December, 2032. The Return.

Fifty years had never passed by so slowly in her life, and Ophelia’s bright violet eyes scanned the changed world as she entered this new city. Everything had changed since 1982, when she went into the mountains. Now… Now she was ready for society again, but society had changed. The most contact that she had kept with the outside world was a radio and an occasional pigeon letter to the one person who understood her to tell him she was alright and what kind of progress she was making with her condition. But the return letters had stopped ages ago, which always had her worried. However, now, on December 18, 2032, Ophelia was finally ready. Nearly fifty years of progress and she had overcome the darkness… Bonded with it, and now it didn’t ever try to control her without her will. She controlled it now.

Brushing her fingers through her long locks of chocolate colored hair and tugging her thin jacket over her arms some more, she looked around at the steel city. She recalled steel being mass produced a while back… about twenty years, but she never imagined that the cities would have changed so much in comparison to how they were. Cities were once full of life and warm, but now they were callous and cold. The snow barely compared to the vibes she was receiving as she walked down the empty streets, her old leather boots protecting her feet from the layers of snow. Her jeans barely kept her legs warm and she dreaded not having a proper winter coat now. Still, the mountain had been warm… At least in the small cottage she had been in.

Her knapsack was full of supplies and soon she noted the men and women in body armor in front of every major building with some type of scanner, and she raised a brow, but kept on. She would need to get inside soon, but she had a track on her necklace… And the person she had given it to. She couldn’t wait to see him again, she had been down from the mountains for three days now, and she had been closer to him now than she had been in years. His picture was in the locket on her bracelet, and it had given her hope in the hardest times being away from him, but when she went to enter the mall everything stopped. She was met with the scanner.

“Identification please.” The woman asked, her voice stolid and Ophelia raised a brow. How would she play clueless now? She quickly thought it over and she pointed at her ear and then at her lips. The woman nodded and spoke slower, and took up Ophelia’s hands and looked at her and Ophelia took her hand back and backed up. “She doesn’t have a code.”

“Then she must be human. You know these new readers don’t always read right. Besides, most witches have stayed away from the cities after they warned us that the others will retaliate. Witches and their prophecies.” He chuckled, and Ophelia continued to watch their conversation.

“But this reads dark magic. The witches said all of the dark witches were dead and if were to ever come across one then it was bad news.” The woman said, and Ophelia backed away again. “Ma’am.” The woman reached for her again and Ophelia sighed.

“So, I’ve not been entirely honest with you.” She spoke and they both looked at her. “You see, I am a witch… And I am very much so…” she stopped, her eyes turning from violet to black. “Dark.”

With that the guards drew weapons, but with a snap of her fingers, Ophelia had a large gust of wind and snow blowing them back into the wall, and she darted down the street. The feeling she had was getting stronger. He was close. The vampire she fell in love with was close to her, and she only prayed he had stayed out of reach of these humans. She turned, but she saw more guards surrounding her, and she looked around, hearing a police scanner… At least that was what she assumed it was… And she heard the code.

“All units to Silver and Elm, we have a 1456, Dark witch in sight. This is not a drill, I repeat. Capture alive.” It said, and Ophelia looked around as a few groups closed in and she closed her eyes.

“Alright… Let’s see how well this works.” She mumbled to herself and she brought her hands up, almost like a surrender, and the guards continued to point their guns at her as she walked. She took in a deep breath and soon fire came into her hands and she threw the growing balls of fire and the moment the groups scattered, she ran and turned down an alley. “Where are you?” she grumbled as she ran, but soon she felt something hit her neck and she ripped it out… A tranquilizer?

Her vision began to blur as she ran, but she whispered and incantation as she fell and hit the cold ground, unconscious. One of the armored men tried to touch her but was burned, visibly and he looked down at her body as fire began to creep around the snow, melting it as it formed a cocoon around her. She needed a miracle to save her. In her years since becoming immortal, she had never been this close to what she was sure was immenent death. If only he were there... he had saved her before, and she was sure he would again.

The vampire's long coat wafted furiously in the wind as he stayed crouched on top of one of the many towering monoliths of this day and age. The cold steel structures barely creaked as the wind buffeted their glass surfaces. Something urged him to climb this high. He wasn't sure what, but something deep within him urged him to give up on feeding on those helpless and bloodless souls strewn about the roof. Some of them moaned as their grasp on life slowly left them, their blood soaking the sleek roof which only added to the danger of being this high up. He shook his head and glanced down the abandoned streets wondering what this feeling was. This forgotten feeling.

Ghosts from his past always lingered at the back of his mind. Figures that he wanted to remember, but after escaping the clutches of those humans he could barely remember his own name, let alone those important to him. Over the years the feeling died down and he went about a simple life, feeding and sleeping. An inhumane growl escaped his lips as he licked the few drops of blood from his face. "I suppose I should figure out what is causing these unwanted memories to come back." His normally blue eyes shifted to a slightly red hue as he dropped from the building, landing safely on the ground without so much as disturbing the snow around his feet.

The scream of a guard could be heard reverberating off the cold unmoving giants that surrounded him. With a small shrug Liam started to walk in that direction, his pale skin barely feeling the cold that enveloped this part of the world, His hands each grasping a dagger. As the feeling tugged on his mind the closer he got the the quarrel he half fought to scream out in pain. With every flash the same girl would appear in his mind. Dropping to the ground he ran his hands through his short black hair. It was all he could do not to black out. Minutes passed and the fighting stopped. A single voice drifted on the air, seemingly meant for his ears and his ears alone.

"Where are you."

