Nothing to do with Twilight. My story, My characters, My plot.

Vampire rules are different.

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"Oh really?" I asked withdrawing my arms. "I can resist all I want." Just to prove my point I took a step away from him. That was hard, his face broke into a smile and he looked at me with eyes that were gleaming with amusement.

I took another step away and turned to walk out of the door. Ha! I walked to the top of the stairs and I felt his cool hands come down on my waist and I smiled. I laughed a little too.

"How is the resisting going?" I asked casually. We had reached the bottom of the stairs now.

I felt his hands grip a little tighter and I was suddenly jerked around and my back thudded into a wall. I opened my mouth to say something but I didn't really get a chance. Tristan's hands were placed on the wall on either side of my head and his feet spread out wide: making it impossible to run away. I looked up at his face, worried. He was smiling, it was a genuine smile and I visibly relaxed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to sound affronted when really I was very okay with having him this close.

"The resisting isn't going so well," his said, smiling wider.

"So you think you can throw me against a wall?" I asked slowly, my eyes scrutinizing his gorgeous features.

His grin turned wolfish. "Well, I am a vampire," he whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

"So?" I said back, I was almost breathless.

His breath came in ripples on my neck softly as he laughed. "We tend to be a little aggressive," he whispered before his lips came down onto the skin of my neck.

My knees were giving out and I was focusing all my attention on standing. Despite my efforts I was slowly slipping down the wall. I pushed my legs harder into the ground, flexing my thighs and calves, willing myself to stop sliding. My breathing was coming faster as I felt his hands start slowly sliding up my shirt.

"Stop," I managed to gasp. My head was getting light.

He did and leaned away from me. That's when I lost control over my legs and slid all the way down the wall, sitting on the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trying to hide the amusement in his voice, but I still heard it.

"You're killing me," I muttered. I meant it as a passing statement. He didn't take it that way. He took a few steps away from me. His beautiful face was utterly shocked and afraid.

"Is it your heart?" he asked quickly, still keeping his distance though it looked like he wanted to rush up to me. "Do you need to go to the hospital? Will you be okay if I take you?" the questions ran out of his mouth.

"I don't need to go to the hospital. That was just an expression. I'm not dying," I said just as quickly, watching his face.

His eyes narrowed as he glared at me. His infamous muscles all tensed and his jaw tightened. This isn't going to be good, I thought He seemed to have a temper.

"I would prefer you didn't mention yourself dying," he said in a controlled voice.

I swallowed and nodded, standing up from the floor using the wall. He watched me do this and stood his ground; muscles still tense, ready to pounce, I thought. I took a deep breath and walked over to him slowly, watching his eyes with every step I took. His expression didn't change and I could tell he was consciously holding the blank look there. I reached out and took his large hand that had formed into a fist in mine. His fingers relaxed and his hand unclenched, I squeezed it a little to reassure him in some way that I was still living.

He looked down at me and started breathing again. His eyes were penetrating, I gave him a small smile and he continued to look at me.

"Do you still want to force me to eat?" I asked him.

"Do you want to eat?" he asked me calmly. I shook my head. "Then we don't have to go."

"Thanks," I said, smiling wider. He still looked solemn. "I'm not planning on dying," I added quietly. His eyebrows rose and then he gave me a hard look.

"You're human, it's very possible you could," he stated, his features returned to blank and he looked away from me.

"It's almost impossible actually," I said, adding confidence to my quiet voice that was far from cheerful. His eyes darted to mine. "Everyone I have ever known and been close to has died, but never me. I even tried to get a vampire to kill me and that didn't work out," I gave him a wicked grin that soon faded. "I always live; never following them… I live to feel my heart ripped apart… knowing everyday they're gone."

I stopped the tears before they could fall. I ground my teeth together, flexing my jaw.

"I am sorry Aurora, I am sorry you have had to feel remorse but I am not sorry you survived when others did not." He said quietly.

"Don't be sorry, it is the way things are. Everyone feels remorse," I said. His features got hard and his chest stopped rising and falling.

