Alayna finally looked up from her peas and looked to me as I watched her, “Josh called me last night.”
I looked to my cast, “You don’t say.”
She frowned, “He’s really mad at you. He ranted about you for like two whole hours and I’m starting to agree with him.”
I looked up to her in shock, “What?”
“He has a point. You dumped him for no real reason.”
I set down my fork that I had been using to move around my food, “He knows why we broke up and I have a perfect reason to have done so.”
“And what reason is that? You still have yet to tell me.” She growled.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
She became outraged, “Oh? And how do you know I wouldn’t understand! You’ve never tried to tell me or let me understand!”
I looked away from her, “I’m sorry.” I whispered and she stood from her seat as I looked up to her.
“I am too.” She hissed and then walked away with her tray. I shoved mine away from me as I sighed.
“Oh, by the way Alayna, I’m a vampire and Josh is a slayer so I couldn’t date him in fear of him killing me someday. Just thought I’d share with you that tomorrows my last day of human classes too,” I mumbled to myself and then stood. I threw away my food and then left school even though I wasn’t supposed to. I walked into the vampire boarding building and slammed the door. Erick and Luther jumped as the loud noise hit them. I stormed up the stairs and went to my room with a slam of my door. I flung myself onto my bed and pulled my pillow over my face. I screamed all the anger out of myself and into the pillow before throwing it across the room and hitting the opposite wall. I then stared at the ceiling and calmed down. Luther knocked on my door a few minutes later and I opened it with my bag and jacket with me.
“You okay?”
I nodded, as I looked away, “It’s nothing.” I whispered and then walked down the hall next to him. We went down to the front door and saw everyone waiting. Once we got to the door we left as a group and I slowly followed next to Luther. We walked over to the back of the school, but everyone stopped.
“Omigod!” A girl yelled at the top of her lungs and I whipped my head around to see Alayna. She stood a few feet away on the sidewalk as a tear trickled down her cheek and anger filled her face, “You’re a vampire!”
I quickly walked over to her, “Alayna…” I started to say, but froze when she shoved me away from her.
“Stay away from me, vampire!” she hissed and I froze as I felt my heart tearing, “I thought you were just a regular human like me! You were my best friend, but you couldn’t tell me you weren’t even of my species!”
“Alayna, you don’t understand…”
“Oh I understand, Eliza! I understand that you have lied to this whole school since you moved here! You said you used to live with your mom, but moved to live here with your dad! Is that even true!”
I felt a tear run down my face, “That is true! And I am a human, Alayna! My mother is as human as you, but my father is a vampire, okay! I just did not want to scare you about me being a vampire or that I was dating a slayer that was trying to kill my own family!”
I was startled when Alayna walked in front of me and her hand slapped my face, “Stay the hell away from me, you mutant!” She yelled and then ran off.
“Alayna!” I yelled after her, but was stopped when Luther grabbed my arm.
“Let her go, Princess.” He whispered but I pushed him from me.
“No! I have to follow her! She’s my only friend left! I can’t lose her just because I’m not normal!” I yelled, but my attention was pulled from Luther when William walked up to the side of the group. His hands were in his pockets as snow fell around him.
“Students please go inside. I will handle this.” He said in a deep, mature tone as Luther let go of me. The others slowly left us and once they were out of sight I ran to William. He squeezed me closely to his chest as I cried and he brushed my hair to try to calm me. When I finally stopped crying I looked up to him, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m just glad I still have you.” I whispered and he leaned down to me. He kissed me like he had before and I felt light headed. When I finally had to gasp for breath William kissed my neck, but stopped when I shivered.
“Let’s get you inside. Your body is still not pure blooded and you will freeze out here.” He whispered and I nodded.
“Go on in. I’ll be there in a minute. I just need to recollect myself.”
“You sure?” He asked and I nodded. With a final kiss he left me and I looked into the direction Alayna had run away in. After a few moments I let out a large sigh and then walked inside. When I went into William’s class everyone looked to me and I looked to my feet. I sat down next to Luther, but never looked to him. I watched William the whole time and he seemed to enjoy my attention, but I could feel the watch of Prince Yuuki and Luther through the whole class. When I left the class I walked into the next room and sat down before anyone else was in there other than the teacher who was on the phone. Everyone came in a few minutes later and then the class started. When it was done I followed the small crowd to the eating area and just sat by a window and watched the snowfall. I suddenly felt Luther’s presence as he sat down next to me.
“This constant snow truly reminds me of home.” He commented and I looked to him.
“I believe the only thing that can calm me is snow like home. It snowed like this the last time I was allowed to see my mother.”
“When was that?”
“Four years ago. Almost five.”
“I have not been home for the past six years so I understand what you are going through.”
I nodded, “I have not been in Lithonia for almost 11 years. I was shunned when I was young, but was allowed to go back for a month 11 years ago and it snowed the whole time I was there.”
“I remember that month. I believe I saw you once with your mother, actually.”
“Really?”
“I was out with my older brother and he pointed to a small girl, smaller than me, and said ‘see my brother, that is who you will someday come to honor. That is your princess.’”
I smiled, “If only more people thought like that…well I am just glad you did not see my face.”
“Your face?”
“That day I remember seeing someone who looked like you, but was afraid to look to you again because I had been slapped that day by my grandfather. He was so mad and hit me so hard that I had to get stitches and looked horrible. Yet, all I remember thinking that day was to do what my mother said, ‘stand tall and hold your ground, Eliza. That is what you must do around vampires or you will be killed.’ That is what got me slapped.”
“The old king was very strict.”
“You have no idea.”
“I probably don’t,” Luther put his hand on my aching cheek, “But if I had seen him hit you, Princess, I would have hit him back. I believe you are going to become a wonderful leader, regardless of your blood.”
“Thank you, my warrior.” I said and he laughed slightly.
“You’re welcome, my princess.” He said and I kissed his cheek as he blushed.
“I hope that when we leave this place you can be with me still, Luther. You are very trustworthy.”
He laughed and I smiled, “I would love to.”
“Good,” I said, but then had to pick up my phone when it buzzed, “Hello?”
“Elizabeth?”
“Yes, sir?”
He cleared his throat; “I would like you to come to a ball at our home tonight. This will be a good time to introduce you to the other royal families.”
“Of course, sir. When shall I be there?”
“Since there is no school tomorrow because of the holiday you should come with William at 7.”
“Of course sir, we will see you then.” I said and my father hung up.
“What was that?”
I looked to Luther; “Apparently the king has decided I must be introduced to the other royal families tomorrow night.”
“Wow.”
“Yea.”


I took William’s hand in mine as I left my bedroom at my father’s house and he stared in awe at my dress. It was a deep blue silk with sparkles covering it as it flowed like water down to the floor. The dress was strapless and hugged my breasts in order to stay up as my silver rose hung around my neck on a silver chain. William smiled as I knew he looked at my pinned up curls, “You are beautiful, Eliza.” He whispered and I smiled. He pulled me closer to him and kissed me passionately. I walked down the grand staircase of the home with William as my escort and looked at the large crowd that now looked to me. I felt William tighten his grip on my hand, “It is alright, relax.” He whispered in an assuring way and I calmed down slightly. Suddenly a blazing stare caught my eye and I saw him. Prince Yuuki, standing and watching me. He wore a regular tuxedo but made it look like a priceless masterpiece. His long, light blonde hair of royalty was swept to the side to show his beautiful blue eyes. William led me closer to Prince Yuuki and I could feel my heart rate speed up. William stopped in front of Prince Yuuki, the king, the queen, and young Princess Anna. We both automatically bowed to the royal family before us and then I smiled towards them as my father came to my left side where William did not occupy.
“My king, queen, prince, and princess, please allow me to introduce you to my daughter Elizabeth Roza Del Lithia, the heir to my throne.”
The queen nodded, “I have heard much about you from the school my son attends.”
“Yes,” the king agreed, “Our son told us that you are in his classes.”
“I am, Sir and Ma’am.”
“Yes, Elizabeth has been attending the school as a regular student until she turned seventeen a few days ago. But as of Monday she will finally be allowed to just take vampire classes instead of having human and vampire classes.”
“That must have been a great deal of work, dear child. Taking on two school systems at once.” The king said with a kind smile towards me.
“It was manageable, but I am very thankful to be rid of the human students finally. If I am to become a full fledge vampire next year I think it would be good to associate with my own kind.” I whispered back as I kept myself from slipping out the truth. Prince Yuuki’s eyes seemed to change when I said that, but his sister took my attention from his change.
“You are a princess, correct?” The princess asked in her young voice but acted as if she was an adult.
“Yes.”
“It is nice to have another princess at a function such as this.”
“Thank you.” I said kindly, but the attention of the whole family was taken from me when a noble family came over to them. I looked to my father as he walked away and then looked to William. His pager went off and I let go of his hand with a faint smile, “Go ahead. Your job calls.” I whispered and he looked to me sadly.
“But who will watch you?”
“I can handle myself for an hour.” I replied and he nodded. I could feel he wanted to kiss me, but the gaze of others stopped him. He left after a moment and I walked over to a table of exotic foods. I just took a glass of water that waited with a hundred others and then went to the side of the room. I leaned against the wall as I watched people talk and walk around. Suddenly someone’s breath hit the side of my neck and I froze.
“Good evening, Eliza,” A young man whispered into my ear and I looked to Prince Yuuki as he took a step from me, “I was wondering if you would like to go through the garden in the back yard. I have nothing to do and you seem bored also.” He said as he put his hands in his pockets of his jacket.
“Sure.” I whispered and then followed after Prince Yuuki. He led out of the house and into the garden, but stopped at a metal bench and sat down. He gestured for me to sit next to him and I did so.
“Why did you lie to my parents?” He finally asked as he took his hands out of his pockets.
