I didn't expect to ever see her again.

Paris was on the verge of a Revolution and I knew from personal experience that none of the authorities would believe a word Aurele said about monsters beneath the theatre and most would probably reprimand her for even suggesting such a foolish thing. There were far more important issues to deal with than the ravings of a mad woman. No army would be sent to tear the place down and no one would care enough to even investigate her moonstruck claims.

That single selfless act had slipped from my mind and I had fallen back into the old patterns once again. I was in the midst of writing one of my greatest plays yet and that task consumed me completely. I spent countless nights locked away in my room, refusing all meals as I wrote and composed.

The candles on my desk had burned down to tiny stubs when I became aware of an odd scraping sound coming from the air shaft behind me. I turned around just in time to see a familiar face appear in the small opening. Her eyes met mine and she smiled the most radiant smile.

"I told you I'd come back for you," she whispered as if she had never thought otherwise.

In absolute wonder, I helped lower her to the ground. She was dressed in a filthy pair of men`s breeches and a dirty military coat. Her hair was tied back and her dark eyes glistened in the candlelight. She was quite obviously in far better health than she had been when I helped her to escape several nights ago and I could tell from the sack slung over her back that she had come prepared... but prepared for what, I couldn't be certain.

I was speechless. I could do nothing but stare as she pulled an assortment of small weapons from the bag and laid them on the desk. There were three daggers of various different styles and one flintlock pistol... all obviously stolen since she had no money of her own with which to purchase such expensive items. She actually meant for us to fight for our freedom and she was willing to risk her own life to save mine!

She didn't understand... she couldn't. As she looked at me in the dimly lit room she saw only a mortal man, as desperate and as terrified as she had been that night. She could never see me as I truly was. The vampires that attacked her on stage had become hideous monsters in her mind and no comparison between myself and them could ever be made.

Her plan was ludicrous, of course. Deliciously insane. She hadn't the vaguest idea of what she was up against and I really had no intention of leaving this place that had become my home.

"My love, this can never be," I explained, taking her warm hands in my own. "We come from very different worlds, you and I... more different than you can ever imagine. I can't leave here with you tonight, but you can stay with me... always."

A look of confusion furrowed her otherwise smooth brow.

"Life eternal..." I said with a smile that clearly showed my fangs. "It is mine to give and I want to share it with you."

What came next happened rather quickly.

She screamed and stepped back clumsily; tripping and falling against the stone wall in her hasty retreat. I was on her in an instant, mistaking her useless pleas and struggles for nothing more than momentary trepidation and a fear of the unknown. I assured her that the pain would be brief and that by the time it was over, she would feel nothing at all. She would be as perfect and beautiful as she was now for all of time... and she would be mine.

My teeth pierced her skin and I felt her entire body tense beneath me. The hands that had been tearing at my clothing and ripping at my hair stopped moving completely and time seemed to stand still between us. I had never done this before... never even dreamed of it until now, but I was well aware of how it all played out. The memory of that night nine years ago was seared into my soul and I was certain that I could reenact the events flawlessly, even if I was on the giving rather than receiving end of the spectrum this time.

Hot blood filled my mouth and there was nothing but the sound of her heart pounding as it fought against mine. My mind was flooded with memories... none of them my own. Her life flashed before my eyes and in the span of those few brief minutes I felt as if I had known her for an eternity. All sound ceased as she slipped gently from my embrace to the cold floor below.

It was time to bring her back to me.

I snatched a dagger from the desk beside us and slashed its rusty blade across one side of my throat. Blood gushed down my neck, staining my white shirt a deep shade of crimson. Raising her lifeless body up in my arms I cradled her head in one hand until I felt her mouth against the wound. Patiently I waited for some sort of movement... longing for that euphoric pull on my veins that would surely come as soon as the first taste of immortality passed through her parted lips.

But there was nothing.

I can`t recall how many hours passed before I abandoned my futile efforts to revive her. Some dreadful mistake had been made and the heart that would not give up now steadfastly refused to beat.

Aurele was dead and she was merely the first in a series of failed attempts to bring another soul into this world of eternal night.