Disclaimer: Alas, I don't own Moonlight.

A/N: This is a Josef/Sarah story that's been mulling around in my brain. I'll be working on this along with my other fanfiction I, Josef, Immortal. I'm a huge Josef/Sarah shipper.

A/N2: Vampire Biology: My take on vampires is that they breathe and have heartbeats.

Please forgive any typos you may spot and as always, Enjoy!

Prologue: Valley of Shadow and Death

~I couldn't let her go. You know, maybe someday medicine, a miracle, something will bring her back…~

Thick, black smoke filled the hallway—dark enough that even with his enhanced vision Josef couldn't see. The only light was the flickering orange that was all around him and closing in. How the hell did I get in this situation? Josef was furious with himself. Somewhere, his paranoia had failed him and now with dread he realized it might be the last mistake he ever made.

He ran down the hall, feeling the sides of the passage with his hands for an exit, for anyway to escape the death that was quickly catching up with him. The hallway seemed to stretch on and on endlessly. It was unbearably hot—his eyes stung with sweat and tears from the smoke.

In desperation he threw himself against the wood paneling. He felt it give a little. Using all of his strength as a vampire, he hurled himself into the wall. It splintered and he fell through to the room beyond.

A bedroom full of flames.

Josef panicked as his clothes caught fire. He was burning! He fell to his knees, for once in his long lifetime not knowing what to do. There was no way out. Flames poured into the room from the hallway, fresh oxygen giving them new life. Josef writhed in agony. The pain was everywhere, everything—inescapable.

As the fire consumed him, he opened his mouth and began to scream…

—With a jolt, Josef opened his eyes. His chest was heaving as he gasped for air, but as he oriented himself he began to calm. He was in his freezer. There was no fire, only the sweet icy air washing over him. There was no roaring inferno, only the quiet hum of his freezer running.

Josef pushed open the lid and sat up. He wondered at himself. He hadn't dreamed for over a hundred years. Why now? He shuddered as he remembered the agony of burning. Even though it hadn't been real he could still feel an echo of the pain…and something else…something he couldn't explain…a presence of some sort. Josef absentmindedly let his eyes wander over his Monet as he thought about that feeling. The spirit had felt familiar, he was almost sure it was someone he knew…

He dismissed it. It was just part of the dream. Feeling a bit unsettled, he swung himself out of the freezer and moved to get ready for work.

She felt the comforting presence vanish, abandoning her to the darkness and consuming hunger that burned through her veins as a fire. Please! Come back! But the soothing presence was gone. Instinctively she yearned for him. She could not say why, but she knew the spirit, she felt as if she belonged with him. And the urge to be with him, to see him, to touch him, was overwhelming. He had taken her pain away for the briefest of moments, and the relief he had brought her…

She didn't know how long she had lain in the blackness, eaten alive with hunger. She only knew that until he had arrived she had been devoid of hope. But now…now she began to struggle in earnest. He was gone and she needed him. She would find him.

Charles!

Finis

So just a short Prologue for now. More will be coming later. Please review and let me know what you think! : )