Donavin lay in his bed, thinking about the previous days that seemed to have happened so fast. His 'uncle,' Leroy, had let him move into his house that was located in the small town of ShallowValley, in the state of North Carolina. The reason for all this was, he was a vampire. A real vampire. He had been hiding but wanted to get out. Try and be human. Try and not be the monster he used to be. He hadn't entirely hated it, but he had a shred of humanity that wanted to change. His uncle had agreed to let him stay, on terms that he would do his best to contain and control himself, not let the vampire side come out to kill people. He could not let this happen.

His eyes would dialate, turning black, and his teeth would come out. His mind would urge him to do the thing he promised to try and not to. He'd kill the person, draining them of every drop of blood in its body, then finding a place to stash it, or simply leave it there. He of course agreed to try his hardest, and Leroy let him have a room upstairs in his house. He told him he should be extremely careful when he used his powers. His senses were amplified, he could move unnaturally fast, jump extremely high, have super strength, regeneration, night vision, and stealth. He enjoyed doing these things. But none of it was achievable without blood. A need of it everyday was necessary in order for the use of his powers, and to stay alive. Obviously he hadn't killed a human that recent, only animals. It wasn't as strong, but doable. He had a supplier, in a town far away that gives him human blood, but he tried not to have to much, because it might influence him. He keeps trying every so often to control himself while leaving a cup of the stuff laying in front of him. Thankfully, he's succeeded more times than not.

Donavin of course promised to use caution with his powers, knowing it would be utterly disastrous if someone saw him. He wouldn't know what to do then.

His uncles house sat at the edge of town; a beautiful two story house. It was only 4 miles away from the school, the school that he planned on attending. To try and have a normal life meant doing normal stuff, going to school, maybe even meeting friends. He would do alright with schoolwork; he knew almost everything they would normally teach, having been alive for so long, he had time to learn and remember it all. He asked Leroy if he needed to know anything for the first day of school tomorrow. He told Donavin just to be nice, and not to draw attention to himself. He even went out and got him some nice clothes, that everyone was wearing to help him fit in. Donavin chose a pair of black jeans, a deep blue short sleeve shirt that had black circle around the sleeves, and a pair of black sneakers. He set them out at the foot of his bed, like he imagined normal people would do. He then layed down and did his best to sleep till morning.

~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~✴~

Donavin sat up, remembering that today was his first day of school to which he was attending. He immediately rubbed his hand to check and see if his ring was still on his finger, which it was. His ring, that granted him immunity from sunlight.

Getting out of bed, he changed into his clothes, combed his hair, and went downstairs. Leroy was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book when Donavin came in. "Mornin'," he said gently, without looking up. Donavin returned the greeting with a nod. Leroy looked up from his book, and studied him.

"You seem, troubled." he noted.

Donavin stopped, looking at the floor with an almost longing in his eyes. "Yes," he finally said. "I am troubled. What if I go out today, and something goes wrong. If my vampire side comes out, and someone sees me. If someone recognizes me for what I am. You know what destruction I can do." He told Leroy, a tension in his voice, his worried eyes flicking to glance at his face. Leroy looked at his book, then back at Donavin's face. He set the book down, stood up, and went over to him, resting a hand in his shoulder.

"I think you will be fine. Don't let the other side come out. If it does, control it. You do, and have before." He squeezed Donavin's shoulder reassuringly.

"Easier said than done, but that's my only option," Donavin said. "But I better get going." He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Leroy to his coffee. He grabbed his satchel, and walked out the front door, closing it quietly behind him. Following the road, he pushed away all the horrible thoughts that danced in his mind, trying to focus on the good. After a little while of walking through the woods, and part of the town, the school came into view. With a breath, he walked closer, through crowds of people. He went into the school, cautiously, finding he could go in. He found the office, because he needed to give the school papers to join. Leroy had made fake ones, which Donavin had already read over and agreed with.

  As he walked into the office, and felt he was being watched. He didn't look take any heed to it yet. The secretary that was behind the desk in the office looked up. "New?" She asked, folding her hands, gazing at him.

"Yes M'am," Donavin replied. He took the papers out of his bag, handing them to her. She looked them over.

"Donavin Emery Huxley, age 17, lives with his uncle, recently moved here." She briefly read off some of his information for him to confirm, which he nodded to. She silently and quickly read over some of the other pages.

"I think you are good to go," she said, filing the papers in a cabinet next to her desk. "Here's a schedule, all the books and supplies are listed on the last page. Your locker number and code, and a map of the school is also there. The library has the books you need until you get your own." She said a few papers across the desk.

  Donavin still felt the nagging feeling of being watched, and wanted to get the conversation over with so he could leave. "Thank you," he told her, grabbing the papers from the desk. "I'd better get going."

"Yes, I presume you will, " she said. "And your very welcome. If you have any questions, I'm always here."

  Donavin nodded, turning around to leave, wanting to see who was watching him. And sure enough, when he looked, three girls were ogling at him through the doorway. Walking out, they tried to act as if they weren't watching, but they didn't do a very good job of hiding it.

  Donavin looked briefly at them, then took out his paper that told him what locker he had. Number 26, smack dab in the middle of the hallway. Going over to it, he turned the lock to its correct numbers, 1463. Nothing was inside when he opened it, not expecting anything to be, and put a few of his papers he didn't need, on the shelf. He felt being watched again, and glanced to the side, to see a girl was standing right there, who Donavin recognized as one of the ones who was watching him.

