A/N: Okay everyone! This is my first fic! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN HER BOOKS!

Better Off Without You

Chapter One: The First Two Cousins

(Lyssia Vida's POV)

I stepped into the crowded house, pushing my blonde hair out of my face. I wore a smile, but my eyes were too sharp and aware what was going on around me. They were most definitely hunter eyes.

I looked quickly to the clock; it was only ten thirty. A sigh of relief escaped me before I could contain it. I had thought it was much closer to the Devil's Hour. Suddenly, I spotted the girl I had followed to the house in front of me. She had made the mistake of walking into a coffee shop owned by one of my fellow hunters without sleeves on. Apparently, she was marked. I smiled with extra cheer and walked up to the girl.

"Hi, I'm Jamie." I said to the girl. Never would I give out my real name at a party like this. Although it might have seemed like a normal hookup party, it was far from it. This was a place where the cattle were begging to become hamburgers. I had to fight to control my heart beat and my instincts, especially when a vamp bumped into me. The girl looked at me critically for a moment, before smiling.

"I'm Marguarite. Nice to meet you." Marguarite extended her hand, turning her body as she did so. I struggled to hold in a gasp when I saw the marks on her arms. Two names intertwined with vines, roses, and teardrops. Kristopher and Nikolas. I held a particularly strong hate for these two vamps, since they had changed my older sister, Sarah. I wanted to get a knife in them so badly, and I wanted them to feel the pain as I twisted my blade into their hearts. I forced a premeditated smile and pushed myself into my Vida shield. Everything crumbled, though, when I heard a voice behind me.

"Well, look what we have here." Slowly, I turned to face the man at my back. I knew even before I turned that he was a vamp; his aura was riddled with power, power that could only come by taking a human's life. Once I saw his face, I couldn't control the anger rushing through me. Nikolas was standing behind me. I forced myself to look clam, but on the inside, my blood was boiling. I wanted to kill him so badly, but I also found myself admiring him. He was...handsome. His skin was pale like a pearl, his black hair was pulled back into a pony tail at the base of his neck. He was wearing a white shirt with a black tie and black pants. Half of me may have wanted to plunge my blade in his non-beating heart, but the other half...wanted to press myself up against him and melt in his arms. Where that had come from, I have no clue. "Another Vida," Nikolas said with a hint of curiosity in his voice. It was definitely time to start fighting.

I reached for my knife, but Nikolas knocked me down to the ground with a well placed punch in the gut. I struggled to grasp my power and grab another knife. I flipped a dagger out of my boot and threw it at Nikolas. I was aiming for his heart, but it fell short in his stomach. Nikolas cried out in pain. As he removed the dagger, I could feel that he wasn't quite as entertained as he was at the beginning of our fight. Oh, well. Nikolas threw the dagger down at the ground and aimed a bolt of his power at me. I could sense it coming closer, and I was scared. I'll admit that. The power was much greater than I had ever faced before, and it was coming straight at me. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to move out of the way. Just before it hit me, Nikolas' power was thrown back towards him by someone just as powerful...and quite familiar.

"Nikolas, leave her alone." Sarah's voice was soft, but commanding. I looked up in shock. Sarah was almost exactly as I had remembered her. Her blonde hair hung around her shoulders, and there was an air of confidence radiating off of her. I was alarmed to see, however, the strong vampiric aura falling off of her, and her deep black eyes. That wasn't my sister.

"Sarah."I whispered quietly. She turned towards me, a kind, apologetic smile on her face. Her skin was flushed, which told me she had just fed. I easily was able to read off her aura the fact that she had...killed her prey. I looked down, angrily. How could Sarah have been stupid enough to get herself in this position? If she had only listened to Adianna when she had told her to break off her relationship with those two vamps-Kristopher and Nissa-she would still be with me. I raised my face as Kristopher entered the room. He crossed over to Sarah and wrapped her in his arms. The look I shot him was anything but friendly. I was aware that my eyes had pooled with hot, angry tears. I just shook my head and walked out the front door.

And what upset me the most was that Sarah had done it. She had escaped from Dominique. But she never came back to get me.

(Sadie Aurn's POV)

I'm probably the most confident witch of my generation. Supposedly, I'm here to 'protect the humans from the vampires, since they can't protect themselves.' That's what I was always taught to believe. But really, I don't see why the vampires are to be hunted. Sure, they kill people, but only to survive. Isn't that the same as a human killing a cow so that they could survive? Anyway, aren't I part vampire, since I'm a Aurn? It really doesn't make any sense.

Dominique Vida doesn't understand my unwillingness to hunt vampires. How could she? She was too cold to let anyone in, to see the shades of gray. I saw them all, though, especially in my vampire friend, Riely. Riely was one of the strongest vampires I knew. She was a direct decedent of Kendra, her third or fourth fledgling. She was always at night clubs like Las Noches, which, incidentally, is the place where we first met.

After Jessica's books had come out giving the world New Mayhem's location, I had wanted to see what Las Noches was like. The day I went, I left all of my knifes beside and coated myself entirely in my vampiric aura. No sense letting all of the vampires know I was a witch; that would be suicide. I had walked into the bar and sat down, looking around unsurely. Lost, Aurn? Riley's voice had trailed into my mind. I looked up at her and smiled. "No, actually, I'm right where I wanted to be." I don't know what it was that impressed Riley, but she took a liking to me. She knew I didn't hunt vampires willingly, but I was still strong, and I could kill a vampire if I truly wanted to. From that day on, Riley and I have been secretly meeting.

A tap at my window disturbed my thoughts. I looked over and smiled. Riley was standing on my balcony, dressed as a medieval princess, complete with a black corset. I used a tendril of my power to open the door, and continued to apply black eyeshadow to my eyes. "Nice Sadie. Very nice. No one would mistake you for a goody-good witch in that outfit." Riley said with a smirk. I had to smile back; it was true. I was in a deep black corset, with a blood-red pirate skirt. The bottom was ruffled, and a slit was cut up to my mid thigh. I wore strappy black stilettos on my feet. Finally, my curly brown hair was up in twists and spirals on the top of my head, and I had black eyeshadow and red lipstick on. For sure, no one would mistake me for a witch.

That was important, too, since Riley was taking me to a bash. Oh, it wasn't just any bash, either. It was a bash at Silver's house. There were rumors that Seite himself may even be there. This both terrified and excited me in a way I couldn't describe. "Ready." I said to Riley. She smiled wickedly and grabbed my arm. In the blink of my eye, we were standing in a ballroom.

All around us, people were dressed in frivolous costumes. Some girls were medieval princesses, some were gypsies. The guys were all dresses similar; most wore slacks and a eighteenth century top, but some were dressed differently. Mingle, Sadie. Riley whispered into my mind before disappearing into the crowd. A dangerous smile fell on my lips. I had no desire to do anything but mingle. After all, this was fun. I walked out onto the dance floor and raised my hands into the air, shimming my body. I shook my hips from side to side along with the beat, my eyes closing as I lost myself in the music.

After about five minutes, two warm hands landed on my hips. I opened my eyes and was met with the cool silver stare of a special vampire. "Dance with me?" Silver asked.

A/N: There we go, first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, r&r, please! Oh, by the way, the next chapter will be about the other two witches, Daley Light and Salem Smoke. And yes, they all are related. They're cousins. R&R! Go, go go!