Author's Note: Just so none of you are confused at first: this chapter is written in Alaric's point of view. Enjoy!

September, 1920

Thick, rich, living blood pumped hot and wet into my mouth. The sensation was indescribably beautiful. I swallowed deeply and concentrated, trying to resist the instinct that drove me to continue drinking, gorging myself until there was nothing left.

It was a great challenge to release the throat at my lips and pull away, but somehow I managed it. A stream of blood spurted from the wound, wasting onto the steel embalming table and trickling into the gutter.

I returned for another attempt, drinking in delicious gulps of fresh blood only to tear myself away after a few seconds. I was practicing, only it felt more like torture.

I was breaking the rules. Not the rules laid out for my kind by the Italians, nor even the rules set forth by my human employer. I was breaking Carbo's rules, my own rules. I was taking a life, and not for the last time.

The elderly man on my table was suffering from a deadly case of pneumonia. His lungs were almost completely filled with fluid and every breath he took was agonizing. If I hadn't gotten to him he would be dead in a matter of hours anyway. Doctor Gorton had known this, as well. He'd told me to do whatever I could to "ease this man's passage" as he put it. We had several patient fatalities in the past few days and needed to ship their bodies to their families. It would be cheaper for the asylum to ship them all at once than to wait for the dying to die and send them in a separate shipment. And Doctor Gorton always looked after his own welfare before the welfare of his patients. Admittedly that was one of the reasons I'd chosen to work under him. I'd known there would be many deaths, an abundance of blood to satisfy my thirst. But actively taking a life was never a light decision for me.

I would be taking two more lives before the day was over. However, I looked forward to those killings with eager anticipation.

I released the man again, panting in the effort that small act required. His blood was weakening; he was nearly gone. The man lay motionless on the cold steel slab, his breathing shallow, his eyes closed peacefully. I fervently hoped this meant he was not in any pain. I'd wiped his mind clean before bringing him to this room. If I abandoned him now he would be asleep for a very long time. And then when he woke he would remember nothing, not how to speak, nor eat, not able to recognize anything he saw, nor even be able to distinguish himself from his surroundings. He would know even less about the world than a newborn baby. He would also be a vampire.

Even now I heard his heart picking up pace, beginning the transformation.

I returned to his throat again, gulping down the last of his blood. His heart stopped. He was deceased.

I licked the wound at his throat, sealing it closed with venom, and then began preparing his body for shipment.

Vampire venom makes a superior embalming fluid. This man's body would look and smell much better than the others, which I treated in the usual way: draining their blood into buckets before replacing it with formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol.

I placed the four bodies in simple pine caskets and loaded them into the hearse. I was supposed to be taking the next two days to personally escort the bodies to their families. But, instead I'd hired others to do the job. I had my alibi, which was all that was needed.

I hopped into the hearse and drove out into the night. It was very early in the morning when I arrived at the nearly empty train station. I met my contact, a young man of about seventeen, and went over the paperwork with him. He seemed a bit inexperienced but everything was in order for him. Each of the caskets was marked and the addresses of the families were clearly written in the paperwork. There should be no problem. I paid the man handsomely and left, hastening back to the asylum before the sun could rise.

When I returned I had to remain well hidden. None of the other staff could be aware of my presence amongst them. I was supposed to be away and everyone knew it.

First I glided down the lower corridor in the east wing, to a room that had become very familiar to me in the past three years. I peeked into the narrow, barred window of room one-nineteen.

The girl was in her bed, curled in a ball under her blankets. She tossed and whimpered in her sleep. I didn't want to imagine what nightmares haunted her this night. This would be the last night her heart beat, her last chance to sleep and dream. Tomorrow she would be one of us or…

I shook my head. It hurt to think such thoughts. If she didn't choose to accept my offer… how could I continue to exist when I had failed to protect her? My whole existence would be a nightmare of a nature that would put whatever monsters roamed now in her head to shame.

I gazed at her for a moment longer, then moved stealthily downstairs into the morgue. I grabbed a large leather satchel, filling it with glass bottles of flammable chemicals, two pistols, and a lighter. One of the pistols was legally purchased and registered to Doctor Gorton; the other was stolen.

Now I simply needed to hide and wait for my opportunity.

