'It's here! It's here! The thing that disrupted my visions!'

Scar's mental screams became louder and louder. Whatever it was that stirred an uproar and malfunction in her visions was now close by. I completely disregarded the truth of four nomadic vampires taking a stand in front of me and the others, and was now intent on finding the location of Scar's prediction. I didn't have to search long.

"What is going on?" I heard the dark skinned vampire, Adam question.

I skimmed down the long lines of trees to the left of us and saw nothing. Trees and more trees covered in green vegetation with almost no trace of the brown bark that they grew on. It almost looked like a jungle. My eyes came to a screeching halt. I found the tree in Scar's vision.

"What's going on you two?" I ignored Clems inquiry and continued to scan the tree. I allowed my eyes to travel over every single inch of it. It was the largest plant in the clearing which was also here over a hundred years ago when we first arrived here. It was at least sixty feet in height and possessed a gigantic leaf covered crown. Its roots must dig deep into the ground and more or likely was already here long before I or even Gnash were born.
I narrowed my eyes as they migrated and examined the great leviathan and finally stopped at a large branch extending out like an arm waving at us.

There between where the tree and the branch sat a being that appeared to be observing us. I saw one of its feet neatly tugged behind the other and its arms crossed over its chest. Through the deep shadows that covered its nebulous face, I saw two dark, and radiating crimson eyes. Vampire!

For the first time in what must have been minutes, I fixed my attention back to our visitors.

"Did someone else come here with you?" I spat my question at them appalled and mad for what looked like an ambush. But in the second it took me to ask them, I noticed that their attentions were now concentrated on the obvious fifth newcomer in the clearing.

'Who is that?'

'Another member of their coven perhaps?'

'That female does not belong with us.'

Female? I shifted my attention back to the new vampire that still sat trouble free and calmly on top of the branch. By now everybody's curiosity had followed me and Scar's tense glare at the additional vampire in the clearing.

The winds were growing wild and damn near untamable now. The clouds were thundering with wild roars of anxiety and formed an indescribable mood. There were electric currents of voltage like tension growing in the air. While the clouds were throwing bolts of monstrous lightning, they illuminated the grayish color of the clearing and aided my already perfect and advanced sight to reveal the features of the unknown vampire that was definitely a female like Adam had thought previously. She was dressed all in black, though I couldn't make out if she wore pants or a dress. She's clothed in a long coat which also unveiled some sort of purple like undergarment. Finally, I reached her facial features. Her face was the shape of a heart with smooth and dark red lips. I noticed that her upper lip was only slightly bigger than the lower, but it somehow fitted the rest of her aspects perfectly. Her nose was thin and she had prominent cheekbones, and dark ruby like eyes. Her long straight hair is as dark as the night. It lay over the left side of her forehead and then curved to encircle her face. The layers of hair in the front were shorter than those in the back that reached over her shoulders. She looked modern, and she smiled pleasantly. She was absolutely gorgeous!

I continued to stare at her as the rest of my family did including the other four nomads. She continued to glance at us with perfect ease and what appeared to be amusement. How long were we going to stand here and look at her like this? Suddenly, her eyes blinked repeatedly. The last blink opened her eyes widely and she turned around to look over her shoulder. Her vision fell back on us almost immediately and browsed between the small group of nomads and the considerably larger group that was me and the others. She continued to glimpse between our ranks and hinted emotions of surprise in her eyes. She took one final peek over her shoulder before uncrossing her arms and pointing her index finger to her chest.

"Oh? Me?" her stirred voice had a charming tune, like chiming bells or the tender pitch of high played violin. What a naive question. Who else would there be. She stretched out her hands and held them up in defense and shook them from side to side.

"Oh please, pay me no mind." As soon as the words rolled over her tongue, her lips stretched into a loving smile exposing her white teeth. Her hands evaporated back into her chest as she crossed her arms again.

Clem and Adam exchanged stares mixed of confusion and alarm. I took a quick look at Scar who had one of her eyebrows raised over the other.

'She's the one that has been distorting my visions? She's just another vampire. A peculiar and weird one at that.'

No fear whatsoever. She's confronted with ten unfamiliar vampires yet not even an ounce of vigilance. Unless the nomads lied and they do know her. She's completely cool.

