If the woman's heart could still beat, it would be pounding furiously. Stealth wasn't usually her style; her radiant hair had drawn attention in life, and it suited her personality in more ways than one. Fiery, like her temper, memorable, like her biting attitude, and notable like the beauty her transformation had enhanced to the point of surrealism. When she hunted, it was violent and quick, and she was gone, always gone, by the time any sort of danger could approach. She didn't track, but now she was, silently and efficiently. It had been decades since she'd seen another of her own kind and this one wasn't going to slip away. Last time it had been a female and her mate, and they'd made it clear immediately that their coven was complete. Before that had been her creator, a male that had fled shortly after Victoria's own creation. And now, there was another. The impulse to flee, the one that had doubtlessly saved her countless times, was powerful, overwhelmingly so, but she refused to obey.

Victoria followed the other's scent at what she believed to be a safe distance. She'd spotted him hunting earlier, and was certain he hadn't seen her, lurking in the shadows as he decimated his prey. She would have wait until he slowed, stopped winding through dark city streets, perhaps until he decided to hurt again. His trail led her in a sharp bend, around yet another darkened building in this impoverished district. And then, it ended abruptly.

Not quite ended. In fact, the scent was stronger here than it had been the entire evening, and yet here she stood, alone before a solid brick wall. Well, not quite solid. She drew her arm back, prepared to turn the stone before her into rubble.

Never in her time before as a human had a large truck fallen upon her; however, had one done so, it probably would have felt similar to that weak body as did the blow now to her far more powerful one. Asphalt indented around her as she was forced down, and if she could bruise, she would no longer be icy pale anywhere on her body.

"Why are you following me?" The deep growl in her ear would have sounded to human's weaker ears like a whisper; to Victoria, the words seemed to be roared. The male's lips moved from her ear to her throat, and parted to reveal deadly, razor-like teeth. "Answer carefully, now."

"I mean you no harm!" she gasped, so quickly a lesser species would have missed it. "Please. My name is Victoria."

He drew back slightly, still wary as he held her down with his body, but no longer threatening immediate beheading.

"You didn't answer my question, Victoria," he replied silkily. His voice was smooth, not like a texture but a taste, a taste other than blood that she'd enjoyed in her human life; smooth like dark chocolate or melted butter. The analogies surprised her; she could scarcely recall the flavors of those things, and yet they seemed to fit.

She hadn't planned it like this. She thought perhaps they could meet first, she could learn about him and decided if his lifestyle was what she wanted hers to be, if perhaps he was already mated. However, he clearly had not the patience for such things.

"I am alone. I travel alone, and I wish not to any longer."

Curious and calm at last, he drew back. "And what leads you to believe that I wish for that as well?"

"I didn't know, obviously, and so I followed you to speak. I was not prepared for such reception," she huffed as she sat up, gesturing to the deep pothole they were now in.

His brilliant red eyes sparkled with amusement. "You must forgive me. Surely you understand I was suspicious of your motives when you watched me feed and then began to run after me. I thought perhaps you believed I had encroached upon your territory, and wished me destroyed for it."

"You saw me?"

He smiled slyly, and reached out to touch a lock of her hair. "But of course." He stood, brushing the dust from his clothing. "And now that I realize you are not here to threaten me, I will be off." He crouched to run.

"Wait!"

He froze, suddenly a statue, eyes fixed upon her.

"What of my proposition?" she asked, lofting her chin to a haughty tilt. Chuckling lightly, he straightened and, in a sixteenth of a second, was immediately before her, standing so that they nearly touched.

"And what is it, dear Victoria, that I have to gain by bringing you along with me?"

I considered for less than a human's heartbeat."I can tell you when it's time to go."

He quirked a brow, interested now. "Is that so?"

"I know when a situation has become dangerous and needs to be left alone, and I know how to get out. I can get you safely from a threat." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "If you'll listen to me."

