Dear Diary,

It's been three days and I can't stop thinking about the mysterious vampire who claims to have saved my life.

I hate it when normal life gets in the way of sleep. I never get enough sleep. Slaying keeps me up most of the night and normal life demands I be awake during the day so I can pay the bills. It also doesn't help that when I do sleep I dream of bright blue eyes and long dark hair. That vampire haunts my dreams and I don't like it. I rationalize it by thinking that it was because I didn't kill it when I had the chance.

I have a pretty easy job as far as jobs are concerned. I work in this dinky little gas station. The place has been around a while. It could really use new paint and maybe a new parking lot. Honestly, it just needs to be completely remodeled. It does happen to stay pretty busy though. There just isn't many places to shop this far out in the country. People would just rather pay more for what few grocery items we carried than drive the thirty minutes it takes to get to town. It works out for me because people tend to be in a hurry and don't ask questions like where did that bruise come from.

Since that first encounter with a feral, I've run into two others. They've kept me pretty busy the last few nights. It's odd. There normally aren't that many ferals lurking around. Most newly transformed vampires tend to accept their fate, drink blood, and carry on with a normal life. Not all vampires want to get noticed and meet the end of one of my stakes. So basically, what I'm trying to say is that I've been up a lot more than what a typical night would consist of.

"Livvy! Livvy!"

A very petite blonde came rushing toward me. She was beautiful. Her blue eyes lit up with mischief. She gave me a half turned up grin that showed off her one dimple. I knew I was about to get an ear full from the look on her face. She tucked a random strand of golden hair behind her ear. Next, she threw her hands up on top of her hips and started tapping her foot. I was late again and she wasn't going to let me ignore it. I loved her for it anyway. Thank God for best friends. I am so lucky because this one happened to be mine.

"What's goin' on, Summer Lynn?" I asked her.

"You're late again, you know. Better not let Marcy find out. I think she'd just 'bout do anythin' to get you fired. Bless her heart. I just saw her peepin' through the blinds by the register waitin' on you to walk on in. Poor thin ain't got nothin' better to do with her time than to just sit there with her little notebook waitin' for you to mess up."

"I'm not worried 'bout her. Let her tattle on me. I won't be getting fired anytime soon. You know Cindy loves me."

Cindy, my boss, didn't really love me. She kind of just tolerated me. She came from a family of hunters and understood my hours. Plus, with the last name like Nightborn, it was a dead giveaway of what I was. It was a famous hunter last name. My parents were celebrities in their own right. Sadly, the life of a slayer was never long. When your given profession was to kill monsters you didn't stand a chance. If it was hunter related Cindy normally forgave me. Marcy was the least of my worries.

"That's not the real reason you came runnin' over here is it?" I asked her.

"Oh! I almost forgot! You know I was workin' last night when you were off. Someone came in lookin' for you. Why didn't you tell me you had a beau?"

"Beau? Really, Summer Lynn? Since when di you start using words like beau?"

"Since Mr. Hottie last night told me I sound like a true southern lady, that's when. Thought I'd spice up my vocabulary a little bit. But that's not the point. You've never mentioned Mr. Sexy. Ain't I your best friend?"

I rolled my eyes at her. Summer Lynn had a flair for the dramatic. She had a whole lot of personality packed inside such a tiny body. It was just one of the reasons I loved her so much. Also, I never needed to hold up the conversation. She always had something to talk about.

"You know you're my bestie. You also know there hasn't been a Mr. Sexy in my life, not since Dean," I said with a frown on my face.

"That lying no good piece of trash! I don't know how you can say his name! Every time I hear his name I could just...SPIT!" Summer Lynn said as she stomped her foot to emphasize the word spit.

God love her. She hated Dean. I don't blame her. If I hadn't have loved him so much I think I would hate him too. Dean used me for my last name. Thinking he could get somewhere in the slaying community by being the boyfriend of a Nightborn. Sadly, it worked. He was seen as one of the brightest up and coming slayers of this generation. He got there by taking credit for my hard work. I was too heartbroken to contradict him after our break up. Summer Lynn knew most of the story just not the slayer details.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I know that sounds like slaying is a big out and open thing but really it's not. There is a small group of slayers who take care of all the bad guys. It's not a big group because like I said slayers die young. Everyone in this, I guess you'd say, job group, knows each other. Sometimes we even call each other for help.

Most people don't know about monsters. It's a big secret. A few times some of the monsters have come forth wanting to make themselves public. They just wanted to live normal lives like everyone else. But the few bad ones have ruined it for the good ones. No one wants mass paranoia over what could happen. So the creepy crawlies go back to their hidey-holes and again wait for time to come out.