"Not everyone," he stated coldly. "If I have it would have been recently or before I can clearly remember," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Vampires do not feel for humans at all nor regret hurting them. Though there are rare cases."

"Am I a rare case?" I asked, copying his tone.

"Very rare," he said, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

I yawned as he did this, the soft touch releasing my tension. "What time is it?" I asked.

He flipped his wrist to look at the watch. I took a closer look at it and recognized the expensive brand by the white gold trade mark and clasp. It had to cost him thousands.

"10:00," he said and swept me up without warning. Before I could blink twice we were outside another dark door. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "My room," he explained with a grin. My breath caught.

He opened the door without even jostling me and it swung open to reveal a large room that was painted a dark gray color with white accents. The room was pretty bare. What took up most of the space was a large king sized bed. I gulped. The bed was done up in mostly black: a black comforter and what appeared like black sheets.

I moved in his arms, signaling I wanted to be put down. I slowly slid down to the floor when he tilted his arms.

"Why are we in here?" I asked, my voice was a little shaky so I took a few deep breaths.

"Because you're tired," he said. I couldn't see it but I knew he was holding back a smile.

"Why in your room?" I asked, my voice was better this time.

"Because I like it better and the bed is bigger. The only reason we weren't in here earlier is that you nearly had a heart attack outside your own bedroom, I didn't feel the need to scare you further by taking you to mine." Yep, he was definitely enjoying this.

I turned on my heel and walked towards the door. A hand grabbed my wrist.

"Where are you going?" He had a wolfish grin on.

"Have to get my p.j.s," I said in a voice that was meant to sound light and cheerful but it came out like I had run a marathon. I swallowed, that was lovely, he'll definitely believe you, good show Aurora, bravo, I thought sarcastically.

He raised an eyebrow but let go of my wrist, cocky smile still in place. I didn't allow my feet to run from the room but as soon as I pulled his door shut behind me I broke out into a quiet jog on my tip-toes. I ran down the hall reached my room and ran to my bags, actually looking for my pajamas. I looked for the most conservative pair I could find. I silently belittled myself for being a show-off in school with all the judgmental girls, therefore the best I could find was a white tank top and my old black sweatpants.

I wasn't changing in front of him so I slipped off my pants and pulled on the sweats. I yanked off the t-shirt and pulled on my tank top. Then I was about to unclasp the bra but I paused, maybe it was a good idea to have extra layers on. With that in mind, making my stomach feel a little sick, I turned around.

I almost screamed and really fell back on my butt. He was leaning up against the doorway with a huge, teeth shining grin.

"Jesus Christ!" I hadn't said that since kindergarten when my mom told me it was a bad thing to say when mad. "Don't do that!"

My breathing was heavy and my heart was pounding. He just kept smiling at me. I picked myself up from the ground and walked over to him. I put my hands on his chest and shoved with all my might. He could have stopped me if he had been prepared for my reaction. Lucky me, he wasn't. He tumbled backwards into the hall and I slammed the door and locked it quickly.

"You can't do that!" I yelled through the wood. "Don't sneak up on me!" I huffed and turned around to glare at the wall. I stalked over to the bed and jumped in and pulled the covers up around me.

"Aurora, I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"You didn't scare me," I yelled from the bed. That was a lie and we both knew it.

"Let me in," he asked.

"I don't think so," I allowed myself a smile. Ha Ha Mister Cocky Smile!

"Aurora," his voice was like a growl and sounded like a warning.

"No," I said. I wasn't smiling now. In all seriousness, I was happy to sleep in my own room.

Crash! I shot up into a sitting position in the bed and stared at what used to be the door. It was now a pile of wood. I just stared at the pieces with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide. I attempted to speak but no words would come out. He just obliterated the door! For the first time I really considered what he was. He wasn't human. The thought was a tad bit disturbing but I still wasn't afraid like I should have been. After what he just did to the door I should have been but I wasn't. I was shocked, not afraid.

"What's your middle name?" I asked quietly, still staring at the wood.

