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then some slight rustling as the girl turned over onto her hands and knees. “As long as you promise not to eat me!”
                Connor snorted a laugh at the absurdity of the idea.
                “Cross my heart, I promise not to eat you. Don’t we, Connor?”
                “I can’t guarantee anything… Ouch!”
                Esmeralda smacked him in the head at his sorely untrue comment. “He promises. Now, won’t you come out?”
                After a period of debating, Amelia crawled towards the exit of the burrow, her eyes red and puffy from crying and tearstains evident on her dirty face.
                She stood up once she emerged from the hole and straightened out her clothing, which was still thinly coated in dirt. She looked upon the two strangers and took a shaky breath to compose herself.
                At first glance, she almost wondered if they were human like she was. The lady was a bit pale, but the guy looked completely normal and strikingly handsome. No fangs yet, no overgrowth of hair or obvious signs that he was a creature of any kind.
                Esmeralda smiled warmly to her, but Connor only stood off at a distance, his arms crossed over his chest as if he were angry. He refused to look at Amelia and stared off into the grey forest.
                “See, we won’t hurt you. What’s your name?” Esmeralda asked. Her words were sweet and smooth, like a balm to her rattled nerves. She had the most mystical, hypnotic eyes. Amelia was almost afraid to stare into them too long for fear of being put in a trance.
                “Amelia,” she muttered nervously.
                “That’s a very nice name.” Her smile was just as sweet as her voice. “Well, as I said before, my name is Esmeralda and this is Connor. I’m a psychic vampire…”
                As soon as she said the word “vampire”, Amelia wanted to crawl back into the tunnel. She staggered a few steps back, eyes wide as her hands groped for the weeds that framed the hole.
                “Oh, no, no. I’ve never killed anyone. So, you have nothing to worry about.”  Esmeralda held out her hands in plea to Amelia. She could read plainly in her eyes that what the vampire said was the truth. Amelia straightened up, her eyes shifting between the two of them.  
                “And what’s he?” Amelia pointed to Connor.
                “Oh, thank you for referring to me as a ‘what’ and not a…” Connor looked at Amelia for the first time and the words he had planned to say froze upon his lips. He looked her up and down briefly, and then shook his head sharply to snap him out of his daze, turning his eyes away. “…not a ‘who’,” he finished.
                Connor’s behavior was not lost upon Amelia and she wondered what it could have possibly meant, if it meant anything. His eyes gave her the impression that he was both confused and intrigued. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep his eyes away from Amelia. Soon, he stopped trying.
                Esmeralda glanced sideways at Connor and knew exactly was he was thinking, whether he knew it or not. She grinned, not bothered by it at all. “He’s a demon, Amelia. But, don’t worry he won’t hurt you either. He may seem all tough, but he’s a real teddy bear.” Esmeralda poked Connor in the ribs playfully and he recoiled with a snarl.  
                “A demon?” Amelia asked skeptically. “I thought demons were like little red impish-looking things that flew around with horns and pitchforks.”
                As Connor rolled his eyes at her comment and his irises suddenly darkened from a light blue shade to a devilish red. Amelia stood her ground, but her knees began to shake, as she felt trapped under his glowing glare.