Meeting for the first time

Elizabeth Leavitt stood atop her balcony, overlooking the crowd below.

Her eerily pale skin matched her pristine white dress. Elizabeth's ebony hair contrasted deeply with her pure white appearance. It hung low enough to reach the small of her back.

She wasn't human, she was a vampire. Elizabeth wasn't been bitten and turned. She was simply born to a vampire couple.

A hundred years ago, a mob of humans gathering outside her home would have been a bad sign.

A rock smashed against the brick wall next to her. Another busted through one of her windows.

Things weren't significantly better in the present day, with only one small exception.

Her kind no longer hid in the dark.

Fifteen years earlier, only a year before her own birth, creature's of the night came out of hiding. Some said they believed humanity had reached the point where they could be accepted in society.

Others were more pragmatic and simply recognized that recent advancements in technology made it difficult to remain hidden.

Another rock came an inch from grazing her head. Her eyes narrowed at a group of four teenagers within the crowd.

Elizabeth noticed a boy amongst the group. A black cloth covered his mouth and nose, obscuring his face. Strands of black hair hung under his cap.

His eyes locked on Elizabeth's. Even though that makeshift mask, Elizabeth could see a scowl form.

-------

Flashing red and blue lights appeared at her front gate. Three police cars pulled in.

"Finally." Elizabeth crossed her arms. "It took them ages."

A gentle hand pulled Elizabeth back.

"Honey," Elizabeth's mother said. "Please stay inside until this is cleared up."

She was a tall woman. Her skin was even paler than Elizabeth's.

"They broke one of our windows," Elizabeth said.

"The police are already here," her mother said. "They'll deal with the ones that did that later."

"'Ones'?" Elizabeth asked. "It wasn't just one or two, they were all doing that."

"Sweetie... they-"

"Whatever." Elizabeth stormed off.

-------

The evening passed quietly after that. The police made no arrests, which didn't surprise Elizabeth in the least.

She ate at the dinner table, her mother sat across from her, and her father was in the other room, talking to someone on the phone.

Elizabeth picked at a piece of chicken on her plate.

"Aren't you going to eat?" her mother asked.

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Are you still angry?"

"Of course I'm still angry!" Elizabeth snapped. "That's the second time those animals have shown up at our doorstep! We're not leaving town, so why don't they just stay home!?"

"We have to be patient. If we are, they will eventually leave us alone."

Elizabeth looked down at her food. Her thoughts drifted back to that boy. He was only one of many, but if there was a single person in that crowd Elizabeth wanted to get back at, it was him.

Elizabeth didn't know why. Maybe it was just because his face was the only one she really looked at, covered up as it was.

Her father walked in from the other room. Unlike her mother, and herself, he looked fairly normal. His hair was short and black, and his skin tan.

"Looks like we're having guests," he said.

-------

Elizabeth's father had a friend. That friend had fallen on rough times. Elizabeth's family was quite well off and had a sizeable guest house.

They'd only be staying for a month or so. Totally. For sure.

The Leavitt family stood in front of their manor.

"Why are we taking in these bums?" Elizabeth asked.

Her mother nudged her. "Be nice. They need help."

"So do lots of people."

"They're old friends of your father."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"And me."

Elizabeth's expression stubbornly remained glum.

"And they might become your friends too."

A black car pulled up to their front gate. Her father was already standing by it to meet them.

A blond woman stepped out of the car. They chatted in the distance.

After a few moments, the gates creaked open and the black car pulled through. It drove around their manor and headed toward the area behind it, where the guest house was located.

Elizabeth and her mother followed them around the manor.

-------

The guest house was nothing compared to the manor next to it, but it wasn't a bad space on its own. It resembled a one-story house with a well-tended garden out front.

The woman stepped out of the car, followed by a teenager. The youth was clearly her son and was around Elizabeth's age.

Something about him caught Elizabeth's attention. She studied every inch of him.

Black hair. It stuck out to Elizabeth more than anything. The texture. The thickness.

he looked at Elizabeth. His expression was grim.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him.

He glared back.

Elizabeth crossed her arms. A smirk formed across her lips.

"It's him."

"Hmm?" Elizabeth's mother tilted her head. "Do you know him, honey?"

She wondered how long they'd be allowed to stay if she mentioned their son had been in that mob. The one that threw rocks at their manor.

At her.

And then, another thought drifted into her mind.

Elizabeth's smirk grew wicked. "Why, yes. I think I do."

-------

'These freaks have a pretty nice house, I wonder how they make their money', thought the boy

'Paintings and antique furniture filled the manor's ornate halls. I must have spotted at least a dozen vases during my walk through it. Everything was perfectly clean, though I didn't actually see any servants'

'It was Sunday, maybe they had the day off'

"Hello."

He turned to see a familiar face.

'I believed her name was Elizabeth, of the Leavitt family. Her pale skin and clothes gave her an eerie, almost phantom-like, appearance...Uh...what have I gotten myself Into'

"And how are you today... Alex, right?" she asked.

"Yeah.", He tilted his head at her. Something about her tone felt off.

"Alex, of course," She walked around him, looking at him over from every angle. "And your family? Settling in okay, are they?"

"Yes." He crossed his arms. His expression turned darker, "Can I help you with something?"

"Oh... if it isn't too much trouble." She grinned at him. He felt something wicked behind those eyes. "My family has really been needing a new servant. One of our other ones quit. I told my mother and father that you've been looking for a job for a while now." Her smile grew darker. "Turns out... they're happy to help."

"Excuse me?" He nearly scoffed at her. "What are you even talking about?"

She grinned at him

'Uh...What have I gotten myself into?'

And that's how those two met for the first time ever