BOYS OF THE NIGHT: CHAPTER TWO

Nick sat on the New York beach, contemplating his life. The low
waves rolled over the sand, the moon reflecting off of them, casting
a bluish glow on the salty water. Nick realized how beautiful the
ocean was here; he'd never seen it that way before.
His legs were tucked up to his chin, his slender arms wrapped
around his knees. His thick blonde hair wavered gently in the
breeze that was coming off of the sea. He was handsome; more so
than any of the others. His fair skin and perfect features only
complimented his lean build and tall frame. There was no wondering
why Kevin had embraced him. Nick burned with hate as he thought of
how the conniving Ventru had tricked him into thinking that being
near immortal would solve all of his problems. It had only made
them worse.
He hated his lifestyle. He hated the taste of blood and refused
to consume it until he was literally on the brink of starving to
death. Nick remembered his first kill: it had been little over a
year ago...

The girl couldn't have been more than 12. She was scrawny and
weak. The victim every vampire dreams of. He recalled of how he
had lured her into his hotel room and pinned her small body under
his weight. He sank his fangs into the flesh and gagged. Realizing
he couldn't kill her, he recoiled from the dying girl and cried in the corner. He'd never felt so pathetic in his young life.
Kevin finally came to his aid and quickly ended her suffering with
a snap of the neck. He had been very disappointed.

Nick shivered at the all too vivid memories and closed his eyes,
forcing the terrible images out of his mind. He felt the urge to
die, or to at least feel some kind of pain. That was something he'd
never experience again. Pain. A blessing and a curse.
There was no escape for Nick. There never would be. And he knew - there were deep-looking blade scars running up and down his arms and criss-crossing his tanned chest from past suicide attempts. Even just attempts to feel something, pain, hurt, anything.
He heard someone walking softly in the white sand behind him.
He whipped around, half expecting a crazed fan to be following him.
Instead, he saw a dark-haired girl wearing a bikini and colorful
sarong. He was convinced that she was going to walk by, but when
she reached him, she said, "Hey."
Nick smiled, careful not to expose his fangs, and greeted the
girl softly. The sun was almost completely faded into the ocean and
the moon was now high in the evening sky, making the lighting dim.
But from what he could see, she was beautiful. Stunningly so.
She ran a delicate hand through her chocolate brown hair, streaked with a ruddy color of red and about waist-length. It glimmered in the dying light, flashing the sun-born highlights of gold and shades of copper.
"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked sitting down
next to him in the sand. She slowly trailed a thin finger through it, making a spiral design as she stared at him intensely. He immediatly noticed her nails; perfectly manicured with French tips. Nick looked up, only to meet her face-to-face. Their eyes locked in an invisible, yet percievably sensual duel of wills. Whoever looked away first, lost. And they both knew the unwritten rules. Niether turned or blinked for fear of losing the game.
"No. I'm not. Are you?" Nick inquired.
"Yeah. I live up there," she answered, pointing to a ranch
house up on an overhang that looked out to the ocean. It was
surrounded by a wooded area. It was a small house. Very modest,
but on a pretty location. Nick nodded admiringly.
"I think I know you," she said finally breaking the silence.
"Probably," he replied. He went to reach over and grab his
Backstreet Boys' leather jacket. He was going to show her who he
was, but hesitated and decided it might not be a good idea.
"I, uh, I come here sometimes. On vacation. Yeah. you know, just... vacation!" he excused himself ackwardly.
She looked at him, disbelieving. "Oh... okay... And your name would be?"
"Nick. Just... Nick," he piped up, quickly, with a twinge of nervousness.
The girl smiled, brushing a strand of hair out of her sun-burned
face. Yeah. He's crazy, she thought.
Nick expanded his pupils reflexively to get a better view of her. He studied her pulse. Her blood raced strong and hard through her body. She intrigued Nick. Humans could rarely do this to him. Hell, no one could do that to him.
This girl, she was different. Snapping out of his trance at
the sound of her clearing her voice, Nick met her huge brown eyes
shyly.
"What's your name?" he asked, whispering.
"Barb. Barb Wyre," she answered, her voice just as low.
He stared into her eyes. They were reflecting the moon. Nick's
blood stopped in his veins. He had to have this girl. If there was
anyone for him, it was her. He was absolutely sure of it. But he felt repulsed when his mouth began to water at the thought of her blood flowing down his throat, feeding his hunger, quenching his evil thirst.
"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, and a little threatened by his scrutinizing gaze.
He shook his head no. Understanding that he wasn't going to be
open about it, she ceased her questioning.
The two were silent. They watched the ocean together, it had a
fascinating rhythm about it. Mesmerizing. Barb suddenly stood up,
brushing the sand off of her slim legs. She tucked her long
hair behind one ear and stared down at Nick, who in turn, looked up
at her with child-like eyes.
"I-I should go. It's getting cold," she said rubbing her arms.
Nick stood up and picked his jacket off the ground. He wrapped it
around her shoulders lovingly.
"Here. I'll be in town for a couple of days. Will you come
here tomorrow? To see me, I mean?"
She nodded.
"Okay then. At the same time?"
She nodded again, this time smiling, exposing beautiful white
teeth. Oh God, Nick thought, those teeth would look even more
beautiful with fangs. Shocked at what he was thinking, he looked
away, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.
Barb pulled the jacket around herself, also looking
down uneasily. She went to stare up at him and say thank you, but found she was alone. Confused, she turned around, searching for the mystery boy. Giving up, she took off the jacket to see the patch on the back.
It read in huge letters:
NICK CARTER
BACKSTREET BOYS
Her jaw dropped.

From afar, Nick watched her every move until she got in her
house. He smiled. Soon, he thought, she will be mine. Forever. He shivered at his "vampiric" impulsiveness and turned away from the beach, letting a salty tear run down his pale cheek. He was losing the battle against himself, and very quickly. Nick began to walk down the beaten dirt path that had taken him there, to start the long trek back to the bus.