Fangtasia was not at all the sort of establishment that a woman like Cecilia Romanov was prone to visiting. She ordinarily preferred someplace quieter and far more sophisticated. Someplace with fewer people, soft music, and elegance. However it wasn't as if she had arrived at the rural vampire bar entirely by choice. She had been on the run for days, weeks really but had lost track of time, and she needed someplace to rest and eat.

Cecilia tried to brush the dirt off of the green dress she wore, managing to remove only some of the filth that clung to the fabric. Sleeping on the ground by night had made a wreck of her clothes and hair. If she weren't already uncomfortable enough with her disheveled appearance, the knee length sundress she wore revealed far more skin than her old fashioned tastes could ever be comfortable with. But when one was on the run for her life, she had to be content with whatever clothing she could steal from unattended clotheslines. She tried one last time to brush away the dirt, re-braided her brown curly hair into a long braid and let it hang over her right shoulder. She could do nothing for her bare feet except to hope they wouldn't be noticed.

People and vampires in the bar began to glance her way as soon as Cecilia entered. She was accustumed to being stared at everywhere she went but had never truly liked all the attention. She was pretty, perhaps not a supermodel beauty, but pretty enough to gather attention nonetheless. Cecilia had long brown hair that was somewhere between black and blonde with just enough red highlights to be mistaken for auburn in the right sunlight. She was short, petite, and full figured. But it was her eyes that caught always caught the most attention, they were purple. She quickly scanned the room, trying to avoid gazing at anyone directly, and found an empty seat along the wall.

Cecelia sat in her seat along the wall, listening to the conversations and the thoughts of the humans in the room. She had always been able to hear thoughts. Her mother had been a faerie and had taught her how to use all of her abilities well. All the abilities she knew about anyway. Cecilia had never known her father. He had only known her mother a few weeks before he disappeared and was never seen again. It wasn't until she was fifteen that Cecilia finally understood her heightened senses and incredible strength. Because one full moon after her birthday, Cecilia transformed into a wolf.

Cecilia sniffed the room discreetly from where she sat. She couldn't hear vampire thoughts but she could smell their emotions. It had taken years to perfect that skill but now she knew how to see past the vampires stoic veneer and smell his anger, sadness, fear, joy, rage, and hunger. Without this ability she would have undoubtedly been dead long before.

In only a short time, the faerie wolf had determined which reckless humans and hungry vamps to avoid and who the vampire in charge was. His name was Eric Northman.

In the meantime, Cecilia was hungry and she needed money or clothes or both. She scanned the room for someone who could help and who was near enough that she wouldn't need to cross the room dressed as she was. It took a few minutes but she found what she needed in a young woman who was passing by her table. The woman had a tattoo of the zodiac on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Anita?" She caught the woman's arm gently. "Your name is Anita, right?"

"Uh.. yeah it is.. do I know you? Cause I don't think I know anyone with your particular accent.. are you from Russia?" Anita was babbling on cheerfully.

"Yes, I am from Russia. We have never met, but I know you. I saw you in a vision." Cecilia told her, doing her best to sound mysterious.

"In a vision?" This had Anita's attention. Cecilia had known it would. For years she had made her living as a fortune teller. She had made it a habit to carry tarot cards with her everywhere she went but on this night she didn't have any cards. It was almost second nature now to pick out which humans were willing to trust astrology. The ones who tended to doubt astrology or who looked to science, she avoided those ones. They always ended up wanting answers of how Cecilia knew the things she did. It was a dangerous game she was playing but she had to survive somehow.

"Yes, in a vision. Sit and I will tell you everything I saw of you and Rusty." Cecilia went on.

"You saw Rusty?" Anita sat down in the chair across from Cecilia.

"My vision was clear. I saw you Anita Judson and Russel Donnor together in a church."

"You saw us in church? Were we getting married?" Anita asked excitedly.

"You were about to get married, yes. Then I saw another man come to you and kiss you and take you away."

"Oh." Anita sounded disappointed. "So we're not supposed to get married?"

"The choice is yours. However, Rusty is not good to you. In my visions I see him consuming beer and beating you, does he not?" Cecilia prodded. She had indeed seen Anita's memories.

"Yes, but he's been sober three weeks. He promised never to do it again."

"I am sorry to tell you this," Cecilia told her sadly. "Rusty will drink again, and he will beat you again. But if you leave him, there is a man with kind eyes who will love you and treat you well. I promise you that."

"Well, can you at least tell me the name of this future man?"

"I can not tell you that. Such knowledge of the future is forbidden. I can tell you that Frank MacDonald over there at the bar would very much like to dance with you." Cecelia said with a smile.

Anita glanced over to Frank and found he was staring at her. The man looked away quickly, almost shyly. "He does have kind eyes." She said with a giggle.

"Yes he does." Cecilia said, Anita was getting up to leave. This was the moment Cecilia had been waiting for. "Anita, may I trouble you for a small favor?"

"Yes, of course. Anything at all."

"As you can see, I am barefoot and covered in dirt. Earlier I was in a trance... I am embarrassed to say I awoke like this... miles from home... without shoes...I know before you came her you couldn't decide which shoes to wear. Now that you hate Rusty for taking you shoe shopping, perhaps you have no further use for the pair you left in your car?" She disliked lying but a lie was easier than the truth.

"Oh my god! I did leave a pair of flats in my car. I'll run and get them for you right now. And take this too, you've been so helpful to me!" Anita pulled a twenty dollar bill from her denim skirt pocket and handed it over to Cecilia.

A short time later, Cecilia was wearing shoes and eating a burger that had been ordered from the bar. Anita was dancing with Frank. few people were still staring at her, Cecila was begining to finally feel full for the first time in days. A waitress approached her table.

"Eric wants to talk to you." The waitress said.