His eyes opened slowly before he knew it, was moving around the corner where several armored guards stood looking into an alleyway. One second he was walking the next he appeared next to the first guard, His dagger slicing through the mans throat as if it were paper. His blood poured out, corrupting the pure white snow. " Ah such a shame to waste the blood. " Liam muttered as he licked the dagger. " Now be a good folk and move along, I'll deal with the witch, Or I'll deal with you."

As if to see if it was a threat or not one guard raised his gun and was obviously shaking. " Mate, you do not want to do that." The vampire warned the guard, but his voice was drowned out by gunfire. The muzzle flashes bathed the street in a more ominous glow that even the streetlights could not obtain. To Liam the gunfire was a symphony of sounds that needed to be danced too. He moved at inhumane speeds, slicing at the guards throats, or catching them in between the armor plates. In the end he was soaked to the bone in the blood of his partners, which he eagerly licked his lips, causally glancing over at the unconscious girl who was on fire. He cocked his head, his neck cracking as he did.

A witch

A voice told him in his head as he moved forward

Someone Important. Protect her.

It resounded in his head once more. With a tired sigh he rested against the wall, cleaning his blades as he awaited for the foolish witch to wake up so she could explain just who she was, and what she was.

The forest began to blend together around her, the dark hues making her strain her eyes in the night. This was it, she thought, I'm dead. Her mother and father were already burning at the stake for their charges of practicing witchcraft, and now they were chasing her. Just 24 years old, and having just recently survived the ritual to make her immortal, Ophelia was far from ready to die. There was still so much she had to do, that she had to prove. She could curse the Salem witches for this.

"There she is!" One of the men with torches yelled. They were witch hunters... The first supernatural hunter she had ever come across. Still, she kept running, trying to find her way to a safe haven, but her prayers were short lived as she came to a cliff, overhanging some jagged rocks. This wasn't good. She was still weak from beinng between the realms of living and dead, and now she was stuck. She couldn't die, not now.

Come now, Ophelia, we both know how you are going to survive this. the sickly, sweet voice crooned in her head. Let me take over. Let me protect you.

"No," she whispered, her fingers lacing into her hair.

"Ophelia Lockhart," the lead hunter spoke, looking to her, but his voice was soon drowned out by her own mind. Her eyes, normally bright and unique, were turning black, with black tears falling down her face.

"Get away from me!" She shrieked, her voice taking on an almost inhumanly dark overtone. Her hand flew up and a strong gust of wind pushed the group of hunters back. She stood, her eyes still black, as she cackled. "Now," she began, the dark overtone completely overthrowing what little light there was within her, "You have all been found guilty of murder."

She brought her hand up, a ball of fire dancing above her palm. "You have been sentenced to death by fire." And with that, she tossed the fireball and watched it disperse, catching each of the disgruntled hunters on fire, and she watched them burn. She calmed, when they were dead, and soon she took back over, and she dropped to her knees, crying the same black tears.

She couldn't be sure how long she had been there, but soon another group of hunters came, but this time a lone figure saved her. A vampire. It was odd to her, and she could feel her eyes turning black again, the black tears running down her face. "You should leave," she warned. "I can't... I can't control it."

When it was apparent he wasn't going to leave, she could feel her inner darkness subside, but she remained on the ground. She looked up to him, and she said. "I am Ophelia Lockhart, and I know I owe you one, so please... you can have my services, just be warned, I am not ever fully in control."

He gave her his name after that, and it was a name that stuck with her. Liam.

Her eyes began to open slowly, the fire finally dying out, as she mumbled. "Liam..." her voice was hoarse, and soon she shot up. That dream wasn't something she need, and she touched her face, feeling the dampness of her tears, and she looked around. At first everything was blurry, but things began to come into focus, slowly. She was still in that alleyway, and there were dead guards around her, blood covering the snow, and finally her eyes saw their assailant. Her heart jumped, and she stood, slowly. Her body was sore, and parts of her still numb from the tranquilizer, but she managed to get herself up.

"Thank you." She said, but something felt off. She could see her necklace, clear as day around his neck, but his eyes were different. They were cold, like they were when she first met him. This was Liam before her, but at once, he wasn't either.

She dusted herself off. "So much has changed..." she trailed off, and her eyes looked at him. "Do you... do you know who I am?" She asked. Of course, he could just be messing with her, being still hurt and not wanting to welcome her back with open arms... but she could feel his indifference. It pained her. Having given so much to him, and now having almost nothing left off who she left behind looking at her.

Her control was weakening, but having bonded with the darkness made it a bit easier for her to handle, and she found herself unable to stand and dropped to her knees. What had happened in the fifty years she was gone?

The age old vampire glanced down at the girl as she slowly awoke from the tranquiler as she mumbled his name as if she knew him. He almost jumped back as she bolted up, half expecting her to attack him, half, well not entirely sure what she'd do. She seemed delirious as she shook the affects of the drug, Her eyes hazy. Slowly though a certain clarity came to them as she jumped up when she looked at him. He reached out just in case she fell and when she didn't another odd look overcame her face, a look of shock mixed in with disappointment.

"Do I know you?" he scoffed and started to turn away. " No, All I know is I heard a guy scream, and an annoying voice in my head told me to protect you. I just wanted the voice to stop. So Now that you are safe, may I ask you Just how it is you know who I am..." He paused and tried to think of the right words as the wind picked up, dropping the temperature even more. The buildings did nothing to calm that wind, instead it seemingly increased the ferocity as it whipped around the markers of the modern world. "... The look in your eye tells me that you know who I was...and you are disappointed in either that... " he stopped as she dropped to her knees and quickly rushed to her side, dropping to his own knees and feeling her skin. " You are cold. Quickly, lets get you warmed up then you are answering my questions or I will feed on your witch blood. Alright?"

He said that last statement with a smile, though his tone made it more of an order then a question. He put his arm under her shoulder and slowly lifted her off the snowless circle that surrounded her.