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"Ugh." It had been a long night for me. I had stayed up until my usual time to get off my shift. Only this time I had to run around, climbing up and down three story buildings, with someone following me. And I had to teach them as well. God, what a productive night. And a very tiring one as well.

Not to mention I also had to haul him around with me when the sun was up. I had to admit, though, going to the town always made me happier.

However, going to the town didn't mean that I got an extra four hours of sleep.

I was exhausted. I can't believe that the Chairman would make me do this. I swore to myself that second that I would find some way to get back at him when I was less disoriented.

With that, I pulled out my books and tried to get the rather small amount of homework done. The plan didn't go too well though. I caught myself drifting off into sleep when I was writing.

"Okay, enough," I said out loud to myself. "You can hardly see straight, so what's even the point of you doing your homework? Just do it in the morning, I always have time. Thank God that it's Friday tomorrow. I don't know what I'd do."

I had successfully convinced myself to put the books and paper down and go to sleep. It wasn't a hard argument to win, not in my condition right now. I left everything on my desk so that it would be ready and waiting for me in the morning. Ugh. I didn't want to think about work. The only thing on my mind anymore seemed to be sleep. But how could anyone blame me?

I got out of my night uniform and pulled on a pair of comfortable sweats and a small tank top. I turned out my bedside lamp and pulled myself under the covers of my warm bed. The comfortable, sinking feeling was too much for my mind to resist; it didn't want to anyway. Another few seconds passed before I settled into a dreamless sleep.

--

The shrill beeping of my alarm woke me up. My hand flopped around on the bedside table until I eventually hit the button to make it stop. I pulled my hand back to me and under the covers. It was so much warmer. It was still dark outside, and it was so warm in my bed; why did I have to get up?

I sighed, wishing I was able to stop time and sleep for a while longer. But I pulled myself out of my bed and stood, stretching. I stumbled over to my desk, sat down, and blinked at the papers and books on the surface for a second. Then I remembered why they were there. I sighed again, flipping on the lamp and continuing my homework from last night.

I got it done in about 15 minutes, so it wasn't too bad, but I would've been much happier if I had had none at all. I grumbled about it as I dressed for school. I almost left my jacket on my chair, but I remembered that it might be a little chilly today. I threw it on, grabbed my bag and books and left, locking the door behind me.

I was wondering if I could sit with my somewhat-friends again today, but as soon as I walked out of the dormitory, something caught my eye. There was a figure leaning against the stone column of the building, like they were waiting for someone. I turned and looked at them as a natural reaction.

He caught my eye as well and smiled a big, white smile. James.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him as well. "Hey, what's up?" I said, my voice sounding a little strange after sleeping.

"Good morning, Dawn. How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Eh, well, if I hadn't had to climb around on the buildings last night, I probably would've felt like I got more sleep. But that probably doesn't matter, because I always complain about being tired," I replied, smiling at my stupidity.

"Oh, sorry," James muttered. "I didn't know that you would get so little sleep. If I had known that then I would've asked if you could help me out on the weekend instead of the weeknight."

I shook my head and smiled up at him. "Hey, no problem. It's actually probably good that you made me do that because I haven't been running around this place much, and I didn't know if my muscles could take it," I laughed. He broke a smile as well. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast." We turned and headed off towards the cafeteria.

As we ate together James asked me how long I had been doing night runs and climbing buildings like I had last night.

I had to think about it for a little bit. "Well, I guess for a while. I mean, I would sneak out of my parent's house and run around outside at night. Of course, there were drunks and creeps around, so you had to know how to move quickly and get out of the way. And useless police that wandered around, saying that they were there to keep the bad people out of the streets, but they didn't do anything but get drunk," I said sourly. "So I learned how to jump around and climb pretty young. I had to get over fences and onto roofs to get away from the people and sometimes dogs."

"Huh, wow, it must've been pretty hard for you, that young," James said, off in his own thoughts, trying to see himself young and doing all that.

