(APOV)

Run. Hide. Don't let them find me, please dear God don't let them find me. I couldn't keep it up much longer; I was running out of breath and they were gaining on me. The muscles in my legs burned as I inhaled deeply through my mouth. The more I pushed myself to keep going the more I wanted to stop which made me realize that if I did they'd get me which caused myself to push even harder. I started zigzagging through the forest, trying to shake them off, hoping my scent would cross with somebody else's. No light made it onto the leaf carpeted forest floor, the branches of the trees close enough to form a canopy keeping me from seeing where I was going. I could sense them drawing closer, a couple of them already ahead, making me momentarily think that they were giving up on me and had moved on to a bigger, better prey.

I was wrong.

The three that had raced ahead of me circled back around, forcing me to back into the other two still running towards me. They pushed me from behind as I stumbled backwards on a tree root. My hands and knees burned; the smell of blood reached my nose and I knew that I was in trouble now. My blood would only make them want to kill me quicker. Footsteps drew closer from all directions as I closed my eyes, praying that they would finish me off quickly.

"Well, well, well, we finally caught you. You gave us a good run there for a while, but you were never good enough to get rid of us," a cold laughing voice said cruelly. "You're hardly more then a child, aren't you?" I didn't answer him. My brother had taught me well enough to know not to. I clenched my teeth as I felt hands on my shoulders pulling me up onto my knees.

"So what should we do to you now that you've attacked us and lead us on across the state line?" the voice laughed again.

"It'd be a shame to let her die a child. I say we show her what a man is before we kill her," another voice from my right said. Hearing his words my stomach clenched and I thought I was going to be sick right there. I would much rather die then let them get me.

"I agree. You two hold her down and I'll have the first go," yet another voice laughed, moving towards me from the sounds of his voice and footsteps.

"No!" the cold voice spoke again. He seemed to be their leader as the two who were trying to force me onto my back stopped what they were doing. "I've got a better idea." Silence fell around their circle and I was tempted to open my eyes, but I didn't want to know what they had in store for me. I could try to fight them off but I was already too weak from running and the first attack. Even if I could communicate with my brother, by the time he and my cousins arrived I would be long dead. The best thing to do was to let them do what they wanted with me so my brother wouldn't worry about being too late.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice that the man to whom the cold voice belonged had moved in front of me until his hand was under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. Against my better judgment I opened my eyes out of curiosity. In front of me stood the most beautiful man I had ever seen. His hair was dark, in what little light there was it looked golden, wavy and fell to just below his jaw line. He had a square jaw and as my eyes traveled down I noticed that he had a very muscular build as well. A fitted leather jacket was open over a worn in, rust colored t-shirt which ended just above the faded jeans that he wore. Had I not known better, I would've thought him to be an aspiring high school actor. The last thing I looked at were his eyes for I already knew how they would look; my brother had described them so many times to me. Black edged his eyes but even in the darkness I could see the blood red color that filled them. As I looked into his eyes I noticed that he was looking back into mine a look of curiosity forming on his face.

A sharp loud howl suddenly shook the tension filled air around us and I saw the man's eyes instantly glance at the tree tops then back into mine. Even though nobody spoke in the forest my brother's voice suddenly filled my head. Hang on tight, we're coming kid. I didn't want him to. What do you mean? We have to come! We have to save you! It's too late I thought, knowing he would hear me. My body started to shudder then stopped and I heard the men's whoops and laughter around me, my brother's voice no longer in my head. I hoped that he would understand.

"The rest of them are coming aren't they?" the beautiful man asked me, looking into my eyes as if searching for the answer himself. I shook my head. If I spoke I knew I would lose control of what little composure I had.

"Good." He took another step closer to me and I realized that he had long since let go of my chin. Leaving hardly any space between us he knelt in front of me and looked into my eyes for a split second longer before placing his lips on my neck. They felt as cold as ice, sending shivers rolling through me and I heard the men laugh once again. This is it, I thought. He was taking his friend's advice before killing me. Then he did something I didn't expect.

I barely felt the pain of his teeth puncturing my skin before it suddenly felt like my neck was on fire. Panicking I raised my hand, planning to push him off of me, and then fell backwards. They were gone. They had left me here, burning. I screamed louder then I had ever done in my life. Finally the pain began and things went black.