I would have chosen to act sooner, I needed time to free the girl, after all, but the doctor had a meeting scheduled for three thirty in the afternoon. I happened to know that the man he intended to meet with was Mr. Matranga. And I desperately wanted to catch them together, alone.

I hid in the shadows, moving quickly through the halls when they were empty. I paused once in front of the girl's door again and peeked in. She was sitting on her bed, deep in thought. It seemed that she never read her books anymore. I wondered if perhaps that was a symptom of the damage the shock therapy and drugs were doing to her mind. Or perhaps it was a symptom of depression.

She shuddered once. In response to something she was thinking? Or was she cold?

I didn't dare knock and enter her room, though I would have liked to. I had a mission to complete first and the girl had a way of distracting me.

I rushed down the hall as swiftly as I could and hid. I waited motionless and silent in the deep shadow in the corner beneath the stairs. After an hour Doctor Gorton entered the building. He bid a gruff good-morning to a passing nurse and went into his office.

I waited and listened. There was still one more fly that must land in my web before I could act.

The doctor made a few phone calls. He was speaking to his lawyers. The asylum was up for audit and the doctor was very concerned about the recent streak of fatalities among his staff and patients. It was nearly noon when he received a phone call that would greatly disappoint me.

"Ah, Matranga!" he answered into the receiver, feigning a pleasant demeanor. My fist clenched involuntarily. "Yes, of course we can re-schedule… Wednesday will be satisfactory, the same time as usual. I'll be sure to have a bottle of Hennessey and a box of Cubans ready… Yes, of course… I will see you then." He hung up.

So… Matranga would not be here today. I clenched my teeth in frustration. I had so wanted to end that man, to make him pay for every bit of suffering he'd caused in that poor girl's life, to prevent him from polluting the world any further with his existence. Wednesday would be too late. There was no helping it.

I rose and stalked out of the shadows, heading straight for the doctor's office. I opened the door without knocking and entered. Doctor Gorton looked up in surprise when he saw me.

"What the devil are you doing here?" he demanded. "Weren't you supposed to be escorting those patients back to their families?"

"They will make it back safely. I have business here that needs to be attended to." My voice was quiet as I thought over my next actions. Things had changed. I would not need both pistols anymore. Perhaps I wouldn't need either. And I wanted to make sure this man knew the motives behind my actions. He needed to know why.

"Well, I suppose that will have to do, then. If you have the time, please assist Nancy in the library with organizing the patient files. We must have everything in perfect order when the auditor arrives, damn them."

I cocked my head slightly at the request. "You're concerned about the auditor finding your asylum lacking. Things seem to have gone downhill in the past few weeks, haven't they? I wonder at your surprise, though."

"Of course I'm concerned. First a mysterious representative from some non-existent hospital abducts six of our patients and we can't find any trace of them. And then our staff and patients start disappearing, only to show up as butchered carcasses, and we can't track down the damned beast responsible. And four patient fatalities in the past three days! I wouldn't be surprised if they shut us down, Dwight." He shook his head, despondent.

"But, Doctor, surely you know," I reached behind myself and locked the door, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. "If you make a deal with the Devil, all Hell will break loose. And yet… you don't even recognize it when it walks through your door and stands before you."

His heart started pounding faster. My mouth watered in anticipation.

"What are you talking about?" he stammered, backing away from me. He was looking into my face, into my deep red eyes. I smiled at him, showing my glistening venom-coated teeth. He should be afraid. How afraid was the girl when he strapped her to his table and injected her with poisons, nearly killing her?

"You made a deal with Matranga, Doctor. Don't insult me by pretending otherwise. You took in a patient, not with the intention of curing her, but with the intention of helping a known criminal enslave her. You took her from her family; you locked her in a cell; you drugged her and electrocuted her; you nearly killed her. You would have if I hadn't intervened."

He had his back to the wall now, trembling in fear. But he tried to regain his courage.

"You? Interfering with my patients without permission?"

"Silence, fool!" I spat at him. He still didn't know how much I knew, or what I intended to do.

"When you drugged her that first time, how easily did Matranga convince you to leave her alone with him? Did he pay you more for the benefit of deflowering a helpless, innocent, dying girl? Surely you knew that is what he intended to do with her. He couldn't exert his will over her mind, so he would have his way with her body!"

