There are other places I can get you. There's one particular place I like, the one near the-"

"I don't want to hear it," I snapped.

He shrugged, "Alright, I guess the best way to know is for it to happen to you."

"Grow up," I rolled my eyes. "You know, I never got your name."

He was about to say it until the waitress came back with our drinks and asked for us to take our order. I didn't even look at the menu.

"We'll have the chicken Alfredo," he said, ordering for me. The waitress nodded and walked off again. He held up his glass, "Cheers."

I hesitantly clinked my glass with his. "Your name," I said again.

He grinned, "Robert."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "What's your real name?"

"Robert," he said again.

"Very funny," I said, standing up and about to leave.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down to my seat. "Harry," he said.

I nodded, "I think I like Robert better."

He chuckled, flashing his dimples, "Too bad for you then, huh?"

"I guess so," I sighed. "How did you know my name, anyway?"

"Your blood told me your name. Sadly, that's all I can learn about you. If I want to learn more about you, I'd have to be around you more often."

"I guess so," I smiled.

"I want to see that more often."

"See what?"

"Your smile," Harry said. "It's beautiful. I was wondering what it looks like and I have to say, it was everything I imagined it would be like."

I giggled, "So, you fit the stereotype vampire, don't you? You're all romantic and dark."

"Some of us do," he agreed. "I might just be one of them."

"I doubt that."

"Why?"

"Because all vampires are still one thing regardless if they are yearning for companionship or whatever, a monster."

"We aren't all that bad," Harry said with clenched fists. "We do what we can to survive."

"Ever think what you're doing could be wrong?"

"Surviving is wrong?"

"Killing humans is wrong," I corrected him.

"That's your opinion. I don't know why you hate us so much. I could've just left you in the alley the other night to let you die, but I didn't. I thought that would've been too monstrous of me to do something like that to a girl like you."

"I didn't ask you to save me."

"No, you didn't, but you didn't want to die that night either."

The waitress came over and gave us our food. She scurried away from us quickly, probably feeling the tension that Harry and I both were having.

I picked up my fork and took the first bite. Harry was right on choosing the chicken Alfredo. It was delicious and every bite made my mouth water for another bite. Harry took his fork and began to eat. I watched him for a moment, confused.

"I thought vampires only drank blood?"

"We do drink blood."

"But isn't blood also your food?"

Harry glanced up at me with a mouthful of pasta and the sauce all over his face. "It doesn't do anything to us, but we still have taste buds. It's good to get away from only drinking the blood once and awhile," he said with his mouth still full.

"You eat like a pig," I commented.

"I'm away from my family right now. I can do whatever I want."

"Family?"

"You think I was alone?"

"Well no, I thought you had like a friend or something." This is something I needed, I thought to myself. "How many is in your family?"

"A lot," he muttered.

"How much is 'a lot'?"

"Enough to a point where they can kill you from how much drama is in it," he answered, taking a sip of wine. "Do you like your Alfredo?"

"It's delicious."

"Good," Harry dropped his fork on his now empty plate. "You didn't seem like you liked it from how slow you're eating it."

"Maybe I'm eating this at a normal speed," I informed him.

"Take your time," he shrugged, leaning against his chair. "The longer you eat, the more time you get to spend with me."

"Is that a threat?"

"Well, from the way it sounds, it seems like you don't like my race so I'd think you'd want to get out as fast as you can, but since you're taking your time, it can only mean one thing."

"Which is?"

"You are choosing to take your time eating so that you can spend more time with me."

I snickered, "My God, you are such a cocky one, aren't you?"

"No, Baby, I'm stating what I am distinguishing from you."

I laughed aloud. "Alright, Harry, what are you distinguishing about me? Please, tell me all that you see." I take a sip from my wine.

"You have dislike vampires greatly, look at us like we are the scum of the earth. Yet, you choose to hang out with someone of my species, which means you have a personal gain out of all of this. The reason why you possibly hate my kind is probably because someone you knew either was turned into a vampire or were killed by one, or you are greatly religious and believe that we are monsters of the devil and should be destroyed for not being creatures of the Lord. You lash out quickly at me, making me believe that you have a defensive reflex that was triggered throughout your childhood. You only trust those who are your kind and possibly people that you personally feel is good. How does that sound like to you?"

I looked away from him, playing with what was left of my food. I took a sip of wine, avoiding to make eye contact with him. He was right about most of the things he said, but that doesn't mean that he should know which ones.

Harry gave me his crooked smile, once more showing off his dimples. "From your silence, I can sense that I was practically spot on." He gestured for the waitress to bring the bill over, which she did rather quickly. He placed fifty pounds on the table and waited until I stood up. "I'll walk you home. I don't want anyone picking you up."

"I'm not showing you where I live."

"Either way, I'd know where you live because I'd follow you." Harry stared down at me. "Make your choice."

Surrendering, I allowed Harry to walk me back to my apartment. The walk was silent, but not awkward. There were a few moments though where Harry tried to grab my hand, but I had to slap it away from him. That just made him more determined to do it.

Finally, I was in front of my apartment building. Harry was grinning and leaning against the railings of the porch staircase. As I searched for my keys in my purse, Harry's hand went on top of mine. I looked up at him and read a sense of determination in his eyes and something else. His other hand lightly caressed my cheek, making my breath hitch slightly. I felt nervous, when he ran his hand against my cheek, down to my neck, and back up.

"Tomorrow," he muttered softly.

"Not happening," I insisted, my voice only coming out in a whisper.

"Happening, whether you like it or not." He leaned closer to me and lightly kissed my cheek. "Sweet dreams, Jazlyn."

I felt a gust of wind hit me and Harry was no longer there. I looked around the place to make sure that he was gone and then went up to my room. I stiffly got ready for bed and laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

Was this how vampires hypnotized people?

Is it happening to me? Is he hypnotizing me?

I pulled the blanket closer, squeezing my eyes shut, and praying that I'd stop seeing Harry's curly hair, his beautiful dimples, and those glorious green orbs in my mind.