puts the book down and rubs her neck. "I hope Alfred visits me soon, I have the book he wants to see."

knocks on the door, humming to himself happily.

hears the knock, gets out of bed and walks to the door. "... ALFRED!" runs to him and hugs him tight.

blinks for a moment but smiles and hugs Bela back, nuzzling the top of her head. "What's up Bella~? I heard that was Italian for beautiful!"

winces when the bite in her neck stings again, then smiles, "It means white in my language. Please come in, I have the book here."

's eyes light up happily, and he happily follows Bela, closing the door behind him. "Sweetcakes!!"

"Have a seat, it's in my bedroom," smiles at him and walks to her bedroom, fetches the book, but drops it when the bite stings again. "Ah!"

's brow furrows in concern now, and he immediately moves to Bela's side. "Hey, what's wrong?"

takes her hand away from the bandage on her neck. "I was bitten today, and it stings so bad."

glances at her, then at the wound again. "Can I take a look at it?"

nods, then peels off the bandage. "He didn't get any blood, I hit him with my bag and then threw holy water at him. I think he was a_

new vampire, he just jumped me!"

inspects the bite, nodding. "Well, I could suck out some of the blood around the spot so that it gets all the possible venom out, or I could

just seal it, or I could…." Doesn't finish that sentence and looks away, blushing and frowning.

listens to the list of options, looks at him. "Or you could what?"

glances up at her, looking a bit nervous about telling her this. "W-well I could….turn you into a vampire…. and then you wouldn't have to_

worry about this stuff anymore."

's eyes are round with fear and shock. "Turn me? But ... "

immediately backpedals, trying not to freak Bela out. "No no no, you're right, it's better not to be one of us!" Laughs a bit, grinning_

lopsidedly.

shaking, "It's just that, Yong Soo tried to talk me into it yesterday ... his eyes glowed, he acted very seductive. My priest says if I_

become vampire, I can't go to heaven, my soul is damned forever." wipes the tears from her eyes. "Can you just try to get the venom out? _

Why did he have to use the hurting kind, there's another venom that is a ... " glances at Alfred, blushes "A ... aphrodisiac."

gapes like a fish at this for a moment, trying not to laugh at this as he nods and moves to gently sink his fangs into her wound. He can_

taste the slight difference in her blood, and it doesn't take much before it's gone. He then removes his fangs and licks the injury,_

standing up straight again. "Now what was that about Yong Soo trying to convince you to become a vampire?"

jumps slightly when she feels his fangs go in, this is the first time Alfred's bit her like this, suddenly, the pain, and fear evaporate_

and a light euphoria washes over her. blinks when she hears his question, turns her head to look at him. "He said I should become_

a vampire, become one of you ... " leans up against him, puts her arms around his waist to hold herself up.

puts his arms around her waist as well, to keep her up. "Why though? Why would he want you to become a vampire?"

"He thought I was curious and wanted to find out. His eyes started to glow, and he smiles so I could see his fangs. He also said that_

Berwald would like to add to his family."

blinks and nods. "Well Berwald does seem kinda lonely, but what Yong Soo did just sounds kinda creepy…."

turns her face and looks up at him. "It was creepy, and not like Yong Soo at all. Ivan said all vampires, even the ones who are nice at_

first, all turn bad eventually."

a bit uncomfortable about that statement. "Don't worry, I'll never turn bad! I'm a good guy!" Grins now.

"I know you won't!" hugs him. "Thank you for taking the sting away. I feel ... wonderful right now." plays with the buttons on his shirt.

smiles at this, nodding. "You're welcome! I'm glad you feel better!"

"I feel really, really good right now, actually." smiles. "And now I'm definitely marked as yours."

blushes at this, a bit confused. "Wha-wha?"

"That's what the girl said at the library. That day you bit me on my thumb? You marked me. That's why I haven't been bitten by any other_

vampires until now. " runs her finger lazily over his chest "She thought it was strange you weren't feeding off of me like a marked human_

usually is."

blinks again. "O-oh… And well, that's because I like you! And you know I couldn't do that to anyone!"

smiles, looks into his eyes, "I like you too Alfred, you have the prettiest blue eyes. The stuff about marking humans is in the book too."

completely forgot about the book! "Oh! The book! Can I take a look at it?"

