Author's note-sorry it has taken so long to get another story up…but here is the first chapter of a multichapter story I have wanted to get out for some time. Thanks again for all the reviews, for favoriting me and please take time to read and review my other stories. Thanks again and have a great day!

Prologue

The room was dimmed, lit only by the candles that lit the pentagram on the floor, light reflecting the blood that had been spilled, the magical torture that had needed to be performed to achieve his means. That he had been following the two since they had returned from Sweden, that he had come to learn of the child that they had had together. A very rare and unique child that he longed to study, to harness whatever abilities she had. But there was always someone around that protected them, no matter what. Should she be alone in the fortified manor house she had recently moved into, that gated community of a mere few vamps, Ginger and herself, the security in place was as strong if not more so than what was at the White House. And so for him to get his hands on the child, he knew he had to delve into only the most insidious, clever magic he could think up. And though by all means it was not foolproof, he knew that if he could get the child and bring it back to his own sanctuary, even if what he created here tonight were to fail, he would still be safe, protected by the dark arts he had long been summoning to keep him and his work safe. That he had happened across the path of a vampire in Europe willing to help him in this in the promise of giving him the faerie girl was a stroke of luck that could have only been conjured by the magic he had cast. That this vampire here before him had agreed to suffer through this to help him was fortunate and as he finished off the magic, the warlock laughed to himself as he watched the body on the slab before him shifting as he used the magic he possessed to alter the appearance of the vampire, who seemed to be in pain but was so dead set on getting that the warlock had promised him that he was willing to endure anything to get it.

"How are you feeling?" the warlock asked his subject who was slightly trembling with the magic still working its influence through him. Already, the vamp was inches taller and leaner than he had been before. The warlock had known that he needed to find a body that was somewhat similar to the one he hoped to screw over for the magic to work properly. He couldn't risk anything going wrong as it had cost him a great deal to even work this magic. A blood sacrifice that led to him aging a decade in the past hour to summon the power needed to work this magic.

"Weird…..like…I am still me but I feel different….." replied the vampire as he lifted a arm and examined it. "I was always lean and strong but never this muscly. I feel like a new vampire."

"You are….well, almost are. I have one last thing to give you before we can finally get these plans underway. That you could easily be scented out as an impostor, so you also need a transfusion…..I managed to get a hold of this when I saw the New Blood building was to go down, thus destroying that which was taken from him. I used a spell to increase the supply but I have to give it all to you and even I don't know if it will be able to fool his kin for too long. But it should work long enough for you to earn their trust and bring the prize to me. And then, surely she will come and I can work a little more magic and she can be yours."

The vampire smirked as he watched the next phase of the task being set up. A liter or so of a very special blood was being brought over by the warlock and he looked at it greedily. "Will it make me just like the real-"

"Unfortunately though you will become a bit faster and stronger, your body is still not the read deal and so you will not be as strong or as powerful as your double. Flight is out of the question I am afraid. But everything else should be close to the real deal. And I will remain nearby to assist you should anything start to unravel." the warlock poked the vamp with a needle and started draining him of his own blood, and soon it was replaced with that of the once they were targeting. Before blacking out, all the vampire could think of was how close he was to getting that which he had wanted since the first time he had seen her in the streets of Stockholm before she and him had left after a tumultuous trip. He wanted her and soon, he would. Tee minutes ticked by until finally, the warlock, Ezra, was pleased with his handiwork. "Now to make time stand still, long enough to make the switch. Remember, the blood will only fool them for so long, they will come to sense something is amiss. But if she thought the kisses of her husband were magical before. Then she has seen nothing yet…..to help make her more….compliant with plans, to keep her from being a threat, I have placed an enchantment upon you, my friend."

"So other than changing my appearance, I am enchanted?" the vampire seemed almost amused with this revelation as he recovered swiftly from the transfusion. "Sounds like something out of a kids book."