"Ivan James," he said, I could here the question in his voice. Maybe he was rethinking the breaking-down-the-door thing.

"Tristan Ivan James," I said slowly. "You just smashed the door into smithereens." There was still a lot of shock in my voice so I blinked a couple times and then looked at him, my mouth open.

He shrugged. "Yes?" He was looking at me like this happened everyday and wondered what was wrong with me.

I shook my head a little and blinked a few more times. I almost felt bad for the door. If I just would have let him in he wouldn't have broke it. I pushed my legs out of the bed and walked over to him before he broke something else.

"You shouldn't have done that," I said with a glare. "I would eventually have let you in." He raised an eyebrow in question. "Maybe," I added honestly.

"That's what I thought," he said, smiling at me. He took my hand carefully in his and started leading me back down the hallway.

My heart rate started to go back up again and I knew he could feel it. He chose to ignore it though. We walked through the doorway and he let go of my hand. I was so tired I climbed into the bed without hesitation, ignoring my apprehension. He climbed in after me and was soon on his elbows, hovering over me.

I took a quick visual of him and he wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of baggy shorts. My eyes lingered on him for awhile before I looked back into his face. His dark blonde hair was falling in his blood red eyes. He was smiling down at me. It was a genuine smile though, not wolfish or cocky. In my opinion he couldn't have looked more beautiful.

I shifted a little beneath him to reach up to touch his face. I trailed the tips of my fingers along his forehead and swept them down the side of his face until his jaw. He had his eyes closed and his breathing became heavier. I pulled my hand away.

His eyes opened. "I won't do anything until you are ready, mon amour," he said. I smiled and reached both of my hands up.

I placed both hands on the side of his neck and softly traced his jaw with my thumbs. My hands slowly slid down his neck onto his shoulders. I followed his triceps to his biceps and then onto his forearms that were resting on the mattress beside me. I turned my head to watch my left hand caress his forearm. I looked at his hands that were balled into fists and his white knuckles. I smiled.

I took my hands off his arms and placed my palms on his collarbone. I slid them down at a painfully slow pace, running over his chest and finally his tight abs. I used the back of my fingernails to run along the top of the V-shaped muscle that descended into his shorts. He groaned and I quickly put my hands back at my sides.

"Tentatatrice, you are testing my restraint," he whispered, still slightly panting. My own breathing was ragged. "You can't even imagine how that feels," he leaned his head in and whispered in my ear.

He started kissing my neck and I was pretty sure I could imagine very well. One of his hands slid under my tank top and rested on my ribs, slowing my breathing by rubbing calming circles with his thumb. I started relaxing; this was as perfect as my life was going to be now. My eyes started to close but opened wide when he pulled me close to him roughly. My back was no longer on the bed and he was kissing my shoulder softly. One hand was on the small of my back, holding me close to him but the other was under my shirt. I felt it inching up my back. It finally stopped when it reached my bra strap. My breath caught and I started pushing on his chest to make him stop.

His lips immediately returned to my ear and he made quiet soothing sounds and I started to breathe again. His hand again reached for my bra strap and he unclasped it. The bra was quickly removed and he lowered me back onto the bed.

He looked longingly at my lips but he took his time as he slowly lowered his to mine. When he reached them he softly murmured, "Je t'aime, l'Aurore."

My lips were already parted as my breathing got heavier. "Je connais, Tristan," I whispered.

It was so strange how I knew he loved me, I could see it in his crimson eyes and feel it every time he touched me. But most of all I knew he loved me because I felt the same way; I had never loved so quickly in my entire life nor so completely.

His lips came down on mine fast but soft. His tongue ran along my lower lip and I parted my lips for him. I had never held this much passion or felt this much in any other kiss I had ever received, and I had received a lot. We were going at each other slowly, taking in each other's motions and gestures. His tongue ran along the roof of my mouth as mine caressed the side of his cheek. It was strange but wonderful to feel his tongue that was cool and smooth in my mouth and to feel the chill run down my spine.