The doctor was a broken man, now. His back pressed into the wall, trembling and cowering in fear as I stepped closer. Vengeance had come for him. He could feel it.

"My one regret," I growled. "Is that I am not going to be able to exact retribution on Matranga. I would have loved to rip his heart out of his chest and drink his blood for what he's done. But perhaps his time is yet to come." I smiled hopefully and set my bag on the desktop.

"What are you going to do to me?" The doctor whimpered.

"I'm going to kill you," I answered darkly, smiling in anticipation.

His heart stuttered, then picked up again in double-time. I could smell the adrenaline pumping through his system. He shook his head but couldn't make any other response, paralyzed with fear.

My smile grew larger, baring my teeth. I crouched low, watching as his eyes widened in terror, sweat beading on his forehead.

I launched at him, streaking across the last few feet separating us, grasping his body and crunching my teeth into his throat in one swift motion. He started to yell, but it choked off with a gurgle before it was loud enough to alert anyone else.

The force of our impact knocked the bookshelf down from the back wall. It crashed over us; bottles of liquor shattered on the floor, soaking the books and carpet. That might have been loud enough to alert someone. I listened carefully for any sound of approach, but heard none.

I didn't erase the doctor's memory as I had the elderly patient I killed. I wanted him aware of his evil and aware of the burning pain that was my justice acted upon him.

I was truly not thirsty at all. But still, the act of drinking in his blood was compulsory. It had been so long since I'd hunted in the usual way. Dead, cold, congealed blood was nothing in comparison to this. If I survived, it would be difficult to go back to feeding on the dead.

All too soon his body was empty. I dropped the limp corpse to the floor and looked around. It seemed most of my work was already done.

The carpet was soaked with flammable fluid. The walls were made of brick, so a fire would be fairly well contained. There was even a lit pipe smoking with hot embers on his desk. I took the pipe and dropped it onto the carpet.

It didn't ignite the carpet, but it could have. I pulled the lighter out of my bag and set fire to the room. Waiting long enough to make sure that the doctor's venom-laced body was fully ablaze. Tossed the bottles of accelerant on top of the rubble, feeding the flames, and tossed the leather bag with the pistols into the corner. Let the humans make of that what they would.

I listened carefully to be certain that the antechamber was vacant. Then I stole out of the room, allowing the door to the office to remain slightly ajar. Thick smoke started seeping out from the crack. I rushed to the east wing hallway and scaled the wall, hiding in a dark corner of the ceiling, out of sight in the shadows.

I had to wait several minutes for one of the staff to notice the thick smoke billowing out of the office.

"Fire! Fire!" she yelled, and others came to her aid. They were scurrying about in a panic, not sure if they should fetch water or call the fire department. My distraction was working.

I crawled along the ceiling, down the hall to room one nineteen.

I felt very unsatisfied with my work. Yes, killing the doctor assuaged my sense of vengeance and justice a bit. But Matranga was the one I really wanted to get my hands on. After what he'd done to the girl, he would not have such an easy end as the doctor. If I did ever catch up with him, I would make him suffer greatly before delivering him of his life.

I approached her room. I heard her breathing and heartbeat near the door. She must be wondering what all the commotion was about.

I dropped to the floor and looked through the window, finding myself gazing into her warm hazel eyes.

"I'm coming in," I said, as calmly as I could manage. Any moment one of the humans might look down the corridor. And if they did, they might recognize me. My alibi would be ruined.

Fortunately she didn't argue, but stepped back allowing me to enter. Her heart was racing; she must be frightened. I longed to stay with her and comfort her, but we had little time. I reminded myself that it was for her safety that I must act quickly.

"We must go, now." I didn't wait for her response. I gently lifted her delicate frame in my arms – how fragile she felt! – and looked out the door, making certain that everyone was still distracted by the fire.

"Now?" the girl gasped.

"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?"

"Did you start a fire?"

Oh, how astute her mind was! Even though poisoned and burned nearly to the point of death she was so quick to see and understand. Still, I would rather her not know all that I had been up to during the last quarter hour.

"Yes," I answered, honestly. I hoped that she would not ask any more questions or I would be tempted to lie to her.

