Hunted

Chapter Two :: The Stranger in Black

** Nicholai POV **

I had found her.

Tales of her piercing blue eyes and ebony hair had spread through the Vampire world. I had hunted this girl, now a woman, my target, my prey, for seven years. Adrenaline shot through my body like an arrow piercing my already dead heart. My senses were heightened ready to pounce, my instincts at their peak. Venom coursed through the blood pumping in my veins, dead blood, the blood of my victims. It rose up my throat, into my mouth, venom swirling around my sharp porcelain teeth. I had waited for this, yearned for this and hunted for this. Hatred did not consume me but instinct. I did not know this girl, I was indifferent to the gifts she possessed, but my instinct to hunt and stubborn pride to be the best of my kind drove me to be the one who had to find her, who had to kill her.  

For four days I had followed her, waited in the shadows outside of her college. I had stalked her house at night, weighing up the possibility of whether I would get in and out of her home undetected, knowing she had protection. Not knowing if I could get to her quick enough to kill her swiftly, quietly, as she slept. Snapping her neck with one swift movement of my strong hands, or giving in to my thirst and draining her of her life. Four large men guarded her and often took her to school, despite her loud protests in the morning. Some mornings she would dash out of the door and run towards the bus stop before her protectors could follow. She was feisty and independent. If I took her on impulse, whilst she was awake she would put up a fight, this I knew.  

My decision to get on the bus this morning was a last minute compulsion I very rarely allowed myself to indulge in. It somehow felt right, as though at the start of my day a path had been written out for me to follow. I was the master of my own destiny, I made my own path in life, a law unto myself, until this day. I got on the bus I knew she would be boarding in a couple of stops time, after weeks of following her. I sat to the left of the bus in the middle knowing she opted for the back of the bus, wanting the quiet and solitary, to be alone with her thoughts. I wanted to go unnoticed, to observe her from afar without attracting attention to myself. I had to be sure it was her. But I knew it was her, I just needed to see her up close, I did not know why.  

She boarded the bus as usual, and walked to her usual spot at the back. Fortunately she did not notice me, sat here, looking down at a piece of gum on the back of the seat in front of me. Slipping the earphones of her ipod in she drifted off into a world of her own. I sat patiently, glancing back to look at her when safe to do so as she gazed out of the window. I knew she wouldn't notice me, the speed I moved my head back and forth was too fast for any human eye to notice. She was also lost in her thoughts, that was obvious to anybody, not just to a one hundred and fifty seven year old vampire. We sat there on opposite sides of the bus, me watching her, her watching the world go by outside, for what seemed like a lifetime, until the bus shuddered to a halt. She snapped out of her trance and stood to leave, steadying herself on a chair next to her. I fidgeted in my seat, something that was not a necessity for a vampire and a foreign concept for me but I did it all the same, nervous in her presence. I looked up, curiosity forcing my eyes to seek hers. Her head shot left towards my direction, her eyes bore into mine with an intensity I had never felt before. I was mesmerized by her famous, piercing blue eyes, they melted into mine like a sunset disappearing into the sea. Her expression puzzled me, she was not fearful, but appeared curious and unnerved. She clearly took all of me in, like a sponge absorbing every detail. We stayed like this for what felt like hours, but must have been less than a minute otherwise the bus driver would of called her to get off or pulled away by now.  

The girl slowly prized her eyes away from mine with what looked like a pained expression. If I could of seen my reflection at that time, I was sure it would of mirrored hers. She rushed down the gang way of the bus and flew out of the door, clearly uncomfortable after our encounter. My eyes followed her as she came to a standstill by the side of the road, an uneasy look flashed across her face as she stared at the floor, deep in thought. The bus pulled away as her eyes rose from the floor and locked again with mine, her bright blue eyes hypnotising my black ones. I stared at her until she broke our gaze, my dead heart pulling in my chest, clearly missing the warmth of her eyes. I noticed the object of her attention, a boy walking toward her, calling her name. I could not help but feel a ripple of jealousy course through my veins directed at this boy, who now stole the affection of those mesmerizing eyes, that had been mine mere moments before. He was a young man, not much older than her I thought. He was tall with tidy, short brown hair which had a hint of red. He had emerald green eyes and a kind face, I thought. But none of this mattered, he was not me, he could not hold her gaze the way I had.