His eyes were haunting, something that tempted you to look away. They were so very blue and had depth to them that no one could begin to imagine. Yet it was hard to figure if they were more green or not. Standing at around six feet, the man was lean and gorgeous. I still couldn't see his face, hidden by the black mask that concealed all except his haunting eyes and full lips. He was a mystery. Possibly someone from my town; but his voice was soft like honey and so easy to forget. It was a sweet melody, one that I actually wanted to remember. His hands stayed firmly on my waist as we danced.

No one could have predicted the trajety that became the Craus House Fire. Not many survived; but that wasn't when He went missing because someone you haven't met, you can't miss. So why did I want to see him so badly?

At a Masquarade Ball, they forbode you to see your peers, to know who's really behind the mask. Unfortunately, I would not find out who was behind this particular simple mask until centuries later, when its possibly too late. But my everlasting life began after the Craus House Fire, when my beautiful face was charred and ruined. I barely made it out alive, I was marked as dead and possibly missing when the bodies were counted. Annastacia McCross died in that fire, and a certain immortal brought me back.

Now I am Anna. The mysterious man told me to leave my old life behind, to forget everything and move on. Those eyes were seen after every blink, he told me that he could possibly love me, if we ever met again. So I had hoped, after that moment, that we would. But three short days after the fire, it became impossible to see him. My vision was stained with red and everyone I saw was food. The dress I had worn to the Ball was torn and bloodstained. I left Texas without one look behind me. Annastacia was gone, but Anna never forgot about the man in the mask.

Chapter one

A shiver went down my spine, feeling like electricity. I had heard that voice before but it had been in the 1800's. His voice...it was like honey. Keeping a low profile, I leaned against the brick wall and stopped breathing. College was one thing I loved to do over and over, of course, a few times I ran into others of my kind, but none that I had known before. This was my first time in Harvard, I had never had interest in law before, and still didn't, but I wanted to try.

My hands were shaky, I hadn't been nervous in a very long time.

"This isn't particularly the best college I've been to." another voice added. I wanted to get a look, to see his face. "I mean, Kent is better than here."

"Why's that?" he asked, his voice sending shivers through me. "In my opinion, it's not bad."

"Everyone's too serious." a female voice complained, her's was slow and musical. "I know I'm a bitch, but no one here seems to take me seriously, look at me!"

The ground seemed to be steady enough, but I felt as if I'd fall. I had to have a look at him, it was the man in the mask whose face I never had the pleasure of seeing. Did he ever think of me? Did he remember my name? I bit my lip, what if he didn't? He promised m so many things, so many wonderful things, if he were to find me again. He would find me by my hair, he'd said. To him, it was like real gold. For me, it was his voice.

"Emmett, I swear you have no brain." the woman said, as the someone made a wise-crack about blondes; Emmett, apparently.

"Babe!" he called as footsteps echoed throughout the hall. "Wait, wait!"

Then I heard his chuckle, dark and mysterious, like his eyes had been. How could I have let him slip through my fingers, he had been the only one to like me for me, not my social status or my beauty. I missed him, the man I never really met. I missed his hands on my waist as we danced close, his breath was hot on my cheek.

As I peeked around the corner to see his face, the halls were swarming with students, hurring to get to class. The bell had rung, and he was gone as quickly as he had come. I missed him, the man I never loved. He was perfect in every way.

"Anna?" Jace asked, stepping in my way. "Hey."

His eyes were a dark emerald color, but the contacts I wore blurred my vision, clouding everything with a strange hue of blue. "Hello, Jace."

I knew what he wanted before he asked. Andrew Miller was throwing a halloween party at his family's summer house a few miles onto an island. Halloween, it was so close. Jace's eyes were confident as he puffed out his chest and grinned. "Will you go to the halloween party with me?"

I glanced around quickly, searching for an excuse to pop out of thin air. "I have to get to class." I said suddenly, kissing Jace lightly on the cheek. "See you after class."

Saying yes to Jace while thinking about someone's "honey-sweet" voice was not right. Dating a witch-blood and messing with his head, also not right. I sighed as I escaped through the double doors and ran into the fresh air. Wonderful, beautiful stars shimmered in the dark sky. Obviously, being a vampire, I had all my classes changed to night. Smart.