I gave a cruel smile. "It doesn't matter if it's hard, when you do stuff like that and grow up like I did, you learn quickly. You don't really get that many chances to mess up and throw away. The kids who couldn't learn either stayed inside or got seriously hurt trying. Some even died," I mumbled, remembering a girl I used to hang out with in the small hours of the night. We had climbed onto the church's steeple, not that anyone ever went to church in the town, and was showing off. She couldn't steady herself, and ended up slipping and falling. Her body was found the next morning. It had made me take extra caution from then on.

James was quiet then, like he was sorry for me. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Did you think I was attached to any of them? You also learned that; don't get attached because your friend might die from stupidity. Or maybe that was just me," I said with a joking smile.

James shook his head and smiled a little nervously, but other than that everything was normal. We finished eating and headed out to our first class, English/Writing. We coasted through the day, meeting up at the study hall after our P.E. classes. I got most of my homework done, helping James out a little with his. We had gotten a lecture in first hour, so there were no essays to write. I was so happy I could almost cry. In the last 10 minutes I was able to finish the rest of my homework up, and headed over to my dorm to put my bag and books there for the rest of the day.

James did the same with his things and we met up with each other at the school's fountain, more or less in the center of the school grounds. There were soft patches of grass, neat and perfectly cut, bordering the sidewalks that made a four-way intersection at the fountain with a few benches. There were some bushes growing bright and colorful flowers. I didn't know what most of them were except for the roses, which in my opinion were the prettiest.

We sat on the edge of the fountain and talked for a little bit, about nothing in particular. It began to get darker, and we made some comments about going back soon but otherwise continued our conversation. I said I had to go when I could clearly see the small sliver of the moon start to shine through the clouds. He said he had to call his family anyways to tell them how he was doing.

"Okay then I'll see you tomorrow," I said, giving him a goodbye hug. Ugh, school again tomorrow.

"I think you should sleep in tomorrow. After all we don't have school," he said, pulling away and looking down at me.

"What? Really?" I asked, confused.

He looked into my eyes, looking a little confused. "Yeah, tomorrow's Saturday. It's Friday today?" he said in a question, probably wondering if I could keep up.

"Oh," I said, disconnected. "Okay, well, we should hang out tomorrow then."

"Yeah, definitely. Bye!" he said as he walked away.

I looked at his back when he walked away. He had broad shoulders, but his body's curves were smooth from his head to his feet. I wished I looked as graceful as that.

I turned away from James's back and started walking down one of the sidewalks. I wandered around for a while. My feet ended up taking me to the vampire dorm. I decided why not?, and walked through the gate into the dorm. I ran my hands over my skirt to flatten it out and brushed my sleeves.

I peered through the heavy door to see if anyone was there. To my surprise, Damien was lying on one of the couches, one leg and arm off while his other arm was above his head. His eyes were closed like he was thinking about something or just taking a break.

I smiled shyly and slid myself though the doors. I walked quietly towards him. I was getting ready to strike him so scare him awake, but I saw a smile crack on his face. A second later, he was sitting up with me on his lap and his arms around me. I had no idea how it happened. He turned his head into my neck and kissed me. I blushed.

He inhaled deeply and sighed, saying, "Oh, I've missed you. You always smell amazing to me." He shifted me in his lap so I could look into his dangerously maroon eyes. A delighted smile was on his lips, and it made me smile and blush even more. His eyes slowly looked over my face before returning to look deeply into my eyes. "So how was your day?"

"Pretty good," I said, raising my eyebrows. "How about your's?"

He leaned his head into my hair and inhaled again. "Much better, now that you're here," he said as he exhaled.

"Haha, I doubt that," I said, but it still made me smile and feel good.

"Don't doubt because it's true," he mumbled into my hair. My neck was getting warm from his breathing.

I rested my cheek on top of his head and closed my eyes, letting the loving feeling grow and spread. One of his hands trailed down my leg, grabbing me at the knees as he half picked me up and half slid me so I was lying on the couch under him. I wasn't sure how comfortable the couch normally was, but right now it felt perfect.

He laid his head just below my neck, but not on my chest. He put a protective arm around my stomach and put his leg over mine. He turned his head and kissed my collarbone, lulling me to sleep.

God, it just felt so good, so perfect. Like it was meant to be, but breaking all the rules in the process of being right. It felt amazing to be shown such care in such a small move.

