"It was a rough crossing, the one from childhood to the next life. And as with any other harsh journey, not everything survived."
- Karen Thompson Walker

She didn't ask to be born different. In fact, she didn't ask to be born at all. But that was of little consequence, because on a cold November night Annuska was brought into the world. Her mother had been taken from one of local villages surrounding Castle Corvinus, chosen because she had been disowned for conceiving out of wedlock and turned away by her lover, the perfect target. Lucian had been born only two years previous and it had recently been discovered that those he bit would become like him. Curious about how the infection worked, they decided to use the young mother-to-be in an experiment. She was bitten and then kept in the servants' quarters under constant watch until she came to term. Annuska was the second lycan to be born of natural causes. They kept her with her mother for the first eighteen months of her life before transferring her to the cell next to Lucian's. She never saw her mother again.

From that day on Annuska's entire life revolved around Lucian. He served as her teacher, protector, and most importantly her friend. When the vampires brought them food he always made sure that she ate her fill before he ate anything, sometimes giving up his portion to make sure she got enough. When it was cold he would huddle next to the bars that separated them and wrap his arms around her the best he could to keep her warm. He taught her how to survive in a world where they nothing more than animals in the eyes of their masters.

When she was six Annuska was moved to a larger cell that she was to share with Lucian. They were given a large pile of hay to sleep on and they were fed more often. Once a week they were taken out into the courtyard where they were forced to run around an improvised track and climb various obstacles. Lucian cleared each challenge with little to no effort, but Annuska struggled. She was a frail waif of a girl and it seemed that being a lycan had done nothing for her when it came to physicality. If it weren't for Lucian's helping hand, she would have failed each test, and would have certainly been punished. She never gave up though, and after months of grueling trials she was eventually able to keep up with Lucian.

However, her improvements were dwarfed by Lucian's own, and by the time she was nine it was decided that she was a lost cause. Lucian was taken to begin his training to become a daytime guardian for the vampires, and Annuska was taken to act as a personal servant for Sonja, Viktor's daughter. The children fought tooth and nail to stay together, but they were still young, and their paltry strength was nothing compared to that of an adult vampire. Annuska was forced to watch as her whole world was dragged away from her kicking and screaming. As he was pulled away, Lucian promised that he would return to her. She was everything that he had in this world and he refused to be kept away. Those words were what kept her going throughout the first year of her servitude. She made it through the second year by telling herself that he was simply waiting until their masters had a false sense of security before he would come to save her. When she was beaten for forgetting to complete a chore or failing to complete her duties fast enough she would silently call out for her protector praying each time that he would come bursting from the shadows and take her away from the hell she was trapped in, but he never did.

Eventually she gave up on being rescued. She figured he had either forgotten about her or simply given up on ever escaping, and so she did as well. She focused all her energies into becoming the perfect servant, one that never gave her masters a reason to be displeased with her. Lucian hadn't forgotten though, in fact he thought of her and the promise he had made to her every day as he trained. For nine years he spent every day honing his skills and becoming the warrior that the vampires wanted him to be. Lucian slowly earned their trust, acting as their daytime guardian and never stepping even a hair out of place. He learned to work the forge and was soon put in charge of creating weapons and armor for the death dealers, he never forgot about Annuska though. Sometimes, when he finished his work early and had extra scraps of metal he would make trinkets for her. Crude jewelry and hair pieces shaped after the finery that he would see the vampiress's wearing. He would hide them away in his cell and after he was locked away for the night he would pull them out, fiddling with them as he plotted and planned his escape. Sometimes he would dream of what life would be like once they were free of bondage, other times he would wonder what Annuska had become as she aged. He conjured up many different versions of her in his mind, but none of them were anything like the girl he saw when he was finally reunited with her.

