Aspen didn't know what the hell she was doing. She needed to get somewhere safe...and fast. Of course she knew Danielle was following her, but what she also knew was that the chase was half the fun and Danielle could end it anytime she wanted to.

She was out of breath. The streets were empty and Aspen was terrified. She saw how Rayne and Danielle were and she didn't want to be like either girl. Not a cold-hearted killer. She still had her whole life ahead of her and that was enough. She didn't need an eternity to do what she wanted to do.

"Holy hell," she whispered to herself. There was not a light on down the road. Why did she come that way? There were plenty of other ways to get to the graveyard, but why come this way. This was definately not a good idea. Her eyes scanned the buildings on the side of the road. She could hear noises, but saw nothing. That was when she realized they were on the other side and her eyes caught sight of an alley way. It would be smart, to try and take a short cut through there. Most alley ways led somewhere, right? It would be better than running all night long that is for sure.

Aspen took the corner, turning sharp into the alley way. She could see almost nothing, except for slivers of light peaking through the crack between the roofs. That was how she saw the alley way was nothing but a dead end.

"Shit, shit, shit..." she muttered to herself as she came to a halt. What was she going to do, climb the twelve foot barbed wire fence? Why did they bother to block things off like this? I mean, it was just another alley way back there, almost identical to the one she was in now. There was no where to hide, not even a trashcan, not that it would help and she felt herself back up until she hit the barbed wire fence. Why did she have to have such bad luck?

Danielle really enoyed chasing this mortal. She heard Aspen's heavy breaths, and she smelt the sweat and fear as Aspen kept on running. "There's nowhere you can hide Aspen!!" She yelled slowing her pace as she saw Aspen was at a dead end.

"Hmmm, it seems you've run out of space to run Aspen!!" She quickly stepped towards the girl and slammed her against the wall. The girl's head ricocheting off the wall. Before the girl could recover Danielle spun Aspen around holding her arms securely behind her back. "Now where were we?" Danielle bore her fangs and brushed them against Aspen's neck drawing blood from the scar. "First I'm gonna have my fun." She lapped up the small amount of blood that collected on Aspen's shoulder.

Aspen let out a scream, knowing that no one would hear her, not matter what she did. The places that were anywhere nearby were clubs and anyone there would not here. She closed her eyes, letting a tear trickle down her cheek before Danielle rounded the corner.

What was to do when the vampiress approached her? She kept asking herself how she got herself into this situation, but she honestly had no idea. She was a foolish, angry girl, but that was all she was...just a girl.

Aspen was too distractd to notice that Danielle had reached her. She felt as if she were watching from above, not really herself. She felt her the dull throb as her head bounds off the strong fence, but it wasn't what it would have been if she were herself. She was glad, maybe she wouldn't feel the pain.

She didn't know whether to struggle or whether to let Danielle have her fun. Her struggling would make it more fun for the vampiress...that was sure, but Aspen thought that if she struggled, she might have more of a chance. Plus, a person's instinct was to survive and Aspen was keen on living, only because it was intinct. She didn't think Danielle would kill her, but surely she would try to turn her.

So Aspen twitched, trying to free her arms enough to elbow Danielle in the stomach. She couldn't do it and her energy was running low. She had underestimated her power and she felt foolish for feeling as if she knew everything. Now, as she felt Danielle's fangs scrape across her skin, she knew she would not be able to get herself out of this situation.

Colton was having a pretty normal night. Celeste was in his full custody, and wanted to watch movies with the 6 year old and 12 year old that lived next door. Colton liked their mother. She was a single woman, extremely portly, with an infectious laugh and a beautiful smile. She liked Celeste, too, so it was all arranged. She'd always, "Poor boy!" Colton when she saw him come home late at night. "Poor thing!" And Colton would smile, and say it was nothing. So long as Celeste was going to grow up fine.

And that's how babysitting came for free. Some days, he'd take the three girls. Some days, his neighbour would. That's how he was able to leave his apartment and start his trek for work without having to drag a toddler around.

That's how Aspen got lucky.

Colton was fiddling with his iPod. He loved gadgets, but hated cell phones. Gadgets didn't connect you to people you didn't want to talk to. Gadgets were fun. Amusing. Colton scrolled through his songs, his sister's songs, and his parent's songs... And he heard a scream. He paused a moment and glanced around. He was near the alleys, yes... And why would someone be screaming from the alleys?

Colton was afraid of the alleys. After being cornered in an alley by Bo, drained and left to die, there really wasn't much to like. Colton peered around the alley opening, and heard voices. Soft, muffled, but there. The scream came from the alley. Colton slipped his iPod back into his briefcase and walked slowly into the alley.

