Emma sat on the rocks looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. When she was a child, she would sit here and watch the sun rise. The dark rich Prussian blue of the night sky would begin to lighten into a beautiful deep ultramarine then become streaked with pinks finally becoming an azure blue. Her dream was to watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Would there be golden colors streaked with reds and pinks like there were here? Or was there a magical setting of the sun as Ra the sun god reentered the path through the underworld? Unfortunately, she had never been able to experience a sunset or sunrise while looking at the Pacific Ocean. Her journey had been altered when she was embraced by James in the wilderness on her trek to tame the wild west and to search for gold. Her original trip out west was in a wagon train and was fraught with danger and excitement. She really had very few regrets except for the loss of her family. And she was broughtinto an amazing new world she never knew existed. Without her change she never would have danced at balls, she giggled to herself, or danced in a go-go cage. And she certainly would have never become a doctor of psychology. She had been able to explore so much and looked forward to exploring more. There was so much she still had to learn.


When James had asked her to come back here to help him she was a bit hesitant. After all the plan had been for him to join her in Sacramento. However, the timing became right. She had lost a good friend and had felt lost herself. That vulnerability had led to her becoming too close too fast to a very handsome and charismatic man. And a quick rise to power that she didn’t want. She certainly did not have the ambition of a venture or the passion of a daeva. Her passions were becoming muddled and suffocated with the responsibilities. And then she almost joined the crones just to feel like she belonged. Emma needed freedom, space, and a place to run wild and free. She had been running through the logging trails of Aroostook County but she couldn’t get up that way too often now that her adjunct teaching position at U Maine Presque Isle had ended. They had needed an online instructor who could do a night time in house lab once a week. It was a fun job and gave her plenty of time to explore. She had even made it up to Canada a few times. She was no longer needed here andit was time to move on.

Moving on. What was she going to do? She really wanted totry Sacramento again. She wondered if anyone she knew was still there. Probably not, creatures such as herself tended to move along quickly so as not to develop attachments. Sigh. She thought about Mr. Black again. He was so strong and handsome. She knew he was gone, he had to be. Oh! A thought came to her. The prince would still be there. She wondered if she would still feel the same fear? It was the power to mess with her mind that made her scared. She had been there once before with a Prince who used her in the worst way. She needed to face this fear and maybe even conquer it. Who knows, maybe he would become a … hmm something. After all, he had always treated her fairly and with respect. She straightened her spine to sit taller. She could do this, she was not a quitter and she was a proud Gangrel. She would do it. She would go back to Sacramento, build a life, and become the best she could with what she was given. Smiling, Emma stood and went back to her rooms to get ready to head back.