Okay. So this is how it all happened. I was just leaving 6th period (History), when I heard it. I had been paying very close attention to all of the teachers and students in the 8th grade because something just didn’t seem right. But now it was happening and it was up to me to figure this all out. It came from the end of the hall. Mrs. Carmen’s room. Oh no, what have I gotten her into?
Within a second I was at her assistance. I smelled the stench of a bad blooded full on vampire. I was young compared to most vampires. I was also only a half vampire. I was nowhere near as strong as a full vampire. But let me tell you, I can fight. What I saw I couldn’t believe. Mrs. Carmen was trapped in a corner, her arms wrapped protectively around her 4 year old daughter. Her husband pinned down by an overly muscular man. The vampire was thirsty, I could tell. His fangs extended, his claws digging into his own skin. Blood dripping down the side of his head, I noticed. I tilted my head to the side, puzzled by
the bloody pencil lying on the floor. I straightened my head and realized that the blood on the pencil was the vampire’s. I grinned to myself. I should have known she wouldn’t have gone down without a fight. She glanced towards the door and saw me standing there. Then she suddenly became very uneasy and tears began to fall down her face. Then I realized that something was very wrong. The vampire turned around to face me.

“Emily, run! He will kill you!” Mrs. Carmen yelled franticly. Her faced looked so scared and it hurt me to see her this way. I forced myself to tear my eyes away from her and focused on the bloodthirsty vampire. I knew that the only way I could help these innocent humans was to destroy the threat. I crouched low and a surprisingly deep growl came from my chest. He crouched to, not taking his eyes off me. I glanced at the human that pinned down her husband, and I locked eyes with him. He gave me a nasty grin. I focused my attention on him and hypnotized him. I took over his mind and forced him to loosen his grip on her husband. Then I went to work.
Since I was a vampire, I could move very quickly, faster than the human eye could see. We vampires call this flash. I jumped high into the air, through the ceiling, and landed on a metal beam. I quickly crawled to a position where if the vampire came up too, I could quickly attack him. I was no way near as big and strong as this vampire, and he would use that to his advantage. I located the vampire’s position and jumped back down, and his face met my foot. I wrapped my legs around his waist and did a kind of backflip, which flipped him through the air and smashed his body into the concrete floor. Mrs. Carmen had pushed her daughter out the classroom door, but she still stood in the door frozen in place at what was taking place before her.

“Get out of here!” I yelled to her. Her shocked stare turned towards my face, and then I think that it all kicked in. She backed up, grabbed her daughter, and ran for her life.

The bad thing was the vampire followed her. He hissed at me and shoved me hard off of his back. I flew out the door of the classroom and into the cinder block wall across the hall. I moaned and used my hand to tilt my head down the hall. I saw Mrs. Carmen put her daughter into another classroom and closed the door. Then she backed up against the wall and glanced towards my direction, and gasped when she saw the pool of blood around my head. She began to stumble towards me, but then stopped when the vampire advanced towards her. He stalked her until they reached the very end of the hall. Then she did something that surprised me and the vampire. She stopped in her tracks, turned around, walked towards the vampire, and put her face right up in his. She whispered something I could not hear, and then the vampire backed up. He had a very shocked face. I was so confused.

I tried to move, but I could not. My neck, I realized, was broken. I was in a lot of pain. I reached my hands up and pressed my fingers against my skin and felt the broken bone. I took a deep breath and pushed the two pieces of bone together and snapped them in place. I cried out in pain. This feeling was so intense that I saw Mrs. Carmen kneel down beside me, and then everything went black.

When I awoke, I was lying on a couch in a cozy, warm house. I slowly and carefully moved my head, and found that it was possible and nearly painless. I gazed around the room. On one side there was a flat screen TV. On the wall opposite of that, there was an empty fireplace that looked a little to clean. I could not see the other wall because it was the one behind me. The room was well decorated but somehow it seemed empty. But for some reason it was comforting at the same time.
I forced myself to move. I pushed my legs over the side of the couch and sat up very cautiously and slowly, and found that I had a very painful migraine. I pushed that fact aside and decided to find out where the heck I was. I stood up and walked to the doorway of the room, the living room I presume. I found myself in a large kitchen. There was a good sized island in the middle of it, and on it, a note.
I walked to the counter and studied the note. It had my name on it. I picked it up slowly and unfolded it. It read:

Emily,
I am out to take my daughter to her grandmother’s house. If you have awoken before I am back, there is plenty to eat and drink in the fridge, help yourself. If you have a headache, there is some Tylenol in the bathroom down the hall, first door on the right. I will be back soon.