He regarded her for a long moment, before replying at last, "Alright, Victoria. You may run with me. For now. But there must serveral conditions." He didn't wait for her reaction. "First, because you approached me, this is to be my coven, under my leadership and order. You will do as I say, and as long as this gift of yours proves true, you may run with me. You seem rather... headstrong, Victoria," Here his voice softened, and his fingers laced through her blazing mane, pressing to her skull. "And I don't mean to break you. You have been on your own for a long time, haven't you? And you are most certainly used to doing things your own way. I simply mean... to tame you." His fingertips trailed down her face and neck, and it was only years of self preservation that kept her from shivering. "I am not outrageous in asking this of you; I would never press you to service me in ways you found repugnant, and I am not to be you master. Only your very firmly placed leader." His other hand had joined the first, stroking her hair, forehead, eyelids, jaw and throat in ways the made her superflous breathing grow quicker. "And I will treat you very well, Victoria," he breathed, "If you will return the favor." Abruptly, his caressing hands vanished and her eyes snapped open. "And so? Will you come with me?"

She blinked rapidly, dazed. "Ahm... Where are we going? Is it far? And for what purpose? And who are you?"

He grinned a dark, predatory smile. "James." And then he took off into the night.

"Stop." James halted to abruptly, Victoria nearly collided with him. She didn't, but may as well have: the moment she was still, he pulled her back flush against his front, grasping her small, pointed chin in one hand, and pressing the other flat to her stomach. There was no danger nearby, nor food, and she couldn't understand why he'd ceased running.

"What is-"

"Hush," he whispered. "Breathe."

She did so obediently, letting the oxygen wash through her. "I don't smell anything."

"Breathe!" he commanded, harsher this time, grip tightening around her almost to the point of pain. She gave a hiss of displeasure at his rough treatment and he released her, grinning wickedly. "To the east, my little flame." He tugged on a lock orange hair.

"This high up?" she wondered aloud.

"Hikers, and they're about ten miles off."

"And you wanted me to find their scent?" she exclaimed irritably. "The wind's not even blowing in this direction."

"Run with me, or I'll be done before you stop complaining." He took off again, and she shot after him with a growl.

There were six of them. Couples, from the looks of things. James was watching them through the trees when Victoria arrived.

"I want the youngest female," he announced, then politely waited for her to make the next claim.

"The gangly male."

"Biggest male." He licked his lips in anticipation as he watched them settle down for what was to be their last meal.

"The blonde male."

"His partner."

"Then that makes the last female mine," she finished.

"Of course. Victoria, we just stopped two hours ago. Are you terribly thirsty? I wanted to..." he broke off, watching them laugh and converse.

"I thought only children played with their food," she half-mocked. James shrugged.

"Have it your way then." He lunged, clear across the small meadow, grabbing the largest one as he went so that he could feast in secrecy on the other side of the clearing. Victoria saw him, but the others did not. The had felt him though, and saw that one of their own was missing.

"Where'd he go?" cried a female, probably his mate. Victoria, unable to leap as far, ran behind the woman and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her away and breaking her neck before should could scream. James was already finished, and deciding the next way to take his next victim. They continued this pattern until only once was left: the youngest female. Victoria guessed her to be about eighteen, while the rest had been in their early to mid-twenties. James sauntered forward, smirking.

"Hello, dear."

She screamed. Everything had happened to quickly she'd not had a chance to comprehend what was going on, but she knew now, with out a doubt, that she was going to die. It had to be his smile, that deadly, devious grin, or the murderous gleam in his eye. Victoria watched from the shade, mesmerized. He lifted a glittering hand to stroke the shaking girl's hair back.

"They say it's much kinder," he whispered, words still clear to the vampire in the woods. "To take the blood of a human once the human is dead. A quick death, that it; snapped neck, the like. But dead blood is nothing, nothing," He drew her near, tilting her head back to admire her jugular, "compared to this. I can hear your heartbeat, you know. And and when I drink your blood I'll be able to hear it too. Do you know what it will sound like?" The girl was too paralyzed with fear to respond. "No? I'll tell you then. It will get faster- yes, even faster than now!- and then, as I begin to drain you, it will slow. And then, it will stop all together. My lips will be right here," he placed them at her throat, "the whole time. Your blood will be hot and sticky, and taste so delicious, so alive. If I snapped your neck, it would still be warm, but do you really want to deny me the pleasure of feeling it rush into my mouth, almost as though it was eager to be there?" James ran what was certain to feel like an icy tongue across her neck. "Do you know why I came here today? Hm? I found your scent, from what must seem like very far away to a human like you. Not just a human scent, but yours. You smell very nice... herbal, almost, but sweeter." He bared his teeth.