It had been ten years since either child had seen each other and they had both changed tremendously. Lucian had hit a growth spurt in his teens and now stood a good 25 cm taller than Annuska. His hair was longer, and he had grown a beard, making him look rugged and untamed. His skin was tan from hours spent working under the unforgiving sun and his body was muscular from working the billows and training day in and day out. On the other hand, Annuska was as fragile looking as ever. While most women gained curves when they reached young adult hood, Annuska just seemed to get lankier. Her limbs were long and her from was willowy. She may have been considered beautiful if it weren't for her pale almost sickly complexion and the blank look in her eyes. Lucian had been summoned to present a ceremonial sword he had been tasked with making for the newest member of the death dealers. Usually a new member didn't call for much pomp and circumstance, but because the recruit was Viktor's own daughter Sonja, an exception was made.

Lucian planned on making his escape while the vampires were distracted with the ceremony. Most of the death dealers would be in formal attire and would be leaving their weapons in the barracks, believing that they were safe from any internal attacks. He had come to learn that Annuska was assigned to be Sonja's servant while listening to the lower ranking vampires idle chatter as they went about their business one night. They were amazed at how diligent the vampiress's servant was and wished that their own would follow in her footsteps, it would save them the trouble of beating bad behavior out of them. Lucian had been proud of her when he had heard of her 'accomplishments', she was truly talented if she was able to trick all of them into believing that she was nothing more than an obedient slave. But when he laid eyes on her, he realized that she hadn't been putting on an act at all. He felt betrayed, how could she throw in her lot with the vampires! He looked closer and noticed that while thin, she was well fed and though she had calloused hands from cleaning and doing other menial tasks she lacked the multitude of scars he and the other lycan slaves had from punishments and grueling manual labor. It was at that moment, Lucian decided that Annuska was no longer his kin. She was now no longer any better than the filthy blood suckers that held his people in bondage. He would free himself from his chains one day, and he would make sure that she got what she deserved for betraying them.

Just as he was about to draw the ceremonial sword from its sheath to begin his revolt, a figure caught his eye. As the person came closer he was able to make out more of their features. It was a young woman, with dark hair and vibrant blue eyes. She was tall and well built, having obviously spent many hours training. Her armor was tight fitting and showed off every curve, he remembered making that armor. It was one of his best works to date. He knew her to be Sonja, his masters daughter. But in that moment, he wished she were anyone else, for she was the most enchanting creature that he had ever laid eyes on. Slowly he took his hand off the hilt of the sword and stepped forward, kneeling to present the sword to her as her father praised her for her accomplishments. Their hands brushed as she took the sword from him, and he couldn't help but glance up when they did. The two's eyes met for only the briefest moment before he looked away so as not to be punished for insolence, however that moment was long enough for a connection to be made. In her eyes he saw the same power and drive that he felt burning within him every day, and in that moment, he made a decision. She would be his, consequences be damned.

Annuska watched as Lucian entered the room and for a moment she felt a swell of hope rise in her, hope she thought had long since died. Maybe Lucian hadn't forgotten about her, maybe she had been right when she had assumed he was simply biding his time, and now he had finally come to free her like he had promised all those years ago. However, her hope was quickly snuffed as she watched his eyes slowly scan her body before turning away. She silently willed him to look at her again, to give her some sign that he recognized her and that he had come to save her, but he did not. Instead he stepped forward presenting the ornate looking sword he held to her mistress, kneeling before her almost reverently. She watched Sonja take the sword, and she alone saw as their eyes meet for the briefest moment. And as she watched Lucian turn away, her heart broke, for she had been forgotten.

Wow, I can't believe it's been 5 years since I first started Moonlit Madness! I was just a senior in high school with a half-baked idea for a fanfic and an obsession for all things Underworld. I had a ton of fun writing it, but I can honestly say I'm glad that I'm rewriting it how that I've grown and had time to improve my writing style.

To everyone who took the time to read the original work, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your encouraging reviews were what kept me going, and they're what have inspired me to go back and make it better~

- MsFanatic