Switzerland.

Germany.

Austria.

Hungary.

Ukraine.

Dragon and I searched through country after country, carefully avoiding Romania, to no avail. I missed Alec. I wonder if he thinks of me as much as I think of him. Its been 3 months since we departed in Volterra. I look at the locket he gave me often. It gives me strength, and from that strength I find the will to keep going.

After disappointment after disappointment in Europe, I decided to switch continents altogether. I could hardly understand most of the people here anyways. Maybe I'll have luck in my home-state, New York.

After a quick skim through Spain and Portugal, we hopped on a plane and headed west.

After a long, boring flight, I was able to breath in fresh, American air. Ah, how I've missed it here. As I looked around the Big Apple with wonder, a sudden terror gripped me. I realized with panic that I could remember hardly anything from my human life.

'We forget unless we force ourselves to remember.' Sasha's voice rung through my head.

I hadn't thought of my human life in ages.

I had forgotten.

I squeezed my eyes close. I couldn't even remember where I had lived before..

It was a very small town.. I think it starts with an.. S....? Sherrill! That's it! I lived in Sherrill, New York with my mom, my sisters, twin brother, and honey-colored Lab, Sweets. I did ballet at Pretty-N-Pink which was down the street from my neighborhood.

I sighed sadly, thinking of the life I used to lead. A pretty happy teenage girl with nothing but petty worries.

"Lets go somewhere else." I told Dragon. He turned on his heel, heading in the opposite direction.

"No, I mean a different state. Lets go to Massachusetts," I don't know why I said Massachusetts, but something was telling me there was something I needed to see there. Or..someone?

It took no time to get from New York City to Boston.

I felt some kind of connection to this historic place... Like I had left a piece of my heart here when Ester took me to Romania...

"Destiny?" A voice that was completely unfamiliar yet, in the oddest way, so incredibly familiar at the same time, called as I walked down the frosted Boston streets.

I turned in confusion, and saw the extremely beautiful face of a male vampire running towards me.

His skin was paper-white, his lips rosy-red, and he wore some shade of contacts that I couldn't distinguish that made his crimson eyes seem grayish-blue, and he had long, sleek, shiny auburn hair that flopped into his eyes (kind of like Justin Bieber's, with totally different color!). He was rather short, barely taller than me, and not as muscular as most guy vampires, but that didn't take much away from his stunning looks. He was one of the best looking vampires I've ever seen, almost as gorgeous as Alec.

Something about him pulled at my memory like an annoying itch in the back of my mind.

He came up in an attempt to hug me, but was, of course, blocked by the massive form that is Dragon.

"Wha-? Des, its me, Dugan. Can't you remember? Last time we saw each other, I was kissing you goodnight. You were wearing my grandmother's ring on your left ring finger." He had a very pronounced Boston accent, and after thinking really hard, I remembered him. I remembered being wrapped in his arms late at night, the beautiful ice-blue his eyes used to be, how he used to be all I could ever think about, what got me through the long days. And I remember the night I agreed to marry him.

"Oh my gosh.." I whispered, shoving past Dragon, and pulling Dugan in for a hug. My arms around his neck, his around my waist, it felt so right. I was gasping as dry sobs tried to heave their way up my throat.

"I've missed you so much, Des," He whispered, pulling back and staring into my eyes. His eyes, though a different color now, are so familiar. They are like home, a nice and peaceful place.

My hands slid down from his neck, onto the midnight-blue fabric that covers his chest, as if making sure he was real. How could I have forgotten one of the most significant people in my former life?
His eyes flashed down to my hand, taking in the cluster of beautiful glittering jewels on my thin ring finger. His face crumpled. He looked devastated.

"We need to talk," I whispered.

I took him back to the nice hotel suite Dragon and I are residing in for our time here.

"What happened to you?" I asked talking about his vampirism.

"A few months after you left, your family was in a horrible fire. They were all killed, Desi, I'm so sorry.. But Dustin survived with the help of vampire venom.

After his transformation, he left town for a while with some other female vampire. That female, Lily, is the one that changed me. Dustin asked her to, because he needed my help. We formed a team, and set out scouring the globe for you. We knew you had to have been taken by vampires because there was absolutely no trace of evidence to give any suspects away.

We asked every vampire we saw if they had seen you. Dustin and I split up, hoping to cover more ground in less time.

We were in Canada looking for you, and were suppose to meet up in Alberta. But he never came. I looked for him, but never found him. I don't know what happened." He said. I knew what happened. Dustin had found me, saw how happy I was with Alec, and decided not to tell me about Dugan. And then he had fallen in love with Jane, and couldn't convince himself to go find Dugan and explain things. He had abandoned him.

"What happened to you?" He asked when I didn't say anything.

I gave him the story, and he seemed really angry when I told him Dustin had found me, and looked like he wanted to cry wen I got to the part about me marrying Alec.

"Wow, Des. I'm so sorry. I would never have wanted you to live through many of those things. I wish I could have protected you from this life." He said, covering his face with his hands. I moved by his side, gently taking his hands into mine. He stared at me for the longest time, then slowly began leaning his lips towards mine. I knew I should stop him, I wanted to stop him, but something deep within my heart urged me to lean up and meet him halfway.

