“You are the chosen one.”

”Huh?”

Lucien put down the tome he had been studying and focussed solely on the beautiful young woman standing before him. “You are the chosen one. You alone shall stand against the vampires that infest this world and – ”

“There are vampires now?” A frown creased Candy’s perfect brow. “Since when?”

Lucien sighed. “You truly didn’t notice that your next-door neighbour never leaves his home until well after nightfall? And never did you notice his waist-length sable hair, or the turn of the century clothing?”

“Yeah, but I just thought he was a goth.”

He ignored her ridiculous statement. “Or that you lived next to an abandoned amusement park, and that various creatures invaded it after dark?”

A patronising glint lit Candy’s sky-blue eyes “Well, it was obvious that serial killers were gathering there. I mean, hello, my sister is going out with an FBI agent? She was totally having these visions of a murder, all psychic like and stuff, but she’s not traumatised or anything. Those visions were like, so icky, but Amanda was all cool and tough and she didn’t even need to see a councillor after her and Jack killed that guy. She was like, dude, you’re evil, I’m so going to blow you away, and blam!” Candy smacked her hands together. “She did it! So you see, I think I know a little bit about this stuff.”

“An FBI agent?” The pulse in his temple began to throb.

“Yeah. Amanda told us all about it at dinner last Sunday. Her and Jack, they tracked this serial killer guy to the abandoned amusement park next door to our house, cos he was, like, taking his victims there and chopping them up into pieces and stuff. Jack said it was some weird thing to do with his mother, and that they didn’t call for back-up or anything.”

Candy’s voice grew excited, her eyes shining. “They didn’t need back-up, they could totally do it themselves, and it was, like, so cool. And Jack, he’s like a weapons and tactical and all this other stuff expert, so they didn’t even need back-up, which is totally awesome. Did you know he was a Navy SEAL? So he can swim super good, which is lucky cos there was this lake as well, and…ohmigosh, Amanda’s vision involved water! At least, I think it involved water. Maybe it was ice. Anyway, her vision said that someone’s name was John, or James, or Simon…which is, like, totally our cousin’s nephew’s girlfriend’s friend’s brother name! Oh my god! She is, like, way psychic!”

“Jack?” Lucien was completely confused now. And his head was killing him. He wondered vaguely if paracetamol would work on him, though it never had before. Goddamn, but he needed something to dull the pain.

“My sister’s boyfriend. Duh.” Candy’s golden hair slipped smoothly over her shoulders as she crossed her arms . “Hello, where were you? Didn’t I just say that?”

“But…but we were talking about you being the vampire slayer.” Weren’t they?

“Were we? Oh cool! That is so much better than being psychic. Amanda’s just going to die. I’ve got, like, a calling, and she only has icky visions that make her head hurt. Mum and Dad are going to be way prouder of me.”

This? This was what he had to put up with? Bloody hell, it almost wasn’t worth it. “And we’re supposed to fall in love,” he muttered. “I hate prophecies.”

“Like, ew.” Candy’s face screwed in disgust. “You’re so old and, like, exposition guy. Aren’t you just supposed to give the background of whatever it is that I face and then conveniently get out of the way?”

“Ah, but I have a dual role.” The rein on his sexuality, held tight until now, slipped. He knew he grew taller, broader, his features more handsome, his aura more alluring. “I am that ‘guy’, but I’m also the vampire with whom you ironically fall in love.”

A speculative gleam entered Candy’s eyes. “You’re a vampire?”

Lucian bared his teeth in a facsimile of a grin, a hint of fang displayed. A flush darkened Candy’s face, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

“That is, like, so hot,” she breathed, sidling closer to him. “So, do we make out now or what?”

From her reaction, all wide eyes and wet lips, it must be that his eyes were beginning to turn red, starting with a crimson pinpoint deep within his pupil and then spreading to engulf both the pupil and the iris. “Why don’t you come a little closer?”

Candy stepped forward, her lips parting in anticipation. A pink tongue darted out, wetting the luscious flesh. Twining a lock of hair about a finger, she smiled coquettishly at him.

Lucien returned her smile, his lips pulling back to reveal the full length of his fangs. Candy gasped, her hand rising to her chest, her eyes growing heavy as she fell deeper under his spell. Placing one hand on her shoulder, he drew her into his embrace. She came willingly, her head tipping back, her eyes drifting shut.

He lowered his head…and sunk his teeth into the frantically beating pulse at her neck, draining her dry within minutes.

Seriously, these chicks were so gullible.

©2009 Cassandra Dean