Chap. 4: What Do You Believe?

Vlad sighed as he sat up in bed. He'd been trying to get to sleep for the last three hours, but it seemed sleep wasn't coming. He looked at the clock to find that it was almost 3 in the morning. Looking he saw that the moon was out with barely any clouds.

Smirking he muttered, "Might as well enjoy it while it's there."

Slipping out from the covers, he got out of bed silently. Placing his feet on the cool wood floorboards, he snuck across the room, grabbing only a book that he'd started reading again a few days ago- he already had on clothes, as he'd not bothered to change.

Opening the door, he crept across the small hall/library and made his way to the stairs, his eyes darting everywhere, making sure that the cat wasn't skulking anywhere.

Once he was down the stairs, he knew he was safe, but still kept his movements silent, making his ears strain to listen to the point it hurt. There had been one time when Aunt Nelly had almost caught him in the act because she'd been feeling snackish. He'd had to make a dash into the living room and hide behind the couch until she'd gone back up stairs.

It didn't happen this time, and he made it out the door, down the patio steps, and then out onto the street with no problem. He then set off for the belfry"

He was almost there when he remembered what was up there. "Should of brought something to clean that up..." he mused. "Suppose I could always hope to see the Goths there and hang with them…"

He came out of the alley that led to the front of the school, and frowned when he didn't see any of his friends.

But there was someone. Two someones actually.

Walking up, he called out.

"Hey Luna."

The two had been talking and they turned at his call.

The one that was with her was a boy that looked to be a bit older than Vlad. He had long, just past the shoulders, brownish hair, hanging loose. His eyes looked like a kind of clay brown, like it might have a bit of gold in it. He was pale, as pale as Luna was. He had a goatee, with a bit of stubble lining his jaw. And while he may have been in a slouching sit, Vlad could tell that he was at least a foot taller than himself, and was just slightly more muscled too.

"Hey Vlad. Nice to see ya." Luna said, smiling. For the first time, Vlad got a good look at her since he saw them and he was taken aback at how her eyes looked. They no longer had that fogged over look in them. They were clear, and they were red. Not even a pretense of it. Not that brick red, when there was still brown in it. They were the color of the lunar eclipse.

"Nice… to see you to…" he said, trying to get over the shock of seeing her eyes. It was probably contacts. He'd seen plenty of kids at the club with eye color changing contacts. Though, none of them had been as intense as her's.

"Drea, this is kid I was telling you about. Vlad, this is Drea."

Vlad came out of his thoughts finally, realizing he might be being rude. "Ah… Hi. I think I remember you mentioning him…"

"Drea here is my brother." Luna said, still smiling.

"Nice to meet you." Drea said, smirking, shaking Vlad's hand back.

"So what brings you guys out here to the school?"

"Oh, we were running an errand, thought it looked nice. We also heard tell that when this place was a church, a vampire priest used this place for his hunting ground. Wanted to see if there were any ghost hanging around."

Vlad smirked, having heard this story many times, since he started using the Belfry as his getaway.

"Yup. Used to attack them during confession. Never heard anything about ghosts, except for the vampire's ghost…" He said.

"Hmm…Not the funnest way to hunt in my opinion, attacking that way." Luna mused. "I rather think running through woods, hunting for your pray would be much better. Or, if you're in a city, then of course running through a city."

Vlad nodded, not really sure what to feel. On the one hand, he was trying to play along, but being that he actually had knowledge that such things happen, he took it a bit more seriously.

Trying to find a good change of subject, he looked at Drea. "So, what is it you do around here? I've not seen you at school at all."

"I'm working odd jobs, and also working at that café in town." Drea said.

"Eat?"

"Ah... I guess… Would it be called that because the only sign on it says 'EAT!'?" Drea asked.

"Yeah, that's the place. Both the best and worst restaurant in town, depending on your tastes."

Drea chuckled. "I'd have to side with the worst. But ya gotta make money somehow."

Vlad nodded, and then they lapsed into silence. Then, Luna took notice of the book in Vlad's hands, which he had actually forgotten.

"Oh, a book. Looks old. I like old books." She said.

"Oh, yeah, I've been reading it lately. Ah… It's the book I'd heard about that girl… The one that you were talking about? Vladimir D. Nosferatu?"

Luna's eyes lit up with joy.

"May I have a look?" she asked, holding her hand out.

Vlad didn't see why not. "It's not a very big part of the book. It's just that there's a chapter in it that talks about this girl he was really close to. Its an interesting read. Most of the books are from his point of view, or at least really following him. This is a-"

"Journal… It's a journal his father wrote about him…" Luna said, and it could have been just Vlad, but he thought her voice looked strained, but he could not make out her face as it was looking down at the book.

"Yeah… How'd you know?" Vlad ask. If was obvious once you actually read it, and really, you had to read it about two, or three times before you actually realized it. She'd only been looking at the book for no more than ten seconds.

"Because I have more of the journals- and Vladimir's… I guess you could say I collect…" she said absently as she flipped through the pages.

"So that's why you must know so much… Their good stories."

"There not stories." Luna said, looking him in the eyes.

"Well…" Vlad didn't know what to say. He thought that it could be very possible that Vladimir did exist, but he couldn't exactly admit that to a human. Even if he made it sound like he was just the same, a human that was sure that he existed.

"There not, and you know there not, Vlad." Luna said, closing the book carefully, her eyes still on Vlad.

What was that supposed to mean…?

"I guess it's really possible. I mean, anything is, right?" Vlad had an eerie feeling of daja vu. This was almost like when he'd been showing Joss around the library. Joss had asked Vlad if he believed in vampires, and of course Vlad had said that he thought it was possible, that anything was.

"Sure… Okay." Luna said, handing the book back, though there was a slightly sad, reluctant look in her eyes.

"You can have the book. I've read it at least five times…" and it was true. "It should go to a proper collector."

She smiled and took the book back to her chest, hugging it.

"Thanks… It means a lot." She said, and then looked at her watch. "Huh… Well, Drea, we gotta get going."

"Alright. See ya, Vlad. Nice meetin' ya." Drea said, pushing off the steps.

"Same to you." Vlad said, and just as they were about to turn to leave, Vlad called back to them, "Oh, and I'm going to the Crypt this weekend."

"Cool. Where can we meet up with you?" Luna asked.

"I guess at my place." He replied.

"Cool. Well, see ya at school!"

Vlad only realized once he got back home that he'd not told her his address. "Ah, well, I can tell her tomorrow."

AN: Hey guys. So… I'm starting to think this story isn't as great as I think it is, but I still can't give up on it. I'm thinking that once it has enough chapters, it'll actually catch some eyes. So for those that are reading, and like it, stay tuned! And for those that aren't sure, well, just give it a try? :)

Oh, and I also had to go back and edit something in the last chapter. I put down that Snow was going to Bathory high, and I nearly brained myself for that mistake- I've only read the book, like, what, ten times? I should have known that! Huh… Anyway, I went back and changed it. It's not a big part, but just so you know, you won't be seeing Snow unless it's at the Crypt, or if for some reason Vlad sees her outside the Crypt- not in an alley way behind the Crypt, mind.

Anyway, R&R and tell me what you think.