His lips and hair tickled my collarbone, and I realized he was turning his head up to look at me. I looked at him with soft, sleepy eyes and a smile.

He looked at me with care, his eyes tired like mine and the same small smile. He pushed himself up to be hovering just a few inches from my face. He looked into my eyes seriously for a few seconds. I got lost in his eyes, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop myself with him. He leaned closer and kissed me so passionately. I felt his fingers lightly run down the side of my face. I reached my hands up and held his face, kissing back. He put his whole hand on my face, then put his body on mine and adding his other hand.

We continued for a while and somehow he moved his hands from my face to around my waist. He slowly turned us around so he was on the bottom and I was on top of him. This time he kept one hand around me while the other went back to my face. He caressed my face with his thumb, then pulled back slowly. I laid my head on his shoulder and looked at him, wondering if he pulled away because he didn't want this.

His eyes disproved my thoughts. He seemed to have made me sleepy while we kissed. When he saw that I was tired he just gave a small chuckle and leaned into my head, kissing my ear and whispering, "Go ahead, you need to rest. I won't leave, I won't ever leave you. . ."

I smiled, moved my head just under his chin and started to drift off. He left his arm wrapped around my waist and stroked my hair with his other hand. I inhaled his smell one last time, then let go of consciousness.

--

I blinked my eyes open, using more energy than I thought was right to open my eyes. It was dark, though I could feel Damien under me, breathing in and out regularly. I moved my head a little bit and looked at his face. Totally asleep.

Moving very carefully, I pulled myself off of him and the couch. I looked at his sleeping face and smiled. It was so innocent and just . . . hot. I leaned over and kissed him.

"Mhm, leaving already?" he mumbled sleepily when I pulled away.

I looked at him and smiled. "Sorry, but I have to get going. Really. I'm pretty sure the Chairman wouldn't like it if I stayed here for the night."

"Oh, well you've already been here most of the night. And besides, how would he know?" He looked up at me and a smile broke on his face. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, well, then I'll see you sometime later."

"Okay, bye," I said, turning to leave.

"Hey," he mumbled, "get back here. I want another goodbye kiss." He smiled and puckered his lips. I laughed quietly and leaned down, meeting his lips and making the kiss last.

I pulled away and Damien whispered, "Damn, I really wish you didn't have to go. Or that I could at least go with you." He looked at me longingly.

"Sorry, but you can't. No coming into the girl's dorm room, not to mention my room, haha," I laughed. I turned and walked out the heavy oak doors, closing them gently. I ran down the cement path and jumped onto the metal gates, crawling over them and landing on the other side.

I started walking off to my dorm room, staying in the shadows. It was pretty easy because there were so many trees and open hallways. I got to my room and pulled my school shirt off, throwing on a long-sleeved black shirt on. I pulled my stockings higher, trying to keep my legs warm. I pulled my low boots on and zipped them up. I went to my closet and turned the light on, rummaging around the stuff. Eventually I pulled out the small hiking backpack I was looking for.

I looked through all of the pockets, finding that everything was still in there; a little bit of food, some knives, a dagger or two, rope, a dark shawl with a hood, and a 7 foot whip rolled up. I closed the pockets up, pulling out a knife and laying it on my desk for later. On the outside of the backpack, in the middle, were two batons, easy to pull out and put back in the loops holding them. I grabbed the pistol holster and threw it over me like a vest, pulling my arms through. There were two buckles on it to keep it in place, one just above my chest and one just under. I clipped them shut and pulled them tight. I slid the pistols in their holders, throwing in a few clips of ammo into the small backpack.

Sighing, I walked over to the door, grabbing the knife off the desk on my way out. I clipped the knife into its sheath on the holster and threw the backpack on as I walked out, locking the door.

I walked past the tall buildings, moving silently. I didn't make a sound and I wasn't noticed by anything that might've been on the campus. I looked up into the night, guessing that it was about 3:00am. I didn't care, I always liked the night. As I made my way off the campus, nervously glancing back even though I knew nothing was there, I clipped the three buckles the backpack had. Some people didn't like having so many restraints, but it made me comfortable knowing that I wouldn't lose my backpack or holster if it were chained to me.

