Vlad groaned. It was monday...his least favorite day of the week. Why might you ask? The answer was quite simple...on mondays you know you still have four days of school left before the weekend. He dragged himself out of bed and trudged to his window. He wiped away the fog with the back of his hand, shivering at the touch of the cold glass, and stared at the world outside. The trees had lost all of their leaves, leaving thier trunks bare and at the mercy of the elements. The grass had taken on a pale brown color, and no birds lounged on branches or sang from the tops of trees. Vlad liked winter, even without the snow. It was a harsh season. One of suffering and pain. The summers were too hot and cheery for him. There was also that whole half vampire thing with the sun and all. Though it was still possible to get sunburned during the winter, he liked the early nights and bitter cold. It seemed to fit his personality. After showering and throwing on yet another black t shirt and pair of jeans, he walked down the stairs to the kitchen to where Nelly was making pancakes.

"Good morning, Vlad." She said cheerfully. That was the only thing Vlad didn't like about Nelly. She was morning person. Vlad, being a creature of the night, preferred darkness, so of course he was a nighttime person. Though he managed to give her his best smile, her expression dissolved into one of worry. "What's wrong Vladimir? Is something bothering you?" Vlad sighed.

"No, I guess I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately. My vampire half hasn't been kind to my human half when it comes to sleep lately." Nelly seemed unconvinced, but, to Vlad's relief, stayed silent. After setting down a towering stack of pancakes in front of him, Nelly grabbed her purse and, after throwing a hurried goodbye over her shoulder, left for work. Vlad was now alone. He ate his pancakes in silence, occasionally drizzling a bit of A positive over them to add some sweetness. When his pancakes were gone, he grabbed his backpack and walked out the door. He shivered as he closed the door behind him. The cold air blasted him in the face, and made his cheeks numb. After waiting for what seemed like hours for Henry to show up, Vlad gave up and walked to school alone. He walked slowly, not caring if he was the last person to show up at his first class. He needed time to think. What seemed like seconds later the school came into view. Bathory high. He walked up the frosty steps, and into the hallway. There were few people left in the halls. He figured he had about five minutes before the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. He tossed his backpack in his locker and grabbed everything he needed for his first class and ran to first period.

The day went by relatively quickly with few incidents. Bill and Tom actually left him alone today, which surprised him until he found out they had gotten suspended though no one knew what for. Of course, it might have been a rumor. There were many possibilities; sick or dying family member, maybe they had gotten sick, or skipped school just because they felt like it. Whatever the reason, Vlad was happy he didn't have to deal with them today. As he was walking home with Henry, he remembered something.

"Why didn't you show up this morning?" Henry shrugged.

"I slept in and showed up late. It happens." His face had taken on a guarded look. Vlad was annoyed. They were best friends. Weren't best friends suppose to tell each other everything? And why was he lying about being late for school? What was the worst thing that could have happened that made him late?

"You know you don't have to lie. You can tell me the truth." Henry scowled.

"It's not that I'm lying, it's that you're not believing me!" Vlad didn't respond. Henry continued. "Why not just read my mind and find out for yourself huh? If you're that desperate to know what happened even though I already told you! I thought we were friends! And friends are suppose to trust each other!" Vlad began falling in behind Henry. Henry continued his ranting. "And you're always so touchy over the smallest things!" Henry stopped, noticing that Vlad had become unnaturally quiet. He turned around and saw a dark shape collapsed on the sidewalk far behind him. As he walked closer, he noticed it was a human. They were wearing a black hoodie, with black jeans, and black Converse, and they had black hair. It was Vlad!