1 Prologue

There wasn't much left to surprise me in my life. I was cursed to die a horrible death and it was about time I had accepted that. By now I had known the dark and indulging sensation of being taken in; every bit of my skin was on fire, my legs were going numb and my eyes blinded by a purple haze. His lips on the skin between my collar bone and breast were painfully sweet and the blood draining from my body seemed to be a reminder of my humanity.

I winced in pain as I stood in his grip, his arm around my waist and hand pressed against my bare back. Whether or not my dress was stained in blood, didn't matter to me. I knew I had mere minutes to live if he couldn't stop.

"Please—you can't. Stop.." I fought and tried to push away from his body but was met with the wall behind me. He had only loosened his grip because he knew I couldn't run. I was drained, weak and alone.

There was no response from him except for the sick sound of blood that was being taken from my body. He had never been so cold, so violent. I bit my lip hoping he would ease on the drinking, but he didn't. I couldn't help but start to dig my nails into the skin on his back, which was smooth to the touch. I dug my nails deep, hoping it would make him stop but it only left me shuttering in fear. Since when did his skin feel like this? Where was the scar on his left shoulder? The scar that had so horribly stayed after the hundreds of years he mentioned...was gone. I traced his skin again, only to realize something was wrong. Even in the darkness and hazy vision, I knew this person wasn't drinking me out of love or lust, they were ready to kill me.

"Who—" I gasped for air, "are you?"

There was no response.

I managed to whisper, "stop—no more," which was only met with a deepening bite on my flesh.

My sight turned into a hazier lavender and my breathing was hard to keep up with. I could feel my legs completely giving out beneath me and my head was falling backward. There was nothing more I could do to fight, I was going to die. Everything I had gone through had been for nothing. They had been right all along. I could never escape the curse, I was an idiot for ever considering I could.

Just as I started to accept my own horrible death, I heard a faint whisper,

Nelle—

It was his voice. Where was he? Where had he gone?

Please—help.

Whether it was his voice or not didn't matter, because the hazy lavender soon turned to black and my body felt no pain nor pleasure. There was nothing there except emptiness, darkness and silence.

What could be done?