Colton nearly walked right by the dead end they were standing in. Paranoia had set in... If it was a gang, he couldn't do anything. Gunfight? No, too loud... Rape? ... He'd tear the bastard limb from limb if it were rape.

Two girls standing near each other didn't seem too scary, and he nearly overlooked it. After the girl with her back to him began licking the other's shoulder, Colton felt out of place. Good. Just two lesbians getting it on in an alley. Glad he wasted his time. He turned around as inconspicuously as possible, attempting to leave unseen.

Aspen's eyes began to flutter closed. She suddenly felt as if she could not breathe. This was not the same pain she had felt before. This one actually scared her, hurt her, made her want to die. She couldn't just stand her and do nothing, but she couldn't move.

"Go ahead and kill me. It would be better than living this life of confusion." Her voice was low, the same cocky tone in it. She couldn't stop it, couldn't tell herself that the situation was more dangerious than it really was. It wasn't death she was afraid of and she was sure Danielle knew it too.

That was when she saw a shadow, only a flicker in the entrance of the alley way. Her eyes popped open. She couldn't tell if the shadow was man or woman, friend or foe and she didn't care. She saw it began to leave and she panicked and let out another scream.

"Please, don't go!" She didn't see how he could not hear and she pleaded, begged him in her mind not to leave her there. "Help!"

((sorry, i would write more but I have to go for now. I'll try to get on again later.))

Danielle ignored the immortal that was behind her, he wouldn't be a problem. She smiled, so the girl wanted death. Aspen would be dissapointed then. "I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to turn you. Death doesn't phase you so I'm going to give you what you fear most, an empty eternity." She dug her fangs into Aspens neck and started draining the girl. She tried stopping the girl from screaming out at the boy, but she was too late.

She turned to the immortal as and hissed, "Leave this one be or else!" She hissed in a low menacing voice. She didn't know who he was, but she felt he'd be a problem.

Colton turned around as Aspen yelled for him. Colton stood in a sort of shock for a moment, staring Danielle down in the alley. He waited just a moment too long, and Danielle started draining the mortal.

"No! You stop that!" Colton yelled, as if speaking to a mere child. She turned and addressed him, taking her fangs away from the poor girl. That was just enough time to act.

Faster than Danielle could track, Colton had her firmly pinned to the alley fence by the shoulders. "You wanna pick on someone, pick on someone your own species..." He didn't look too threatening. More, 'I'm just butting in here. Don't mind me.' Maybe it was the fact that he was wearing a suit, or the fact that the tie he was wearing was over his shoulder like a scarf.

The boy moved fast.

Danielle was surprised that the boy was so fast. She hissed angrily at him. "Why are you getting involved? This doesn't concern you!" She kept his attention on her upper body as she swept out the boy's leg. "Don't you dare talk to me like you're superior!!" She started kicking him in the stomach. "What business do you have here, businessman!!" She said as she kicked.

Aspen's gasped as fangs sank into her neck, brutally. She felt the tears began to fall faster down her face, begging the man to save her life. She didn't want to become like the others. Her eyes began to close and she barely saw the man come towards them as she fell, weak from the blood drained from her.

"Thank you..." she managed to whisper. She did not know if she had put him in danger, but she sure hoped not. He didn't seem human either, or why would he have dared? She could do nothing to stop the beating he was taking as her eyes closed and she slowly fainted out of what she thought was, existance, though she had only passed out. Her last thought was that if she lived she would forever be in debt to the man who saved her life.

Colton grinned, exposing fangs. "Let's just say I have a soft spot for mortals who don't like being turned against their will."

Well, that was all he could say before she knocked his legs out from under him. Colton fell, not expecting her to put up a fight. God he hated fights. He always lost... She had a good point. Why get involved, when it just ended in him getting his ass kicked?

Colton received one blow to the stomach, wincing and folding over his stomach. The second blow went to his shins. Colton tried something from the movies, sticking his leg out and wrapping it around her knees, pulling forward to make her fall.

He didn't answer her call of superiority, because that would be just plain boastful. He also ignored her question; he was a little more concerned about saving his shins. Colton rolled away from her fall, standing quickly. Lucky for her, Colton was old school. You never hit girls.

Ever.

Danielle was shocked by the boy sweeping out her legs. As soon as she hit the ground she kicked up into an onguard position ready for an attack. She was surprised when he didn't attack her. "What's wrong can't hit a woman?" She asked, but before he could answer she was back on the offensive. She started with a flurry of punches to his face and abdomen.