I looked to my cast on my wrist, “My father does not know about what happens at our school and I did not want to tell your parents about it because then I would have to explain it to my father. Then he would probably send me away so that I could not see anything but vampires.”
“Why would he want to shield you from humans and slayers?” He asked and I finally looked to him.
“No vampire could understand what I am going through. Especially someone who has just met me.”
“Does he think you will join forces with the slayers or humans instead of becoming a vampire?” He asked and I shook my head as I looked to the bushes of pink flowers in front of us.
“He thinks that of the humans, but for the slayers he thinks they may kill me.”
“Why would they kill you?”
“I’ve stolen the heart of the prince of slayers.”
“That boy from a few days ago was the prince of the slayers?” Prince Yuuki asked, “Why did you date him if you knew he was your sworn enemy?”
I sighed, “When I was growing up I was told Lithonia was just a country that did not like the United States and so they disliked my mother and I. When I started dating Josh I knew nothing of slayers or vampires. Then he admitted he was a slayer, but I accepted him. We did not break up until I found out the truth of Lithonia.”
“Did he know who you were?” He asked and I shook my head, “That must have been hard.”
“It was hard, but it is what has to be done,” I whispered as I looked to him, “Why do you even talk to me, Prince Yuuki? I am a half-breed. You should think I am disgusting like all other princes I have met.”
“What princes were rude to you?”
“Well my cousin is the worst of them all, but every other prince or nobleman I have met treat me like the being I really am. I understand why they hate me, but it surprises me how kind your family acts towards me. They accept me more than my own family ever could.”
“Are you referring to your father and cousin?”
“And my grandfather.”
“They should accept you. Especially your father since he did create you.”
“If only it was that simple.”
“Why can’t it be that simple?”
I looked to him again, “You know very little of my life and the way things have been going for me lately, if you think there is any chance I shall ever be accepted.”
“You seem to be doing well though.”
I laughed but quickly stopped, “I’m sorry. I did not mean to laugh at you. That was very rude of me.”
Prince Yuuki place his hand on my leg in a way that made me want to shiver, “You do not have to be so formal towards me, Eliza.”
“But you are the prince of the vampires. I should be respectful towards you, Prince Yuuki.”
“I don’t want you to call me Prince Yuuki and do not want to call you Princess Elizabeth. Just call me Yuuki. I am a classmate after all.”
“But not here, not at this place. You are a prince inside and outside of our school to me. My mother and father both would kill me if they heard me call you so formally.” I commented but was shocked when he looked away from me with sadness.
“Do you not like me?” He asked and I felt myself blush, “You keep me at arm’s length when Luther is allowed to know everything about you. You tell him about problems with your grandfather while sharing your own language with each other. Yet when I try to connect with you, you seem to push me away. Is it because he is one of your people or are you in a relationship with him?”
“I…uh…well…”
“Elizabeth!” Someone hissed angrily. My older cousin, Satashi, came around the corner of the garden, but quickly bowed towards Yuuki before coming over to me. He grabbed my arm and squeezed it as he pulled me off of the bench, “Excuse me, Prince Yuuki, but it seems Elizabeth needs to deal with a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Yuuki asked as he stood.
“A band of slayers are outside the front door of the house and have injured many of the guards for the house. She needs to go reason with that mutt she has wrapped around her finger and tell him and his kind to get away from us.”
“Josh is here?” I asked, “Is William okay?”
My cousin’s grip became tighter and I let out a gasp as his nails pierced my skin, “William and a few other soldiers are the only ones left fighting your damn boyfriend and are putting all these nobles and the royal family in danger! Stop talking and fix this!” He hissed and I quickly pulled from his grip. I bowed towards Yuuki so that my cousin would not kill me later.
“Please excuse me,” I whispered and then quickly ran to the house. I went around the house to find William and three other soldiers fighting off ten slayers while I felt at least six more in the trees nearby. I saw Josh look over to me and quickly walk over, “Josh, what is this!”
“Your father injured you, didn’t he? I’m here to repay him for injuring my girlfriend.” He explained with a warm smile but I felt as though my mind burned.
“Josh, stop this! I am not your girlfriend! We are enemies now!” I hissed but froze when he looked to my bleeding arm. I quickly put my hand over my blood, but wrapped my arms around his waist when he tried to go into the house, “No Josh!”
“They are trying to kill you!”
“Then let them kill me!” I hollered and he stopped pulling away. He turned to me.
“What?”
“If they want to kill me, then it is their choice to kill me, Josh! You have nothing to do with this!”
“Of course I do! I still love you, regardless if I am supposed to hate you!”
“If you love me then let me go, Josh!” I yelled, “You caused my family’s anger that made these cuts happened! You are causing me pain!”
“Eliza…”
I pulled away from him, “You know I would never leave you if I didn’t have to, Josh! You know how I feel about you! And seeing you fighting these people is tearing me apart! Just leave me be!” I slumped to the ground as I started to cry, “Don’t put me through this! I can’t watch the guy I love fighting my own people! I had to pick a side and I chose my family, Josh! So just let me go! They may hurt me, but they are who I chose! I chose pain over you!”
“Eliza!” Prince Yuuki yelled as he started towards Josh and I. Instinctively I pulled a hidden knife and went in front of Josh.
“Please Josh, don’t go near him. I have to kill you if you do.” I whispered as tears still fell from my chin.
He stared at me for a moment, but then placed a gentle hand on my cheek. He pulled me into him with his other arm and kissed me. I kissed back, but then pulled away as I still cried, “Retreat!” He hollered and then sprinted in the opposite direction of me. The group of slayers looked displeased but did follow him. My legs started shaking as I dropped the knife and my hands went over my mouth. More tears came as I held back my urge to call him back to me. I felt William come towards me and when he tried to place his hand on my shoulder I quickly moved away from him.
“Tell my father I am going back to school.” I whispered and started walking away. I felt everyone watching me, but I could not speak to them. I could not take their words right now. I was barely holding myself together now and any of them would make me crumble. I walked to school and stopped crying about halfway there. I went to a window of the human dorms that was part of Alayna’s room and knocked on it. I leaned against the brick wall beside the window and waited. Finally the window was pushed up by Alayna who froze when she saw me. I sighed, “Don’t worry. I’m not here to yell or kill you like you think I am,” I whispered and then looked to her brown eyes, “Could you give this to Josh the next time you see him?” I asked as I put my hand out to her that had the necklace he had given to me for my birthday last year. It was a group of small diamonds surrounding a pearl and made my heart ache.
“Why?”
I hesitated and held back tears, “He should give it to someone else,” I replied and then placed the necklace on the ledge of her window. I walked a few feet away and then turned towards her, “I’m sorry about everything, Alayna, really. I wanted to tell you what I really was but…I couldn’t let you get involved.” I whispered and then left. I went to the vampire dorm building and slowly opened the door. Luckily no one was there other than those that were sleeping or hanging out in their own rooms so I quickly went to my room and locked the door. I took off my dress and put on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt before I went to the window and locked it. I did not want anyone near me or to let anyone see me. I pulled down the blinds of the window before going to my radio. I put on a mix station and went to my bed. I lie down on my side with a pillow in my arms and let the quietness of the building overtake me. I fell asleep in hopes that better times would haunt my dreams. About 30 minutes later I was jolted awake by a rattling of my whole room and sat up. Nothing was in my room as I thought there was, but suddenly voices filled the quiet building.
“Eliza!” Prince Yuuki yelled and I heard many door rooms of the building being thrown open. Two girls ran past my room to see what was disturbing their prince.
“Prince Yuuki, what is wrong?” I head Luther ask.
“Is Eliza here? Has she come back here yet?” Yuuki asked in a breathless way and I pulled my pillow closer to me. I could not face him right now.
“I did not hear her come in, but I will check,” Luther said and then walked up the stairs. I heard him stop in front of my door and knock, “Princess, are you in there?” He whispered and I put my face against my bed while I started quietly crying. Luther tried to open the door, but was forced to stay out by the lock, “Princess, please open the door!” Luther yelled with concern. I heard Yuuki coming towards Luther.
“Is she there?”
“Yes, but she has locked the door.” Luther replied and Yuuki let out a sigh.
“Someone go tell Mr. William that she is alright and that he can stop searching the grounds!” Yuuki ordered and I heard a few people run out of the building. My crying increased as Yuuki knocked on the door, “Eliza, please open this door! Your father is worried about you!”
He is lying. My dad would never worry about me.
“Prince Yuuki, what happened?” Luther asked and Yuuki let go of the door.
“That slayer she was seeing came to try to kill her father and she had to stop him. She became upset and left the party, but her father was afraid the slayer had taken her while she was coming back here.”
No, he was afraid I had gone back to my mom.
“Princess, please let us in. We just want to help.” Luther said as he leaned against the door. Suddenly the door to the building was thrown open again and I heard someone run to my door.
“Eliza is in her room,” Yuuki explained, “But she refuses to answer us.”
“Eliza, please come out here. Your dad wants me to bring you back to your house.” William pleaded.
Do you even love me or are you just doing your job? Can’t you tell I don’t want to see you?
“Are you sure she is in there?” Yuuki asked.
“How else would the door be locked?” Luther asked and then tried to open the door again, “Princess, please just let us know you are in there!”
“Stand back, Prince Yuuki,” William said, “I’m going to break down the door.”
I quickly got up and went to the door, “Don’t.” I whispered with a sniffle.
“Eliza?” William asked.
“Go away.”
“I’m not leaving, Eliza. You need to go to your dad…”
“Can’t you tell I don’t want to see my father!” I screamed and I felt the three men on the other side of the door shiver, “I hate him! I never wanted to live with him but he threatened to kill my mom if I didn’t!” I slumped to the ground in front of the door, “As your princess I am ordering you to leave!” I heard William walk away slowly and I cried even harder. I was shaking like a leaf in the breeze and there was nothing to shield me from the wind. I went back to my bed and lay down as I cried into my pillow.

