He's sitting there on the park bench, one hand going through his now cut hair.

He kind of misses it; he remembers having the habit of twirling it about with his fingers.

He misses it, yet he hadn't even had it more than a hundred years.


Everything is odd here; he's back in the exact place he was born, and yet it feels foreign.

Shouldn't he have some sort of connection to his birthplace?

Nobody thought that way now and he supposes none of it matters.

He would soon be dead again anyway.

No need to get maudlin over this place and the lack of anything familiar.


That was it, wasn't it?

Nothing felt right.

Everything was different, of course, but that didn't really bother him.

He could learn anything he had to if he had decided to stay.

No, it was something inside him.

Something deep down that made his gut churn and his insides feel like they wanted to escape the hollow shell they occupied.

He's antsy and nervous; expecting Klaus or any of his family to ram that dagger back into his heart, at any moment.

He hates the fear.

It doesn't belong, not in a monster like him.

He was the one to be feared…and yet that urge wasn't there; to just grab some unassuming victim and revel in the smell of fear that emanated from them; taking pleasure in that moment before the inevitable.

The moment they know they won't be okay; they won't be coming back; the moment they knew they were going to die.

He used to live for that moment; not the blood or the feel of teeth sinking into flesh.

Just that one small moment, where they think they will get out of his grip somehow, get away, run.

That hope…he loved when it died in them.

The heartbeat accelerated; the breath came out in wheezes and chokes; the fear overwhelmed and consumed them from the inside out.

He fed off that moment before slaking the never-ending thirst.


Was that why he felt like this?

Was it just the beast inside straining to emerge and seek out that feeling again?


Only one way to find out…and here she comes.


Pretty little thing; all big blue eyes and auburn curls…and…vampire

Well, there goes that idea; still, he could test it out. See how rusty he was before going after any live bait.


He allows her to follow him, oh look, conveniently into a dark alley; maybe she thinks she's getting a free meal.

He turns to face her as a smile comes to her face and she says, "You're quite handsome, aren't you? Don't worry…I don't bite, hard."

Lunging for him, her vampire face flashing in the almost dark alley; streetlamps had begun to light already.

He catches her by the upper arms, looking her in the eye.

She shows no fear, only confusion that he has the upper hand.

Confusion…memory loss…it gives him an idea; certainly something he hasn't done, well, almost ever.


All he has to do is think it, and his pupils dilate as he stares intently into her eyes.

"You're frightened" he tells her. "You've forgotten for a while that you're immortal. You're just a human girl out for a stroll, when I appeared and attacked you; you need to be afraid…struggle for me, but don't scream."

He can tell it's worked when her face goes back to normal and she starts trying to get out of his hold.

She's babbling something…please let me go and I have no money.


Smelling the heady scent of fear, his face finally changes, wearing the vampire visage for the first time in too, too long.