Hello everyone! Welcome to my first fanfiction ^^ Hope you like it!

It was the 4th day of 8th month, which meant I had spent an official year as a summoner in the institute. That was the fact that crossed my mind as I lay on my bed, vertical lines of sunlight bleeding through the blinds covering my windows, lighting up the wall with their luminosity as well as radiating that to dimly light up the room. But it still left the room quite dark… Just as I liked it.

I got up, the loose black top I had opted to wear for bed jostling from my movement as gravity pulled down upon the fabric one of my pale shoulders becoming bare as the very large neck of the top fell that away. I gingerly placed my bare feet upon the floor, my eyes narrowing infinitesimally for a split second being the only indication of the cold marble floor sending a small shock up my feet. But that simply woke up me more, so I stood up a moment later, taking in a deep breath and then exhaling as I skirted across the myriad of clothes haphazardly decorated upon the floor, making my way to my bathroom.

The sound of the water gushing out of the faucet seemed too loud in the surrounding silence, making me wince again as I sleepily blinked down at it. I brushed my teeth with about as much motivation as I could muster at the moment, which was quite low. Rinsing my mouth, I splashed water on my face to rid the signs of sleep from it. As I put my hands onto my face, wiping the water away, I looked up into the mirror at my reflection.

My skin was as stubbornly pale white as ever, giving me an unhealthy look as if I was the walking dead. My short black hair, which reached down to my neck around the sides and back, the front bangs only reaching my chin, was messy and bedraggled, which was expected considering I had just gotten out of bed… And my eyes stood out like a sore thumb, as always, which was really just because of the contrast my electric blue irises set against the black of my hair and the white of my skin. I put my right hand's forefinger on the right side of my face. I traced the straight white line there, 1 inch in width, travelled from the bottom of my eyelid down to the bottom of my face where it disappeared around the curve. As my finger reached my jaw, my eyes were drawn to the two small white triangular marks that came up on both sides of my chin, framing it and pointing inwards, to the middle of my lips, yet stopping short of it.

I blinked, realizing that I was wasting too much time here as I straightened up. Grabbing my towel, I walked back to my room to get dressed. If I remembered correctly, my first game was very early today…

…

I walked down the corridor, ignoring the other people who all walked around me, heading to their own destinations. They had their goals, I had mine. I was wearing my standard dark blue robes, its hood currently pulled back, which had white trimmings and runic decorations on it that fit quite nicely with the marks on my face. They reached down to my shin, but most of the robe stopped at the hip, 4 tails on both of my sides and my front-back reaching down to the legs. This gave me good room to run and was more comfortable as well. Underneath, I wore dark blue pants and shoes. I approached the door to the hall I was supposed to play my match from, the grand white-gold doors looking down at me imposingly with their size. Past this door would be a small but long gathering room where the champions and the summoners of both teams would meet. The room had two doors on either side at the far end, each leading to the summoning chamber of both teams.

As I pushed the door inwards, I was greeted with the sight of 8 other summoners already there, conversing with each other as well as some of the champions who were present there. As I walked in, one of the summoners glanced at me and broke out of the throng, walking over to me with a grin on his face.

"Syl! Glad you could make it!" He said happily.

"Wanted an easy win, Lucas?" I replied with a small smirk as I looked up at Lucas' face. Lucas stood at about 6 feet, so he had a good 4 inches on me. His short dark red hair was as messy as ever, pushed back so they stood up like spikes, with a stray lock of hair curving just slightly to the left over his forehead, pointing down instead of back and up as the rest of his hair did; his so-called "rebel lock". His green eyes always reminded me of moss and the easy grin on his face was present as always.

"Yes, which is why I'm glad you came. We're on the same side." He said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pants. Lucas wore a dark green robe which ended at the waist on the sides, but reached down to his knees on both the front and the back. It had tribal designs on it in differing shades of green, his hands and the sleeves of his robe from the elbow down covered in black wrappings, which left his thumb and fingers bare. His ensemble was completed by the dark brown pants and shin-high shoes he wore.

"Oh, I assume you're playing bot lane?" I asked as Lucas nodded. "Yup. I'll be workin' with my main champion, Ezreal." He said as he cocked his head at me for my answer.

