Chapter Four

Breakfast had been uncomfortable.

Kerry had stumbled downstairs a few hours after creeping up to her bedroom and pulled a box of Cheerios down off the pantry shelf.

"So, Kerry," her dad had said in that hearty, fake-normal voice that parents seem to use so often, "why didn't you ever tell me about Daniel?"

Kerry had frozen for a moment and then carefully poured milk over her cereal. "What's to tell?"

"Come on, he's your lab partner."

"He's been absent for a while," she said weakly.

"He seems like a nice boy," her dad said causally.

Oh no.

"Do you like him, then?"

Aw crap.

Groaning inwardly, Kerry made a face at her cereal bowl, head bent so that her father wouldn't see. Why did parents always do this…? "Yeah, I guess," she said, looking to the side a little. Well, she did like him – love him, actually – but… she was talking to her father. There were certain things, such as boys you liked (or the fact that said boys were vampires) that you just didn't want to discuss with your father.

He'd looked way, way too happy at her statement anyway; great Dad, make me feel like a total social reject…. Not that he meant to, of course, or even that he really did. It was just parents… they did not always understand their children.

Still with that careful, I'm-not-probing-you-just-making-conversation voice, "Know if he likes you?"

I'm so not having this conversation.

Kerry sighed, but it had to be said. "I think he might, he's taking me to a movie tonight."

Her father got so happy and inquisitive and proud and good-for-you-Kerry and suchlike that she had to quickly finish her cereal and then vanish up the stairs before she died. Not that it was his fault; he really was a pretty good guy. For years now he'd been playing both Dad and Mom, but Kerry didn't think that she'd ever get used to discussing such things with a parent, no matter which one it was.

The rest of the day was a similar trial, a mixture in equal parts of Ian teasing her ('Is he your boyfriend now?' the little boy had squeaked, then giggled) and her dad hovering, asking if she needed anything. Just what it was that he thought she would need or why she would need it Kerry wasn't quite sure, but after trying to convince him several times that she was fine she gave up and let him hover.

"Now, are you sure there's not anything I can do for you?" he asked one last time as she shoved him out of her room and then punted Ian after him.

"Tell me it gets better," she muttered, then pulled on a necklace (she didn't care which, but knew that she had to make the pretense, at least, of going glam or her father would REALLY worry about her) and a matching bracelet, threw on earrings that kind of matched outfit that she had pulled on and brushed on some makeup.

And then she had to wait. And wait. And wait. And she'd nearly gone nuts by the time the sun had set, what with the hovering and the teasing/admiration and was just about ready to do something like offer to run out for a gallon of milk. Except Michel had said not to do stuff like that, not when it was dark outside. Now, admittedly, it wasn't quite dark out, but it was getting close enough. Still, by the time the sun was setting, she was just about ready to do it anyway; who cared about the consequences.

Ian came up to her again, smiling that angelic little smile that he could do so well. It was hard staying mad at him when she knew how excited he was. She wasn't quite sure if he was excited because she got to go out or what, but it was very cute anyway.

"Here," Kerry finally sighed, "do you want to read a book?" And Ian's face broke into a brighter smile.

"Green Eggs and Ham?" Ah, his favorite.

Inwardly Kerry sighed, as Green Eggs and Ham seemed to be about the extent of Ian's reading list, but she nodded. He ran and got the book, then hopped up and wiggled around on her lap until he was comfortable. Kerry 'read' the book (she'd long since memorized the lines) and waited for Ian to trace out the fox and the train and the tree, smiling a little despite how tired she was of the book.

They'd just gotten to the last page when the doorbell rang. Kerry glanced up automatically, and then recited the rest of the rhyme at top speed. She closed the book and kissed the top of Ian's blonde head.

"You be a good little munchkin now, all right?"

Ian nodded happily and hopped off her lap. "Just a moment!" Kerry called at the door, wiggling a little as she straightened her clothes, and then paused for a moment and groaned as she saw her dad standing there with a 'fatherly' look on his face.

"Oh jeez, not now – we'll miss our movie! Listen, you can talk to him all you want later. Maybe next time he comes over, ok?" And he looked so pleased at the mention of 'next time' that Kerry almost got away with it, he recalled himself at the last second.

"Now Kerry, I really think-"

"Of course you do. Listen, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, daddy – don't wait up for me, you need your sleep." And he wouldn't get it if he did, but Kerry didn't say that. "Ok bye!"

"But Kerry!" he started saying, holding up a camera hopefully. The girl fled, opening the door only wide enough to slip through and then slamming it behind her and leaning back against the door.

"Hey," she began as she turned, smiling, to look up at the figure, "I'm sorry I kept you wai-"

It wasn't Michel. It wasn't anyone who she recognized at all.

He was tall and handsome, his sandy blonde hair and rich brown eyes matched his pallid complexion better then one might have expected. Muscles rippled under that ashen skin, and that sight made Kerry much more nervous than she normally would have been.

"Oh," the girl said, trying to keep her heart from leaping into her throat and almost succeeding, "sorry, I thought you were someone else. I guess they aren't here yet though, so I'll just go back inside. It's kind of cold out."

The boy – he looked only a little older than she – tilted his head a little to the side, examining her in what seemed a clinical manner.

"Funny," he said, "you don't look quite how I pictured."

"Sorry?" she asked, her hand groping its way back to the doorknob and gripping it so hard that the skin over her knuckles turned white. The only problem was, the door opened outwards, so it wasn't as though she could simply turn the handle and fall backwards to safety. If he was a vampire, it wouldn't be safety anyway. If he wasn't and was just some guy that she didn't recognize… how rude!

"Oh, that's no good," he said, gesturing to her hand, still gripping the doorknob, then stepped so close that he pressed Kerry against the door. He was pressed against her so hard that she could hardly get a decent breath, but she was going to try screaming anyway. As soon as she opened her mouth, his hand was pressed against it. She tried yelling anyway, but it seemed to make no sound in the frosty air from behind the muffling layer of flesh.

"None of that," he whispered, his cold lips brushing against her ear and making her flinch back. "You don't want more people out here, do you? How many do you want me to have to kill?"

She tried to shove him off of her, but she was not strong enough to overcome a vampire like that. He hardly wavered and laughed a little, as though at her efforts, before grabbing her wrists in his other hand, pinning those against the door as well.

"Don't worry," he told her in a soothing tone, "it doesn't have to hurt." And then she felt his lips press against her neck.

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I'd just like to thank all those of you who pmed me or reviewed or dropped an email to offer to beta this - more people then I expected, certainly. Also, love to my betas!