PROLOGUE
(immortal)

Vivienne Beckett had been cursed at to be stuck at only the age of fifteen. She had wanted to grow old and leave the earth through its natural courses, but fate had its cruel way of not giving her what she wanted. No indeed—Vivienne's heartbeat was gone, as it was frozen solid in her chest. The blood that once ran through her veins was no longer present.

She felt empty.

She felt hollow.

She had not wanted to be this cursed being that you only ever heard in folklores to scare children from rebelling and acting out. It was a cruel thing to do, but it was how the adults felt powerful. It was one of the cruel thing's humans felt the need to empower.

1805 the year that she had last took her breath as a human. The year that lost the part of herself.

A girl—no a woman, only that of fifteen had been in the slums of Cairo. How she ended of all place in the world, was unknown to most but to her, it was the place that she felt oddly drawn to. She had no serious answer, but only that of the dreams that had taken through her mind each night.

Though, how foolish of her to travel alone, and not expect to end up in the clutches of the hands of those greedy and repulsive thoughts of what most would call the animalistic side in the mind of the dominant breed at the day and age. The violent age of slave trading, and global human trafficking.

Yet. Vivienne was a fool to not even think about the consequences of her actions. She was a complete fool.

The moment she had taken the first step into the slums, she was snatched and stolen in the dark night, and she was defiled and destroyed. She had seen death at its brightest that night, and she had sworn it was her last, but for some odd reason, a man had given her the second chance in this cruel life.

But it was a second chance she soon regretted when she realized that she was not going to ever grow up, and be stuck at the age she had nearly lost her life in. She was bitter but also thankful, it was a whirlwind of emotions for her, but she could never hate her saviour.

Carlisle Cullen, the man that became her mentor and helped her live through the curse. She could have easily ended her life, but she could not rob her dear friend from the second life she had to get used to. She owed it to him, even if he was a complete stranger.

A few years of their friendship had given Vivienne the hope to keep living despite being dead, and so she started her journey with her dear friend. The pair of them travelled the world, and slowly he had turned to not wanting to feed on humans, but Vivienne did. He had not forced her to become a vegetarian like him and respected her choice of meals.

While he had hunted rabbits, she continued to hunt humans, but she kept her meals to those who deserved that fate. While her friend saved humans, she had stayed in the background just watching him.

This was his fate and she was still trying to find her own.

She had decided to return to the slums of Cairo, as it still had a pull for her there. She had shared this feeling to Carlisle and he had told her to return there and find the answer. It was the first time they had been separated, but he trusted her to be on her own and knew they'd meet again.

The year of 1815, ten years have gone by and she stepped on the land that she had never expected to return to. The foreign land that had robbed her human life, but she had no desire to take the revenge she did years ago.

When she had walked the slums, she had not been able to explore, she had followed the pull that was calling her. It was silent to those around her but to her, it was like a song that had hypnotized her. Hidden in her robes away from the sun, so that she would not exploit her kind, she swayed elegantly through the crowd finding herself in the front of them all.

She looked before her to a male that had looked the same age she was frozen at as he was smiling brightly to the people around him and behind him was an older man.

The young man had drawn her attention to him solely, as she watched him perform tricks. She looked at his hands and knew right away, that it was not 'magic' in the sense of tricks. It was actual magic in the sense of powers. He was a gifted human, one that Carlisle had told her existed.

She felt protective of the human for an odd reason and all she knew now was with what her dear friend explained, was that he would be in danger. If other immortals had figured out what she did, he would be in the clutches of the Volturi right away.

She had felt frozen when she sensed another immortal in the crowd turning to the direction, meeting red eyes just like her own. She scrunched her face, as they stared at each other, but she didn't feel the danger at all from him. He mumbled quietly which was clear to her ears, telling her to meet him at a specific address. She had kept her eyes on him for a moment and nodded accepting his invitation.

He looked at the male and she followed his eyes and back to him, it had involved the human personally.

Once the performance had ended, and the sound of claps filled the air around them, Vivienne made through the crowd swiftly to head to her new destination.

