Cassie watched as Kris dropped to the floor. She tried to stop the bleeding in his neck and then saw Aiden drop next to her. Aiden’s lips moved, but she couldn’t hear him. She looked up and saw Melody with that sad, apologetic look in her eyes. Cassie screamed for her to help. Melody looked behind Cassie and she turned to look. Meredith was standing there with her hand dripping in blood; a cold look resided in her eyes. She started to cry. She felt someone hug her. She hugged back and felt herself being picked up and carried away. She looked and saw it was him, the vampire that killed her mother, brother, and love of her life. She screamed as he sunk his teeth into her neck.

Cassie jolted awake, breathing heavily. She was disoriented and looked around. She looked at the driver and held her breath. He didn’t look at her or say anything. Cassie started to remember what happened before she fell asleep and she swiped a hand across her face. She looked around and didn’t recognize anything.

“Indiana.” His voice took her by surprise. She looked over at him and then rested her head back.

“I want to go back to Minnesota.” He didn’t respond. She repeated herself and he still didn’t respond. He pulled off an exit and stopped at a restaurant. He put the car in park and she glanced at the clock. It was only 9 in the morning. He shut off the car and looked at her for a few moments in silence.

“Hungry?”

“No.”

He stared at her for a couple more seconds before sighing and getting out of the car. He walked over and opened her door. He walked back and opened the trunk and pulled out a jean jacket. He closed the trunk and walked back to the front seat and tossed it to her. She looked at it and realized it was about her size, but she never owned a jean jacket.

“Just put it on and get out of the car. I’m tired of fighting you, Cassandra, but I will if I need to.” Cassie swiped a hand over her face and looked up at him.

“Seriously, I’m not hungry. I’m not picking a fight; I’m not being difficult. I’m just not interested in food after all the stress that’s happened in the past 12 hours.” He stooped down and looked at her.

“I understand, but you need to eat. Let’s go.” She sighed, unbuckled and pulled the jacket on to cover her upper arms that were now a bright shade of purple. They were deep enough to hurt. She swung her legs out and looked at them. They were all scabbed up now, though the scrapes were painful. He held out her shoes. She took them and put them on her sore feet, zipping the sides. She stood up and ignored his arm and walked past him and into the restaurant. He closed the door and followed after her.

After they were seated, Cassie order water and soup while he ordered just a cup of coffee. Cassie gazed off as he read a newspaper

“Do vampires even need to eat?” He looked up at her but she was still gazing off. He took a drink of the coffee.

“No we do not. We like to enjoy it, but we don’t need to eat nor drink water.” Cassie nodded.

“What about sleep?” She looked at him at that one. He noticed the dark circles under her eyes. They made her face seem pale, especially against the blue of the jacket.

“We do not need to sleep, but vampires often do.”

“What about day light? Isn’t it supposed to burn you?” Cassie’s voice was a little louder, more interested.

“Myth. It’s just easier to take victims in the night.” Cassie looked off again. Their waitress appeared and set Cassie’s soup down and then did a refill on the coffee before leaving.

“What’s your name?” Cassie felt almost foolish asking at this point, traveling for hours with her kidnapper, and then suddenly asking for a name. He looked up at her with a smile.

“You can call me Kade.” Cassie nodded and scooped a spoonful of soup.

“Why doesn’t anyone know your name?” He folded up the newspaper and set it away.

“Because most people I tell, I kill right away. Other’s that do know have their own secrets to keep to even mention my name, such as Melody.” Cassie stared at him.

“What about her?” Kade took a sip of coffee.

“She’s the one who created me.” Cassie dropped her spoon on the table and stared at him.

“She’s…a vampire?” Cassie tried to wrap her head around it. “So she could have stopped you this whole time.” He looked at her.

“She agrees with me with certain items, but not necessarily my methods, let’s leave it at that.” Cassie stared off, thinking and putting pieces together. 5 minutes passed and she hadn’t touched the soup more than a few times. “Cassandra. Finished that bowl off at least. The past is left in the past.”

Cassie finished the soup without looking at him. She got up and walked away. He tossed a couple bills onto the table and followed her outside. She bent into the car and pulled out her phone that she dropped onto the seat. She rested her elbows on the roof of the car. She had many missed calls, texts, and voicemails. She looked through the text messages and they all asked where she was, police were looking for her. He grabbed the phone out of her hands and she turned, protesting. He turned the phone off and shoved it into his own pocket. He motioned for her to get into the car. She begrudgingly got in. He closed the door behind her and walked around to get into the drivers seat. He pulled out and got back onto the road they were originally on.

“How old are you?”

“700. Give or take.”

“Why did Melody change you?”

“She loved me.”

“Did you love her?”

“At the time.” Cassie thought for a moment.

“But if you only loved her at the time then it wasn’t true love.” Cassie looked over at him and he laughed.

“I didn’t say that it was true love, just love.”

“What happened?”

“We grew apart. Different aspirations.”

“Oh.” Cassie sat there silently. She watched the clock tick by.

After awhile, Cassie watched as they went from Indiana to Kentucky. Hours passed and Cassie sighed after many failed attempts at sleep.

“Why me?” She stared at him and he didn’t respond. “Why would you stalk and kidnap me?”

“We will discuss this when we reach our destination.” She groaned in frustration.

“Where? That’s what you keep failing to tell me.” He didn’t respond, just kept his eyes on the road. She laid her head against the window and fell asleep after awhile.