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Rose ran a hand through her hair as the boy asked her why she had saved him. "I... I honestly don't know," she admitted in a weak voice that revealed just how stressed and scared she was. "I guess I just..." She looked up at him through the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "I just... had to do something."

Glancing over her shoulder at the blood still streaked across the wood, Rose hurried to the sink and grabbed a rag that had been sitting there. She quickly wet it with the small stream that came out of the faucet before returning to the front door and trying to clean up the red mess. She hardly paid attention to what the boy was doing until she saw him reach for his leg.

Even though the blood, Rose could tell that the bullet had been made of wood. Quickly, Rose made the connection that the boy must be a vampire. With this new fact in her mind, Rose bent her head down to continue her work. Knowing what he was made him scarier than before. He might have been a human, and Rose even hoped he was, but the skin that quickly grew over his wound left no doubt that this boy was a vampire.

Rose threw the rag down on the floor after hearing the vampire's grateful words. There was no use trying to clean the mess up before the council got there. She was going to get caught with this creature and there was nothing she could do about it.

Rose rubbed her hands over her face, trying to stay clam, but she only managed to smear her face with the dark blood. Trying not to dwell on that fact too much, she finally muttered, "Don't mention it." She grabbed the rag and dumped it into the sink, not even bothering to rinse it out.

She turned to face him, leaning against the sink. She caught sight of herself as she turned around, and the picture she saw was not pretty. She had to admit that during the morning, she had looked decent. But now her face was covered in blood and her half of her hair was out of her ponytail. She even looked a tad paler from stress and her cheeks her flushed into a bright red.

Trying to calm herself, she untangled her hairband from the knotty mess on her hair and pulled her hair back into a semi-decent bun. She turned her gaze back to the boy... vampire before her. "I... I don't know," she said, her voice had never been more honest and hopeless in her whole life.

Griffin tilted his head just slightly. For once in his long life as a creature of the unknown (or at least... it used to be unknown...) he didn't want a human to be afraid of him. He found himself struggling not only to keep himself from drinking the warm blood just under her skin and at the same time, embracing her out of the pure fact she chose to help him.

Not many people had shown him kindness. In fact, the very first act of cruelty he got in his new life was the moment he turned. Kindness was something new altogether. He didn't know how to react to it at first. His mind was fighting inside. All he'd ever experienced told him to act like the cruel creature he was supposed to be. On the other hand, though, the small conscious he still hadn't been able to get rid of was tugging at him to do something entirely different.

He hadn't trusted hi conscious in so long, he didn't know whether it was right about the situation or not. But still, he chose to go with it. This girl is too important... Just... something about her I can't stand to lose... he thought hesitantly. With that, he took a step towards her. "I can go hide somewhere else, you know. I don't want you to get hurt because of the stupid monster I am. It doesn't seem fair that you're willing to get in trouble for me, a total stranger. Someone who could seriously harm you, and yet... you trust me?"

You could clearly hear his inner struggle when he spoke that last sentence. Anyone who was smart would be able to tell he was unsure of how to act at a kind person's actions. It was obvious he wasn't used to people exactly being 'nice' to him.

Rose turned her eyes from him and stared at the floor, considering taking his offer. But something inside her would not let her abandon him. Now that she got herself involved with him, she couldn't bear to just leave without ensuring his safety. Rose didn't know why she cared so much for this vampire, but she did. And that was all that mattered.

"I don't trust you," Rose said bluntly. She paused to wet her lips before continueing. "At least not yet. But that doesn't mean you're going anywhere else but here," she stated firmly. "We'll just have to figure out something."

Rose turned back towards the sink, still not making eye-contact with the boy. She remembered then that she didn't even know what his name was, if he even had a name. Did vampire have names?

Rose took a deep breath before asking, "So, what's your name?"

She really hoped that vampires had names.

Griffin looked down at the death trap most humans called a floor when the girl admitted her trust level with him. "I don't blame you," he murmured. His eyes tried to meet hers, but it was like she refused to look at him.

