�So you�re sure you want to do this?� asked the vampire �Y-yes.� said the boy in his shaky voice. He reached into his bag and pulled out a tape recorder. It wasn�t a very high-tech recorder, much larger then the ones that you usually saw these days, and black, completely black. The boy fumbled around in his pocket and puller out and tape and clumsily put it in the recorder. The vampire looked like he couldn�t be a day over nineteen. He stood at the window staring out at the New Orleans skyline. His pale completion was made all the more striking by his midnight black hair that hung down past his shoulders. A silver streak ran down the middle of his long hair reminding the boy of a skunk.

The vampire was dressed in a random assortment of clothing that looked as if there was only very little thought as to how they looked. He wore a long sleeve, flannel shirt covered by a sleeveless, fleece jacket that had three large gashes. These appeared to claw marks though the creature that made them could have been no smaller then a tiger. Under the flannel shirt was a plane black t-shirt. Over all this was a trench coat as black as the boy�s hair. The jeans he wore were the same color as the coat and appeared too large for him, muck like the way kids of theses days wore their clothing. They were so large that they almost covered his plain brown shoes entirely. �Shall we begin then?� said the vampire turning away from the window. The vampire strode across bare wood floor, making little to no sound. His movements were graceful, elegant, and seemed almost lazily slow yet almost too fast for the eye to see at the same time. This was when the boy noticed something that really startled him. As the trench coat moved with his movements a large, furry tail was now visible.

�Holy!� the boy yelled in shock then shrank fear of the volume of his voice in the quite room.

�Ah, I see you�ve noticed.� Said the vampire in an amused tone of voice. �I suppose you�ve never seen someone with a tail before. Well let me assure you right now there is an explanation in my story. The boy just stared at the tail as the vampire swished it back and forth. �Is this going to complicate things for you? Because if it is I will just leave now.� The vampire made a small move towards the door. �No!� said the boy �Please�stays. I very much want to hear your story if only learn how you came to posses a tail. Were you born with it?�

�No, but I would prefer to keep things in order. May I begin now?� �Sure, whenever you�re ready.�

�Can we put out these lights?� the vampire motioned to the many ceiling lights that boy habitually turned on during an interview. �They make me feel just a little uncomfortable.�
�Sure.� The boy hurriedly got up but was startled by how much the floor creaked under his weight. He looked back at the vampire and then walked noisily back to light switches and flicked them off. He returned to the one table in the apartment and reached to turn off the light just above the table. �You may leave that one if it makes you feel more�comfortable.� �T�thank y�you.� said the boy re-adjusting his leather jacket. �Cold?�
�No not really, are you?�
�I don�t feel the cold, at least not in the same way you do. It is difficult to describe vampire sensations. It�s much like trying to describe a certain type of food to someone that hasn�t eaten it before.�
�Now I should probably start in a place that you would understand. Hmmm, but where?� said the vampire scratching the goatee on his chin. �Well I guess the best place is when I was human. Seems so short and meaning less now. I guess you would say I was your average teenage boy. I got average grades, went to the local public school. Had average friends, an average family, and an average job. But I was not average. To the ordinary passer-by you would assume that I was your typical 19 year old boy. Only my closest friends could tell the one thing that was different about me.

I had an obsession, and for once it wasn�t average. I wasn�t into or or anything else that people would normally assume a teenager would be into. No I was much different. I suppose that�s why I could bare being so average in everything else. I was obsessed with wolves. I sill am, don�t get me wrong on that. It�s very different now then it was then. Back then I was absolutely in love with them. Everything I did involved wolves. My room was plastered with pictures of wolves. Wolves howling at the moon, wolves chasing prey, wolves just standing there in all of their sleek, and wondrous power. Knowing this about me it was logical that I work in a zoo. This was one of my favorite places to hang out, so I figured I might as well get paid for it. My job was to feed the wolves. To any normal person this would seem like a punishment more than a privilege, but not to me. For me there wasn�t a better job to be had.

