Jennifer Holloway was a frequent customer in the small cafe of Tres Chic. This was not only because of the fact that their white hot chocolate was some of the best she had ever tasted but it was the ideal place for a college student like herself to find a quiet studying enviroment. She had been there since 6:30 that evening with a tote full of text books and a dire need of caffine and soft jazz. The time was 8:53 when Jen realized her beverage was in need of refreshing, she decidedly finished page 53 of Truman Copote's: Breakfast at Tiffany's before setting her book aside and getting up to order another.

Out of the four classes that she was currently taking English was by far her favorite. It was their assignment to right an essay on the book of their choice and the author who wrote it. Having been in love with the story since she first read it, it was her first choice and so far it had not let her down.

Alan sat in the booth adjacent to Jennifer’s looking out the window despairing that he would have to go home soon and meld into the middle of all the other children.

He hated this move to the city and missed his hometown of Denver dearly. It was like nothing and nobody understood his situation and misery. Alan just wanted to go home.

Now though he was young and socially not considered the best and the brightest due to his inability to conform to the expectations of the adults and peers around him, he was fairly well read and had good aptitudes in literature as they usually contributed to his role-playing hobby.

Since he had just moved to this new country and had not had the time find friends of a like interest he had made his way back into his parent’s book collection.

Turning his head, he eyed the pretty college student reading a book and upon a closer look of the cover, he began to laugh a little louder than to himself as he mused aloud, "I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods."

The irony struck him funny.

Jen had returned to her seat by then with her fifth hot chocolote for the evening and had already resumed her reading. Her brown eyes peered up over the top of the book as she heard the laughter of the boy sitting a few feet from her. "Excuse me?" Her inquiry wasn't rude, she just didn't understand all that he had said and apparently wasn't aware that it wasn't directed at her. Jen sat the novella on the table's surface and looked at him questionably.

Alan did not realize that he had actually been that loud and when she confronted him with the inquiry, his body began to turn within itself with shy embarrassment.

The people in a coffee shop were not the type of folks he feared in this city; in fact, it was a place he felt safe. Realizing his rudeness, he straightened up and looked back to his neighbor in the next booth.

The 14 year old, voice slightly a quiver now, replied, “‘I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.’ Capote’s quote on the first page in that book right.” He was nervous discussing literature suddenly with someone significantly older not to mention the fact she was hot.

“My dad just moved us here and I was thinking about how much I missed my home, and when I saw your book it just hit me funny.”

With his eyes turned down, “I apologize if I offended you miss. It won’t happen again.”

Jennifer had realized suddenly when she felt a smile tugging at the corners of her glossed lips that she had embarassed him enough already without trying. She was skilled at keeping a straight face when she needed to and so for his sake she hid the smile away. "Don't apoligize, you didn't offend me besides thats right." There was a thoughtful pause as she glanced back to the novella on the table. "I'm surprised, most people your age wouldn't know something like that."

"How long has it been since you moved here?" Not even five minutes into the conversation and Jennifer had found something in common with this stranger. "It's been about four or five days for me, I'm moved here from Texas." She had been given a choice wether or not to stay in Texas, but it had been either to stay there and finish out school alone or come to Canada to be close to her family. All Texas held for her was her friends and warmer weather, which goodness knows she missed dearly right now.

A little more relaxed in the knowledge that he had not made a total ass of himself he replied, “Yeah me too. We moved here from Denver about three weeks ago.”

Realizing she had asked another question, “Oh yeah, um, I guess I read a lot of books mostly from my parents collection. My mother is a big fan of T.C.”

Taking a sip of his drink his eyes wandered back out the window. Maintaining eye contact or conversation for long durations was not his strong point, he needed breaks to endure the uncomfortable feelings of the social awkwardness he felt.

“Where in Texas are you from?”

Denver, Jen had been the airport there once, that was the extent of her Denver experience. She had been to other parts of Colorado though, when her parents had taken her. Telluride just happened to be second to the top on the list of her favorite places, she had liked the small shops and the vividly painted victorian houses. Her mother had taken her there specificly because she knew Jennifer would like it so much.