Danielle kneed him in the groin and let her elbow meet the boy's jaw as he was leaning forward.

Colton narrowed his glare slightly, and smiled curtly. "I retained my decency."

The first few punches hit, but then Danielle was left striking at the air. Colton was gone.

"Fuck... And I don't like breaking people's noses..."

It was Colton's voice, from the shadows of the alley wall. He was undetectable, and could have been anywhere along the length of it.

He was a coward, but a smart coward. Aspen's body was nowhere to be found.

Danielle screamed in rage as the boy taunted her. She looked around the alley and didn't find Aspen. "Show yourself you coward!!" She punched the wall. She couldn't believe she let him slip away with her prey.

She paced the alley looking over every little inch of it looking for the boy and Aspen. She stopped in the middle of the alley, looking desperately for them. She didn't realize how good Aspen's blood was, and she needed more.

Colton was holding Aspen in the shadows, eyes clenched shut and jaw locked. His nose was killing him. It didn't help matters that blood was running down his face, dripping down his front, and splashing all over Aspen's body. He hated blood. Fucking hated blood.

This was the second suit he was going to ruin in a week. Was he going for a record?

Maybe he just wouldn't wear suits anymore, if he was going to get the crap beaten out of him every time he did.

"I'd rather die, thanks..." Colton groaned from his hiding spot. Her punch landed a few feet away from him, and Colton flinched. He could feel the force of the impact through the wall.

"Let's settle this fairly..." Colton protested. "You and I. Leave this girl out of it. You win, you take the girl. I win, and I take her."

Seemed fair to him... Except the fact that she was going to be throwing punches, and he was going to be dodging everything. She'd never knock him out, and he'd never knock her out.

Great! A battle for eternity! Lovely.

Danielle grinned the boy's proposition was appealing. She'd get to beat him and get the girl. "I agree to your terms, show yourself and the girl first." She turned around looking or him, but failing to see him. "How about this? I'll make it a fair fight, I won't use my hands." Danielle found a stray piece of rope and tied her hands tight enough to keep them secure, but loose enough for her to get out of without too much fuss.

Colton frowned, and reappeared in the shadows.

"You'll need your hands. Just because I'm not gonna hit you doesn't mean I'm without advantage..." And he smiled, curtly, cockily.

He put Aspen down where he had been standing, against the wall in the shadows. She remained visible, slumped over and still unconscious.

Colton looked like shit, to say the least. His nose was going through the healing process faster than any mortal's nose could heal, but it wasn't instantaneous. With age came greater healing skills. The fact that Colton's nose wasn't fixed lickity split just screamed, 'Hey! I'm a fledgling! I'm feeble and you can hurt me easy!'

But he was determined. Give his stubborness some question. And the fact that he very rarely learned his lesson.

Danielle smiled removing the rope around her wrists. His nose wasn't healed completely. So he is young! She thought to herself. "Alright I'll use my hands." He'd regret his cockiness. She charged in on him and punched him in the stomach. She followed this up with a punch to his ear hoping it would hit. She needed to win this fight, she just wanted Aspen. This was just to get the boy out of her way.

Young, but powerful for his age. Colton had some of the most powerful vampiric mentors you could find... Lily, leader of the Enashe. Jason, the Nephim leader before he took over. Nicodemus, for the short period of time he had led with Colton in the coven. Couple all of his mentors with his fear of being killed, and you had yourself an opponent.

She landed her punch to his stomach, but the swipe at his head missed. Missed by nearly four feet. Colton moved faster than she could hope of tracking, but lucky for her, speed was saved for defense. He was standing just out of reach now, concentrating hard on... On what?

Colton mouthed something quickly, under his breath... One word, and she started sliding away from him. "Back," he muttered again. Back she slid.

Danielle felt herself sliding back from the boy. She was getting quite irritated with him, he was much faster than her, but he didn't strike back! She started running towards him full speed, rage blinding her. She jumped headfirst hoping to tackly him. "Damn you!!" She yelled as she flew towards him.

In Colton's mind, she had already had too many cheap shots. To the nose, to the gut... Next thing he needed was a flying wreslter to bash his head into the concrete.

Colton moved, not as fast as before, but crazy fast out of her way.

"Stop!" he shouted, just before her body hit the pavement. She didn't stop, but she didn't hit the ground at full force. He was still young. He still had a lot to learn.