I sat on the edge of my bed with the same pajamas on from five days ago. My stomach was as empty as my mind and made me ache. I finally stood and picked up my towel on the other side of my room. It was the sunniest part of the day so I would be the only one awake. I ripped off my cast with the strength I had formed a few days ago and looked at my odd wrist. I slowly unlocked my door and snuck down the hallway. I went to the showers and was relieved to see I would be alone. I turned on the warm water and just let it run on me and my clothes. I finally decided to take my clothes off and then washed my hair. When I was done I put my clothes into the trashcan nearby and wrapped a towel around my freezing body. I quietly made my way back to my room and locked the door behind myself. I changed into underwear, a pair of black leggings, my school skirt, a bra, the school shirt, and my black boots. I blow-dried my hair as I felt my mind going numb once again. When I was done I hung up my towel and then slowly slipped on a sweatshirt. I quietly made my way downstairs and went to the kitchen. I poured a bowl of cereal and milk before I curled up on the red couch in front of the flat screen TV. I watched the blank screen and felt worse so I went to the small four person table in the middle of the room. I sat down with my legs straight out in front of me and used a metal spoon to move my cereal around in the bowl. I could hear someone snoring in a room somewhere near me which made chills go up my spine. I should not be awake, but yet I cannot sleep anymore. All my dreams go back to Josh and make my heart tear more. I looked down to my wrist that used to have a cast on it and watched it move slightly when I moved the spoon. I did not look up from the bowl until I heard someone walking. I looked up to see Lilia stop walking when she reached the entrance to the kitchen and saw me. She suddenly sprinted away and I looked back down to my bowl. I knew she was most likely going to get a knife to kill me with for scaring Yuuki like I did or she was going to go wake up Yuuki or Luther to tell them I finally came out of my room. I put a spoonful of cereal into my mouth and started chewing as I heard her running back to the room. I looked to her as she stopped at the table, “Elizabeth, someone brought a box for you while you were sleeping.” She said and I was in shock. No one followed her and all she had was a small cardboard box. She placed it on the table in front of me and then got a knife out of the drawer. She handed the knife to me and I slowly cut the tape on the box as she sat down across from me. When the tape was fully cut the two top flaps of the box flew open and I looked into the box. There were two small presents in the box along with a card. I took the pink card out and opened it. It was from my mother and wished me a happy seventeenth birthday. I took out the presents and unwrapped the larger of the two. Inside was a scrapbook that I opened. I flipped through the pages to see pictures of her and me when I was younger. I then opened the other present to find a beautiful ruby necklace. I unclasped the necklace and put it on before putting the wrapping paper in the box and placing it on the floor, “Happy belated birthday, by the way,” I nodded towards her and she sighed, “Look, Elizabeth, I totally get what you’re going through. I fell in love with a human and had to do something kinda like what you did. I did not leave my room for almost 7 days.”
“When was that?”
“Three years ago,” She replied, “Anyways, I know I’ve been kinda a b**** towards you lately and I want to start over. I feel like you and I are more alike than I thought we were,” She put her hand out towards me, “So what do you say? Friends?”
I nodded and shook her hand, “So how has it been since my dramatic scene with the fight through the door?” I asked with the closest thing I could get towards a smile that was just a slight lift in the corner of my lips.
“Yuuki and Luther haven’t left their rooms except for classes and even then they seem distant and not really there even though they are, if you get what I mean.” She said and I nodded.
“What about William?”
“He hasn’t been at school.”
“Oh.”
“Should I go tell the guys you’re up? They probably want to know.”
I nodded, “I think I’m going to go find William, but tell them I will talk with them when I’m back.” I whispered and she nodded. I got up and went out of the building. I walked over to the auditorium I usually practiced with William in as the sun was covered with a cloud. When I knocked on the large metal door there was no answer so I went inside. I slipped into the place as I noticed the sun was about to shine again as I shut the door, but was shocked to see William. He sat at the other end of the room with the lights off, his eyes closed, hair in his face, his back against the back wall, and my knife in his hand. He was sleeping soundly and I could feel he was worried. I quietly went over and sat down next to him. I lay my head on his shoulder but was shocked when he moved. He jumped slightly as he looked to me, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep,” I insisted but he just watched me, “Sorry I scared you like I did. But I just couldn’t handle seeing you after saying what I did. I truly thought I was over Josh, but when I saw him trying to kill my father because he thought my dad had injured me I realized I was still in love with him. So I took some time to think what to do next and decided to give up my feelings towards Josh and focus on my love towards you.”
William embraced me as he kissed me and I kissed back. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his tightened around my waist. I leaned back against the wall as he kissed me over and over. When he stopped kissing me he embraced me with his head on my shoulder, “I thought I was going to lose you to him. I thought you were going to leave me for him.”
“I know. I’m sorry I scared you,” I whispered and he started kissing my neck, “William…”
“What is it my love?”
“I need to go talk to Prince Yuuki.”
He stopped kissing me and just stared at me, “Are you involved with the Prince?”
“No! Of course not!”
“He likes you.”
“No he doesn’t.”
“He does. He demanded to know what my relationship to you was and when I said it was strictly professional he asked if you were seeing Luther. When I said no he seemed very relieved.”
“When did you talk to Prince Yuuki?”
“The night of the big fiasco.”
I kissed William, “I love you, William,” I whispered, “I am only seeing you.”
“But you defended him.” He said with a sad look.
I nodded, “He is my prince, William. I naturally will want to protect him.”
“So you don’t like him?”
I shook my head, “I only like you.”
“I only like you too.” He whispered and then started kissing me again. We did not stop kissing for almost an hour, but then I needed to leave in order to have time to talk to the guys before classes would start. I quickly ran to the vampire dorm rooms when the sun was shielded from the clouds and got there right before the sun was back and strong. When I went into the kitchen I saw Yuuki sitting at the small table in the middle of the room with Erick and a large group of girls watching America’s Next Top Model on the TV. Yuuki quickly stood when I came into the room and came over to me.
“We need to talk.” He whispered and I nodded. He took my hand in his and led me upstairs. He brought me to his room and locked the door behind himself. He looked to me with anger, “Where have you been? Lilia said you went to go see Mr. William at least an hour ago.”
“I had to talk to him.” I replied but gasped when Yuuki grabbed my arms and pulled them above my head.
“You had sex with him, didn’t you? You had sex with Mr. William?” He said in a hiss and I was shocked.
“I did not have sex with William!”
“I don’t believe you!” He hissed, “I’ve seen the way he looks at you and I saw you two kiss!”
“What! When?”
“After that human girl yelled at you! I waited outside the door of the school and was going to talk to you after Mr. William handled the situation and saw you two kissing and if you hadn’t gotten cold he probably would have gone a lot further than kissing your neck!”
“Prince Yuuki…” I started to explain but gasped when he threw me onto his bed and kneeled above me.
“Don’t you understand how I feel about you? I love you!” He yelled and I froze, “You had sex with Mr. William and I will tell my parents so that he is exiled!”
“You can’t do that!” I hissed, but froze when he tried to kiss me. I quickly moved my head to the side but gasped when he squeezed my wrists. He took that chance and kissed me. I closed my eyes in shock. As a child this is all I could imagine. Prince Yuuki kissing me like this, but I had just told William I loved him, “Stop it!” I yelled.
“Fine, I’ll go call my parents.” He said as he got off me and started towards his phone on the other side of the room. I quickly sat up and grabbed his arm.
“No! Don’t!” I pleaded and he knelt in front of me.
“I shall fulfill your wish if you let me fulfill my own.” He whispered and I froze.
“What wish?”
He kissed me once again, “If you want William to stay at your side you must do as I say,” He whispered as he moved to my neck and started kissing it, “Do we have a deal or shall I call my parents?” I looked away and slowly nodded. It was my only true choice. Yuuki took a hold of my chin and turned my head towards him, “Kiss me like you kiss William,” He whispered with a smile and I felt sick. I leaned to Yuuki and wrapped my arms around his neck. I kissed his lips as he wrapped his arms around me and leaned me onto his bed. He had his way with me, but was forced to stop when there was a knock at the door, “Yea?” He asked with a frown as he got off of me and I started re-buttoning my shirt.
“Prince Yuuki, we should be leaving.” Erick said through the door and Yuuki sighed.
“I’ll be down in a moment.” Yuuki whispered and then slipped his shirt back on that had been on the floor. He slipped on his shoes before looking to me. I stood and went over to the door of the room without looking back to him, but froze when his arms wrapped around me from behind. He kissed the back of my neck, “You must call me Yuuki from now on and are to hold my hand everywhere we go, understand?”
“Yes.” I whispered and he intertwined our fingers before I opened the door. We went out of the room and down to the group as they all stared at our intertwined hands. Yuuki did not seem bothered by the attention but I felt myself blushing. The group followed behind us as we went to the school and did not leave us until we reached William’s classroom. When we walked in the crowd disbursed to go to their seats, but I looked to the ground as Yuuki pulled me past my usual seat next to Luther. He stopped in front of Erick’s seat.
“Erick, switch seats with Eliza.” Yuuki said and Erick immediately went and sat next to Luther who watched me with concern and anger just like William. Yuuki set me in the seat beside him and then sat in his own seat. I let out a slight gasp when he pulled my chair closer to his and then put his arm around my waist, “You cannot talk to Mr. William, understand?” He whispered into my ear and I nodded. I looked to the table in front of me as I blushed and William started talking. When we were given a test at the end of class I was surprised when William spoke.
“Prince Yuuki and Princess Elizabeth, please move away from each other. It is mandatory that no two students can sit closely together in fear of cheating.” William said in a deeper voice than usual and I finally had my chance. I moved away from Yuuki and started my test. When I saw Yuuki focusing on his test I flipped mine over and wrote to William explaining what had happened and that I would have to stay away from him until this whole thing with Yuuki was stopped by my father. When William called for our papers to be turned in I put mine with Yuuki’s and let him pull me back to him. I watched as William picked up the papers, but then had to leave when the bell rang and Yuuki pulled me out of the room. I looked back to William with apology in my eyes because I knew even if I did get out of Yuuki’s grasp he would never forgive what I have done. Finally Yuuki left me to take a call and left me under Luther’s guard.
