Thank you for your reviews, favs and alerts, I decided to continue this. Answer to the guest question, this won't be a romance story, at least not in the traditional way :) There will be some dark aspects in the story and the rating may change later.

Blood red skies, I feel so cold
No innocence, we play our role
The wheel embodies all where are we going

All in all you'd expect the wise to be wiser
Fallen from grace
All and all I guess
We should have known better, 'cause...

What about us?
Isn't it enough,
No we're not in Paradise

This is who we are
This is what we got
No, it's not our Paradise

Within Temptation –Paradise

Chapter 2

Far from Paradise

I couldn't move. Why couldn't I move? Was there something wrong with my body? After a long struggle I managed to open my eyes, but I regretted it immediately, all I saw was a pair of glassy, dead eyes of a man who was lying on top of me. I tried to scream, but I couldn't make a sound, I was panicking. I wanted to push the man off me, but I couldn't move my hands. What had happened to me?

I smelled the dirt and death all around me, I was in a grave. When I saw some kind of insect squirming out of the man's nose, I screamed, although it filled my mouth with dirt. My hands and legs were moving furiously; apparently my panic gave me strength. Up, I needed to dig myself out of here. Which way was up? There were more dead eyes and bloody body parts everywhere; I was trapped in the middle of them. Hands, legs, heads… Was this hell? Silent sobs that escaped my throat shook my body, but my fingers kept digging desperately.

Some bodies were clearly older than others; they had already been partly decomposed. The smell was morbid; I fought the urge to vomit. But how could I have vomit, my mouth was full of dirt. There were all kinds of insects feeding on the bodies, the thought of them eating me alive made me panic even more. I cried and dug, praying that this was a nightmare. If this really was hell, there would be no way out, I would be here forever…

"I am sorry," I pleaded silently. "Please, Lord, forgive me, I will do anything… Please do not leave me here…"

Nothing happened, I cried even harder.

"Mama, papa, please help me."

They couldn't help me, they were in heaven and I was in hell, I couldn't understand what sin I had committed that was so bad. Why did I deserve this? My fingers were still digging, slowly I was moving up. Were there flames there, an eternal torture like father Thomas had said? I didn't stop digging; I couldn't stay here, even if there were flames up there. Finally my hand reached the surface, I felt raindrops hitting it. I used all my strength and pulled myself up from my horrible prison. The smell of death was everywhere, even though the pouring rain felt divine.

Somehow I managed to get on my trembling feet, my dress was torn and I was filthy. I didn't think that I could never be clean again. Cautiously I looked around, it was dark, but I recognized this place. It was the mass grave behind the cemetery, the place where people had been buried during the plague. No… I couldn't understand… No, I wasn't dead. I wasn't dead, I wasn't… I fell on my knees and threw up, my sobs turned into screams. What had happened to me?

6 months later

"Another attack?" Elijah asked calmly.

One of Niklaus' lackeys nodded.

"Yes, my lord, last night. This newborn vampire seems to be completely out of control."

Elijah frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, the matter needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. Why there were always fools who had to turn unstable humans?

"Does my brother know about this?"

The lackey, whose name was Digory, nodded.

"Yes, my lord, lord Klaus ordered me to gather a hunting party for tonight; we shall find and kill this newborn."

"Good," Elijah huffed. "He or she have already caused more than enough problems, there are all kinds of rumors spreading around amongst peasants."

Digory nodded.

"Yes, this newborn is certainly not subtle. Are you joining us for the hunt, my lord?"

Elijah hesitated, he wasn't sure if he wanted to spend his night chasing some unstable young vampire.

"Probably not," he replied carelessly.

Digory bowed respectfully and left. Elijah looked at his book that was lying on the table, but he didn't feel like continue reading. He sighed and walked in front of the fireplace, pondering how to spend his evening. Niklaus was in his chamber with his new favorite mistress, Kol and Rebekah were out and there were no social responsibilities this evening. Perhaps a ride in the woods… On the other hand, he could join that hunting party. After a moment of consideration he decided that the idea didn't sound so bad, at least it would be more interesting than sitting in the library by himself. Who knew, it might even be fun.