1st chapter (prologue)
Disappointment was a short-lived expression on their faces as they ran through the forests and fields. With quick but confident steps they distanced themselves from the scenery on the field and the next missed opportunity they had to endure. They remained silent but shared a small, yet almost victorious grin. He was scared, all of them were scared after his speech and the possible shocking things he had seen in the seer's mind. A barely audible scoff could be heard of one of the two figures, sprinting inhumanly fast over the snowy ground. He was afraid of humans and their technologies, he openly admitted it and they had to take advantage of that. But they couldn't just walk into their lair, where they were clearly at a disadvantage. They had to lure them to them, into an unknown territory to finally have the upper hand. A frown formed on one's face, wondering if their secret alliances, they had built over centuries, were ready to face the powers of their opponents.
The two of them didn't pay any attention on how long they travelled already, they had crossed the sea probably hours ago and by then they were close to familiar territory. As if on cue, the men stopped simultaneously, their eyes scanned the area in front of them. They were alone in the open fields in the middle of the night. The occasional sounds of the local animals disturbed the quiet, accompanied by the soft rushing of the wind over the frozen grass on the ground.
"I believe we share the same thought," Stefan mused, his eyes fixated onto something in the far distance.
"To prey on their fear?" Vladimir lifted an eye brow as he looked over at his companion with a knowing smirk. Stefan was quick to mirror his facial expression. They assumed, Aro spoke of the disastrous power of nuclear weapons, considering the few times they had witnessed the aftermath. If those weapons were a real threat to vampires was unclear, but a risk, the Romanians would be willing to take, under the right and most calculated circumstances.
The vampires continued their way in human pace, strolling through the frost-bitten nature with the moon, as their only light-source. "We should inform him about our discoveries," Vladimir said as he took a deep breath, inhaling the cold winter air. Stefan narrowed his eyes, remembering the last time they had met with him and his secret army in the making. "Felix seemed even more eager in the last few years to get his revenge. I hope he is ready." An amused chuckle left Vladimir's lips at those words. "He definitely lacks patience, something he better ought to learn if he wants to succeed."
"He knows, we won't partake in reckless actions that won't end in our favor, that much he learned," Stefan said and met the gaze of his companion. They walked in silence, entering another forest just when it began to dawn; hiding their inhuman traits in the shadows under the trees. "We'd still need to lure the Volturi to us," Stefan wondered, his mind playing through different outcomes in his head.
Vladimir hummed, his red eyes wandering over the old trees around him. "We shall find something they find intriguing enough." His voice was low, thinking about possibilities to get them there, once their plan would be set in motion.
Dwelled upon thoughts of different scenarios, the men finally made their way back to their home country. As much as they enjoyed their travels all over the globe, returning to Romania was always something they yearned for; their hearts split between unimaginable sadness of what had happened, hate for those responsible and pride of the things they had accomplished there in the first place. They needed to think all of it through, every new information, every detail they got and how to potentially use them to their advantage. When to pull the strings, when to inform their alliances to ultimately plant the seed into their supposedly allies' minds to maybe get to a more fruitful final confrontation. They knew they played a game of hypothetical advances, but it was all they could do. They lost enough, reducing their former proud coven until only the two of them remained. They won't make a first step, they wouldn't stand a chance, that they had to admit. But making connections once in a while, staying in touch with whatever happened in their world was more than beneficial. Otherwise, they would have never gotten the word of Carlisle's recruiting for witnesses against the Volturi.
By giving useful information or insights in small but well calculated doses to the right people, the two of them would be more than capable to force another reaction from the current rulers of their kind. They wouldn't act on their own, but they would make sure to pull the right strings at the right time to get the outcome or reactions they preferred. They were old, their patience and observation skills were honed; furthermore, their tactical thinking and combat practice made them a danger to be reckoned with.
