Chapter 1

"Oof!"

I landed flat on my butt on a cold stone floor. As I got up, I realized I had fallen through a loose manhole in an alleyway. I had been running away from my cousin when I fell (the dweeb). Even though I wasn't quite sure where I was at the moment, I was glad Derek wasn't torturing me (you have no idea what that kid can think up).

I also had a nagging suspicion that I wasn't alone down here. And I was also pretty sure this wasn't a sewer.

It was a tunnel.

That's why I always carried a flashlight. I took the pocket-sized light out of my bag and turned it on. I did a three-sixty spin, and then the light landed on a very pale man - his skin was so pale it was almost white - and he seemed to sparkle in the glow from my flashlight. But his skin wasn't what almost made me pee my pants in fear. It was his eyes.

They were a shade of deep crimson.

I dropped the small light in shock. I bit my lip, trying to hold back a scream. Then I realized why I had dropped my flashlight - my hands were trembling.

"Well, what are you doing down here?" said a positively beautiful voice. I realized it was the strange man.

Why did such a frightening person have to have such a gorgeous voice? Just from looking at him I knew he was something sinister. Something evil. Something that wanted to hurt me. The man bent down and picked up my flashlight, handing it to me.

"Is this yours?" he asked in that musical voice of his. I had to be a moron and stutter. He must have thought my mother forgot to teach me basic motor skills. As he came closer to me, I suddenly realized his voice wasn't the only thing that was beautiful; it was all of him. Despite the eyes, he was physically quite attractive. His dark brown, almost black, hair hung down to his chin, and he had it tucked behind his ears. His face was perfectly symmetrical. It was like staring at an angel. And he was dressed in a gray cloak that went down to his feet. Odd.

"Um, uh...well, y-yes, that's mine," I stammered as I took the flashlight from his hand. I realized his skin was freezing, like he just spent the whole day curled up in a freezer. I jerked my hand back, a knee-jerk reaction.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, sounding...appalled. Like there was nothing wrong with his hand and the way I had acted was rude and uncalled for.

"Well, your hand is...so cold, and...well...it sorta shocked me at first...I'm really sorry, that was just a knee-jerk reaction."

Wow, Sophie. That was just brilliant....NOT.

He cocked his head the side slightly. Then, he whipped around to face someone, it looked like. I followed his gaze and saw the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in my life. She had long mahoghany-colored hair that hung down to her waist, and she was dressed in a tight pink tube top and a black silk mini skirt, with black fishnet stockings and four-inch high heels. Her eyes were a strange shade of violet, absolutely alluring. The way she was dressed immediately made me label her as a slut, but I couldn't deny that she was drop-dead gorgeous.

"Demetri, I didn't know Aro sent you fishing today," the woman said, obviously not expecting to see me or him. So, his name was Demetri...interesting. And surprisingly old-fashioned. He didn't look a day over twenty. And what did she mean by fishing? And who the hell is Aro?

"He didn't. This hum- young lady fell through the manhole, and I was considering letting her go on her way, but I wasn't sure," he replied.

The woman's strange-colored eyes did this shifty thing, and that automatically freaked me out. Who does that? Her voice was low and quick, and I had to lean forward slightly to hear was she was saying. Demetri noticed, and put his arm across my chest and pushed me back, and I was surprised by his strength. I caught the conversation, though.

"Listen to me, Demetri," she pleaded, "What if she heard one of us talking? Maybe we should just kill her."

I was shocked by her words, and listened intently for Demetri's response.

"Heidi, don't be so paranoid. There was nobody else here besides me and her. And it wasn't like I was talking to myself about...well, you know, of course," he replied quickly.

Okay, I was thoroughly confused. Should I speak up? By the way Heidi kept shooting dirty looks at me, probably not. What in the seventh level of hell are they talking about? I thought to myself.

"Yes, yes." She seemed impatient, and her expression clearly said "Get on with it!"

Demetri frowned and looked at me. His gaze was cold and hard, and I shivered. He turned back to Heidi. I realized it was freezing down here, and my sleeveless, white eyelet lace sundress wasn't keeping me warm. I leaned against the stone wall of the tunnel and wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep warm by using my own body heat. Then, Demetri said something that completely caught me off-guard.

