~O~

The sun beat down on the city streets, causing waves of heat to rise up in waves that reached up to Shun's knees. He didn't mind the heat that much though; years of training in similar conditions had made sure that no weather condition troubled him. But despite how used he was to drastic weather changes, the sweltering heat on that day was proving to be almost be even too much for him to handle.

The sad thing was that the sun hadn't even reached its highest spot in the sky, which meant that the day was long from over, and that the temperature would only rise from there. He sighed and kept on walking down the sidewalk until he reached his designated location; the local drug store.

Shun stood in front of the automatic sliding doors, and when they slid open, he was hit with a welcoming rush of cold, industrial air-conditioning. A slight smile formed on his lips as he stepped inside; he never thought that artificial air would feel so good.

The sliding doors closed behind him when he was out of their motion-activated reach, and with their closing, the hot air of summer was locked outside where it belonged. Shun then reached down into his pocket and pulled out a yellow sheet of note paper.

A small list was written in his grandfather's sloppy handwriting, which Shun still had trouble reading at times. He groaned as he set out into the store in search for his grandfather's requests. Running mundane errands wasn't really on his agenda for the day, but the old man had gotten up in his years, and getting out and about was becoming a chore for the elderly man.

And because of that, Shun was nominated to do the old man's shopping and such. It wasn't like it was really out of Shun's way to help his grandfather out, but it was starting to get rather inconvenient at times. That day was a good example; with the miserable weather that the city had been experiencing that week, leaving the cool comfort of the house was a nightmare.

But there were things on the list that needed to be gotten, so Shun had no other choice but to brave the intense heat. He walked down the aisles of the store, checking the signs that hung from the ceiling to see if there was anything that was needed down that particular row.

He glanced up at another sign and saw that several of the items on his list were located there, and headed down the aisle. It took Shun a moment to find the certain brands that his grandfather would use; any other brand was unacceptable. "Picky old fool," Shun growled to himself as his aggravation started to mount.

Or maybe it was the heat that was starting to make his blood boil. After a few more minutes of searching, he finally found what he was looking for. Naturally, they were sitting right in front of him. Definitely the heat, he thought to himself as he tossed the items into the shopping basket.

Shun looked down at the list and scratched off the recently acquired items off. "Shun?" a soft voice asked from his right. He looked up and found Alice standing at the end of the aisle, a bright smile on her face. Shun found himself caught off guard and surprised to see Alice in such a place; last he had heard of her whereabouts, she was back in Russia with her grandfather, helping out with one of latest projects.

She hurried over to him and wrapped Shun in a hug, the shopping basket in her hands bumping against his back. Shun hugged her back and took in the scent of her shampoo that he had always found pleasant; lavender. She broke their hug first and said, "It's so great to see you again!"

Shun smiled down at her and said back, "It's good to see you too, but I thought you were living with your grandfather again. Why are you back here, if you don't mind me asking?" Alice brushed one of her orange locks of hair out of her face and replied, "Runo and the rest of the old gang wanted to catch back up for old time's sake, so they had Marucho get me tickets to fly back here. So, here I am."

Shun rested the shopping basket that he held in his hands in the crook of his elbow so the small, metal handle would stop digging into his palm. "Oh, yeah. I think Dan sent me a message a while back saying that they were planning on getting everyone back together. I suppose that I've been so busy looking out for Grandfather that it must have slipped my mind."

Shun wasn't exaggerating when he mentioned being busy taking care of his grandfather. On top of the errands, he also had to make sure that the old man didn't slip and break something, as well as making sure the house was kept in shape. In other words, the old man was still running him ragged, just not with training like it had been a long time ago.

Alice's smile faded a bit when she asked, "How is your grandfather doing anyway?" Shun ran a hand through his hair and told her, "He's doing fine. He's just getting on up in his years and can't get around like he used to. I remember when I thought that would have been a blessing. Man, was I ever wrong." Alice giggled at his little attempt at humor.

It was rare for Shun to make small jokes like that, but he always found that it was easy to tell them to Alice. Perhaps because she appreciated his uncommon sense of humor and actually laughed, while in Dan's case, the brunette would have totally missed the sarcasm altogether.

Shun returned his focus back to the conversation at hand and asked, "I should be asking you the same thing. How's Michaels doing?" Alice waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "You know my grandfather. I think the only reason he'll stop inventing is when he finally passes away. Hopefully that will be a long time from now, though."

Shun nodded in agreement. If there was one thing he envied out of all of his friends, it was Alice's relationship with her grandfather. He had wished for the longest time that they could coexist like she and Michaels did, but Shun knew better. There was too much bad blood between him and his grandfather for things to change now.

Regardless, Shun couldn't say that he hated the old man. It was true that they didn't see eye-to-eye all the time, but they were still family; the only family that they had left. It was only natural that they put up with each other and look out for one another.

