Something was chasing me.

I ran through the dark alley as fast as I could, throwing cautious glances behind my shoulder, training my eyes for any footsteps behind me. Something was wrong. I just didn't know what. Where was Vincent? We had just been together- hadn't we? I couldn't remember. All I knew was that I had to run.

My lungs threatened to burst as I ran through all the twist and turns of what seemed to actually be a maze instead of an ally. When I caught a glimpse I light, I hurried for it, wondering if it was the exit. Just before I reached it, a massive black shadow jumped out from the darkness, hitting me with such force I slammed onto the ground. I struggled as hands wrapped around my throat.

"Help," I tried to get out, my voice strangled. "Help! Help-"

"Emily! Wake up!"

My eyes shot open and I saw Vincent hovering above me, his eyes wide in concern. Swallowing, I sat up, feeling sweat run down my face. "What?"

"You were making weird noises. Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah... but I never have nightmares," I murmured, taking his arm and putting it around myself. "Even when I was human."

Vincent frowned at me. "I heard if you talk about your nightmare you won't fall back into it when you go to sleep again."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "That's some useful information. Your brain isn't completely useless after all."

He scowled a bit. "I have years of knowledge, Emily. Nice try."

"Just kidding. I don't remember much. I was running and someone attacked me. It felt like an anxiety dream. But what do I have to be anxious about?" I told him, biting my lower lip. "The dreams I have about my family are one thing, but this was different. It felt like whatever it was wanted to kill me."

Vincent ruffled my hair. "Maybe you were dreaming about Ashton. I still have dreams about it sometimes."

"Maybe. Whatever. It's just a nightmare. I shouldn't be scared anyway. I'm not a human anymore. I can defend myself now. I'm super strong." To prove my point, I flexed my scrawny arm.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but you need to be especially careful when around humans."

"Why?"

"Because you look like you can barely lift thirty pounds, so don't go around lifting cars."

"I'm not Edward."

"How do you know Edward? I don't think you've met him yet."

I stared at Vincent. "No... he's a fictional vampire. You know what? Never mind. I don't think you got my reference last time either. I'm going to go back to sleep. We're visiting Sebastian tomorrow, aren't we?"

Vincent nodded. "Yeah, but you probably don't need much more sleep-"

"My human side says I need eight hours. Wake me up then," I said, rolling over and pulling the blankets over me.

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "I'll stay up. Someone has to protect you from nightmares for the rest of the night."

Fortunately, the rest of the night passed without incident and we were awoken to William bounding into our bed, screaming happily that we were going to visit his dad. Vincent picked him up and pretended like he was going to throw him across the room, but Fiona appeared, disarming him with a hard stare. William fell back onto the bed and crawled to me. "Hi Auntie Em."

"Good morning William," I responded, brushing my hair out of my face. It was still a little strange to see William acting like a toddler. In reality, he was only a year old. Vincent had explained that pure vampires aged differently than humans. To me it sounded like they aged more like dogs than humans- they grew to full size quickly and then aged from there. So, it would take a couple of years for William to become a full-fledged vampire, but he'd still be juvenile.

I didn't ask too many questions. My mind needed to process these things. And still, a year later, it kind of weirded me out.

"Are you ready to go visit my dad? Come on, let's go!" He tugged on my hand, nearly yanking me off the bed.

I laughed. "I still need to shower. Did you eat breakfast?"

"I did. Mom said we just had to wait for you guys to wake up."

"Then I'll go shower now so we can go," I told him. "Go wait with your mom. I'll be out soon."

William nodded and ran back to Fiona. He paused to give Vincent the same stink eye Fiona had given Vincent moments before. "You better be ready too, Vivi."

"Don't call me Vivi," Vincent protested, but William was already out the door.

"I'm going to get in the shower."

"You mean, we are going to get in the shower," Vincent corrected, picking me off the bed and carrying me into the bathroom. "It's faster this way, you know?"