Danielle screamed as she missed her mark. She felt herself slow down as she hit the ground. She couldn't believe this boy held so much power! She got up looking ferociously at him. "What is the name of my opponent?" She asked she wouldn't attack yet. First she wanted to know who this was. She wanted to beat him so badly.

Colton smiled. His nose looked better now, but his clothing wore the battle scars from his now-unscathed face. Oh boy, this was going to be fun to explain to the office.

"Colton," he said calmly.

Well, he said it calmly. In all reality, Colton was shaking like a leaf. He didn't like fights, and aside from dodging and commanding her around, he was good for nothing. He spent his two years of immortality honing in on three traits: speed, mind speech, and shadow fading. Command was relativly undeveloped, but he could do a lot. Had he been a pro, she would have hovered in thin air.

Lucky for her, he was just a baby vamp. There wasn't much else he could do.

"And why do you ask, Danielle?" he said, grinning. Mind speech and mind reading. No wonder he knew where she was going to strike each time.

He unfairly had the advantage. Toldya she'd need her hands.

Danielle smiled so this Colton had telepathy as well! 'Damn you!' She thought to him, her skills were the violin and mind speech. She wasn't that skilled in mind reading though. 'So what now? Are you going to run around like a coward?' she spoke in mind speech. Danielle tried to empty her mind of all her thoughts, or at least of what she was going to do. It was pointless because Colton probably knew what she was planning.

Colton smiled mentally. "Are you going to keep trying to attack me so ineffectivly?"

Touche.

By Colton's stance, you could just see that all he had on his mind was darting around until she got tired of chasing him. That, or she actually caught him, and he got his ass kicked. Whichever happened first.

Danielle was getting really frustrated with Colton, but she kept her composure. She walked towards Colton, she couldn't attack someone who already knew what she was going to attack with! She wanted Aspen so she had to try! She punched out with her right hand.

Colton caught her hand in his, no longer mocking her, no longer grinning, no longer cocky. Back to business, it seemed.

"Why do you want her so much? There are thousands of people in this city... Why her."

Question really applied to them both. Why did he want to save her? Why go out of his way?

Maybe he'd find his answer better in Lily.

Danielle snarled at Colton, who held her hand. "That's for me to know and you not to find out!" She just couldn't hold back her rage. "Why are you saving this whelp? Why meddle in my business?" She punched with her other hand. She aimed for his ribs.

Danielle's fist connected with Colton's ribs, but before she could strike again, he clasped down on her other wrist. Locked her in place.

"I asked you first," he taunted through gritted teeth. The blow to the ribs hurt. He wasn't going to pretend to not feel anything. That took too much energy.

And, within a second, Colton was moving again. Standing behind her now, her free to ponder where the hell he was.

"C'mon, Danielle. What's so precious about her."

Danielle hissed turning around to face Colton. "Why is that girl so prescious to me? Maybe I just want to turn her! Maybe I want to drain her!" Danielle couldn't stand him anymore! She was getting quite irritated with him! She yelled, ran and kicked out as she jumped at him.

Colton narrowed his eyes. Why turn someone you hated? Why not just kill them and get it done with? That had been Bo's plan.

Luckily, good people just happened to stumble into situations like this...

At first, Colton braced for her kick, but decided against it. He backed himself into the wall of the ally, letting her flying kick fall way too short. He was getting sick of injuries.

Danielle hissed and landed short of her target. Why did she have such a problem with Colton? She didn't understand at all. How could one vampire piss her off so much?? She screamed in rage and charged headfirst at Colton who had his back against the wall. "I hate you!!!" Danielle screamed as she leaped at Colton again.

Colton only knew one thing as she charged at him: if he didn't move, he'd be crushed. So, faster than thoughts against moving could form and present themselves in his mind, Colton swiflty fled from the wall.

In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea.

Time seemed to slow down as Danielle saw the wall rushing towards her. She crashed headfirst into the wall almost breaking her neck. She dropped to the ground and collapsed unconscious.

Colton stood indecisively where he was. Did he rush over and see if Danielle was all right? Did he grab Aspen and leave? Colton shyly stepped towards Danielle, peering over her body. She was out cold. He head was bleeding at first, but the cut had healed over quickly, and very little blood had been spilt. He neck remained straight... She didn't look dead...

Colton backed away as slowly as he had inched forward, turning now to Aspen.

((Sorry guys, I've been busy))

Aspen groggily opened her eyes, moaning quietly as she did so. It seemed that she had just had the weirdest dream, something involving an alley way and two vampires. She had to close her eyes, images suddenly invading her brain. She leaned over and threw up, wondering why she felt so sick and weak.