I threw my head back and cloased my eyes. "Please!" I whispered into the night, "Help me, I'm not sure what to do. At all."

"You're lying." Bianca chuckled as she appeared beside me. "You will go with my brother, and ditch him for the man with the honey-sweet voice." she rolled her eyes, "Face it, Anna, I know the future. You will do it. Jace loves you, you love him. Forget about the 'man from forever and a dance' ago." Her wide eyes got a bit wider, giving her the odd appearance of a cartoon anime.

"Bianca..."

"No, no. It's fine, I understand, but be careful with Jace, he's had his heart broken once." she looked down, her dark hair falling in her face. "You know about Maddison, Cheryl, Mikkina..."

"...Maurine, Tila, and Chastity. I know." I finished for her, trying to forget that voice, those hands traveling...

"Anna!"

"Sorry."

Bianca just shook her head quickly, laughing as she swatted my shoulder. "Anna, do what you want. I'm giving you advice as a friend, not Jace's sister. So, tell me about Mr. Magic." she said, dramatically batting her eyelashes. "Is he dreamy?"

"Well, I met him centries ago, Bianca, I'm not sure if he's the same." I told her, sitting in the grass. "He had the voice of an angel, and magic radiated off his fingers."

Her eyes bulged, and I quickly fixed my statement, "No, no! He was just, well, when we dance...let's just say he knew what to do with his hands."

"Well, well, Miss Harlet Johanson." Bianca raised her eyebrows, "I bet that was fun."

"Shut it...his name was-is-"

"Anna, Anna!" Jace ran after us and sat by me in the grass. His grin was oddly childish as he grinned at me. "I was worried." he explained.

"Jasper! Jasper, get over here!" we all turned to see a short girl with spiked hair sitting by a yellow sports car. The tall blonde in the gray coat turned towards her, and I gasped when I saw his face. It was his jaw-line, his lips, and his eyes. It was him. The Jasper. I gave Bianca a look and nodded towards the blonde vampire.

"Him. That's him." that's all I had to say for her jaw to drop. But I had my eye on the short girl. From afar, she definately could have passed as fifteen, but I knew she was his girl. Somehow; but he hesitated as he walked towards her, his step faultering slightly, going unnoticed unless you looked for it. The way he looked at her, with fear in his eyes, he knew that she was breakable.

"That's Alice." Bianca whispered to me, also staring at the short one. "She's his mate, you don't wanna mess with that, girl. She's kind of like me, but a lot younger. And less developed." By the way she said it, I knew she meant it in more than one way. "Her power, I mean. And-"

"She's short." Jace said, cocking an eyebrow. "Seriously, really short."

Alice suddenly looked at us and sent the most threatening look a little girl could muster. Her eyes suddenly widened, and turned the look onto Jasper, who still was approaching, oblivious. Bianca stuck her tongue out at Alice, and I elbowed her before she saw.

For about a minute, they were both speaking in hushed tones, unheard. I strained to hear. When Alice pointed her little finger in our direction, I grabbed Jace's and Bianca's hands. "Take us to the library. Now." Suddenly, we were all in a fog, unable to move. We shot forward until we happened to be directly in the basement of the library, where we always hid to.

"That was him!" I shouted to Bianca, tears would have swelled in my eyes if I were a human. But a large lump gathered in my throat, and I was choking.

Instead of asking the obvious question, Jace ran to my side and began patting my hair back. "Calm down, mujer bella. I'm here, I'm here." His croonings began fading into spanish, fewer and fewer words were english. But they were sweeter that way. That way, it was Jace.

Bianca was whispering in spanish, too, trying to soothe me. I hadn't been like that since I found out I had became a vampire.

Jasper. He was back...had he ever left? I wanted to know how he somehow managed to be at Harvard, centuries later. He was a vampire; was his soft hands the same, the way they caressed me? Did his honey voice say my name the same way? Has he kept my heart with him, refusing to let go?

Wrong questions, I thought wearily. Did his soft hands hold her the same way? Did his honey voice say her name the way he had said mine so many times that night? Does he have her heart in the same place he held mine?

Author's note: Thanks for reading! Haha! Well, I'd like some suggestions on how the next chapter should go, and on future events for the story. I have some ideas, but I want to know what the audience thinks. Please comment!