My Disclaimer - I do not own any of the Carpathian Series or Characters. I only own Briony Masterson

San Francisco

She stuffed her small fingers into her ears, trying to mute the screams that were coming from her parent's room. She had felt the taint of evil that was coming long before it actually arrived and she had screamed and begged for her parents to run before it was too late. They had not listened. Knowing that she could not save them from what was coming; she had hidden herself away in a large cardboard box that was stored in the cluttered attic above her room. She had covered herself with old disused clothing that had been lying on top of the old wooden clotheshorse that her mother stored in this room when it was not being used.

She felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck as terror raced through her small, slender frame. She took a breath and inhaled the musty smell of the clothes that covered her. A tear slid down her flushed cheeks as she remembered that only yesterday she had been celebrating her fifth birthday. She had been so excited about starting school and now the monster she had seen in her dreams had arrived. He had whispered to her that he was coming to get her and before she woke up screaming, another voice, an angelic voice, told her to remain calm, that he would allow no one to hurt her. She had trusted that voice and her dreams had once again became peaceful.

She shuddered and shrank further into the box as another high pitched scream reached her. Even as young as she was, she knew that her parents were being tortured by a being whose soul had once been good, but who had made the decision to turn evil. That it was a being filled with deception and that she could not believe a word that came from it. She flinched when she heard the screams stop and footsteps moving towards her. She closed her eyes tightly, held her breath and pretended she was invisible.

She kept making childish whispers in her head until a roar of displeasure filled the house. Even though she was scared, she remained still. She had gotten her wish. The monster could no longer sense her. To him, she was invisible. A short while later she felt the house relax as the taint of evil left it. It was only when she knew it was dawn that she left the safety of her box and made her way from the attic into her parent's bedroom.

She smelt death before she saw it. Smelt the sweet coppery scent of blood. She walked further into the room and saw the battered lifeless form of her mother. Her beautiful mother had died with terror frozen on her features. Her lifeless eyes were still wide open and a scream was frozen forever on her mouth. Her long fiery hair partially covered the raw wound that was on her neck. It had been like most of her neck had been ripped away. Congealed blood still dripped from the wound. The girl couldn't understand why her mother was undressed, but she knew bite and scratch wounds when she saw them and her mother was covered with them. She moved toward the bed and then struggled to pull the bedcover from the bed. When she had it off, she covered her mother's body.

After a moment she left her mother and walked into the hallway and down the stairs. She knew she would find her father here. She still felt the subtle taint of evil the monster had left behind. She heard the sound of the television before she reached the room. She walked up to the sofa and then around it and tears fell from her eyes when she saw her father. He lay in a pool of blood. It had soaked into the creamy colored carpet. He had the same vicious neck wound as her mother.

The girl performed the same duty for her father as she had for her mother. She drew the blanket that had been covering the sofa down and covered him. After she had done that, she sat down with her back against the wall opposite her father and waited. She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. She rocked as she stared at her father's body. She ignored the fact that she was hungry. She knew it wouldn't be long before someone would be here. Someone good. Someone like the angel from her dreams. She was right.

As late afternoon fell, a man appeared in front of her. She wasn't startled when he appeared out of thin air. She was expecting that, having seen it in her dreams. She looked up at the man with golden hair.

"Hello. My name is Briony. I've been expecting you," she said, showing maturity beyond her years.

"Hello Briony. My name is Aidan Savage and I'm here to help you," said the beautiful golden haired man.

Briony stared at him. He wasn't the man from her dreams. His voice was not the same, but she trusted him all the same. "My parents were killed by a vampire," she said calmly. "I tried to warn them, but they wouldn't listen. He wanted me, but I hid."

"That was a very clever thing for you to do." He held out his hand to her.

Briony stared at it for a moment and then placed her childlike hand into it.

"I'm going to take you somewhere safe and then I'll look after your parents, all right?"

Briony nodded, feeling safe for the first time in twenty four hours.