His scarlet lips touched mine gingerly. As if this was totally normal, my lips responded to his sweet, delicate kiss. But, really, this IS normal. I've kissed these soft lips millions of times. Its natural. This is how things should be. My hands belong in his silky hair, they were meant to push his head closer to mine. His hands belong on the small of my back, they were meant to push my body closer to his.

Suddenly, I couldn't think of a reason why I shouldn't be kissing him. What could possibly be wrong with rekindling the passion with my long lost love?

But it was a something that was wrong. It was a someone.

The face of a tall lean boy drifted to the front of my mind. Black hair, golden eyes, amazingly gorgeous. Heartbreak evident on his face, the image whispered to me, "Why are you doing this to your own husband? I thought you loved me.."

I gasped, and pushed Dugan back. The look of rejection overcame him. His back hunched, and he turned away from me.

"Why did you do that when you know I'm married?" I whispered, feeling ashamed of myself .

"I thought.. Maybe.. If you kissed me again, you would remember our love. You might realize that I'm the one you are meant to be with." His eyes, now a deep burgundy because the contacts had evaporized, flashed up to mine.

I didn't say anything. I solemnly stared at the face of the love of my former life. I then pictured the face of the love of this life. Tears pricked my eyes.

"There is no love anymore, Dugan. All the emotions I felt as a human are gone now." It wasn't the truth. I still felt a flame in my heart for him.

"You're lying." He said defiantly. He knows me too well.

"Yeah, I am." I said imphishly. "What I mean is, I'm in love with the most amazing man on the planet. He gets me like no one has ever before. I would die for him. Of course I still feel traces of feelings for you from my mortal life, but those are extremely insignificant compared to my feelings for Alec." I stared into his eyes, willing him to believe me. He sighed and looked away after a minute.

"I at least want to be friends, Des, if nothing more."

"Of course. And you can come visit me in Volterra anytime," I smiled warmly at him, standing up, preparing for departure. I had to get away from him. The longer I stare into those eyes, the more I fall. I have to get away before I fall too deep to claw my way out.

"Actually, I was hoping I could discuss something with you. I think you mentioned Alec is out recreating the guard? Well I'm interested in a position," He said with a mischievous smile. I arched one eyebrow.

Suddenly, my head was filled with the picturesque image of me and him standing in the middle of the street in the pouring rain, his arms around me, raindrops sweetening the kiss we were locked in. It seemed so real, I could feel my hair clinging to the back of my neck with moisture, and his hands pulling me tighter.

Then I was back in my hotel room.

For a moment, I thought I had been just swept into a flashback. But then I realized Dugan had done that.

"Illusionist?" I asked.

"Nope. My power is to create and erase memories. I can make you think things happened that never did, or I can make you think things that really did happen, didn't." The explanation was somewhat confusing, but my mind wrapped around it quickly. He is powerful.

"You would be welcomed on the guard!" I said, my eyes widening. I didn't necessarily want to have to see the boy I am still in love with everyday while knowing I can't have him, but I can't let an opportunity like this pass by.

He smiled at me, a gorgeous smile, and his eyes twinkled. I smiled back a little too eagerly, and then sighed and looked away.

"I already know why you're here." He said after a moment of pause.
"What?" How could he know that?

"I'm not that great at controlling my power... When I was putting that memory in your head, some recent things slipped out.. And now I just have one question for you.. Are you completely insane?" He said with a weary smile as if he had dealt with crazy antics of mine before.

"You don't understand," I whispered, looking away. There is no way he could even begin to fathom my desperate desire to become a mother.

"Yes, actually, I can. You probably can't remember, but we planned to get married when we graduated high-school. And I would have gone to college to pursue a career in art, and you would have pursued dance. And after college, we were going to buy a house and have a bunch of kids. It was all you talked about, your insane need to be surrounded with kids. I think I have a pretty good idea."

"Oh yeah.. We were going to get married... Wow. Why can't I remember anything?" It stung knowing that everyone else could at least imagine what it was like to lead a normal life and I couldn't.

"Maybe you hit your head when you were attacked by the vampire that changed you. Or maybe you were too young. Who knows?" He looked sympathetic. "But, as I was saying, I know why you're here. And I want to help you find it." He grinned.

"My child is not an 'it'," I said.

"Sorry. But seriously, I want to help. And then we can go back to Volterra and propose the idea of me joining the guard to your....husband.. " He choked the word out. I bit my lip. I didn't want him coming with me.. This was my journey...

But then I made the fatal mistake of staring into those beautiful eyes. And an overwhelming urge to have him by my side every second of the day overcame me.

"I would love you to accompany me." I said with a bright smile.

He smiled his heart-melting smile at me, and I practically swooned.

Ohh boy..

What have I gotten myself into?

NEXT CHAPTER SHE'LL FIND FAITH :D

AND PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME FOR INTRODUCING DUGAN TO THE STORY..

HE'LL COME IN HANDY LATER..

AND HE IS BASED ON A PERSON I REALLY KNOW AND I HAD TO HAVE HIM IN MY FAVORITE STORY ;D

AND TELL ME IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHERE SHE SHOULD FIND FAITH. IT HAS TO BE IN U.S.A.

I ALREADY HAVE AN IDEA, BUT OPINIONS WOULD BE NICE?