...Anastasia POV...
What just happened there? Did I really see what I saw? Sebastian is...l need to stop and breathe for a second here...Sebastian is...is it even possible, did my mind not lose itself in the heat of the moment, but I am sure of what I saw...Sebastian is a vampire.
How is that even possible? How do they even exist? I thought vampires were what dark fairy tales had been made up with. But real life, living and breathing, oh wait! Is he really living, is he not supposed to be dead, and has no heart to beat his blood with?
Wait! How can he even walk in sunlight, is he not supposed to crumble into ash? Now I know what he meant about drinking that whiskey if and only when he had to. Oh my god, has he been wanting to drink my blood?
This is too much for me to handle; how did I manage to get myself in this world of a mess. We are two different kinds of species; how can he even have felt anything between us to start with.
Now my stupid ass has decided to run off in the dark of the night. I have no idea where I even am and where I should go. And to make things even worse, I think I am being followed.
My fears are all too soon confirmed as he appears out of nowhere around the corner.
...Sebastian POV...
"Sebastian, what have you done?"
It is the only thought that runs through my head. The woman that is so dear to me thinks that I am a monster. She ran away, and I am so afraid that she will never come back. I am a monster; how can I expect anyone to love me when I am such an awful creature like this.
"Brother, what happened?" Edward comes bursting through the doors, running up next to me. "I heard someone scream."
"It is Anastasia," I say as I keep my head bowed to the floor. "She knows; she knows what I am."
"Oh dear Sebastian," Edward says, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "I am truly sorry. Where is she now? Let me talk to her for a moment."
"She ran out into the night."
"But why did you not go after her?" Edward asks, clear concern in his voice.
"Was I supposed to?" I ask. "I was not sure if I was meant to."
"Sebastian, you know what lurks out there in the night. You should go look for her at once."
"Will you please help me, Edward? I am afraid I do not know where to start."
"Sure," Edward says as he turns to head back to the door. "Two will always do better than one. Let me go beg pardon from Eva, and I shall meet you outside."
Edward rushes off to let Eva know of the situation with Anastasia. I take a seat outside on the cold steps that lead out our driveway into the streets. The pitter-patter of the raindrops falling onto the ground is the only thing that gives me comfort as a million thoughts race through my mind.
How did I manage to get myself in such a world of a mess? We are two different species; how was I to expect that she would feel the same emotions I swear that I was...feeling.
I already miss the warmth of her skin and that sweet smell of vanilla that captivates me so. Missing her mere presence in my company is what hits me the most. Is this what hurt is supposed to feel like? I have not known something so intense and suffocating in over two hundred years. The feeling is so unfamiliar, but all I do know is that I wish not to feel such a feeling ever again.
Moments later, Edward joins me by my side, "Are you ready, brother? Let us go find Anastasia. I do not believe she would have gotten very far."
"Let us do," I say as I slowly get off the floor. "I do not want to imagine what fears of the night lay out there. It is full moon, and we know what creatures lurk in the shadows tonight."
"If she had an encounter with one such creature, we would have heard her screams by now," Edward tries to reassure me, but somehow it makes no difference.
"Please do not say such a thing, Edward," I beg. "I do not know what I will do if anything unfortunate has to happen to her. I should not have let it go so far; I should have stopped the moment I knew the passion was going to overwhelm me."
"Sebastian, she would have found out sooner, much rather than later, what you truly are. If you do have such a strong bond with her, you would have had to reveal yourself then in any way."
"But Edward, I do not wish for her to see me like this; she told me that I am a monster, you know when last I have been called that?"
"Sebastian, do you know what our dear sister Lilith told me?" Edward asks. "She said she saw that...twinkle in your eyes, like you were almost alive when you are around her."
"She does make me feel that way," I admit. "Breyden said that there is a way that I can be with her. I just wished that I had waited."
"What are you talking about? What did Breyden say?" Edward curiously asks.
"He did not want to tell me in front of all that was present in the room. I will be meeting with him tomorrow."
"Well, right now, tomorrow has to wait; we need to find Anastasia," Edward says as he picks up his pace.
The drops of rain are now coming down harder, how I hate the constant rain here in London. How I wish I could take Anastasia and go back to my country of birth in France. It is so much more breathtaking than these cement walls that I am surrounded with.
I am pulled from my thoughts by Edward that speaks. "What is her scent, Sebastian? What does Anastasia smell like?"
"Jasmine, Anastasia smells like jasmine and a slight hint of vanilla, but it is the vanilla that will captivate you the most."
"Let us then try to pick up her scent; it will be the best way to find her. If she only just left, it would be fresh in the air."
It does not take us too long to pick up the lingering smell of vanilla. It consumes our senses as it lies heavily in the air of the city streets.
Edward looks at me, concerned, "I am afraid it seems like she has gone off into a bad part of town."
"I fear to mention that even I have prowled these very same streets at night," I say with obvious fear in my voice, "and we do both know it was not for a leisurely stroll."
"Sebastian, she is a moving target out here alone. I am afraid we must start looking faster."
Just then, out the deep dark of the night, we hear the unmistakable screams of a woman fill the air. It is a sound of horror that travels through the deserted streets and tall walls of the buildings.
"Oh god!" I scream. "That is Anastasia. We must hurry, we need to find her! Now! She is in danger!"
"It came from this way," Edwards says as he pulls me by the arm. "I can smell the vanilla coming from here, the strongest. It is this way. Come, Sebastian, we need to hurry."
Edward and I take a turn into a dark alley; I have been down this very same alley so many times before. I, myself, come down this dark way to prey on helpless women; I do know exactly the fear that has overrun Anastasia. She has for true come across a real monster in the sense of the word.
And just as Edward says, I can smell the vanilla lingering in the air too, but that is not all I can smell; I can smell fear, deep raw fear. I do not smell blood, and that somehow gives me a moment of short-lived comfort. Though if we do not hurry, then I am afraid that it shall soon be a smell that will spring to life as well.
"There she is, Sebastian, there she is, but she is not alone," Edward lowers his voice as he comes to a stop.
"Can you see who is with her, Edward?" I ask. "Can you see what monster her has trapped down there?"
"I am afraid I can't, but..." Edward abruptly stops.
"It smells like honey..." I say as I complete his sentence.
"Yes, it does smell like honey, but there is something else," he admits. "You do know what this means?"
"There is no time to ponder what to do," I tell Edward as he is trying to hold me back. "All I need is for Anastasia to be safe. I do not care for whom or what it is and what I will be required to do."
As we get closer to the corner, I can see her hiding behind a huge rubbish bin that smells like rotten food and dead rat. I watch as the shadow of the creature moves down onto her, ready to overpower his prey.
Anastasia!
...Anastasia POV...
Oh my god, Anastasia, you are going to die. What were you thinking running off like that into the night? Have all the monsters of the night come after me to prey upon. Not that Sebastian wanted to do so, I get the sort of feeling that he cares about me, if even that was a feeling he was capable of feeling.
But this is a different monster; this one does intend to finish me off as his prey. But he is not the same; he is different, a different monster to what Sebastian is. I fear that this is how my end has been dealt with. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I wish that Sebastian were here.
As I sit here in the corner behind this disgusting filth of a rubbish bin, I close my eyes and say my last goodbyes. I can feel him coming closer and closer, hovering over my skin. I can hear him sniffle as he smells at my skin. Then the most godawful thing happens...
No!