[Louise]

Again…something drifted through her mind…someone powerful…who…and I howled with rage that she had escaped my clutches once more. I tasted her on my teeth...so close...

I looked up and though I still felt her, she had vanished as quickly as I had torn out of the bushes. Through my rage I let a smile of impish delight that she was still fighting. My blood lust was over powering everything now. I needed to feed. I needed her blood coursing through me. I needed her now.

I sprang from the woodland floor and tore into the undergrowth, moving deftly but assuredly as I went…following the flood of emotions she was still allowing to pour from her mind.

I wondered if she knew where she was going…the woods cleared up ahead…the ancient circle of stones sat in a clearing in the dark forest. At least four thousand years old. Steeped in bloody power…even I felt the darkness tugging at my soul when I visited.

I stood stock still…listening…there was silence aside from a couple animal rustles. Then I heard her crashing through the woods once more…and I knew I had to be there waiting for her.

I got within a few feet of the Hunter…could hear her harsh breathing as she moved, then I raced off again. Moving faster, quicker than she could through my woods I was soon able to get in front of her again.

The moment I broke out into the clearing, the stones dark and shadowy, I felt my body given extra strength. A malignant, dark power more ancient than my kind found me and energized me once more.

I strode past the first stone, allowing my fingers to trail across the rough stone surface and feeling the power of history and pain it had witnessed. But it was the central stone that I wanted to touch…

About seven feet long by three wide…this central stone had been used in sacrifice for as long as the stone circle had existed. I pressed the palms of my hands against its cold surface and I felt a flood of power sweep me.

I looked to the woods, felt her approach…so close now. I smiled and jumped up onto the central stone. Laying down on the sacrificial rock I closed my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.

Once she came out of the woods she would be totally exposed and I knew my pose would prove too much for her to walk away from.