Week after week flew by in which the Romanians strategized their ideas in secret. Though, occasionally, they simply enjoyed days in peace in quiet, giving themselves time and space to be on their own to relax a little. It was one of those times, Vladimir stood silently in a forest in a country not too far from his own home country. The sun was starting to set behind the horizon on that sunny day in April. He let his mind wander, not thinking about something specifically, merely roaming through the millions of thoughts in his head. He looked into the distance, his eyes not searching for anything in particular.
In the depth of his mind, he noticed slow footsteps nearing his location, for a moment he mistook it for an animal, but by the smell that hit his nose, he knew it was another kind of prey. Animals never dared to get near them, they sensed the danger radiating off of them. Staying away from the likes of him, was the wisest decision one could do. But this particular being didn't seem to be wise, not catching the slightest bit of his dark aura. An absent smirk spread on his face; humans could be so intelligent given all the things they invented and yet when it came to survival instincts, they lacked it more and more with each generation. He took a deep unneeded breath, he didn't need to hunt; he wasn't even in the mood to hunt, so a part of him hoped, that that unaware human would finally come to their senses and leave soon.
He forced his attention to the atmosphere around him, he took long and deep breaths, while he halfheartedly listened to the footsteps and the beating heart, that somehow still came closer. Obviously, Vladimir could have disappeared before the human would have spotted him, but he simply didn't want to. In the worst case, he had to kill the human, it was as simple as that. They were so far out in the woods, that the chance of another one crossing their path was close to zero. And yet, this one human did make their way out there at this time of the day. As the footsteps came to a halt, he hoped, he would be alone soon again, but his hopes were crushed to bits as he heard a voice behind him.
"Um, hello?" The voice was female, the tone wasn't as high-pitched as some women had, but a little deeper, still feminine but more settled, somehow indicating that someone had some life experience already, with all its ups and downs. For a moment, he wondered why he even thought about the sound of her voice, which was oddly pleasant to listen to, in the first place. Vladimir closed his eyes in annoyance, when the footsteps continued to get in his direction. "Are you alright?" He sighed inwardly, shaking his head in the slightest, which remained unseen to the human. He didn't turn around, hoping the woman would get the final hint of getting out of this alive and just leave him alone. But that human seemed to be either of the stubborn, dumb or curious type, as she proceeded to get closer. When he noticed a movement in his peripheral view, he wasn't sure, if he should be astounded by her bravery or laugh at her stupidity. She came to a halt roughly 1,5 metres to his right, a small step behind him.
"Can I help you?" Her voice was low as she looked at the man who didn't move at all. When she wanted to act further, his strangely amused voice interrupted her doing.
"Is it wise, as a woman, to approach a stranger in the woods all alone?" Vladimir couldn't hide the smirk on his face, but he didn't move, his eyes trained on the nature in front of him. Giving the woman a final chance at escape, in his self-claimed generosity. By the ruffling of the dried leaves on the ground, he knew that she stumbled a little at his words.
"Well, I saw you standing there all alone as well and I assumed that there was a problem. That you, maybe lost your way or were wounded," she said with furrowed brows. "I was merely trying to help," she added a little lower, but still didn't move away. In all honesty, she was taken aback a little, when he spoke; the thick accent accompanied by his strange behavior should make her at least feel uncomfortable, probably even forcing her to go, but she didn't.
Vladimir scoffed in amusement; her actions were almost adoring. "I could also just have murdered someone. What would stop me from putting you to the same fate?" He tilted his head slightly, not yet looking at her.
It was silent for a while, not even the wind could be heard. "You could, but I think that, if it were true, you wouldn't stand there watching the forest." She made a small step closer, her curiosity over that mysterious stranger getting the better of her. "Since you don't seem wounded at all, I assume you're either a lost wanderer, which I highly doubt, or you're here to clear your head."
He remained silent for a while, breathing in the fresh air of spring. "And yet you approached a stranger. Not the wisest of choices, I might add." Despite his former aversion of being disturbed, he somehow found himself enjoying that little back and forth. It was almost a pity he had to inevitably kill her later.