Shun's eyes drifted past Alice and fell on a wall clock behind her. He saw the time and realized that he was way past the time that he should have been heading back home. "I'm sorry I can't stay any longer and finish catching up, but I really need to get going before it gets any later.

It was really nice talking to you again, Alice." The orange-haired girl smiled at him and said, "Same here, Shun. Hey, stop by Marucho's house some time. I should be there for a while, and I'm sure everyone would be happy to have the whole group together again."

Shun smiled back and said, "Alright, I will." He turned on his heels and hurried towards the cash register so he could get back home before the old man pitched a fit.

~O~

It's about a two hours walk from the house Shun shared with his grandfather to the city, so by the time he got back home, the sun was already starting to set. Shun hated that the old man refused to buy a car. One reason for his grandfather's apprehension was that he didn't like the idea of driving the metal contraption.

The other reason was that the walking was a way to stay in shape; Shun didn't realize this till years into his training, and he had hated his grandfather for the conniving plot. When Shun walked up to the front door of the house, he checked the clock on his phone before opening the door.

He had just barely made it back in time to slide past the old man nagging him about taking too long to go and get a couple of items. Shun turned the knob and set the plastic bag of groceries on the kitchen table, then shouted into the house, "I'm back!"

Slowly, his grandfather rounded the corner and enter into the kitchen, leaning heavily on the wooden cane in his right hand. It was somewhat sad seeing the old man move around like some ancient relic, depending on a stick to just stand on his own.

But there was no way to stop time and the aging process; all that could be done was let nature take its course, and then eventually let it take his grandfather with it. Shun had thought for a long time about whether or not he would be heartbroken when his grandfather died.

Back when he was younger and in the beginning of his training, he probably would have been happy, despite how much of a bad person it would have made him. But after years of being stuck with the old man and realizing that they only had each other as family, Shun's hostile feelings had faded away into a distant memory.

Now, the raven-haired boy was sure he would grieve over the loss of the old man when that time came. His grandfather had moved past him and was rummaging through the plastic bags on the table, grumbling to himself. Shun crossed his arms over his chest and said, "What are you griping about now?"

The old man turned to face him and said curtly, "You didn't pick up my medicine at the pharmacy." Shun stared at him for a moment, then dug out the list that had been given to him before he left out. He scanned over each marked out item, searching high and low for the old man's script.

"You didn't put your medicines on the list. How was I supposed to know that you needed them?" he asked and handed the list to his grandfather for proof. The old man tossed the list on the table and said shortly, "I told you before I left that I needed my prescription refilled when you went up there. I assumed you were listening to me for once in your life."

Shun narrowed his eyes at his grandfather; the old man was obviously in one of his legendary moods. But Shun wasn't going to allow his grandfather's bitterness to get him worked up. Instead, he asked, "Do you have any of your pills leftover?"

The old man painstakingly sat down at the kitchen table and replied gruffly, "No. I told you that as well. Do you even bother to listen to what I say?" Shun rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of aggravation. His grandfather would need that medicine, for the pills were for the arthritis that had set into his aging joints, and without them, the old man would be in pain and unable to do anything for himself.

Shun quickly realized he would have to go back into town and hopefully make it to the drug store in time before they closed down for the night, or else he would have to hear his grandfather give him hell for it until the pills were back in his hands.

"Fine. I'll hurry back into town and try to get your medicine before they close. But you will have to lecture me later if you want them by the end of the night." His grandfather let out a huff of air and said, "You better hurry then, before my patience wears thin." Shun let out a heavy sign and walked out of the house, only to return to the path towards the city.

~O~

Shun just barely made it to the pharmacy in time. When he got there, the lady behind the counter was pulling down the metal grate used to lock up the medicine that resided behind the counter. Thankfully, the woman was generous enough to stop locking up and fill the old man's prescription.

Shun graciously thanked her and paid what he owed for his grandfather's medicine. As he walked out of the store, he was hit by the cool night air. It would have been a pleasant night, had it not been for the humidity that clung to everything it could wrap its hands around.

Shun could already feel his hair trying to frizz out. He sighed in aggravation, knowing how difficult was to get his hair back to normal after being exposed to this much humidity. He decided to worry about that when he got back home, and stuffed his grandfather's prescription in his pant's pocket so he wouldn't have to carry it back on the long journey back home.

Shun walked down the sidewalk, which was now void of almost all activity. This didn't settle right with him for some reason. Usually, the sidewalks of the city were bustling with people, even at night. But they were almost desolate now.

This strange occurrence left Shun with a eerie feeling running down his spine as his instincts told him something was wrong with this scenario. But he pushed those feelings down, telling himself that it was just paranoia, and continued on his way home.

He was about halfway there when something down an alleyway caught his eye. Shun stopped and looked down into the dark alley, but couldn't find what had caught his attention. Right when he was about to play it off as a stray animal, he heard talking coming from the shadows.

"Pl-please," someone begged, "don't d-do this. I-I can come up with the money in a week, I s-swear." Somebody laughed humorlessly and said, "You've had months to pay us back, and I'm afraid that your payment day is long overdue. And you know that the only way to repay us is with your blood."