"I'm from Huntsville." If he didn't know where that was she wouldn've been surprised. It was quite literally the middle of nowhere where she lived, dirt roads, farms and ranches made up her neighborhood.

As she watched his gaze wander off Jen understood. She was never really good with that whole eye contact thing either, especially when she was eating or drinking something. If she was nervous around someone and she had to eat infront of them she wouldn't. There had been dates that she had went on where the guy was upset that she wouldn't eat anything, it just seemed weird to her. Jen wasn't nervous now though, so she took a long sip of her hot chocolate.

"My name is Jen." The short version, she never gave anyone her whole name.

“Alan,” is all he said in reply.

Could this be happening? A pretty older girl was still talking to him; awkward just broke into puberty him.

This was beginning to become nerve wracking so he did what he always did and started turning the situation into a movie in his mind. It was the kind of movie where the young team ends up partners in some scheme with a worldlier and hotter woman. This gave him the confidence he needed to continue as he began to write the script.

Turning his attention back to her he decided the movie would have him get out of his booth and move over to hers and sit and that is what he did. “I have no idea where Huntsville is,” he said looking to continue the connection now that he was committed in his mind to the movie.

Taking another sip of his coffee he asked, “Why would you leave someplace warm, let alone the states to come here?” His unhappiness with Demaitre was clearly showing through the question.

Just as she was about to ask him to come and sit with her he got up and did it on his own. The look of astonishment was present on her face for only a moment before she realized it was there. Jen smiled, apparently happy that he could overcome his nervousness and join her. She had had a cousin about his age back home and she couldn't even begin to think about what most teenage boys had on their mind when they where in the presence of a woman like her or almost any woman at all for that matter.

"My parents wanted to move to Vancouver, don't ask me why ... the reason why I moved too was because I just didn't want to be alone. I transfered to Demaitre University and well ... here I am." Jen pulled her wool sweater around her as she looked out the window. "You know, I only saw snow twice when I lived in Texas, once while I was in kindergarden then again a couple years ago. It would melt as soon as it hit the ground too, here I have to dig my car out of it once every two weeks." She gave a bitter laugh before taking another sip of her hot chocolate. Her brown eyes glanced over to him. "Why did your parents move here?"

Putting his coffee down he replied, “He got a promotion and that brought him here.”

A slight furl in Alan’s brow appeared as he remembered the fight with his parents over the move back in Denver. It had set an unfortunate tone for him even before the move.

Whether he liked it or not he was stuck in this city and with his family. He could not wait to grow up and get the hell out.

The abuse he was taking at the school for being the new kid and from the states was taking its toll on him. It was the reason he came to places like this instead of going home where he just became another resource his mom would call on to do things he did not want to do. They had even taken his entertain center and stuff when they moved because of the trouble they perceived they had with Alan because of it.

Anyway, he was he now and noting it would be time to go home soon, but he was rebelling and wanted to be late. At least he would get some attention that way.

Returning his attention to the conversation at hand he looked back to Jennifer, well sort of his eyes did what most teenage boys eyes go, a bit south of her face.

“So snow is new to you, huh. All we ever had was snow it seemed.” He realized what he was doing and blushed a bit, “Uh, that’s a nice sweater,” and he quickly turned his head back to the window.

(I apoligize for not replying sooner, I've been in a bad way lately and just wasn't ready to write.)

Jennifer almost asked about his father's career before she caught on. By watching him she understood that maybe he didn't want to think or even for that matter, talk about them. Gees. Jen had never felt that way about her parents before. Even though they had the occaisonal fight it was never so bad that she wouldn't want to go home to them in the evening.

As she finished her cocoa Jen paid no mind to the teenager's wandering eyes. The sweater had seemed modest enough on the hanger, however it clung to her curves enough that any one of the male species didn't need much of an imagination to guess what was underneathe. Luckily for her most of the men her age were gaining some form of maturity, Jen's mother had suggested not long ago that it would be the perfect time to start looking for a husband. Yikes.

