From 4/6/1762
I had never asked to become a vampire. One day, it just happened. I'd been exploring the landscape near my home and had taken a shortcut through the desert to get back. The sun had just started rising. The sky along the horizon glowed with a purple light, signaling the coming day.

As the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, I began searching for a way out of the desert. I walked in a single direction, not sure if I was going the right way. After about two hours of walking around, I deduced that I was probably hopelessly lost. I dug in my backpack for the flask of water I'd remembered to pack literally ten minutes before I left. I drank a little and continued walking.

Eventually, the sun began to set and I knew that I desperately needed to find shelter to protect myself from the cold of night. I shivered and kept walking. I managed to take refuge in a small cave for the night.

The next day, I continued walking in search of my home. By the third day, my water and food supply had been exhausted.

By that time, I was lethargic and hardly wanted to move, because almost every time that I did, I vomited. On the fifth day, I passed out and died, or so I thought.

The first sensation that came back to me was touch. I could sense that I was lying on the hard ground. Next came my hearing. I could hear people speaking in an unfamiliar language, and it was slightly unnerving. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I was sitting in a small hut and though it was dark outside, I could see perfectly.

A woman to my left was pouring something into a bowl. After noticing that I was awake, she gave me the bowl and mimed the action of drinking. Cautiously, I lifted the bowl to my lips and allowed the liquid to slide down my throat. I gagged on the mysterious liquid and spit it out; shocked to find out it was blood. How I knew that, I wasn't sure.

Almost at once, though, I was hit by a feeling of hunger. A hunger not for food, however, but a hunger for blood. Eagerly I finished the liquid in the bowl, but that was not enough. I ran from the hut with the woman yelling behind me, trying to warn me of something.

I didn't stop until I reached home. When I arrived home, my family was delighted to see me, not realizing the monster I'd become. In my lust for blood, I killed everyone.

After realizing what I had done, I was sick with grief. I swore off human blood from that moment on.

Fifty years passed and on a whim, I hopped a boat to the New World, a place known as the United States. Upon arriving in this strange new place, I found the temptation to feed to almost be too great with all the new scents around.

One day, I was in the fledgling city of Chicago. Though the climate was a lot colder than that of my homeland, the people seemed friendly enough. Not wanting to get too attached, I made plans to leave the following morning. Walking in the sun had never bothered me, despite being what I was.

I'd found a nice alleyway to curl up in and I tried to ignore the ever present aching in my stomach; it had been forever since I'd fed properly. Once the sun had set, I leaned against the wall and tried to sleep. Just as I was about to fall asleep, my head snapped up. Someone was approaching me.

I stood up, ready to defend myself but unsure as to why anyway would want to bug me anyways.

"Relax," said a voice from the entrance of the alleyway. "I mean you no harm."

A figure approached. When he stepped into the moonlight, I noticed that he had long brown hair, a derby hat on his head, and a suit on.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"My name is William Beckett, and I'm like you. I'm a vampire. I can tell that it has been awhile since you've fed. I can help," the stranger said with a smile which revealed his fangs.

He was probably two inches taller than me, and I couldn't help but feel intimidated as this man stepped closer.

"So, would you like my help?" the man asked.

Normally, I would have carefully thought through all the options before accepting the help of a stranger, but at this moment, I was too blinded by hunger. The stranger rolled up one of his sleeves and carefully bit down on his wrist. He extended his wrist to me, who accepted it without hesitation and bit down, thankful for blood.

After a few moments, William withdrew his wrist and took me back to the mansion in which he lived. That was the day I realized my life had changed for the better – because the coven was only going to grow and become stronger from that moment on.

"Wow. Talk about remembering everything."

"That's not as bad as it could be. So, you were saying you thought you could outdo us. Let's hear it, Adeline. How'd you get turned?" Carden wondered, flipping through the stack of CDs on the mantle, anything to forget the story he'd just told.

"Well, for one, I'm a hell of a lot younger than the rest of you. I got turned right after prohibition went through. 1923."

Both second in commands gasped.