Shun tensed up at the conversation he had stumbled upon. Was somebody really about to commit murder? Shun shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts. Reason told him to go and leave before he got hurt in the crossfire and to call the police and report the disturbance.

But something else was screaming inside of him to act, to stop what was within his power and ability to stop. He had the fighting skills that would allow him to hold his own against an assailant, whether the person had a gun, knife, or some other kind of weapon.

Shun was torn on what he should do; run, or fight to save whoever was about to die in the shadows by the hands of a man whose face was hidden in those very shadows? Before he even had a chance to come up with an answer, Shun heard a sickening gurgling sound, followed by something falling to the ground with a thud. His eyes grew wide, and he knew what had just happened.

Shun found himself unable to move from the spot he stood in. His mind was unable to comprehend what had just happened. Suddenly, two shining gold eyes looked at him through the shadows; they reminded Shun of that of a cat's eyes.

The cat-eyed figure then started to walk out from the alley towards Shun, the mystery person's eyes glowing feral and predator-like. Shun felt his body tense up further, yet, he couldn't find it in him to run; he was struck down with fear for the first time in his life.

This person was going to try and kill him, that was quite obvious. Shun could see himself suffering the same fate as whoever met their fate in the depths of the shadows. The murderer stepped from the darkness and into the light of a nearby streetlamp.

Shun felt his legs grow weak beneath him, and he stumbled back, landing on the ground in shock at the site before him, wishing that this creature had stayed hidden away out of sight. The man with golden cat eyes was covered in blood up to his elbows and around his mouth.

The crimson liquid dripped from sharp nails at the end of his fingertips. "Looks like I had a bit of an unwanted audience," the man said and licked the blood from his index finger. Shun saw a flash of pointed canines in the man's mouth that protruded out further than they should on any regular person.

The man finished cleaning his fingers of the blood, making it look like there had never been any signs of murder staining his skin. Shun could feel his heart racing frantically with adrenaline. He should have just run when he heard the conversation. He should have just called the cops and reported what he had heard instead of standing around and considering being the hero.

The man's golden eyes suddenly flashed a brighter shade of gold, which only made them look more primordial. "Quite the terrified one, aren't you? I can hear your heart beating loud and clear all the way from here," the killed purred, and a look of amusement flashed across his face.

Shun was trembling with fear now. This wasn't how he wanted to die. He didn't want to be brutally slaughtered by some freak and then have his blood licked off his killer's hands like it was some kind of delicious sauce.

The man knelt right down in front of Shun, blood still dripping from his lips, and said, "It's a real shame I can't just kill you right here. The conditions are perfect for it, unless somebody else happens to stumble upon me and overhears like you did. In that case, I would just kill them too in order to cover myself. But sadly, I can't do that. I have to take you to my boss first and see if he can find any usefulness in you."

The man then lashed out and grabbed a hold of Shun's neck, making the raven-haired youth look him right in the face. Shun tried to make a noise to signal for help, but when he did, the man's grip only tightened on his windpipe further, muting the cry for help.

"No, I don't think so. You're not going to get out that easily," the attacker hissed. The man's eyes then started to glow an even brighter color of gold, so much that Shun couldn't help but stare at the unnatural hue.

But when he made eye contact with the monster than loomed over him, he felt like his brain was suddenly stunned, a heavy fog shrouded his thoughts and distorting what was real and what was a trick of the mind. Shortly after that, his vision started to grow fuzzy, and eventually went black altogether.

Story based off the song Vampire Money by MCR. Well, here we go again. There was a tie between this story and another, so I picked this one out of the two, since I wanted to do this one more than the other. As you all may have noticed, I want to do every kind of story possible (at least in the supernatural category).

I've done Grim Reapers, Werewolves, Demons, etc. Now, it's time for vampires to have their own Copperpelt twist put on them. Well, I'm going to try and put my own twist on them. For the most part, vampires don't have much left to be done with, so bear with me on this if things start turning into a typical vampire story with some typical vampire story scenarios.

Again, there is only so much that can be done. I am also experimenting with this P.O.V. again, seeing as I liked writing in that style in my previous story. After this story is finished, I might go on a short hiatus, or break. Reason being, I don't know when this story will be finished, and I have a lot coming up.

Over the summer, I will be spending half of June in Florida, then going out of town for band camp to get ready for my trip to Germany, which will take up half of my July. When I get back from that, I have regular band camp and then school starts.

During that time, I am planning on entering a writing contest, so some of my time will most likely go into working on my submission. As you all can tell, my next few months will be jam-packed with stuff, and won't leave much time to write on my fanfictions.

But don't worry, I'm not leaving anytime soon (although, after my senior year and when I go off to college, updates might become very few and far between). But I'll still try and update as often as I can. This is just a head's up on what to expect in the coming months. So, please do read and leave a review on the way out! ~Copperpelt~