I crept off the school campus, constantly looking around me. The dark was a perfect cover, but I was always worried about someone seeing me. I walked down the street, seeing the lights of the town shining. The people were probably celebrating getting through another week of work. I bet that most of the people up still were some of the students at the Academy. I didn't care if they were at bars, which most of them would be, it was the weekend, out of my hands. I wouldn't have cared even if it was still the weekday.

Although the backpack straps somewhat covered the holster, the handle of the guns and knife could still be seen, and if someone looked hard enough, they would be able to tell what they were even though the whole holster blended with my clothes. I folded my arms and brought my shoulders up, looking like I was huddling from the cold even though it was pretty warm.

I walked through the streets of the town, noticing some of my classmates too drunk or high to see anything two feet from their noses. It made me smile seeing how stupid they could be like that. But that wasn't why I was here.

I turned down the back alleyways, either scattering a skittish group of kids or walking through a few sleeping hobos. I was thinking I would be good for the night, I just wanted to go through a few more alleyways before going on my own. I casually walked down them, keeping my shoulders hunched and looking around at the buildings around me.

Then I heard it, a few soft steps, ahead and to the right; at the alleyway's intersection. I slowed my steps, walking like I was enjoying the view of the rundown buildings. I walked over to the brick wall closest to where the sound had been. I leaned against the wall, looking up at the stars and let myself have a slight smile. I sighed slightly, my breath rising up in steam, a little surprised that it was cold enough for that.

I heard a man's sigh, just on the other side of the building. I saw wispy white breath rise in my peripherals.

I clicked my tongue and smirked, sliding my hand down to grab my knife's handle. "Didn't I tell you to leave and stay away from here?" I asked the night.

A raspy man's voice replied with a slight laugh. "Can't blame me too much, there's not really anywhere else to go near here with so many customers."

"Oh, I understand that. But I meant for you to go somewhere else entirely. Like, a country away. At the least."

"There's no where else that has this many customers with so little law enforcement; here's the perfect place to sell. It's too hard to give up."

"What about your life?" I asked, questioning the stars.

"What do you mean?" the man asked, coughing a little.

"Is your life hard to give up? Because you did just that by not leaving," I said, sliding the knife out and slinging my arm around the corner, feeling the blade cut through flesh, probably an arm. The man hissed and pulled away, ripping himself from the blade.

I rounded the corner, pulling the blade up to my face protectively and reaching to my gun with my other hand. I gripped the gun but didn't pull it out just yet. "Too bad you had to come back around, 'cause now I'm gonna have to make sure you never come back here."

He had his back pressed up against the dead-end brick wall. He was breathing heavily and had a bloody cut on his shoulder on his white button-up long-sleeve shirt. His dirty blond hair was greasy and starting to fall in front of his face. His clothes and face were dirty; he'd probably been wearing them for a week, maybe more. His eyes were full of pain and frustration and anger and rage. He bared his teeth, trying to keep his emotions in check, and failing. His pale skin was covered in dirt.

He growled at me, fangs apparent, and spat at me, missing by quite a few feet. "Fuck you, what do you think you can do, huh? You're just a stupid high school girl, you can't stop all of us. I hope you die from bein' stabbed by a rusted knife!"

My eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I doubt that'll happen. I'm hard to kill, asshole, but you aren't." I whipped my gun out of the holster and shot a few times. I hit him five times; shoulder, two in the chest, the other shoulder, and the head. He fell to the ground, eyes rolled up and fingers twitching a little. I stalked over to him, poising my gun and knife at the ready. I walked up another few steps slowly, then kneeled next to him. I looked at his eyes quickly.

"Shit," I whispered under my breath, trying to push myself up and back away. As I was moving I slashed my knife at his throat. I felt it make contact, but it wasn't deep enough.

I staggered backwards as he lifted himself up. "Shit, shit, shit," I muttered. "Damn, why don't you guys just stay dead?!" I yelled at him.

He turned his head towards me, teeth bared in what looked like a sadistic smile, eyes bright red. "Because it pisses you off. You're dead, girl," he growled in a deep voice, then lunged at me.