"Oh, but this is too real…..one kiss on her lips and she will be put under a powerful spell and she will believe that you are him and that he is the impostor. You, Johan, will have the girl while I get the little one. To use in my research to gain not only the powers of a fairy but of a vampire. Of course, he will be brought here too until I have no further use of him. That will be when I use that which he loves most to be the one to do the dirty deed…." Ezra sighed happily, his sick and twisted thirst for power caring not if he was plotting to destroy a family, a family which had never known of him, let alone done anything to him. But learning of the existence of a young faerie vamp, the stuff of legends…..it was too hard to resist and knowing the parents, he was no fool to go into this without a good plan.

The doppelganger smirked. "You really will let me have her? From the stuff you've told me of her, what she can do…..that she would really be under the spell once I-"

"This is why the dark arts are so dark. Its power is immeasurable and can even stifle those like her with such light magic." Ezra sneered at the thought of her magic. "It would take a miracle to break her from this spell and even if she were to snap out of it, it will be way too late. But I have taken every precaution to make certain this magic is foolproof, that she will be under our control and obey us and only us. I am so confident that she won't be brought out of this magic by her own willpower or outside influences that I am willing to give up another decade of my life to further strengthen the magic that will keep her spelled….I already sacrificed many years off my life to get enough power to change your appearance, what's another decade if it can get me the trifecta of power, in which I can become practically immortal anyway? And while you take her for a prize, I keep the child and raise her as my own…..and as for him, the one you are going to step in for….permanently….before I let the faerie vamp dispose of him, I don't see the harm in taking some of that very, very old and valuable blood from him before he finally meets his demise. And in case of an emergency…" he trailed off as he pressed a thumb against the right wrist of his partner in this game of deception. There, a mark appeared, a mark that matched the one that was also upon the right wrist of Ezra. "I admit, this was a idea I gleaned from the Harry Potter books-a travesty of a series that pales to the reality of my craft-this mark will summon me to you should you need me. All you have to do is press it and watch."

The vampire frowned and put his left index finger upon the one inch by on inch mark that was shaped like a pentagram. Simple at first, upon touching it, the mark sprang to a more colorful life, tiny red drips of real blood coming off the points of the star, with a glow around it that appeared once he touched it. Glancing to the mark on his companions wrist, he saw that it too had developed the same strange characteristics, no longer a simple black star. "Let me guess, it represents the three powers you seek to possess."

"You are certainly a fast learner….you are quite correct. I think this is going to be a promising partnership….you get to make a profit on the Viking and get that which you say you've long searched for-a young faerie vamp creation."

"And I get the kid's mother….and best of all the only one who will be aware of what is happening won't be able to do anything about it."

"Very true Johan, I always thought I picked the right vamp for the job. Cruel, clever…..enviable qualities. And I know you have been waiting to get her since we started this plan some weeks back….I hate that it took me so long to perfect this plan but I dared not get ahead of myself, as the magic involved in every aspect of this needed to be done correctly. Or we both lose and quite badly, I would suspect. But now, we are almost ready to start and with all the research we have done, the information I managed to get from the ruins of that so called Vamp Camp, we know our first target inside and out, you having worked hard to study, to play the part you are taking on….hopefully you have retained enough to fool those closest to him long enough to get her out of the state, as far as you can. And should they come after you, I think you've proven to me that you certainly can fight-"

"Yes, I certainly think I proved myself in that vampire fight club….." mused Johan as he stretched his taller, leaner frame that the magic of the warlock had given him. "You saw how easily I took out those three vamp ninjas….they really thought they stood a chance against me…..they were barely good enough to last five minutes."

"All the reason I searched the places I knew hosted vamp fights, I knew I needed a warrior and you proved your worth. But remember, your skill set is still nowhere as impressive as his is. But with you being from the same country as he, at least you won't get hung up should his progeny speak to you in Swedish….so, I think the time is come to begin the great switcheroo….are you ready Johan?" Ezra asked with a snakelike smirk.

Returning the smirk with one of his own, the tall blonde vampire gave him a innocent look. "Please. Call me Eric."

To Be Continued