He wasn't sure how to take that, but tried his best not to confuse it with an insult or with regret. When he heard her ask the oh so common question of "What's your name?" He responded, "The name's Griffin... Griffin Gold. Or... at least it used to be." The pain in his voice was evident as flashbacks flooded his memory. "I stopped remembering that as my full name after..." he trailed off.

He took a breath and finished the question. "...after my best friend betrayed me and turned me into... this." He eyes looked back down at the floor. He was unsure what else to say. "But... past is past I guess. What should we do, then?"

The breath caught in Rose's throat as Griffin revealed a bit of his past. It had never occured to her that a vampire become what he is without his consent. Thinking of this vampire in that way made him almost seem like a victim in some sense. The High Council had never explained to anyone in town just how the vampire or a werewolf came to be the creature that they were.

Rose searched her mind for something to say that wouldn't make her out as a heartless jerk or a naive little girl. "I'm sorry," she said simply, still not turning around to face him.

Leaving her words hangning in the air, Rose finally turned around towards Griffin. She was still answer how to answer his previous question. "I don't suppose you have any ideas on what to do?" she asked, desperately hoping that he knew what to do.

Griffin shook his head slowly. "It isn't your fault. Don't be sorry. I just..." He turned around for a split second to calm down. Bringing up the traitor he used to call a friend so long ago... it wasn't exactly the best idea around this girl. When he turned back, you could tell his expression was a lot smoother.

He thought for a moment when she asked if he knew what to do. His eyes suddenly lit up at the thought and he grinned. "I know a few places we can go." He grinned with delight. He couldn't wait to take the human to the places he always went. They were his favorite spots to be in, despite the fat he was supposed to be a blood thirsty monster. He was only that way around others. By himself? Totally different story.

He turned to go out the back door just as the sirens blared in the front yard. "C'mon, hurry! I know you don't trust me, but this is the only way out of trouble." He didn't even need to mention the fact it meant death (not trouble) for him personally. He was just concerned for her at the moment.

With the bullet out, and a tiny bit of a head start, it'd be fairly easy to (if not get away) avoid the council. The girl, on the other hand, probably wouldn't even have time to speed to the door until it was knocked down before her. "Before we go, though, could you tell me your name so I stop thinking of you as 'the girl'?" He added the slightest tint of humor to the statement, but held out his hand so she could take it and then they would fly out of there.

Rose had been absent-mindedly playing with the end of the sleeves of her hoodie, but her face light up when Griffin suggested they go to some of the places he knew of. Even though she had been hoping for something better than running away, Rose had already realized that they would be no other way. Unless Griffin suddenly took her as a hostage, Rose would be an accomplice to the escape of a vampire, which would be punishable to the same extent as the run away creature. It seemed that Griffin was unaware of this fact, so Rose didn't really want to worry him by telling him that she was in just as much danger as he was now.

For some strange reason, this vampire was worried about her safety. If he wasn't, he would have run off by now and left her to deal with the Council Police on her own. This fact alone caused Rose to trust Griffin just a little.

Rose was slowly nodded her head in agreement to Griffin's plans when the sirens went off in front of the house. Those lights and sounds could only mean that the whole force had been called in to deal with this situation. The Council must have assumed that it was Griffin keeping Rose inside the house. And her being a Council Member's daughter made this a code red alarm.

Just staring at the front door like a deer in the headlights wasn't helping at all, but that was all Rose could seem to do. If Griffin hadn't been there to snap her out of her trance, Rose didn't know what she would have done. She quickly grabbed her bag from the floor and ran to Griffin. "Rose," she said as she grabbed on to his hand. She was out of breath from only the short run to her bag and back to Griffin, but her breathlessness was also caused by her panic. But she still managed a small smile at Griffin's humor.