"We can't let her go. She's already seen enough of us. We should take her to ancients, don't you agree?" Ancients? Huh? Did they worship some god or goddess I'd never heard of? My confusion deepened. Heidi nodded her agreement, and jerked her head, motioning for me to follow. No way in hell am I following her! I thought. I decided to make a running leap and jump out of the manhole and back onto the street. My roomate, Izzy, was probably worried sick by now. I didn't how on earth I was going to explain what had happened, but at the time I honestly didn't care. I turned and ran.

After a few strides, I reached the manhole. I jumped up, but I felt a cold hand grasp my ankle and yank me back down. I let out a shriek of defiance and started kicking, trying to get whoever was grabbing me to let go, but it was useless. I hit the stone floor with a loud thump. I felt my ankle twisting, and I yelped in pain. I looked up to see Heidi and Demetri looking down on me.

"Get up," Heidi spat.

All I wanted to say was "What the hell?" I just sprained my ankle and she wanted me to get up and walk? Gosh, this girl had issues. But, as the people-pleaser I was, I got up but then immediately fell back down again, hissing in pain.

"What's wrong? Did you forget how to stand up?" she sneered. I wanted nothing more than to punch her lights out. My hands actually balled up into fists. I looked up at her, and was shocked at what I saw. Her eyes weren't that odd shade of violet anymore - they were the same shade as Demetri's, chilling crimson. Ignoring the startling change in her eye color, I glared.

"What is wrong with you? Do you think this is some sick game?" I demanded. "I just sprained my damn ankle, I can't walk! What do you want from me?" All the annoyance was bubbling up now. I was royally pissed off, and I wanted her to know it. "Just, please, please let me go home. I don't what the hell's going on here, and I don't want to know, so you don't have to worry about anything at all. Now, if one of you would be so kind as to help me up out of this hell hole - no pun intended - I'll go home, and pretend none of this ever happened. You can forget about me completely."

Heidi just laughed. Demetri didn't so much as twitch during my little speech. I looked into his eyes and seen something there that I recognized but didn't understand...concern, sympathy. But why? I wasn't anything special. Just an eighteen-year-old girl, fresh out of high school, studying to become a stage actress. I tried Broadway, but they said in order to get in, I needed credentials. So, I shipped myself off to Volterra, Italy, a small town about a half an hour away from Florence. Now, frankly, I wasn't sure if I was getting out of this hole in the ground alive.

Demetri gave me his hand and, reluctantly, I took it. He helped me up. My ankle was in worse shape than I thought. In order to support me, he threw his right arm around my shoulders and I put my left arm around his waist. In a way, it felt awkward. But he bent down and whispered in my ear, his voice low and quick, like Heidi's had been earlier. I noticed her voice had the same ringing bell tone quality as Demetri's.

"I'm going to try to help you out of this," he murmured softly. His cold, sweet breath brushed the inside of my ear, and I shivered. I only just realized we were walking down the tunnel, Heidi strutting - no, twitching would be a better word; if the girl shook her butt any more she was going to break something - ahead of us.

"How? Heidi sounded pretty serious when she said you two should kill me," I whispered back, my voice not as soft as his. Everybody said my voice sounded like a little girl's; now, my voice sounded whiny compared to his.

He tensed (he must not have realized I heard Heidi say that), then put his lips to my ear. I was trying desperately not to show I was thoroughly enjoying this.

"That is not something for you to worry about. You...remind me of someone I once knew. I'd like to help you. Are you rejecting my help?"

I wasn't, really. Just shocked. As they say, never look a gift horse in the mouth.

"No, no!" I whispered back. "I'm not, really! I'm just...surprised, that's all."

"Then play along with whatever I say. Don't worry about anything. You are not going to die today, my lady."

The ferocity he used in his voice made me feel like he really did care about me. Then I looked into his eyes, the startling color of them making my self-preservation instincts come to the surface.

I didn't show it, but I was truly terrified.

Kay, there's the first chapter! Second chapter'll be up tomorrow! REVIEW PLEASE!