It flooded her suddenly, undeniably. They had to go. Now. "James!"

His head snapped up, and the girl turned as well. "We have to leave!" Victoria cried, body already leaning towards their only escape: due north.

Rage twisted his features. She ought to have known better than to interrupt as he was about to begin feeding, but this was urgent. "Victoria..." His voice was a raw growl.

"Now, James!" She shot off and less than a second later, he was running beside her, back up the mountain. He didn't speak, but she could feel the wrath rolling off of him until they reach a cliff, several miles off, that looked down on the meadow.

The meadow that was now flooded with people. James sighed a breath of wonder.

"They heard her screams. We could have killed them all, but thirty slaughtered humans would have been so much more conspicuous than five and a girl who has clearly gone mad. The Volturi would have gotten word of the deaths that any vampire would know the cause of, and our scent would have been everywhere..." He laughed suddenly, grasping her by the waist and spun her around.

"My wonderful, helpful Victoria." He set her down, and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Useful carrot-top," He brushed his thumb over her cheek, and she grinned involuntarily, basking in the affection she had won. "Let's not run tonight, Victoria. It looks like rain I spotted a cave on our way to the meadow, and I know how you hate the rain."

She continued to smile warmly, enjoying the reward. Running through rain wasn't difficult; she just hated the way it felt on her skin and in her hair.

Once they'd reached the cave, James removed his jacket and used it to quickly sweep the area. Victoria bit her lower lip- a habit she'd carried with her from her human life that she'd never bothered to break- as she watched him. He wore nothing beneath the coat, and she watched the movement of his muscle under his colorless skin.

As though he could feel her eyes on him, he glanced over his shoulder, smirking as his crimson gaze glistened invitingly. Victoria tore her eyes away; she knew the emotions welling within her were purely human, and she hadn't felt them in over a century. But with James around, she felt edgy and aware in ways she never had before; ways she didn't fully understand.

"Come here, Victoria," he murmured, reaching towards her. She extended her arm as well, and quick as a flash, he'd had pulled her against him, cradling her face in his hands. "What year were you born?"

She was startled by the question but answered promptly, "Eighteen forty three."

"And how old are you?"

"Twenty."

"Do you remember it? Your life before?"

"Yes- and no. No faces, no names... I was in the South, but I couldn't tell you the state. We didn't have a lot of money. Or maybe we did, just not enough. There were eight of us, all girls, and I was the youngest. No brothers, or none that lived long enough to matter. We all needed to be married, but I don't think there was enough to dower all of us. And I was the youngest, so I had little hope of leaving home. But then there was a man- I think he must have loved me. He was rich and I was from a good family; he didn't need the wealth a woman could bring. I was meant to marry him, but then the War started, and the left to fight for the Confederacy. He died, about two years into it. I must have been devastated, because I went to work at a hospital to care for soldiers who had been wounded. Then one day they brought in a man, screaming in pain, begging to be killed, though his only visible wound was a bite mark, on his shoulder. They though it had been an animal... But after several days, he calmed,his fever cooled. I went to take his pulse one morning, and there was none. He opened his eyes, and they were red- he grabbed my wrist and bit me. I screamed, and that must scared him with so many other people around. He fled. And then..." She trailed off.

"I suppose I can guess the ending. So," He twirled a lock of her orange hair thoughtfully around his finger. "You were a southern belle, hm? You don't seem like one."

"No?"

"Well," His tone gave her chills, low and husky as he dropped his head to press cheek to hers. Victoria marveled at the texture- rough satin. Was that even possible? As though he hadn't shaved the morning before he'd been changed.

"You have the looks of one. But at times, it's as though you were raised with the children of today." He moved his hands to her hips, dragging her against him.

"I've spent a lot of time watching humans, and not just when I'm thirsty. I've no interest in the past; I've tried my very hardest to immerse myself in the present. Why live by human limitations of my past if I'm no longer human?"