Gnash thoughts were intriguing.
'Not even an ounce of fear?' he thought. I returned my eyes to the female in the tree and noticed for the first time why she had gone undetected before. I heard nothing. Her mind divulged no sorts of words whatsoever. Not even a whisper or even pieces of pictures taken through the windows of her eyes. I heard everybody else just fine. The nomads were no exception to that rule. The mental voices of every single vampire in this clearing were absolute by the exception of hers.
I narrowed my eyes even further and gave it my best effort to shut everybody else out while I tried to penetrate the mute mind of the black haired vampire.

My efforts seemed to go in vain. It was almost annoying. The one time I really wished to hear the mind of someone and by some otherworldly force, I'm unable to hear them. Her wide smile relaxed into a regular and curious one. She blinked her eyes once more and the next thing I knew they rested on me. My eyes immediately snapped open in shock.

"You're unsuccessful attempts will not go rewarded, sweetling." I swallowed as the rest of the vampire's eyes fell on me as well. A small laugh erupted from the female's throat as she slid of the branch only to dangle in the air while still holding onto it. How did she know what I was thinking?

"Might as well join the festivities." In a quick notion, she swung her body backwards, only to release and catapult herself forward into the air. She glided high towards the dark horizon with her feet first and demonstrated a backwards somersault and fell gracefully to the ground without even making one single sound. My jaw dropped awe struck as did the others as she picked up her feet in an unseen speed and began to levitate onward as if she had been walking the entire time.

She reached the divided line of our two groups in no time and held her delighted smile, and curious shining stars in her eyes. Her features were even more prominent up close than from afar. She was about a size two and had a much, much paler skin than any of us. Her eyes were a deep red, and not as bright and glittering as the other three obvious carnivores. The depth and dark hue of her eyes would hint that she was thirsty although there were no traces of purple bruises beneath them.

Suddenly her vision was fixed on me once more. She approached me with her grand smile and glanced yet again over her shoulder as if to check if one of the others were listening. Her hand reached out and reconnected my lower jaw with my upper. She patted my shoulder lightly and whispered.

"We mustn't be rude." Her wide smile reappeared as she danced away from me. My body had gone into a stiff and still state when her hand had reached out to close my mouth. I never had an unknown vampire in such close proximity to me before. What immobilized me even more was her scent, however.

It was sweet. Sweeter than any other vampires that I had ever encountered. A mixture of vanilla, freesias, jasmine, and there was also a distinct smell of glistering fire. Strange yet soothing in its own rights, and she began to speak once more.

"I must apologize for my secretive behavior although a showdown such as this is something you observe from a distance."
The sentence sounded more like a song rather than a solid foundation of speech.

Clem took a slow and deliberate step forward to undoubtedly greet the newcomer. His eyes were alert and kind as he approached her. He swallowed softly before opening his mouth although no words came out. She had completely ignored Clem and flew by him to stand in front of Luna. Her movements were more that of someone who had the capability to float rather than walk. Her poise was incredible. I was also finally able to get a good look at her wardrobe. Surprisingly, she wore shoes. Not many nomads including our guests did. It showed that she was a more civilized vampire. But not just shoes, some form of low heels that were only about three or four inches long in the back. She was wearing a black flowing pants and not a dress, and clothed in a purple undergarment that I had detected before. It seemed to stick tight to her body at first, but horizontally layered just below her beltline and seemed to grow a bit longer in the back. It looked like a flower pedal. It was covered with a black coat that reached all the way down to her knees and had silver buttons running down along the inner sides.

Luna met her with a glaring and unfriendly stare. Garnet shifted his position to stand closer to her in an overly protective manner. However, this didn't seem to concern the strange vampire. Her lips slightly pursed as her eyes somewhat marveled at Luna's complexion and analyzed her features. Her hands reached up to rest on either side of her hips as she spoke.

"You have a striking resemblance to Guinevere." She smiled at Luna and moved back past Clem who still stood in his prior greeting pose.

'Guinevere?' Luna blinked confused. It wasn't the presentation that she expected.

"Oh my," she exclaimed as she stopped in front of Gnash. She examined him thoroughly before continuing.

"Associate with young ones much?" her tone was almost mocking. Gnash cocked his head to the side. He was getting irate at the somewhat disrespectful aura that she brought with her. He reconstructed his lips in a hard line.

"I trained them once." His expression was a little callous.

"Ah. Must not have been performing a good enough job hence all the bite marks."