Description
"Ugh." It had been a long night for me. I had stayed up until my usual time to get off my shift. Only this time I had to run around, climbing up and down three story buildings, with someone following me. And I had to teach them as well. God, what a productive night. And a very tiring one as well.

Not to mention I also had to haul him around with me when the sun was up. I had to admit, though, going to the town always made me happier.

However, going to the town didn't mean that I got an extra four hours of sleep.

I was exhausted. I can't believe that the Chairman would make me do this. I swore to myself that second that I would find some way to get back at him when I was less disoriented.

With that, I pulled out my books and tried to get the rather small amount of homework done. The plan didn't go too well though. I caught myself drifting off into sleep when I was writing.

"Okay, enough," I said out loud to myself. "You can hardly see straight, so what's even the point of you doing your homework? Just do it in the morning, I always have time. Thank God that it's Friday tomorrow. I don't know what I'd do."

I had successfully convinced myself to put the books and paper down and go to sleep. It wasn't a hard argument to win, not in my condition right now. I left everything on my desk so that it would be ready and waiting for me in the morning. Ugh. I didn't want to think about work. The only thing on my mind anymore seemed to be sleep. But how could anyone blame me?

I got out of my night uniform and pulled on a pair of comfortable sweats and a small tank top. I turned out my bedside lamp and pulled myself under the covers of my warm bed. The comfortable, sinking feeling was too much for my mind to resist; it didn't want to anyway. Another few seconds passed before I settled into a dreamless sleep.

--

The shrill beeping of my alarm woke me up. My hand flopped around on the bedside table until I eventually hit the button to make it stop. I pulled my hand back to me and under the covers. It was so much warmer. It was still dark outside, and it was so warm in my bed; why did I have to get up?

I sighed, wishing I was able to stop time and sleep for a while longer. But I pulled myself out of my bed and stood, stretching. I stumbled over to my desk, sat down, and blinked at the papers and books on the surface for a second. Then I remembered why they were there. I sighed again, flipping on the lamp and continuing my homework from last night.

I got it done in about 15 minutes, so it wasn't too bad, but I would've been much happier if I had had none at all. I grumbled about it as I dressed for school. I almost left my jacket on my chair, but I remembered that it might be a little chilly today. I threw it on, grabbed my bag and books and left, locking the door behind me.

I was wondering if I could sit with my somewhat-friends again today, but as soon as I walked out of the dormitory, something caught my eye. There was a figure leaning against the stone column of the building, like they were waiting for someone. I turned and looked at them as a natural reaction.

He caught my eye as well and smiled a big, white smile. James.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him as well. "Hey, what's up?" I said, my voice sounding a little strange after sleeping.

"Good morning, Dawn. How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Eh, well, if I hadn't had to climb around on the buildings last night, I probably would've felt like I got more sleep. But that probably doesn't matter, because I always complain about being tired," I replied, smiling at my stupidity.

"Oh, sorry," James muttered. "I didn't know that you would get so little sleep. If I had known that then I would've asked if you could help me out on the weekend instead of the weeknight."

I shook my head and smiled up at him. "Hey, no problem. It's actually probably good that you made me do that because I haven't been running around this place much, and I didn't know if my muscles could take it," I laughed. He broke a smile as well. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast." We turned and headed off towards the cafeteria.

As we ate together James asked me how long I had been doing night runs and climbing buildings like I had last night.

I had to think about it for a little bit. "Well, I guess for a while. I mean, I would sneak out of my parent's house and run around outside at night. Of course, there were drunks and creeps around, so you had to know how to move quickly and get out of the way. And useless police that wandered around, saying that they were there to keep the bad people out of the streets, but they didn't do anything but get drunk," I said sourly. "So I learned how to jump around and climb pretty young. I had to get over fences and onto roofs to get away from the people and sometimes dogs."

"Huh, wow, it must've been pretty hard for you, that young," James said, off in his own thoughts, trying to see himself young and doing all that.