I saw my window of opportunity and took it. I walked swiftly down the hall, being careful to not accelerate too quickly and risk injuring the girl. I took her downstairs and around the building into the morgue where I'd stashed a large coil of rope.

She looked around the room; her eyes alight with curiosity. I hoped she wouldn't ask any questions about this place. I would have much rather taken her through the kitchen, but this was the only room I could guarantee would be empty.

"What is this place?" she asked.

Of course she did! And if I told her the truth, what would be next? "Please, Alaric, show me how you drain corpses of their blood?" Was there no end to her curiosity?

I kept my face averted to hide my grimace and told her as much of the truth as I could without going into details.

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

I gathered up the rope and slung it across my chest, then lifted her in my arms again – how warm she was! – and carried her outside.

"That was the morgue wasn't it?"

I should have expected as much.

"Yes," I answered, trying to keep the stress out of my voice.

She shuddered delicately in my arms but didn't ask any further questions. Thank Heaven! Since I'd met this girl she had done nothing but systematically peel away every mask I had in place to reveal the darkness beneath. I marveled that she could still stand to be near me.

The sun was descending, but still high enough that the eastern lawn was mostly illuminated. I paused at the edge of light and shadow to look into the windows. I had to be certain that no human, no matter how mad, was watching us when I took my next step.

"Is the building going to burn?" She sounded almost hopeful.

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

She still hadn't asked me why I started the fire. I had a reasonable, and true, answer ready to give her should she ask: it was a diversion, to give us cover for our escape. That wasn't the whole truth, though, so it would still feel like lying. I vowed that I would tell her everything later… if I was able to.

She'd said she wanted to stay with me. The words hung like golden bells in my heart. She wanted to stay with me. This beautiful, gifted girl, so bright that even though she'd been thrown into the darkest pit imaginable she still shone like the morning star, wanted to be with me.

I almost dared to hope… But no, she'd called me her friend. And in this age it was possible for human females and males to be friends and nothing more.

And she still hadn't given me an answer.

No one was watching. I darted forward, into the sun. My mind was so distracted that I almost didn't notice the soft touch of her head on my shoulder.

I looked down, wondering if perhaps she was falling asleep, and noticed that she had her eyes screwed shut, cringing in pain.

I gasped. No! That soft touch must not have been so soft to her. I'd carelessly sprinted forward without taking into account her weak muscles and delicate flesh. I'd hurt her!

"Alice! Are you hurt? I'm terribly sorry!"

She didn't answer right away. I looked closely at the red mark on her head where a bruise was slowly blossoming; where the impact had occurred. She wasn't bleeding, but there could be internal damage. What if I'd ruptured a blood vessel in her brain? She would be dead before I could change her! No! Please! Please speak, Alice!

To my utter horror she groaned in pain.

"I think I'm okay." Even her words sounded like a groan. At least she was coherent, though. How hard had she hit me?

She lifted her eyes to mine and gasped softly with a dazed expression on her features.

"Are you sure I haven't hurt you?" It looked like I'd given her a concussion. I needed to get her talking so I could be sure she was not seriously harmed.

She stared at me for a moment longer, then blinked several times. "I'm okay, really. I've just never seen you in the sun before."

Oh. Of course. I didn't even notice the thousands of little rainbows scattered across her face before, distracted as I was with concern for her welfare. Her response to the phenomenon was reassuring. She gazed at my shining skin with wonder, but was not repulsed as I had expected her to be. She was still not frightened of me. She still wanted to be with me. I almost smiled - despite the danger we were in - when I replied to her.

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

"It is," she answered. I looked into her beautiful hazel eyes, seeing my reflection in their fathomless pools, trying to make out the secrets they held. What did she truly see when she looked at me? A friend? A man? A monster? No, surely not that, or she would not dare to be in my presence.

He heart started beating faster and she looked away, breaking the connection. Perhaps her instincts still recognized the truth about me, even though she counted me as her 'friend'. On some level she still knew that I was a monster.

I ran southeast as swiftly as I dared, heading toward the ocean. I had a plan in place, but it hinged on two things. Alice must make the decision I wanted her to make. And that vile beast that was after her must keep his word.