“Luther, what has the prince given you in order to protect me?” I asked and he looked to me.
“Nothing, Princess. I would protect you regardless of if he gave me something.”
“But who do you follow, Luther? Yuuki or me?”
“You of course, Princess. You are soon going to be the queen of my country.”
“Then as your soon to be queen you have to help me get away from Yuuki.”
“Why would you want to get away? You two are dating, right?”
I shook my head, “He is black mailing me in order for us to date, but I am in love with William.”
“William as in our teacher and your guard?”
I nodded, “But Yuuki won’t allow me to speak to William. So you have to tell him that I still love him. Please Luther! I have to let him know.”
“I will tell him, do not worry Princess.” He whispered and then kissed my hand, but we both froze as we felt Yuuki watching us.
“What do you think you are doing, Luther?” Yuuki hissed and Luther quickly stood.
“Well I should go.” Luther said and then quickly left us. Yuuki took my hand in his and led me outside of the school. He started towards the dorms, but I pulled him to a stop with confusion.
“Where are you taking me, Yuuki?”
“We are skipping our next class,” He said and then kept walking. He brought me up to his room and threw me onto his bed once again. I tried to pull him off of me, but he was persistent, “You will become mine.” He whispered as he ripped off my shirt and I gasped.

I woke up beside Yuuki and immediately started crying again. I quickly pulled his top sheet around my body and made my way out of the room with my phone. I went outside of his bedroom door and sat against the wall beside the door as I dialed my mom’s cell number. It was nearly 5 in the evening so she would still be at work. The phone started ringing and then made a clicking sound, “Hello?” My mother asked in her gentle voice.
“Mom?” I asked with a sniffle and she gasped.
“Eliza! What’s the matter honey?”
I started crying more, “I miss you mom! I hate the vampires! I want to come back and stay with you!”
“Awe, honey, you know you can’t do that. Your father would kill us and you could not go out in the sun now that you are 17.”
“But I hate this mom! I hate these people! They are cruel and crazy and I miss you! I want to go back to what I used to have!”
“Where are you right now, honey? I’ll come see you.” She said as I sniffled.
“I’m at my dorm room.” I whispered and she sighed.
“Alright, I’ll tell you what. I’ll come pick you up at school in about 30 minutes and we can go eat dinner together. How does that sound?”
“Okay.” I whispered and then hung up. I pulled my knees into my chest and cried onto my legs. When I was calm I went back into Yuuki’s room and put on my clothes, but as I went back to my room I had to hold my shirt closed since he had popped off all the buttons. I quickly made my way to my room, grabbed my towel, and went to the shower. I was alone as I showered and then went back to my room. I locked the door and put on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a red sweater my mom had bought me a long time ago. I went downstairs with my hair wet to see I was alone in the kitchen. I lay down on the couch in front of the TV and turned on MTV to see My Life as Liz playing. I watched it for about 30 minutes, but got up when there was a knock at the door of the building. I opened the door to see my magnificent mother and started crying again as I hugged her.
“It’s alright, baby girl. I’m here.” She whispered sweetly as she rubbed my back.
“I have to go grab my shoes, then we can go.” I said as I brushed tears from my face and quickly ran upstairs. I slipped on my black boots and then came back down but froze when I saw someone talking to my mom. Luckily it was Luther and he smiled kindly towards her.
“Yes, indeed,” Luther replied to my mother and then turned to me as I walked up, “Oh, good morning, Princess.” He said sweetly as I nodded towards him.
“I’m gonna play hooky today, so explain it to William or Yuuki if they ask,” I said and then led my mother out of the building. We went to her car as more snow fell and got in. She quietly drove to my favorite restaurant and we enjoyed a quiet dinner together. I explained everything about William, Josh, and Yuuki to her and she listened before she suddenly stood.
“We should get you back to your dorm. Your classes will be letting out soon.”
“Yea.” I whispered and then followed her to the car. She drove me back to campus but stopped the car when I saw my father leaning against a tree beside the parking lot we were going into. My father looked up to me and then walked towards the car. He threw open the door of the car and stared at me.
“Get out,” He hissed and I quickly crawled out of the car as my mom shut it off. My dad squeezed my arm in his hand as he stared at my mother, “What is the meaning of this, Shannon? I thought I made it very clear that you were not to go anywhere with Elizabeth!”
“Richard, you don’t understand.”
“Oh? And what is there to understand! You take my child away without even letting me know!”
“She’s my child too, Richard! If you forgot, I am her mother that raised her until you graced us with your presence and decided to accept her!” She yelled and then slapped his hand from my arm, “She needed to talk to someone who would listen to her! And you certainly aren’t going to do that!”
“And what makes you think that!”
“She is terrified of you, Richard! She is terrified of her own father and all these damn brats you made her come and stay with! She had to destroy a perfect relationship with the guy she loved to please you, but she did it anyway and then you go and yell at her!”
“I did not yell at her!”
“Then what do you call this!”
“Stop it!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I felt tears running down my face again as I put my hands on either side of my head, “Stop fighting! I can’t watch you two fight like this!”
“Elizabeth…” My mom started to say but I looked away from her and she was quiet.
“I sought mom out, Richard! She has done nothing wrong! If you want someone to blame for my disappearing then blame me! Just leave her alone!”
“That’s…” He started to argue, but I took a step away from him.
“Mom you should go. The vampire classes will be letting out soon.” I whispered and she looked to me sadly.
“Elizabeth, I’m sorry,” She whispered as she hugged me and I hugged her back, “I love you, baby, regardless.”
“I love you too, mom,” I whispered and then walked her to her car door. She kissed the top of my head and then got into her car. I watched as she drove off and stared at the corner she had turned, “Your job is done, Richard. I’m back here weather I want to be or not.”
“What were you thinking letting your mom come here?” He hollered at me, “She could’ve been hurt!”
“Since when do you care about mom or me?” I yelled back as I brushed tears off of my face, “All you care about is your image in the vampire world so stop acting like you care about us! Just leave me and mom alone!” I walked away then went towards the school as the snow finally slowed a bit. I walked up to the house to see William waiting for me, but I briskly walked past him. He grabbed onto my arm and I turned to him, “What?”
“Where are you going, Eliza? I thought we could talk about this situation.”
“What situation?”
“The situation with Prince Yuuki.”
I pulled away from him, “And what do you expect me to do, William? I chose this world and I chose to follow Prince Yuuki. I chose to follow his wishes instead of Josh’s and my own. I cannot go against him for a soldier that is supposed to be my guard and my teacher.”
“What?” He asked in a shaky way and I came closer to him. I kissed him lightly and then moved away.
“If I keep this up with you, you might be hurt. We have to stop this now before we get too deeply into this. I don’t want to repeat what I did to Josh. I don’t want to fight you in order to protect him like I did with Josh.”
“But…”
“No, William,” I whispered and then walked into the dorm building. I looked over to Yuuki and Luther who came over to me with worry.
“Where the hell have you been!” Yuuki demanded and I looked to Luther.
“Come get me if William or my father come anywhere near this building. Otherwise don’t disturb me.” I whispered as I looked to my feet.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” I whispered and then started to walk away, but stopped when Yuuki grabbed my arm, “Let go.”
“Not until you tell me where you’ve been! You were with William weren’t you!”
“I was with my mother and I just dumped William!” I yelled, but then realized who I was yelling at, “Please, just let me go.” Yuuki let go of my arm and I quickly went up to my room. I slammed the door shut, locked it, and fell onto my bed. A knock came to my door the next morning (that was actually nighttime) and I slowly made my way to the door. I unlocked it and opened it just enough so that my head could go out of the door. Luther looked to me with regret.
“The king is here.”
“Alright,” I whispered and then threw on a sweatshirt before coming out of the room. I made my way to the front door as I saw many students moving within the building. When I reached the front entrance I saw Yuuki standing and waiting with my father that was now in a business suit and stared at me, “What are you doing here, Richard?”
“I came to talk to you, Elizabeth.”
“Then talk.” I muttered as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I need to know why you have fired William as your combat trainer and your guard.”
I sighed and looked to my feet, “I started having feeling towards William and did not think it was bright for me to have a bodyguard I had feelings towards, so I told him he could not work for me anymore.”
“That was very mature of you…” He started to say but I frowned and he froze.
“I do not need your approval for my actions.”
“Don’t be like that, Elizabeth.”
“Be like what? Be like my mom?”
He sighed and stared me down, “I have come to inform you of something also.”
“What?”
“I have decided to take you out of school after this year ends so that you can start preparing for your ruling.” He said and I felt something deep within me tear.
“Is it because of mom?”
“No.”
“Then is it about Josh because I know you saw me deny him and none of the humans is a problem anymore! So why do I have to leave!”
“You have no choice in this, Elizabeth. Your grandfather is in very ill condition and wants you to learn a few things from him before he passes away.”
“He’s NOT my grandfather! He is YOUR dad and that is all I have in common with that ass hole!”
“Watch your mouth, Elizabeth.” He hissed.
“Stop acting like I have no choice, Richard!”
“You don’t have a choice! This is the best for your people and your country!” He hollered and I squeezed my sides tighter.
“They are not my people or my country! They are yours!” I hissed, “They hate me and don’t want me to be any part of their world so don’t say they are my people! Humans are my people!”
My father slapped my face and I tried to hold back tears from pain, but they fell down my cheeks, “How dare you talk to me like that! After all the favors I have done for you and your mother!”
