Wow! It's been a while - I am so sorry to everyone that's been waiting for anything of mine to be published. I got really wrapped up in reading JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I reccomend it highly, but be forewarned: yes, it is, indeed, smut. So know what you're getting into. But it's really good. Anyway! Here's Victoria! I hope I can continue with this story sooner, but because it's Victoria, it takes a peculiar mindset to actually write it. I hope I can stay in it for a bit longer anyway. :p Thanks again!

Chapter Twelve

James

I looked up minutes later after skimming the pages of the book. The church was empty. His scent lingered by the door.
Of course, I could chase him. I could hunt him and slay him. But I felt no such desire. The demon inside of me that burned for blood was quietly adhering to my will. For the moment, I reminded myself.

I had never learned of the vampire when I was younger. Vampyr, as some translations took to it. Blood drinking demons of the underworld; their only food source was that of the living. I touched the pages of the book lightly. The first half of the chapter had explained how the creatures did not truly exist – they were stories made up to frighten children into good behavior.

Some of the details listed in the second half of the chapter, however, made me wonder. Perhaps these creatures of myth truly did exist, but never interacted with humans other than to murder them. Who would there be to tell?

My eyes rose to look at the church door. Someone had known.

I opened the book again. Godlike speed, superhuman strength, extraordinary vision… they were all traits of the vampire. As was the blood drinking.

The vampire can read minds, I read. I paused. I had not yet, been able to read someone's mind. I could hear their whispered words, but that fell more into the extraordinary senses area. Perhaps only some vampires could read minds, or perhaps it was a skill developed later.

My mind wandered, and I stared up at the marble figure before me, lost in thought. Was I really one of these? Could I be living – or unliving, as the book suggested - proof that they exist?

It was not until I noticed the book moving that I realized my hands were trembling. I set the book down flat in my lap and pressed my hands together.

The whole idea was rather preposterous and my head was spinning from everything involved. The concept that I could be one of these horrid, fictional creatures was completely absurd. I would have laughed at the idea, if the traits described had not fit me so frighteningly well. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was a grain of truth to the idea. And if I were… one of these fiends, did that make me…

Immortal.

Could I truly not die?

It would explain the bullets turning to dust upon contact with my body.

For now, I would accept this explanation. The idea of being a monster of Hell was not nearly as ridiculous as some of the things I had discovered about myself. Until a more logical solution surfaced, I was… a vampire.

I had read through the book four times already, cover to cover, and skimmed some of the more important passages even more. From what the book said, blood was my food source now. I needed the life force of humans to sustain myself. I was indestructible to nearly everything. The sun would burn me, but bullets could not kill me. Garlic would weaken me, and if I let someone drive a wooden stake through my dead heart, he could end my life. Perhaps I would kill myself that way once I had destroyed the monster that had killed Charles.

Until then, I needed to avoid sunlight, stakes and garlic. I could handle that much. The holy water was questionable – after all, I was sitting in a church. I shut the book and tossed it onto the pew next to me. Standing up, I glanced around the church. Still alone. Not surprising.

Casting one look over my shoulder to the statue of Jesus, I paused. I felt a smile twitch at my lips.

"Maybe you do really listen to prayers," I murmured softly before turning away, feeling just a little more uplifted. Of course, the answers had both been dark and demented and had left more questions unanswered, but at least I had them now. I had figured out with my first blood craving that I was wicked. Even though the truth was horrifying, it was surprisingly comforting to be aware of it.

My hands grasped the handles to the church door, and in one swift moment I pulled both doors open quickly… …and flooded the room with bright sunlight.

I threw my hands up in front of my face – macabre images of melting, hissing, burning flesh flooded my mind. I growled softly, stumbling backward away from the doors, but it did no good. The entire room was lit up from the bright dawning sun. I winced and braced, waiting for the pain.

Perhaps the fire would take me so quickly I would not feel it. In answer to my question, I felt my skin warm slightly. It warmed, but never burned.

Very slowly, I opened my eyes. What I saw… was breathtaking.

All around me, tiny rainbows danced across the walls. Shimmers of light scattered across every wooden, worn and concrete surface in the building. It was as if the sunlight were dancing through a stained glass window. All the room was aglow with different spectral colors and shapes. I stared in awe at the beautiful shower of light around me.

As I lowered my arms from my face I noticed that the scattering diamonds started to dance. They moved, flickered, and some vanished and new ones appeared. Startled, I turned to face one of the walls. To my surprise, again, the diamonds started to spin. As a test, I held perfectly still. They did not move.

Slowly, I turned and looked down at myself. I did not burn in the sunlight. Quite the contrary. I stood glittering in the sunlight from the dawn streaming through the east-facing doors, looking more like a being that did belong in the church and less like the monster I was.

