You stormed out of the house with tears glistening in your eyes; your step dad’s angry yells booming behind you. Things had gotten worse since your mom had married him. Much worse. And now you had the mark on your cheek to prove it. Your breath rose in billowy white clouds as you wandered  farther into the sheer winter night. Anyplace was better than your wreck of a house. Even if it meant freezing. The bare skin on your arms stung with the harsh prickle of ice in the air. With all the commotion that had been going on, you’d forgotten to grab your coat as you rushed out. You paused for a moment and looked at the road before you. Nothing but snow and ice invaded your view until you scanned a small playground below. It was perfect. Just the place to blow off some steam before you ventured home. You took a few steps toward it, the snow and ice crunching beneath your feet as you walked. You wondered if the fighting would ever end. If just for one day you could go by without your mess of a step dad jumping down your throat. A cold tear slowly slid down your cheek. That would never happen. Not in your wildest dream. Then the ground suddenly slid out beneath you as your shoes lost their grip on the ice. You came down with a sickening thud, face first into a pile of snow and sludge. “Perfect…” you thought as you lied there, not seeing how the day could get any worse.  Hot tears welled up further into to eyes before you broke out into all out heavy sobs. You had absolutely nothing going for you. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps sounded in the snow next to you, coming closer as you stayed there and cried. “Go away!” you shouted in between sniffles. The footsteps came to an abrupt stop next to you. “Now that’s not very nice…” a voice said silkily. Whoever this person was you didn’t care.  All you wanted was for them to go away. You lifted your tear-streaked face from the snow to yell again, but no one was there… You sniffled once more and looked around, almost sure someone had been there. Then a strong pair of arms buckled around your waist and lifted you gently from your ice bed on the ground. “What do think you’re doing!? I said GET AWAY!” , you screamed as your fingers tore at his arms around you. “I just didn’t think that was a very appropriate place to take a nap.” he said with a chuckle as he watched you strain to get free. You turned around to get a better look at the wise crack , only to be greeted with twin pools of garnet staring back at you. His eyes made you forget everything you’d been crying about, why you were yelling, and why you were even trying to get away. Your eyes flickered eagerly up and down his figure as he released his iron grip. Onyx strands of hair fell down in front of his eyes and on the his sharp, smooth cheek bones. Pale skin, much like the snow around you, stretched across his godly features.  “Wha-, who are you?” you asked, completely hypnotized by the boy that stood before you. “Demetri….” he answered, his lips pulling back into a sharp grin. Deadly canines stuck out on either side of his mouth, finally verifying he wasn’t of this world. Your eyes grew wide at the sight, having never seen a vampire this close. “M-my name’s ________” you managed to stammer dumbly.
Demetri gave another soft chuckle before reaching a hand to your cheek. His face instantly froze as he ran his fingertips across the dark bruise on your cheek. “Oh dear,…someone’s hurt you..” Demetri said sadly, examining the look in your eyes. “It’s nothing. I got that when…I fell..” you replied as you turned your attention to the ground. You couldn’t stand to look him in the eye once more. Not when they were so beautiful. “Well nothing doesn’t give you a bruise, now does it?” he said, snapping you back into reality. His fangs glittered in what little light there was from the nearby street lamp. “No…” you answered. There was no hiding anything from this guy. You began to shiver again as the cold nipped relentlessly at your exposed skin. Another tear ran down your cheek and across Demetri’s hand as he held you there. “I’m so sorry…” he said, pulling you into a tight embrace. His warmth calmed your violent shaking and your fears. Somehow you knew everything might be alright. The silence grew around you two as he stood there holding you close. You let a few more heavy sobs escape as you nuzzled  further into his chest. Demetri stripped himself of his jacket and wrapped it around your shoulders. “C’mon,… I think you should come with me…” he said, his warm scarlet eyes meeting with yours as you looked up and nodded.  You took his jacket from around your shoulders and put it on before taking a few steps ahead. Snowflakes began to shimmer into view as you walked away beside him, never to be seen again.