One

The sun had just finished setting and I still wasn't home. I had promised my mother I would be home before sunset, and just as she had said, I wasn't. I turned a corner and went down and alley, cutting down a quarter mile. Even though there was more danger here than the busy street, my moms wrath was far worse.

"Hey Sarah-Rose. How've you been?" I have learned how to tune out the bums, but some still got to me.

"Hey Richie, keep that pretty little behind a swaying." That one was a perfect example. And comments like that made me wonder how they knew my name. I started to walk faster, and when I came to the end of the alley, I sighed in relief. Apparently the bums were to drunk to get up tonight. As I walked down the street, the sound of sirens met my ears. A man in red turned the corner a little ways up and started walking towards me.

"Good evening, Miss." His voice was like silk, wrapping around me in the cold night. He tipped his overly large hat in my direction. He continued walking. I stopped and turned around to look back at him but he was gone. I could have sworn I saw a gun on him. I shook my head and continued walking. He probably needed a gun if he lived over here.

About five minutes later I reached the steps to my house. I was contemplating on if I should go inside. My father chose that one for me.

"You better come inside while your mother is still asleep." That statement made my day.

I hoped the few steps, quietly doing so. I walked past the living room and saw my mom was asleep on the couch. I jumped the steps taking two at a time. I swiftly, but quietly, opened and closed my door. I leaned against it and sighed in relief.

I stripped down to my under clothes and put on an overly large shirt, and put on short shorts.

I had just plopped on my bed when my father came in.

"You lucked out. Your mother fell asleep about fifteen minutes before you were suppose to be home. You scared my nearly out of my mind, coming home so late. I thought you were attacked by the man on the news." My mind registered this. There had been sirens. The had drove past the street I was walking on when I saw the big gun man.

"Man on the news?" I asked, to see if my assumptions were true.

"Yes. He was saw shooting things and biting peoples heads off." my father said, seriousness in his voice. "Come on. It might be back on the news."

I followed my father down the stairs. I went to the kitchen to get some water, while my dad switched channels.

I came back and sat down on the floor and waited. We waited for about five minutes when it came on.

"We are still searching for the man who went out and killed tonight. We now believe he is J.H. Brenner. Our information tells us he terrorized and killed in South Americas, Rio. He is wearing a red trench coat and a red over-sized hat and is heavily armed.

I warn you citizens of Callview, stay inside. Now, back to you April." My mind fumbled with all the news it just received. I saw him. But he said nothing that would imply he had done something. He had acted like it was a normal night. Which it probably was for him. At this thought I started hyperventilating, scaring my father.

"Sarah, are you alright? What's wrong?" I couldn't stop to tell him that I saw him, that supposedly J.H. Brenner walked past me. I highly doubted that was his name. He just didn't seem like the type. Yeah he looked like he could kill, but not doing it just to do it. It's like he would hold a grudge against someone, and take them out because of that. Or was ordered to. J.H. Brenner was not a type of name you gave orders to. It was the type of name giving orders. Demanding respect. Yes, I believe he was ordered to kill them. But I also believe he had fun doing it. So I wondered, and began to breathe normally again, and relief spread through my fathers face.

"I don't think that's his name." I stated plainly, making my fathers jaw drop open. "What?"

"You hear about a murderer on the news and all you think about is his name?!" I turned towards the other end of the couch. Her face was red with rage for some unknown reason, and I knew there was no running tonight. I'd have to face it, like so many other countless nights.

"I think they have the wrong information, that's all." I told her, probably proving wrong about what she thought since her face got even redder if possible. I heard the smack before my check registered the pain. It took a good five seconds to feel pain in my cheeks with how many times she'd already hit me there.

"What the news says goes." my mother said leaning back into the couch.

"Well, he was at least nice to me." I mumbled just loud enough for her to hear me. Both of my parents stared at me gapping like fish.

"You ran into that man that was talked about on the news?" I nodded. "You didn't care to tell anyone about this?" I could see the anger rising, and decided to get it over with.

"Well you hit me before I could say anything." That's when I knew the hit was coming, except it didn't impact with my cheek. My mother's foot came in contact with my gut.

I doubled over from pain, but my mother didn't stop. Not yet. Her fists hit my back, and soon I arched my back, and my mom chose to kick me again. Her foot slammed into me, and blood splattered out of my mouth, onto the sandy color carpet.

"Don't you dare back talk me again. Understand? You're just a no-good bitch of a daughter who doesn't deserve to live. Come Damien. Lets go to bed so we can let this low-life scum think about what it has done." And with that, my mother took off up the stairs, having my father follow her like a helpless puppy.