Every slope, twist and flex of my skin sent thousands of tiny rainbows scattering across the room. In a way, it was something like the underside of a seashell – the rainbow-like pattern reflecting light everywhere. However, no seashell could ever scatter light across the walls of the church like this. The sheen on my skin was like the opal-esque nature of the seashell, but the amount of light-throwing was akin to a large crystal. While my skin shimmered lightly as I turned, the rainbow shifting around across my skin, the large spots of light twisted and danced exotically on the wall.

Apparently, I did not burn in the sunlight, after all. I wondered vaguely how much of what people seemed to think about... vampires... was actually true. I still had difficulty using the word in my mind, let alone saying it aloud.

The garlic, then? And the stake? After witnessing the sunlight and the bullets turning to dust on contact with my body, I was beginning to doubt that a mere piece of wood could pierce me. What if the wooden stake could not kill me? What could? I knew I did want to die. Though powerful and breathtaking, this existence was hollow without Charles. I craved destruction to the creature that destroyed us. And then I craved my own destruction.

I shook off my own macabre thoughts. I had to focus. With purpose, I strode out into the blinding daylight. I would die, but not today, and not before I brought the beast to his knees.

Immortal.

Gasps and screams rose up around me. The people of the town who were awake with daybreak stopped in their tracks to watch me. Some fell to their knees, thinking me more of an angel walking out of a church, some fled, and some just stared.

One young woman started to approach me, and as she did her scent became very prominent. I felt hungry. When I focused my eyes on her, she stopped as if she were reconsidering. It was too late for her.

Within a second, I bounded across the ground between us and tackled the woman to the ground. I perched on top of her body as her figure went limp beneath mine. I listened, and her heart fluttered once and gave out.

Confused, I shifted her weight and realized her neck had been snapped when she hit the ground. The woman hadn't felt a thing, and nor would she. Perhaps I could kill humanely. Her blood was still warm, and with no hesitation, I leaned over her and bit down on her neck.

Hunger was satiated. My ears rang from the screaming and commotion that was flailing all around me. I did not raise my eyes. I closed them, vowing to enjoy every drop of her blood, and not to be distracted by anything else. The firearms had been little effective. What more could they do to me?

I had to work this time to get her life force out; I had to actually drink, since her young heart had given out already. I did not mind the extra work if it meant she could hurt a little less. When nothing was left, I carefully rose to my feet and looked around. Not a soul was left nearby.

I licked my lips and turned, without a second thought, began walking away from the church. My bare feet wandered along the dirt path, the hem of my evergreen gown trailing behind me regally. I let the wind toss my hair. Curled. Never again braided back tightly. I could not stop the smile that spread across my lips.

Au hazard, I turned to my right, heading into the town. I was feeling emboldened by my apparent lack of destructibility, and I wanted a new dress. I paused by shop windows, looking inside to see if anything caught my fancy. Everyone around me froze and watched as I passed by. When the wind was still, I did not notice their scents. If I could not smell them, I felt no desire to kill them.

Finding little of interest, I continued my way past the buildings and homes. Maybe in the next town. Or the one after. Was that what I was going to be reduced to? Wandering aimlessly from town to town? I had no idea how to go about finding another like me. …Another… another vampire.

My wanderings found me, again, outside a town, leaving destruction behind me. I walked, and walked, and walked. My mind wandered as aimlessly as my feet did. I did not stop moving until the sun fell behind the horizon. Once more, I found myself on the edge of yet another city. Did I dare go inside? Did I dare destroy another family? Steal another daughter? Kill another father?

I exhaled slowly. I tipped my head up to the darkening heavens, letting the wind push my hair out of my face. I did not want this life. I did not ask for this. All I wanted was my freedom. Irony nibbled at the back of my mind.

This is your freedom.

A freedom unlike any other. I had been content with my freedom with Charles. Perhaps I had wished too hard for freedom, and the Universe had delivered all it could offer.

Unlimited freedom.

Freedom from man.

Freedom from pain.

Freedom from life.

Freedom from death.

I would not go. I turned away from the torch lamps and glittering yellow flickering up from the huddle of homes. Instead, I turned and began to make my way past the outcropping of human existence.

I heard a sickening crash in the distance, and casually I tilted my head toward the town. The sound did not come from the town. It was coming from the darkness in front of me. Cautiously, I began moving toward the noise, curious.

A growl sounded, followed by a high-pitched squeal. And… a curse? My pace quickened slightly, but I was very wary. Snarling. Another crash. Before me, a tree shuddered before splinters fell away from it. I approached the tree cautiously, reaching out to touch it.

Carefully, I peered around the tree. In a clearing, beyond, two men were circling each other. Like predators. One was smaller with black hair. The other as taller, with blondish hair, tied back at the nape of his neck. His back was to me, so I looked into the face of the other man.

His red eyes flickered to me briefly before looking back to the other man. Red.

One of them was like me.

I watched, holding my breath, as they continued to circle. The smaller launched himself at the larger, snarling. Another crash sounded as their bodies collided and went tumbling, crashing into and splintering another tree. The taller kicked him off and, with lightning movement that was indicative of a second like me, he was on the other side of the small space between the trees.