Griffin smiled as much as he could in the situation and grabbed Rose's hand in response. "Nice to know." As the sirens whaled not too far away, they began to screech into Griffin's ears. With only a small pang of a pained sigh, the vampire carried Rose behind him and began to run out the door. As soon as his feet hit the grass, he looked back at Rose. "Hold on tight."

He put her hands around his neck and took off running, speeding like a live bullet through the air, trees, buildings, and anything in between. It wasn't long before they reached some of the alleys. He breathed out a breath, despite the fact he didn't even need to, and looked around. "Okay I think we've gotten pretty far, but... just to be sure..." He picked her up again and sped into the darkness of the open alleys. Curbing corners, almost gliding through the roads.

It wasn't long after that they reached the beginning of the forest. Not far into it, lied a metal house which looked strangely like a decked out treehouse. He put her down and began to climb up the ladder. "C'mon, come up." He said this with a rather calm tone compared to the way he had not too long ago at the human's house. Once up, he grinne down at her.

Leaning against the entrance to the house, he said, "This is one of my favorite views in the forest... It's.... beautiful." His smile began to get wider, but then his expression faltered. Wandering thoughts ran through his mind. Why was he being so nice to this girl? He didn't do nice. He wasn't the least bit kind to anyone, ever. He flicked his eyes inside the house and wondered other thoughts. Why was he so happy about showing her what he did most of the time he was alone? Why.... His thoughts kept switching back and forth, questions racing as if they were in a marathon.

Rose nodded her head at Griffin before he took off, her hands gripped around him tightly just as he intructed. Rose squinted her eyes shut, not daring to look. With her air whipping out of its ponytail and the air rushing passed her ears, Rose figured she didn't want to look. It reminded her too much of the old rollercoasters that she never was the biggest fan of.

As they continued through town, her hands grew stiff from holding on too tightly, but she dared not let go. Rose could have sworen she heard a car drive passed them, but Rose was much too scared that she was right to take a peek. Rose stayed like that until it got suddenly quite and Griffin came to a stop in the woods. Rose unattached herself from Griffin and glanced around her at the trees and small bit of visible sky. Rose hadn't been out of the house in so long that she forgot what fresh how smelt like.

Rose was already slipped off her tennis shoes to feel the grass between her toes, even though it was browning from the change in seasons, when Griffin called down to her, already up in his tree house. Rose smiled brightly back up at him, feeling much more light hearted being out in the forest instead of locked up in that stuffy house like normal.

Rose quickly pulled off her socks and scrambled off the ground, leaving her shoes on the forest floor and discarding her bag next to the tree that contained the metal house. "Just hold on. I'll be up in a second," she said cheerfully as she started up the ladder, missing the falter in Griffin's expression as he glanced inside the house while she climbed up to stand beside him.

"Wow," she said breathlessly, staring through the trees, the tops of them still many feet above the tree house. "You were right. It is beautiful." Rose's eyes continued darting around the scene before wondering inside the shelter. "Did you build this place youself?" she asked curiously as she started inside before being asked, which was rude and unmannerly but manners weren't the top of the priority list anymore.

Griffin let the slightest smile tug at his lips, but eventually stopped allowing them to. He didn't want to seem like a guy who just liked nice views and flowers and junk. He didn't. He killed and murdered and destroyed. It wasn't like him to be all lovey-dovey over his natural prey. A sudden change in his voice appeared. It sounded a tint more sinister than it had been previously, but he hadn't noticed it either. "As a matter of fact, I did."

Of course, the tone may have implied the tremendous racing of thoughts, but it certainly did not suggest of how the vampire was thinking of killing her. He wasn't. Although he was tempted, he mentally swore to himself he'd try everything in his power not to. Then another thought crossed him, in regards to the house, and he added, "Made out of steel for two main reasons. One, me and wood don't mix. Two, it keeps the wolves away."

