Chapter One

Selene stood in the doorway of the safehouse watching her daughter stare out the window at the street below. David and Sebastian had taken turns staying with Eve while Selene had been out trying to find Michael and they constantly brought things the girls needed, blood bags, clothes for Eve, books. David had found a fully furnished two bedroom apartment for them to stay in obviously abandoned during the purge if the family pictures they'd found scattered around and the food still in the refridgerater were any indication.

"Eve, get away from the window please, someone might see you."

Eve moved to the couch, sitting next to Selene tucking her legs under her and sighed.

"I'm sorry Mom, I'm just bored. I've read all the books David and Sebastian brought a couple weeks ago."

Selene reached out stroking her daughter's long dark hair, a lump rising in her throat as she noted, yet again, how much the girl resembled her father, a father she may never get to meet.

"What do you like to read?"

"My favorite series is Harry Potter, my caretaker in Antigen brought them for me, her name was Lida. She was the only one who was kind to me, she comforted me after all the horrible tests the doctors put me through. She taught me to read when I was four. She'd let me play games and listen to music on her iPad sometimes."

Selene felt a sudden spark of jealousy toward the woman who had raised her daughter and for all intents and purposes been her mother for the first twelve years of her life, but stronger than the jealousy was a feeling of gratitude toward this kind stranger.

I only hope I get the chance to thank her for her kindness someday' Selene thought to herself as she listened to Eve talk about her life in Antigen.

"Maybe David or Sebastian can get you some video games if you'd like or maybe some puzzles, if you're bored with books, would you like that?"

Eve nodded, a smile lighting her face.

Maybe I can get an iPad?" she asked shyly, a note of eagerness creeping into her voice. "Lita used to let me play Candy Crush and Angry Birds, those are fun. She made me play Sudoku too to teach me math skills, it was really boring, I like the other games more, especially Candy Crush, it was fun."

Selene frowned, not liking the thought of Eve having something like an iPad or unsupervised access to the internet which Sebastian had gotten hooked up for her to aide in her search for Michael. David had brought her a laptop on his last visit as well. In the two months since they'd escaped Antigen, Eve had sensed her father a couple of times but each time he'd moved on by the time they arrived ar the location Eve had seen him in. Selene was getting frustrated by the lack of progress in her search for her elusive hybrid lover, but she refused to give up, no matter how much searching she had to do, she'd find him come hell or high water.

"Mom, how about one of those, would that be alright?"

The distracted death dealer looked at the TV where a commercial for something called a Nintendo 3DS was playing. Selene wasn't entirely sure what it was but it appeared to be a portable video game of some kind. Something like that would be much better for Eve to play with than an iPad, the last thing they needed was her talking to strangers online, not only was she only twelve years old, but no one could be trusted, if anyone from Antigen found them...she shuddered at the thought.

Selene glanced at the clock on the wall and turned off the TV.

It's 10:00 P.M., time for bed, Eve."

The young hybrid rose and kissed her mother's cheek before going into the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth before bed.

"Goidnight Mom, love you see you in the morning."

Selene smiled affectionately.

"I love you too, Eve, goodnight. Sleep well, love."

It had taken both Selene and Eve a while to get comfortable with showing affection, but over time, it had gotten easier as they grew more comfortable around each other. There was once a time the six hundred plus year old vampiress had been nothing but a cold hearted assassin whose only passion in life came from filling lycans full of white hot silver. But that all changed one fateful night in a subway station in Budapest. Selene shook her head to dispel the memory of the first time she saw Michael in the subway and turned to the computer to make sure the video game her daughter wanted was appropriate and didn't contain anything that could lead to trouble. After half an hour of research, she called David.

Hello?" David turned down the volume on his TV as he answered his phone.

David, it's Selene, I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, I was watching the news for any suspicious goings on in the city,what's up?"

"Would you mind running a small errand for me? Eve wants something called a 3DS that she saw advertised on TV, it's a handheld video game. She wanted an iPad but I really don't think that's the best idea for her to have free reign with the internet, we can't be around to supervise her 24\7 and from what I read online, this game thing has parental controls on it so anything she shouldn't have access to can be blocked. I don't see the harm in it, I feel bad keeping her cooped up here constantly. She's restless and bored and sometimes I feel like she resents me for being so overprotective all the time."

"Okay, I'll go get one for her, what kind of games would she want?"

"I have no idea honestly, she likes puzzles and she mentioned some game called Angry birds, just use your own judgement and make sure that whatever games you get are age appropriate please. Also, her favorite color is purple so get her a purple one if possible."

"Okay, no problem, I'll get her some accessories for it too, extra stylus pens, a carrying case, a box to keep her games in. Is there anything you want while I'm out? More blood bags?"

"We are running low, yes, we only have about five or so left, it will only last a day or two, thanks David, see you soon."

She hung up the phone and went to Eve's room to check on her. She was asleep on her side with her hands tucked under her head and the small red iPod Sebastian had given her on the pillow, carefully removing the earbuds from her sleeping daughter's ears, Selene turned off the iPod and set it on the nightstand beside the bed. Eve's face was serene, in slumber, she looked like any other twelve year old little girl, anyone who saw her now would never suspect the unbelieveable strength and power she possessed.

"Sleep well my angel." Selene whispered, softly kissing Eve's cheek. She heard a knock on the front door and quickly went to answer it. David walked in setting his bags on the coffee table and walked into the kitchen putting the blood bags in the fridge.

"I got Eve's 3DS, I had to go to two different stores to find a purple one."

He sat on the couch removing things from a bag as he spoke and spreading them out on the table for Selene's inspection as he began reading the instructions and setting up the parental controls. Selend looked at the games David had bought curiously, Angry birds, the game Eve had mentioned, Tetris, which appeared to be a puzzle game of some sort, Super Mario brothers and something called Fire Emblem.

"Okay, done, I blocked everything except the 3D, there's no internet, no app store, all she can do is play games on it and I'm the only one who knows the passcode, so she can't unblock anything, I'd have to do it for her."

He put the game cartridges into the small plastic case he'd bought for them and placed the DS and charger into a seperate carrying case and placed them on the table for Eve to find in the morning.

Selene smiled at the younger vampire.

"Thank you, David, I hope this makes up for me keeping her inside all the time, I know she's bored and unhappy, but it's too dangerous for her to be outside unless it's absolutely necessary.""

Before David could reply, they were alerted to danger by the sound of terrified screams coming from Eve's room.