I brushed my tears away with the back of my sleeves before looking to him. I took a few steps away from him and hugged myself, “Mom and me never wanted a favor from you. We were going to make my life work even though it would be hard. We never asked for your help so just leave us alone.” I whispered and then walked to the bathroom to the right of the front door. I went into the room and locked the door before I splashed some cold water onto my bruising face. A cut had presented itself and blood slowly slid down my face. I put a paper towel on the cut before unlocking the door and leaving the bathroom. My father was finally gone, but Erick, Yuuki, Lilia, and Luther stared at me. I quickly walked past them and went up to my room. I changed into my uniform and boots and then put a band-aid over my cut cheek as I heard the group leaving. I left my room with my bag and went down to the front door to see Luther was still there. I walked over to him, “Why are you still here?”
“I don’t want you to be alone when you’re going through such tough problems.” He whispered and I looked away from him.
“Thanks, but it was not necessary.”
“I know,” He whispered before we left the building we walked over to the school as the sun left the earth entirely. We were silent as we walked and did not hear voices until we went into William’s classroom. Everyone froze and was quiet as I entered the room as I felt them all watching my bruised and cut cheek. I quickly followed behind Luther as he went to his seat and I sat down next to him. William stared at me with shock that I did not want to see right now. I looked to my lap and sighed. The bell rang and the class started. I could feel the gaze of the entire class for the whole class period, but looked to Luther when I stood after the bell rang again and he grabbed my arm, “Do you want me to talk to Mr. William? He looks concerned for you.”
“No.” I whispered, but then looked to Lilia as she came over to me. She came closer to examine my injury.
“Damn! I’ve never seen a dad hit his daughter hard enough to break the skin and give her such a bad bruise!” She exclaimed and I looked away from her, “Does it hurt?” She asked in a sad whisper.
“It’s manageable,” I whispered and then let my eyes reach William’s as he watched me, but quickly looked away from him and back to Lilia, “It will be gone in a day or two.”
“Still, he had no right to hit you.”
“I disobeyed a king. I expected such treatment. After crossing him countless times yesterday I knew he would most likely hit me.”
“But is he seriously going to take you out of school at the end of the year? Shouldn’t you finish high school?” She asked and I shrugged.
“I’m not sure.” I replied and then started out the door but stopped when Luther grabbed my arm.
“I’ll keep Prince Yuuki distracted; you go talk to Mr. William.” He whispered and then called Yuuki out of the room while I waited outside of the door. I leaned against the wall and waited till everyone was out of the room. I slowly came into the room but stopped at the door.
“May I come in?” I asked in a whisper and he looked up from a stack of papers he had just collected from the empty rows.
“Sure.” He whispered and I came in, but made sure to shut the door behind me.
“William, I’m really sorry I put you through this. I should have ignored my feelings,” I sighed as I leaned back against the door, “Of all people, I would never want you to leave my side.”
“Did your dad give you that injury when you told him about us?” He asked as he watched me.
I shook my head, “I told him that I told you to quit because I had feelings towards you. I would never tell him anything that may make you lose your job.”
“Then why did he hit you?”
I sighed, “I left with my mother yesterday and then disobeyed him this afternoon. He hit me because I yelled at him and called his dad an ass hole.”
“Why?”
I sighed, “He’s taking me away from the US at the end of this year because his dad is in bad health.”
“Is that why you are in such a bad mood?”
I shook my head, “Having to leave you put me in a bad mood. Nothing else is going through my mind really,” I looked to the chalkboard to my right, “Maybe it is best if I leave. Then your life will become much easier and Yuuki will not bother you again,” My hand clenched around the book I now held in front of me, “Good luck with everything, William.” I whispered and then quickly left the room as tears started down my face. I sprinted down the hall and heard the door quickly reopen as I ran. I kept going and never wanted to stop. Thoughts of William, Yuuki, Luther, the other students, Josh, Alayna, my mom, Richard, and Lithonia left my body in tears as running became my main priority and soon became all I was. “One foot after the other; just a few more inches and I’ll faint from exhaustion,” I kept telling myself but that moment never seemed to come. I stopped as the brick wall surrounding the school almost hit my face, but my heart beat and tears were still as fast as they were when I was running. I sat down with my back against the wall and realized I had done this the last time I had run away from my problems, but hopefully this time William would not follow. I prayed he would someday forgive me for what I have done, but I believed this would make him stronger in the end. I looked up and saw clouds covering the sky. I closed my eyes and let the cold air consume me. I listened to the whole world move past me and wish I could follow it, but stay here all at the same time. I hummed a song my mother used to sing to put me to sleep as a kid and felt my body loosen. My tears still flowed freely as I gently lost consciousness.

I awoke to a sensation I could never fully put into words. It was almost as if someone was branding my hands. I opened my eyes to see my head was down but felt myself shake as I saw the skin on my hands burning. I quickly pulled my aching body off of the ground and sprinted to a nearby tree. I sat underneath it and held back a scream that fought me for freedom. I was breathing heavily from the shock that sent my heartbeat flying and my body started shaking constantly. I suddenly felt a presence and looked to the right of me. In the sunlight was Alayna with her hair glistening and she stared at me. I looked away from her as I felt my body continue to shake, but looked to her again when she keeled at my side. She saw my now bleeding hands and gasped as her hands went over her mouth to hold back a scream also. She looked to me for some type of explanation other than the obvious. She wanted this to be a joke just as I did. I felt myself overcome with the smell of my burning flesh and realized I had started crying at some point. Alayna hugged me to try to comfort me, but we both knew she could not help me. Only the vampires knew how to help me now, “I have to get you to the other dorm.” She whispered as she looked to my eyes that only held pain.
“I can’t go back into the light. I’ll die.” I whispered in a painful gasp as I realized the rest of my skin may not be burned, but it was injured. Alayna pulled off her top jacket and handed it to me. I slowly put it on and luckily Alayna was taller and had longer arms than I did so her sleeves covered my hands and her hood covered the other bare skin I had. She slowly helped me stand while making sure not to touch my hands and then quickly moved me through the most shaded areas until we reached the closest we could to the building. I suddenly felt weak and collapsed onto the ground as I pulled my body into a ball. I started crying, but looked up as Alayna ran towards the dorms. I wanted to make her come back and not go near the dorms that could kill her, but I could not speak. I felt if I opened my mouth I would hurl or cough up blood. I watched as my human friend went into the building, but was relieved when she quickly came back out. She came over to me and helped me stand. She quickly moved me to the building and shut the door behind me. I collapsed onto the carpet of the entry way and felt myself finally not be able to hold back my pain. I let out a wail as I pulled myself into a tight ball and kept crying. I felt Alayna hug me as she cried for me. I heard a lot of rustling and knew people were coming towards us. Vampires were coming near the human I cared so much for. I quickly ignored the pain and let my instincts take over. I was in front of Alayna with a hidden knife in my hand as I looked to the others. I was relieved to see it was only Lilia and my body loosened. I fell back into Alayna as she caught me in her arms. She made sure not to hold me too tightly as I started breathing heavily again and cried more. Lilia took a step towards us, “Don’t hurt, Alayna. Please.” I whispered in a painful whine as I leaned into Alayna more to protect her even if I could not get up. Lilia kneeled in front of me.
“I won’t touch her, Elizabeth,” She promised but then looked to me, “What has happened? Why are you acting so sick?”
Alayna moved to a straight position, “Eliza got into the sun and it burned her hands! You have to help her!” Alayna said as I felt her start to cry again, “Please help her! She’s my best friend! I can’t lose her!” She cried and I wanted to hug her for such kind words, but I had to focus on breathing.
“I’ll go get Luther. He will want to help and Prince Yuuki is trained in healing sunlight burns so I will get him too!” Lilia said as she quickly stood and ran away. I felt Alayna tense and pulled me closer to her.
“Hold on, Eliza. That girl is going to get you help. Just hold on a little longer!” She cried and I rested my head on her shoulder as I felt more shivering flow through me.
“Alayna…” I whispered, “Thank you.”
She wiped some tears off of her face, “No need for a thank you, Eliza. I’m your friend so it’s my job to help you out.” She whispered, but then looked up as I did also. Luther came whipping down the stairs and was at my side before Lilia and Yuuki could even get to the stairs. Luther looked to Alayna.
“What has happened to Princess Elizabeth?” He demanded in a worried way.
“She got into the sun and it burned her!” Alayna exclaimed as I looked to her, “You have to help!”
“There is no need to worry, Alayna. You can trust Luther will protect me,” I whispered and then gave a painful smile to Luther, “Isn’t that right my Lithonian warrior?” I asked and he cringed with sadness.
“Where did the sun touch you?”
“My whole body was touched, but the worst are my hands,” I whispered and then slowly pulled Alayna’s jacket off. Lilia let out a scream as she saw my burned, bleeding flesh and I was overwhelmed with the smell again, “It…” I started to say but another surge of pain hit me and I doubled over so that my chest was against my legs. I let out a small whine of pain as everyone watched.
“Lilia! Get my supplies!” Yuuki hollered as Alayna started crying. I felt weak. For the first time in a while I was defenseless for protecting myself, but even worse was I was too weak to protect Alayna’s feelings. I was causing her pain again. I slowly pulled myself up so that my head was barely above the carpet and then felt myself being moved. Luther pulled me into him so that I was curled like a small child in his arms. I cried against his shoulder as he closed his eyes and tried not to become emotional.
“Luther.” I whispered and he gently brought me closer to him.
“Yes, my princess?”
“Don’t let me die,” I whispered, “I can’t leave Lithonia without a ruler.”
“I promise,” He whispered and I knew he wanted to add onto that, but stopped when Lilia came back into the room. Luther picked me up like a child, “We should bring her to the couch. Lying on the ground will make her burns hurt more.”
“Yes.” Yuuki replied, but I quickly pulled on Luther’s shirt and he stopped.
“Alayna will be in danger if she stays.”
