Ari had stopped smiling. He pushed the hair in front of his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to look at every passing stranger. He knew Hadassa couldn’t see him like this, so why was he still walking toward her house?

“Ari!” Hadassa ran to him, but stopped when she saw his pallid face. “But, I thought…”
“It’s permanent. I’ve told you that.” His voice was hardly a whisper.
“Then why haven’t you…” She let her voice trail off.
“You know how much I hate violence!” Ari snapped unconsciously.
“You’re a skeleton. It scares me, Ari. It scares me more than your new…diet. It scares me more than your temper.” Hadassa didn’t let the tear reach her cheek. Ari glanced at his bony hands. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this. More than anything, Ari wanted to stay with her. More than anything, Ari didn’t want to hurt Hadassa. More than anything, Ari didn’t want to be a vampire.