"Tsk. Excuse me?" Gnash nearly spit the words at her. Once again, she didn't seem worried. There was a small laugh lining the edges of her voice. She turned around to view the others for a moment before leaning into Gnash. The side of her arm touched his chest which froze him, and building blocks of a snarl were forming in the back of his throat. She hid her mouth with the side of her hand as if to whisper to Gnash.

"Tell me, are they everywhere on your body?" Her eyes were narrowed as she asked him. After she inquired, I noticed her maroon marbles dropping down below Gnash's waistline, and she giggled. He jumped back appalled.

"Have you no shame or sense of dignity?" The rest of my family and I took a small step back as well while Scar huffed disgusted. The nameless vampire tapped her index finger on her chin and seemed to be thinking over Gnash's demand.

"Hmm... Shame? No. Dignity? Comes and goes from time to time, much like religions do." She smiled and nodded her head. With that Clem took the floor. He wanted to get control of the situation before her sarcastic comments would cause strife.

"I beg of you. Do not approach my children in such an arrogant manner again. You must be new to this life and seem unaware of the proper chain of introductions when it comes to our kind or perhaps you do. Interactions in such close contact can result in violent actions that are often caused from our emotional driven thoughts when dealing with foreign vampires. I would be more than happy to greet you properly and then with an open minded state of compassion if you would only allow me." Clem reattached his friendly smile of welcome towards her.

During Clem's small and friendly warning, she continued to smile tauntingly at Gnash. Her eyes blinked and she turned her head hesitantly to the left where Clem stood.

"Oh." She sounded surprised and raised her pair of delicate eyebrows. Clem smiled warm heartedly at her.

"Sorry. Wasn't listening. Did you say something?"

Clem's smile faded as quickly as it came. Surprisingly, she sounded serious as if she really didn't hear a thing he just said. This was beginning to try even my patience. Disrespect towards my siblings I could handle, but not my father.

She turned away from us and faced the nomads. I examined her up and down. Her coat was constructed with an upside down V like hole at the bottom. It looked like the sort of fashion you once saw in the 1700's.

She leaned forward towards Adam who in turn snarled defensively as a warning. I heard her take a deep breath through her nose and heard her exhale via her mouth.

"Creole." She breathed satisfied. Adam blinked astonished.

'How does she know of my origin? How could she possibly tell?' thought Adam.

She opened her eyes again to reveal those dark rubies covered with a series of thin caramel lashes. She focused her attention next on Blake and Zaphara who seemed somewhat bemused by her negatively directed humor at my family and me then to Caleb. She positioned her hand on her hips again and shook her head as she took in the presence of the trio.

"Would it murder to wear appropriate footwear? Must you gallop about the landscapes like uncivilized rodents? You do the vampire world no honor in such a way." Blake and Zaphara's smile died away as they pulled their lips over their teeth while Caleb wore a slightly bemmused look with Adam frowning slightly.

Both of Zaphara and Blake combusted with ferocious growls and Clem motioned us to back up. He put up his arms defensively and pushed us back as the insulted pair crouched. Adam took a step back still dazzled by the knowledge that she possessed and had no intentions of partaking in the apparent coming battle.

What is wrong with her? Two vampires crouched down in front of her and still no emotional response.

Gnash was still a bit sour over her earlier joke about his endowments. Scar wasn't excited about it either, but her vision was a vision of the future at the moment. Though for some reason, she once more had difficulty seeing her again. There were missing fragments in her sight, fissures almost.

"It was a mere observation. No need to get testy. Besides, I'm not your opponent." In that moment, her light hearted demeanor shifted around a complete axis. Through Blake's' eyes, I saw her smile fading into a hard line with only the right side of her lip slightly raised. It was a crooked grin that somehow shouted viciously. Her eyelids lowered into a malevolent and piercing gaze. Blake and Zaphara's growls were silenced. Though they remained in their attack positions, their grimaces changed into glowering glares rather than their teeth exposed snarls.

"Allow me to assist you," she whispered to them in a low and dangerous voice. Her body shifted 180 degrees and faced us. Her pierced focus of attention now lay heavily upon Clem. She lifted her chin to speak.

"Permanent?" she asked him with an unemotional voice. She must have overheard most of the conversation before we discovered her presence.

Clem took a single cautious step forward that was shadowed by Garnet and Gnash who were only inches behind him. Clem cleared his throat.

"Yes. We live in the vicinity of the small township and..."

