A fair haired female stood, hooded and hidden behind a large tree, waiting for her target to come out of the large brick building that was Rosewood High.

Her mistress had ordered her to do this particular mission for the sun was shining brightly that day and her mistress couldn't risk attempting the mission herself what-with having her sensitivity to sunlight. The minion, however, didn't mind and was more than thrilled to please her mistress.

Come on, already! The minion thought as she spotted her target come outside, but she wasn't alone and stood there, talking to a young female, around 5'8, with tan skin and bronze hair. As the minion watched the two girl's talking, she noticed the odd tribal symbol on the tan girl's left bicep, marking her as one of the Moon Children.

Panic began to fill the minion as she realized she needed to get back to her mistress and let her know what she just discovered. She knew her mistress would be disappointed in her not completing the mission, but with her discovery, she felt her mistress would be pleased that she hadn't gone through with it.

With one final glance at the two girl's still talking, the minion slipped away unnoticed and made her way back to her car parked down the road from the school building.

* * *

A gorgeous pale-skinned female dressed in a long, black, sleeveless gown that plunged deeply down her neckline, lounged out across a golden chaise, long dark tendrils of wavy hair falling across her bare shoulders and chest.

Her watchful silver orbs scanned the room she lounged in, keeping track of all the vampires and human minions under her control. Realizing just how many she did have under her control, a smirk firmed on her face.

She'd come a long way in 20 years, no longer the girl who did what she felt was right for her people and following her parent's wishes. No. She did whatever the hell she pleased now.

"Mistress." The familiar feminine voice reached her vampiric ears and had her sitting up straight on the chaise as her right hand minion, a fair-haired female human, entered the room and approached her. The mistress believed her name to be Helen. . . Maybe it was Harriet? Or Hannah? She couldn't remember and didn't really give a damn to.

"Seeing as you're without the target, your mission was a failure." The mistress frowned at her minion, her rage slowing beginning to boil under the surface.

"W-Well. . . Yes. . . And N-No. . ." The minion stammered, not looking her mistress in the eyes. She knew if she did, she'd surely cry out of pure fear.

"You're testing my patience." Her mistress told her in a warning tone. "I suggest you say what you have to say before I punish you for your ignorance."

The minion swallowed nervously before summoning up all the courage she had and said, "The target had one of the Moon Children with her. A female with bronze hair."

Her mistress's eyebrows rose and then a smile began to form across her red lips.

"This may work to our advantage." Her smile grew, standing to her full height of 5'10 and gesturing to a couple other human minions. "You two will assist Harriet here. Keep an eye on the target for awhile and monitor the Moon Child. See what her intentions are with the target. When we know this, we can go from there. Now, out of my sight."

The mistress waved her hand in a form of dismissal when her main minion spoke up.

"Uh, mistress, my name is Helaina. Not Harriet."

A loud slap sounded throughout the room, every head whipping up in the direction of their mistress and the minion.

"You have been dismissed, Helania. And I will call you whatever the hell I please." The mistress's silver orbs glared at the blonde.

Helaina stared at her feet, not daring to look her mistress in the eyes as she scurried away and out of the room.

The mistress let out a very audible sigh, knowing she went a little overboard with the slap, but as with everything else nowadays, she didn't give a damn.

* * *

"You have to come, Elle!" Carrington declared for the tenth time. "It's the biggest party of the year and a perfect opportunity for you to meet new people!"

After school, Carrington had driven both Elle and Ethan home. After getting out of the car, however, Carrington had insisted on going into Elle's house and hanging out, as she had called it. Really, the whole time Carrington had been at the blonde's house, she had been talking about the big party that was being held that night by another senior who was a popular student at the school.

For the past half hour, the bronze-haired female had been trying to convince the blonde to attend with her and Ethan. Elle had firmly told her no, but the other girl wasn't accepting that as an answer and kept trying to convince her.

"Please come, Elle! Please. I don't want to go by myself. Ethan's going, but he's no fun and I'd love for a friend to be there that I could talk to!" She batted her long, dark eyelashes at her new friend and neighbor. "Please! Please! Please!"

Elle let out a loud sigh and her resolve faltered. "Fine! If it'll stop you from begging and whining, then I'll go."

A huge grin spread across the tan female's face, realizing she had won. "Yay! Now to find you something to wear!"

Immediately, she jumped up and rushed over to Elle's closet, beginning to open it when the blonde ran over and stopped her. She had many of her magic books stored away in the closet and didn't want to risk the other girl finding them and discovering her family's secret.

"Uh, are you okay?" Carrington questioned Elle, her eyebrows raised.

"Y-Yeah. I just don't want you to see my collection of erotica novels in there." Elle blushed deeply at the lie. 

Carrington smirked. "Oh, Ariella Lewis. You did not seem like the type."

Elle blushed even brighter. "Ha-ha! The quiet one's always are though."

The other female burst out laughing then, backing away from the closet. "I'm going to let you go ahead and hide your erotica. But do it quickly. We only have an hour before the party."

Panic rose in Elle's chest, realizing her new friend wasn't giving up. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the closet, blocking Carrington's view of the contents inside and began to chant a small spell quietly. The leather-bound books staring up at her, changed in appearance on their covers, pictures of shirtless men and sensual couples replacing the ancient text that originally were written on them.

"Are you done yet?" The other female peered over Elle's shoulder and into the closet, spotting the "erotica" books. "Oh you like Sensual Sensations too! I have the entire series at home."