Jennifer played with the ceramic coffee mug as she pondered buying another beverage before the cafe would close. "Yeah, when I went to Colorado for vacation I saw some snow ... not a whole lot. It was cold though, my mother had bought me sweats that matched hers for the trip. I was young enough that I didn't have my own money to buy what I wanted but I was old enough to want to hide from the public." She looked at him and smiled noticing briefly the location of his gaze. "I think I was about your age when I went." Jen did the math in her head before discovering that maybe she should have left it alone.

A pause as she looked down at her sweater. "This old thing?" It was only month old. "Thanks. I think it's nice but the fabric can be scratchy sometimes. My neighbor thought she might be helpful and did my laundry right before I left ... all I had to wear was this."

This conversation was beginning to dead end; he did not have the experience to talk beyond the basic like the weather and where someone was from.

He felt embarrassed and excited by his pubescent reaction to her and was not as confident as the moment he saw himself moving into the booth ‘Oh man,’ he thought to himself while he sat there stuck and grasping desperately in his mind for the next thing to say.

After a couple of false starts poorly hidden behind the need to take another drink from an almost empty cup, he came out with “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Shocked by the question he came out of his mouth he slumped a bit in the booth now a bit red in the face.

Poor kid. Jennifer remembered that age, how awkward she felt when the Senior boys came around. Scott Turner had been her crush and like this poor guy in front of her she had accidently blurted out something similar one day when he walked past her in the hall. Of course she was made fun of for it, had spent two hours in the bathroom crying before the school nurse found her and called her mother to take her home.

Jen decided she wasn't going to embarass him, in fact she admired his courage for asking her such a thing. "No, I don't." She leaned across the table, making the decision to keep her distance but atleast give him some sort of hope. "Why do you ask?" Her voice was a soft whisper, sexy but also low enough that the employees couldn't hear her.

The dialogue ran through his head as he chastised himself for such blatant naivety. ‘What the hell are you thinking Alan? Why did you have to ruin a good thing? She is going to…’

Just as she answered, he noted her voice was not a tone to humiliate or put him down but rather a soft and somewhat sexy whisper. ‘Ah geez,’ he thought, ‘this is even worse. Is she hitting on me? I don’t know what to do with this.” About that time, the excitement had reached other parts of his body causing him to have shift in his seat, as something had come up that he was not able to deal with now.

‘Man, I can’t even run away now,’ he thought while color started to fill his cheeks. However, it was not too overly visible the self-embarrassments began to compound.

“Uh, I was just curious was all he could choke out.”

Jen stifled a smile as it began to curve at the corners of her lips. She knew too well what she had done and was finding it increasingly funny before she cleared her throat to hold back laughter. "Well, if you just curious ..." Jennifer could see the poor boy's thoughts racing behind his eyes and she secretly wondered if every one of the male species went through this when they would first encounter a woman. Hey, even the confident ones probably freaked.

Jennifer watched him with so much heat in her eyes that they would have made an ice sculpture melt if looked upon. It was something she did, men couldn't fake that look ... it came naturally to them. However with women, God gave them that beautiful ability to fake it, Jen had always guessed he knew that not every man could satisify them.

"Do you have a ride home?" Jen had lost track of what was going on when she noticed the employees cleaning up around them preparing to go home. It wouldn't have been a surprise if poor Alan thought she was trying to pick him up.

Alan looked around and out the window and realized just how late it had gotten. He did not know if he should take the ride from her, but he was so late that to be any later because of walking would be inviting a permanent grounding.

He started rubbing the back of his head, “Uh no I don’t. I did not realize how late it was getting and I could use a ride home.”

The prospect of getting in trouble had diverted his worry about how he looked in front of the hot girl and had more than solved any of his other problems now. He started pulling together the miscellaneous items he had into his backpack in preparation of leaving.

