It has been a few days since I first became what I am now... I still remember it, the overwhelming pain, the absolute fear... But for some reason, I seemed to have gotten used to it over the past few days. I'm not so afraid anymore... In fact, for some reason, nothing seems to scare me now. It's as if my fear left me, as if my mind had wiped it out... I'm not sure why, though.

I had to stay inside of the house for the past few days while I waited for my uncle Keron to get here and take me to his house. He has to be the one to take care of me now, since I'm a vampire now... But my dad is still a bit unsure, since Keron is a werewolf, and everyone knows that the vampires and the werewolves are mortal enemies. My dad says, though, that Keron would never even consider hurting his own kin, no matter what speices they are. I've never really met uncle Keron, only heard of him, but I can't wait to meet him, he must be a nice guy!

While I've been having to stay in the house all day, my dad told my teacher's that I've been sick the past few days, and that I'm going to have to live with relatives to see if my health gets any better... I'm not sure if the teachers really believe him, though, since they sometimes see me at night with my mom, when she gets some raw meat so I can drink the blood out of it... But so far, no one has asked any questions, so I guess they believe my dad... But there's something I want to do that may end up reveiling my dad's lie.

Tonight was the village's annual Pie Festival, and I really, REALLY wanted to go with them. Even though I'm a vampire now, I still sometimes eat human food, and I love pie... Plus, Tasha would be there, I just know it... I wanted to see her one more time before I had to leave...

Tasha is my best friend in the village, and I admit, I have a crush on her... She's is just the sweetest, nicest, and prettiest girl in the entire village... I've never had the courage to say it to her, though... Maybe it's because I think she might just laugh... But tonight, I'm going to tell her, before I leave... I need for her to know that I care about her more than just a friend...

Problem was, it was going to take a long while of begging to be able to convince my dad to let me go.

"Please dad! I really want to go! I promise I won't hurt anyone, I promise I won't blow my secret!" I said, a bit rushed. I was a bit nervous of what the outcome would be, but I still had to keep trying.

"Neo, it's too dangerous... What if someone was to find out? What if you aren't able to keep instincts? You have been doing a good job making sure they don't come, but there will be a lot of fresh human blood..." my dad said, looking a bit unsure and worried.

"Oh, come on! Please! Can't you just drain some of the blood from the raw meat into like... One of the soup container? I can take it and say it's tomato soup! Please, dad, I really want to go!"

"But Neo..."

That's when I decided to do my secret weapon, the one every eight-year-old kid had. The puppy dog eyes. I made my eyes really big and sad and said to my dad, in a rather tiny voice. "Pwetty, pwetty please... I wanna go just one more time before I have to weave..."

My dad looked at me very unsure, but in the end, he did a long sigh and said "Alright, you can go... But make sure no one finds out about what you are now, or they will surely kill you..."

That's when my dad went into the kitchen, and after a while, came back with a container. I could smell the blood inside of it, it was sort of old... But I'm not too picky, so I didn't care. He handed the container to me and looked down at me. "Neo, please be careful... I know it's hard being a vampire now, I should have destroyed that potions before I left... But please, don't do anything hasty..."

"I won't dad! I'm never one to take things hasty!" I said, matter-of-factly. My brother, Leo, was more of the one to take things hasty. I usually just stayed out of the way.

"I know, son. But things can change very quickly... Still, though, you should have fun, this'll probably be the last time you'll be in Ranbantre's Pie Festival... You need to enjoy it."

All I could do was nod. I was going to miss this village, but I couldn't stay... They hated night creatures with a passion, and I would be in a constant worry that they may find out if I stayed... Plus, I couldn't endanger my family, either...

This would be my last night in the village, uncle Keron should be here tommorrow to get me... Then all I would have to do is wave good-bye... Good-bye to my old life, and begin my new life.
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I had to wait a few hours before the sun finally set. My mom and dad were getting ready, and my brother, Leo, was jumping up and down, wanting to go already. I had the lid to the container open and was drinking a little bit of the blood, just to make sure my thirst was kept in check.

"Come on, come on! I think I can already smell the pies!" My brother said happily, inhaling and exhaling. My brother was the biggest pie fanatic I have ever known. Last year he ate six whole pies and made himself sick for two days straight. Knowing him, this could end up being a repeat of last year.

Honestly, though, I was just as impatient as him. I had stayed up all afternoon, instead of going to sleep again, because I was so excited. I couldn't wait to see Tasha, and honestly, I wanted some pie, too. Cherry was my favorite... Maybe because cherry was the same color as Tasha's hair... But also because I loved the taste.

Tasha would come first, though. Pie could wait for me. My mom and dad finally were ready, I closed the lid to the container that still had some blood in it, and we all left the house and begun to head towards the marketplace, where the Pie Festival was always held. It didn't take long before we could all smell the aroma of pie. Apple, pumpkin, pecan, every single pie you could imagine, you could smell it. I gripped my container of blood a bit harder, somewhat worried I might accidently drop it, and after a bit more walking, we were at the festival.

Every single vendor now had hundreds and hundreds of pies in them. You could see a bunch of kids playing, and the cheers going on as the first pie-eating contest of the night was going on. The multi-colored flames of the candles gave a rather soothing feeling, and I enjoyed it. The Pie Festival was always my favorite day, but right now, I had more pressing matters to attend to...

I looked around the excitement and activities, and it didn't take long for me to find her... My sweet Tasha, her bright red hair and deep purple eyes shining brightly under the star and candle light. She was happily eating a piece of pie, and was sitting next to her parents at one of the tables. I instantly perked up when I saw her, I could feel a rather large smile trying to pull itself on my face.

