"I will protect you," he said in a quiet whisper into her ear before softly kissing her forehead. The world paused for but a brief moment. Listening to the slow beat of his heart, Rain stood in his protective embrace. She breathed in his familiarity, taking comfort from his aura that held her close. When time returned to normal, Rain was whisked out the mausoleum door and away from everything she had ever known. 

Without a word, she clung to her Master's hand. Her long raven black hair whipped back and forth in frantic strands behind her as they fled their safe haven, never looking back. 

    They had always been running but from what Rain did not know. There was something lurking in the shadows, a faceless evil that she felt follow them no matter where they went. In the back of her thoughts it worried her but never had there been a reason to fear as her Master had always been by her side. From her birth into the world of darkness, he had been there; the guidance in the dark of the night.

    Rain felt her heart jump within her chest and immediately she looked to her Master's face. What had he felt? Since she was born, the beat of their hearts were entwined and their souls were connected. He had given her his heartbeat, yet she was not a full vampire as he. She was only a half vampire; one kissed and left to live by a vampire without having fed upon their blood in return. Her senses were elevated and her lifespan lengthened from that of a mortal although she was still in no way comparable to the true immortality of her Master. She had been only twelve when she became a daughter of twilight but those memories had long since left her.

 Over the course of a century, her body had only aged five years. She was still a protected teenager with no understanding of her true nature. It was an untaught lesson that her Master had never spoken of. All she knew was that in order to fulfill her full awakening as an immortal, she would have to accept the Gift; the drinking of her creator's blood. Rain knew herself that she was not ready for such a responsibility and truthfully there was no need to rush as her Master had never forced her to choose. She didn't need the Gift. All she needed or ever wanted was him.