He moaned and I withdrew a little. All my sixteen years of life I hadn't had sex with anyone and I wasn't sure if I was ready to let the only remaining innocence I had left go, even if I loved him. He stopped kissing me when I paused.

"Sorry," I whispered.

He rocked forward to kiss my forehead softly. "You could never do anything wrong, mon amour," he whispered against the skin. "Go to sleep now."

I slowly complied; I was too tired to argue.

I woke up to the sunlight on my face. I rolled over; expecting to see Tristan but all that was there was a note.

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Aurora,

I have to meet with someone. If you have to go out wear what I have set out for you and don't take them off until you get home. I would prefer you not leave at all though and only go out if it's an emergency.

Tristan

Je t'aime

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So now he's picking out my clothes? I thought. I picked up the note to read it again. As I lifted it up I saw a large purple velvet jewelry box. I cocked an eyebrow. Is this what he meant by 'set out for you'?

I lifted the lid and inside it were two black pearl bracelets. My mouth dropped open and I lifted one of them out. I held it, intertwined in my fingers, and lifted it up to examine it.

"No way," I voiced to no one.

I set in back inside the box carefully and looked at the other item that was closer to the hinge of the lid. It was a simple black ribbon. My eyebrows pulled together as I frowned at it, contemplating what it was. I lifted it out of the box and a little piece of paper fluttered to the ground. I bent over to pick it up.

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Goes around their neck.

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It wasn't in Tristan's handwriting from what I could tell from the note. The piece of black ribbon must be some sort of choker.

"Hmm," I hummed. I looked around the room. Well, what is his idea of an emergency? I thought. I didn't want to stay in the house today, it was sunny and warm looking outside. I walked out the door and down the hall to my bedroom. The remaining pieces of wood from last night's argument were gone. I crossed the room quickly and went into the bathroom. I took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around my body. I went to the mirror and decided I might as well look good if I was going out.

I went back into the bedroom and retrieved my blow-dryer from my bags. Not too much later I had my hair curled in big spirals cascading down my back. Next I reached for my make-up. I applied a thin layer of eyeliner on my top lid and mascara to make my lashes longer.

I went to my suitcases after brushing my teeth and pulled on a pair of my own jeans and reached for one of Victoria's black t-shirts. This one was had band logos on it. I felt like a part of Victoria was still with me when I put it on. I remembered what Victoria used to classify as an emergency…manicures. When you were stressed out that was the only cure in Victoria's eyes. I smiled at the memory.

I went back to Tristan's room, which I would probably be sleeping in from now on if he had his way. I picked up the box of jewelry from the bed and took it back to my bathroom. I slid on the two black pearl bracelets, one on each wrist, and then took out the black ribbon. I pulled it tight against my throat and tied a small boe in the back. I let my hair down again and it covered the boe up nicely.

I walked down the stairs quickly after grabbing my purse from my luggage. On the little bench by the door were the Mustang's keys. Tristan must have gotten to where he needed to be some other way. I had a big smile on my face as I snatched them up.

I was driving in Paris for only a few minutes before I saw a glass fronted shop with a sign: Manucures et Pedicures!

I parked the black convertible and entered the shop. I was soon sitting in front of an older woman with curly light brown hair with a few grays. She looked really friendly and smiled a lot and they were all genuine smiles. I envied her; she looked so carefree and overall happy. She introduced herself as Kay.

"Mon mon, vous etes joli." she said with a friendly smile and she gestured to see my hands. I placed them on the table. "Ah, ceux-ci sont beau!"

I smiled at her, "Merci." She was still looking at the bracelets with interest.

Soon she lost that interest and started washing my nails. The bell on the door jingled and I turned my head to look at whoever entered. My eyes widened as a beautiful pale woman with black hair walked in. Her face was slightly rounded and she had large brown eyes that took in everyone in the room as she smiled. I concluded she must come here a lot.

The woman named Kay let go of my hand and waved at her, "Salut Margaret!" Conclusion correct.