"I'll be at top." I said as Lucas nodded. "Say, have you heard about the new champion?" He asked as I frowned. "No, tell me about him." I said, but I only really just said it to make small talk and wait for the rest of the summoners to come so the match would start. I already knew about it, but I feigned interest as Lucas began going on a vivid description of Bard with his own opinions on it. As he spoke, his eyes not really focused on me so much as he was focused in his thoughts and his hyping, I let my eyes wander.

My heart skipped a beat as my breath caught in my throat.

He was staring at me. He was here. I found myself frozen, unable to move my gaze from his vivid red eyes which were focused on me with enough intensity to burn. He had that expression on his face. That infuriating smug smirk, his white hair long and tousled as always. I was acutely aware of how loud my heart was pounding my chest, whether out of fear or something else, I didn't know.

"Uh, Syl?"

Lucas' voice managed to break me out of my trance as I looked up at him, blinking in surprise. He was frowning. "Is something the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said, a small amount of concern in his voice as he looked over his shoulder at where I had been staring. I looked too, but he was no longer there. Lucas looked back at me. "You okay?" He asked as I took a shuddering breath and nodded. He looked like he wanted to say more, but then the final summoner arrived and the signal was given for us to go into our respective summoning chambers.

This room was much, much more different than the previous room. The summoning chamber was a dark, cavernous room with a circular platform in the middle, with 5 smaller circles all around it. It was dark here, only lit up by the glowing runes on the platform. I took my spot and breathed deeply in. Lucas took his spot in the circle next to mine. Each circle was an equal distance away from each other, so we sort of formed a pentagram. I reached deep into myself and unleashed my magic, focusing as I summoned my champion.

A small sigh escaped me when I connected my mind to my champion, Rek'sai. Unlike most other champions, Rek'sai wasn't fully sentient… But I was at more ease with her. Her mind worked simple. And our frequent connections due to me summoning her a lot had made her much more accepting of my presence. As I eased myself into her mind, I felt her unleash a low growl in her throat, almost a purr, of acknowledgement. It was always a thrilling experience to summon a champion and connect… To be able to feel your own body as well as the body of your champion simultaneously. To feel those hard sinews of muscles flex in those massive arms, to feel the weight of the exoskeleton like it was nothing, to see in a way that was so much different from normal… It was one of the reasons why I loved being a summoner.

I focused back into my dimension as I reached out with my mind for the information coming from the rift. My thoughts faltered as my fears were confirmed. He was in the game. He was my lane opponent.

Steeling myself, I bought the standard starting items for Rek'sai and she began barrelling down towards top lane until the smooth stone underneath her turned to hard packed dirt. She slowed down to a more menacing walk and then finally to a standstill infront of our furthest tower as I waited with bated breath for the minions to meet. And when they did, Rek'sai advanced forward, giving more vision until he became visible. He looked at m- at Rek'sai… But the way his eyes stared. The way he smirked. I knew he could see me. I knew he was looking at me, not Rek'sai. And that fact made a cold spread through my veins to the very center of my being.

Pain flashed through as I winced, caught offguard from the feedback coming from Rek'sai. In my lapse of concentration, he had landed his ability, the blood being forced out of Rek'sai into his hands, into the ball of sanguine liquid that floated in his grasp. Rek'sai growled, more at me than him, for I could feel her displeasure at my mistake. She could feel my hesitation, and she did not like it. I gulped, taking my mind off of him and trying to focus on the game instead…

…

I had failed miserably. I had let my team down. I couldn't focus properly on the battle, and as a result, my communication with Rek'sai was botched, giving her mixed signals and making us throw the match hard. And worst of all, I knew it was my fault. My team didn't even say anything, they just looked at me, I could feel their gazes even though my head was hung. I stood there silently, staring down at the floor in frustration, my teeth grit and my fists clenched as I mentally cursed myself, screaming at myself and asking why I couldn't focus. Why did this happen. Why, of all the times, did it have to happen now.

When I raised my head again to look, I saw that I was alone in the room. The rest of my team had already left. How long had I been standing there, wallowing in my self-pity?

I turned and began walking, one foot in front of the other, wanting nothing more than to just get back to my room and go back to sleep, even though it was in the height of the day.

