PART ONE

PROLOGUE

Sedona had watched her for a long time. Ever since she was born actually. The poor girl had been through so much already and Sedona desperately wished she could do something to help.

"It's not my place to intervene." She whispered, looking away from her scrying pool. "Not my place…"

Sedona had spent five centuries walking the Earth, sometimes fading away to the Astral Plane for years at a time but she always returned to the plane of her birth. She never occupied her time with Mortals, they were like candles in the wind, sputtering until finally going out. Instead she chose to watch the Immortals, finding herself becoming entranced with them, watching how they individually coped with eternity.

And then the world of Immortals was shattered.

Sedona knew things were only going to get worse and felt her heart go out to the unfortunate souls who would suffer, praying they had the strength and heart to survive.

*****

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"I'm serious! Stop kissing me!"

Sighing, he pulled back, staring down into her eyes. "Babe, I didn't feel anything."

She rolled her eyes, slipping out from underneath him to walk over to the window, staring up at the moon. "I don't know… it just felt like a shockwave or something, are you sure you didn't feel anything?"

"Woman… look at me, I'm feeling shockwaves all the time." He looked pointedly down at himself.

"True…" She allowed a slow smile to cross her face.

"Now where were we?"

Giggling she pounced on him.

*****

Isis watched as David tried showing her how to levitate, finally turning to walk away, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

David sighed, raking a hand through his hair and just watched her walk away. It had been almost ten years since Mark's betrayal and every year that had passed she'd only sank further into her shell.

He hadn't seen her smile once, hadn't heard her laugh, there wasn't light in her eyes either.

The only time she showed any emotion was when she fed, a slightly sympathetic expression on her face when she took her unfortunate victim.

David kept them on the move, keeping her under his wing, knowing if she was to wander by herself she would most likely annihilate herself in the sun. After caring for her for ten years, one might've thought he'd of been relieved to be rid of her. When it came right down to it though, David couldn't bear the thought.

He had spent the past decade leading her to the kill, selecting her victims for her before letting her loose to feed. He'd bathed and dressed her, brushed out her long black hair.

Sometimes he would braid it but mostly he left it down, loving the silky sheen of her tresses.

He'd changed her look as well, foregoing her country 'bumpkin' clothes for a more chic look: black and red silks, suede pants, suits, evening gowns. She was his very own life sized doll.

Sighing he started following her, knowing she wasn't paying any attention to where she was going.

Isis was lost in her own little world, remembering every moment since becoming a vampire. She was locked in her memories, every time breaking down a little more, the pain of Mark's betrayal still as strong as it was when it had actually happened.

She thought about Jeff a lot too, poor Jeff who should have never been one of them. Losing Matt and then the battle with Glenn and Shannon had only served to alienate him further from them, eventually driving him into despair.

Then there was Jaden and John. She missed John's smile and sense of humor though every time she thought of him she was reminded of the madness she had slipped into briefly. And

Jaden… her sister. Where were they now?

She stopped when David called out to her, waiting for him to catch up, letting him take her hand. Sighing softly, she slipped back into memories, unable to focus on the 'now' for more then seconds at a time.