Stories of vampires are written from the imagination of great and not-so-great writers, but no vampire story has been written from the heart of one. Not until now.

*****

I hate goodbyes. I always have, and I probably always will. After a thousand years, and nearly twelve generations later it’s still like a knife in my chest when I have to say goodbye.

The rain poured down, beating on the pavement. I look over at Cody. He hasn’t spoken to me since I got into the car. I shiver, even though I’m not really cold. He holds out his hand and pulls me towards him. I reach for the heat and turn it up. I cuddle close to him and listen to his heart beat.

“Are you sure you want to go camping?” Cody asks me, once again, trying to talk me out of it.

“I’m going to be fine,” I tell him. “I just want to reconnect with old friends.”

“I have the Labor Day Football Banquet,” Cody says. “You’d be invited.”

“Take your little sister for once,” I argue. “It’s just going to be for the weekend, it will be over in no time.”

Cody doesn’t reply. He just squeezes me and continues to drive. I stare out the window, watching the rain.

*****

“Hello beautiful,” Aaron says, as soon as Cody closes the door of his truck and takes off. My bags have already been loaded into Aaron’s car and we’re getting ready to go.

“Aaron Lane White,” I say. He opens his arms to me and I immediately let them fold around me. “I missed you.”

Aaron was my first love. I’d known him for as long as I can remember, but because of divorced parents, I used to only see him once or twice a month and then for the annual camping trip with the church.

“I missed you too,” he breathes into my hair. I finally break the embrace and look him up and down. He’s changed a lot and he’s filled out. His arms and legs are roped with muscle and lost the braces.

“You know, synthetic steroids are bad for you.” I tell him, getting into the car.

“I’m not on ‘roids,” he laughs as he turns the key in the ignition.

“You’ve changed a lot,” I tell him.

He’s about to make a comment about how I look the same as I did when he first met me. It’s true the last time he saw me, he thought I was 16. He keeps his comment to himself and drives up the mountain slowly.

Twists, turns, and about ten hidden side roads later, we reach the camp ground. I take my bags up to the little meadow and go to help Aaron’s mom unpack her car.

“Shit,” she says, cursing under her breath.

“What’s up?” I ask her.

“Oh,” she says, realizing I heard her. I smile to let her know its okay. “Hey Echo. I just, blanked and left the extra tent at home. I just called the boys and they said they couldn’t bring one until tomorrow morning.”

“I can just sleep in the chapel,” I assure her. The chapel is actually warmer than sleeping in a sleeping bag. The chapel is across the little meadow where people are already setting up their tents. To the north there is a “bear-proof” kitchen concealed slightly by trees, but connected to the driveway.

I look around, taking it all in from my place in the driveway. Everything looks the same as I remember it from years ago.

“That’s ridiculous,” Aaron says, coming up behind me. “She can sleep in my tent.”

I turn towards him, and his hand goes to the small of my back.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mrs. White says. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“In my tent,” he says.

“I still don’t--” Aaron stops his mom in mid-sentence.

He gets a little closer, looks her in the eyes and smiles. “It’s fine. We can use the tent with the divider and it’s only for tonight.”

He breaks his gaze.

“Maybe that would work,” Mrs. White says nodding.

*****

I walk noiselessly along the path. I’m just slightly ahead of Aaron, letting the moon light my way. Everyone goes on a midnight hike the first night of Labor Day weekend, but because Aaron and I are the only graduates tonight, we broke away from the group of high school students.

“When did it happen?” I ask him. I decided not to dance around the idea and cut to the chase.

“When did what happen?” Aaron asks. He’s good, I’ll give him that. His composure on the outside is perfectly normal, but I hear his heart rate speed up ever so slightly.

“You honestly think I don’t know?” I say, sarcasm laced in my words. “You’re clearly a new-born; otherwise you would’ve never compelled your mother in broad daylight.”

Aaron just stands there, trying to figure out how I know about him.

“Stop thinking so loudly,” I tease him.

“How do you know?” Aaron asks. I sit down on a boulder, allowing the question to linger in the air for a while.

“I knew from the moment you stepped out of the car,” I tell him. “I can always tell when there is a vampire around.”

“So can I,” he argues.

“That’s not entirely true,” I laugh. “You couldn’t tell with me.”

“I couldn’t, but you also didn’t smell like a human either,” he says. “So what are you?”

“A vampire...” I tell him, “...-ish.”

“What do you mean by that?” he says. He’s been slowly getting closer to me, and I let him.

“I’m not just a vampire,” I tell him. “I’m what they call a tri-hybird.”

“What the fuck is that?” he asks, trying to piece it all together in his mind.

“I’ll tell you eventually,” I promise.

“What’s your story?” I ask.

“When did you turn?

He breaks eye contact. His eyes are beautiful; they are a blue-grey color. I continue to look at them even though he doesn’t bring them back to mine.

“A friend turned me, about a year ago. He’s been telling me about it a lot lately,” Aaron’s whispering now.

