4th chapter

Another dawn was about to come as Minna wandered to her favorite spot at the cliffside. She hummed quietly as she made her way through the forest. A deep sigh escaped her mouth as she took a breath, her almost black eyes scanned through the foliage. She needed to hunt very soon, something she never enjoyed. She felt guilty whenever she had to kill a human.

Just before she reached her destination, she heard low chatter which made her suspicious. She frowned as she got closer and when she got to the end of the forest, her confusion grew. Stefan and Vladimir were sitting on fallen trees like they did yesterday. Minna wasn't sure if she should stay or just leave. For a moment she thought about leaving but a voice interrupted her doing.

"We saw your gift yesterday. It's very intriguing." She could hear the amusement but also honesty, so she looked at the Romanians. Stefan gestured her to join them and so Minna walked to the tree she sat on the last time. If they wanted her to leave, they wouldn't have invited her to stay. But they also didn't seem like the type that would make fun of you.

Minna scoffed when she looked at the men in front of her. She didn't care about her powers. "That might be only thing I'm good at. Hurting people", her voice was bitter, she felt the venom pouring in her mouth, she didn't mean to say that out loud. "How so?"

She looked at the men and a small smile appeared on her lips. "Besides my gift I'm a pity excuse of a vampire. I have no social skills, I love being alone and can't stand crowded places and I feel guilt whenever I kill a human", she paused for a moment. "So yeah, I might be the worst vampire in history", she couldn't hide the sarcasm anymore. The venom-laced words hung in the air and it was quiet for a moment. A bird screeched here and there, some deer roared in the distance and the sun was already rising into the sky.

"You know", Stefan said, "those are pretty good traits for our kind, maybe except for the last part." A smirk crawled on his face and even Minna chuckled dryly. "Given our lifestyle, we wouldn't want to stay in crowded places but rather enjoy our freedom. And you don't really need much social skills", Vladimir said matter-of-factly. "But why do you feel guilt after you fed?"

Minna stared at him. "Well, I think about that person's life. Maybe they had family, I don't know." She started playing with her hair in a nervous manner, but she felt two pairs of dark red eyes burning into her frame. Clearly, they never had such a minor problem, she thought and instantly felt silly that she told them that.

"You are a predator, you are no longer a human being and you will never be one again", Stefan started. "A predator doesn't care about its prey. That's a human trait that stops you from embracing your true nature", Vladimir continued. For a moment it's quiet again, Minna thought about what they said, but it's not that she just could turn the guilty feelings off.

"How do you hunt?"

She shot them a confused glare so Vladimir explained. "Instinct or an actual hunt?"

"Instinct", Minna didn't even need to think about it. She always led her instincts take over so she would feel no remorse while feeding. Vladimir raised an eyebrow. "Why? Look at you, you could easily seduce a man, just lure them in and embrace what you are."

If she could, Minna would blush intensely at that moment. Did he really just make her a compliment? She didn't reply, her mind wandered and she thought about everything they told her. Maybe she should give her new life another chance. The Cullen's made a new family, so maybe she could do the same.

The silence that hung over the three vampires was refreshing. No one needed to say a word, they were sitting perfectly still and everyone followed their own train of thoughts. So, it happened, that Minna didn't realize that sun was already setting down behind the horizon, she only noticed when the Romanians finally stood up.

"We're going hunting. Want to join us?", Stefan asked with a smirk on his face. The woman looked at the men confused and startled. The itching in her throat got worse, she closed her pitch-black eyes for a moment before she stood up as well. "Yes, thank you. Where are you going?" Vladimir turned into the direction they wanted to go. "Seattle, shouldn't be far from here."

With these words the vampire sped off to Seattle. Minna was following the far older vampires. They were fast, very fast, she could barely keep up with them. For a moment she thought they would slow down for her, but why would they. When they entered Seattle, it was already dark, very few people were walking on the streets on this cold evening. Minna could have sworn she heard the words 'Have fun', but when she turned around, she was alone.

She shrugged it off and followed the street for a while until she got to a bigger place. Something like a market. She saw some cafés, a library, dozens of stores and in the middle of the place was a fountain. Given the time and temperature it wasn't running any water, but what Minna interested more was the person sitting on one side of said fountain. The smell radiating of this man was purely mouthwatering, she felt the venom gather in her mouth and for a moment she was about to lose control. She stopped in an instant and tried to calm herself. Maybe she should really try to hunt. Her eyes wandered back to the man. He was tall and trained, had dark brown hair and seemed to be in his late 40s. He swiped mindlessly through his phone and looked bored.

Minna took a deep breath, taking in his scent, listening how his blood pumped through his veins. She could only imagine what it would taste like. She made her way slowly over to the man and sat down next to him.

It took the man a few seconds until he realized someone sat there. His eyes scanned the woman and a small grin appeared on his face. "Hi", he started a conversation and Minna blinked. She tried to calm down her instincts and let her predatorial nature take over. In an instant she felt the confidence rise. "Hi", she answered, "are you waiting for someone?"

