Chapter 1

He gasped for air. It was as if he had been under water and had just came back to the surface. He couldn't understand or remember most of what had happened to him, but it seemed as if Michael had been in between the boundaries of life and death for a long time now. He couldn't remember much, but he knew he was almost taken by something powerfully spiritual. He was fully aware that he was inches from permanent death.

How? He couldn't remember. It happened quick. All he could remember was hearing a thunderous noise and feeling the most horrific pain of his life many times over. He could remember blood coming up through his throat, how he couldn't breathe. It was terrifying. Now he was taking all the air he could breathe in. He was shaking and sweating all over.

"Take it easy, Mike," a familiar voice said in his ear. He opened his eyes. Her face was blurry at first but when his eyes began to focus, he saw it was Lisa Marie.

"Welcome back." She gave him a sweet smile. Michael blinked a few times as she dabbed his forehead with a towel.

"How you feel?" Lisa asked.

"Strange," Michael answered softly. Considering he had just died and came back to earth, that was a pretty good answer.

Lisa nodded. "No pain?"

"No."

Lisa grinned. Michael's breathing began to return to normal when he began to calm down. Michael sat up and watched Lisa go to the sink. He then realized he was at Lisa's house.

"Are you sure you don't feel any pain?" Lisa asked.

"I'm perfectly fine."

Lisa laughed as if she didn't believe him. "Okay,"

There was a silence. Michael noticed there were towels that were drenched in blood that Lisa had threw in the overstuffed garbage. It gave Michael the shivers.

"I guess you should get home. You're kids are probably worried sick about you."

"How about you come with me?" Michael offered. Lisa turned around and gave him a smirk. "Was that supposed to mean something?"

"It depends." Michael told her with a grin.

~~~~~~~

As they went back to Neverland, Michael noticed that things were different. Lisa was more cheerful than before, and Neverland seemed like a more peaceful place. Michael could remember how scary his own house used to be. Lisa used to seem like she was hiding something from him. But everything was different now. All the fear that haunted him before was totally washed away. Prince and Paris were happy to see Michael. They began coloring on the floor as Michael and Lisa sat at the kitchen table and talked.

"So it's forget and forgive?" Michael asked, smiling.

"Of course not. You almost died and--"

"No, I mean what you put me through. Not telling me about you being a part of this...vampire world. Participating in a plan to kill me...."

"I had no choice. You don't know The Master." Lisa said softly.

Michael sighed and decided to drop it. Lisa wasn't going to talk about it. "So you love me?" Michael whispered, looking at his folded hands on the table.

"Yes." Lisa smiled. She now was able to confess.

Michael was one of her kind now. A creature of The Night. She was allowed to love him. One of the things she hated about being a vampire was that she had to follow many rules. Not rules like the expectations of your boss, or government laws: If you do this, you get punished. It wasn't like that. If you don't follow the rules of The Night, you die. It was as simple as that.

Another thing that she hated was the undeniable fact that if you have knowledge of The Night, you are trapped into it. It was like if you step into it, there's no turning back. Once there's darkness, there's nothing BUT darkness. But she was trying to fight those rules. Michael didn't know that the reason he didn't die was because he was half vampire. And when he doesn't know won't hurt him. She didn't want Michael trapped in something so evil. In order to keep him from that, she was forced to protect him. More people were after him. He was unique. Special. A half-human/half vampire NEVER was seen before. Vampires and others of The Night want to kill him for dominance. The more valuable the kill, the better their reputation. The better their power. The one thing vampires crave is power.

But what Michael doesn't know won't hurt him.

Lisa looked into Michael's brown, innocent eyes. Eyes full of human sensitivity, but filled with so much immortal power and strength. No wonder so many humans feel drawn to him. No wonder many of his followers break in to hysteric tears when they look into his eyes.

"Lisa," Michael said.

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

Lisa smiled and felt warm inside. If only most mortals� could see that I see in him.