Jennifer let go of the experienced college student act for now, she didn't want the poor kid to be so nervous and uncomfortable if she was going to give him a ride home. She tucked her book into her purse and pulled out her keys. "Do your parents know your here?" Why was he here alone? She understood if his parents dropped him off but surely they would be back to get him ... or maybe he told them a friend would take him home.

Her brown eyes watched him as she got up and pulled the handbag over her shoulder. "My car is in the garage next door." She thought she should let him know where they were going so he wouldn't think she was trying to take advantage of any situation. Steamy vixen one moment, concerned friend the next ... that was Jen.

Alan grabbed his back, slinging it over his shoulder and stepped out of the booth. “Okay,” he responded to her letting him know that she had a car in the nearby garage unit.

They stepped outside of the coffee shop and he walked with her towards the car. “Thank you for the ride. I live in The Heights district past the Linden interchange,” he shared with her so that she would know where she had committed to taking him. It was not that far away by car, maybe 15 minutes or so if the lights were on their side.

As the couple moved past an alley, Alan thought, he saw someone standing over another person. He thought he saw the glow of their eyes, seriously spooking him. Without realizing it, he walked faster getting right next to Jennifer, practically touching and still looking over his shoulder.

Jen nodded in response to his directions, his home must not have been to far from hers then ... probably a five minute drive at the most. She smiled as they walked on, "Your welcome". His footsteps hastened as they walked on and as Jen noticed this she glanced over her shoulder to see him fairly close. "Is everything ok?" There was a pause in her steps as she followed his gaze to the alley. Against the darkness stood a figure stood with what looked like a body on the ground. Jen could have sworn that it was just her imagination but the creature's eyes seemed to be glowing. Shit.

Her mind went blank for a second before her senses came realing back. Quickly she took a firm hold on Alex's sleeve, a clear indication that she wasn't about to stick around to see if the creature was real. Jen started walking again taking her eyes off the thing as if she had never saw it, but there was fear in her brown eyes and panic in her steps.

Alan’s fear was compounded by the panic that Jennifer was trying hard to control.

Meanwhile, William dropped the victim that he was feeding on her head making a dull cracking sound as it impacted on the pavement and stepped out a bit into the light to look over the two young people that had unfortunately crossed his path. His visage, animalistic in nature, with his lower jaw still expanded from the feeding and coated in blood dressed in black complete with a black leather trench coat and cowboy hat. In all respects, he still appeared somewhat the monster.

Jennifer turned her head to continue the pace with Alan when the vampire William took the opportunity to leap to the rooftops to follow his new prey. He was deciding whether was content with the feeding he had finished or if he still had in him the need for more.

Alan realized that the man with the glowing eyes had suddenly disappeared and said to Jennifer in a low frightened voice, “Where did he go?”

Jen's mouth was moving as if she was speaking, only with no words coming out. It was safe to guess she was telling herself that whatever it was wasn't real ... it wasn't real ... yeah sure. Her brown eyes looked up slowly, any sudden movements and it could get bad. Then Alan spoke and it took Jennifer a few seconds for his words to register in her mind.

Where did he go?

... Where did he go?! Jen turned her gaze to look in the alley. Nothing ... well with the exception of the dead body. Jen felt herself gag at that very thought.

She turned her gaze back to the sidewalk before her. "Just keep walking we're almost there." Her hand reached inside her jacket to find her Derringer. If it was a vampire then maybe bullets wouldn't kill it, but by God they would slow it down.

Allen stayed close to Jen as they made their way to her car. He continued to look around, looking for the man from the alley.

………..

William watched the young woman and boy from the shadow on the wall that he now sat on. The sadistic nature of the vampire heightened by the fresh kill that lay in the nearby alley found that he wanted more.

Leaping from his vantage, he dropped hard before them, stopping them in their tracks, slowly rising to his full height. The shadow beneath the cowboy hat gave way to nearby street lighting revealing the face of the bestial vampire whose lips and teeth covered in fresh blood and gore.

“Well what do we have here?”