"I remember the American civil war. You'd be surprised how many humans are changed during wars; there's so much carnage that twenty, thirty, fifty soldiers can vanish in a battle, and no one will suspect a thing. Tell me another thing, Victoria." His hands slid up, curving around her waist. "How many of our kind have you met?"

"The one that changed me," He began to stroke her back as she spoke, dipping beneath her blouse to feel her skin. "Then a mated pair about seventy five years after that," Drawing back slightly to meet her gaze, James unfastened the heavy, durable trousers she wore for their constant traveling, and pushed them down her long, pale legs. "And you." Her breathing was shallow as she watched him. He dropped to his knees and gently traced the curve of her hip and thigh with his nose, caressing the back of her legs.

"Lie down, Victoria," he commanded, authoritive yet tender. She obeyed instantly, on her back in the blink of an eye, and James chuckled, deep in the back of his throat. "I wasn't sure, you know," he whispered as he leaned forward to kiss the hollow of her throat, taking the time to unfasten buttons that could be done away with in half a second. "When I agreed to take you along. But you, my dear," He smoothed his hands along her inner thighs, and grinned darkly as they parted easily. "Have turned out to be a pleasure to have."

"James," she whimpered his name as she reached for him, but he caught her wrists and pressed them to the stone floor above her head.

"If what you've told me is true," he continued, releasing her but fully expecting her to remain still, "You've never done this before, have you?"

"Not- not that I remember."

"My dear," His head was at her navel now, tongue tracing patterns on her skin, "This you would have remembered."

Victoria shuttered as he moved lower, not entirely certain what she was anticipating, but knew with every fiber of her being that she needed it, needed James, needed him to-

He gave a heavy sigh, and began to draw away. She reacted faster than she'd meant to, sitting up and wrapping herself around him.

"Victoria," There was a warning note in his tone, but she ignored it.

"You're leaving!" she accused, moaning as he broke her grip from around his neck.

"Only briefly. I'm going to go get that girl from the meadow. As excellent as you smell," His nostrils flared as he took in the scent of her arousal, "I am still thirsty, and the memory of her scent is beyond distracting. I'll be back, Victoria. Wait here for me." His eyes took in her state with one lingering glance. "And don't be in any hurry to dress, either." And with that, he vanished into the night.

Victoria gave a roar of frustration, rattling the stones around her. The thunder cracked in reponse over head and she rose fluidly, staring out into the wet blackness. He wouldn't appreciate it if she followed him but...

It had seemed that, after all these months, his mindless petting and unintentional touches were going to add up to something. But apparently not; apparently, some human girl's blood held more appeal than she did.

Her desire to sulk contrasted sharply with her desire to obey him, and in the end, she remained naked and curled up on his jacket, still as a statue, waiting for him to return.

The stormed died out around five in the morning, fading to nothing more than a drizzle by seven. At eight, she heard him.

"Morning, sweetheart. Not asleep, are you?" he teased as he entered the cave. "Look, I brought breakfast." She heard two bodies hit the floor and begin to struggle weakly, but kept her eyes closed and back towards him. "Victoria," The brightness vanished from his voice. She rose and afforded him an abrupt glare before reaching for the first captive. A male, in his mid thirties. He stared at her as though he couldn't believe his eyes.

"What, no 'thank you's?" James lounged casually against the mouth of the cave, arms crossed and a voyeristic gleam in his eyes as he watched her sink her teeth into the man's neck. The human still seemed to be too awestruck to fight.

"I could've gotten something myself," she snarled, letting blood dribble from her lips when she lifted her head to respond. James was next to her in a flash.

"You missed a spot." His tongue flicked across her chin, and she waited until he was finished lapping at her skin to push him away.

"I'm still thirsty." She reached for the second bound man. "And I'm angry at you."

"Victoria," Her name became a caress in his throat as he sidled up behind her, molding his body around hers. She tried to ignore the feeling of his hard, bare abdomen and chest pressing against her exposed back. "Victoria." He kissed her neck. "Are you quite finished with him? We have to go soon."

"Go? Where?"

"First to buy some things. And then, to Siberia."