"Tell me about Mr. Sexy. Did he give you a name? What did he look like? And what was he askin' 'bout me?" I asked.

"Oh, he was beautiful!" she exclaimed. "He had long black hair. He kind of had it tied back at the nape of his neck. Oh! And the brightest blue eyes I ever did see! He's tall and dressed very well. Like someone you know comes from money. He's a trouble maker that's for sure. You could just look at him and know if you go anywhere with him you'd get into some sort of trouble. But you'd go anyway and you knew that he knew that you'd go. He was pale though. Probably has some kind of office job in town..."

I had to cut her off. Once Summer Lynn started daydreaming she'd be making up that life for the rest of the night. I needed answers now. I had a suspicion that she met the vamp I had a run-in with a few nights ago. This couldn't be good.

"We better go in and take the register from Marcy. She's shooting daggers at us through the window. Bet she's ready to clock out," I tell Summer Lynn. "So did Mr. Sexy give you his name? And what exactly did he ask about?"

"I think he said his name was Caden. I didn't get a last name. I sear I was too busy droolin' over that man to pay much attention! He was askin' 'bout what you did in you free time and how long you've worked here and when you'd be in next. I dunno, Livvy, just typical beau stuff."

"Did you tell him any of that stuff?" I asked.

Then the thought occurred to me. He had to know my name. The color must have drained from my face because Summer Lynn turned to me with a questioning gaze.

"Was I not supposed to tell him, Livvy? Oh God, who was he? He ain't related to Dean, is he?"

"No, no nothing like that," I told her. "You know how I have that other job I work nights?"

"Yeah, the top-secret one you won't tell me nothin' 'bout?" She glared at me with that question. It really irked her that I refused to tell her what I get up to at night.

"That's the one. I think I met him a few nights ago on the job. I must have told him I worked here and forgot. I didn't mean to worry you."

I hated lying to her like that but I had a bad feeling. This guy was a head honcho. The big time. It scared me deep in my bones to know he was looking for me and he knew enough to question my friend at my place of work.

Summer Lynn just gave me a look and shrugged off my odd behavior.

"Okay," she said, "Let's see if we can get Marcy good and riled up before she leaves."

I just laughed. Summer Lynn knows me so well.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The rest of the night flew by. It was pretty busy because the high school had a basketball game going on that night. The store didn't close until ten. I was in the middle of counting down the register and closing paperwork when Summer Lynn came up to me.

"Livvy, there is something in the stock room," she told me with a nervous quiver in her voice.

She had my undivided attention now. I hope this time it wasn't a spider. I'm pretty fearless when it comes to most things but if it's a spider I might just burn the building down.

"I heard a loud hiss," she said. "It was real loud. It has to be a big snake and you know I just can't deal with that. Can you go check and see? You don't have to kill it, Livvy, we can call someone to take care of it. I just can't bring myself to go look. You know how I feel about snakes."

"Don't worry," I said as I grabbed my backpack. I needed to be prepared just in case. In all probability, it was a giant snake. We do live in the boonies.

Summer Lynn just nodded at me as I made my way toward the back. When she no longer was looking, I slipped my hand inside my pack feeling around until I made purchase with a spare stake. It could be used to kill a snake as well as vampires.

I could hear the hissing before I even made it through the stock room doors. This wasn't a snake and it made four ferals in the last three nights. Maybe Caden was sending them to me to test the slayer in this area. I was good. I didn't need his tests.

I slammed the stock room door open, hoping to catch the creature off guard. It didn't come at me. What the hell? Ferals always run toward the noise. I look around the crowded stock room and notice movement in the back corner. The slammed door didn't give me away so I decided to see if I could continue to make my presence unknown.

I slowly eased my way around the corner of a shelf. From this angle, I should have a good view of what's going on in the corner but at a safe distance to get away if need be.

It was a feral, alright, again disintegrating in a cloud of smoke, flames, and ash. The executioner just happened to be, you guessed it, Caden.

He turned around slowly. Almost as if he was mocking me. I knew he was much faster. I should probably run or at the least throw my stake at him but I couldn't move. All I could do was stand and stare. Was I looking him in the eyes? Direct eye contact with older vamps could mean certain doom. They had the ability to take over your mind. Make you do and say things that you wouldn't normally do.

Caden slowly stalked toward me. He held my gaze. I guess I was looking him in the eyes.

"Oliva Nightborn," he said, "I need your help."