The beautiful woman turned to us and started walking over. She bent down to Kay and they kissed in the French way of bumping cheeks and Kay felt it was necessary to introduce me and show this Margaret woman the bracelets Tristan gave me.

Margaret looked at the bracelets and her eyes narrowed before her eyebrows lifted. She picked up my arm by my wrist and her fingers were just as cool as Tristan's. I gasped, realizing what she was.

She heard my gasp and looked up at me. Her eyes quickly traveled to my neck and lingered on the ribbon. "You know Tristan?" she asked in English. I was taken back by this, both her English which was accented and sounded like a Scottish brogue and that she knew who gave me the bracelets.

"Yes," I answered cautiously. "Do you?"

She laughed softly and nodded. "You won't find one of us who doesn't." I knew who she meant by us, vampires.

"What do you mean?" I asked her eagerly.

Margaret looked at Kay, who looked confused, and told her she would paint my nails today. Kay nodded but gave us a suspicious look and gave her seat to Margaret.

"How did you know I knew Tristan?" I asked her as soon as she took Kay's seat.

"The bracelets," she said, pulling out some light beige polish. "The black pearls are Tristan's jewel."

"His jewel?" I asked. I didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like I was branded by just wearing the bracelets.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "We all have them. I use emeralds to mark the men I don't want others to take."

I was staring at her with my mouth open as she stroked the brush over my thumb nail. "It's not as hard as you might think to get men to wear them," she said shrugging. She didn't seem to notice my shocked expression.

"Do you normally eat those men?" I could feel my throat closing so I swallowed.

"We don't eat anyone." She said and wrinkled her nose. "We feed off them."

"That's lovely," I said with venom in my voice, because I was afraid. "Are you going to feed off me?" I asked.

She snorted. "I tend to lean towards men, and no I'm not going to. That's why you have the bracelets on lass," she said. "No one in their right mind would take you with those on, only someone with a death wish," she muttered the last part as she finished the first coat.

"Someone with a death wish?" I asked, trying to catch her eyes. She looked up at me with utmost seriousness.

"How long have you known Tristan?" she asked me, her eyes searching for an answer.

"A couple of days," I met her eyes fully and she was the first to look away after several seconds.

She looked back up at me after she blinked a couple times, she was smiling. "I can tell why he is keeping you," she said.

"Are you sure he is 'keeping' me?" I asked angrily. I was glaring at the wall behind her. "How many others has he 'kept'," I asked, but I really didn't want to know the answer.

"None," she said confidently.

"How do you know that?" I asked her, turning my eyes back to her.

She smiled. "I've been…friends…with Tristan for over a hundred years."

"Friends?" I asked her, scrutinizing her reaction.

"Yes, friends," she said. She was watching me silently for a few seconds. "You haven't slept with him, have you?" she asked quickly, leaning forward and resting her chin in her palm.

My eyes widened in surprise. "No," I said, offended. This vampire woman didn't have any right to be asking that.

"Do you want to know how I can tell?" she asked me. I didn't say anything. "You're not grinning like an idiot, that's how. He's extremely good and quite handsome too, definitely one of the best looking vampires I've ever seen," she said. My suspicions of her idea of friends were confirmed. "You must have some self-restraint no one else in existence possesses."

What do I say to that? I thought, what do you say to a random vampire you know has slept with your boyfriend? I just closed my mouth that was open and leaned back in the chair.

"Here, you are ready for the tips," she said, reaching out for my hands. I held them out silently. She started applying the white polish to the ends of my nails.

"Don't talk much, do you?" she asked, focused on my fingers.

"Normally I do," I said and she nodded as though she was agreeing as she kept her eyes on my nails. "I just don't know what to say to someone I know has slept with him…that's all."

She froze. She slowly tilted her head to look at me, she looked apprehensive. "You didn't think he hadn't slept with anyone, did you?"

"Oh no, he told me when I asked," I said, giving her a small smile.

"You asked?" her eyes were wide. She had forgotten about my nails.

I smiled wider. "Yeah," I said. "He told me sixty."

"Oh there has been more than sixty!" she said with a grin.

