Author's Note: I apologize for how long it's taken to post this next chapter. Our family is finally settling in over here on the other side of the world (from most of you, anyway). Enjoy!

September 1920

I slept fitfully that night, waking often. I kept having nightmares about burning, red eyes and sharp, glistening teeth. When I woke shivering in my small, cold room I felt even more desolate than usual with the weight of this latest revelation on my mind. I tried to cheer myself with the one piece of good news from last night.

We would be escaping soon. Just one more day in this horrid place and I would be out.

Of course I didn't forget that my life was in danger and I had an important decision to make. Alaric seemed very sure that I couldn't survive for much longer as a human. Since this other one decided to make me his latest quarry that left me with only two options. I could die as a human or live as a vampire.

That made it sound so simple; too simple. I knew that life was almost always more complicated than that.

If I did ask Alaric to change me into a vampire there would definitely be a lot of hardships ahead. He'd said that being a vampire would make me very thirsty for humans; so thirsty that I would gladly feed on the people dearest to me; so thirsty that I would kill Dee just to satisfy my desire for her blood.

I shuddered and redirected my thoughts.

I wouldn't ever be able to have children. I didn't have any desire to be a mother just yet. My life had been much too complicated for me to even consider the possibility for the past two years. But I knew that didn't mean I would never want to have a baby. Alaric said that he had lived for over a millennia and he still looked like a young god. A thousand years is a long time. It would be silly to think that it was impossible, or even unlikely, that I would never want a child of my own in all that time.

And, on top of that there was the pain of transformation to be considered. Alaric had said that he was longing for death the entire time he was changing. I didn't know how long the transformation would take, but it sounded like it was more than just a few seconds. And it sounded like it hurt… a lot.

I spent a few hours considering these things, weighing them against the possibility of death.

My family didn't really attend church regularly. We would go for Christmas Eve and Easter. We went to the church once for my cousin's funeral after he was killed in the war. From the small knowledge I'd gleaned from my experiences I understood that if I died I would go to Heaven. That didn't seem so bad. Not that I wanted to die; of course I didn't. But I didn't see death as the ultimate evil in the world. Mere infants faced death every day, why should I balk if it was my time to go?

The sun was high in the sky, streaming brightly through my window. The clear, bright day was in stark contrast to the storm we'd had two nights ago. My mind wandered to the events of that stormy night and trembled.

The dangerous vampire outside had said that he would do anything to get to me. How good could I possibly smell that he would want to drink my blood so badly? But, no, Alaric had explained that it wasn't entirely about my blood. It was about the sport; the same way a fox hunter would spend a great deal of energy and money on equipment, training their hounds, risking their lives with dangerous horsemanship, and wasting an entire day just to hunt one little fox.

So if it weren't really about me, then what would he do if Alaric spoiled the game for him?

I didn't know much about this dangerous vampire or the world in which these mythical beings lived. But I couldn't help thinking of what would happen if a weak but well-intentioned child interfered with one of the cruel games of the school bully. He'd get pummeled.

My heart started beating faster when I thought of that. What if, by saving me, Alaric was risking his own life? He'd said the other one was… not stronger than he was… but more dangerous, more skilled in fighting. So if my metaphor applied, my friend would probably be attacked. And he would probably lose that fight.

My insides clenched and my throat tightened at the thought.

No. If that was how things were I couldn't let it happen. Alaric had been such a good friend to me, there was so much goodness in this ancient being; I couldn't let him sacrifice himself for me.

I suddenly heard a commotion outside. There was screaming and shouting that didn't sound like the usual wailing of my fellow inmates.

I crept to my door and stood on my tiptoes to peek out the narrow barred window. The hallway was empty, but I could see a gray haze creeping along the ceiling. It smelled like smoke.

In a flash, bright red eyes obstructed my view.

"I'm coming in," Alaric said.

I stepped back from the door and he entered, very swiftly.

"We must go. Now."

"Now?" Before I finished saying the word he'd scooped me up in his arms and we were facing the door.

