I couldn't breath. I couldn't think. I didn't know what to do. My mind couldn't process it. I sat stone still in my throne, staring at the piece of paper that is now worn at the seams from all the folding and unfolding its gone through in the past couple days. The ink is beginning to smudge a bit, the already horribly written words now nearly illegible. But that doesn't matter. I'm not going to be forgetting what it says anytime soon. Its carved into my memory.

She won't be safe for long. And neither will you.

A shudder rippled through my body. After staring at the picture of Faith and I for a long time, I had been able to pinpoint the exact time it was taken. A few hours after Alec's arrival, as I was holding her in her room and singing to her gently. I hadn't heard the click of the camera, or seen anyone near me. How could that be?

Alec walked in then, his face a mirror of my worry. He put on a mask of complete composure when he saw me though.

"Cheer up, Des. You and Faith are going to be fine. It was probably just some stupid vampire bored with the dullness of eternity and wanting to play a prank on the new queen." His lie was pretty convincing, but that's all. It was still a lie, and not totally believable.

"I feel like the only people I can trust are you, Jane, Dugan, Dustin, the Cullens, and the wolves." I whispered hoarsely. Dugan's name had slipped in there, I hadn't even totally meant to say it though it was true that I completely trust him. Alec's face twisted into a grimace that was gone before guilt even had time to register in my heart.

"Its okay, baby. I would never let anything happen to my wife and daughter. You know that." He said, lifting my chin up and kissing me tenderly. I allowed myself to relax and melt into the familiar embrace which I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing for the past couple days.

` I smile. "I love you," I whispered. The words tasted so sweet leaving my tongue, and I realized I hadn't said them in quite a while other than to Faith.

"I love you too, more than you will ever know. Now, go get Faith and change her into something cute. I think its time we take her around humans for the first time." Alec said with a slightly nervous grin. Excited butterflies swarmed my stomach.

"Really? You'll let her go out?" I had felt as if I had been depriving Faith from the little normality she was capable of obtaining by keeping her locked away inside this dusty old castle.

"I think she is gaining a lot of self-control, and the only way to test Elisha's theory is to put Faith to the ultimate test. So, yes. I think we should take her to the park this evening." He didn't seem completely sure, but he is willing to do anything to make me feel better. I squeezed him tightly in a passionate hug, then ran off, calling for Faith.

ALEC POV

Destiny ran off, yelling Faith's name. I sighed happily. I love them both so much. I had never understood why those vampires had so readily put down their lives in a feeble attempt to save their immortal children so many centuries ago, but now I can see their reasoning very clearly. It takes meager moment to become attached.

Worry is brewing in the pit of my stomach though. Of course I am nervous about taking Faith out with humans, and I'm also fearful of that odd letter and photograph Desi received, but that isn't what is causing the cyclone of fright to rage angrily inside me. I feel as if something horrid is going to happen tonight. Something that will make me regret even mentioning the idea of taking my wife and daughter out in public...

Those worrisome thoughts were pushed from my mind as two golden haired angels loped in gracefully, each wearing bright smiles.

"Are we ready?" I asked.

"I believe so," Destiny said happily, then glanced around. I knew exactly who she was looking for and it made me upset. She pouted sadly. "Where's Dugan?" She asked as if she couldn't go a mere second without him.

"Right here, love." A dark and mysterious voice said, and out of nowhere the irritating ginger appeared. I growled under my breath as he wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his lips lightly on the side of her pale throat. My breathing halted as my observant eyes saw her feet begin to swivel like she was going to turn around so his lips met hers full on.

She froze just in time though. Then, oh so slowly, pushed him away.

"Stop," She said quietly, retreating into the comfort of my arms. I wanted to push her away and cause her to feel the same hurt she had just placed on my heart. But I couldn't. I accepted her gladly, squeezing my eyes closed for a second to get a hold of my jealousy.

Jane and Dustin came through the doors then, announcing that the cars were ready. Dragon Dugan and Parker are the only ones coming with us tonight. Roxy-Anne and Devlin are staying to keep an eye on the place and the newborns.

