Chapter 1: Brown Eyes

Lauren dragged me into the over-crowed bar on a Saturday night, deeming it the "perfect place to get drunk". That, more often than not, meant I would have to drive home a very emotional Lauren, unless she picked up a stranger in the back room. I refused to drive both of them anywhere. We handed over our coats to the doorman, which looked out of place in a cruddy, old bar, and Lauren yanked me over to the bar, pushing me into a cracked seat.

"C'mon Abby, you're lookin' like such a Debby Downer. First, that hat, and now not even trying to look like you want to have fun." She pouted at me, and then flipped her strawberry blonde hair back, causing a few drunken men to stare.

"I'm so sorry I'm ruining your time, but I'm not up to it." I fixed my fedora, which sat askew on my dark curls. "And what, precisely, is wrong with my hat?"

Lauren coughed, not looking at me. "Well… hey, let's get a drink and have some fun. Maybe get 'cha out of you mood."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, huh." Along with that, I gazed suspiciously down at her, which was easy considering I was a good six inches taller than her.

She didn't seem to notice. "Great!" She waved to the bartender who instantly brought each of us a drink, and most definitely gave Lauren a wink. Hers was gone in the next second, and as she put the glass back on the table she had begun to giggle, looking past me. You've got to be kidding. Yet, what came out of her mouth wasn't what I was thinking.

"Mega-hottie staring your way, Abby."

I barked a laugh, taking a sip of the drink, but only to get a sharp burn down my throat. "Laur, you're delusional."

She put her hands on her hips. "Abigail Lincoln, turn now. Leather jacket." I rolled my eyes, but turned in the direction she was talking about. Intense brown eye bored into me, in an expression I couldn't place. His hair was a dark brown that almost matched his eyes. His leather jacket looked like it was from the 70's, but the rest of his outfit was modern- plain shirt, skinny jeans. Those eyes gave he a once-over, which immediately caused me to whip back around, utterly embarrassed.

"He's probably trying to get a look at you, but I'm in the way." It had happened before, quite a few times, the guys always asking me to move to get a look at the 5' 3'' beauty known as Lauren Truman.

"Nope, I'm tellin' you Abby, he looking at you." She poked me in the shoulder for affect. "But, if you don't want him…" She smiled slyly. "Well, you know."

"God Laur, there's just… do you always have to be…" I slammed my fist in annoyance, unable to find the right word, without calling her a slut. She raised her eyebrows, but before either of us could speak, a new voice came in.

"Now, assuming from the drinks you're going to get drunk. And a girl only gets that drunk to get a man or drown her sorrows. Which for you two?" It was an accent I couldn't place, somewhere between New Englander and British. Both of us turned to see Brown Eyes who had been looking our way.

"Why hello there, handsome." Lauren smiled, with an expression that reminded me only of a fox.

I rolled my eyes. "She's into getting the guy, I'm just here 'cause she can't drive a mile without hitting something." Brown Eyes smirked.

Lauren hit my arm, hard. "She's totes joking. I'm Lauren Truman, by the way."

"And you are?" Brown Eyes turned to me, completely ignoring Lauren. Never, in the history of our friendship, has a guy dissed her to get my name.

"Abby… uh, Lincoln."

Lauren coughed, trying to hide her glare at me. "How 'bout you?"

He seemed to think about it for a moment before answering, "Henry. And could you be related to…" I cut him off.

"Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the US? Yeah."

"Well, Abby, can I buy you and your friend a drink?"

Lauren huffed. "No need for me." She up and walked away, her already short skirt rising higher.

I turned to Henry, whose gaze hadn't shifted from me. "I'm sorry about Lauren. She's not used to not being the center of a man's attention."

"What do you think she'll do now?" He didn't sound truly interested, but I was so pissed at Lauren that I decided to tell him anyways.

"Well, probably get really drunk, meet a random guy, most likely do the Big Deed, then call me at two in the morning crying for me to pick her up and… I really shouldn't be telling you all of this." I looked away, cursing myself.

He was silent, but I could feel his sympathy. I jumped off the stool, not giving him a second look, before running out of the bar. Damn Lauren, him, everybody. I had to keep a secret, but no one wanted… ugh! Damn it! By the time I had cooled off I didn't know where I was or how far I had walked. All I could tell was I arrived in a dark alley in the slums with a dead end.

I spun around, to try and find something familiar to clue me into where I was, when a huge mass of a man blocked out the meager light in the alley. "Well, what do we have here?"

His stank breath drew me up short for air. "I'm sorry, I have to…" I kicked up, trying to knock him over, but his hand shot out, grabbing my ankle, and threw me against the far brick wall. I tried to stand, but a searing pain in my back only got me to a crouch.

That's when I saw his face. Chalk-white, blue veins almost bursting from the skin, his eyes a vicious gold, and the teeth. A mouth of dripping yellow points, fangs, and impossibly sharp. He was a, a vampire. He growled, a feral, animalistic sound, and lunged at me. I was able to roll away just before he could grab me, instantly feeling the pain. I needed to get something, anything. C'mon idiot, what do you need? I flew away from him, and saw a broken pipe inches from my fingers, but as I was about to touch it, a large boot stomped on my wrist, making me shriek.

"Thought you could keep yourself from me? You see, I'm quite thirsty and you smell so delicious." In a second I was off the ground, he hand clasped around my neck, only for him to throw me onto the ground again, his hand smoking.

"You little bitch!" He ran towards me, yet he too was thrown back into the wall, blurring in my vision. I backed up, holding onto my necklace, a small toy sword on a silver chain, wishing the new form doesn't see me.

Moving in and out of my sight, the new man crouched down to me, his mouth black with the blood of the vampire. I recognized those deep brown eyes.

"Henry…" But darkness took me before I could say anything else.