A slightly evil smile made it's way to the surface as he thought about the werewolves who had tried to kill him in the past. Oh, how they'd pay. He'd get his revenge, sooner or later. As soon as the smile came, though, it left. Griffin was getting a bit tired of smiling. He never smiled in the first place.

He gripped his throat in one swift movement, all of a sudden, due to a violent burning that occurred. He coughed and tried to regain his composure. "I, uh... I..." he faltered again. He didn't really know how to explain to Rose that he needed to get some human blood and fast. He hoped he wouldn't have to. His eyes seemed to penetrate her body as he tried to send a message through. If I don't get some soon, I'll run the risk of killing you. And I really don't want to do that.

Rose resisted glancing back over her shoulder at Griffin's sudden change in tone. His voice turned darked and it actually sounded like it belonged to vampire now. If one was to be so steriotypical. Rose didn't want to admit it to herself, but his new tone of voice did send chills up her spine. She hoped that Griffin didn't notice, so she continued walking deeper into his home even though the doubts in her mind caused her to think that maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

Rose finally turned to face him at the mention of wolves. "Wolves?" she asked, not catching his meaning at first. "Oh, you mean werewolves," she said, finally realizing what he had meant. "Vampires and werewolves don't get along then?" The Council hadn't told them much about the creatures expect that they were dangerous. Rose had never though of them socailly.

As Griffin grabbed at his throat and started to cough, Rose took a step closer to him. With concern in her voice, she asked, "Is everything okay?" Because she had been kept in the dark for so long, she couldn't even put together that Griffin was longing for blood. Still approaching him, Rose reached out a hand, not sure what she could do to help but wanting to try anyways.

Griffin coughed again, but maintained his composure for the most part, for Rose's sake. His voice was slightly hoarse, but he said quickly, "Uh, no definitely not. We aren't the best roommates is the best way I can put it. We can kill them, they can kill us, we sometimes rival each other for blood, it just doesn't turn out well all the time."

He finally couldn't take it anymore. His blue eyes turned red in a sudden fury. As Rose inched closer, he started to hear the red liquid coursing through her veins. He mentally scolded himself for getting into this kind of situation. It was stupid. What was he thinking? That after almost 120 years of going on killing sprees and murdering non-stop, he would suddenly be able to stop himself from feeling the blood lust over a girl he liked? Impossible. He made the full realization now.

His canine teeth elongated as she put her hand out, asking if he was okay. "No," he breathed, and it was a voice as sinister as ever. "I-" He hissed as his fangs grew until they were at full length. His eyes were now the color of the substance he craved. He turned away from the girl, trying his honest best to keep from smelling her scent. It was no use, though. In another swift movement, he snapped his head back and came inches away from her neck until he stopped himself. It took all the willpower he could muster to be able to stop just seconds away before he sliced her skin open. But just as he stopped, he jumped off the house and sped through the forests, back to the cities to try and get a taste of human blood before he exploded in uncontrollable rage.

Unluckily for him, though, the council was there to greet him as he came through one of the alleys. "Oh god, not you guys..." his voice was as hostile as ever before. It was becoming the tone he used just before he went on a mass murder, scavenging for every drop of blood he could find.

He struggled to contain himself, knowing that some of these faces were probably very close to Rose. But the overwhelming amount of scents flooding through his nostrils was becoming too much.

Suddenly, in a stroke of luck, there was three men walking behind the group. He grinned, showing his fangs to the full extent. For the moment, he completely forgot about the council. In a blur he sped past the humans in front of him, making his way quickly to the three humans in the back. In a quick motion, he killed all three. By the time he fell to the ground from almost five bullets in his body, he was almost done sucking on the third one. He hissed a menacing sound. "Get AWAY!" He screamed. They were all coming at him with vervain and stakes.

