A/N: Long time, no type, I know. Writer's block sucks. But I'm on a roll now!

Chapter 2

Stunned, she fled into the forest. Blood still dripped from her mouth and her white skin glowed softly in the moonlight. Her stomach cringed and rolled in protest of the still-warm blood that had pooled at the bottom of it. The nausea would have to wait, however, because she knew she'd just have to kill someone else if she got sick. Dark blue eyes scanned the shadowy woods, sometimes zooming in on things. Her platinum-blonde hair flowed on the breeze.

"There you are," a softly slurred voice whispered, "have a nice dinner?"

A man who looked younger than his twenty-seven years waded out of the lake. Despite having been completely immersed just a moment before, his layers of old armor were dry. His profile in the moonlight depicted someone clearly of German descent; the high forehead and hairline, the solid nose, and the strong cheekbones. His build was sturdy though he was not very large. Anyone who would have seen this odd couple would swear they were not of this earth.

The young woman flung herself into his arms, though she seemed far more animalistic than human. Her soft, pale, bare flesh contrasted sharply with the hard rigidness of his armor. She was not a skinny woman, either; she was quite plump. Though her body looked soft and squishy, her skin was actually very tough and made her nearly invincible to anything.

"Did you bring what I asked you to bring?" he asked.

The strange woman held up the poor widow's heart. It was still warm, steaming in the coldness of the night air.

"Excellent. We still need more. Why is it that you seem to only bring one at a time?" he asked.

"You don't understand, Viktor…it's too easy to get caught. I barely escaped this last time…" she said uneasily.

"The longer you wait, the harder it will be to complete the magic," the soldier informed her, "you said you would do anything to stay with me and this counts as anything. I made you immortal just as I made myself; after this, you won't need to subsist on blood. You will be able to merely feed off their life energies, which is much more subtle and less messy. But until then, you must do as I say."

He placed the heart in the pouch that hung from his belt.

"Now…since you have been such a good girl today…"

Viktor kissed her roughly. She moaned slightly in his mouth, claws making a ghastly scraping sound as they scratched his armor. It was no matter to him; she couldn't possibly damage it.

"My future bride," he purred, "I know this is hard for you…I live in one world while you live in the next…Yes…but not for long. The extra flesh you carry, the insatiable need for blood…that will all be gone and you'll be beautiful. You'll be mine."

She was melting like candle wax in his arms. Her dark blue eyes glazed over as he ran his gloved hands up and down her back.

"Agatha…" he hissed sensuously.

"Wha…?" she murmured, intoxicated by his touch.

"There is one heart in particular I'd very much like to have."

"Mmmm…"

"Bring me the heart of Klaus Abendroth, the one who lives with the yellow-haired woman in that cottage nearby. Hell, bring the whole family's hearts. It will mean a feast for you and completion of the potion for me. He did something rather horrid to me, you know."

"What did he do?" her voice was developing a ragged edge from the lust.

"I did the exact same thing he did, only a couple of years earlier…I changed sides. That was back when you were still alive. The bastard called me a traitor, then he killed me in my sleep. Do you know why I always have this accursed armor on?"

"No."

"Because it's the only thing holding me together. Until I finish the potion, I cannot make love to you nor marry you. You need the potion to cure your vampirism, I need it to seal the wounds shut so that I will be whole again."

Tears welled up in her eyes out of sympathy for him.

"That's why you didn't come home…" she whispered, voice laden with grief still fresh.

"That's exactly why. I did not dare tell you before…I didn't think you were strong enough to handle it. I won't ask you to kill them tonight…I want you to rest for a few days. Come stay with me. Then, we will take them together."

Her pale white hand slid into his gloved one and they descended into the water together, down to the underwater cave that they called home. The icy water chilled her bare body, but she knew it wouldn't be for long. She preferred to hunt completely naked, for the extravagant gowns that were in fashion now were a hindrance. She could move the fastest when there weren't so many yards of cloth to snag and tear on things. She also disliked the smears of blood getting on her clothes; if it was only her skin, it would wash away easily. They emerged into the cave, which was much warmer and drier. A large, ornate bed stood off to one side. There was a sitting area with a makeshift fireplace (Viktor had drilled a hole to the surface so that the smoke would escape). They needed no bathroom or kitchen since they did not require food. The hearts that they had already collected were frozen solid and sitting in a large cauldron.

"How should I do it?" Agatha asked, "The woman, Klaus's wife…she already suspects something. I could see it in her eyes. And it's bad enough we have to kill adults, but children?"

"Children's hearts would be a very good addition," Viktor answered, "their hearts are the purest, therefore they would make the potion stronger."

Seeing that she was having personal convictions about murdering innocents, Viktor placed his fingertips under her chin and gently raised it so that she was looking into his pale green eyes.

"You know I would never ask you to do anything this difficult if it weren't necessary, my love…"

He could see that she was slowly giving in inside.

"Take the children first and get it over with. When the parents begin to search for them, they will be out here alone and unable to ask for help. The children will be going to Heaven, of course, for we won't need their souls. They can play on the clouds and dance with Jesus for the rest of eternity. Klaus, on the other hand…"

"All right," she sighed.

He meandered over to the wardrobe and retrieved a dress for Agatha. It was a wonderful shade of red, his favorite for her. She obediently stepped into it and he helped her lace up the corset. She watched their reflections in the mirror and suppressed a sigh. There, she remembered…

Her whitish hair had once been a beautiful gold. Her dark blue eyes, almost black, had once been a medium blue, the color of a summer sky. Her skin had been rosy and smooth as porcelain. Though she was large, men had been attracted to her for her intelligence. She had chosen Viktor, however, and it seemed that things had gone downhill from there. At twenty-one, she was not prepared to be a widow. Now…she was doing absolutely awful and unthinkable things—all for him. For him, she had turned her back on God and sold her soul to be with him. She would never know the Heaven she often pined for. She killed for him. She stole for him. She felt as if a part of herself had died, and not just her body the day she drowned herself in the river.

She would never admit it, but she was horribly jealous of Klaus and Dawn. The two of them had something she and Viktor could never ever have…

Maybe killing them wouldn't be that hard.