"I'm not supposed to be here right now, and you're not supposed to be leaving. So it would be best if nobody saw us, wouldn't you agree?" He spoke the words so swiftly I almost couldn't follow what he was saying. He was peeking out the door, looking down the hall towards the clamor of shouting people in the smoke.

"Did you start a fire?"

"Yes."

And suddenly we were flying down the hallway at an impossible speed. He took me to the far end of the hall and down a dark stairway that looked to have been used only by the asylum staff.

Then we were outside. He carried me along the wall, within the thin strip of shade provided by the building. His skin looked strange in the indirect light of the bright, sunny day.

In mere seconds he was carrying me into another room. It was a large, white room with a cement floor, narrow steel tables, and strange tools hanging from racks on the wall. The floor was slightly slanted and there was a drain in the corner by the wall that led to the outside. I looked around, not understanding what this room was. It was remarkably clean, compared to most of the other rooms I'd seen.

Alaric set me gently on my feet and opened a closet.

"What is this place?"

"This is where I do much of my work."

I looked around more. The metal tables with metal gutters around their rims, the stacks of white sheets in racks along the walls, the oversized sinks and cabinets...

Alaric found what he was looking for, an enormous coil of rope. He wrapped it over his head and beneath his left arm, then picked me back up and carried me out through the large double doors.

"That was the morgue, wasn't it?"

"Yes," he admitted, his tone neutral but strained.

I shuddered slightly.

We paused at the edge of the shade provided by the building. Alaric stared up at the windows; smoke now pouring out of every one of them.

"Is the building going to burn?"

"It shouldn't. The fire was well contained in one room. It's only creating a lot of smoke."

I almost felt disappointed that the asylum wouldn't be destroyed. Then I remembered all the other patients in there who probably wouldn't make it out alive if it were.

After a few more moments of standing perfectly still, watching the windows, Alaric darted forward. He moved so suddenly that my head whipped back and bashed into his stone-hard shoulder.

I cringed in pain, gritting my teeth and squeezing my eyes closed, waiting for my ears to stop ringing.

"Alice! Are you hurt? I'm terribly sorry!" Alaric exclaimed over the wind he was creating by running so swiftly.

I groaned softly. "I think I'm okay."

And then I opened my eyes.

I was speechless. I literally couldn't put any words together in my head for what I was seeing.

Alaric was carrying me at a much swifter pace than any automobile I'd ever been in. The trees on the side of the old dirt road we were using darted past us at a mind-blowing speed.

But what really affected me was his face. We were flying over the ground in direct sunlight now. His face, turned down to me with an expression of profound concern, was sparkling, glimmering like it was made of millions of tiny diamonds. From what he'd told me that was almost exactly the truth. His shoulder-length jet-black hair was blown back by the wind. His eyes, brighter red than I had ever seen them before, burned down into mine.

"Are you certain that I haven't hurt you?" he asked in an even voice, not even breathing hard from the running.

He probably thought my dumbfounded expression was a result of head trauma.

I blinked a few times. "I'm okay, really. I've just never seen you in the sun before."

"That's right." He almost smiled. "I'd forgotten. My mind is a bit preoccupied today. The effect is rather remarkable, isn't it?"

"It is." I wanted to stare closely at his skin, to see if I could distinguish the individual facets reflecting the light, but looking into his face for very long overwhelmed me.

He ran in silence for a while; the wind whipping through his hair and roaring in my ears. I shivered in the cold. I was only wearing the one-piece nightgown that the asylum provided for me. And being pressed up against Alarics chilly body certainly didn't help me stay warm.

After about a quarter hour I started to smell the briny scent of the ocean.

"What are we doing?" I asked over the roaring wind. I couldn't hear my voice, but Alaric could.

He slowed to a walk, then stopped and set me down again.

"First you need to tell me what you've decided," he answered. His tone was almost scolding.

"I…I'm not sure."

Alaric…growled at me. There was no other way to describe the terrifying noise rumbling in his chest. I quaked in fear.

"There is no more time for hesitation, Alice. If you do not decide now, he will decide for you!"