"Mom, dad, can I please go play with Tasha?" I asked my parents, looking hopefully. This was the entire reason I wanted to come today, not to eat pie, but... But to spend the entire night with her.

My dad didn't look too sure, but my mom answered him before he did.

"Alright, Neo, but please stay close by," she said, in her sing-song voice. I smiled big and hugged her.

"Thank you, mommy!" I said just before I ran off towards Tasha's table... Or more like walk, since my walking was now about as fast as a human run.

When I made it to her table, she had just finished her slice of pie, and was wiping her mouth. She looked up and saw me, and I could see a huge smile on her face.

"Neo!" I heard her say as she got up and gave me a big hug. I couldn't help a blush that crept onto my face. I was so happy to see her again, probably more happy than she was right now, and she was the princess of happy in Ranbantre. It was impossible to make her mad or sad.

"Good to see you again, Tasha," I said in a gently voice. She was so warm, so gentle...

"Neo, you're freezing! Have you never heard of layering?" She asked, letting go of the hug and shivered a bit. I could only chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, but I was too excited to even think of it... It's good to see you again Tasha. How long has it been, three days?"

"Too long in my book! I heard you were sick! Are you okay now?"

"Well, I still don't feel too good... I'm probably going to leave tommorrow..."

She looked incredibly sad after I said that, as if her cat had just passed away. "But why can't you stay?" She said, a bit sad and mad at the same time. Mostly sad, though.

"Because dad thinks it might be the air in the village making me sick... So I'm leaving to see if different places makes me feel better," I lied. I couldn't tell her the truth, even though I really wanted to... I looked down at my container, and could smell the blood again... I was beginning to get hungry now... But that could wait. "Um, Tasha... If you don't mind, do you mind coming with me to find a quiet place? I just want to talk, ya know..."

"Of course, Neo! I'll tell my parents!" She ran back over to her parents, and I could hear her tell them, since my hearing is so much better than a human's now. Apparently, her parents were a bit unnerved at first, but they agreed as long as we stayed in the village. She ran back over to me and told me, even though it wasn't neccecary. I then began to walk out of the festival a little, but still stayed in the village, and Tasha followed.
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After a little walking, we were just outside of the festival, still close enough for some people to see us, but only so close that they had to look at us to see us, not just with the corner of their eyes. Tasha looked at me curiously, apparently wondering why I had wanted to talk to her in private...

I looked into her eyes, and took in a deep breath... Somewhat of a mistake, I got a smell of her blood, and it was DELICIOUS smelling, a lot better than the one in the container... I shook it off and looked back into her eyes. "Tasha, I have something to tell you..." I said, a bit nervous still.

"Neo? What is it? Is something wrong?" She asked, a bit concerned?

"No, nothing much, anyway... I just, I just have to tell you this before I leave tommorrow..."

"What is it? You look nervous..."

I took in another deep breath and exhaled. "Tasha, I... I sorta... Kinda... I like you, Tasha, more than just a friend... You're just so nice and pretty and... And you were my first friend... I really like you, and I wanted to tell you before I had to leave... I wanted you to know how I felt..."

That was when I could see her eyes fill with tears... I made her sad... But was it because... Because she was afraid? Oh great Heaven Gods, did I make a big mistake for telling her? "Neo..." she said, in both a choked voice, and one that seemed to have... Happiness in it.

All of a sudden she hugged me tightly. She hugged me and didn't want to let go, it seemed... I smiled a bit, and I began to hug her back, when I realized I made a terrible, terrible mistake...

I had lost grip of my container, and it dropped onto the ground, the lid comming off and the blood splashed onto Tasha... The scent of the blood filled my nostrils and all of a sudden, a burning feeling was in my throat...

I pushed Tasha away as my vision began to turn red... All I could smell was the raw meat blood, but just as sudden, that scent was overpowered by Tasha's blood... It smelt so good as I could hear her heart beat, it was beating fast now, with fear... My mouth was watering now, and I could hear Tasha in a panicked voice.

"Neo! Neo, what's wrong?!" She said, her voice clearly drenched in fear. I could only smile wickedly as I jumped out at her and pinned her onto the ground. I could hear her scream as I sunk my fangs into her neck, drinking in her warm, sweet blood. It tasted far better then that crappy animal blood, as I continued to suck her dry. She continued to scream loudly, begging me to stop, saying that is was hurtting her.

There was that part of me that was telling me to stop, or else I was going to kill her, but that voice was over-shadowed by another voice. It was telling me to keep going, to dry her completely, to quench my thirst with her human blood... I listened to that voice instead of the one telling me to stop.

I could hear her heartbeat beginning to slow as all of a sudden, I was pulled off of her. I growled and screamed, not liking how my dinner was interupted, but just as sudden I had snapped out of it... My vision had turned back to normal, my thirst was suddenly gone... I could feel a crushing weight holding me, as I realized what had happened, as a crushing feeling was hard on my heart...

I could see a bunch of people surrounding Tasha, who was still on the ground... I could hear her heartbeat, but it was very faint... People were trying to heal her with magic, but it wasn't working... She was as pale as snow, blood stained the ground underneath her... Then, then I heard her heart beat only a few more times before it finally stopped, life leaving her eyes as she became as motionless as a statue...

The most heart breaking feeling washed over me, and I screamed in agony. "No, Tasha, TASHA!"  I yelled for her, knowing it was all in vain... I had killed her, murdered her... She begged me to stop, and I refused to... Now, the one girl I held closest to my heart was gone...

It was then I could feel myself being taken away... They were taking me away, away to punish a night creature like me... I could see Tasha's parents next to her dead body, crying their hearts out...

It was all my fault...