“I’m not going till I know you are ok!” She protested, but we were both surprised when Lilia came over to her.
“I’ll keep her protected, Eliza.” Lilia assured me and I smiled towards her before Luther brought me to the couch. Yuuki kneeled at my side and slowly slid my sleeve up before looking to Lilia and Alayna.
“Can you two go grab a pair of shorts and a tank top for Eliza? She needs the least amount of clothing on as possible or she will be in more pain,” Yuuki said and I heard them run off. Yuuki put an ointment onto my right hand and I winced with pain, “This may be painful, but you will heal much faster if I use this cream.” He whispered before looking to my eyes.
“I trust your judgment.” I whispered even though lately he had proven the opposite.
“We’ve got the clothes!” Lilia said as the two of them ran back into the room. Luther helped me sit up on the couch and Alayna came over to me with Lilia not far behind. They both helped me slip off my shirt, skirt, leggings, and shoes as the two guys turned their backs to us. Lilia and Alayna gently helped me put on a pair of black shorts and a pink tank top before letting the guys turn around to me. Luther gently helped me lay back down on the couch and Yuuki put the painful cream onto the rest of my right hand and then the left hand. He then wrapped my hands in gauze before putting on a different cream where bruises from the sun were now appearing. I closed my eyes and my mind immediately went to the last time I was at the beach with Alayna and Josh. I was wrapped in Josh’s arms as he lay on his side and just watched me watching him. We smiled every so often and just enjoyed the company. After a few minutes I sat up as Alayna kicked sand into my face, but a large black blur covered me from most of the sand. I yelled at her and she just laughed as her boyfriend of the time laughed too. I opened my eyes and realized I was crying. Alayna looked as worried as the other three.
“What is it, Eliza?” Alayna asked and I laughed quietly before sighing. She seemed even more concerned.
“We will never be able to do that again, will we?” I asked in a painful whisper as I looked to her.
“Do what again?”
I looked to the ceiling as I cried more, “Go to the beach. Suntan while our boyfriends played football. Swim at the beach,” I looked to Alayna, “We can never do that again,” I looked to the ceiling again, “Last time we went to the beach you kicked sand in my face while I was resting with Josh. I yelled and both you and Peter laughed.”
“Yea, I remember,” She whispered as I looked to her again and she wiped a tear away as it fell, “Josh blocked you from most of the sand because he knew you hated it touching your skin.”
I nodded slowly, “He is a great man who deserves someone who will love him as much as he loves her.”
“You loved him as much as he loved you, Eliza.”
I sighed and closed my eyes, “I thought I did, but in truth I didn’t choose him. I chose Lithonia. I chose my father. I chose these wounds,” I pulled my left arm that Yuuki was not working on over my eyes and started crying harder; “I let him walk away! I made him leave! He would’ve protected me from the sun and found a way so that my life could go back to being carefree! I could have gone to the beach again, I could have kept you from this horrid truth, and I could have stayed with my mom!” I hiccupped a gasp for breath to fuel more crying, “I’ve hurt everyone! I hurt you, Josh, mom, and William! I’ve hurt everyone I love!” The room went quiet until I calmed down and just stared at the ceiling. Alayna came over to my side as Yuuki stood when he was done.
“It’s okay, Eliza,” She whispered and I look to her, “I would hug you, but your kinda injured.”
I let out a small laugh, “Yea, just a little.”
She smiled to me, “Could you not scare me like that again? I thought you were dead when I came upon you.”
I nodded, “I’ll do my best,” I whispered and then slowly sat up. I hugged Alayna to me tightly, “It’s alright. I can endure the pain.” I whispered and her body loosened as she hugged me back. When we let go the door rang and I looked to Luther as Alayna helped me lay back down. He went and opened the door and I heard noise.
“Where is Miss Alayna! A student saw her come this way earlier and said she has not been back even though it is almost nightfall!” William hollered and I sighed.
“I got you in trouble, sorry.”
“It’s alright.” She whispered, but we both looked up when William stormed into the room. He froze when he saw Alayna sitting on the ground beside the couch that I lay on covered with black and blue bruises and bandages everywhere. Alayna stood and looked to William.
“Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to cause a problem.”
“Why the hell is a human student here?” William hollered as he looked to Lilia.
“She had to help Elizabeth get back to the dorm.”
“Why couldn’t Miss Elizabeth get here on her own?”
“I fell asleep outside and was burned severely by the sun,” I whispered as I looked to William, “Alayna found me and helped me here before I died. I deserve the blame for anything that has been caused by this action. If there is a punishment for a human student going to the vampire dorms I will take it.”
He sighed, “There isn’t a punishment unless someone is bitten,” He looked to Alayna, “Miss Alayna, it is time for you to go.”
“But…!” She started to argue, but I quickly put my bandaged hand on her cheek. She looked to me.
“It’s alright, Alayna. It is time for you to go. I would be terrified if something else happened to you because of this stupid thing I did.”
“Yea.” She whispered and then lightly hugged me.
“Could you tell Josh hello for me?” I asked in a whisper and she nodded.
“He will be happy to know you are thinking of him.” She whispered, but staggered her leave.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and she sighed.
“I...what if you need something? I want to be here to get it for you.”
I smiled, “It is alright, Alayna. My warrior will be here for me. You do not have to worry.”
“Yes, Miss Alayna. I shall help Princess Elizabeth with anything she needs.” Luther agreed.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” She replied and then looked to me, “I’m gonna come by after classes tomorrow to keep you company, alright?” She asked and I nodded, “And Luther, don’t let her get up. She may try to fool you by saying she is feeling much better, but in truth she isn’t. She’s pulled that trick on me too many times.”
I laughed slightly, “Darn, my secrets been found out,” I joked but then sighed, “No need to worry, Alayna. I can barely sit up, let alone walk. I’ll stay put.”
“Good.” She whispered and then slowly left the building. William followed her after a moment as Lilia looked to me.
“Did you lie to her just now?” She asked with concern in the back of her throat, “Are you really in that much pain?”
I sighed, “I have found it is not worth it to lie to Alayna. It will just hurt her more than keeping her from the truth.”
“Well you definitely aren’t going to classes,” Lilia said and then crossed her arms over her chest, “I’ll stay with you so you’re not alone.”
Luther came towards her, “No, I am her warrior and I will stay. You need to go to classes.”
“So do you.”
“But my princess comes before this American school. I want to stay here with her or I will not feel she is safe,” He looked away from Lilia, “She is the world to me. I cannot leave her.”
“Don’t go falling for the princess, Luther, okay?” She said with an evil look towards him, “She’s got enough crap happening, she doesn’t need another boyfriend to deal with, right Eliza?” Lilia asked me and I was shocked, “Get better, girl.” She said kindly and then left the room. I watched her leave in awe that she had the guts to say such things out loud. I lay on the couch with Luther watching me watch the ceiling and did not move until I heard all the other students leave. I then looked to Luther with a slight smile.
“Could you bring me to my room?” I asked in a whisper and he quickly picked me up. He gently carried me up to my room and rested me on my bed. I watched as he took the chair from my desk in the corner of my room and brought it over so that he could sit beside my bed.
“Is there anything I could do for you, Princess?”
I nodded, “Could you call me Eliza? I’m not your princess right now. I’m just your patient.”
“Are you sure you want me to call you so formally? You are a princess after all.”
I smiled, “But I did not grow up as a princess and it’s kind of a new thing to me. I want us to be friends, Luther, but in order to do that I’d like you to call me by my name not my title.”
“Alright, Eliza,” He whispered with a smile and I felt myself loosen, “You should sleep.”
I nodded, “Will you be here when I wake up?”
He smiled, “Of course.” I closed my eyes and slowly lost myself to a memory of my 16th birthday.

I woke up as I felt an aching sensation throughout my body. I made a groan as I pulled my legs to my head. I heard Luther come from his chair and he leaned over my hip to see my tears, “What’s wrong!” He said with fear as he tried to figure out how to help me.
“It’ll pass,” I whispered in heavy breaths as I pulled myself into a ball and held back a cry of pain. The shooting pains weakened and I slowly uncurled myself. Luther sat on the side of my bed that was against the wall and opposite of his chair. He gently brushed tears from my face as I still felt knives hitting my body every breath, “I’m sorry. I scared you.” I whispered as I gently caressed his cheek with my bandaged right hand.
He choked back sadness, “I feel so helpless! I can’t help you when you are in so much pain!” He said as he looked from me and I knew he was terrified he was going to lose me.
“Could you do me a favor?” I asked in a heavy breath.
“Anything.” He said with relief in his voice.
“My mom used to embrace me within her body when I was sick and felt cold, could you do that for me? I cannot call her and let her see me like this, but I don’t know what else to do.” I whispered and within a moment Luther lay at my side and started to wrap my body with his but stopped and I looked to him with confusion.
“But my touch will hurt you…” He said with regret and I smiled slightly to him.
“It’s alright. I can handle a little amount of pain.” I whispered and he finally embraced me. He pulled a blanket over us as I allowed his right arm to go under my head. I rested my head partially on his arm and shoulder as I turned to him. His arms went around my back and pulled me closely as his legs brushed against mine. I closed my eyes as I leaned my head on his chest more and could hear his quick heartbeat.
“You’re burning up, Eliza. You have a fever,” He whispered into my ear and I slowly nodded my head before resting it against him again. I let out a strained breath as I felt the shooting pains again, “Are you in pain again?” He asked in a gasp but I pulled closer into him.
“Just hold me. It will go away soon,” I whispered and then breathed heavily against his white night shirt until the pain weakened again. I could feel his heart beat racing and moved my head towards my neck so that I could speak without mumbling into his shirt, “I’m sorry. I’m making you nervous. You don’t have to do this if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” He pulled me closer.
“No, I’m nervous, but I don’t want to let go. I want to stay with you. This is the only way I can help you.”