"I know. But…"

"What?"

"But if you change me… What if that makes him angry? What if he decides to hurt you…or kill you because of it?"

He looked stunned. "That's all you're worried about?"

"Well, not all…"

He was suddenly right in front of me, his hands on my shoulders, eyes burning into mine.

"Don't you to worry about that. Do you understand what I'm saying? I need you to consider your options and tell me what it is you want. Don't worry for me."

Looking into his eyes, hearing how he spoke, something about it made me think that he'd known losing his life was a possibility all along. And he didn't care. My throat tightened up again.

"Tell me, Alice! Please! Tell me what you want!" he nearly shouted, shaking me slightly.

"I… I want to live! I don't want him to get me. I want you to change me!" I sobbed, closing my eyes. Tears started trickling down my cheeks.

I heard him gasp. Then he sighed heavily and pulled me to him in a very gentle embrace.

"Thank you!" he breathed. His icy breath tickled on my neck.

The next thing I knew he was darting around the forest, moving very swiftly, I heard loud snaps and cracks and saw that he was methodically felling the trees around me.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to build you a raft."

I watched him in amazement. He was ripping up the forest as though the trees were nothing more than matchsticks.

"Why are you building me a raft? Are we sailing to Africa?"

"No," he answered, snapping the trunk of a tree in two with his bare hands.

"If you're on the water it will be harder for him to find you. You won't leave a scent trail."

"Oh." Like a bloodhound, I guessed.

I continued to watch him. Even though he was working impossibly fast it still took a while for the raft to be completed. I sort of dozed off for a bit, and when I woke I was surprised to see the remarkable craftsmanship of his creation.

He'd somehow hewn the fresh timber into thick boards, complete with notches for his rope to wrap around. He'd expertly lashed the wood together with his rope and tied it securely. The finished raft looked remarkably sturdy.

He lifted the raft with one hand and walked to me. Easily carrying the weight of three trees in his right arm he lifted me into his left. He carried the raft and me a little way further, over the last hill to the waterfront. He set me down and laid the raft out into the gentle waves. In the orange-red light of evening his skin sparkled like gold.

"Come, Alice!" he called, holding the raft steady for me. I walked down to the water's edge and stepped onto the wooden planks.

Just then Alaric's head whipped to the side and he hissed. It was an incredibly threatening sound. My heart raced and I trembled, even though he was clearly not directing his anger at me.

"He's near," Alaric growled. "Hold on."

I lay down on the raft and gripped the edges. He pushed my little vessel out into the waves. When it was too deep for him to walk anymore he swam, gradually increasing his speed until the wind was blowing against me, the waves sprayed into my face. The sky was turning pink and purple behind us. The sun had just set.

"We don't have long, but I must explain this to you now. I believe the only option at this point is for me to erase your memory."

"No!"

"Please, be silent Alice. He may soon be able to hear us. And that is the crux of the situation. If you are unable to remain silent during the transformation, erasing your memory is the only alternative. That way you will be immobilized and anesthetized during the procedure. If I'm unable to stall this young one long enough… If he were to hear you he could find you easily. And, even though scent does not travel well on water, sound is another matter."

"I'll be quiet. I won't make any noise," I whispered, urgently. "Just, please don't take away my memories."

He stopped paddling and hopped up onto the raft next to me.

"You don't know what it is you're getting yourself into, Alice. It may not be possible for you to remain silent. This level of pain… it's unlike anything you've ever experienced before."

"Let's just try then. Please?"

He sighed heavily. When he spoke again his voice was dark. "We can try. But if you make a sound I will have to do what is necessary to keep you alive."

Moisture was starting to build in my eyes again. It was almost time. I could feel it.

"If I must go to that extreme, I promise to leave as much of your memory as possible. And, if I am able to, I will find you when this is over and tell you anything you wish to know."

"If?"

His eyes flashed up, scanning the distant shore. Then he grabbed my shoulders and lay me down on the wood. He loosened some ends of the rope and began tying me down to the raft.

"If I'm not able to come to you, you must rely on your visions to guide you. Remember that, if you can. Follow your visions, let them guide you along safe paths."