She pushed her way past Elle and picked up a particular book that had a picture of a shirtless, muscular man and barely clothed woman, in a tight embrace, on the cover.

"Oh, yeah. It's pretty good." Elle gently took the book from Carrington and sat it, along with the others, on the top shelf of the cabinet, praying the spell would hold until the other female was done in the closet.

"Wow, girl. You have some great taste!" Carrington let out a whistle, looking through the clothes Elle had hung up on hangers in the large closet. "Ooh! This is the newest Laura Simone dress!" 

"Oh, yeah. My mother bought me that right before we moved." Elle remarked, seeing the black, halter, knee-length, snug-fitting, cocktail dress that plunged pretty low in the front. "It was an early birthday present."

"I'm so jealous! That particular clothing line won't hit stores here until next week." She pouted and Elle let out a little giggle.

"I have a few new dresses in here from Laura Simone. This one here I think would look really hot on you with your fit figure." Elle pulled a dark red, sleeveless and flowing cocktail dress out, holding it up to Carrington. "We look about the same size so it should fit you."

"Really? You would let me wear it?" The girl's amber eyes widened and lit up.

"Of course. In fact, if you like it, you could keep it. It's not really my style. I only bought it on impulse." Elle was impressed with how easily it was to speak with Carrington and how close they seemed to be getting in just one day.

"Oh, girl! Thank you so much!" Carrington threw her arms around Elle in a friendly embrace, shocking Elle a little bit.

"It's no problem. Now let's hurry up and get ready. You said we only have an hour and a half left, right?" She couldn't believe she was actually getting excited to go to this party, but after all the sudden changes in her life, she felt she needed a night out as a normal teenager.

Carrington only smiled, pulling away from her and grabbing the dress, disappearing into the bathroom attached to the room, shouting back to Elle, "You gotta wear that black dress tonight too!"

"Alright." Elle responded, smiling herself as she pulled the dress off the hanger and laid it out across her queen-sized bed, against the baby blue comforter.  Turning back to the closet, she picked out a pair of black open-toed stiletto shoes and a black clutch bag to complete the outfit.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Elle walked downstairs into the front hallway, running into her mother.

"Julianna?" She let out a gasp.

"Uh, Mom?" Elle asked, confused.

Her mother shook her head, shaking away her shock. "Oh, Elle. I'm sorry. You just look a lot like your aunt dressed like that. I thought I was seeing her, but with blonde hair."

"Mom, why don't you guys ever talk about Aunt Julianna?" Every time she asked her dad, grandmother, or her about her, they all grew silent and appeared uncomfortable.

"It's a long story that we don't like to bring up, sweetie. . ." Her mother frowned, her baby blue eyes filling with sadness.

"Why don't you, mom?" Elle tried pressing on.

Savannah just shook her head, quickly placing a smile on her face and changing the subject. "What are you dressed up for?"

"Carrington invited me to go along with her and Ethan to this party another senior is holding tonight. She thinks it's a good opportunity for me to make new friends and get to know everyone from the school." Elle explained, still wondering why neither of her parents or grandmother would discuss her mother's twin. She didn't urge her mother further, though, knowing it was useless. "It's okay that I go, right, Mom?"

"Of course, sweetie. Just be careful out there." Her mother warned. "And remember it's a school night so don't stay out too late."

"Okay, Mom. I won't stay too late." She promised her mother, kissing her cheek and then heading outside to meet Carrington and Ethan at their house.

As the blonde walked towards the red Mustang parked in the driveway, her heels clicked against the pavement and alerted the two siblings of her presence.

Elle's luscious blonde tendrils were pulled up and to the side of her head in a long braid, a single white rose stuck in the part where it was tied up. Under her eyes, she had applied a black eyeliner, making those electric blues of hers even brighter and enchanting, on her lips she had applied a light pink gloss, and on her eyelids, she'd applied a light peach glitter shadow. She appeared mystical and beautiful and Ethan couldn't keep his eyes off her. Especially not when she wore a snug-fitting black cocktail dress that showed off her natural curves, and open-toed heels that elongated her legs.

Noticing Ethan's gaze, Elle blushed brightly, not making eye contact with him.

"Oh my gosh, Elle! You look hot!" Carrington declared, gushing over the blonde. "That dress looks great on you. Don't you think so, Ethan?"

"Yeah. You look great, Elle." He told her, a slight blush heating his own cheeks.

"Thank you." She replied, her blush growing. Desperately trying to change the subject she turned to Carrington. "I told you that dress would fit you and it looks so much better on you than it would on me."

"Oh, thank you, Elle! I love how it flares out." The bronze-haired female did a little spin, the dress flaring just as she stated. "I'm so glad you let me wear it. I'll have half the guy's attention at the party. You'll have the other half's. Maybe you'll find yourself a new boyfriend."

"We should get going soon or we'll be late to the party." Ethan stated, interrupting his sister's babbling, trying to hide his sudden jealously over hearing the boyfriend part. He didn't know what it was about the Elle girl, but he really didn't want to see her dating anyone else.

"Yeah. You're right. Let's go." Carrington raised her eyebrows at her brother, picking up on his jealously and deciding to discuss it with him at a later time.

A/N: Hello, there! There it is. Chapter 3. What did you all think of it? Any suggestions for the next chapter? Or just any feedback? All is welcome and appreciated. Please hit the star at the bottom or upper right if you're on PC, and let me know you liked it.