"Hi!" She said, sounding little to eager, smiling wide. She thrust out a hand, "I'm Maya. Welcome to the school."

Donavin shook her hand, which she let go of quickly. "I'm Donavin." He told her.

  She smiled, blushing, "Nice to meet you! I'm going to see to it that I show you around this school. I know secretary Jane gave you a map, but they are suuuper annoying. A personal tour is way more memorable. I'm going to do it now, c'mon!" She spoke it all so quickly, flicking her hair every so often, Donavin barely had enough time to process it, jam some of his papers in his locker, grab his bag and shut it before she grabbed his arm and yanked him down the hallway. She let go of him, while he followed behind her. Glancing at his watch, he saw they had only around 30 minutes left before a class started.

"Oh, I know. We only have so much time," Maya commented, seeing him check the time. "So I'll make my tour quick. I won't let you be late on your first class."

"Ok," Donavin said, before following her around a corner.

A long hallway stood before them. It was lit, but one light kept flickering on and off.

  Maya glanced back to see if he was still following, then marched briskly down the hall. Not many people where here, just a few kids rushed up the hall.

"Not much is down here," Maya said. "There's an extra bathroom, but I do not recommend, unless it's an emergency, " she warned, in a serious tone. "There's the janitors office, and finally, here at the very end is the library. I don't know why they put it in the most spookiest place in the school, but I guess it was the only place that would work."

"Good to know," Donavan noted.

"Hey, let's get you the books you need today," she said, going up the library doors. "You still have the paper that says which ones, right?"

"Yea, it's right here," He pulled it out of his bag, as they walked in. The place was better lit than the hallway, but the light came from many lamps from all around the room. The front seemed like a nice library, but further back, Donavan could see the old wood shelves and paintings. A middle aged man stood behind the desk looking at the computer, and nodded at them when they came in. He stared hard at Donavin for a moment, before giving him the briefest of smile, then turned back to his computer, shaking his head.

  Donavan furrowed his brow, wondering about the look, as he turned down the aisle Maya went in. She had a stack of books already in her arms, as she seemed to have pulled the last one off of the shelf.

"Wow," he said. "That's quite a lot."

"Well, I got the ones you needed, but also a few others that weren't listed that I notice teachers use sometimes. It's listed in the to buy list, so it's weird why it's not on your list." She shifted the books to give Donavin back his paper.

"Thanks," he said, as she started walking towards the counter.

"Sure," she said. "We'd better check these out, so we have time to get to class."

  Donavin glanced at his watch, and sure enough, they only had around ten minutes. Maya set the books down on the counter, and the librarian came over. This time he smiled at them, while checking out the books.

  Once he was done, he nodded, pushing them over the counter.

"Thank you," Donavin said, putting the ones that would fit in his bag.

"You can pick the rest up later," The librarian said, noticing his trouble. Donavin was surprised at hearing him have a surprisingly deep voice.

"Ok, thank you, " Donavin said.

"C'mon!" Maya urged, waving her hand for him to follow.

  He walked out of the library, glancing back, only to see the librarian staring at him again. It's probably nothing weird, he thought to himself. I'm new, so maybe that's what he does to everyone.

Donavin quickened his pace, and caught up with Maya, who was walking quickly.

"Here's our first class," Maya said, stopping briskly in front of a door with the number 12 on it. "History class." She walked in, while Donavin trailed in behind her. He saw she took a seat between two of her friends and the only seat that was open, was one in the back. Walking through a row to get to his seat, a few kids gave him judgy looks. He sat down in his seat, hanging his bag on the back on it. Glancing on either side of him, he saw two boys, both looking extremely bored, fiddling with a pencil, waiting for class to start.

  A man, seeming to be the teacher, walked in. He was dressed in nice jeans, a plaid sweater and black dress shoes that clicked on the floor every time he took a step. His brown hair was swished off to the side, and his smile seemed like it could charm anyone.

"Good morning class," he said cheerfully, running a finger over the edge of his desk.

"Good morning Mr Valcar," less than half of the said class in an unenthusiastic tone.

"Good! Some of you remembered," Me Valcar said, chuckling, taking a marker and writing his name on the board anyways. "For those who forgot," he said while writing. When he turned around, he looked across all the students, and his gaze fell on Donavin.

"I see we have a new student," he said, snapping the lid back on the marker and placing it on his desk. "Why don't you stand up, tell us your name, and how about..." He looked thoughtfully and the ceiling, while placing his hands on the pockets of his jeans. "Tell us where you moved from."

  Donavin stood up, and looked around the class before speaking. "My name is Donavin Huxley." He spoke strongly and clearly, and swore he heard someone giggling. Ignoring it, he went on: "I moved from Starpoint city in Pennsylvania."

Mr Valcar nodded thoughtfully as Donavin sat down. "It must have been a long trip," he commented. "Any particular reason you moved?"

"My dad left, and my uncle said he'd take me, so moved here. " Donavin struggled in a response to this, but sounded fairly confident, but actually sad, in the answer he came up with on the spot.

"Oh, well I'm sorry." Mr Valcar avoided eye contact with Donavin as he spoke. "Anyways," he said, clearing his throat. "Open your books and flip to page 20."

  The rest of the class time, Donavin did what he was told, but wondered the whole time why Mr Valcar was acting strange. He probably always acted like that, and he was being to paranoid, making it seem weird in his head. He was just nervous of anyone knowing what he is, Mr Valcar couldn't possibly know, could he? Of course not...