"William took over in '22, right? Damn, she could've been with us since the day she got turned! I can't believe we missed this much time in finding, well, she found us, but still." Brendon mused.

"Yeah, he did...what if he's the one that turned her and she just doesn't-"

"Guys, I'm right here. I can hear everything you're saying. And as far as who sired me, I don't remember who turned me, all I can remember is the pain. I remember waking up not knowing where I was, or how I got there. Found a note explaining I now needed to kill to stay alive - some help that was. I wandered here and there, determined to not kill anyone. I think I might have walked passed this very mansion a few times. By the time I needed to kill, I c-c-couldn't...sorry. It's a little hard to talk about, still."

"You'll get used to it."

AJ's head lifted at the voice, and if either of the boys hadn't been watching her, they wouldn't have picked up on how William seemed to have an almost instantaneous effect on her mood, just by walking into the room. She in turn, got up from where she was sitting and practically threw herself into him, thankful that he was just - there.

"I won't. I know I won't. I can't even remember a name to match the face - and I don't even know the face! At least the three of you saw who turned you! For all I know, I'd been blindfolded and and possibly drugged before it happened! I just want the memories to go away - all of them, the games I've played, the people I've killed..."

"You've killed people?" Carden asked in surprise, it seemed she was every bit as capable of being a Dandie then the rest of them were.

Adeline turned to look at him, William's arms wrapping around her waist.

"Too many to remember which were playing games with me and those that weren't. See, even if he was human, I'd take something. I have a box full of keepsakes, now it's at the bottom of my closet."

"Hm. That's why." William stated, his chin resting on the top of her head, "Why you're always sitting up before you finally go to bed, listening to that little music box. That's one of the items you stole, isn't it?"

She nodded, "It plays the ballad of swan lake, by Tchaikovsky. C'est comme une pièce calme, que ma mère fredonnait pour m'aider à dormir avant de mourir avec mon père ... c'était quelque chose d'encore Remus savait, à bien y penser de lui."

William laughed, spinning her around slightly so she faced him, drawing her in for a kiss as the boys stared at her, confused.

"Can you translate that? I've got no idea what you just said." Brendon complained, Carden nodding in agreement.

AJ only smiled.

"Jeez, if you guys really are as old as you say you are, I'd think you'd be fluent in more than one language. It's French for, 'It's such a calming piece, something my mother would hum to help me sleep before she died along with my father...it was something even Remus knew, come to think of it.' And..."

She paused, tilting her head to the side as though she was intently listening for something.

"What's wrong, love?"

AJ blinked slowly, looking up, hazel eyes meeting chocolate brown.

"There's...there's someone else here, I can smell them. They don't smell human, but they're not full blood vampire, either."

"It's nothing you need to worry about; we've just - thought of a new way to get back at your friends, by taking one of their own. I think we've tortured him enough, traded off with the fact that Michael has already blended in with their group."

"Wait, I'm confused...how long has one of the others been here for? And who is it? That's why Michal been gone? I mean, granted I've been upstairs since yesterday, I still think I should've known."

"You probably knew, but considering the pain you were in and the haze the drugs put you through, we figured it was better to leave you be." Brendon explained.

"And it was the airbender, the hybrid that's worse off than you because he was still part human, god, you could smell the mortal the second he walked into the room." Adam added, walking in from the kitchen, blood bag in his hands with a straw sticking out of it.

Adeline giggled.

"A straw? You're not a five year old, give me that." She teased, grabbing for the bag and more or less taking the straw out before ripping the tip of the bag off, pouring the half of what remained into her mouth.

"Hey, that was mi-"

She bit her lip and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry...but uh, if you'd want to, we could, I mean, if we're allowed,"

She turned to look at William.

"You going to let me out tonight? It's been forever since I had a good run. And I can take him with me, we can both go hunting and let you have some peace and quiet for a while, without me hanging on your shoulders..."

William nodded.

"Great! Adam, I'm gonna go change real quick out of these pajamas, then I'll meet you in the foyer in five?" She chirped, already in a rush to get going.

"Uh..." but she had already taken off back up the stairs, humming the ballad of Swan Lake as she went.