During our last encounter, after he'd bested me in battle, the hunter told me that he had no intention of killing me. He wanted his sport. He would give me one full day to prepare the game for him, and then he would come for my 'little pet' as he called the girl. He was hoping I would challenge him. And I fully intended to.

For the first leg of our journey I ran along a wide dirt road, keeping in the sun. I knew this road well and the habits of the humans who used it, so I was not concerned about being caught by one of them in the sun; even if I was, I could simply pause long enough to erase a small portion of their memory, just enough to cover my tracks. If the hunter was like most others of our kind this might hinder him until dusk. He would be wary of venturing near enough the sunlight to follow our scent.

I took us into the protection of the trees before the wide dirt road joined the paved streets. It was cooler in the shade and the girl trembled in my arms. I chastised myself for not thinking to bring a blanket for her. But there was no help for it now. I held her closer, hoping to shield her slight body from the wind.

It was time. Before I could follow through with the next part of my plan it was essential to have her consent. What would I do if she refused? What was I capable of doing? Nothing! It would be the end. I would defend her with my life, but it wouldn't be enough.

Could I blame her, though, if she chose death over this existence? No, I couldn't. It was her choice to make, even if her choice felt like it would crush my cold, dead heart within my chest.

The sound of the waves and seagulls was growing louder. The beach was just over the next hill, only a quarter mile away.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

I slowed and lowered her to the ground in a small clearing where she could be in the sun.

"First you need to tell me what you've decided."

It was an effort to keep my voice even. What would it be? Had she considered the options and decided that having a few hours of freedom as a human was enough? That she would wait here for death to come for her? Or would she give me permission to save her, the only way I knew how?

She looked down to the ground, her expression… ashamed?

"I… I'm not sure."

What? After all this she still hadn't chosen? Granted, it was a big decision. But she didn't have time to be so irresolute. With a mind as bright as hers, didn't she understand this?

A growl of anger escaped my chest before I could rein it in. She shrank away from me in fear. I tried to control the fierce emotions coursing through me so I could explain.

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

"I know. But…" She trailed off, as though she wasn't planning on finishing her thought.

"What?" It took a great deal of self-control to keep from shouting at her. How could she be so hesitant when her life was at stake?

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

At first I was just amazed that she'd been able to come to this conclusion on her own. I'd never told her of my thoughts on this matter, how wildly vengeful our kind could be, or any of my past experiences with such hunters. And then I was amazed at her concern. She would lay down her life to save me? Why?

"Is that all you're worried about?" I asked, hardly able to believe it.

"Well, not all…"

She was minimizing the risk to herself, the pain of transformation, the unbearable thirst I'd explained to her, the fact that she would be barren for eternity, because she was concerned for me! But I had to know that she chose this, for herself.

I grasped her shoulders and looked into her eyes, not letting her look away. I had to see her, to be sure she was answering me truthfully.

"You don't need 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."

She gazed back into my eyes. Her heart stuttered, then raced. Her pupils dilated and her eyes started to well with tears. But she didn't respond.

"Tell me, Alice! Please! Tell me what you want!" I demanded, trying very hard not to shout at her.

Her face scrunched up in pain.

"I… I want to live!" she bawled out. "I don't want him to get me. I want you to change me!"

She closed her eyes and her tears poured over, streaming down her cheeks.

I couldn't contain the profound relief and joy that I felt in that moment. It was like an enormous weight had suddenly been lifted from my chest. I drew her soft, fragile body to me in a sweet embrace, for the first time allowing myself to enjoy the sensation of holding her in my arms.

"Thank you," I breathed against her neck. She trembled slightly, but did not try to move away from me.

Now that I had her consent, the urgency of my task became more apparent. I released the girl and set about my work, felling trees and hewing them into logs fit for a raft. I was very meticulous about the raft construction. It must be strong and sturdy enough to withstand several days at sea with it's precious cargo. I did not make any attempt to disguise my work or hide our scents. I wanted the hunter to discover this little area and follow us to the water. That was a part of the plan.

"What are you doing?"

Always curious, wasn't she?

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

She watched me work for a moment, curiosity still dancing in her eyes.

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

If only that were all that was required to save her!

"No. If you're on the water it will be harder for him to find you. You won't leave a scent trail."

"Oh," she mused. But she didn't ask any more questions.