Twenty minutes later, Vincent and I met Fiona and William in the front foyer. Luella was there as well and she smiled warmly at us. "Have a good trip."

"Sure you don't want to come with us?" Vincent asked her.

She shook her head. "No. I'll stay with your father in case something comes up while you're gone."

"Nothing is going to happen, but suit yourself. I'll say hello for you. Let's go."

The graveyard was familiar at this point. While it was still sad, now it held some comfort. Part of the family remained here, after all. As we climbed out of the car, William kicked his shoes off, opting to go barefoot.

"You have to wear your shoes, William," Fiona scolded him.

"I don't want to!"

"Come on, put them on."

"No!"

Fiona sighed. "Why don't you two go ahead? It seems like it'll take a minute for him to get over this fit."

Vincent nodded and took my hand, leading the way to the gravesite. The skies were grey and gloomy, really setting the mood. In the distance, I saw something scattered along Sebastian's grave. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what it was. Letting go of Vincent's hand, I walked a little faster, my chest tightening. It reminded me of my nightmare. Something was wrong.

"No..." My hand covered my mouth as I came across Sebastian's grave. Vincent appeared beside me a second later, swearing under his breath.

Dirt laid strewn about, rocks and roots dispersed around the grave. It was completely dug up. I edged closer, peering into it, afraid of what I might see.

The wooden casket that once held Sebastian's remains was split open, jagged splinters of wood laying in the surrounding dirt. The top of the casket was missing completely which made the fact that there was nothing in it stand out prominently. My heart leaped into my throat. 

Sebastian's body was missing.

Vincent shot forward, easily lifting the casket up. Under it was nothing but brown earth. He gently placed it back into its original position, taking a step back. "Damn it." 

"Who would have done this?" I whispered.

Kneeling down, Vincent inspected the edges of the grave. He picked up a fistful of the dug up dirt and let it run through his fingers. "I'm not sure. But this happened recently. The dirt is still damp."

"What should we do? We need to tell your parents."

Vincent scowled for a moment, his hands clenching into fists. "I'll find whoever did this. And when I do they'll join Sebastian five feet under."

"Maybe we should disrupt it so much. We should call the police. Wait. Can we call my police?"

"Not the human police," Vincent said. "First let's tell my father."

I heard William's bright voice on the wind and I turned to see Fiona approaching with him in tow. "We can't let them see this."

Vincent brushed the dirt off his hands. "Let's leave for now. I don't want to leave it like this... but maybe we can gather evidence here. Just not while William is around."

I nodded and rushed away, intercepting William, and scooping him up. Fiona looked at me questioningly as I nearly ran in the opposite direction of the gravesite. "We'll have to visit another day, William, it's about to rain," I told him, hoping my lie was satisfactory, and my voice wasn't shaking.

"What's wrong?" Fiona asked me, looking over my shoulder, her eyebrows creasing. "What is that around Sebastian's grave? Emily?"

"I'll explain when we get home," Vincent said as he caught up to us. "We need to go."

Fiona's face paled and she glanced back at the grave once more before taking William from me. "We'll come back soon. I don't want you getting sick because of the rain," she said gently.

"But I want to visit my dad," William complained, tears forming in his eyes.

"We will, don't worry. Just not today, Honey."

By the time we got back to the manor, Vincent had already phoned his parents, and they were waiting for us. Fiona managed to coax William into taking a nap and when he was asleep, she rejoined us in the living room. The air was tense and my stomach kept turning. A sense of dread had settled in deep. 

Fiona's eyes watered on and off and she blinked rapidly. I couldn't imagine how the others were feeling. This was their son, their lover, their brother... gone. Missing. Stolen.

"It could just be a grave robber," Luella said quietly. 

"There's no way," Vincent dismissed. "You think a grave robber would have been able to get in? And why would his body be missing?"

Solomon pressed his lips together. "It isn't unheard of. On the black market, anything can be sold."

"You think someone stole his body to sell it?"