We all pile in to one large SUV. Dugan drove and Dragon sat in the passenger seat. Destiny and I sat in the first row of seats with Faith in between us, while Jane, Dustin, and Parker rode in back, Parker looking very awkward. His white-blond hair, which is cropped short in the back and on the left side of his head, yet had a large piece that went all the way down to his chin on the right, is covering his right eye. He is obviously trying to give Jane and Dustin, who are making out at the moment, any privacy he can.

It has been a bit awkward with Dugan and Dustin. Dugan was furious that Dustin had left him hanging like that, but after a long talk, they resolved their differences and were back to their brotherly ways.

We pulled in to the park, which was fairly dark due to the clouds overhead, and hopped out. The place seemed abandoned, but I know it is a popular park amongst the locals. Little Faithie ran out of the car at a far more than human speed.

She ran straight to the swings, diving belly first onto one of them. She sore in the superman position, the swing flying extremely high because of the amount of force with which she hit it with. At the last possible second, she grabbed the chains and flung herself off the small piece of plastic, landing gracefully on the thin metal bar atop the swing set. She teetered precariously for a moment, swaying slightly, and then jumped off, doing a perfect somersault in the air and landing on the soles of her feet.

My eyes scanned the area, making sure no one else had seen as Destiny, looking scared out of her mind, rushed to Fay's side.

"Honey, we can't do that here. We can't let the humans know what we are. You know that. How about we go on the slide. That sounds fun, doesn't it?" Des said cheerfully. Faith smiled, and they laced their fingers together and headed off to the slide. I followed after, jumping up atop of the play set while they took the stairs.

"Alec! You are not setting a good example," Destiny said in a reprimading tone.

"Do as I say, not as I do," I said to Faith with a wink, then interlocked my hands and lay back on the top of a tower-like thing in a non-chalant position. The cute little girl giggled and the gorgeous teen sighed and smiled.

Four things happened simultaneously just then. One: Dugan came running at a fast yet human pace towards us, yelling something incoherent. Two: The scent of humans hit my nostrils and my body went rigid. Three: A family of four came strolling towards the play set. Four: Nothing.

Yes, that's right. Nothing happened. Faith stared at the family curiously but showed no desire to suck the life from them. An elated feeling flooded me.

"Those are humans Faith. You must act normal around them. Do not show them what you are." Des reminded the child. She nodded and then jumped into her mother's lap as they slid down the dark blue slide.

I couldn't believe it. It had actually worked. Elisha's death really had been for nothing. She had discovered the key to taming immortal children. This is amazing.

A little girl that looks about Faith's age wanders over to us. Her cinnamon brown hair nearly reaches her waist and she keeps pushing it back with her chubby little hands.

"Hi! My name is Emilee! My mommy calls me Emi though. Do you want to be my best friend?" The girl asks in perfect English. Faith smiles brightly and responds excitedly with-

"My name is Faith but my mommy calls me Faithie. We can be best friends for eternity, like my mommy and auntie Jane!" I don't think she has yet grasped the concept that humans don't live forever...

"Lets go play on the monkey bars," Emilee continues, grabbing Fay's hand. "Wow, you're really cold. My daddy says I'm a degree warmer than everyone else though. We are fire and ice."

"My whole family is always really cold," Faith said with the smile of someone with an inside joke. The girl was oblivious and continued to drag her new, vampire pal over to the monkey bars.

I crept over to Destiny's side, wrapping my arms around her petite waist. She turned around, locking her hands behind my neck. It was like our signature position, the one we both loved to be in.

"She made a friend already," I whispered, bringing my hand up to trace her profile with the pad of my thumb. She smiled, placing one of her hands on mine gingerly.

"A social butterfly, she is," Des giggled. I chuckled quietly, leaning down to softly kiss her. She kissed me back just as gently and sweetly. I pulled back after a second, and we stared into each others eyes for an immeasurable and beautiful moment. I love the way she can pull forth these delicate human emotions from within me, such as compassion and adoration, as easily as tugging on a string. It frightens me also though. She is the one person in this world who can actually cause me any amount of harm.

I turned to hide the small amount of fear in my eyes. My index finger played with the ends of her silky hair.

"Wait, where did they go?' Destiny asked, panic tinging her quiet voice.