She had carefully and quietly made her way through the meeting place and met the immortal man who had been looking at the sky above them. The shade was heavy so there was no need of the robes they wore earlier. She kept her own on, but lowered the hood," It is dangerous to invite a stranger like me, so close to your own coven" Vivienne said slowly to the man.

He looked to her and smiled," You were in my coven territory, which raises red flags" She looked at the man who had the deep accent flooding through his voice, His accent was deep was and his English was rough and unorganized but for her it was enough for to understand.

"I apologize for my intrusion, but something tells me you know I didn't come here to start anything" She spoke softly. He nodded and turned his body to face her," You've seen the human that I had been laying my eyes on for many years"

"Ah, yes, the gifted one" Vivienne nodded and folded her arms," I was drawn to the human, I didn't mean to make you alarmed"

He bore his eyes on her for a moment and then let out a breath," I want to bring him to my coven as he would be a very special addition" He revealed to her and she furrowed her brows and let out a breath," Willingly? Or through force?" She asked with her tone growing hostility

"Willingly" He stated," I will not rob his human life without his consent"

"How can I be sure of it?" She asked and she raised an eyebrow," I dare say, but do you care for the human?" He questioned as she frowned at his words," I do not know the human, but I have the strong need of not allowing you to harm him"

"Benjamin," The male said making her tilt her head," Pardon?"

"The human, his name is Benjamin, and that man he was with was his uncle. The young child had lost his mother at a young age and had been passed through relatives for most of his life and his uncle was the final relative that had taken him in" The male had known why he had explained this information to the woman before him.

She was Benjamin's mate. So, she was an important asset to him.

"Tell me more" Vivienne said sounding more of a plead to his ears, as he smiled lowering his head with a slight bow," Amun, I am the leader of the Egyptian Coven in these parts, that and my mate, but I will not reveal her name until I know I can fully trust you"

"The Egyptian Coven? That means your one of the survivors" She whispered as he looked at her surprised," You know of the late fate?" She nodded.

Amun would have harmed Vivienne in worry that she had a possible connection to the Volturi, but he felt no need for the suspicion.

He was one of the oldest immortals and he may not be gifted, but he knew enough to know she was simply innocent, and because of her connection to his newest interest. He had not thought of the will to take any actions towards her.

"Vivienne Beckett," She said looking at Amun," That is my name"

"Vivienne, may I know of your lost fate?" He asked referring to how she had become an immortal.

"I came from another land to here 10 years ago, I was taken by a slave owner—the details are morbid, one I wish not to speak of, but you must know how it ends" Her voice weak, the first in ten years had she spoke of her last time as a human. His face fell in realization not needing any more details on how she lost her life. He felt repulsed and angry for the young girl. She was a youngling, a lot younger than he had expected.

"And you can be around this much humans?" He asked as she bobbed her head," My desire for blood is only for the defiled beings, all in well of justification" She explained to Amun with a determined stance.

Meeting Amun, and learning later that Benjamin was her mate had made her stay with his coven. A few months of their exchanged words, the human had become an immortal but was hidden from the world. The only people that knew of his existence was the coven that only had Amun, his mate Kebi and Vivienne.

Vivienne hated the isolation that her mate had to endure, but she could not risk his own life, ending in the hands of the Volturi. So, she stayed by his side for five years, but she noticed her mate had borne a painful expression like something was making him want freedom.

Amun had started to see his treasured coven mate's behaviour, and he was in fear that he'll want to leave the coven. He came to the conclusion that the behaviour was because of Vivienne.

Benjamin was in pain because he had made his own mate isolated from the world outside of the coven walls. So Amun's answer? —Was to banish Vivienne from the Coven.

"NO! I CAN NOT LEAVE HIM!" Vivienne's voice roared through the empty streets he had taken her.

"You must Vivienne—You see how much it pains him! He'll break! He'll be destroyed!" Amun voiced with a strength of anger. If Amun had known, tearing apart the mates would awaken a dark power within Vivienne he would have never tried to tear them apart.

The anger that had boiled through Vivienne reached through her skin as she let out a painful scream, an invisible force had thrown her leader across the empty road.

She gasped at the sudden occurrence making her step back—She felt warm fall down her face, as she reached her hand up touching the liquid. She looked to see that it was blood, it was her own blood.

One that had been gone of her body, how was it possible?