I gave a cruel smile. "It doesn't matter if it's hard, when you do stuff like that and grow up like I did, you learn quickly. You don't really get that many chances to mess up and throw away. The kids who couldn't learn either stayed inside or got seriously hurt trying. Some even died," I mumbled, remembering a girl I used to hang out with in the small hours of the night. We had climbed onto the church's steeple, not that anyone ever went to church in the town, and was showing off. She couldn't steady herself, and ended up slipping and falling. Her body was found the next morning. It had made me take extra caution from then on.

James was quiet then, like he was sorry for me. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Did you think I was attached to any of them? You also learned that; don't get attached because your friend might die from stupidity. Or maybe that was just me," I said with a joking smile.

James shook his head and smiled a little nervously, but other than that everything was normal. We finished eating and headed out to our first class, English/Writing. We coasted through the day, meeting up at the study hall after our P.E. classes. I got most of my homework done, helping James out a little with his. We had gotten a lecture in first hour, so there were no essays to write. I was so happy I could almost cry. In the last 10 minutes I was able to finish the rest of my homework up, and headed over to my dorm to put my bag and books there for the rest of the day.

James did the same with his things and we met up with each other at the school's fountain, more or less in the center of the school grounds. There were soft patches of grass, neat and perfectly cut, bordering the sidewalks that made a four-way intersection at the fountain with a few benches. There were some bushes growing bright and colorful flowers. I didn't know what most of them were except for the roses, which in my opinion were the prettiest.

We sat on the edge of the fountain and talked for a little bit, about nothing in particular. It began to get darker, and we made some comments about going back soon but otherwise continued our conversation. I said I had to go when I could clearly see the small sliver of the moon start to shine through the clouds. He said he had to call his family anyways to tell them how he was doing.

"Okay then I'll see you tomorrow," I said, giving him a goodbye hug. Ugh, school again tomorrow.

"I think you should sleep in tomorrow. After all we don't have school," he said, pulling away and looking down at me.

"What? Really?" I asked, confused.

He looked into my eyes, looking a little confused. "Yeah, tomorrow's Saturday. It's Friday today?" he said in a question, probably wondering if I could keep up.

"Oh," I said, disconnected. "Okay, well, we should hang out tomorrow then."

"Yeah, definitely. Bye!" he said as he walked away.

I looked at his back when he walked away. He had broad shoulders, but his body's curves were smooth from his head to his feet. I wished I looked as graceful as that.

I turned away from James's back and started walking down one of the sidewalks. I wandered around for a while. My feet ended up taking me to the vampire dorm. I decided why not?, and walked through the gate into the dorm. I ran my hands over my skirt to flatten it out and brushed my sleeves.

I peered through the heavy door to see if anyone was there. To my surprise, Damien was lying on one of the couches, one leg and arm off while his other arm was above his head. His eyes were closed like he was thinking about something or just taking a break.

I smiled shyly and slid myself though the doors. I walked quietly towards him. I was getting ready to strike him so scare him awake, but I saw a smile crack on his face. A second later, he was sitting up with me on his lap and his arms around me. I had no idea how it happened. He turned his head into my neck and kissed me. I blushed.

He inhaled deeply and sighed, saying, "Oh, I've missed you. You always smell amazing to me." He shifted me in his lap so I could look into his dangerously maroon eyes. A delighted smile was on his lips, and it made me smile and blush even more. His eyes slowly looked over my face before returning to look deeply into my eyes. "So how was your day?"

"Pretty good," I said, raising my eyebrows. "How about your's?"

He leaned his head into my hair and inhaled again. "Much better, now that you're here," he said as he exhaled.

"Haha, I doubt that," I said, but it still made me smile and feel good.

"Don't doubt because it's true," he mumbled into my hair. My neck was getting warm from his breathing.

I rested my cheek on top of his head and closed my eyes, letting the loving feeling grow and spread. One of his hands trailed down my leg, grabbing me at the knees as he half picked me up and half slid me so I was lying on the couch under him. I wasn't sure how comfortable the couch normally was, but right now it felt perfect.

He laid his head just below my neck, but not on my chest. He put a protective arm around my stomach and put his leg over mine. He turned his head and kissed my collarbone, lulling me to sleep.

God, it just felt so good, so perfect. Like it was meant to be, but breaking all the rules in the process of being right. It felt amazing to be shown such care in such a small move.

