Hayley’s scream pierced the attacker’s ears, but the attacker blew it off by laughing. Her voice was very similar to someone Hayley knew. “Ashley,” she exclaimed. “What the hell was that for?” “I heard you guys were coming here tonight, so I followed you. Oh, and when Demetri was telling that story I thought it the perfect opportunity to scare the living crap out of you!” The girl cackled loudly. “You’re a b**ch, you know that Ashley?” Demetri breathed. “It seems your boyfriend is tense, Hayley. Guess he pissed himself, too.” Ashley burst into uncontrollable laughter again. Hayley’s attention, instead, was on the pond. “What’s that, in the water?” She gasped, pointing towards the gleaming pond. Demetri grabbed her hand and pulled her towards it- closely followed by the smug Ashley. As they approached the pond they noticed that the thing in the pond water was a silhouette of a person. A dead person. Her skin was pale in the moonlight and her reddish hair twisted around her bare neck. No, it wasn’t bare. Two small, red bite marks were visible on her ashen neck. Both Ashley and Hayley let out quiet shrieks. The girl was Ashley’s sister, Monica. “Monica,” Ashley cried running to the other side of the pond and wading into it. “No!” “Ashley, get out of there.” Hayley muttered, crying. Demetri, who seemed utterly disgusted, placed both his arms around Hayley’s waist and pulled her in for a hug. “Shh,” he cooed into her hair, as Hayley wrapped her arms around his neck. Ashley grabbed hold of her sister, floating in the moonlit water, and hauled her to the edge. She began to pull Monica up to place where Demetri and Hayley stood still holding onto each other. Hayley’s red hair; like a curtain of red fabric, swayed around her hips and her green eyes gleamed with transparent tears. Demetri was just as beautiful as Hayley. His hair was short cropped and his eyes were irresistible brown, like looking into a chocolate waterfall and he was adequately muscly all over. His arms were like towers, holding Hayley together as she silently cried into his shoulder.

Ashley held her sister in her arms, sobbing into her sodden body. Hayley, letting go of Demetri, stepped into the darkness where Ashley sobbed over her dead sister. She bent down and examined the two red bite marks. “Demetri?” asked Ashley. “The superstition, it can’t be real? Can it?” Demetri groaned, placing both hands over his own handsome face. “God,” he moaned. “I bloody hope not!” Hayley walked up to cuddle into his arms. At that exact moment, a scream filled the night and a deep splash of water echoed off the bushes. Hayley and Demetri broke apart. “Oh s**t,” Hayley gasped. “Where’s Ashley?” Demetri didn’t answer. Hayley turned to face him. “Demetri?” she repeated. She noticed immediately that he stood transfixed on the moonlit pool. “Demetri, what’s wrong?” He poked out his index finger, which he pointed at the pool. Hayley turned slowly, with trembling with hands. “No!” She screamed, falling to the ground in a horrified clutter. Her tears sprayed across her high cheekbones. The wind picked up, sending her hair flinging in all directions. Demetri stood frozen, breathing quietly and it sounded like he was about to cry too. Under the pale light of the far away moon, floating calmly and peacefully was Ashley. The starry sky glistened in the reflection of her beautiful brown eyes, which were open and screamed out horror. The water was now a murky red colour, the pollutant: Ashley’s dark, red blood. The same two red dots, which were clearly visible on Monica’s neck, were now also visible on Ashley’s. Her black hair floated in spikes around her head and her feet sunk below the surface. Hayley, pulling herself together ran with ease towards Ashley’s floating corpse, not caring that the water of the pond was poisoned with the blood of the dead. Demetri aided Hayley in the attempt to drag the lifeless corpse to land. Tears welled up behind his irresistible lashes. “Hayley, this happened right underneath our noses.” Hayley didn’t answer; she just pulled on the corpse harder. Demetri stopped, taking a long look around the moonlit pond. Hayley reached out to touch Demetri, sobbing immensely. He reached his arm towards her and that’s when he noticed the shadow lurking in the bushes behind Hayley. He hugged her carefully while slowly whispering into her ear. “Don’t make any sudden movements. There’s something in the bush behind you.”