I silently cried on the floor. About an hour later, when I could cry no more I decided to try to move but found that one of my ribs must have been broken in the kick. Tomorrow morning my mother was going to find me, and wouldn't even remember what she had done. I would blame it on the bums, and we would go to the hospital. I breathed more deeply and found that a broken rib hurts a lot more then a broken arm or leg.

I stared at the moon through my window, and realized it was a red orange color. I stared at it a while longer when something in the other window caught my attention.

"How can you put up with that? She's more of a monster then I am." The murderer, red-cladded and all, stood in my living room.

"It might be because she's my adoptive mother. But I put up with it because she has a disease that will probably kill her in the next few months. So I'll live."

"If she doesn't kill you first." I realized his eyes were the color of embers.

"What's your real name?"

"What do you mean?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"You don't seem like a 'J.H. Brenner'." I told him. He chuckled darkly.

"I never knew you humans were so smart. Or so dumb at the same time." He chuckled again at his statement.

I glared at his comment. "How are 'We humans' so dumb?"

He looked at me over the rim of his glasses. It was hard for me to pull it off, but I did. "You're talking and looking straight into the eyes of a vampire. How much stupider could you get." He shook his head. "I can't think of one comment that tops stupidity like that."

"I can." he stared at me, astonished.

"That's quite a stupid comment, back talking."

"That wasn't the most stupidest." he raised the eyebrow again. "Telling a vampire 'I love you' while still human is by far the most ridiculous comment ever known to man."

"And you are the stupidest human known to man and vampire." He all out laughed at my face. "You seem to more afraid of your mother than me, a blood thirsty vampire."

I continued to glare. I started to move, but cringed in pain and stayed put.

"Your bottom rib is broken. It wont be as painful if you don't move, you know." Smart ass. I turned my head away from him and looked up at the ceiling.

"I have a question." His full attention turned towards me. "You attacked those people at dusk. Can you vampires walk in daylight?"

He laughed at my question. "No, not all vampires can walk in daylight." My face transformed so confusion was written on it, but my eyes stayed connected to the ceiling. "The sun isn't some great enemy for me. I just hate it."

"Vampires are confusing. I don't need this. Go visit my friend Amy. She'll worship you probably." For the very first time that night, I saw confusion on his face when he knitted his eyebrows together. "She's obsessed with vampires. She wants to be Mina from Dracula this year for Halloween."

He laughed. "Oh, how I would like to meet your friend. Wanting to be one of my Brides." He shook his head, a grin plastered on his face. I stared.

"I must take my leave. I might come back and visit you and your friend once you're healed. You'll have to introduce her to me. Good night, Sarah-Rose Richie." And, with that, he swooped out of the room and out of my house, breaking the glass, and leaving a smell of alcohol that only the bums carried with them.

My mother freaked out the next morning, first from smelling the alcohol and seeing the window, then from seeing me bruised up on the floor. She called 911, saying the bums broke into her house and abused me.

I was rushed to the hospital, then put to sleep so they could move my rib so it would heal right and not poke into my lung.

Hours after surgery, I woke up. I stared at the blank pale blue hospital walls. I saw a flash of red in my peripheral vision, and my head swiveled in that direction, and saw a woman dressed in a red nurses outfit. I decided not everything red I saw was Alucard. The next thing red I saw was trying to prove my thoughts were false.

The curtains were swaying around my window, and I saw Alucard, before the curtain covered him up and he disappeared. It was then I heard my mother shouting and things falling down.

"That Bitch is costing us MONEY! If she didn't hang around those homeless people, she would still be my little angel! BUT NO! She goes off and becomes a slut and whore! Don't you dare try to talk reason to me!" Flesh connecting to flesh vibrated through the hospital walls.

There was more flesh sounding hits, and things clattering. And then it went silent.

The nurse in red I had saw earlier came in. With a big needle. "Hey honey. Are you okay?" I nodded briefly, staring at the needle, and subconsciously backing away from the needle. She seemed to notice this.

"Oh don't worry this isn't going near your skin. The IV is for this." She stuck the needle in my IV bag. "Your mother on the other hand…" She tuned out.

"What happened out there?"

She sighed. "We had to sedate her. She was getting out of hand. We didn't know it could get that bad. She was the one who hurt you huh? And all the other times?"

"Not the first one. I actually had fallen off the monkey bars. That was before the disease started showing itself." I had answered it instantly.

"We'll tell you what's going to happen tomorrow morning. Okay? You need to sleep for now." I could feel the drugs kicking in, and blackness started to take me. I dreamed about another adoptive mother, with blonde hair, and ice blue eyes surrounded by glasses, dressed in a green suit.