The grin on his face grew wider. "Not really, some friends are around, nothing special. What about you? All on your own at this hour?" Minna smiled at him. "Yes, but I'm looking for some company." As she finished her sentence, she let her hand touch his knee shortly, so it would seem like an accident and the man instantly reacted. He leaned over to her a little and put his hand on her leg.

Minna tensed inwardly, if she was honest, she had never done something like that before. She never had a partner or anything. Basically, she never had slept with anyone, she was an over 100-years-old virgin. She inhaled his scent again to stop her thoughts, she would never do that with a human, especially not with someone she just met.

"Oh, so you are looking for that kind of company", he leaned in a little further. "That I can help you with." A smug smile spread on his face and he stood up, he offered her a hand. "Let me take you somewhere more private, honey. What is your name again?" She chuckled somewhat in her own dark amusement. "Minna, who do I have the pleasure with?" She took the offered hand and stroke softly over his upper body. "Christian", he ushered and led the woman into one of the streets, his hand firmly on her waist. Just before they entered a narrow alley, two men came into view. Christian stopped and waved at the men before he leaned down to Minna and whispered in her ear. "Would you mind some more company? I'm sure my friends would love to help you to kill time." His hand wandered further down to her butt and squeezed it a little.

Minna tensed for a moment but her inner predator took over again. Tonight, she would feast like a king. She leaned over to his ear to answer him, a smirk appeared on her face. "Absolutely not, darling." After Christian greeted his friends, one of them, whose name was Marc, put an arm around her and trapped her between the two men. The third followed closely behind.

Minna thought that they would at least guide her to an apartment of some sort but when they stopped in a dark backyard with some trash bins and certainly no entrance to a house, she felt disgusted. She didn't want to know what kind of men those were. She stopped thinking when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders pulling her back onto a warm chest. "You are in for some fun, honey." His warm breath grazed her ear and as he was about to move his hands to her breasts she quickly turned around.

A smile appeared on her lips as her black eyes looked into his green ones. "Oh, you have no idea." Her hands made their way up to his collar bone and she could see the two others closing in. None of those men had any idea what was happening. None of them felt the danger, they were too focused on their primitive desire. When Minna was about to lunge at Christian, she felt a small breeze and saw shadows appearing, so she looked behind the men in front of her. As she recognized the newly arrived persons a grin formed on her face which they returned.

"I didn't expect you to bring dinner", Vladimir said in an amused tone which caused Stefan to chuckle darkly. Marc and the other man turned to the Romanians. "Hey, that's none of your business. Get out of here." They tried to scare of the vampires who didn't respond at all. "You're welcome", Minna mouthed, but they could hear her perfectly.

Christian wanted to turn around as well, but Minna put her hand on his face and forced him to look at her. "Eyes on me, darling", she said in an almost seductive tune. "We are about to have some fun!" Before the human could react, Minna pulled him down and sank her teeth into his neck. Her hand covered his mouth to muffle his screams. She couldn't describe the feeling as the warm blood entered her mouth. She could hardly restrain a satisfied moan, but she remembered she wasn't alone. This feeding was different, it felt way more satisfying mentally and physically. She usually quenched her thirst, got rid of the evidence and felt the guilt creeping over her for the next couple of days. But this was a whole new experience and she didn't know if she could ever hunt by instinct again.

When she was done with her meal, she dropped the body to the floor, slowly realizing her surroundings. Minna quickly shot a glance at the Romanians who seemed to be done already. Both had a knowing smirk on their faces and looked at her inquiringly. As soon as she realized what happened and that those two probably watched her some time before their appearance, she shrunk inwardly. She felt embarrassed about her actions.

"How was it?"

Minna looked back at the Romanians and coughed slightly to get her confidence back without success. Her eyes darted to dead men on the ground and her thoughts relived the moment she tasted his blood for the first time. "It was great", she whispered in embarrassment and realization. A chuckle brought her attention back to the vampires. "Told you so", Stefan said. Vladimir on the other hand had his eyes fixated on Minna, which made her feel uneasy. She was about to ask what was wrong, when she felt a drip of blood running down her chin. She quickly cleaned her face with her hand and looked away in shame.

"We need to get rid of the bodies", Vladimir said after a while and the two others looked around. "We could drown them in the sea with some rocks", Minna suggested but didn't think much of her idea. "Sounds good." Minna looked at them in surprise, she didn't believe they would actually take her idea into account.

After a short while, the three vampires got rid of the bodies and stood still for a moment. Three pairs of red eyes looked into the distance. Each of them after their own thought. Minna felt at peace, when she usually would feel guilt. For a tiny moment she thought about the man and the family he probably had and what they would do now. But then her mind reminded her, that she needed to feed to survive. Within a moment of silence, she realized, she was a predator.