The world has gone dead still on its axis, at least for Zachariah, it did. Sitting on a small bench down a deserted walkway, now getting drenched by the rain, his worst fear has definitely come true. Not but a few moments ago, he confessed his love to me, for me only to show him that I am the very same thing he was trying to save me from. The heartbreak in those soft blue eyes does bring my own heart pain. Never ever could I have thought that I shall hurt a friend in this way. Would he now despise me as much as he does Sebastian? Shall he even go as far as to drive a dagger through my heart? Then again, would this have made a difference if he had told me before? Would it be his arms that I would seek the comfort of?Yet, he remains still; he has not moved a slight bit in the past few minutes that he has known. I guess I can safely say that he shall not be killing me, well, at least not tonight. His dagger is only but an arm's reach; what stops him from driving it straight thr

…Anastasia POV…There is a suffocating silence that sets over the room as every syllable leaves Sebastian's lips. There is nothing but pure horror hidden all over his pale face; even if every part of him protests internally with himself, he knows that he has to present me to them. The Vampire Council, a collection of Vampires chosen by Sebastian himself, is widely feared and known to hand the most severe punishments down on those who break the Vampire code.This is what Edward has told me, whether it is true, that I shall find out for myself come tomorrow night. As for now, I am being sent to my room much like a naughty child to think about my actions. In all my living years, I have never felt so scared; I do wish that I had listened to Sebastian. My own selfishness drove me to do the unthinkable, kill another out of pure recklessness. I would love to tell myself that I was only thinking of Eva's best interest, where in fact, I was only thinking of myself

My beloved is being sentenced to thirty days in the dungeon. I begged for her not to interrupt and anger the members of The Council. She is by far the most stubborn woman that I have ever known in both my mortal and immortal life. She does not fully grasp the severity of her situation; the dungeon is not a prison cell that these humans use to keep the bad apples of their society. It is, in fact, a very real dark hole in a castle in a secret location in Europe.She is but only a youngling; with her constant cravings, she shall not even last a week. This is, by all fairness, a sentence to death. I am afraid that this is a harsh punishment to hand down, and I cannot overrule it. Any signs of leniency shall not only show that I am weak but show that I favor her over any other Vampires who should be treated equally the same. But in saying this, I shall not sit aside and watch her slowly die in that dark hole."If I may interrupt Genevieve.""Yes, go ahead, Sebastian.

...Anastasia POV...Should Sebastian get word of what I shall be doing in the next few hours, he shall do more than just send me to my room, for it is not only against the Vampire code but also somewhat inhumane to do.I shall be taking Lilith with me to bear witness and give The Council word of what I have done. Now we are only but hoping that this time it shall be other Council Members, for we almost can certainly say that Genevieve will not put me in the same dungeon that Sebastian finds himself.But now, we do have another request that has come from a completely unexpected source. Lilith has just brought me word of it."Anastasia, I have had a request from Eva to come along on the hunt tonight.""She actually said that? Is she coming to see that I do get caught, or does she actually want to help Sebastian?"Just then, Eva comes walking through the door."A bit of both, actually. And I am fairly tired of the scraps that Edward brin

It was the fall of 1839 when I first laid my eyes on her. I was a Vampire at the age of a hundred and very much the most ruthless Master in all of Europe. But at that time, I was quite a casanova and did not believe in such things as relationships and partners, let alone even a beloved. She was beautiful and vibrant, fearless and somewhat feared. I was immediately drawn to her, not for the companionship but for the exhilarating sex that we experienced.I shall not be shy to admit that all that I did want from her was just that; I never imagined or even aspired to have anything more with her. Our encounter lasted for six months, brief for a Vampire but a small commitment for a human. In our time together, I did not only have wandering eyes but very much restless hands; she did look past this and somehow continued to stay loyal to me. But for me, the novelty was wearing off, and to be frank; I just did not want her around anymore.She did not take the split as well as I