DESTINY POV

My head swiveled around wildly, looking for any clue as to where my daughter has gone. There is no Emilee. No Faith. No human mother or father. No Dragon. No Devlin. No Parker. No Dugan. I can faintly hear Jane and Dustin still making out in the SUV.

"Oh my god. Start looking around, I'm going to go get Jane and Dustin," Alec said, heading towards the car at a human pace in case the mom and dad are still around here somewhere.

I sniff around. I can smell Faith's scent leading into the forest. As fast as I possibly can, I run after her. I end up in a small little clearing with a few large trees tipped over. The bloody corpses of the mother and father are sprawled grotesquely a few feet away. Dugan sits on a large toppled tree in the middle of the field, smiling sinisterly at me. Emilee is at his feet, and it takes me a few seconds to realize she is changing into a vampire. Faith is lying next to her, and for some unknown reason looking in much more pain.

"Faith!" I scream. I make a mad-dash towards her, but am stopped midway. I try to force my muscles to move, but I'm frozen. Dugan begins to saunter towards me.

"D-dugan?" I find I am still able to speak.

"D-d-d-d-destiny?" He mocks me with a vicious smile.

'What are you doing?" I whisper as pure terror curls and twists in the pit of my stomach.

"Silly girl. Your mind is so trivial," He sneered. I gulped.

"Allow me to explain. Ester, your creator, was my partner. Together, we planned to take down the Volturi and control the vampire world. The newborn army was just a bit of an experiment Ester was determined to try. I am the one who recommended you to him, since I had a short encounter with you when you were human. I am the one who steered you to the Volturi after the army collapsed and Ester had a mental breakdown. Sadly, I didn't make you and Alec fall in love. That was expected, though. And you befriending Jane was icing on the cake. The Cullens were a minor setback but they will most likely benefit me soon.

The whole story I told you about us being long lost loves was a memory planted in your head. The Dustin thing was also planted in his head. Oh, and in case you haven't figured it out, I'm not a memory creator slash eraser. I am a mind controler. But the memory thing comes with that, since I can control every aspect of your mind.

Continuing on, I killed Aro and much of the Volturi. Dragon, Devlin, and Roxy-Anne are my partners also. Parker is the only innocent one. They have been helping me this whole time, and I have turned many of your new army against you.

Faith is under the influence of Atlantis, a young beauty who has been working with me for years. She is the one who got the picture of you and Faith. I erased the memory from your head. Atlantis has the power to create pain that is a million times worse than what Jane can do. Its not as great as Jane's power, though, because its very difficult to conjure up and she can only keep the torture going for a short period of time. She is around here in the trees somewhere.

Emilee is changing. I'm going to kill her once she is done though, just to see how hard it is to kill one of them. They are small, it shouldn't be hard. Just like you. You're tiny, and have no powers. You'll be all too easy to do away with.

But that part won't come yet. You and Faith will both be accompanying me back to my lair, for lack of a better word, and soon enough your dear Alec will show up with any of the army that isn't mine. They will go down, and it will have been for nothing since I will have killed you and Faith already."

My jaw dropped. This man is a revolting creature! Pure hatred swelled within me, but was extinguished as a new thought entered my mind.

"But.. I fell in love with you.." I said quietly. Is he able to control emotions? Or was his memory tampering what affected me?

Dugan's face softened. He smiled sadly. "I know," He said quietly, "And that was real. I didn't mess with your feelings at all. And I fell for you too, Destiny. I'm sorry to break it to you, but you fell in love with the monster," He said, closing the gap between us. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I felt power return to my limbs and knew that if I wanted to, I could pull away.

Sad thing is, I didn't want to. Slowly, he leaned down. His lips caressed mine. I pressed mine harder against him, grabbing him tightly. He gasped in surprise, and lifted me off the ground to meet him. He traced my bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, asking for entrance which I happily granted.

Our tongues danced and fought for dominance. I couldn't get enough of him. I longed for him to hold me tighter, to kiss me harder.

I was being kidnapped by the incarnation of evil. And I was completely in love with him.

DUGAN

FAITH

EMILEE

DRAGON

DEVLIN

ROXY-ANNE

LIBBY

PARKER

LINKS IN PROFILE

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