“And you regret it,” I finish his thought. He nods. I look at him, and everything starts to light up. He looks back at me, trying to ignore my eyes. They’re black in the sunlight, but they shine in the darkness allowing me to see as if it’s broad daylight.

“I regret it with everything in me,” he says. “I can’t leave this life and disappear. My parents would be crushed.”

“I know,” I reply flatly. “The first time is the hardest, but it gets easier.”

“That’s kind of awful to say,” he whispers.

“You just turn off your emotions for a while, and when they go back to living without you, you can turn them back on and realize they are happy again,” I say it with confidence but I know it isn’t true. When a loved one dies, you can still see them, until they enter their tunnel and they go into the afterlife. An afterlife you will never reach.

“I can help you,” I tell him. “When the time comes I’ll walk you through it.”

I pull him to me and I embrace him. The truth is, I won’t ever know what it feels like the first time. I was born, not bitten. I will never know what it’s like to do anything like a human. I will never have my first kiss as a human, my first time as a human, I will never eat like a normal person, and I have never even truly slept through the night.

I pull away for a moment. “Take your time,” I tell him. “We have forever.”

*****

We get back to the tent after everybody’s gone to bed. Our tent is almost a half mile away, at an overgrown volleyball net. The divider is up, but we huddle together on one side.

Aaron lies down with his head propped up against a rolled sleeping bag. I lay with my head on his chest and his arm around me.

“There is a cure,” I tell him. “You can go back to being human.”

I’ve wanted to tell him all night, but I couldn’t.

“Tell me tomorrow,” he tells me. I look up at him, wondering why. I taught him to close off his thoughts to me and now I can’t get a read on him.

He sits upright and pulls me towards him. I sit up too, straddling him and he kisses me. I don’t have to worry about being careful with him, not like before.

I kiss him back, pulling him into me. His hands run up and down my back. Our breathing quickens. I mentally create a field around the tent to keep any sound out, but allow sound to come in.

He pulls on my shirt and it rips. It doesn’t take much of a tug. I pull his shirt off, not breaking the kiss. I throw it towards where he threw my shirt. My tongue dances with his. He tugs at my jeans and pulls them off in several pieces of fabric. I do the same to his. By the time we’re naked our clothes are in shreds, covering the floor of the tent.

He’s on top of me now, kissing my neck. I pull him towards me and he sinks his fangs into my collar bone. I moan and arch my back towards him. I pull him closer and closer to me. My hands run down his chest, and I let my fingers trace his abs.

His hand goes behind my head and soon his fingers are tangled in my hair. My hands run along his hips and behind him. Moments later I can feel his cock. He guides it up and down my slit, covering his “head” in my juices. He’s huge for a new-born, and he’s only going to get bigger.

I kiss him and nod. He pushes into me slowly at first and then faster. He can’t technically hurt me. I kiss him again and when I do I can see flashbacks of the last time he tried as a vampire. He wasn’t able to control himself.

I pull him towards me and kiss his neck. “I’m not human,” I assure him.

He kisses me and starts to thrust. He pushes in and out of me hard and fast. I scream. He’s huge and he’s stretching me with every thrust. I can’t believe how amazing it feels. I hang onto him as he thrusts. My arms are wrapped around his, gripping his shoulders.

He hits the depths of me every time he pushes in and every nerve in me tingles. He grabs my leg and pushes it above me. My other leg follows and soon I’m completely open to him. He pushes in deeper at a different angle.

He fucks me faster and every time he enters me he hits my g-spot. Sensations shoot through my body. He starts to slow, and he pushes his full length into me. I can feel it when he explodes. His hot cum shoots into me so fast it’s still boiling hot.

He’s still hard as fuck when he pulls out. I let my legs down and pull him down and kiss him. I push him over and get on top of him. I lower myself down onto his cock. I run my hands along his chest and lean down and kiss him before I start to ride him.

I pull myself on and off his cock faster and faster. He moans and I lean down and kiss his neck. He bites me again, sinking his fangs into my flesh deeper than the last time. I feel my blood seep out of my wound and he quickly licks it away.

His hands cup my ass, helping my move back and forth, our chests slapping together. His hands run up my back and onto my shoulders. His fingers dig into my back and rake down to my ass, leaving long scratch marks. I kiss him and he rolls me over taking the top again.

He fucks me hard until I cum. My whole body shakes and my orgasm takes me over. He pins me down, a strong hand on each of my wrists, and he once again explodes inside of me. My orgasm lasts for what feels like forever. When he finally pulls out of me I’m still getting a hold of myself.

He kisses me and pulls on a pair of shorts and goes out of the tent. I hear him take off into the woods to feed.

I stand up, still trying to piece together what happened. I never do this. It opens me up to wide and I am too vulnerable.

I pull on a sports bra and leggings and leave the tent. I breathe in the fresh air and follow Aaron’s scent.