The year is 1885. Clayton and Christina Hayden are traveling in a carriage (A/N: something like the one in the picture above) west to visit their cousin for his second wedding, he was widowed a few years ago. It was starting to get dark, but they still had a few hours to go until they were going to stop for the night.

Christina has been reading LITTLE WOMEN for a few hours and closed her book after she finished a chapter to speak to her brother.

"How long do you think it will take us to get to Summer Falls?" Christina asks Clayton.

"We have been traveling for 2 days. Should take us another 3 if we travel quickly. Thankfully, Samuel's wedding isn't for another week, so we have time." Clayton replies, looking up from his book. He puts his book away and closes the curtains on the windows since it's starting to get dark.

"Lovely. You know I love traveling and seeing what there is to explore. But the constant days upon days of sitting in a carriage can get quite tedious. I prefer when we have some time to explore new areas for a few days before moving on."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, little sister."

Christina glares at him, "We're twins."

"Yes, I know. But I'm older. Which makes you my little sister." Clayton replies smirking

"By 7 minutes!" Christina says exasperated while throwing her arms out to the side.

"Still older." Clayton smuggly says

Christina huffs. 'He always brings that up.' She thinks.

They hear a ruckus outside. Christina and Clayton look at each other.

"What could that be?" Christina asks

"I don't know."

The carriage suddenly stops. Then there is a scream.

"Clayton? What's going on?" Christina says scared, grabbing her brother's arm.

Clayton grabs the rifle and hands his spare handgun to his sister. "Here. Don't move. Okay? Everything will be fine." He takes her hands off his arm.

"Clayton." Christina says worried.

Clayton kisses his sister's forehead. "Everything will be fine. I promise." Clayton then exits the carriage.

"Who are you? What are you doing?" Christina hears Clayton yell.

Then there was a shot from a rifle.

"Clayton!" Christina yells worried for her brother.

Next rings out multiple shots from a handgun, hopefully her brother's. Christina grips the gun her brother gave her tighter. Suddenly, the carriage door opens, causing Christina to shout in surprise and point her gun towards the door.

"Well, what do we have here?" A man with dark hair and bright red eyes says.

Christina points the gun directly to the man's chest. "Who are you? Where's Clayton?" She asks. Miraculously, her voice isn't wavering.

The man with the bright red eyes raises his brows. "You're a brave little thing aren't you?"

Frustrated that he did answer her question about Clayton, she cocks the gun and asks again, full of confidence, "Where. Is. My. Brother?"

"The man that came out of the carriage with the rifle? He's right out here, laying on the ground where I left him."

Christina then hears Clayton scream in agony, so she shoots the man with the red eyes right in his chest.

Surprised from the sudden impact, the man falls back. Christina grabs the baseball bat her and Clayton got as a gift for John, Samuel's son, and runs out of the carriage still holding the gun to find her brother.

"Clayton!" She yells in partial relief that she located him, and runs to where he is squirming in pain on the ground.

Before she can bend down to try and see what's wrong and how she can help him, she notices the red-eyed man standing up with a face full of rage. Her eyes widen as she points the gun towards him again.

"Don't move." She commands

The man raises his brows and laughs, "You really think that measly little trinket can stop me?" Christina shoots him again. "You really are quite the brave little thing." He says tilting his head looking at her he steps closer.

"Stop moving!" Christina demands holding the gun in her right hand and the bat in her left, standing protectively in front of her brother.

"And you are quite protective too....hmmmm....interesting. Most people, especially women, would be running and screaming, or begging. But not you. You're standing there defiantly, challenging me." He says as if he's interested and steps closer again.

Christina shoots him twice in the chest. "Stop coming closer! Leave us alone!" She screams at him.

He doesn't stop walking towards her. She knows she has one more bullet. So she quickly plans. 'Bullets clearly aren't working. Maybe if I can get him close enough, I can shoot him, and while he's distracted, knock him out with the bat.'

She didn't have a better idea to protect her and her brother, so she tried it. He got about 2 yards away from her, she shot him with her last bullet, threw the gun at him, and then swung the bat as hard as she could.

She managed to hit the man with the bat, but before she could do it again, the red-eyed man grabbed the bat and threw it on the ground before wrapping his hand around her neck.

"You know I don't find many humans that interest me." He says

Christina tries to kick the man, but it doesn't faze him. "Let me go, you bastard! Leave us alone!"

"You are quite the little fighter and seem to be quite resourceful, quickly making up that little plan to try and defeat me. You have spirit. I like that....you know it's intriguing to see how you and your brother were trying to protect each other. Most humans would only look out for themselves. But not you two." He says as he squeezes Christina's neck, restricting her airflow. "I was going to just eat you and your brother, but I think it would be more interesting if I turn you instead."

"Leave him alone." Christina chokes out

"See. You can barely breathe, I'm choking you to death, and yet you tell me to leave your brother alone, and say nothing of yourself....that's very intriguing.....yes.....I'd love to see you as an immortal. I already turned your brother. Now it's your turn." He says before quickly turning Christina around and pulling her into his chest. With her back to his chest, he bites her neck, injecting venom into her bloodstream.

Christina screams in agony. Before she passes out from the pain she hears, "See you in three days, Lioness"