He tried to go past them, back to the forest, but he tripped halfway there. He could hear them coming. He didn't want to endanger Rose. The blood was all over him. If she saw him like this, surely she wouldn't forgive him. She would see the innocent blood on his fangs and sleeves and she would throw him back to the council. He came closer and closer to the house, but stopped just short so that if Rose decided she didn't want to help, she could hide in the house or run out the back. "Rose!" He yelled, hoping desperately that she'd come to his aid, "Rose, I need help!" As he said the sentence, the words got weaker. His whole lower body was on the ground, filled with wooden death traps that prevented him from moving. His eyes rolled back slightly, but he retained himself from collapsing fully. He could only hope Rose came to help. If not? He'd be done for.

OOC: Oh god, sorry for such a big post ._. I seriously didn't mean for it to be that long o_O

Ooc:// Don't be sorry, thats good. Gave me a lot of inspiration!

Bic:// Rose took several deep breaths after Grififn seemingly disappeared after coming dangerously close to biting her neck. She ran a hand along the skin that Griffin's teeth had come so close to. Her other hand covered her mouth, trying to hold in the panic that was quickly becoming uncontrolable. Warm tears filled her eyes, but Rose whipped them away before they could spill over. She had to regain control over herself before Griffin came back to find her.

How could she had been so stupid as to think she could actually trust a vampire? She had told Griffin (not to mention herself) that she did not yet trust him, but she had to have some faith in him to run away with him to the middle of forest that she didn't even know that location of.

And she should have seen the signs. Griffin grabbing his throat, the coughing. When he turned away from her, Rose swore she saw a flash of red but denied it until those blood red eyes were looking straight at her. But, no, not Rose exactly. Just her neck. Her blood. That was all he had ever seen her as, an innocent, naive little girl who would willing come to a secluded place so he could quench his thirst without a fuss.

So why had he stopped?

Rose pushed this thought from her mind, not wanting to fall back into the false hope that Griffin actually so her as something other than a defensely, blood-filled human. She had to concentrated on findind her way back home and forgetting that this little incident ever happened. It would be better that way.

Taking one last look around the home, Rose made her way back to the entrence, praying that whatever gods were wathcing over her that she would be able to find her home again. Her foot hadn't yet stepped outside of the shelter when she heard her name being called from somewhere below. Instinct forced Rose to immediately look in that direction, even though her mind already recognized the voice as Griffin's.

Seeing the state he was in, Rose quickly realized that the Council was on his tail. If she turned back into the house and let the Council have him, she could make up a story of how he took her hostage, and then someone would take her back home where it was safe. Rose made the rash decision to go with this plan when she spotted the blood all along his face. She wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't a monster any more and knew that the blood belonged to a human.

With a sigh, Rose made to turn back into the house when suddenly the blue of his eyes caught her attention. They were no longer red. And as unrational as it seemed, Rose's mind told her that he was no longer a monster now that his were no longer that sickly, mosterous red. He was alright now. He was back to being Griffin, whoever that was.

Rose hurried down the ladder, cursing her feet because of how slow she was compared to Griffin's inhuman speed. Thinking unusually clearly despite, or because of, her panic, Rose flung her bag and shoes into the shelter from where they had beein previously discared. Rose ran to Griffin, too slow in her mind, and flung one his arms over her shoulder, struggling to stand up right. Without a word of anger or happiness, Rose made her way to the bottom of the ladder with Griffin in tow.

Griffin was so thankful when Rose came to save him that he was overwhelmed with the feeling. As she tried to help him up, he did his best to speed up the pace by almost jogging (somewhat in human terms, meaning he wasn't running at the speed of light, but wasn't walking as slow as a mortal either) to the front of the house. He almost collapsed when they got there, obviously exhausted from the effort, being that he had wood all over his body. "This is going to kill me..." he muttered. He puffed out a breath of air as he looked at the bullets. He turned up at Rose as he knelt down on the floor. "This should only take a minute, then I can try and speed us out of here. If we don't get out soon.. they'll catch up for sure."