If my heart still beat, it would have been pounding. Fear and awe coursed through me as I took two steps backward into the shadows to watch the two men fight. Here, before me, were two creatures like me. There were more like myself, cursed to this hell. They moved like me, they acted like me, and even though I could only assume they were of the same second birth that I was, I knew that they were like me – they were vampires, too.

As exciting as it was to cross paths with another, it was also terrifying. They snarled and circled, baring their teeth and hissing. If one fell, would the champion turn on me next? Were we not made to coexist? Part of me wished to flee the terrible battle before me, part of me wished to stay and watch. The latter instinct won over, and I settled further back among the foliage to watch.

The darker-haired man slammed a balled fist into the taller one and catapulted him across the small area. I skirted to one side to avoid being in the way and as I glanced over my shoulder at the fallen blond, my world slowed to a stop.

I truly believe that somewhere, deep inside my dead body, my resting heart thumped once.

"Charles..." I whispered softly.

His features were a little sharper, his nose a little straighter, and most certainly his eyes were not the same for they were red like my own. His hair was the same – I had not noticed him until I had seen his face.

"Charles," I spoke a little louder, trying to catch his attention. He grunted in pain, picking himself up off the ground as the dark haired man charged at him. An ear-splitting crack sounded as Charles' elbow connected with the other man's stomach. He got to his feet as his opponent splayed across the ground. He didn't move.

"Charles," even louder. Charles startled and turned to look at me, giving me a rather peculiar look. I stared into his confused, vacant eyes and a cool breath flushed through my insides, turning what remaining warmth was left to ice.

"You are not Charles," I murmured, my mouth feeling a little dry and my arms feeling a little numb. The hair at the base of my head tickled slightly, slowly standing up on end as the Charles-looking predator turned his full attention on me. Slowly, fluidly, his shoulders rocked backward into a catlike stance.

I swallowed. Would it not be fitting for me to be attacked and killed by someone I had mistaken for my lost lover? Perhaps it would be less cruel – I could at least pretend to be with Charles as he stole my life, one last condolence.

"No, that's not my name," he spoke after a moment. His voice was rough – not at all like Charles' had been – and a bit graveled, perhaps from the fighting. There was a faint accent, from the south of America, perhaps.

"I am... sorry. I thought I knew you," I murmured, watching his weight rock back and forth warily.

His dry lips curled up at the corners in a smile. Perhaps I would not die today, I thought idly.

A soft scattering of leaves drew both our attention quickly, but his was far too late. I looked just in time to see the second man launch himself into my awkward new acquaintance.

I watched, horrified, as the monster reared back, bared his teeth and bit into the Charles-twin's shoulder. He howled in pain in response and twisted, trying to get free from his iron grasp.

I found myself touching my shoulder where the bullets had turned to dust. Perhaps we were not invincible – not to our own, anyway. I touched the teeth just past my lips. Could I truly bite through something that had withstood bullets?

A crack sounded as the dark haired man popped one of the blond's legs. I could not tell if it was a dislocation or a break. I did not know if my teeth were as strong as his, nor did I really think of what I was doing. I was just acting. Some deep part of me still wanted to protect this blond, as if he truly were Charles.

In the time it would take a heartbeat to elapse, I had my arm around the dark-haired vampire's neck. He was much taller than me and as he snarled and started to rise off of the blond, I felt my feet dangle in the air. I wrenched my weight backward, pulling him off balance by the neck. The dirt filtered up around us as we crashed into the earth, and temporarily I could not see. I panicked, trying to get out of his reach before he found me.

As the dust settled, I became aware of a stillness. No movement. I looked across the way, and the Charles-like fellow was sitting on top of the dark-haired vampire's body. Just his body. With mounting squeamish horror, I saw the blond holding the decapitated head. He was tossing it up and down contemplatively like a ball, watching me.

"You know, we make a pretty good team," he murmured lowly before setting the head on the ground next to the body. He kicked the body off of me, letting the form crumple awkwardly. Standing slowly, he took a flint from his pocket and struck it. Flame came to life, and he dropped it on to the body. Fire erupted around the form and I coughed as a peculiar violet-colored smoke filled the area. It smelled putrid.

The man came over to me and extended his hand down to me. Carefully, I took it, and let him display the unusual act of gentlemanly behavior as he helped me to my feet. Still arm in arm, he led me away from the corpse, and I willingly followed.

"So what's your name?" His deep red eyes flickered across my face briefly, glanced down once to my bodice and glanced back up to my eyes approvingly. Had I been human, my face would have turned scarlet.

"Victoria," I said after a moment. I had yet to decide if I were irritated by his boldness or empowered by it. He nodded once, running a hand through his dirty blond hair.

"I'm James," he said after a minute.

He smiled.

I smiled.

Perhaps I had found a companion, after all.