As I stepped out of the door, I didn't notice where I was going until I saw his red suit in the periphery of my vision. I raised my head, only to meet his red eyes. I gasped in surprise, as well as fear because of the surprise, as I took an instinctive step back. I stared up at him with wide eyes. I did not like him. I don't know why, but I was afraid of him.

Ever since I had first arrived at the institute, I had seem him watching me. His eyes were always twinkling in their crimson hue, as if he had some secret plans in his mind. At first I had never really cared much. But I would feel him staring. I would feel him stalking my every match, my every move. I felt hunted. I avoided him subconsciously. I stayed away from him. Every day that passed added to my fear of him. So much time had passed yet he did nothing. Instead, every passing day he seemed to feel closer. Never too close. An inch at a time… But this had almost driven me insane. So much time spent with me feeling like he was hunting me had instilled this fear of him into my very core.

And now, he had inched his way right in front of me. I took another step back, my back hitting the closed door of the summoning chamber I had just come out from. I edged up against it, looking at him with fear and helplessness. My mind wasn't working. I didn't know why I was acting like this, or what I would do in this situation.

"Your name is Sylvia… correct?" His voice was like ice, gliding forth effortlessly with no resistance whatsoever. It was so… perfect. Inhumanly so. It reminded me of what he truly was. A predator in human skin. I managed to nod, the motion making me feel lightheaded. He cocked his head at me, his long white hair reacting to the change in position with gravity.

"You played well today." He mused, his cocky smirk on his face as that made a small spark of anger ignite within me. He was mocking me.

"No, I didn't." I said in a low voice, my voice almost dying in my throat. I wanted to say that louder, with more aggression, yet my throat felt as dry as sandpaper right now. A small frown came upon his brows as he said, "Pardon?"

I gulped, opening my mouth again, but this time, different words escaped me. "Why are you doing this?"

I didn't know why I asked him that or what I meant with the question. But I knew I was trying to ask him why he had been following me, because I knew he was. I wasn't insane, I knew that he had been watching me for many days.

Vladimir's frown disappeared, yet his eyes seemed to become so much more menacing all of a sudden. That, somehow, made him look… very attractive as well. Like how a sword with a razor sharp edge was attractive because it was scary. I felt a strange sense of attraction to this man, yet my fear far outweighed everything else.

"Your heart is beating quite frantically, love." He said, his voice almost a physical caress upon me that threw a shiver down me, my hands clutching at the door behind me as I tried to edge myself as far away from him as possible. He said the last word with an accent… A peculiar accent that made it sound more like 'Luv'. It was… weird. Why would he call me that?

"Is it so hard to grasp the concept?" He asked as I continued to stare at him, a look of complete non-comprehension on my face mixed with helplessness. I felt sick with myself, reduced to such a quivering mass just because of this one man, when normally I was a force to be reckoned with. "I'm attracted to you." He said.

The words made my entire world just stop for a second. What?

I blinked, my mind screeching in every which way as I tried to think of something. I finally had my mind working again. I needed to leave.

So I did. I just turned around and bolted, running out of the room without a word or glance back. I ran until I had reached my room. Thankfully, I hadn't passed anyone who might've seen me running. Everyone was probably getting lunch.

I slammed my door closed, panting with exhaustion as I leaned back against the door. I didn't fully understand what had just happened. But I knew I was acting like a little kid who had seen a nightmare come to life. I had been unable to do anything. I was completely helpless infront of a predator… I had come out of it alive.

Why was he interested in me? He found me attractive? What did that even mean? He had a big reputation of being very social and intimate with woman… And now he wanted to add me to his list. He was really nothing but a predator.

And the fact that I had acted like a cornered animal infront of him. It made me mad. It made me frustrated. It made me feel a whole heap of emotions that overwhelmed me. I distantly registered myself sliding down the door until I was sitting on the floor, my back against the door, knees pulled up. I hugged my knees and buried my head, closing my eyes as I tried to weather through the storm of emotions and feelings within me. The whole helplessness of the situation seemed to be multiplying ontop of me as a small, ragged intake of breath escaped me.

That was the only sound I made for the rest of the day… The day I confronted him and found out what he wanted.

The day I found out that I was Vladimir's next prey.

Reviews and criticism is always welcome! Please leave your thoughts on the story, I'd love any feedback you can give me ^^