Chapter One

Warnings: family trauma, sister doing drugs/alcohol abuse, getting in trouble with the law

Summary: On your way to bail your sister out of jail, you take shelter in a run-down hotel for the night, and end up with the deadliest proposals of them all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hotel is deserted by the time you reach it. It doesn't matter. You're only going to be here for one night anyway. As soon as the sun comes up, you're going to be back on the road heading to Boston.

You live in Arizona.

Normally, you refuse to make a drive like this, but your sister called you crying her eyes out because she landed herself in jail... again. Growing up, she was never the one who got straight A's or stayed in to study. She got involved with the wrong crowd as soon as she got into middle school. At first, it was ditching school to go to the arcade or to go to the beach, but those soon turned into petty crimes.

By the time she was in high school, she was smoking everything, drunk by nine, and partying with her friends. They were much older than her, and you were pretty sure they were all fucking her. It's the only reason why they would have kept her around.

They would steal, vandalize, graffiti areas in town, and would always be the fall girl so the older guys could get away. She was never arrested, but she did get a lot of community time to make up for what they dragged her along to.

As soon as she graduated high school, she was involved in hard drugs and prostitution. She put you and your family through hell, and that's why your parents disowned her. You're the only one who will talk to her, which is why she called you at midnight bawling her eyes out.

Despite all the terrible things she's done, you can't seem to walk out on her like everyone else in her life. When she gets like this, you lecture her about being a better person, and for a few weeks, she does really well on turning her life around. Then, she'd get fired or she'll get tempted by drugs and alcohol and fall into the same pattern.

It's exhausting.

You're tired, but you need one strong drink before you go to sleep. Not many people are up at this time, but you'll relish in the silence. The sign on the window outside said there is a twenty-four-hour bar inside, and that's exactly what you need.

You leave your room, but pause when you close the door. The hallway is unusually quiet. Normally, you'd hear people arguing, TV's playing, or even people fucking, but you don't hear a soul. It's eerie but you need a drink before going to bed, and you didn't buy liquor before you came here.

The lights in the hallway are dim, and the ones at the end aren't even working at all. It's kind of your fault for picking the cheapest hotel possible, but you're only going to be here for one night. You can survive for that long.

Even the elevator is slow and rickety, but you don't pay much mind to it. When you step onto the first floor, your entire body goes rigid. For what? There is no one around, and maybe that's the reason. This place has an uneasy atmosphere about it, and you hate that it's making you feel unsafe.

No one is at the front desk, no one can be seen outside, and there is something telling you to get the fuck out of here and keep driving.

There are rumors about places like these (not necessarily about this specific hotel) about people going missing or ending up dead under mysterious circumstances. There are rumors in Arizona, but they become more prominent the more east you travel. Rumors about bloodsucking creatures that live in the night–vampires as the public likes to call them.

The locals like to believe that vampires reside in the mountains away from most humans, but it's not like you believe in that sort of thing. You've never seen one in person, and you don't think you ever will.

They're only silly fairy tales, but you refused to sleep on the side of the road inside your car, so this hotel will have to do for the night.

You ignore everything inside of you telling you to turn back and head into the bar. Much like the rest of the hotel, it's deserted except for a man sitting in the middle of the bar. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and your gut is telling you he is bad news.

You must be a fucking idiot for ignoring that part of you because you slowly approach him without making any noise.

"Sit down or leave, but don't just stand there," he says without looking at you.

You're kind of shocked he heard you, but you take a seat next to him regardless. Now that you have a better look at him, you admire his beauty. He has dirty blond hair that's slightly spiked, freckles dance across his cheekbones and nose, he has plump lips that look to be stained by something red, his eyes are a mesmerizing green that is hard to look away from, and he clearly works out because this man is huge.

This man is beautiful.

"Where is everyone? Is the bar closed?"

"Yes, it is, but I can make you a drink if you want."

"Sure." You tell him the exact drink you want, but he makes no move to get up and make it. "What are you drinking?"

"You won't want that," he chuckles.

"Why not?"

With one long thick finger, he points to the other side of the bar. You slowly lean over to see what he is pointing at, and your eyes widen at the dead bartender on the ground. He is very pale, and when you spot the two red marks on the side of his neck, you know why.

You turn to face the man next to you, and he grins with blood stained teeth.

Everything you thought you knew flies out the window. Everything you once believed in is false, and you finally understand why your gut was telling you to leave this place. Hoping he doesn['t see the fear in your eyes, you chuckle and get out of your seat.

"I should get back to my room. I just remembered I need to leave really early, so I think I'm going to skip that drink. It's nice to meet you."

You turn and leave as quickly as you can, but before you can cross the threshold, Dean stands in your way. Your eyes widen, and you look back to see his seat empty.

"How did you do that?" you gasp.

He backs you into the wall behind you and places his hands on the wall besides your head, effectively trapping you in.

"You know how," he grins, and you see his fangs as clear as day right in front of you.

"Please, just let me go. I bet I'm not that delicious."

He reaches up and slices your neck, but gently and only about a centimeter long. You wince at the sharp pain, but it's gone as soon as it comes. He only needs a drop of your blood to taste it, and he places his finger in his mouth to swallow it up.

Every single nerve in his body fires at the same time, and his head starts to feel fuzzy. He's been alive for a very long time, and he's only felt like this a few times after tasting someone's blood. The last time he felt like this was centuries ago, and he made sure to hold onto her for as long as he could.

The man is distracted by something, so you take this opportunity and escape his clutches. You duck down and escape from under his arm, and you book it to the stairs. You're scared if you take the elevator, he will be waiting for you when the doors open.

Your room is only on the third floor, so you rush up three flights of stairs and down the hallway over to your room. How many of these rooms contain dead bodies? Are you the only occupant in this entire hotel? You don't stop to find out, and you use your key to get inside your room as fast as possible. When you lock it, you breathe a sigh of relief.

You're safe...

Not.

You turn and gasp when you see the handsome stranger right in front of you. You let out the loudest scream you can muster, and you back away from him in fear.

"Please don't hurt me," you start to cry.

The man walks you back into the door, and he reaches up to move your hair away from your face.

"Hurting you is the last thing I'd want to do to you," he says quietly.

"Why?" you swallow thickly.

"Your blood is rare, sweetheart. Too rare to let slip through my fingers." He pulls away from you and takes a few steps back to give you space. "What would you say if I asked you to live with me? I could give you riches beyond compare. Private jet to anywhere you want, a personal chef to keep you happy and fed, billions of dollars for you to spend, and endless luxury."

He's a vampire, you shouldn't be considering this. What would happen if you told him no? Would he kill you? Kidnap you? The fear of what he would do to you if you said no isn't what makes you consider this.

Your sister is.

Your sister who puts you through hell almost every day. A sister who needs to learn how to fend for herself because all you've done is take the fall for her.

"What will you get out of it?" you ask after a few moments.

"Your blood," he simply puts.

"Deal," you say without thinking.

All he can do is grin at the possibilities you will bring him.