England, 1920

Even in darkness the summer air was warm and balmy. Astoria closed her eyes and let the breeze wash over her. She smiled. Being stood with her eyes closed in the warm air was almost enough to be able to imagine that she was relaxing outside in the sunshine, lay on the grass, perhaps, walking hand in hand with a lover down towards the river. Of course, she hadn't done any of that in centuries, but it was nice to pretend now and then.

"Darling!" came an irritable voice from behind her and she scowled. "What are you doing? Don't just stand there! Our dinner won't catch itself!" exclaimed Charles. He offered her his arm and she took it somewhat reluctantly and they began walking together down the dark, desolate streets. After so much time spent alone, having a companion was going to take some getting used to.

England, 1929

To say that Charles had become a little obsessed with Astoria over the years would be an incredible understatement. He'd plagued her with gifts and invitations to 'dates' for over ten years prior to their relationship. Despite her constant rebuffs, Charles had been very persistent and eventually Astoria had caved. Not because she had grown to like him or she found his behaviour endearing but because her way of life ensured that companions were hard to come by. The solitude hadn't bothered her at first, she enjoyed it actually, but after a few years it became wearisome so when Charles had made his next offer, she had graciously accepted.

It was a decision that she still, to this day, wasn't sure had been a particularly good one.

Whilst he was a good hunting partner, he was also very jealous, possessive and territorial.

Astoria didn't like being considered a possession. She was a person. A vampire. She could look after herself, she'd done just that for over seven hundred years. Nobody owned her.

So why didn't she leave? Drive a stake through his heart for his trouble?

Because she enjoyed the companionship, and the thrill and satisfaction of the kill was more than enough to eclipse her resentment of him.

That was until he decided that, in order to prevent other men from making eyes at her, she would stay home whilst he went out and fetched their victims.

"How refreshingly sexist of you, Charles." she chided him when he made this suggestion.

"Come now, Astoria. I'm the man of the house, it's my job."

"Don't pretend this isn't a ploy to keep me locked up in the house so you don't have to run the risk of losing me."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"The only one who's being ridiculous is you, and quite frankly I've had enough. I'm leaving."

"You're what?"

"Leaving, running away, going it alone, however you want to phrase it."

Charles laughed uneasily. "I hope this is a joke, Astoria."

"Not at all," she'd already removed all her belongings from the house, so she was free to leave right then, an action which Charles did not take at all kindly to, "goodbye."

She made to pull open the door and he grabbed her arm, yanking her backwards. "Don't your dare turn your back on me, woman."

She pulled her arm out of his grasp and slapped him round the face. "I am not your property, Charles! I am older than you and therefore stronger. I think it's about time you showed me a little respect before I reach into your chest and pull out that heart of yours."

America, present day

Almost two weeks had passed since Kol's warning and nothing strange or out of the ordinary had happened, leading her to believe that Kol had in fact been trying to scare her.

She hadn't heard from Kol, either, since that day. Perhaps he'd realised how uninterested she was in him and his 'warning' had been his final attempt at irritating her.

Either way, she didn't care. Kol had stopped following her around and for that she was glad.

She was carefree, Lucy was doting over Steve, Steve was being unbearably annoying and all was right in the world again.

After an hour or two spent painting Lucy's living room (Steve had insisted that the pair of them do it without so much as an ounce of his help because they were vampires and would get it done much faster. In fact, they'd completed painting the room in under half an hour, but as far as Steve knew, it had taken them a couple of hours. When they'd finished they'd sat around and had some leisure time without Steve, who thought they were hard at work.

As much as she loved Steve, it was nice to have some time away from him, Lucy had admitted.

Upon arriving home, Astoria had taken a shower to wash away the specks of paint that had found its way onto her skin and into her hair. She'd dressed herself in a simple top and jeans and let her hair dry naturally into loose curls and was just leaning against the kitchen counter, considering her options for the night when a knock on the door interrupted her train of thought.

She made her way across the room and pulled open the door to find nothing and no one. She frowned but brushed it off. Maybe she'd misheard, or perhaps it was a bunch of kids messing around.

An hour and a half later, just as she was settling down on the couch after downing a substantial amount of blood, another knock sounded through the apartment.

She groaned; she was sure that when she pulled open the door she was going to find nothing, or someone she didn't want to talk to like a door-to-door sales person, but if she didn't answer it, it would bug her.

Unwillingly, she got up from her couch and made her way slowly to the door. She pulled it open with a sigh to find herself face to face with one of the last people she would have expected to find standing there.

"Charles!" she exclaimed in surprise.

Tall, blonde and imposing, Charles glowered at her unpleasantly. "Hello, Astoria." he said, pulling out a gun from underneath his coat and aiming it at her forehead. "Nice to see you."

He pulled the trigger and she was aware of nothing but the black smoke that seemed to engulf her.