"It’s not so bad," Poppy said entering the room.
"Are you a vampire?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah," Poppy replied. "I was diagnosed with a disease and was going to die anyway, so my best friend and Soulmate James made me into a vampire. Like Annie and Zac here, I’m also a witch."
"Wow," Taylor said. "How’d you take it?"
"Well, except for Ash trying to turn me into the Council, its great."
"I want to be human," Jennifer moaned from the couch.
"I know," Taylor whispered, stroking her hair. "I know."
"There’s nothing you can do about it," Poppy said. "I’m sorry."
"Guys, it’s not so bad," Annie said. "I mean, all it means is that Jennifer will have to drink some blood every once in a while and its really not that bad. Its like, second nature."
They all stared at Annie.
"What?" she asked.
"It’s true," Zac piped up. "It tastes…I don’t know. It’s hard to say really. And Jen’s problem isn’t as big as mine! I think the fans will notice the fact that I’ll look 14 forever!"
"True," Jen said.
"This is what I suggest," Poppy said. "Just stay in touch with Circle Daybreak. Zac does have a dilemma here, but Jen will be fine. But there will be heart ache involved."
Taylor sighed. He didn’t like this. "I hate that bitch," he muttered.
"We all do," Isaac said gently.
"But she’s gone forever," Annie said firmly. "I just wonder what that was I was doing!"
"I’ll leave you guys to talk alone," Poppy said.
"Guys," Zac said. "The only option for me is to leave home. They can’t see me like this."
"Zac," Taylor started.
"It’s the only way. I don’t want to die…but they’ll suspect something."
"Why does life have to be so complicated?" Annie asked.
They all just shook their heads.
"Zac, you can’t just leave," Isaac said. "We’ll think of something."
"This won’t make things all better," Annie said. "But what about after a while like, Zac will leave home. But not for a while! I mean, it’s not like anyone will notice anything for a while! Then like, we can run away together or something."
"Why don’t we just tell our parents?" Jen asked.
"Because of the law," Annie said quietly.
"What law?" Isaac asked.
"The laws of the Night World are as follows: you can play with the human heart as much as you want, but never fall in love with a human, and never let humans know that the Night World exists."
"Screw the rules!" Taylor burst out. "You’re freaking vampires I mean, you didn’t choose to be vampires! It’s not fair!"
"Life isn’t fair," Isaac said quietly.
"Guys, I think we should call it a night," Zac said.
"Ok. Round Robin?" Annie asked.
"Yeah," Jen agreed.
So they got a phone and Jen and Annie called home to say that they would be staying at each others house. Then the Hanson boys called home to say that they would be staying with a friend.
"Guys," Zac said. "I have to agree with what Taylor said before."
"What did he say?" Jen asked.
"‘Screw the rules,’" Zac replied. "I can’t just leave home! I mean, why don’t we just tell them when they start to notice?"
They all looked around at each other.
"As long as the Night World council doesn’t find out…" Isaac started.
"They’ll think we’re freaking crazy!" Annie exploded.
"So?" Taylor demanded. "We’ll prove that we’re not!"
"They’ll think we’re crazy then demand that we see a shrink! When they notice we’re not aging, they’ll take us to a regular doctor then they’ll discover the truth! But then the doctors would know and they’d want to study us and then the Night World would get out and it would be all our fault!" Anne yelled.
"So what?!?" Isaac yelled back. "It’s not our world!"
"They’ll kill all the humans," Annie whispered. "The Wearwolves, Vampires and Shapeshifters will all band together and destroy the humans to protect their secret."
"She’s right," Zac whispered, putting his arm around her shoulder.
"Guys," Jen said weakly.
"Yeah?" Taylor asked gently.
"I’m hungry," she whispered. "But it’s a new kind of hunger…like nothing I’ve ever felt before…"