I clenched his shirt in my fists, “Are you dating Lilia?” I whispered and felt him tense.
“No, of course not. She’s just a friend,” He whispered to me, “Why do you ask?”
“Her statement earlier, it made me think she was jealous of my connection to you. So I guessed you were dating her.”
“I like another woman.”
I smiled slightly, “Whoever she is, she’s lucky to have such a man liking her.” I whispered and he seemed to loosen his muscles.
“Eliza…if you don’t mind me asking, do you like Prince Yuuki?” He whispered and I sighed.
“Yes,” I whispered, “But I like him in the sense that I want to protect him and please him, not in the sense that I want to be his lover.”
“Ah, well he seems to want you to be his lover.”
“I know, but raping me is not the way to do so.”
“When I heard that I had to keep myself from attacking him,” He whispered and I was shocked, “I know he is the most important prince in our world, but what he did was horrible and he should be punished.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I’ve caused you so many problems.”
He pulled me slightly towards him, “I want those problems if that means I can stay with you…like this.” He whispered and I could feel myself blushing. Who was it that Luther liked? I sighed as I loosened in his arms and snuggled against him like a child.
“You’re warm.” I whispered and he pulled me closer.
“I’ll warm you.” He whispered and we stayed like that as I fell asleep once again. I did not wake until Luther’s arms came off of me. I quickly looked to him.
“Alayna is here with Lilia.” He whispered to me and I turned onto my other side as he walked to the door. I watched as he opened the door and let in the two girls. Alayna quickly came over to me.
“You haven’t gotten up, have you?” She hollered and I smiled towards her as I moved my pillow.
“Nope, slept a lot and that’s about it.”
“How bad is your pain?”
“Not as continuous.”
“What do you mean?”
“The searing pain only rushes over me every few minutes and does not consume me anymore. That is a sign that I am slowly getting better,” I said as I moved my legs further back on my bed so Alayna could sit. She looked like she wanted to say something, “What’s wrong?”
“Josh…”
I quickly sat up and grabbed her, “Is he okay!” I yelled but then felt pain and let out a grunt of agony before crumbling onto my bed. The pains were back, but all I could think of was if Josh was okay. I started to try to get up again, but Alayna stopped me.
“He’s okay, Eliza! Don’t move around so recklessly!” She hollered and I let out a sigh.
“Don’t scare me like that!” I said as I wrapped my arms around my waist with a groan of pain.
“Are you okay!”
I nodded towards Alayna, “Yea, that was just a bad move on my part.” I whispered and she sighed.
“It’s just that Josh wanted to come see you…”
“You talked to him?” I asked as I looked up to her.
She nodded, “Right after I left you I called him. I had a feeling he would find out if we did not tell him quickly. He was freaked and wanted to come give you something one of his scientist have made to cure sunlight burns, but I said it was probably not a good idea. He then made me promise I would have you call him. He wanted to speak to you personally.”
I closed my eyes, “I can’t talk to him. Not after what I’ve done.”
“He said he didn’t care what happened lately and that all he cared for was you even if he was supposed to hate you…you should call him. He is probably sitting by the phone waiting for your call.”
“Hand me my phone.” I whispered and Alayna gave me my cell phone that was on my desk. I dialed Josh’s number and the phone started ringing. I held my breath in anticipation and finally the phone was answered.
“Alayna! Is Eliza alright?” Josh hollered and I let out my breath to reclaim a new one.
“It’s not Alayna, Josh. It’s me. Alayna said I had to call you because you were worried.” I whispered into the phone and he seemed relieved to hear me.
“Alayna said you were touched by direct sunlight on your hands and got minor burns on the rest of your body, I’m surprised you can talk.”
I let out a laugh, “I guess I’m lucky,” I whispered, “But you shouldn’t be worried, Josh. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m worried because I still love you, Eliza…I thought through what you did at that party and I understand. One of my people would do the same for me if I was in danger. It’s just loyalty to your blood and I get it so I don’t want to fight you. I want to be with you, even if it’s not allowed,” He whispered, “Please, at least let me help you when you are so sick. I can get rid of the pain.”
I held back tears, “Okay.”
“I’ll come to you while the vampires are in school. Will you be alone?”
“I’ll find a way,” I whispered, “Goodbye Josh.”
“Goodbye my love.” He whispered and I hung up the phone. I pulled my pillow into my face as I started crying.
“What did he say?” Alayna asked with worry.
“He understood what I did…he still wants to be with me even if we may be killed for it.” I whispered as I looked to Alayna.
“Awe! You two are like Romeo and Juliet!” She said in a squeal but then saw my agony, “Do you not love Josh anymore? Or are you still hung up about William?”
I buried my face into my pillow until I was calm, “I love both of them, but I am leaving in only 5 months…I should cut off my ties with Josh, not make them stronger.” I whispered and she sighed.
“When is he coming?”
“While everyone else is in school.”
“He’s going to come in the dorm!” Lilia hollered, “That will never happen!”
“Well what should I do? He may be able to help me because I still have a chance of dying and I cannot move. He has to come to me and I am stuck here.”
She sighed, “But he will be here while Luther is here. That will be really bad.”
“I need to talk to Josh on my own.”
“I’m not going to leave you in your bedroom, helpless, so that a slayer can harm you!” Luther argued.
“You have to trust me on this, Luther. Please.” I whispered and he sighed angrily.
“Well I need to go get ready.” Lilia said and I nodded. I looked to Alayna as Lilia left.
“Someone should escort you to the human dorm rooms since it is almost nightfall.”
“William is waiting outside. He escorted me here so he will escort me back to my room.”
“Tell him thank you for me.” I whispered and she nodded kindly before leaving. I pulled my blanket around my shoulders as Yuuki came into the room.
“Can we talk?” Yuuki asked as he looked to me, “Alone?”
I nodded, “Luther, you should probably take a shower and change clothes. Yuuki will watch me.” I whispered and I knew he wanted to deny me, but he couldn’t. He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Yuuki came over and sat in the chair.
“How’s the pain?”
“Less than deadly.”
“Did I hear you correctly? You are going to let that slayer guy into your room without the guard of Luther here?”
“How did you hear that?”
“I was waiting outside the door to talk to you,” He replied, “You need to be careful…I know I have no pull over your decisions because you are not dating William anymore, but as someone who loves you I want you to be careful.”
“I will.” I whispered and then allowed him to kiss my cheek before leaving. Luther was gone for about 20 more minutes and when he came back he was in checkered pajama pants and a black shirt. He came over and sat down as I noticed the gun in his pocket, “A gun?”
He nodded, “Just in case.” He whispered and I felt a sudden shock come through me. Josh was on his way.
When Josh rang the doorbell of the dorm room Luther left the room to bring him to me. When Josh got into the room and saw me wrapped in a blanket he quickly came over to me. He kissed my forehead, but quickly recoiled, “You’re burning!” He exclaimed.
“Luther, could you wait outside?” I asked in a whisper and he shut the door behind himself.
“Who was that vampire?”
“One of my people from my country.”
“Ah,” Josh said but then sat in the chair as he brushed my hair out of my face, “I’ll need to take off your bandages in order to see the damage.” He whispered and I held out my right hand.
“My hands are disgusting. I’m warning you.” I whispered and he slowly pulled the wrapping on, but froze when he saw my skin.
“Dear god,” He whispered and I nodded, “This is past healing with any type of medicine, Eliza.”
I sighed, “Am I going to die?”
He shook his head, “No, but…”
“But what?”
He sighed, “But we will have to do something that I know you will not want to do and will hurt.”
“Is it the only option?” I asked and he nodded, “Then what is it?”
“I read this old book once that said something about the only way to save a vampire or slayer close to death is for that vampire to combine their own blood with the slayer’s blood. The only thing is, the two will be connected for the rest of their lives and they will be changed. The vampire will be able to go into sunlight without burning and the slayer will be able to move at the same speed as a vampire. This has never been proven and written down because most vampires and slayers would rather die than help each other but in our case…” He whispered and then cupped my cheek in his hand, “I’m willing if you are.”
“But…”
“Eliza, if we don’t do this you will never recover.”
“But I’m leaving America in 5 months. If we are connected, won’t that be hard on us?”
“We’ll work it out when the time comes, but first you must decide what to do.”
“I…” I pulled myself tighter in the blanket, “Okay.” I whispered and he stood. He leaned over and kissed me.
“This is going to pleasure you at first, but most likely will be painful,” He whispered between kisses and then lifted from my mouth, “How do you want to do this?” He asked and I pulled on his arm. He followed me into my bed and I lay down on top of him. I kissed his neck and then gently bit. He squeezed me closer to his body as I took his blood. Before I knew anything I had instinctively bit the inside of my cheek and let my blood flow into his wound. When it was done I kissed Josh over and over, but stopped when I suddenly felt weak. His hands were now moving down my body and stopped at my hips.
“The others will be getting back soon. You need to go.” I whispered and he slowly got off of my bed. He pulled the blanket on me before leaving. Luther quickly ran into the room to stare at me as I felt woozy. My eyes felt heavy and slowly closed as Luther started to run to me once more.

I opened my eyes to see sunlight and quickly sat up. I had to get out of the sun. I stood, but then noticed sand under my feet and no shade to be found near. I looked to my right to see Josh sitting down near where I had been and stood. He came over to me and kissed me gently, “It’s alright, Eliza. Don’t be afraid. The sun will not harm you again.” He whispered and then put his hands on my hips. The coldness of his fingers shocked me as I realized I was in a bikini. His hands moved further down me and I felt myself getting lost in my urge to have Josh. As Josh untied my top the beach suddenly started to change and shake. He sighed, “Until next sleep, my love.” He whispered and with one last kiss he was gone. All that filled my sight was darkness, but I gradually noticed the wall of my room in front of me. I slowly sat up to see Luther sleeping beside me. I quietly got up and went to the window of the room. I pushed the blinds out of the corner of the window and felt the warmth of sun on my skin. This time it was warm and welcoming instead of searing pain. Suddenly something came around my arm and pulled me away from the window. Luther grabbed my arms and shook me.
