Chloe had searched all day for Derek. She stopped to eat for lunch, but she never stopped searching the faces. She had returned to the hotel room twice, but everything remained untouched. Only once, she thought she'd seen him when there was a tall man who had dark hair with just the prefect amount of curl in it. But as she had moved closer with excitement and hope, she realized it wasn't him. There was no sign of him. Nobody except for the freaky old lady had seen him. It was as if he had actually disappeared. Slow, deep breaths throughout the day had been keeping her sane.

She sat now, eating pizza by the Pantheon. Gazing at the faces as they walked by, she noticed the light of day was getting dimmer and searched for the horizon. The sun was getting close to setting and Chloe shivered as she remembered the old lady's warning. She shrugged as she took her last bite. There was no sense in tempting fate and the twenty-four hour rule was about up. She could officially report Derek missing. 

Setting off for her hotel at a brisk pace, she was much more confident in her directions today than she had been yesterday. It would be best if she was inside before the sun went down. Regardless of how insane the crazy lady's words had seemed.

As she walked by the Colosseum, she noticed the street lights turn on and she tried to increase her pace. Walking any faster without breaking into a fast jog didn't seem possible. She nervously looked behind her to see if anyone was there. Lots of people were. She laughed at herself and slowed down a bit, thinking that her panicked movements must look ridiculous. A deep breath made her feel slightly more relaxed.

After walking another block, she heard someone sniff behind her and goosebumps ran up her spine. She turned and saw the same old lady from the morning. "I told you!" yelled the old lady with spittle flying from her mouth, "Before dark, I told you!" The woman was shaking a gnarled finger in Chloe's direction.

Her whole body cringed away from the old woman and this time she did start to run. She ran down the sidewalk, past people who watched her go with amused expressions on their faces. She didn't care, her nerves had reached their limit.

Chloe turned a corner and felt a strong hand grab her by the throat. "Guess you should have listened to the old hag," whispered a gruff voice in her ear.

Chloe choked out a muffled scream that nobody would hear. She slapped frantically at the hand that gripped her neck so tightly. The grip was like an iron shackle on her skin. She knew that she would never get it off. Her body slowly relaxed, giving in to the obvious power of her captor.

"Not much of a fighter, are you?" a cool breath touched her ear. "She's right, you know. You do smell like him. I tracked you easily from the moment I woke up." He loosened the grip around her just the smallest bit and Chloe took a slow, agonizing breath. There was a desperate sound that accompanied her body's need for oxygen. He loosened his grip a bit more, "Sorry about that," he said. "I didn't realize, well, I didn't think about the fact you probably want to breathe." He actually sounded slightly embarrassed. Oxygen rush into her lungs and she felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

Her captor pushed her against a wall and down to the cobblestone sidewalk. "As long as you're quiet, I won't hurt you," he said. 

She looked up at him with narrowed eyes. Hate bubbled inside her chest and she wondered if he could see the emotion as she looked into his red-tinged, yet still dark chocolate brown eyes. She was pretty sure she was looking at Derek's murderer.

Murderer? The old lady had been right? A mixture of confused thoughts ran through her mind.  As she took another ragged breath, she wished she had the strength to exact some kind of bloody revenge, even as she felt like bursting into tears.

He eyed her expressions and his mouth turned down at the corners. "Aww, don't be mad. It wasn't my fault," he said. He spread his arms out wide before her and shrugged his shoulders. She looked away in disgust.

She was surprised when he sat beside her, still holding her firmly. "He tasted really good." 

Chloe closed her eyes. She shook her head ever so slightly as she swallowed down unexpected bile. 

"No, he did. A certain fragrance to him that I just could not resist. And the taste that followed did not disappoint. I'm curious about you. You smell a little like him, but there's a hint of something... different. Much more... je ne sais quoi. Sweeter, I think. I honestly think the richer the blood, the sweeter," he looked down at her from the corner of his eye. 

She could feel his gaze. Her body gulped involuntarily, but she didn't say anything. She was so terrified that she couldn't do anything. The proverbial deer in the headlights, as it were.

"I do enjoy some conversation though. Life can get awfully dull. The whole millennia upon millennia thing. It's hard to strike up some good conversation sometimes. You must have some questions for me. I mean, how often do you get to talk to a vampire? Like, never, am I right?" 

She looked up at him and her lip slowly formed a snarl. 

"Ooh, interesting. I don't get that expression very often. Your friend, there, he just continued to stare. He never reacted much at all. You don't have much fight, but you've got more than him. Do you need a few more moments to form a word or two?"

Her hands formed into tight fists. Her arms began to shake. Hot anger built  up inside of her chest getting ready  to explode out of her body. She felt him sigh moments before her body came alive in a violent motion. Her arms swung up to hit him in the face and a scream tore from her chest. In the midst of these motions, she felt him sigh again. He  muttered something about nobody ever wanting to talk. And then she felt a sharp burning on her neck. Her mind was momentarily lost in something she couldn't quite describe as pain or pleasure. It was a confusing mixture of the two. And then the sensation was ripped away as her captor's body flew to the side.

Tracking the motion with her eyes was impossible. The two bodies were moving too quickly for her human sight to keep up. She saw a blur of somebody... something?... jumping on top of her would-be killer. An arm raised into the air and appeared to stab the vampire... and then he was... gone? In a state of confusion, she turned her head to the side. Her eyes closed,  even though she tried to keep them open. As she slipped out of consciousness, she was sure she was dying. So sure. Her body started to shake and a voice whispered in her ear. 

"We will get you to a safe place. You will be fine. Just fine."

 She felt her body rise, and then she felt nothing.

~~

A/N Thanks again! I hope you're enjoying it so far! If you did, please throw a vote my way and I'd love to hear your comments!