The woman cocked an eyebrow and put her hand on her hips. "Well, I won't apologize for being kind and trying to help others. It's unfortunately a human trait that's not so common anymore," she said annoyed. Truth be told, she wanted to leave him alone, but her feet wouldn't move, her eyes wouldn't look away from the stranger that seemed not that much older than herself, but with hair so light in color it appeared almost white. Nothing compared to his barely visible pale taint, but she wouldn't judge. She, herself was often jokingly referred to as 'undead' due to her pale skin.
At her words, a genuine smile spread on his face. "It's a human trait, indeed," he mused lowly, barely audible to her. "Are those the reasons, why you are out here on your own?" He continued but took another deep breath, he finally turned to the woman, taking in her appearance for the first time. He noticed her shocked expression as their eyes met and he couldn't help but smirk at her behavior.
"What is with your eyes?" The woman asked quicker than she could think of it. Her breathing hitched at that, not sure if it could be a medical condition. Slowly but surely, fear crawled into her consciousness, paralyzing her body and robbing her of any possible movement.
"Nothing of your concern," he answered a little harsher than intended. Vladimir saw some sort of realization hitting her, finally acknowledging the position she maneuvered herself into. He didn't move further, he wondered what her next reaction would be. Running, like most or just trembling in fear like the cowards did.
"Sorry for asking, that was inappropriate" the woman said after a while. "I am, in fact, out here to clear my mind. All those noises in the city, the many people, it's just draining. Being in nature relaxes me, it soothes my mind," she declared without missing a beat.
Vladimir looked at her with a mixture of confusion and amusement. That was by far, nothing he would have expected. A small smile formed on his lips as he listened to her open-hearted words. She was a curious being indeed. "You seem to trust strangers easily, given all the personal information you've shared. That seems pretty foolish to me." He looked directly into her brown eyes and by the intensity of his gaze, most people would have avoided any contact with his red irises. Yet, she kept staring back stoically.
"Well, insulting a stranger by telling them that they're dumb multiple times seems pretty rude to me," she said in an almost scolding tone. Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she stubbornly held his gaze. She was used to being ignored or used due to her kindness and her want to help others, which is why she kept to herself more and more over the last few years, especially in the social circles at work, but being called 'dumb' for it was something she wouldn't accept. "I was raised to be nice, to fit in and to help and care. But I won't take insults from people that don't know me at all."
The vampire lifted an eyebrow at her remark. She had some kind of bravery in her and he had to admit, it intrigued him. "You state your opinion, that's fair enough." To be fair, Vladimir was utterly relaxed at that point, of course he had nothing to lose, but usually associating with others and especially humans was a dull and draining experience. The vampires were either too eager to join them or acted purely out of fear of their still standing reputation. The humans, unknowing as they came, were mostly frightened, angsty creatures once they got aware of the truth. This young woman wasn't frightened, though, yet. His mind raced, trapped in memories of the past.
The woman shifted slightly, taking her eyes off the man to inspect her surroundings. It was getting darker already, she knew she had to hurry if she wanted to make it at least out of the forest, while there was still a little light from the sun. "I," she started, turning away. "I better leave, it's pretty dark already." She looked back at the man, who had his eyes glued to her form, yet by the expression of it, he seemed to be deep in thoughts. "Goodbye, stranger," she said and a small smile flashed over her lips before she turned to leave.
His eyes never left her retreating form, he didn't know why he didn't kill her. He knew, it would have been the wisest decision to do so, but it didn't feel right to him in a strange way. She had no clue; she was no danger and he wasn't in the need to hunt. He turned away, forcing his attention back to the relaxing view of the darkening forest. His ears still caught each step she took and her smell lingered in the air. A humorous scoff left his lips, quickly followed by a smirk as his eyes followed the movements of a fox in the far distance, sneaking its way through the undergrowth.