Courtney's POV: An ঘন্টা later, Duncan left, and as soon as his motorcycle drove away, I bolted out of the house and ran down the street. Somewhere. Anywhere. Any place where I could be scared alone.

I ran down the sidewalk, the sound of my wedges click-clacking on the pavement as I turned sharply toward my old house. There had been a আগুন when I was six and my parents died, so I lived alone with Tiannah because she never had parents; they died long পূর্বে in a car accident.

The old house wad charred and covered in soot; the wood panels were flaking off and half of the house lay on the ground. I carefully opened the old wooden door and walked around inside.

The inside was completely blackened from the fire, and nobody told me when অথবা how the আগুন even started in the first place. There was no furniture, no pictures, nothing. All that was there was burnt wood and ashes. I found my way through the dead house and walked into a small room. There was a white বিছানা sitting patiently in the corner, and the entire room was white and perfectly untouched. The door to the room was burnt and chipped off, but the room itself was completely intact.

I walked into the room and stared at pictures on one of the dressers. A happy woman and a happy man holding a bouncy brown-haired baby with dark onyx eyes. Me. Another of a small girl with long black hair shoving a boy her age অথবা a বছর older with short black hair and blue eyes. Tia and Duncan. Another picture of a brown-haired girl, a black-haired girl, and a red-haired girl. Me and my best বন্ধু in kindergarten. Then, I stopped at one picture.

It wasn't in a frame, it was laying on the dresser, the white backing scarred a bit from the fire. I picked it up and turned it over, and I saw my mom, looking as if her হৃদয় was about to burst, laying on her বিছানা in fear. Above her was nothing but air, so I had no clue what she was staring terrified at.

I snorted, and tossed the picture like a frisbee. As I watched it float, I saw something flash in the picture. Something white and transparent. I eyed the picture as it lay on the floor facing me, and there was just my mom on the bed. I took a step to my right, then another, then another, and gasped as what I saw became clear as day.

A figure was hovering above my mom. A figure, floating, a ... person? A person. It was just there, laying in the air above my mom, hands curled in a hunting position, long white fangs gleaming and exposed. Shaggy black hair covered most of it's face, all except for the nose and the mouth, which made the fangs stand out.

I stepped closer to the picture and picked it up, turning it a bit to the left, then a bit to the right as if it was a holographic card. On the right it was blank, on the left there the vampire was. I looked at the person closer, and saw a pair of gleaming blue eyes shine through midnight black hair. It took me a while to piece together the story here, but as soon as I did, I gasped in fear, covering my hand over my mouth, and slid to the ground, eyes tearing up.

Duncan threatened to bite my mom. Or...DID.

~ ~

Duncan's POV: I sat, alone, in my room, in a fetal position দ্বারা the window. Tears formed in my eyes as I looked at pictures of my mom and dad, happy, before I was born. Since I was born, my father hated the world, as if the wars and everything were MY fault. He hated me, and he died when I was 13, because my mom achieved cardiovascular cancer, and died in her বিছানা পরবর্তি to me, when I was 11.

Lots of pictures were strewn on my comforter, most not in frames. Pictures of a blonde-haired woman and a brown-haired man holding a black-haired 1-year-old girl, and they were happy. If that was ME, my dad would not even be in the picture. He wouldn't even offer to take it, thus I "shall never be remembered in this family, as I was to no good use". Eye roll.

I groaned and wiped my eyes on my arm. Good and bad memories. I loved my mother; when my father would yell at me for stupid reasons, my mother would stand up to him and tell him to leave me the fuck alone.

Then, my cell phone rang. I layed down on my বিছানা and groaned again, slipping the শীর্ষ of the phone up and placing it to my ear. "What?"

"Courtney alert!" Came the sound of my best friend Gwen's voice. "Heading down main street, coming right to you!"

"M'kay." I grunted and closed the phone. I would die if she saw me crying. But there's nothing I can really do about it now, my face was all pale and puffy.

I heard the front door open, and footsteps flew up the stairs. I sighed. "Here we go.."

And immediately after I rolled onto my stomach, Courtney burst through the door, holding a picture, and waving it in my face.

"EXPLAIN THIS!!!!!!" She was crying badly.

I squinted at the picture, then grabbed her wrist to put the picture on standstill. It was of a woman, a dark-brown-haired woman, laying on a bed, clutching her হৃদয় as if she was having a হৃদয় attack, and her mouth was open in a scream. I saw nothing otherwise.

"It's a woman. Big whoop, Princess."

She tilted the ছবি a bit to the window, and I saw it. A vampire, floating, above the woman. Wait, that's......me?! I've never bitten a human! Well, under my control I haven't.....FUCK.

"YOU BIT MY MOTHER?!" Courtney screamed.

"SHHHHH!" I lunged and clamped my hand over her mouth. "Just chill out and talk like a human, ok?"

She breathed heavily and nodded in a agreement, sitting down on the বিছানা beside me, but about two feet away. She couldn't help but stare at my mouth.

"OK Princess, there's no need to be afraid, stop looking at my mouth for fangs. I don't bite people, I'm not bloodthirsty. Like I told আপনি earlier, it's a defect in my genes, and I have SOME symptoms of vampirism. Not all."

She sighed. "Ok." And she relaxed. Good. "But why were আপনি threatening to bite my mom? I don't understand that."

I inhaled through my teeth. "You know how my dad's hated my guts?"

She nodded.

"He used to beat me, abuse me, whenever he was drunk. So I think, what আপনি saw in the picture...is my emotions getting out of control because of the constant injuring."

Tears started to form in Courtney's eyes. I took her hands in mine and looked deep into her eyes.

"Courtney..." I said, straining not to call her Princess, although I wanted to, "I would never, ever, hurt আপনি অথবা someone related to আপনি on purpose. I'm so sorry for what I've done in my past; even I wish I could go back and erase moments in time."

She pulled her hands away from my grip and slung her bag over her shoulder. "I have to go."

Then, she turned and started toward the door.

"Freeze!" I flicked my hand at her back, and instantly she stopped, as if I pressed "Pause". I walked up to her so I was directly in front of her, and flicked my hand again. She continued walking - right into me. Her lips locked onto mine, and her eyes went wide. I linked my fingers together and pulled her waist toward mine, concealing any মহাকাশ between our bodies.

I pulled away without releasing my grip on her torso, and she bitchslapped me.

"OW, what the hell?" I rubbed my cheek.

"I HATE you! Don't আপনি get it, stupid?" She mocked me.

"Do not."

Truth.

I can read human minds, which I've always loved to do :D hehehe

That was completely true. Courtney doesn't hate me.

"DO!"

Lie.

"Just admit it, আপনি like me." I smirked.

"GAH!!!" Her eyes became full of rage, and she lifted her leg - and kicked. HARD.

"GOD DAMN!!!!!!" I groaned and slid to the floor.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" She cried and ran downstairs.

Fucking dumbass Twilight. I'M NOT EDWARD CULLEN! I wanted to shout, but I kept quiet. After all, I think I just freaked her out enough. DAMNIT, I'm stupid. Why did I have to tell her my secret?