Though, the vampire teen ignored one crucial fact. He would remember it in a minute, but for now it was lost in his mind. He forgot that Rose may have other intentions. After all, he hadn't expected her to even take a look at him after what he did. He didn't even expect her to stay in the house at all, but she did. Maybe she is different, he kept telling himself, and soon he came to believe it. She wasn't just some random girl he had suddenly gained a crush on. He liked her for a reason. The exact ones, he wasn't sure of, but he knew she was special.

All this going on, he grunted and winced in pain taking the bullets out. It was an agonizing feat, but after a few minutes he managed to pull all of them out, depositing them on the floor. He got up, slowly gathering his strength back and turned to look at where the ever growing noise was coming from. The council was only yards away, and it was becoming more noticeable. "Oh god..." he whispered. He flicked his eyes and snapped his head in the direction of Rose. "We have to go if we want to get-" He stopped himself, suddenly remembering that one crucial fact.

"I.. I'm sorry. Never mind. You can stay if you want, it's your choice." His eyes became sad. He knew it was her decision to make, but the love he had for Rose was becoming so deep he couldn't stand to keep apart from her. Still, he continued. "I'm so sorry about earlier... I..." he trailed off, forgetting the words he was going to use. After half a minute, though, he remembered. "I should have been able to control myself, but the facts are I can't. The truth is, I'm a blood thirsty, murdering monster who will stop at nothing to get revenge. I'm never nice to anyone, not one living thing. Not even my own kind, really. It's just... you were different. You..." it was so hard for him to pour out his soul to anyone, but somehow looking into Rose's eyes made it possible. "You're the only one I've ever showed my other world to. The more peaceful one. No one has ever seen it. I guess I like it better when everyone hates me. You, though? I couldn't stand to see you hate me. But... that probably the reason I told you all this in the first place. You deserve a right to. I never gave anything to ask for your forgiveness. You have a much kinder soul than I'll ever have in 1,000 years. I guess... I'm just trying to say that even though I haven't known you very long at all, the moment I saw you I knew you were different. You've changed me in ways I never even thought I could be changed."

He was going to continue, but didn't get the chance. The council was nearly a foot away as he said a few final words. "It's your choice." He turned his body to face the opposite direction, but kept his eyes focused on her. Whatever she decided would change his invisible soul, for better or for worse.

Whatever she decided, would choose the fate of hundreds, maybe thousands of people in the future. If she chose to stay, he could become so heart broken he'd act simply out of rage, killing so many people the towns would be nothing but red. If she chose to go, though, they'd probably be on thin ice. Still, it would save a lot of people, even if neither of them predicted or even knew it.

Rose stayed near the doorway, just barely out of site from the on-coming Council. She had been taught all her life to trust those people, to trust the humans, and to fear anyone who wasn't human. Why was she suddenly feeling so torn now? After the more recent events of today, she should have no reason to even consider staying with Griffin and should be running to the Council for help. But she couldn't force her feet to run away.

The Council wasn't not even unfair in their arresting of Griffin this time. Even before the revelation, people went to jail for murder. Griffin had killed someone, or probably more than just one someone, so it was perfectly legal and morally correct for Rose to just walk away from him now, turn him into the Council and forget about him.

But then Rose would feel guilty for the rest of her life. She knew what the Council did when the 'interrigated' an accused Creature. Griffin would probably not even get a trail. He would be sent straigh to death, which would be slow and painful. No one cared enough to do research for a quick death penalty.

Maybe he would get away, though. If Rose told him good-bye now and let him run away, there was a chance that the Council would never find him again if he kept a low profile. But then Rose would never see him again either. It was selfish, but Rose really didn't want to leave Griffin. They had only known each other for maybe an hour, but they already shared a connection that Rose hadn't been sure Griffin felt until his speech. Now that Rose knew how he felt, how was she supposed to just walk away?

Rose walked to Griffin's side, taking his hand in hers, her mind not completely clear about what she was doing. "I'll try not to slow you down too much," she simply said, not quite meeting his eyes when she said it.

(Sorry it's a little on the short side)