Alaric Santana was as typical as a you could get when you think "Young adult Vampire". Tall, looming just over six-foot in height, he held cut features with a jaw line like chiselled marble. Hair the colour of a ravens wing, that was short and spiked upwards. His eyes were a smokey blue in colour, and they never failed to always appear as if a single glance was enough to cut to the bone. He was the "bad-boy" with porcelain skin. A flavour for black, and smelling of leather, whiskey, cigarettes, and most importantly: sex. A small, silver, crucifix hung over the white, low cut, t-shirt that did nothing to hide the swell of his muscular chest.

He was confident, powerful, and knew it. With a father that owns the towns quarry, and half the town itself, why wouldn't he be? If Vampires are territorial creatures: the town of Willowstream was his fathers territory, and the school? The school was Alaric's.

He pretended not to notice the hushed gazes that he had captured as he strode into second period, momentarily feeling a shiver of satisfaction as he bathed in the total attention, as he perused the tables dotted around the room. They were arranged in such a way that it was four to a table, before finally settling on the one he had chosen.

He walked over, stopping when he saw someone in his seat. Who dares to sit in the kings throne? Regardless of whether it was made of cheap plastic, if Alaric chose it, it must be a throne.

Alaric smirked as the young man with dirty blonde hair seemed to feel his presence. Immediately halting his cheerful conversation with a shudder as he crooned his neck to turn to see who was behind him.

"You're in my seat." Alaric said, his voice was low and soft. As if stating a fact that was synonymous with common sense and that this was nothing more than a slip of the mind. An accident of a forgetful student, surely too clogged up with his studies to think about what he was doing.

"O-oh" He stammered, the metal legs of the chair squeaking as it scrapped along the floor, and he grabbed his belongings blubbering a quick "Sorry" as he ducked out and away while Alaric sat, face to face with the unamused and perked eyebrow of Lilly Flowers.

"Lilly, hows the Devil doing?" Alaric preened as he leaned back in the chair and clicking his back with a stretch before interlocking his fingers behind the back of his head.

"I don't know, I haven't spoken to your dad in a while." She quipped almost immediately. Alaric loved this, and truth be told: Lilly loved it too.

Alaric was the only one out of the group that didn't have at least a small fear of Lilly. She loved them all, respected them all, of course. But Alaric she respected the most. Whether he truly was fearless or just stupid was up for questioning.

She tucked a strand of fiery red hair behind her ear, while smiling as she rummaged through her book bag and procuring a various assortment of books and pens.

"This is one class, why do you have so many supplies for one class?" Alaric mused, though he already knew the answer.

"Because you have none, and I am the one who looks after everybody remember?" She said tossing him his copy of his work book and a pen which he pinned to the table with a quick hand.

"I don't remember voting on that. Besides, its not like it matters. I won't even need to work after school. I have quite the inheritance, ya know."

"I'm sure your dad will be so proud of an uneducated, only so--"

"Sorry, Lilly?" A girl interrupted as she leaned over from a nearby desk. Her hair was the colour of straw, almost reaching the floor in length, and held into a loose ponytail. Alaric couldn't help but glower with slight disdain at the interruption.

But of course Lilly was never anything but polite.

"Sarah, yes, what is it?" She replied with a smile.

Alaric was suddenly on edge as he observed. Watching as he predicted the unfolding events. Lilly's appearance seemed softer, more welcoming in this instant. Changing so subtly like feeling the warmth of a summers sun rolling from behind the clouds in mid-evening. Like you could ask her for anything and she would move mountains to make it happen. Which is, unfortunately, exactly what she didn't want to happen. Don't make deals with Lilly.

"Have you got a pen I could borrow? Mines just run out of ink." In an instant, with a gesture much faster than any untrained eye could follow, Alaric had a pen intercepting the divide between Lilly and Sarah.

"Here, take mine." He purred with a pleasing upturn at the corners of his mouth.

Sarah looked taken aback as a small blush began to sprout from the warmth of her cheeks. She reached for the pen, letting out a small gasp as she felt the delicate touch of Alaric's fingers purposefully brush against hers, with a soft, suggestive display of dexterity. Sarah immediately blubbered a "thank you", whipping around and hiding herself as she did all she could to bury herself in her work and keep her thoughts elsewhere.

