Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.
Chapter 2
Caius roamed the narrow streets of Volterra. Everything was dark, only illuminated by the moon and an old street light every now and then.
It was a beautiful night. Cool and clear. When he looked up he could see dozens of stars in the sky.
A slight breeze played with his platin blond hair. Decades ago he would have enjoyed a night like this. Just sitting beneath the stars, thinking about the world.
But no longer. So many things had changed since then.
He turned around another corner making his way to the town centre shaking his head slightly as if to get rid of the nostalgia.
A movement to his right made him stop and turn his head. A door opened and a boy and a girl stepped out of a building. They were laughing and joking around loudly as they disappeared into the night.
Caius grimaced at their behaviour. "Humans," he thought disparagingly. Then turned his head back to the building they had come out from.
It was a pub, obviously. An old sign hanging over the entrance announced its name in large letters. The paint was already flaking peeling off but he could still read the two words.
The Glory
He took a look at the rest of the building. It seemed equally as old as the sign. Through the windows flooded warm yellow light and he could hear laughter and music from inside.
He had never seen this one before.
"It must be new."
And judging by the voices that reached his vampire hearing it was full of students from the university round the corner.
The obvious British vibe the pub was giving off made him curious. It was like nothing he had ever been to before around here.
And young student girls would be an easy target. All in all it was exactly what he was looking for tonight.
Without another thought he pushed the door open and entered.
The pub consisted of one large room made out of wooden boards. Tables of different sizes were scattered across the room, all of them occupied with two or more people.
Most of them were sipping at their drinks, chatting happily with each other. The air was filled with laughter, music and the sound of beer bottles being placed on wooden ground.
Every last one of those people were students, no doubt.
Caius tore his gaze from the people sitting on the tables and took in the rest of the room. On the left wall were two doors apparently leading to the restrooms. The right side of the room was occupied by a small stage, which was most likely meant for little acts or something but it was empty at the moment.
And right across the room was the bar. A few mortals were leaning against it or sitting on high chairs, drinking to each other and talking.
He made his way across the room, leaned against the bar and ordered something to drink from the guy behind the bar.
"Straight scotch."
The guy, a tall man with three-day beard, probably the only adult in the pub, just nodded and disappeared.
Caius turned his head to examine the females in the room. Looking for his prey.
Some of them looked pretty young. Too young for his taste.
Others, however, matched his physical age but were way too modern for him. All this make-up the girls nowadays were wearing. It was like their faces were painted.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
A glass was placed on the bar in front of him. "Looking for someone to hook up with?" a female voice asked.
He turned his head back around.
In front of him, behind the counter, stood a girl he hadn't noticed before.
She was tall and slim to the point of being skinny and she wore a black top with thin straps and a v-collar which was decorated with black lace. It looked quite sexy although it didn't show too much cleavage.
Her brown hair was cut into a short bob and a fringe which complimented her brown eyes and her high cheekbones perfectly.
Her lips were curved into a grin as she examined Caius' face.
"Oh my," she laughed, "you really are, aren't you?"
Caius just kept starring at her, dumbfounded by her bluntness.
"Well, just in case you don't find a willing victim, blondie over there flirts with everything that doesn't wear a skirt," the girl nodded towards a girl standing not far from them.
He turned his head and looked at said girl. She was tall, blond, wore clothes that were either too tight or too short and fitted pretty much every cliché he had ever heard about blondes.
The girl was right, she was the kind of girl who would be easily seduced. But something made him turn back to the girl behind the counter.
He raised his brows and took the glass with the scotch in one hand.
"I can't see you wearing a skirt. Why isn't she flirting with you?"
Why the hell had he said that? It sounded like something one of those pathetic mortal boys would say.
Yet, the girl didn't seem to mind. She just tilted her head and kept smiling thoughtfully.
"Maybe I am wearing a skirt. It's not like you can see anything below my bellybutton. I could be standing here wearing a kilt for all you know."
A grin played at the corner of his mouth and he struggled to get the muscles in his face back under control.
What was wrong with him? What was she doing?
"I don't believe one word you say," he took a sip of his drink.
"Well, if it doesn't work out with blondie over there you can always come and check at the end of my shift."
She flashed one last smile at him and turned away towards a boy who had just showed up at the bar, all the while carefully avoiding to reveal what she was wearing below her waistline.
Caius couldn't take his gaze from her. How very strange she was.
The way she moved and talked, the way she had grinned at him. She had almost made him smile. No one had managed this in ages.
And here she was, a mortal girl almost making him smile within the blink of an eye.
He kept watching her as she talked to the boy. He seemed to be a friend of hers. They were arguing about whether he could copy her notes for history.
"No, Dean. Take your own bloody notes for Christsake!"
So she was a student. He wondered what her name was.
"Wait! What are you thinking?!", he scolded himself. He was here for one reason and one reason only.
And yet, this girl was... different. She had stirred something in him.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it but something about her fascinated him. Made him curious.
She didn't strike him as the kind of girl that would fall for some endearing words whispered into her ear.
Cautiously he took another sip of scotch. The beast inside him was up for a challenge.
"Let's see how long it will take me to get her."
