Brien watched the red headed wraith from the confines of the shadows, and a smile played at his lips as she cut her mark into his skin with a flick of her petite wrist.

He watched with amusement as the man scampered off, visibly scared out of his mind. The girl had a talent of that sort, whether she realized it or not. Her aura had a dark allure to it,and he found himself drawn to her, as he supposed many others did.

She found solace in the torment of the wretches that plagued mankind, and he admired her for that. The vampires' pearl fangs glinted in the moonlight as he smiled coylyat her slender form.

He withdrew from the shadow and moved with in human speed to the streetlight a block ahead of her. As she drew closer to him, he shook off the sharp teeth that would pinpoint him as a dark one, and replaced them with the teeth of a normal teenage boy. She looked startled to see him standing against a light pole at two o'clock in the morning, but the momentary shock was quickly replaced with alertness.

Her green eyes scanned his form; sizing him up in her mind he realized promptly. Actually, Brien was quite surprised that he could read her so effortlessly.

All mortal minds could be read like books to a capable vampire, most even to a fledgling, but the darkness that surrounded her told him that it should not have been that easy.

"Hello, what brings you out so late at night?" He smiled, his pale lips rosy from his recent meal. Lan eyed him warily,

"I could ask you the same thing." He shrugged,

"I'm a night person." She still kept her distance and her guard, her hand wandering down towards the blade once more. His black eyes saw the movement and he shook his finger at her, "I wouldn't if I were you." She stopped abruptly and let her hand fall to her side.

A human would have assumed that she had taken heed, but he knew better,and he could read her posture. Her hand was now closer to the dagger now that it was dropped to her side. "Very clever, but I warn you not to touch that blade, or I may be forced to do something you will regret." She laughed sardonically,

"Is that a threat?" He raised an eyebrow mockingly,

"If you wish to find out, be my guest and draw it." She took him up on his offer and unclipped her dagger from her belt,instantly falling into a fighting stance. Brien tipped his head thoughtfully and smiled, realizing how comfortable she seemed standing like that.

Her entire stance screamed predator, and he could tell that she was more than well aware of what she was doing. In an instant he was behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist, and the other holding her own blade to her throat. "You see, as powerful as you are, Im more deadly than you'll ever be."

"We'll see about that." She shoved her elbow into his gut and used that instant to her advantage. To her amazement, he did not relinquish his grasp on her, only allowing her that second so that he could turn her around to face him.

Lan had managed to retrieve her dagger, but he squeezed the pressure point in her wrist slightly and the muscles relaxed,permitting him to take it from her grip. Her eyes widened and she shook her head, "How is that possible...?" she muttered, her brow wrinkled in confusion. Brien leaned next to her so that his lips were touching her ear,

"Your eyes deceive you, don't trust them." He whispered before releasing her. He slipped a small card into her hand and backed into the shadow again. The blade of her dagger glinted in the streetlight as he held it up, "I'll hold onto this," he commented before disappearing.

She stood there stunned, staring at the spot where he had stood only moments before. Lan allowed herself to look at the card he had given her. It was a plain white business card with the words "look at the world with the eyes of a jaded newborn" scrawled on it with black ink in elegant handwriting.

The words puzzled her and she headed back towards her apartment in bewilderment, the only thing sticking in her mind about the youth was his chilling black eyes. They say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and if that was so, then he didn't have one.