After about an hour of laboring I noticed that the girl had fallen asleep on a tuffet of grass in a little patch of sunlight. It was comforting to see, though I wasn't certain if it was because she was trusting of me, or simply sheer exhaustion that prompted her slumber.

I finished the flatboat, taking time to be certain of its soundness. The girl woke when it was finished, perfect timing on her part. I carried both she and the flatboat over the last hill to the waterfront. I set her down on the sand, to be certain that she left a strong trail of scent here, and lowered the flatboat onto the waves.

"Come, Alice!" I called. It still felt a little rude calling a girl… a woman by her given name. It felt as though I were debasing her to do so. But I knew she enjoyed it. It probably helped to take the sting out of being forced to leave her family.

She walked toward me and nimbly alighted onto the raft.

Just then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A tree in the distance was swaying against the wind, moving in a rhythm different than the trees surrounding it. It was about twenty-five miles north west of us, very near the still-smoking asylum.

I hissed in rage. He was early!

"He's near. Hold on."

She lowered herself onto the wood and gripped the edges. I ferried her out into the waves and gradually increased our speed, heading far south and east. I wanted to be as sure as possible that her little boat would not get caught in the heavy offshore current and end up in Greenland. But I wanted her to remain at sea for at least three days and to come ashore after sunset. It was a very precarious task, but I'd lived near these waters for over a hundred years and knew their currents well. With the weather we'd been having lately, and the way the water felt at the moment, the temperature the air was, and how the sky looked I had a fairly decent idea where I had to place her boat so that she would wash ashore at the right time on a beach that was almost always deserted this time of year.

The sun was setting now. The hunter would probably be comfortable following our trail through the open road soon. I needed to hurry.

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

"No!" Her fervent refusal was much louder than anything I'd heard from her in a long time.

"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," she whispered, as if trying to prove her point. "Just please don't take away my memories."

Of course I didn't want to erase her memories. But I was afraid I had no other choice. She simply didn't understand.

I'd paddled her far enough out now, so I climbed onto the flatboat with her, hoping I could explain in a way that she would understand.

"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." I stifled a shudder at the memory. It had been over a thousand years, and yet I still remembered the searing agony with crystal clarity.

"Let's just try then, please?"

She looked at me with… those eyes, brimming with moisture, begging me. How could I resist her? When had I lost my backbone? What had she done to me? I sighed heavily; knowing the pain that this would cause her.

"We can try. But if you make a sound I will have to do what is necessary to keep you alive. 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?" She was pressing for information, or perhaps a promise of return, but I couldn't give her either. I scanned the shoreline. He hadn't made it there yet. Good. Perhaps he was taking his time. And time was all I asked.

I laid the girl onto the wood and tied her down, being very careful to not tie too tightly or too loosely.

"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."

If I took her memories I must also leave her some clue that will help her… I would figure that out later.

"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." Much better than before. Oh what a glorious immortal she would make! I couldn't fathom what she would be capable of with a vampire mind at her disposal.

Tears, once more, welled in her eyes. But she was smiling. She was radiant. Even now, weak, cold, strapped down to a wooden flatboat in the middle of the ocean with a vampire about to bite her, she still shone so much brighter than any star in the sky. The night would not be dark with her illuminating it. Like the full moon rising would be her accession into the vampire world.

I leaned over her, gazing into her bright, shining eyes, and gave her one last opportunity to escape.

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

"Go ahead," she breathed, trembling. "I'll be quiet."

Our time together was ending. In a moment she would be leaving me; and if she ever did see me again she would no longer know me. Perhaps it was selfish of me, but I so wanted to tell her, even if she would not, or could not return my feelings. Still, I wanted her to know.

"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."

She looked stunned. And, for once, she didn't speak. I waited for a moment, looking into her beautiful moist hazel eyes one last time. And then I pushed her jaw aside, grazing my teeth along her throat. She shuddered slightly at the contact. I concentrated hard, fighting the instinct to bite into her carotid artery, which would pulse hot, rich blood strongly into my mouth, emptying her of her life-fluid quickly. Instead I aimed for the weaker jugular vein. I wanted the venom to travel towards her heart, not away from it.

I found the vein and softly, delicately, sliced through her fragile flesh with my teeth.