The streets were beautiful and calming. One would think it wasn’t the infamous city of New York, notorious for its buzz and every-second activities everywhere.

She smiled slightly, thinking of how funny a choice it was that they were moving to a place her parents had always hated. Times changed. She let out a sigh and let her head fall back on the chair.

“Al, will we have a TV and video games in the new house?”

Pulling her eyes off the mesmerizing streets of NYC, Alana turned to face her much too curious brother.

“Yes, Ben. We will. Although that won’t happen immediately.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is just a fresh start. It’s a new beginning for both me and you, Ben. We’ll take things step by step. Everything will be fine.”

Alana Dyson stared at her 14-year-old adorable and energetic brother. He was the spitting image of their father. Alana felt that familiar pain in her chest. Standing over their graves, Alana had made a promise to move on from the death of her mom and dad. Ben was her sole responsibility now. She had to take care of him, had to become his only parent. At just 23 years of age, Alana wasn’t sure how she was going to manage that.

But even if she had to take a class to learn how to protect her brother from harm’s way, Alana would do it without thinking twice. Grabbing the apartment letters from her scruffy bag, she spread out properly to read the contents for the 20th time.

Apartment 204, last floor, duration of 2 years, occupied currently by Mr. David Dyson and Mrs. Sarah Dyson’s next of kin: Alana and Benjamin Dyson.

She let out a relieved sigh. She didn’t need to read more. God bless her parents’ souls. Their death had been a terrible blow to her and her younger brother, but their kind-hearted souls had helped them pull through. After moving out of their work-provided home in Chicago, Alana had thought they would be reduced to living on the streets, but soon she received a mail requesting her audience with a distant uncle. In the end, she found out that her parents had been contributing money for a new house in another city with her uncle, which they kept private.

Her uncle informed her that they wanted a home anywhere but New York, which he had been working on. But shortly after he heard of her parents’ tragic death, he wasted no time in securing an apartment for the children here, in New York. He didn’t fail to mention that it was mainly because the apartments here were more affordable than any other place, and that was why he had purchased the place for Alana and her brother.

From the pictures she’d seen, it appeared to be quite okay. A basic flat, good running water, fresh ventilated air, and steady power supply. Where they’d been staying, the power supply had been poor, and that was because her father’s work didn’t provide the complete package. They’d had to create their own light and buy water.

“Al, the bus is coming to a stop!” With a tap on her shoulder, Ben sat up, excitement building on his cute face.

“We’re here. Grab your bag and the boxes, Ben,” she instructed her brother. They came down from the bus, which drove away swiftly.

They walked into the building and stopped at the reception, where a white, middle-aged woman was seated behind the table.

“Hello, Ma’am. My name is Alana Dyson, and this is my brother, Benjamin Dyson.”

The woman’s straight face quickly transformed into a smile. “Oh, welcome! Mr. George said you would be here tomorrow, but I suppose now is also fine. How was your journey?”

“Um... just…fine. I was expecting to meet Uncle George here, though...” Alana replied, glancing around the room.

“Oh, he has not been here since he acquired the papers for your place. I was just told to welcome you to your new home, that’s all.”

Alana nodded confusingly and followed the woman, her brother beside her, as they climbed the stairs and went all the way to the last floor. Finally, a new life was beginning.

***

Lucious Heron raised his dark head up to stare at the exquisite beauty in front of him.

Her eyes were sealed, so tightly shut that Lucious knew she was all but pretending to be asleep.

Their kind hardly slept. If they slept, it was only because they wished to, not because it was necessary, unlike humans.

They had no control over their body’s reaction to certain times. During the day, they were up and about. During the dark, they were exhausted and deep in slumber.

“What are you thinking about? Your great mind seems a million miles away.” Lucious turned to the beauty who had stirred in his head. She looked very satisfied and well-rested. Bianca had been his companion for a while now. He pretty much enjoyed the mutual understanding that was between them. They were plainly sleeping together. Nothing else. He was glad that she was the type who understood that emotional attachments were wholly unnecessary.

Lucious was a very old vampire, and in all of his time on this earth, he knew enough to know that women were naturally toxic creatures, and the ones that were human were even worse. They always wanted things to go their way, and when they didn’t, they resorted to manipulative means. He secretly remembered how his last breakup had gone.

The woman had tried to frame him with a pregnancy, unknowing that vampires were incapable of producing offspring.

He had sent her out immediately after he found out about her deception. But she had, in fact, tried to murder herself because she couldn’t bear the thought of being dumped by him.