The feelings seemed to be mutual from the wolves because they would always come to meet me when I would come to work and feed them or just hang out. In my own way I guess I could almost talk to him. It�s important that you know this about me because I believe that this is what attracted him to me.� �One night while I was doing what I usually did on weekend nights, I was at the zoo with the wolves. Normally they wouldn�t have allowed me in, but I was a very honest man and they knew that I only wanted to be with the wolves. There were some nights that I would actually sleep there. This particular night there was a full moon. I was in the area where the wolves stayed and slept. The wolves seemed a little uneasy that night. It was almost like they were waiting for something.

�What�s the matter with you guys?� I asked the wolves and almost as if he had been waiting for me to say this, a man walked out of the shadows. His face was as pale as the moon and his blond hair shown in the moonlight. His face was strange; it was human, but not. His eyes, it was as if they were on fire. They glowed a bright red, so bright that you couldn�t see his pupils. His ears were longer then normal and point at the tips. There were three stripes ed on his left cheek. He wore a black sweater with black pants and sneakers.

�Hello Manuel� that was my name. �I have been watching you for some time now. I wasn�t completely sure if you were ready for my gift, but now I believe you are.� His voice was smooth and melodious, almost hypnotic. His eyes captivated me, drew me in, made me trust him.
�W-what gift?� I managed to say after a few minutes.
�What if I told you I could make all or your dreams come true?� the man said in that same mysterious voice.
�How?� I said before I knew what I was saying.
�Well, it�s really quite simple. What you need to know is that you may never come back to this life if you choose to go with me.� The man smiled for the first revealing two pointed fangs. I guess I got a scared expression my face because he hid his teeth from me.

�What is there for you here? You�re wolves, and then what? What have you really got to loose?� His words hit me like a two by four. I realized for the first time that anything that I did anymore was about the wolves. I actually identified more with them then I did with people, if that�s imaginable. I just stared blankly at him. How had he known? I still ask myself that. �Come with me.� He said in an almost commanding tone. I stood up an walked over to him. I stood inches from him. I stared into those glowing, inhuman eyes. �What do I have to do?� I said to him acknowledging my acceptance. Words that would change my life forever. With movements faster then I could ever hope to see, much less react to he rapped one strong arm around me and held fast and the other grabbed the one temple and turned my head sideways. I don�t remember much after that. Just a quick moment of pain like when you get a shot from the doctor and then a sensation like the carpet was ripped out from under you and you�re falling down and down and you�re never going to stop.

What I would assume was several days later I awoke in room I�d never seen before. The room appeared to be upstairs because there were windows, at least there were suppose to be but they were all boarded up. The walls were wood as was the floor. On the floor there was a long Native American rug that depicted wolves on a hunt. On the walls were paintings of wolves. On my left was a painting of one of the most beautiful golden wolf I had ever seen with the caption �Blaze� on a gold plaque underneath. Next to that picture was a painting of two red wolves, with the caption �Flint and Matches.� I got up and walked around the room looking at the different paintings. There was white wolf with the caption �Ashes�, very hansom black wolf which faded into red had the caption �Inferno�, and a very beautiful silver wolf with the caption �Flare.� On the last wall was a painting of a very beautiful wolf with a long white stripe from the middle of it�s forehead down it�s back, at first glance could have been mistaken for a skunk. This picture had not caption on it. �That�s strange.� I thought, but decided that the artist just hadn�t named it yet. I walked towards the only door in the room and cautiously poked my head out. The moon was still rising over the tops of the trees. In all directions there was forest. For reasons I can�t explain I felt like I was really home for the first time. Don�t ask me why because I couldn�t tell you why I felt like this place that I had never been to before seemed more like home to me then the house I grew up in ever did, but it did.

�Ah, you�re awake. I was beginning to think that maybe the change was too much for you.� He said to me, though he didn�t sound like he had been worrying. He was sitting at a campfire with five others that appeared to be the same age as me. Though with vampires things are not always what they appear to be. I walked towards this group for the first time feeling uneasy. The others closest to me moved to make space for me on the log and I sat down.
�Welcome to the pack, Manuel. Hmm�that name has got to go!�
�Hear hear!� said two red haired twins in unison.
�What shall we call him, Blaze?� Blaze raised his hands and they got quiet.
�I have already thought of a name. He shall be called, Phire.� An uproar of approval came from the group. After a few minutes Blaze raised his hand again and quiet once again resumed.