"You're lying," I said, my eyes wide and my mouth open.

She grinned and shook her head. "Nope, he's slept with every worthy woman in the coven…at least, maybe even some of Marcus'."

"My god!" I gasped.

"You can't put all the blame on him. Girls tend to drift towards the good fighters and when you are talking about the best fighter you even get competitions." She said with a smile.

"So you're a good fighter?" I asked.

"Yes, I tend to think so," she said with a grin. "How did you guess?" her eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"You said you've been friends for over one hundred years." I explained. "And I'm not stupid I can connect the dots."

"I never thought you were stupid," she said quickly and I smiled wide. I liked her already.

"What do you mean by the best fighter?" I rethought her previous words.

"Tristan," she said and continued on with my nails.

"What?" I asked. "I'll need more of an explanation."

"Okay, I'll spell it out for you; Tristan is the best fighter on our side and in the whole war, savvy?"

"War?" I asked, fascinated. There were so many thoughts running through my mind. Tristan, best fighter. War? More than sixty? Why hasn't he told me any of this? -- You've only known him for a few days, Aurora. It felt like so many more though. And he was definitely getting in trouble for lying to me about the sixty thing. Men!

"Yes," she said. "There is a war raging between the two groups of covens in Paris. The outcome will decide many things about vampire society and Tristan is second in command on our side."

She was now finished with my nails. "Does Tristan have a cell phone?" I asked after a few minutes of silence while I was thinking over everything that she told me.

"Yes," she said cautiously.

"Would you happen to have his number?" I asked; my face and tone carefully blank.

She reached in her back pocket and handed me a small silver cell phone. "His number is in there."

I took her phone and found his number. It rang only twice before I heard his deep smooth voice answer. "Hello Margaret, I'm busy so I'll have to call you back," was what he said before I could even get in a 'hello'.

"That's not necessary," I said coldly. There was silence from the other end for awhile.

"Aurora?" he asked quietly, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Bingo," I said. Margaret was looking at me nervously, I could tell she was rethinking letting me call him.

"Where are you?" his voice was a little harsher.

"No way," I said.

"Let me talk to Margaret," he said, I could tell he was mad, if not a little frightened.

"No, that's what I'll be doing. I can't believe you! The entire female population of your coven! I'm definitely not going to give you my virginity now!" I said in a deathly quiet whisper. "You sit tight; I'm going to find someone to screw. It shouldn't be that hard to find a man. Do you recommend any clubs?"

There was a loud crash from his end of the phone and a male baritone voice, "Tristan, calm down…"

"Aurora," he said and I blinked. His voice was venomous and I was glad I was far from him at the moment. "Give the phone back to Margaret," he said, each word being said as if he was on the edge of losing control.

"Are you mad at her," I asked, suddenly thinking through my conversation.

"Give her the phone," was his answer. I took that as an affirmative.

I looked up at Margaret and she was staring at the phone I was holding up to my ear as if it was a bomb.

"Not until you calm down," I said.

That didn't seem to be the answer that he wanted because there was another crash and the male voice swore.

"Aurora," his voice scared me. "Give her the god damned phone."

I nodded, as if he could see me and extended my arm with the phone to her. She took it from me delicately, touching the least amount of it possible.

"It's me, Tristan," she said quietly. She cringed away from the phone almost immediately. "Okay, 437 Caillou" she said firmly. She repeated 'okay' a couple more times before she swallowed and closed the phone. It snapped together and she slid it into her pocket.

"Are you in trouble?" I asked after several seconds of only the salon's customers talking and the occasional jingle of the door bell.

She nodded. You idiot Aurora! I thought.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I wasn't one to apologize for anything but this time it would be my fault if something happened to her, from my experiences he was a bit violent when angry. "What did he say?"

"That I am to keep you here and he will come in a few minutes," she said. I jumped to my feet.

"What!" I contained a scream.

"We're both in trouble," she said and looked at me. I could see the pity in her eyes and that made me feel even worse.

"Do we have to stay here?" I asked her.