That was when she remembered the voices and the blood. She had heard the fight, though she had been almost unconscious. It was hard not to, but the words they spoke were immeded into her head and she almost was angry with the man who had saved her for making a bet such as he did. But as she opened her eyes and looked up at him she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He had fought to save her life, though he did not know her. What was a puny human to him.

She smiled slightly, "I could just kiss you right now."

Of course she was trying to put a little bit of airiness into the scene, lighten the mood, but she wasn't sure how well that would work. She leaned her head against the wall, feeling as if she was going to pass out again.

"I don't feel so great..."

Colton cringed as she vomitted. He hated sick people. They made him feel queasy and he wasn't very strong stomached.

"No need for that," Colton responded with a slight blush. She wasn't just a puny human. She was a kind of soul cleanser. Lily had saved him from death, and here he was, saving her from undeath. It felt like he was doing something good for the world.

Well, however much good you could consider it.

Colton held out a hand to her. "Let me help you up... You're going to feel dizzy and sick for a while... Eat lots of sugary foods to pump up your blood sugar," he rattled on, the scientist inside of him spilling out. "And don't try and do any activities tonight... Just go home and sleep." He smiled slightly back to her. "Oh, and one more thing! Don't try and give blood for a couple of months."

Mother? Is that you? When did you get here?

Aspen took his hand, pulling herself up.

"Oh God," she whispered, grabbing him as she steadied herself. After steadying herself she laughed and looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure you wouldn't want me to kiss you right now anyway." She shook her head, leaning on him, hoping he wouldn't mind. She had to loop her arm through his and lean her head on his shoulder. She was grateful for his presence, glad he had happened on by.

After listening to him for a moment, taking in everything he said seriously, she nodded.

"Thank you, for everything, for not turning away and for helping me now. I don't know why you did it, I don't know why your kind does anything, but thank you."

She stopped suddenly leaning over and grabbing her stomach, feeling dizzy and tired.
"I don't know if I will make it home."

It was the second time in a week Colton had had some woman hang on him. So what if she had just suffered a bite from a vampire. She was still hanging on him.

Where were all the high school bullies when you had something to taunt them with?

"Some of us are better than others..." Colton tried to explain, but he decided not to go into detail. She shouldn't even know this much... It would get her killed eventually. Killed or turned, whichever.

"I'll help you home... Do you live close by?" Colton was trying to remember how much money he had on him for a taxi. He wrapped an arm around her, helping her stand and keep her balance. She looked pale. Not so good for her.

Aspen laughed outloud, thinking about what he had said.

"You know what the funny thing is...this has happened to me twice in the last week or so. Ugh, maybe that is why I can hardly walk...or laugh," she winced holding her stomach. She felt as if every muscle in her body had been worked out to it's extent, except for she wasn't going to get any stronger this way.

"I do know that some are better," she looked at the ground, thinking about Bliss.

"And there are those like me that are terrified of both, either way," she sadly whispered. She knew she was treading on a thin line right now. Why did she have to be so stubborn, and so foolish?

"Why does this have to happen to me?" She questioned, a sarcastic undertone in her voice. "I do not live that close. I was on my way to the graveyard..."

She winced again as her legs gave out and she had to grab onto the vampire that had saved her once again, with as much strength as she could...which wasn't much. Luckily he was holding her up.

"Actually, I live about four miles from here. I usually just walk, but seeing as that would be quite hard tonight..."

Colton offered up another strained smile. It was hard to be cheerful when you wanted nothing but to indulge yourself in self-pity. "That's what I asked... Why me." He, too, kept his eyes on the ground.

Colton was quiet a moment before answering, looking pensive and slightly forlorn. "I was silly. Got myself involved with a vampire... Shouldn't have, but did..." He let it trail off there. No need to elaborate on his murder, rebirth, struggle for Hannah's affection, and at long last, her painful death, ending anything that could have been. He didn't need to tell her that he had nothing because of vampires. Nothing but his little niece, who was being forced into the entire situation herself... It wouldn't be long before she would fall victim...

But Colt wasn't going to let that happen.

"You're not walking four miles, and I apologize, but I don't think I could carry you that far..." He grinned a more true grin as he strained to help her stand. He was the world's weakest vampire. Weakest and wimpiest.

"If you walk to the corner, I can get us a cab," he said, taking a small step forward and out of the alley. He'd have to, somehow, grab his breifcase, hold her up, walk them to a cab, and lie to the cabbie about why she was so weak. Something other than her being drunk.