His lips and hair tickled my collarbone, and I realized he was turning his head up to look at me. I looked at him with soft, sleepy eyes and a smile.

He looked at me with care, his eyes tired like mine and the same small smile. He pushed himself up to be hovering just a few inches from my face. He looked into my eyes seriously for a few seconds. I got lost in his eyes, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop myself with him. He leaned closer and kissed me so passionately. I felt his fingers lightly run down the side of my face. I reached my hands up and held his face, kissing back. He put his whole hand on my face, then put his body on mine and adding his other hand.

We continued for a while and somehow he moved his hands from my face to around my waist. He slowly turned us around so he was on the bottom and I was on top of him. This time he kept one hand around me while the other went back to my face. He caressed my face with his thumb, then pulled back slowly. I laid my head on his shoulder and looked at him, wondering if he pulled away because he didn't want this.

His eyes disproved my thoughts. He seemed to have made me sleepy while we kissed. When he saw that I was tired he just gave a small chuckle and leaned into my head, kissing my ear and whispering, "Go ahead, you need to rest. I won't leave, I won't ever leave you. . ."

I smiled, moved my head just under his chin and started to drift off. He left his arm wrapped around my waist and stroked my hair with his other hand. I inhaled his smell one last time, then let go of consciousness.

--

I blinked my eyes open, using more energy than I thought was right to open my eyes. It was dark, though I could feel Damien under me, breathing in and out regularly. I moved my head a little bit and looked at his face. Totally asleep.

Moving very carefully, I pulled myself off of him and the couch. I looked at his sleeping face and smiled. It was so innocent and just . . . hot. I leaned over and kissed him.

"Mhm, leaving already?" he mumbled sleepily when I pulled away.

I looked at him and smiled. "Sorry, but I have to get going. Really. I'm pretty sure the Chairman wouldn't like it if I stayed here for the night."

"Oh, well you've already been here most of the night. And besides, how would he know?" He looked up at me and a smile broke on his face. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, well, then I'll see you sometime later."

"Okay, bye," I said, turning to leave.

"Hey," he mumbled, "get back here. I want another goodbye kiss." He smiled and puckered his lips. I laughed quietly and leaned down, meeting his lips and making the kiss last.

I pulled away and Damien whispered, "Damn, I really wish you didn't have to go. Or that I could at least go with you." He looked at me longingly.

"Sorry, but you can't. No coming into the girl's dorm room, not to mention my room, haha," I laughed. I turned and walked out the heavy oak doors, closing them gently. I ran down the cement path and jumped onto the metal gates, crawling over them and landing on the other side.

I started walking off to my dorm room, staying in the shadows. It was pretty easy because there were so many trees and open hallways. I got to my room and pulled my school shirt off, throwing on a long-sleeved black shirt on. I pulled my stockings higher, trying to keep my legs warm. I pulled my low boots on and zipped them up. I went to my closet and turned the light on, rummaging around the stuff. Eventually I pulled out the small hiking backpack I was looking for.

I looked through all of the pockets, finding that everything was still in there; a little bit of food, some knives, a dagger or two, rope, a dark shawl with a hood, and a 7 foot whip rolled up. I closed the pockets up, pulling out a knife and laying it on my desk for later. On the outside of the backpack, in the middle, were two batons, easy to pull out and put back in the loops holding them. I grabbed the pistol holster and threw it over me like a vest, pulling my arms through. There were two buckles on it to keep it in place, one just above my chest and one just under. I clipped them shut and pulled them tight. I slid the pistols in their holders, throwing in a few clips of ammo into the small backpack.

Sighing, I walked over to the door, grabbing the knife off the desk on my way out. I clipped the knife into its sheath on the holster and threw the backpack on as I walked out, locking the door.

I walked past the tall buildings, moving silently. I didn't make a sound and I wasn't noticed by anything that might've been on the campus. I looked up into the night, guessing that it was about 3:00am. I didn't care, I always liked the night. As I made my way off the campus, nervously glancing back even though I knew nothing was there, I clipped the three buckles the backpack had. Some people didn't like having so many restraints, but it made me comfortable knowing that I wouldn't lose my backpack or holster if it were chained to me.