Hayley took in a light, uneasy breath. The shadow in the bush rustled, and Hayley realised that both Monica and Ashley’s bodies were nowhere to be seen, and that a thin shadow was inching closer towards them.
“Demetri,” she shakily whispered, closing her eyes. “I love you!”
“I…” However, Hayley’s lips silenced him; they were on his.
Although, little did they know that the shadow was watching them. Her red eyes were widening in astonishment and the wind was rustling her spiky, black hair. Her pale arm reached out in the direction of Hayley’s back, but aiming for Demetri’s fingers; they touched.
Demetri immediately reacted and he and Hayley pulled apart, looking frightened.
Ashley smiled at him and waved her pale hand with slender fingers. Hayley screamed as she met Ashley’s eyes. The figure took hold of Hayley and turned so quickly and swiftly that Demetri had not one chance of saving her. Her red hair disappeared into the farthest bush, leaving behind a trail of blood.
Demetri fell to the ground.
“…Love you,” he cried, finishing the sentence he had started before the interruption.
He put his hands over his face and sobbed, harder than ever.
“Take me,” he yelled into the silvery night. “Take me, give her back.”
The bush rustled again. He stood up, more alert than ever. Something silvery caught his eyes; a metal spike was connected to a feature on the wall. He headed toward the feature, turning his head every two seconds to check whether anything was there in the shadows watching him, but he knew, alas, that there was definitely something there watching him anyway. He reached up high to break the spike off from the feature. It came off, with a little tug, quite easily. The spike was at least twenty centimetres in length and had a triangular spike on the end, slightly resembling a vampire stake from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He shoved it carefully into his pocket.
“Ok,” he yelled. “I know I’m next. You took my girlfriend, my girlfriend’s best friend and her sister, so come on then. I’m over here, fresh blood, I’m waiting bloodsucker!”
Out of the bush a figure appeared. She was beautiful beyond words, with her red hair; hip length, flailing around her like a waterfall. Her red eyes glared at Demetri, but then eased. Her pale skin looked unhealthy in the moonlight, and her plump, dark red lips pouted. She shut her eyes.
“Mmmmm…” she sniffed. “I’ll have me some Demetri!”

“Hayley,” he breathed.
She edged closer; eyes closed and grabbed Demetri’s hands.
Her eyes shot open and she smiled half-heartedly.
“Hayley,” he breathed again, terrified. “I didn’t mean you.”
“What do you mean?” She asked, frowning, her beautiful wind chime voice echoing in the courtyard. “You did yell out bloodsucker, did you not?”
“I don’t want to kill you,” he whispered, tears spilling out from his beautiful brown eyes down his cheeks.
Hayley’s eyebrows rose while Demetri clutched his pocket.
“What do you mean?” She asked. “You wouldn’t kill?”
Her scream pierced the night. Demetri withdrew his spike from Hayley’s chest, tears now waterfalls down his cheeks.
The shadows in the bushes moved and another shadowy figure appeared, black hair and red eyes. Ashley.
Demetri clutched Hayley’s bleeding body in his arms and cried. “No more,” Hayley’s body fell to the ground. “No more.” He repeated, now whispering. The spike in his hand rose up towards his own chest. “I hope you burn in hell, Ashley.”
The spike glistened in the moonlight and Demetri let out a shriek in pain. It was done.
Demetri fell to the ground; the stake protruding from his chest cavity, blood as red as his girlfriend’s eyes was spilling ever so slowly from the wound onto the pavement. It ran over the edge and into the murky pond water.
Ashley’s long, white fangs pulled out as she lunged for the dead body.

Church bells chimed as the party departed the big white Cathedral. They were all dressed in black; black shoes, black dresses, black jackets, hats, and many of them were comforting others.
They were all heading toward one place, the cemetery garden. Hayley’s red haired mother cried into her husband’s chest, handkerchief in hand, while Demetri’s father comforted his crying wife, who purposely hid her face from view.
The party reached the graves of Hayley Stanson and Demetri Cole; the minister nodded to the music man. He pushed the red button for the music and ceremony to begin.
Demetri’s father had picked a song, especially for the event; Give Me a Sign by ‘Breaking Benjamin’, which was Demetri’s favourite song. It blasted around the gathering through the speakers placed on each side of the graves. Figures of the sobbing parents of Demetri and Hayley encircled the rectangular holes where their children were to sleep for eternity. The minister began the ceremony.
“We gather here today to farewell the gracious Earth-bound spirits of Hayley Stanson and Demetri Cole, who were sadly murdered here in this very Cemetery Garden. Pray now, everyone, for these spirits. May they rest in peace and enter the gates of Heaven. May our lord, God, greet them with open arms and care for them as their parents have cared for them.”
“Rest in peace,” answered the sniffling crowd.
“Amen,” whispered the minister as he stepped back and bowed his head.
The ballad slowly ended and small sobs and cries came from the party, mostly from the saddened parents of Hayley and Demetri who sniffled and wiped their noses on their tissues and handkerchiefs.
Making her way through the crowd was an unexpected guest, a much-unexpected guest. She wore a black, long sleeved-diamante studded dress and black heels; a black hat with black netting, a silver necklace with a crescent moon on it and a black fingerless glove on each hand. She glided over to the parents of the dead and took off her hat; slowly and swiftly, her curtain of black hair swayed in the wind as she ruffled it with her left gloved hand. She then positioned the hat carefully on her head so it shielded her eyes from the afternoon sunshine.
“Oh, we’re so glad you made it,” sniffled Mrs Stanson. “You were her best friend!”
“Indeed, I was,” the strangers voice rang in the small clearing.
“Will you join us at the wake? It would be a privilege to have you there, Ashley!”
“Of course,” she smiled and pulled off her right, black glove. “And what, with all the free food.”