�I�m glad you all approve, but the one who matters most has said nothing. So, how do you like your name?� It was hard to put into words exactly what I was feeling. I was so over whelmed that I just sat there. Finally, after a few moments of everyone patiently awaiting my answer, I said I approved. The uproar escalated. The twins got up on a log and began to dance in circles. A young man with black hair with red highlights walked up to me. He didn�t look much older to his face then I did, but his eyes showed years of wisdom beyond mine. There was something about him that was different from any other person I had seen before. There was a mysterious presence about him that was alluring. He stood in front of me for several seconds just staring at me. The glow from his Unnaturally red eyes only eventuated his bold features. Then he smiled.

�Welcome, My name is Inferno. It�s very nice to finally meet you. Blaze hasn�t seemed so excited about a new child in quite some time.� He reached out to shake my hand, but all I could do was stare at him. Had he just said that his name was the same name that was on one of the plaques in the cabin? How could that be possible?
�There�s no reason to be afraid. I don�t bite� other vampires that is.� said Inferno in a lighthearted tone. I�m sure he could sense what I was thinking, but was probably expecting it.
�I�m guessing that you saw my picture in cabin, and yours.�
�B-but how can that be your picture? The one in the cabin is of a wolf.
You�re a person� sort of�um�you know what I mean.�
�Didn�t Blaze tell you that he could make your dreams come true?�
�Yeah.� Then it hit me. A story I had heard of long ago of a vampire that could turn into a wolf. Could it be true? Can a vampire turn into a wolf? Could my dream really come true?
�You can do that, turn into a wolf I mean?� I said a little more excited then I meant to. The vampire smiled back at me. �Yes, it�s simply wonderful. There is so much that we must teach you. Oh how rude of me, I�m Ashes.� Said a voice from behind me. A very beautiful silver haired stood before me. The black clothes she was wearing brought out her feminine features and made her hair all the more striking.
�So let me guess, those two are Flint and Matches?� I said pointing at the twins who were now jumping off of a tree into a near by lake.
�You catch on quick.� Said Blaze standing up from the log he had been sitting on. He had been sitting so still that I hadn�t even noticed he was there. He now stood over me and smiled down with an almost affectionate smile. He place his strong hand firmly on my shoulder, his eyes were glowing brilliantly in the night sky. �Welcome to your new life, Phire� The vampire stared at the boy who himself now looked as pale as a vampire.

�It�s true� Everything that you�ve told me is true, isn�t it?�
�If I were to say yes, what would you do?� the boy stared at him not entirely sure what he was going to do himself.
�Listen to me, there is no need to be afraid. I have no desire to kill you; in fact I need you alive. There is a reason that I have given you this interview. I need you to publish it. You see not too long ago we were attacked by werewolves. Now one fully grown werewolf could probably kill ten vampires at once. We were attacked by three. Luckily none of us were killed, though the twins are much easier to tell apart now. The reason I need this published is because we can�t find Blaze. He was chased by the other werewolves after they beat the crap out of us. We need to find him and you�re going to help.�
�No one will believe this. No one in there right mind would!�
�No human would believe this and frankly we don�t need any of them, only you. We need to find our sire and only a vampire or a werewolf would know where he is, but we�ll never get anywhere just asking around. We need to give them a message and you�re the median in which I chosen to do it.� The vampire stared at the boy, his glowing blue eyes burrowing their way into the boy. The boy grabbed his bag and bolted out the door. He ran full speed down the four flights of stairs and out the basement door.

�You forgot this.� said a cold voice. The boy stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the vampire that he had left in the room. The black tape recorder was dangling form the string wrapped around the vampire�s finger.
�It�s very hard to publish an interview when you don�t have the interview to publish.� The boy had turned whiter then the vampire- if that can be imagined- and was standing horror struck in the middle of the empty garage. The vampire gave the boy a menacing look.
�Just remember, I�ll be watching you.� He tossed the recorder to the boy, the boy caught it and looked back at the vampire. Except the vampire wasn�t there.