I crept off the school campus, constantly looking around me. The dark was a perfect cover, but I was always worried about someone seeing me. I walked down the street, seeing the lights of the town shining. The people were probably celebrating getting through another week of work. I bet that most of the people up still were some of the students at the Academy. I didn't care if they were at bars, which most of them would be, it was the weekend, out of my hands. I wouldn't have cared even if it was still the weekday.

Although the backpack straps somewhat covered the holster, the handle of the guns and knife could still be seen, and if someone looked hard enough, they would be able to tell what they were even though the whole holster blended with my clothes. I folded my arms and brought my shoulders up, looking like I was huddling from the cold even though it was pretty warm.

I walked through the streets of the town, noticing some of my classmates too drunk or high to see anything two feet from their noses. It made me smile seeing how stupid they could be like that. But that wasn't why I was here.

I turned down the back alleyways, either scattering a skittish group of kids or walking through a few sleeping hobos. I was thinking I would be good for the night, I just wanted to go through a few more alleyways before going on my own. I casually walked down them, keeping my shoulders hunched and looking around at the buildings around me.

Then I heard it, a few soft steps, ahead and to the right; at the alleyway's intersection. I slowed my steps, walking like I was enjoying the view of the rundown buildings. I walked over to the brick wall closest to where the sound had been. I leaned against the wall, looking up at the stars and let myself have a slight smile. I sighed slightly, my breath rising up in steam, a little surprised that it was cold enough for that.

I heard a man's sigh, just on the other side of the building. I saw wispy white breath rise in my peripherals.

I clicked my tongue and smirked, sliding my hand down to grab my knife's handle. "Didn't I tell you to leave and stay away from here?" I asked the night.

A raspy man's voice replied with a slight laugh. "Can't blame me too much, there's not really anywhere else to go near here with so many customers."

"Oh, I understand that. But I meant for you to go somewhere else entirely. Like, a country away. At the least."

"There's no where else that has this many customers with so little law enforcement; here's the perfect place to sell. It's too hard to give up."

"What about your life?" I asked, questioning the stars.

"What do you mean?" the man asked, coughing a little.

"Is your life hard to give up? Because you did just that by not leaving," I said, sliding the knife out and slinging my arm around the corner, feeling the blade cut through flesh, probably an arm. The man hissed and pulled away, ripping himself from the blade.

I rounded the corner, pulling the blade up to my face protectively and reaching to my gun with my other hand. I gripped the gun but didn't pull it out just yet. "Too bad you had to come back around, 'cause now I'm gonna have to make sure you never come back here."

He had his back pressed up against the dead-end brick wall. He was breathing heavily and had a bloody cut on his shoulder on his white button-up long-sleeve shirt. His dirty blond hair was greasy and starting to fall in front of his face. His clothes and face were dirty; he'd probably been wearing them for a week, maybe more. His eyes were full of pain and frustration and anger and rage. He bared his teeth, trying to keep his emotions in check, and failing. His pale skin was covered in dirt.

He growled at me, fangs apparent, and spat at me, missing by quite a few feet. "Fuck you, what do you think you can do, huh? You're just a stupid high school girl, you can't stop all of us. I hope you die from bein' stabbed by a rusted knife!"

My eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I doubt that'll happen. I'm hard to kill, asshole, but you aren't." I whipped my gun out of the holster and shot a few times. I hit him five times; shoulder, two in the chest, the other shoulder, and the head. He fell to the ground, eyes rolled up and fingers twitching a little. I stalked over to him, poising my gun and knife at the ready. I walked up another few steps slowly, then kneeled next to him. I looked at his eyes quickly.

"Shit," I whispered under my breath, trying to push myself up and back away. As I was moving I slashed my knife at his throat. I felt it make contact, but it wasn't deep enough.

I staggered backwards as he lifted himself up. "Shit, shit, shit," I muttered. "Damn, why don't you guys just stay dead?!" I yelled at him.

He turned his head towards me, teeth bared in what looked like a sadistic smile, eyes bright red. "Because it pisses you off. You're dead, girl," he growled in a deep voice, then lunged at me.