* Please Review even though this story is finished. *
Winter Collins had been studying the man across the street for a while. She knew just what he was. A vampire. She won't have believed it but when she found out that he had no reflection in the mirror, she started to pay attention to Jerry and how he moved. He never came out during the day. His windows had been spray painted black. He was pale, unearthly pale. He had tried to talk to her a few times but he made her nervous. She was never sure if he knew she knew about him or not.
Winter paced through her room, looking at his house from her windows. She had made a choice and now it was time to act on it. She took a shaky breath then walked out of her room for the what she thought would be the last time. She moved down the stairs and to her front door. She looked around at the house she had worked hard for and bought with her own money. She nodded her head to herself then opened her door. She could do this, she had to do it.
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Jerry was amazed at how far the humans had come with things. He loved their beer and their stupid TV shows. The sun was going to be coming up in two hours so he had settled in to watch the amusing TV. He took a drink of his beer and laughed at the characters as they fought each other. To his surprise his doorbell rang. He sat forward and frowned as he set his beer on the coffee table. He got up and walked over to the front door. He looked out the peep hole and was surprised to see his neighbor standing on his porch. He opened the door and leaned his arm against it with a smile.
" Hey there. Something I can help you with?" He asked. Winter looked nervously around before she met his eyes.
" Yeah, there is." She said. " Can I come in for a minute?" Jerry smiled and moved out of the way. He swept his arm out.
" Be my guest." He said. She took a deep breath and walked in. She faced him as he shut the door. "So, what can I do for you?"
" I know what you are." She said quickly. One of his eye brows went up.
" A man?" He asked. Winter shook her head slowly.
" No." She said as she slipped one of her hands into her back pocket. He tilted his head slightly as he waited for her to continue.
" A tall man?" He asked. She shook her head again and withdrew some thing from her pocket. She looked down at the compact in her small hands a second before she opened it up. She held the mirror part up to him.
" Vampire." She whispered. A slow smile spread over his face.
" A vampire?" He pushed away from the door, making her start to back up.
" Yes." She said.
" And if you really thought I was a vampire then why would you come over here and confront me, knowing I could kill you in a heartbeat?" He asked as he continued to stalk towards her. Winter was still backing up.
" Because that's what I need you to do." She said. Jerry stopped walking suddenly.
" Excuse me?" He asked as he tilted his head slightly. She slowly dropped her hand. She closed the compact up.
" I want you to kill me." She said as she slipped it into her back pack.
" You want me to kill you?" He asked. Jerry laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest. " And why is that, can I ask?"
" Because I'm dying." She said softly. " Look, you're a vampire, don't try and deny it. Vampires are supposed to have super sense." She tossed her long hair over her shoulder and exposed her neck better to him. " I'm sick, I'm dying. You should be able to smell it in my blood."
Jerry narrowed his eyes but sniffed the air. She did have a certain scent to her. He took a step closer to her. She closed her eyes as he came right on her. He put one hand into her hair and tilted her head more. He brought his face down to her neck. Her breath caught as he inhaled her scent. He closed his eyes and inhaled her deeply. He opened his eyes again and looked past her.
" You have cancer." He said. He dropped his hand from her hair and she straighten her head as she nodded. They looked at each other for a few seconds before she spoke.
" This is my second round with it. My doctor said I have a year. Treatments aren't going to work. It's going to kill me." Winter said. " I don't want to die in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines and in pain. I want to die on my time." Her hazel eyes looked into his dark ones.
" So you came to me." He said. She shrugged.
" You need human blood to live and mine is just going to go to waste." She said softly.
" You're a brave one, I will give you that." Jerry said. Humans didn't impress him but she did. Humans usually died begging and crying. But she came over to him, confronted him, asked for death and all with a strong look on her face.
" This isn't about being brave. My life is ending. I'm just taking control of it before it's too late." Winter said.
" So you want me to bite you, drink your blood, and kill you." He stated. She nodded.
" I don't have any family so no one will come looking for me. I grew up in the system. I quit my job today, I have no friends. I keep to myself, no one will know what happen. They will think I just walked away from everything." She said. Jerry crossed his arms again and started rubbing his chin.
" You aren't scared of me." He said. She shook her head.
" I'm not. I have thought about this. This is what I want. I don't want to feel the pain that is coming with the cancer. I have been there, no thanks. I have honestly thought long and hard about this." She said.
He moved one arm to rest against his stair railing. Everything she was saying was true. He knew she had been watching him. He had been watching her. She was a loner. No boyfriends, no friends dropping by, nothing. She worked then went home. She never went out, hardly spoke to any one in the neighborhood and when he asked about her, no one knew anything about her.
" What kind of cancer do you have?" He asked.
" It's in my breasts and my lungs." She said. He smiled and made a show of checking out her tits in her low cut, white wife beater.
" Now that's a shame. Such a waste of perfectly good looking tits." He said. Winter frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.
" Did you seriously just check me out?" She asked. He shrugged as he looked back into her eyes.
" I may be a vampire but I'm still a man." He said. She shook her head and sighed.
" Can we focus on what I'm asking you to do?" She asked. He nodded.
" Do you have all your affairs in order?" He asked. " Last thing I need are police to come looking for you."
" Well what should I do? I told you already I don't have family or friends." Winter said.
" You may not have family or friends but your doctor will contact the police when you stop showing up for treatments. He will want to make sure you didn't die at home. You need to ask for your medical records then tell him you are transferring out of his care. Tell him you are moving or something." Jerry said.
" Oh, ah, okay, I can do that today." She said.
" Do it. I will come over tomorrow night but you have to leave now. The sun will be up and I can not open my door once that happens." He said.
" So it's true than, you can't go out in the sun." She said.
" No, I can't." Jerry said. " I'll burst into fire." Winter nodded and sighed.
" Well, I should go than. I guess I will see you tomorrow." She said. Jerry nodded and smirked.
" You will." He said.