Prologue

September 2004

A brown haired boy watched the shadows around him; stake in hand. He was hunting. It was amazing how many vampires crawled around the campus of NYU. He'd only been living there a few months, but his nights were never quiet.

His father had fought vampires and other supernatural elements that preyed on the unsuspecting in the night. The boy wanted to continue that legacy, keeping people safe from becoming the demons hapless victims. He wasn't sure what his father would think of his choice of extracurricular activity; he'd always wanted him to have a life outside the darkness and although he knew it must hurt his father greatly to have such distance between them, he also knew his father had been happy when he knew his son had gotten a life away from it all. But now his father was dead and the boy wanted to honour him by continuing his work, as well as keeping his father's dreams alive by continuing in college. He was student at the university as well has its secret nightly protector.

The boy could clearly remember a time when he and his father had fought bitterly, could remember thinking he hated his father and all he thought his father stood for. It was so painful to know he had been so wrong and now he would never get the chance to apologise, to tell his father he was most amazing man he had ever met.

The crowds around the campus were dissipating and now only a few stragglers remained. 'Easy Pickings' the boy thought facetiously to himself. He constantly had to remind himself that not every one knew the dangers that prowled the night.

Scanning the open space around him, he saw them. The girl was tall, brunette and 'really cute'. The other was male, Blonde, taller than the girl and obviously a vampire; well, obvious to the brown haired boy, obviously not to the girl.

Sprinting from the shadows, the boy headed towards the pair, who looked for all the world to be a bickering couple. They were a fair distance away, so he picked up the pace when the vampire reached out and grabbed the girl fiercely. Realising he wouldn't get there in time he called out, hoping to distract the blond vampire from its meal of a naïve college freshman. As he'd hoped the vampire pulled away from his victim and twisted to look at him, hardly surprising considering what the boy had yelled. 'Oi! Fang face!' was hardly subtle. The boy was closing the distance between them and watched amazed as the girl he had assumed was some clueless victim, used the vampires diverted attention to her advantage and pulled stake from somewhere and plunged into the shocked blond's chest.

Skidding to a halt through the vampires dust, the brown haired boy stared open mouthed for at the girl in front of him, his own stake hanging uselessly in his hand by his side.

"Whoa." He finally managed to say.

"Thank you for uh… shouting out like that." the girl said offering him a shy smile and blushing furiously.

The boy found himself unaccustomedly embarrassed, and he offered his own shy smile in return. "No problem… uh so… uh, you knew he was vampire?"

"Um, well… not until after I agreed to give him directions," the girl responded sheepishly.

"But you carry a stake?"

"What? Oh… yeah, habit… my sister used to get really paranoid about me carrying one and it sorta stuck… didn't think I'd need it here though."

The boy nodded, tucking his own stake in his pocket. Shooting the girl a shy questioning glance he asked, "So… uh where are you headed?"

"Back to my dorm." The Girl responded not catching his hint.

"Mind if I walk you?"

Now she got it and smiled openly. "I'd like that, By the way I'm Dawn, Dawn Summers."