“Lucious, I’m the woman you’re supposed to marry; no one else,” she said pleadingly, in a weak voice after her life had been saved by his expert healers.

“You will never see me after this day again because I will compel your small, feeble human mind to forget me as soon as you leave here,” Lucious replied maliciously, a dangerous glint in his eyes that had never been there before. His eyes were bloodred, and they were glowing. The last thing he saw was fear in her eyes before he placed his fingers on her forehead and stared down into her eyes.

“You will forget ever knowing me, meeting me. You will forget this very moment. You will go back to your life as though nothing has happened.”

He saw her eyes retract before she shut them. Then he walked out of the place. That was the last time he ever saw her.

He turned to face Bianca. “Nothing. Vampires do not think,” he replied with a smirk, gathering her up in his arms. She squealed in delight as he planted a soft kiss on her stomach.

“Oh, but I think vampires do think a lot. If not, would you care to explain why you occupy my mind and torment my dreams?” She questioned in a seductive tone.

“Oh, but we both know that’s a lie. Vampires do not dream, and you have no emotions for me because you have no heart. You just like the sex a little too much!” Lucious grunted as he pulled her on top of him, and they began to make sweet love.

Long after Lucious was asleep, his face peacefully rested on Bianca’s bosom. Bianca opened her eyes and let out a silent sigh. How she wished she could let him know her true feelings, but she knew that would ruin things between them. Bianca couldn’t afford that. She couldn’t afford to lose him. This was the best man she had ever been with. Lucious Heron was one of the greatest of their kind, and even though he wasn’t her sire when he met her, he had an instant attraction to her, and they had clicked from that moment. Since then, Lucious had treated her with nothing less than perfection, even after the horrible mistakes she had made as a newborn vampire. How could one not love such a man?

She loved him with all her being, and she would do anything to keep him in her bed and by her side. Absolutely anything.

***

Alana opened her eyes. She glanced around the small, dark room, and her eyes rested on her brother, who was quietly sleeping on his own small bunk bed. She let out a sigh of relief. She was having one of those nightmares once more. When she saw her parents, they were trying to reach her, but somehow she couldn’t reach them. She was frozen. It happened like that for hours upon hours until she was able to pull herself out of the dream and wake up.

She sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. 3:15 am.

She smiled as she recalled how excited Ben had been to clean and set up the whole place. Arranging things hadn’t been a challenge for them as she had expected. Seems like her uncle had really expected their arrival.

The place was truly a miracle. Starting over here wouldn’t be so hard. Tomorrow, Alana would go job hunting. If she was going to support herself and Ben, she needed to earn some money. And good money, too.

She hoped her degree would get her a worthy job; New York was said to be, after all, the home of opportunities. Let’s hope there will be opportunities. She was about to go back to lying down when she heard a loud bang nearby. She stopped instantly, glancing toward the window because that was where the sound came from.

“What the hell is that...” she whispered to herself.

Slowly, she walked closer to the window, her heart beating frantically in her chest. She ignored the bead of sweat that was forming on her forehead. She was getting closer now. She gulped, trying to will her running heart down. It couldn’t be something bad. At most, a thief was getting caught. Or even an animal. A dog, maybe. Gathering the courage to know what was there, she slowly opened the window, the night’s fresh hair kissing her skin immediately.

At first, she didn’t notice anything. The street was a normal one, with tarred roads and nice buildings. Things were not rough or scattered like it was where they’d been living. Everything was neat here. It would be easy to see anything from up here. And she did see it now. It wasn’t clear before, but now she noticed a shadowy figure directly on the other side of their building. It looked like a man who had his back to her, his head looking big and abnormal somehow.

She pushed the window further, trying to get a good look at him, which must have caught his attention because, in a flash, he turned and directly faced her.

Alana’s heart jumped as they caught each other’s eyes. She couldn’t see him clearly because it was dark where he was standing, but she could see his eyes were an unusually dark shade of red. Almost terrifying.

Alana was truly curious to know who he was. Was he deformed? Did he have an accident? Why did he look all weird? Should she dare to wave her hand to him?

Just as she was contemplating, the figure slowly stepped out of the dark place and stepped into a brighter place, closer to Alana.

Alana gasped in shock as soon as he turned. It was not a human. It looked like a monster. A monster that was staring intently at her. It had noticed her!

She quickly closed the window, drew the curtains, and ran back to her bed with so much force that she hit her head on the frame. But she hardly noticed. All that was stuck in her head was the picture of what she just saw.

Hoping she wouldn’t hear another loud bang or worse, the thing wouldn’t come to attack her or her brother, she forced herself to go back to a dark, dreamless sleep.