Chapter 1

Alex!" Dante yells walking down the hall towards the study. The sun is shining and the faint sound of birds chirping can be heard outside. Dante's house is one of those extremely open houses with windows for walls. The hallway that leads from the bedrooms towards the study has such a glass wall, allowing you to look out towards the large open yard where an oak tree stands with a swinging chair hanging from one of the large branches. There are also several comfy chairs surrounding a wooden coffee table on the patio outside. Dante likes being surrounded by nature, that is probably why his house is situated on a hill far from any life forms and nuances. Just the way he liked it. Alex was a twenty three year old young man who majored in business and was Dante's most trusted associate and secretary.

"Yeah boss?" Alex called from the study twirling around in his chair to look at Dante as he entered. Dante looked at the young tanned boy with chocolate brown hair. The sharpness of his jaws become more prominent with age. A blue baseball shirt covered his well built frame and he wore a pair of faded jeans.

"Clear my scheduel today." Dante said leaning against the doorway, "I have a few errands to run today."

"Ahh boss." Alex complained, "Why do you do such things to me? Huh? Can't you plan when you want to run errands beforehand? Do you know how many people I have to phone and apologize to now! Are you that intent on making my life hard?"

"I hired you for a reason, Alex." Dante grinned as he walked further into the study to look over at the scheduel he had for the day knowing that Alex loved to exaggerate but was shocked when he saw that he really did have a packed day. "Why are you intent on making my life hard." Dante complained in return, "I'm only human you know!" Dante turned to leave the room.

"I think we can argue that point." Alex muttered as he reached for the phone.

"What was that?" Dante said as he turned around after hearing Alex's sly comment.

Alex sighed in defeat, "At least see Mr Denery today. He has a really good proposal that I know you'll like."

Dante stared at the young man for a moment and raised an eyebrow. After noticing the small plea in his eyes, Dante gave in, "Fine. What time is the appointment?"

Lights sparked in Alex's eyes and he turned to look at the scheduel, "Two thirty." Alex looked back towards Dante who nodded, "Thanks boss."

Dante waved his hand in a 'shoo' gesture and officialy left the room.

Who knew that the life of a human could be so hard. Attending board meetings and social attendences was not how Dante planned on living his life, but he had to admit, it did have a certain charm.

~~~

Dante passed through the cemetary gates with a bouquet of white flowers and walked past the rows of headstones until he arrived at the headstone he was looking for.

Here lies Orlando Keith.

Father, friend and trustworthy companion.

"Well, I'm here." Dante said looking down at the headstone of his friend who had died several years ago. His friend who was the father of the young man who worked for him now, "I kept my promise. Alex is doing well. He's back to his usual cheeky self. He works hard too, you would be proud." With a sigh Dante kneeled down and placed the flowers in front of the headstone then placed his hand on top of it, "Rest well, old friend."

Dante stood up and turned to leave. He had a long way to walk seeing as he left his car outside his office building earlier that day. Being alive for this long surely has to be a curse, Dante thought. Having to watch several friends die in his long life was beginning to weight on him. Mortality of humans was the only thing Dante was jealous of, and yet is was also the very thing he despised. Mortality is what cost him many loyal friends and the reason he wished to join them.

As he continued to walk down the sidewalk his eye caught a woman wearing a blue pencil skirt with a blue and white striped jumper. The lady was hustling down the stairs of the library, that was next to the sidewalk, in such speed that Dante didn't know was possible for a human. Dante noticed a crack in one of the stairs that was in the ladies path and before he knew it, the lady's heel got trapped inside the crack causing her to lose her balance and fall. Dante rushed forward and caught the lady in his arms just in time. A gasp had escaped the lady's lips as Dante caught her.

"Are you okay?" Dante asked staring into her deep brown eyes.

"I'm fine. Thank you." The lady replied and Dante placed her back down onto the ground. The lady straightened her skirt and cleared her throat. She brushed her fringe aside before saying, "I'm doctor Nicole Wright." She extended her hand for Dante to shake but he only looked at the hand before turning and walking away. Nicole chased after the man.

"Hey!" she yelled to get his attention but Dante kept walking. When she caught up with him she grabbed his arm and turned him around, "Hey! What's your problem."

"I wasn't aware there was a problem. You fell, I caught you, you said thank you. What more do you want?" Dante replied harshly startling Nicole.

"No need to be so cranky. Pshh." Nicole replied adjusting the strap of her handbag on her shoulder, "You could at least have given me your name."

"My name is irrelevant. The chances of us meeting again is dinamically small. Therefore there's no need for me to tell you my name." Dante replied and turned away once again.

Nicole scoffed at the dark haired man's harsh words then made her way towards her car.

Who did that woman think she is? Dante has never been so intrigue by a human in a long time. Dante shook his head as he finally arrived at his building. He stood on the sidewalk for while and stared at the people passing by when suddenly he heard the sound of glass breaking and turned to the building across from him and watched as a young man fell from the building window, plumenting down towards the surface before finally making contact with it. Dante's ears drowned out the screams and the sounds of pounding hearts. The smell of blood wafted into Dante's nose and he could feel his throat begin to parch, his fangs pierce his lips and the colour of his eyes change into a piercing yellow, allowing him to see and hear the blood pumping though the veins of all the humans around him. He could sense their fear and dispair. A siren could be heard approaching far in the distance approaching.

And just like that, it was gone. His throat no longer felt parched, he fangs receeded and his eyes turned back to normal. Under control again, Dante walked away from the gruesome scene and made his way into his building. His cellphone rang and Dante took it out of his pocket and saw the caller ID was Alex.

"Hello?" Dante answered as he entered the elevator, pressing the number eight. The doors closed and the elevator began to ascend.

"Hey boss. Are you near the office? Remember you have a meeting in ten minutes." Alex's voice sounded through the phone speaker.

"Yup. I'm in the elevator right now." Dante replied with a sigh.

"Did you happen to see what happened outside?" Alex asked.

"I did." Dante replied bluntly.

"Say, if that happened to me, you'd catch me right?" Alex asked.

"Chances are I'll be the one who pushes you." Dante replied as the elevator doors opened revealing Alex on the other side with his phone to his ear.

"That's not funny." He said as he ended the call. Dante approached him with a small smile and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry buddy. You're way too lively to end your own life." Dante said then walked towards his office where a man was standing, looking out the window at the scene below. Dante entered the office but stopped in the doorway. This scent, he recognized it.

"Tragic way to end your own life. Isn't it?" The man by the window said. He turned around and Dante stared into the familiar blue eyes of his once second in command.

"Remy?" Dante said shocked before he looked behind him before closing the door. He slowly walked further into the room, placing his hands in his pants pockets, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to do business with an old buisiness partner. One who abandoned me long ago with promises to return." Remy's face turned dark for an instant before it lit up again, "I guess we'll have to do a rain check. Seems like things are about to get chaotic here for a while." And with that, Remy walked toward the door but turned before he opened the door to looked over at Dante who was now facing him, "It was good to see you." Remy opened the door and left.

Alex noticed Remy leave and walked into Dante's office. With a diary in his hands, Alex said, "Wow. That was the shortest business deal you've ever made. You're getting good boss."

Dante smiled softly, still standing with his hands in his pockets. He then turned towards his window and walked towards it, watching the scene beneath him. The dead man was wheeled into the back of the ambulance while police tried to stop reporters from taking pictures. Dante watched as an investigator kneeled next to the spot where the man landed and looked up to where he jumped and finally his head turned to look up towards where Dante was standing. Their eyes met for a few seconds before the investigor's attention was turned towards another investigator, a young lady, who approched him.