"My visions? But, Alaric…"

"When this is over your mind will be healed. Your brain has suffered injury during your procedures at the asylum. But vampire venom heals all injuries. You will see your visions again, Alice, better than before."

I almost felt like I would cry, hearing this news. It almost made this whole mess worthwhile.

Alaric had tied me to the raft at my wrists, my torso, and my ankles. Now he leaned over me.

"This is your last chance to change your mind, Alice."

"Go ahead, I'll be quiet," I promised.

He looked very sad. He rested his palm against my cheek for a moment and it looked as though he would be crying if that were possible.

"When this is over, I believe you will not remember me at all. And I also believe that this is the last time I will ever see you. So, for this one moment, I want you to know something. You should know that you've touched an ancient, stone-cold heart and made it come alive in impossible ways. I love you, Alice. And I'm sorry… for everything that you've been through because of me."

I was so stunned that I couldn't speak for a moment. I wanted to say so many things at once that they all jammed together in my mind and none of them came out. I wanted to say that I certainly would remember him, because I was going to keep quiet and he wouldn't have to erase my memory. I wanted to say that he had better not go off and die fighting to protect me. I wanted to say that none of this was his fault. It was my own fault for not taking his offer when he wanted to help me escape in the first place. And, most of all, I wanted to say… to tell him that I also loved him.

But before any of those things could finally escape my lips, Alaric pushed my chin aside, exposing my throat. He leaned in and I felt his icy teeth grazing against my neck. I caught one strong whiff of his delicious spicy scent and then I felt a sharp jab of pain.

I gasped but then clamped my lips. I couldn't make a sound; I had to remember that.

It felt as though someone had stuck me with a branding iron. I could see what he meant about the pain.

It burned terribly. And he was still at my throat. The pain started to spread up my neck, growing even stronger. I stifled a moan and writhed against my restraints.

Alaric finally released my throat. It felt sort of like he licked the skin there, but the burning pain there made me unsure of that. And it was growing stronger.

I writhed more, forcing my mouth shut and willing myself to stay silent. It almost felt like my skin was on fire, and it was spreading further. My neck, my head, and down into my torso were all blazing, as hot as an iron, as hot as a stove, and spreading further.

The pain spiked and I couldn't contain it any longer. I screamed in agony.

The fire was growing even hotter. Hotter than anything I could think of. I couldn't think. My mind was entirely consumed with pain. There wasn't room for anything else.

"Kill me! Please, kill me!" My eyes were open, I thought, but I couldn't see past the pain. It was spreading down into my legs now. Like I was being burned alive.

I was sort of aware when my head was immobilized. A tiny fraction of my mind remembered that Alaric was with me and could do something about the pain.

Then the pain receded a little. I could think a little clearer. Alaric was with me. I wasn't able to keep silent so was going to erase my memory. No! I'd failed!

The pain receded a little more. I felt sort of drowsy. I could see him now, leaning over me. His hands were on either side of my face. I remembered what he'd said just before he bit me. He was going to go sacrifice himself as a diversion to keep me alive.

"Don't go," I whispered, pleading. "Don't let him kill you, please. I love you, too."

"I'm sorry, Alice," he whispered back, almost choking on the words.

I felt a heavy wave of lethargy wash over me. I fought it. I didn't want to forget. Alaric was going to go fight to keep me alive and probably get himself killed. I didn't know what I could do to change that but I wasn't about to just give up without a fight.

Another wave of lethargy crashed over me. I was in an agony of sorrow. But I felt almost disembodied. It was hard to concentrate on anything. The sensation grew stronger. I couldn't quite recall what was going on. I knew that Alaric was changing me into a vampire and he was doing something to ease the pain. And I knew I was very sad about something. I didn't seem to be in much pain at the moment but I remembered it. I certainly hoped that whatever he was going to do to keep me from being in pain again would work.

And then I was drifting. I couldn't tell what was up or down, if it was dark or light, if I was warm or cold... I was frightened, and sad... very, very sad...