-Amy Carmen-

I folded the note back up and set it down exactly where it was before. I walked away from the kitchen and back into the living room. I looked around once more and saw a door that led to the outside. I quickly walked to it and unlocked it. I took a deep breath and opened the door and a rush of cool, dry air blew past me. I walked out onto the porch and locked the door behind me. It was dark out, so it made me wonder what time it was, and why she was dropping her daughter off at such a late time. I was barefoot and wore only a tank top and shorts. It felt so good outside, but it was only about 50 degrees. I slowly walked to the sidewalk in front of the house. I looked out at the other houses alongside the road, deciding which way was the best to go. I had to find my way back to my own house. I decided to go to the left. Then I began to walk.

I had been walking for a couple of hours now, and I realized that something was off. I stopped and a draft of air blew past me. I sniffed it and smelled something. It was not human, but it was not a vampire either. I turned around but it was useless, because it was pitch black and I could not see any-thing further than about 6 feet in front of me, even with my vampire sight. Gosh it would be nice to have the vision of a full vampire right now.
I heard a sort of sigh from this thing, and then I heard a thump. I strained my eyes and made out a vague shape in the distance. I walked towards it, but kind of crawled so that if it attacked, I would not be caught off guard. Once I got closer, I could finally tell what it was. It surprised me. I did not expect to find it in the middle of a field, hours away from civilization. It was a very beautiful, pure black stallion.
This gorgeous creature was close to death, I could tell. I knelt down to the poor thing, and I saw that it had been shot in the stomach. It was covered in blood. It must have gotten loose and wondered through the woods, and then got shot by a hunter who had mistaken it for a deer.
I was just about to put the animal out of its misery, when I had a thought. I had been alive for so long, and I had longed for a companion. I decided that I would turn this animal to a vampire. Just a single bite and a little bit of my blood, and this animal would begin to transform. I wanted to get this done quickly, I had to get this done quickly, before it was too late.
I bent my head down to its neck and sunk my teeth into its skin. It tried to wriggle free, but my strong arms clamped it down. I drunk a little bit of its blood and then pulled away. I felt around on the ground until my hands found a sharp rock. I picked it up, held my breath and slit my wrist. I then held my wrist above the wound and let the blood pour into it. Instantly, the wound began to heal. I ripped a little bit of the bottom of my shorts off and wrapped it around my bleeding wrist, knowing that it would heal soon.

I had been sitting by the horse for hours, watching it closely. It had been in so much pain, but the transformation was nearly complete. By now, my wrist was completely healed. I unwrapped it and found this to be true. I decided to head out and find this horse something to eat.
It was daylight now, and I saw that I was near the edge of some woods. Luckily, there was a doe there wondering around, sniffing the ground for food. I flashed to the front of the deer and before it could be spooked by me, I reached out and snapped its neck. It fell at my feet. I stopped all movement and closed my eyes. I hated killing, animals or humans, and I only did it when necessary.
I recollected myself and told myself repeatedly that this was necessary. I opened my eyes and lifted the deer into my arms. I then put it behind my head and onto my shoulders. I wondered back to the horse, which was now standing. I dropped the deer and looked at the horse, which was looking at me. It trotted over to me and pressed its nose to mine. I laughed and put my hand up against its head. My white skin contrasted against its black hair. I then decided to think of a name for her. I thought long and hard as the horse poked her nose at the deer, and then finally bit into it, drinking the warm, fresh blood.
I studied the horse more closely. She was black as night. Wait! That’s what I would name her. Night. I walked over to her and ran my hand down her back. Then I felt her legs. They were very muscular. She had finished eating and looked towards the end of the field. Her ears perked up. I walked up beside her and listened very closely. It was a hunter. I realized that we had to get out of here before we were seen.
“Come on, Night”, I said to her as I walked to her left side. “Let’s try this.”
I jumped up onto her back. She stirred a bit but did not complain. I pressed my hand in between her ears and tuned in with her mind. This way I could tell her do what I wished her to do. She could also tell me what she wanted to. I told her that we had to get out of here. She poked through my mind so that she could choose a safe place to go. She turned around and flashed into the woods

I did not know where she was taking me at first. Nothing looked familiar. We were in a town now, and people were staring at me.

