That morning was particularly cold. He stood on the edge of a pond in the middle of the forest. It was still a little dark but light was starting to hit the sky, painting the area in a blue winter wonderland. Derek was up all night on guard duty, assuring none of the humans came into the forest. He checked his digital watch on his right wrist. He saw the red numbers illuminate through the ascending dark, 7:30. He saw his other pack member, Adrian leaving his post for school. Derek's replacement was late, but he decided to go ahead and start jogging to the entrance of the forest.

Derek came out of the forest entrance in a secluded part of the small town. He continued jogging until he reached the school. He didn't think he was late, but didn't dare look at his watch. He walked up the steps to the school and headed inside, going straight for his locker. He grabbed his jacket from inside the locker and put it on, feeling the faux fur on the inside warming him up. His hot body temperature warmed it up fast. He felt better. The cold air outside felt colder to him where his body temperature was higher than others. He walked into Mr. Brown's English class and sat down in the back row, awaiting for class to start.

Derek could feel an eerie darkness that hovered over this girl. She looked normal and nervous, as any new high school student would. He couldn't take his eyes off her, even as she came to the empty seat next to him. She had a scent of fear on her, as if she was fearing for her life that same day. What was it about this girl's life that she was in fear of? Was her parents abusive? Was she scared for her life? Something didn't seem normal about her fear. He could see it in her eyes. She was genuinely afraid for her life. Something about her looked familiar. Almost as if he had seen her somewhere, but her name just didn't seem right. She didn't seem acknowledged when the teacher said her name. Why am I getting so worked up about this? "Good morning," he said to her, after she sat in the seat.

Derek watched her rush out of the classroom. He grabbed his things and followed her to her locker. Something had this girl spooked in life, and it didn't seem to be healthy or safe for her. He walked up to her as she pulled out the math book. "What are you so afraid of?" he asked bluntly. He stood next to the locker and stared her down. "i can understand not wanting to talk about something big in your life, but whatever it is that looms around you is something dark. It's something that is killing you inside, Krista."

Derek was astounded by her defensiveness. It didn't seem like she was angry with Derek himself, but she was just protecting herself from the blunt question that had prodded her privacy. He couldn't think of what to say when she was jumping onto him, but knew it was not a good idea to do what he did. As she turned, he did in-fact notice the scar on her throat. That was when it clicked to him. He knew her. He had seen her as a young child on national news. She was the one who escaped the clutches of the serial killer, and lived to tell the tale. He tried to recollect on the memories of himself as a young cub. The werewolf tribes all over the world was searching for this serial killer because he was very close to revealing to the world about the existence of the supernatural. He was close to having the supernatural beings in the world hunted and thrown onto autopsy tables with their insides pulled out and examined. This girl was lucky. She had survived the signature of her attacker. He would never had known who she was if the serial killer had been just a regular mundane human. He only knew of her because of the fact that the person who took her as a young child, was a vampire. He could finally make sense of it all. The looming darkness that is surrounding her aura is the experience she had. Her life had changed that night and it would never had been the same. Did she know he was a vampire? Did she actually see what he was? Would she forever hate the supernatural? He didn't know any answer, but he wanted to find out. But why would she share this story with him? If she dared to breathe a word about her real name or anything about the truth of her life, the U.S Marshals would snatch them up and place them somewhere else. If there was one thing he knew about tracker vampires, it was that they don't give up on their prey. They would scourge the Earth to find them. Derek ran after her. "Krista! Wait!" he called out for her. She needed his tribe more than she knew. She needed him.

He jogged faster towards her. He could see that she wasn't in no mood to talk to him, or if she even wanted him to bother with her. He couldn't help but feel horrible for her. He could sense this overwhelming feeling that maybe this was all a game to the serial killer. He just toys with her for years and hopes she gives in a fight. But once all the fight is left out of her, he would surely kill her for real the next time they meet. "I can't just leave you alone," he said, jogging up closer to her so that he could talk with her in private. He put his hand around her elbow, tugging at her. "Come with me. I promise you that I will leave you alone if you'll just hear me out."

He nodded his head and walked to the door leading to the front of the building, holding it open for her. He waited until she followed him to the side of the building at the patio-type area that had tables during lunch time during the summer. He turned to face her, and he sat on the top of the table. He honed in on his sensitive hearing and could tell no one was within hearing distance. He could not smell any scents close to them to hear their conversation. "I know who you are. I don't remember your real name. But believe me when I say that you are in no way safe in this world. No matter where you go, he will find you. No matter who you talk to, he can get to them. But I want you to trust me. I know you do not trust me at the slightest bit, but I need you to. I'm not going to ask you to re-live your memories. I'm not going to ask you about the experience. And when I ask you this next question, please be honest. Did anything about the person seem abnormal to you? Did he seem almost, non-human?" he asked. He could tell he was being very pushy. He knew that by making her talk that she was jeopardizing her life, her parents, and anyone she ever cared about. But in reality, he needed to know these things. He needed to know if a vampire was heading into their territory. Werewolves had a treaty with the vampires dating back thousands of years. Although they both hated each other, the treaty was never to be broken or else there would be an all out war against one another, possibly bringing their existence to light. If this vampire was to invade Polina, then they had a shit storm heading their way.