"Of course you can," reaches down for it, then hands it to him. "It's been very interesting reading so far."

nods and takes the book, leading Bela over to her bed and sitting them both down before opening said book.

sits down, rests her head on his shoulder. "I've been learning about vampires all day. I wonder who wrote this book? No author, only a _

year and address where it was printed. Probably a private printing." snuggles up against him.

nods, not minding the snuggling. "They probably wanted to keep their identity a secret." Turns to the first chapter.

already read that part, so lets him read, watching his face as he takes in the information.

absorbing the information like a sponge, and is completely immersed in the book, quickly going through the first chapter and on to the_

second.

thought she read fast, being a librarian. watches him, amazed at how quickly he reads. Wonders how much of it he's remembering.

committing all of it to memory as he reads, the book made a bit more interesting since he was basically reading about himself.

still feeling the effects of Alfred's bite, absentmindedly runs her fingers along his arm as he reads.

doesn't feel it though, and continues reading, asking, "So when does it talk about the venom?" a bit absentmindedly.

"Oh, that's a couple more chapters in. What did you do before you were a vampire?"

pauses in reading the book to look at Bela. "Wha?"

"Before you were a vampire ... who were you? What did you do?" Hugs his arm, looking into his eyes.

glances towards the far wall, his expression falling slightly. "I was Alfred F. Jones, sophomore in high school, and co-captain of the_

football team. My grades were pretty good, but I still had to ask my brother Matthew for help on stuff. I had a job that Mattie knew about_

to pay the bills, since we were alone by then, and I also had another job that I didn't tell Mattie about so we could have some extra_

cash for ourselves. I…I was a kid who enjoyed life the best I could, and other than the bills, didn't have a care in the world… It was just_

me and Mattie, and despite our situation, we were happy." Smiles sadly now, looking down at the ground before him.

"You were just a boy then,"takes his hand in hers and rubs it. "You have family though, that's good. And you still see your brother."

nods, swallowing the lump in his throat from the memories. "Yeah, but everything's different now. Instead of worrying about grades or money_

, we're worrying about life and death. We can't be carefree like we used to anymore. We have to always watch our backs, and I have to_

protect Mattie with my life." He clenches the book in his hands harder now, looking the opposite direction of Bela."Nothing's simple anymore

. And it never will be."

lifts his hand to her lips and kisses the spot on his wrist where the vein is. "Doesn't seem fair, someone so young with all that_

responsibility. But you and your brother have each other, so you have that to keep you going."

nods, staying silent for a moment. "But I'm always so worried that something's gonna happen to him. That I wont be there to protect him when

something goes wrong and he either gets turned into a vampire or….." He speaks quietly, unable to finish the rest of his sentence.

"Or someone kills him? Or finds out he is your brother and use him against you? You may not be. When that vampire bit me, I screamed_

your name, but I still managed to get the vampire away from me. Can you teach your brother to protect himself too."

flinches at the word 'kills', and is hit with a pang of guilt when he hears about what happened to Bela. He then nods to her words. "I-I can

do my best."

"I know you can do it." Kisses him on the cheek. "He is so lucky to have you for a brother."

silent now, thinking about all she's said.

"I distracted you from reading, I was just curious to know who you were."

nods, but suddenly isn't interested in reading about vampires anymore. He lets out a quiet sigh and closes the book, handing it to her. _

"I'll finish it later. I don't feel like reading anymore tonight." Smiles lopsidedly.

takes it from him. "Alright. I care about you very much Alfred. " Kisses his cheek.

nods. "I care about you a lot too Bela." Kisses her cheek in return. "Now you should probably go to bed."

"Alright, have a good evening, thank you for helping me." turns his head and kisses him on the lips.

kisses her back briefly before standing. "No problem. See you later!" He then turns to leave.

watches him leave. sighs and closes her eyes.

makes sure the front door is shut behind him, and then disappears into the night.