“Where are you taking me?” I whispered to her. She cocked her head to the side and whinnied and then stopped. I hopped off of her back and looked around. Then I saw it.

We were at Mrs. Carmen’s house. I looked at Night and shook my head. “We can’t be here! I just walked miles and miles to get away from here!” I hissed at her. But she just shook her head and nudged me forward.

I sighed and turned around. It was hot out now, and the black, sticky tar burned my feet. I stepped up onto the cool, shaded concrete sidewalk and up the pathway the led to her front door. I

glanced over my shoulder at Night, and she had wondered off to the woods off the side of the road. I was almost afraid that she wouldn’t come back, but then I decided that I was just being ridiculous. She must have felt my fear, because she galloped back to me and lie down in the grass in the shade in front of me.

I smiled thankfully at her and went to the porch. I don’t know why, but my stomach was churning. I have never been so nervous in my life. I mean, would she tell anybody? Would she try to kill me? I have no way of knowing what would happen.

I swallowed my fear and raised my hand and knocked on the door. I heard footsteps and then a voice.

“Who is it?” a male voice asked. Her husband.

“Uhmm, this is Emily”, I said to him. My heart was beating out of my chest now.

“Emily?” I heard him whisper.

“Yeah……. I really need to talk to Amy. Is she home?” I heard the door being unlocked. It opened and a man appeared. When he was being held down by the vampire’s helper, I did not really see his face. He had handsome features, and he was very young, in his early twenties at the most. He had dark brown hair and sideswiped bangs.

“Yeah she’s home I’ll find her, but take it easy, she’s a little off if you know what I mean. She was so scared and she doesn’t know what to think………” he murmured as he wondered off into the house. I walked inside the door, glanced at Night one more time, and then shut the door.
I wondered into the familiar room, and look around once more at the large flat screen TV and the unused fireplace. I sat on a small, soft chair in the corner. It was out of the light and was surprisingly hard to see. Then Mrs. Carmen came into the room. She was tall, a bit overweight, around 30, but very pretty. She was one of those people who weren’t fat, but she wasn’t skinny either.

She looked terrible, not meaning to be rude, but it’s true. Even though I was almost invisible in the little corner, she looked straight at me. Not saying a word, she walked towards me and reached for my hand. I put it in hers and she pulled gently telling me to get up. She led me to the front door and out onto the pathway that I had used to come in. Night was standing now, and she was a little tense but then relaxed when I told her it was alright. Mrs. Carmen walked towards her, and stroked her head. Night did not move, but she did not back away either.

“Can we go elsewhere to talk?” she asked me, stepping away from Night and towards me.

“Yeah sure” I told her. I was not sure where this was going. “Where is elsewhere?”

“Where you found her” she pointed to Night.

“Okay.”

I walked to Night and lifted Mrs. Carmen up onto her back. Then I jumped on behind her. I pressed my hand to her body and told her where to go, but she needn’t me to tell her. She knew exactly where we should go. Then she started off.

We arrived at the edge of the woods, exactly where I found Night.


“Okay I think you have some questions to answer” I told her. I felt like my voice was a little too harsh, but I was not sure.

“Indeed. But I believe you have questions to answer of your own. Let’s just make this easier. You ask me a question I give you an answer. I ask you a question, you give me an answer” she said.

“Okay well here’s my first question. How did you know that this was the place that I found Night?” This was what I was wondering the whole entire trip here.

“And this is my answer. She told me.”

I looked at Night and then back at Mrs. Carmen. “But how could she have told you? And how do you know about vampires? Are you……………….”

“It is my turn to ask the question now” she interrupted. “How old are you?”

“14.” I answered.

“Em, you know what I mean.”

“I tend to stay away from this question” I muttered. “Most people freak out when I tell them.”