She shook her head slowly which halted Clem's attempted conversation with her.

"When dealing with others of your kind, you must partake in their politics and rules. Your way of life is almost unheard of in our world. It is an invalid reason to deny them the hunt."

"I don't know if I can see it in such a way," Clem argued his point but she seemed pretty sure of herself.

"You live as mortals do. You act like them; you talk like them, and apparently live as they do. This existence seems to have tainted your mind. Do not forget that the laws of men means nothing to us. You cannot expect others of our kind to respect your beliefs if they are ignorant to them." Her piercing eyes molted into diamond hard rock's as she viewed Clem. He in turn said nothing. Though I would never admit it out loud, she was right.

Blake and Zaphara were halfway out of their crouches and smiled victoriously at us. Adam and Caleb stood behind them and mimicked their features. Suddenly, she pointed her index finger up in the air and shook it whilst turning around to face the nomads again.

"However, as little time as vampires spent in various locations of the world, these can still declare a short lived lordship over those lands, and claim the blood hence them being the first ones to arrive."
The nomad's smiles dissolved away, and they grew more and more impatient with her deliberations.

'On who's side is she on;
theirs or ours?' Garnet's mental distress was on everybody's mind.

"Besides, if you proceed to hunt on these claimed lands and expose evidence for mortals to use as leverage to uncover the truth of their and our existence, then you are putting all of us at jeopardy."

Blake and Zaphara's impatience fainted as she gave them a mind altering revelation. She was winning this confrontation for us. This wasn't what Scar had foreseen at all. Blake sneered at her.

"Where do you suggest we go then?"

She turned and looked over her shoulder at Clem.

"Where do your assertions lie?"

"This whole forest and the entire Olympic Peninsula consist of our hunting grounds," Clem said so stiffly. She nodded approvingly.

"Try Seattle or even go as far South. This confrontation is over ladies and gentlemen," she concluded with a final and somewhat threatening tone.

"Says who?" Zaphara was disturbed by the apparent arrogance of the dominant speaker.

She didn't say anything. The sides of her cheeks pulled into an ostentatious smile, and she seemed amused. Blake sighed bored.

"I have had enough of this nonsense. Zaphara, Adam, Caleb, lets go. I'm sure we will meet once more. What was your name again?" I was glad someone finally asked. I was getting tired of the constant she, and her referrals. I wanted to know her name too as did Clem.

Not a word though. She kept her pose up well and didn't even breathe. I guess when she said the conversation was over, she meant it literally. Her behavior had all, but depleted Blake's patience, and with a final humph like noise he turned around to walk away. He wrapped his arm around Zaphara and shifted her to pull her with him. She gave one final glare to the other female before turning away and walking off into the distance with Blake followed by Caleb. Adam seemed somewhat hesitant at first and was still focused on the fact that she knew where he came from, and his lineage. Slowly, he turned with one last glimpse before disappearing into the same direction from where he and the other two had originated from.

The atmosphere and turbulence in the clearing calmed down considerably. I didn't think the storm was over, but perhaps just taking a break for a few minutes before it would explode with more thunderous cries. None of us said a word as she continued to stay in front of us with her back turned. Luna was eventually the one that spoke up.

"What just happened?" She looked to Clem for the answer, but he didn't pay any attention to her. There was still a threat to us here, and it stood right in front of us. The threat was the one that eventually answered Luna's question when no one else spoke up.

"I just preserved your lives."

Garnet snorted at her manifesto. "From what? We could have taken them easily. We outnumbered them. Besides, we didn't ask for your help. Clem here could have handled everything just fine." I agreed. Her assistance in this past matter was unnecessary. She turned slowly around as small melodic laughs escaped through her teeth. She shook her head vigorously.

"I was not referring to those imbeciles." Lightening struck then and hit something wooden by the sounds of it somewhere off in the far distance. The winds returned and had carried the sounds of its cracking destruction all the way to the clearing.

Then with her index and middle finger pressed together she waved at us and began to walk off towards the path she had come from; just like the nomads did. She suddenly stopped again and sighed with reasons unknown to me. She looked over her shoulder which seemed to be a habit.

"For the time being, keep away from the mountain range."

"Why?" Clem asked politely.

Her expression remained blank. She turned back around and all there was left were reminisce of a flash. I didn't even see her run. She was fast.

Strange... but exptremely beautiful.