"Do you really want to make him angrier?" she countered.

"Let's go," I said firmly. There was no way I wanted to face Tristan immediately after I said those things. She stood up.

"He's going to kill us," she said with a smile.

"If we stay here I don't want to imagine what he'll do," I said, and she seemed to agree. I put some money on the front counter and we walked out the door.

I got into the car and she jumped in next to me. "He let you drive his baby?" she said.

"I don't know actually. I wasn't supposed to leave unless it was some sort of an emergency," I said and she gawked at me.

"So you went and got a manicure?" she asked.

"Yes, I did," I said, giving her a look that begged her to challenge that.

"Wow," she laughed. "You have guts girl."

I allowed myself a little smile before I peeled out into the lane of traffic. "How many times have you slept with Tristan?" I asked as I sped down the street.

"You don't want to know that answer so why did you ask?" she turned the question around on me.

"Because I need to know," I said simply. "After what you have told me I realize I don't know him at all." I frowned just thinking about it.

"I don't know, quite a few," she said and I didn't push for anything else. She was right, I really didn't want to know what one hundred years equaled.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked quietly.

"We could go back to Victor's," she suggested and I could feel her eyes on me. It was disconcerting. "Tristan will have left."

"Who is Victor?" There was so much I didn't know.

"Victor: leader of the Spillers de Sang," she said. "Leader of our side of the battle."

"How do you get there?" I asked, not commenting on the new bit of information but storing it away to assess later.

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We parked outside a huge house that was half the size of a hotel. It was darker and older than any hotel I had ever seen though. Margaret was the first to get out of the car and I sat in the driver's side for only a few seconds longer. I was telling myself that to walk into a house of vampires was okay. Margaret noticed my hesitation.

"Nobody will hurt you," she said from the steps. "You've got the bracelets and the choker."

However efficient she thought pearls and a ribbon were against a house full of vampires, I still wasn't convinced. I still got out of the car though. As soon as I set foot on the first step Margaret's phone buzzed in her pocket. She froze for a second before she took it out. One look at the screen and she handed it to me.

"Hello?" I asked and set my face for the explosion I knew would come.

"Where are you," it was opposite of an explosion. He seemed to have gotten quieter and that wasn't a good sign from what I could detect of his tone.

"I didn't feel like sitting like a duck waiting for you to kill me so we left," I answered.

"Where are you?" he repeated, quieter.

"I don't think you're going to like that part," I said and I knew he wouldn't. I could almost picture him standing on the street frightening anyone who saw him. He must look murderous right now. "I'll tell you where I am if you don't hurt Margaret or punish her in any way for telling me the truth. It is the truth isn't it…about the whole coven of women?" I asked.

He paused on the other end and that was enough of an answer for me. I sighed and gritted my teeth; I wasn't going to shed a single tear because of his past. That would be ridiculous and childish. I could sense Margaret watching me and that only strengthened my resolve.

"Do you promise?" my voice wasn't quite right so I cleared my throat quietly.

"Yes," came his answer.

"I'm at Victor's," I said and snapped the phone together. He would know what Victor I was talking about. I didn't know anyone from Paris so there weren't many possibilities. I handed the phone back to Margaret and she gave me a small smile.

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Please review. I will have the next chap up tomorrow I swear! I was going to have this chap up a long time ago like I promised on "like us" but my father came and was like 'you're going to work for me this summer. You're going to learn responsibility and what it's like to actually work for something and…' well I can't remember the rest because that is when I tuned him out and went to Syd's personal la-la land. It was very fun, thanx and I do hope to visit it again some time.

Syd

mon amour—my love

Tentatatrice—temptress

Je t'aime, l'Aurore—I love you, Aurora

Je connais, Tristan—I know, Tristan

Je t'aime—I love you

Manucures et Pedicures!—do I even have to explain this one?

Mon mon, vous etes joli—my my you're a pretty one

Ah, ceux-ci sont beau!—Oh, these are beautiful

Merci—thank you

Salut—hey

Spillers de Sang­—blood spillers