“You are not cooperating with me.”

“Fine. I’m 450. Give or take a few years.”

I think she was shocked at this fact. She did not expect me to be so old.

“Well that explains why you’re so stubborn. 450 years of practice and counting.” She laughed to herself.


“Oh so now you’re full of jokes are you?” I asked her.

“Yes I am a bit sarcastic at times. Well now I get to ask you another question.”

“That’s not fair you know. That wasn’t a fair question.” I was getting very frustrated with her. I looked at Night who was now lying down on the ground looking back and forth between us. I went over to her and plopped myself on the ground by her stomach. I leaned back and stretched out my stiff, sore body on her in defeat. I lay on her and close my eyes.

“Ask what you wish” Mrs. Carmen said to me. She sat down on the ground and leaned up against a large tree.

“Why didn’t you freak out when you found out what I was?” I asked her, I hoped she would give me a detailed answer.

“You are not the first vampire I have ever met. I married one once. We got divorced though. He got tired of me I suppose.” She told me. She seemed almost not to be talking to me, but to herself.

“I’m sorry” I told her. I felt bad now. “But I have another question.” I was curious about so many things, and I felt it should have been the other way around. I was the vampire after all.

“Go ahead” she said to me.

“What did you say to the vampire that day that made him back off?”

“Well he was my ex-husband’s brother. My ex’s name was Sam by the way. Anyway, for some reason, everyone in Sam’s family thought he was dead, and I know that this is not true, so I simply told him this and he backed away and ran off. It’s a shame really.”


“Why do they all think he is dead?”

“It’s complicated,” she told me. She looked ashamed for some reason, and it made me even more curious.

“Come on, you can tell me.” I urged her.

“Fine you really want to know? Is it really that important? Well if you must know, they thought that I killed him!!” she screamed at me. She got up and stared at me. She was mad and I wasn’t sure what to do at this point.

“I’m sorry….” I murmured softly. I was good with soothing nerves. But not this time.

“Yeah they all are. That’s all everyone has to say.” She walked away talking to herself. She wondered into the woods on her own, which worried me.

I got up and Night got up with me. We started into the woods to find her. We were practically invisible and it was nearly impossible to hear us, even with a giant, black horse.

We got to a clearing and I saw Mrs. Carmen sitting in the middle of it, dried tears on her face. I walked over to her quietly and walked to the front of her. I sat down right there and crossed my legs just like her. I looked right into her eyes and tried to tune in with her mind. But she kept pushing me away. I flinched. Ouch! That actually hurts.

“I’ve been hypnotized before and I’ve learned to build a wall. I’m not going to do what you want me to,” she said to me very sternly.



“I wasn’t going to hypnotize you,” I muttered. I rubbed my temples because I had another headache now.

“Then what would a vampire want to get in a human’s mind for? All there good at is making people do what they want them to do.” That hurt.

“Not all of us are the same, you know.” I was getting angry now.

“Not one vampire has ever proven that to me. All they have proven is they are lying cheaters and they always use you. They are all liars.”

“That’s not a fair accusation. You haven’t even given me a chance.” I was almost in tears. I had a secret I was dying to tell her. But she was ruining everything.

“Trust is earned Em, not given. And you have not earned my trust. I have been hurt too bad to trust you.”

“What have I ever done to you?” I exploded. “God now I remember why I never tell a human what I am! They always break your heart, freak out, or do this! And I thought you were different. And since you know so much about vampires, then you should know about this. I gave you everything from the beginning. I saved your life, and risked my own. When you brought me to your house, I did leave, but I came back! I mean, how I could have not earned your trust, that’s the mystery to be solved. But I did all this because………” I stopped. I didn’t know if I could tell her.

“Because what Em?” she whispered. Silent tears fell down her face.

“Because I’m your Protector,” I said to her in almost a completely silent whisper.

Okay. So your probably wondering what a Protector is. Well a Protector is a vampire that forms a strong bond with a human. This human is their life now. They do everything they possibly can to physically and mentally protect this human, hence the word Protector. But they do more than just protect this person. They do their best to make them happy. But there is a catch to being a Protector. It means that it is near the end of your life. Because when that human dies, so do you.