Chapter 9

Aubrey

There is no thrill like that of the hunt. The sweet rush of adrenaline as you get a whiff of the prey's scent combined with the even sweeter surge of excitement as the prey becomes aware of you, the huntress, made me dizzily content. I wasn't cruel enough to only hunt humans, animals did just as well, but on late nights I would go to the city and stalk men and women, basking in their fear as my shadow took on chilling shapes in a moonless night.

Perhaps it was this love of death and night that led me to Aubrey. Perhaps it was the absence of my chaperone. Perhaps it was simply because Aubrey was so dark and mysterious, and I was still a young teenage girl at heart. Whatever the reason, I was somehow compelled to him, and each of those moonless nights led me closer to his territory.

At first he was lenient, letting a child play on his playground with his toys. And I, acting as the child with the new babysitter, pushed my boundaries. I began to hunt the humans that he had marked as his own. He caught me many times. Other vampires warned me that Aubrey was rather territorial and I should leave him and his own alone, but I was foolish. I thought he loved me. All the other vampires said there would be hell to pay if I continued frolicking in his space, but I was convinced that the only reason he hadn't done something was because he had grown fond of me. How deluded I was.

Aubrey was in love with someone else. Not just someone, but a mortal. A human; a creature of the earth. I was now convinced that humans were all scum, not worth anything but to feed off of, and I was furious. How could he do that to me? And with such a being as she?

But who could blame him? She was beautiful, beautiful enough to send any man's wits far away. Her name was Allia, and her skin was the color of honey, with bright blue eyes and long sand-blown tresses. As for the rest of her body, well, I'll let your minds imagine that. She was playful and full of life, and it was easy to tell why Aubrey refused to change her. Aubrey even told her what he was and unlocked secrets for her that she had no right to know. But she accepted him, which made him love her even more.

I was beyond jealous. I would seethe in the corner for days, nursing hateful thoughts and insane actions of revenge. It was awful watching Aubrey acting as though he was a new man, discovering things about life that he hadn't known before Allia. But watch I did. I would follow them as they pranced along. Aubrey was so wrapped up with her that he simply forgot the presence of my aura that he could so easily feel. He hardly ever left her all alone, he was afraid someone would hurt her. But each time he left he'd come back and she would be fine, so he didn't rush so to get back to her. No harm had come to her, so she must be able to take care of herself, so he thought. And I waited.

On one of the many occasions that he had to leave her I decided to introduce myself.

"Hello," I said as I appeared in front of her.

She looked up startled and was immediately cautious, Aubrey had told her what his kind was capable of, and she could tell what I was right away. "Hello," she said slowly.

I grinned brightly; after all, I was a courtier in Egypt and had learned skill, "I'm Fala," I said, "and you're Allia right?"

She smiled timidly, showing a glimpse of perfect teeth, "That's right."

We chatted for a while of this and that, and then I claimed to have something to attend to and told her I'd see her later. As I turned to go she called out, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Fala!"

I turned back and smiled, "The pleasure was all mine." As I turned to go I quickly hid the satisfied smirk of a huntress when she knows the prey is coming to her hand willingly.

A/N- Yeah, I haven't updated in over a year, but that's because I was stuck. Now I have some ideas to put into the story. I've also decided to refine my style and make it sound more authentic. Any questions/ comments are welcome. I take flame as well, I don't want to get arrogant. :-) Please Review!

Izzy