Chapter 1

I was walking home from work. I'd taken the graveyard shift last night so it was just becoming dawn. Seattle is such a wonderful city. So full of diversity and hope for a brand new tomorrow. Working as a security officer for an art gallery isn't all that great, but I get to be around art and it's a great conversation starter. "What do you do for a living?" "I guard art." It's pretty awesome sometimes.

Never really any action until a client came in tonight asking to see her show set up before it was shown tomorrow night. Worried as ever, I'd seen her many times. Always at night with that one. She was always a worried mess that everything was perfect. And then there was the fact that she was currently following me down the street toward my apartment. I had roommates so it wasn't like it would go unnoticed when random people would follow me home. I mean it was such the way in some cities as big as Seattle. And even in a security guard uniform I still got the occasional creep who tried to jump me to come face to face with my taser. I hadn't gotten desperate enough yet to pull my pocket knife on anyone but it was there.

"Can I talk to you?" her voice was calmer than normal. It frightened me ever so slightly. This woman who was always a mess sounded normal, in control, almost dominant. And that was one thing that I didn't respond to was a call on my dominance. Call it instinct if you will but I've always had to been the one with the last say in the past. "Amy?"

I spun around at the sound of my name escaping her lips. "How do you know my name?" I asked.

"I'm in the gallery all too often not to know," her voice so sure of itself made me shiver.

"Okay, well what do you want? It's three in the morning and I was at work since noon yesterday," I grumbled.

"Can I get you some coffee? We really shouldn't discuss it in public," she said quietly.

"I shouldn't really be drinking coffee this late after a shift and before bed. If you want to get together before my shift later today that would be fine. I'm sure you've got my cell from the gallery, just give me a call after the sun has been up for at least three to four hours," I said turning to leave.

Before I knew what had happened she had my back pinned up against one of the alley walls, two blocks down from where we'd been standing only moments ago. "I really need to talk to you now, before the sun comes up," she hissed, "I can't just walk around in daylight when it's supposed to be not-a-cloud-in-the-sky-sunny."

"Fine, whatever. Don't get your panties in a twist," I barely breathed the word bitch but she had obviously heard me.

"I'm a vampire. We have a need to grow our families like any other species but we can't do it the same way as literally anything else on the planet. I'm offering you a place in my family," she said in such a rush I was glad I had adrenaline pumping through my veins or I wouldn't have caught half of what she'd said.

"A vampire really? I've heard things more original from people high trying to break in to the gallery. Vampires don't exist, now if you'll excuse me I need to get some sleep and seriously reconsider my job," I grumbled walking back to my building and riding the elevator up a couple floors. Floor 6 was mine, and my roommates' of course, but it was nice to hear the elevator open to my floor. That was until the redhead showed up standing in front of my door. "Seriously? What did you do take the stairs?"

"Actually I've been waiting here since you left me back in that alley pretty much. Vampire speed comes in handy when you're trying to catch prey, or in your case family," she was almost growling when she said the words.

"Okay, I'll play along. How about I don't want to be a vampire? Go find someone else, I mean why me?" I listed off the questions and statements I'd heard and seen in movies and books. She didn't seem fazed.

"Okay then," she scowled at me in a way that screamed hunter but was also very mother-has-been-told-her-kid-hates-her, "have it your way."

In a matter of seconds I was on the ground writhing in a burning pain. I couldn't help remembering the pain of the change into a vampire from the Twilight series, and then I cursed myself for thinking of that at a time of sure death. "What… did you… do… to… me?" I asked, my sentence beyond broken.

"I want you in my family. Consider this insurance that I get what I want," she leaned over and picked me up, or at least the floor was moving away from my very heavy head so I had to assume she'd picked me up, "Welcome to the family, Amy."

A/N: These chapters are going to all be very short so I'm sorry for that but the story will also be very short. Sorry that there's such a jump back from the prologue but it was so much of an attention getter I couldn't leave it out from the first spot. Well let me know what you think of this chapter. Do you want to see more of the pre-story or should I pick up from the end of the prologue? I'm doing full time college work so don't expect a new chapter for at least another week.