Chapter Two

Winter, 1941

Western United States

Andrew perched on a large rock buried in a snow drift, spying on the small cabin through the trees. The couple who inhabited it were inside, battened down against the rapidly worsening storm. He supposed it was cold, but that was a relative term – he didn't feel temperature, unless it was the heat that only fire could hold. He experimented frequently with his new body, and fire was one thing he'd learned to avoid early on.

He could smell the two humans clearly, but it did not drive him wild with thirst as it once had. The craving was every bit as strong as it had been the first time, but he'd learned to control it, to rein it in. The hunt, the anticipation of the kill could be just as satisfying as the actual meal, and he'd learned to savor it. Sometimes, his prey begged for their lives. He tried to make the kill quickly, when the time came – when he gave them time to talk, he couldn't help feeling a small bit of pity for them. It was nothing compared to the thirst, not nearly enough to stop him, but it was enough to bother him, at least a little.

He noticed everything – the way the light shined a little less brightly through the cabin windows, how the tendril of smoke coming from the chimney lightened and thinned. He knew the man would be coming out to gather more wood for their fire soon – Andrew would take him then. As he fed on the man, the woman would sit inside, warm, comfortable, safe…until the end came swiftly for her, too. When he hunted more than one at a time, he preferred to take them separately – he still didn't like hearing the cries of one while he fed on the other.

Almost on cue, the man, bundled in heavy clothing, opened the cabin door and hurried through the snow to the neat pile of logs. If his eyesight had been sharp enough to pick Andrew out of the background, the sight would have confused him. He would have seen a lean, muscular young man crouched on top of a boulder. The first things he would have noticed would have been the hair – black as ink and fine as silk, and the eyes – blood-red, bright, and menacing. The pale skin of his shirtless chest blended almost invisibly into the snowy background.

Andrew started toward his prey, not rushing, still savoring the moment. Before he could break the treeline, however, an odd scent made him whip his head around to the south. It was a strangely familiar scent, but somehow alien, too. Before he could put two and two together, he saw the other one.

Even though he'd never seen another of his kind, it was plain that this was one of them. His age could have been anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five – he was every bit as handsome as Andrew was, himself. He was also dressed a bit more appropriately, by human standards – a bulky fur coat, not much different from what Andrew's intended prey was wearing, covered him from neck to knees. There was never any doubt that this was another vampire, even though Andrew had never actually encountered one – the ruby eyes, sharp and intelligent, gave it away instantly.

The newcomer shifted his glance between Andrew and the human rapidly, oscillating between curiosity and hunger, respectively. As the two vampires stared across the distance at each other, the man, unaware of the danger he was in, made it back inside the cabin with his bounty of firewood. A deep instinct in Andrew told him to defend his meal against this other vampire, and it warred against the novelty of meeting one of his own.

The other vampire, obviously not worried about the prey escaping him, should it turn out to be his prize, strode toward Andrew slowly and purposefully. Slowly by vampire standards, anyway – he crossed almost all of the one hundred and fifty yards between them in seconds. He stopped a safe thirty feet away and favored Andrew with an uncertain smile.

"Hello," he said mildly, and his voice was pleasant. "My name is Alexander." His accent was an even blend between French and American. "I am from the north, though I have a tendency to wander," he said, gesturing vaguely toward Canada.

Every sense on guard, Andrew tried to return the easy smile. "I am Andrew. Pleased as I am to meet you, it seems we have a conflict of interest," he motioned to the cabin where the two humans dwelled. Andrew took a moment to marvel at his own voice – he tried to remember ever speaking to another being, and couldn't.

Alexander's cautious smile eased into a more natural one at his words. "There are two of them. I am not adverse to sharing if you are not. You can have your pick," he offered kindly.

Andrew decided that this wasn't unreasonable. Alexander was willing to cooperate on the one issue that might have stood in the way of their friendship. A small part of him told him to fight for the prey that was rightfully his, but a much stronger part realized that this Alexander could possibly give him some of the answers to the questions that bothered him.

"I'll have the female, then," Andrew said, almost shyly. They didn't contain as much sustenance as males, but it was often sweeter and more satisfying. Alexander nodded differentially, still smiling.

"When you're ready, friend Andrew," he said graciously. "I'll wait until you're clear of your meal, so that there are no…misunderstandings. After we indulge ourselves, I would not mind some company. If you are willing, of course – it's been a long time since I've had someone to talk to."

Andrew could not believe his luck – the questions he had would soon have answers, possibly. He hadn't dared to hope that there were others of his kind, and even if there were, he hadn't been expecting to meet one. Especially not one who seemed as civilized as Alexander. The thirst nudged him, and he again smiled, almost apologetically. "I'd like that, so I'll be quick about it." He did not turn his back on Alexander as he sidled up to the cabin, but when he was a safer distance away, the smell of the humans became the center of his focus. The thrill of the hunt coupled with possible companionship combined to make him truly happy for the first time in his short life.