There was nothing truly spectacular about her. Nothing at all. She was undeniably beautiful for a mortal, with long blonde hair, pale white skin, and bright blue eyes. But the fact was that in his thousand years on this planet, beautiful women had become a sort of commodity. He'd seen more stunning, that was for sure, so he could rule out her physical appearance being what attracted him.

She was a sweet little thing, smiling at everyone she passed on the street despite not knowing them at all. He'd watched as a middle aged women dropped a stack of folders she'd been carrying and the girl had crossed the road purely to help the woman pick them up. True, selfless kindness was rare in this day and age, but still not exactly something that made her highly individual. He'd met Mother Teresa for God's sakes.

She was little, probably only 5'2 at best. Only twenty one years old. She didn't dress in the latest fashion trends. She hummed to herself even when she was around other people. She worked in a bakery and she always had flour on her. She was totally and completely average in every single way; everything about her was common, familiar, seen before.

But he still watched her. He was still fascinated by her.

It had begun a few weeks ago when he was simply passing through the area and he'd picked up a peculiar scent when he was walking through town. Curious as to what it could be, he'd followed it and stumbled across her bakery soon enough. She hadn't seen him and they made no contact, but his passing through had soon become an extended stay, all so he could watch this average little mortal girl as she went about her average little life.

He knew that he had other things to be doing; finding the Petrova doppelganger had become more important than ever, and yet he still lingered in this small town.

Elijah made up his mind then. He wasn't a fool, he was a man of reason. There was no real reason for him to linger here, and so he would leave tonight and that was that.

The bakery always shut after dark and she had to walk home alone, but Amelia didn't mind. She'd grown up in this town and felt as safe walking the empty, pitch black streets as she did when she was tucked into bed at home. Not only that, but she knew almost everyone who lived in the tiny town she called home, so when she passed the four men sitting in the gutter with a stack of empty bottles between them, she gave them a friendly smile and not even a backwards glance.

'Hey!' one of them called after her, standing up and running over to her after a second of gathering his balance. 'You're the bakery girl!'

She turned, her blonde hair flipping over her shoulder. She didn't remember these men's names, probably because they were about ten years older than her and she would have only had the bare minimum contact with them in the bakery. Despite this, she smiled up at him when he approached her, and it faded only slightly when he threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her back towards his friends.

'Mitch,' he called to his friend, and Amelia had the feeling that he would have fallen on his face if his arm wasn't around her shoulder. 'Mitch, this is the girl who makes those cupcakes. You know the tiny ones with the strawberrys?'

Mitch and the other man stood now. 'Aw, yeah, man. That shit's good, Brian. Will you make us some of them?' he asked, directing his gaze down to Amelia now.

'Um,' she said quietly, 'there will be some in the bakery first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I really have to get going-'

'What's your rush?' the one who had remained silent up until this point asked, and his voice seemed steadier than the others. 'We're just having fun. Here,' he bent and picked up a bottle before forcing it into her hands, 'have fun with us.'

'Yeah! Have fun with us, bakery girl!' Brian laughed loudly, pushing her hand back as Amelia tried to hand the bottle to him.

'I- I really shouldn't,' she said, her eyes darting between them. Only the unnamed man held her stare every time her eyes rested on him. 'I have to get home… if you want those cupcakes in the morning, I'll have to get home and make them soon…'

Brian seemed to consider this, and in that time Amelia managed to duck out from under his arm. 'I'll see you boys in the morning,' she said firmly when Brian turned to look at her, before turning and walking away from them.

'Hey, bakery girl! We aren't done having fun yet!' she recognised the unnamed man call, and when she heard stumbling footsteps behind her, she broke into a sprint.

She made it about as far as the second alleyway along the street before one of the men caught up with her, his hand coming up to cover her mouth as he pushed her into the alley. Her blood pumping so loud she could hear it, she turned and pushed him as hard as she could away from her, not pausing to watch him stumble against the dumpster before she ran again.

Brian and Mitch had made it to the alleyway by this point, and they were laughing.

'Bakery girl got fight in her!' Brian laughed, distracting himself and Mitch enough for Amelia to run at them and try and push her way out of the alley. She made it to the curb before one of them grabbed her hair and yanked her back so hard she was flung to the ground, and let out the loudest scream possible. There had to still be people around- maybe Angus would still be in the bakery and he would hear- someone had to still be in the street somewhere!

'Hey!' she heard Mitch yell before his hand descend over her mouth, blocking the sound, as the man who had grabbed her hair pulled her to her feet. In her panic she managed to pull back from Mitch and keep screaming- someone had to hear her!- until the one behind her pulled her back into the alley and pushed her face first against the wall.

She hit it hard, her head bouncing off of the concrete before she stumbled to the ground.

'Now why you gotta go and do that for? I told you, we just want to have some fun,' the unnamed man said, his voice dark as he grinned and began to approach her as she pushed herself as far back against the wall as possible, her breathing getting heavier as her eyesight got blurrier.

Through her blurry vision, she watched as the unnamed man and Brian approached her. Mitch was standing in the background watching, until suddenly, he was no longer there.

She let out a gasp as Mitch disappeared, and suddenly there was a yell from the other end of the alleyway. Both men before her turned to look, and as she watched Brian disappeared just as suddenly as Mitch.

'What the fuck!' the unnamed man gasped, stumbling backwards as he tripped over his own feet.

'Such language,' came a disapproving voice from the mouth of the alley. 'It really isn't very gentlemanly of you.'

Amelia turned her head at the same time the man standing above her did to see a person standing there. Her eyesight clearing slightly, Amelia was able to make out that he was a tall, slender man wearing a suit, before he disappeared, causing the unnamed man to let out a yell as he suddenly reappeared behind him.

He turned, stumbling in his shock and falling backwards. The newcomer towered above him as he pushed himself backwards, whimpering as he pushed himself to his feet and made a break for the alleys exit.

In a second, the newcomer was in front of him, and Amelia watched as the unnamed man let out a yell before the both of them disappeared from her sight.

For a moment, she simply stared at where the men had disappeared from, her mouth gaping open in complete shock. In the blink of an eye, the man was kneeling down before her, causing her to let out a startled gasp.

'What- who- how-' she managed to stutter out, her eyes widening as she stared up at him, half his face shadowed by the dark night, the other half illuminated by the dim light coming from the alley. 'You- you saved me,' she finally managed to get a whole sentence out, and it made the man smile sardonically.

'We'll see about that,' he said quietly, and the last thing she felt was his arms wrapping around her and hoisting her off the ground before she passed out against his shoulder.