Lilly shook her head, and bringing her attention back to the class, she slipped another pen in the direction of Alaric.

"Thanks" she muttered, frowning to herself in frustration.

"No problem, ma'am." Alaric laughed in his most cheerful, Texan drawl, and tipping an imaginary hat.

The group learned a long time ago, not to make deals with Lilly Flowers, and they had all agreed to make sure that nobody else did it either. It was something she couldn't help. Something she craved. Something she fought daily to keep a handle on, like a compulsion or addiction. None of them could figure out why, or where it comes from: but no matter what happens, what you ask for is never worth the price you'll pay. And they've tried almost everything, with Alaric being the main test subject. It's arguably why he trusted Lilly the most out of the group and she him.

He recalled the time, at the innocent age of eleven years old, when he asked Lilly to switch seats with him at the Cinema because he wanted to annoy Rhys. He ended up chipping a tooth on the walk home. Now, any other situation, if he had asked anyone else for the favour, he would say that it was pure happenstance. Unfortunate coincidence. But not with Lilly.

Another time, a few years ago, they arrived too late and Lilly couldn't help herself. She was escorting one of the newer students around the school and he was having trouble getting into his locker. Unfortunately, he posed the question, with some desperation: to Lilly. "Can you get this open for me?" Which, of course she could. She merely tapped the side, as if on instinct, and the locker popped open. The kid was in hospital by the end of the day, with an arm that just "popped" out of the socket.

No one's been brave enough to ask for something big. Or at least, none of them have heard of someone who has.

Do not make deals with Lilly.

The day was to be as any normal day. Just another scholarly grind at school, socializing with friends, school drama.

Mark Lawrence was something of an interest to Lilly as she watched him chat daringly close to one of Alaric's "Brides". He was talking with Shawn who was uncharacteristically alone with none of his other companions or Alaric in sight. She watched as Shawn pulled all the tricks that he had learned from being under Alaric's blood. The confident smirk, the cockiness of his gait. The sheer oozing of his flirtatious manner that fluttered like imaginary butterflies whenever a joke or a quip was shared. She felt the need to go and interrupt, or rather; protect, Mark from the guile of the predator that was leading it's prey into a false sense of security.

But something had happened to Mark within the last year or so. His family was old in Willowstream and quite wealthy, but Mark had always been very humble and non assuming. He had left for the summer as the dumpy kid with a doughy physique and not a single bone in his body that would hint at any capacity for strength or aggression. Mark was sweet, and goofy, and was always fun on the odd occasion he was around.

But that had gone by the time school had started up again that year. It was like looking at a completely different person that held an incredibly attractive resemblance to the one you knew before. He was strong now. His shoulders, broad and held back, hinting at the body of muscle that had only been chiselled further as the year went on. The darkened blonde of his hair was smart and styled, he held a confident, proud, expression always. As if he had finally gotten a direction in life and knew exactly what he had to do to meet it.

Lilly couldn't help but feel a slight crush coming along to the once sweetened boy whom puberty had finally caught up to and had blossomed him into a strikingly attractive young man, who still held the sweet smile of that goofy kid who missed the paper bin from two-feet away. Not to mention he wore a pair of jeans that seemed to bring the right amount of attention to a firm and tight ass. Something that Lilly was absolutely entranced with. She needed those jeans. She would kill to look that good in jeans. Why did he look so good in jeans?

She almost collided with another student as she walked along the school, giving a passing "Sorry" as she moved through. The lunch bell had just rang and she was on her way to meet up with the others for their usual bout of school yard shenanigans. Which is to say, not much at all. The fun usually happened after school, but Lilly always treasured deeply the times lounging around and doing absolutely nothing with a group of friends she considered family. She didn't think she could love so many people so much, and no matter how distracting those jeans are: her friends always came first in her mind.

Which was exactly why she came to an immediate halt when the group text message beeped up on the phone screen she was only half paying attention to.

It was from Alaric and said only three words:

"The Den. Now."

A/N: Chapter two is heeeere!
I hope I'm doing okay with all these characters I'm juggling. There's far more talented writers than I that can handle it much better, but I'm mostly here for the fun of it.
Thank you so much for reading thus far. It really means a lot to me ^-^