“Have you gone crazy!” He yelled, “You were just in direct sunlight! You could’ve died!”
I looked away from him and realized this was not usual to have a vampire with partial slayer blood, “Sorry.” I whispered and then looked to the door as Yuuki and Lilia ran into the room.
“What’s going on in here!” Yuuki yelled as he came over with sleep lingering in his eyes.
“Why the hell are you yelling this time of morning, Luther?” Lilia asked as she came over.
“Eliza was just going into direct sunlight.” Luther explained with anger still in his voice.
“Are you mad!” Yuuki hissed and I looked away from all of them. They could never understand this. Only Josh could. I want him with me right now.
“I’m fine, calm down,” I whispered as I moved from the group and went to my bed. I sat with my back against the headrest and just watched the group watching me, “My wounds are all healed, and Josh healed me.”
“He did?” Lilia asked as she came and sat beside me. I held my hands up to her so she could see them.
“No marks are left.” I whispered and she was shocked, but then watched me.
“What’s up? You’re acting weird.”
I looked away from her, “I must still be tired,” I whispered, “How long until classes?”
“About 2 hours. Alayna will be coming in about an hour though.”
“Okay. Then I should change.” I whispered and then waited for the three of them to leave the room. I got up and put on my uniform and boots. I grabbed my phone and sat back down on my bed. I dialed Josh’s number and then waited as the phone rang.
“Eliza?”
“Hey.”
“How are your wounds?”
“They’re gone.”
“Are you feeling okay? You sound tired.”
I sighed, “Since we did that I’ve felt tired. I guess it really weakened me.”
“Well will you be healthy enough on Saturday to go on a date with me? Have you tried going into sunlight?”
“Yea, I wasn’t burned and I think I’ll be healthy by then so sure.”
“Great. Well I have to go, but I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, bye.”
“I love you, bye.” He whispered and then hung up. I put my phone on my bed and then got up. I left my room and slowly made my way down the staircase. I went into the kitchen to see Luther eating cereal. I poured a bowl of cereal and milk before claiming the seat beside him.
“Sounded like you’re still sore by how long it took you to get down the stairs.” He said with a side glance to me.
“Yea, just a bit,” I replied and then ate a spoonful of cereal, “So earlier, Josh left immediately after seeing me, right?” I asked as I looked to my bowl.
“As far as I know,” He replied and then let out a sigh, “I thought he had killed you by the way you passed out when I came in.”
“Oh, well the treatment he gave me was said to make people sleepy,” I replied and then smiled slightly, “But I’m glad I had someone who was worried for my safety that is in the vampire race.”
“Yuuki, William, and Lilia were worried about you too.” He commented and I nodded.
“I know that, but the worry you had for me was different than the worry they had. I don’t really know how to explain it…” I looked from my bowl and to him, “It’s like I know you will always be by my side and will always be watching out for me. The others will come and go with the years, but you seem to be staying put.”
“But I won’t be able to protect you from the other side of the world…” He whispered sadly, “When you leave in five months…I will have to stay here.”
I nodded, “I’ve been thinking about that too,” I replied, but then stood when the doorbell rang. I went to the door to see William and Alayna watching me, “Hey Alayna, good evening Mr. William.”
“Omigosh! You’re up!” She exclaimed with a smile.
I nodded, “Other than being a little sore, I feel perfectly fine.”
“So Josh really helped you?” She asked and I nodded, “So what did he give you?”
“We can talk in my room ‘cause I really need to sit down. My legs are aching,” I said with a smile and then looked to William, “I will take care of her from here,” I added before Alayna came in and I shut the door. I slowly went up the stairs as she followed with no complaint and then we went into my room. We sat down on my bed and I sighed, “I almost had sex with Josh…twice.”
“What!” She hollered, “When!”
“Yesterday and a few hours ago.”
“Omigosh!”
I sighed again, “When he came to heal me he said my wounds were past healing and that he only knew of one way to save me from death.”
“What way? Having sex?”
I shook my head, “No, mixing our blood,” I whispered, “I took half of his blood and gave him half of mine. Now I can go into the sun and not burn and he can move as fast as a vampire, but taking someone’s blood is a very sexual thing and he was acting like he wanted to go a lot further. He left when I felt sick, but then when I slept he was in my dream. We were at a beach and we almost had sex there too.”
“But it was just a dream. It was just your imagination, no biggy.”
I shook my head again, “No this dream wasn’t just mine, it was Josh’s too. The blood mixing we did made it so we share dreams and feelings now.”
“You can go in the sun…” She whispered, “You almost had sex with Josh…you share dreams and feelings.”
“Yes.”
“This is just so shocking! I’ve never heard of a vampire being able to go into the sun!”
I looked from her, “That is because no one else has tried this…no one knows this has happened and I don’t want them to. I have to hide it until I move.”
“Hide it from the other vampires? But won’t they notice if you leave in the daylight and don’t die.”
“They just finally accepted me…I can’t make them accept this new part of me also.”
“Okay.” She whispered with a sigh and I felt sick. I was lying to people again.



“Hey, I’m almost there.” Josh said through the phone and I hung up. I pulled my jacket back on and quickly left my room. I was in a skimpy black dress, a pair of black boots, and a black leather jacket and looked beautiful. I quickly went to the stairs, but froze when I saw Yuuki coming up them.
“What are you doing up, Eliza?” He asked with a yawn, “And why are you all dressed up?”
“Uh, hey Yuuki. I didn’t think anyone was up.”
“Are you leaving? You know the suns still out.”
I nodded as I slowly made my way down the stairs, “Yea, I know.”
“So where do you think…” He started to say but stopped when there was a knock at the door. I felt myself blushing as he looked from the door and back to me, “Are you expecting someone?”
“Uh, yea,” I whispered, but slightly jumped when there was another knock at the door. I knew if I didn’t go now we would lose our lunch reservations, “Excuse me.” I added as I went past Yuuki. I opened the door and felt myself blushing as I saw Josh.
“Hey, you look really hot,” He said with a kidding smile as I blushed more, “Ready to go?”
Yuuki stared at me as I looked back to him, “Yea,” I whispered and then looked away from Yuuki. I left the building with the shut of the door behind me and knew my secret was out.

I walked into the vampire dorms as the sun set, but was startled when I saw Lilia, “Eliza, where the hell have you been!” She yelled as Yuuki and Luther quickly came over to us.
“You’re not burned!” Yuuki said with shock, “But you left here in midday light!”
“Uh, yea. I know.”
“And you left with that slayer prince! What were you thinking?” Luther added and I sighed. I shrugged my shoulders as I looked away. I pulled the shoulder of my jacket further up as I felt them watching me.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I whispered and then quickly went upstairs to my room. I slipped off my clothes and quickly changed into my uniform. I grabbed my bag and quickly went downstairs to see the group was gone. I left the dorm and quickly made my way to class. I took my usual seat beside Luther and listened to William talk. When the final bell rang I took out my phone and texted Alayna so that she would meet me after her school. I went and sat in the lunch room and felt sleepy, but had to act natural because I knew people were watching me. I looked up to Lilia as she came over to my seat at a lunch table.
“So could you try talking to me about what you did?” She asked and I sighed.
“As I said before, you wouldn’t believe me if I did.”
“Try me,” She said as she straddled the bench to my left side, “I believe a lot.”
“Alright,” I said and then leaned closer to her, “I mixed my blood with Josh’s.”
She backed away from me and her face turned white, “What!” She hollered at the top of her lungs and everyone looked over to us. I quickly pulled her head closer to mine.
“Sh!” I hissed.
“Do you understand what you’ve done?” She asked with horror on her face.
“No, but aren’t we the first of our kind to do this?”
She shook her head, “Others have done that, but they are killed immediately by their peers. Both sides of the blood bond are typically killed. It is strictly against the rules of our society to do that. You have to take the blood of another vampire quickly or you will become linked to that slayer and both of you will be killed for sure.”
“But what will happen if I break the bond?”
She looked away from me, “The slayer will get what he has asked for.”
I stood quickly and clenched the necklace around my neck that Josh had given me. Tears started to crawl down my cheeks and I felt myself breaking down. I took a few steps from Lilia, “I can’t do that!” I let out in a short breath and then quickly started running. I was crying freely and could not stop. I did not understand. I was going to have to kill Josh or we would both die. I sprinted to the dorm room and locked my door. I could not bring myself to answer the phone when I knew Josh was calling to see what was wrong. I cried onto my pillow until I finally calmed down enough to finally sleep.

I sat up and felt my face was now dry. I left my room without thinking and went outside. The sun was high in the sky and warmed my body. I sat on the front steps of the vampire dorms and absorbed the warmth. I closed my eyes and just listened to the world. Suddenly I heard movement close by and opened my eyes to see Alayna walking towards me with slight shock, “Hey.” I whispered as she sat down next to me.
“For a moment there you looked like you did when you got burned. I had to keep myself from running and protecting you from the sun.”
“Alayna…” I whispered and her attention was on me, “I slept with Josh.”
“What! When?”
“After our date. We went to his house and his parents were at work and one thing led to another and we had sex,” I whispered, “But even worse to add is the blood bond we made will either make our own people kill us or I will have to kill Josh.”
“What! Who told you that?”
“Lilia.”
Alayna stood and looked down to me, “Come on. We need to know exactly what is up.” She said and I slowly stood. We went inside and went to Lilia’s room. I knocked and a sleepy Lilia opened the door. She let us in and then shut the door behind us.
“So what is this about?” She asked with a yawn and I looked to Alayna who looked at me also. A knowing sensation filled my body and I knew I had to find a way to save Josh from what I had done…even if it meant I had to die to make it happen.