"Not necessarily. All I'm saying is that's one possible situation. Why don't we go investigate around the gravesite? Luella and Fiona, why don't you two alert the proper authorities? We'll have to have a meeting. The more eyes we have the better."

Luella nodded. "I will contact Barnen."

"What should I do?"

Solomon regarded me for a moment. "Why don't you visit your family and check on things?"

I stared at him, trying not to feel unsettled. "My family? Do you think they're in danger?"

"No, but there's nothing wrong with feeling assured, is there?"

"No, you're right," I said. "I do want to check on them." They wouldn't be connected to this. Maybe Solomon didn't want me to be a burden. I was still new to this... life. Maybe I'd just get in the way.

Or maybe he didn't want me involved since I was the reason Sebastian rested in the ground in the first place.

"Is it really safe for her to go alone?" Vincent asked sharply.

Solomon turned to him. "Yes. As of right now, there's not a threat. I need you to come with me. And I'm sure since I put this idea into her head, Emily wants to make sure her family is safe as soon as possible. Am I wrong?"

I shook my head. "No. I'll be fine alone. I'm not a human anymore, Vincent. I can protect myself."

Vincent looked hesitant but relented. "Okay. But call me if anything is even a little suspicious."

"I will. Don't worry. Let me know if you guys find anything or need someone too. I'll head out now."

"Stay safe," Luella and Fiona echoed.

I grabbed my keys of the shelf by the front door, walking out to my car. A gift from the Rutherford family. I'd felt bad about it at first...but after Vincent had shown me his bank account, I figured it was alright to graciously accept his gift. It was nice to have a car again after mine had died last year.

Going back to my neighborhood always made nostalgia run through me. I hadn't been gone that long, but it still felt like forever. It reminded me of my life before. And how it'd never go back to that again. My family would never remember me again.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed those thoughts away. No matter what, I had made the right decision. My family would be more hurt by my death than them forgetting I existed. And I still was able to check up on them. I parked my car down the street from my house as to not be suspicious and walked the rest of the way, pacing myself slowly.

I'd gotten good at being inconspicuous. Approaching my house, I saw my brother in the driveway, unlocking his car. I paused, taking out my phone, and pretending to text. He seemed perfectly fine. I surveyed the area. It was quiet, but that was expected since it was the middle of a workday. My parents wouldn't be home at this time. And since Jake was leaving, I could check around the house.

As soon as he was out of sight, I slipped out back, grabbing the spare key from under the backdoor mat, and letting myself inside. The familiar scent caused my heart to ache. I went throughout the house and inspected all the doors and windows, looking for any sign of forced entry, but everything was completely intact. Nothing was out of place.

I peeked into what used to be my bedroom, now formed into a spare room. Everything that I owned was now at the Rutherford manor, but it was still a little unnerving to see every piece of me missing from the house. Sighing, I closed the door. There was no use in dwelling on it. I'd only hurt myself. I'd finished what I'd come here to do.

Feeling a little relieved, I went back into the kitchen. As soon as I stepped onto the tiled floor, the suffocating feeling of dread returned to me. I placed my hand of my heart, trying to calm it. There was nothing to feel anxious about. I'd checked the whole place out.

Unless... was it Vincent? Did something happen at the graveyard?

Now a little more panicked, I reached for the spare key that I'd put on the counter when I entered. After grasping at nothing, I turned to see it wasn't on the counter. I swear I'd put it on the counter. No, I knew I put it on the counter.

The floor creaked behind me.

My body went stiff. Someone was with me. A quick look around told me there were no weapons in reach. I'd have to fight with my hands.

Gathering my courage, I turned to see who had graced me with their presence, my hands forming into fists.

Fists that unraveled when I realized just who was in the kitchen with me.

Bright green eyes burned into mine. A familiar form towered over me and the world tilted and I had to reach out to the counter to hold up myself up.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I couldn't believe who had appeared in front of me. Brown hair fell limply into his pale face. My hand involuntarily lifted, reaching out toward him.

I finally found my voice. "S-Sebastian?"