Prologue-part 1

10 years old

   I shrugged my coat up higher and looked over to my side. There stood my sister, in all her glory. She always looked liked she was an indestructible tower, who was on top of the world. Back then I used to look up to her, just like any younger sibling does. I may have gotten our father's power, but she got his compassion. She only ever used her powers when allowed and only ever to heal. She also had the beauty of our mother and looked like a goddess even on her bad days. She always told me, to be proud of who I was, even if others didn't agree or understand. If other people had her philosophy or got the time to look past the cover like she did, what happened that day would never have happened at all.

   Back then we lived in one of the worst cities when it came to crime. The separation between the different species was horrible and gangs littered the streets. It was never safe to be in the bad parts of town and the whole city seemed to have a philosophy of every man for himself.  If I could go back, I would have made sure we rode the bus that day.

   My sister had suggested we walk that day, so we could get a breathe of fresh air. The way home for us always got the sketchiest right before we reached our sanctuary, so to speak. We talked about how our days were and discussed what we would do when we reached our home. Most of the way, we were able to ignore or avoid all of the dangerous streets.

   Once we were only 10 blocks away, Bella noticed a small gang only a block back. I told her it was probably fine, but she insisted we hide. After all, neither of us had a good grip on our powers and we were all each other had. It was also no secret, that necromancers were highly frowned upon in this section of town. The amount of death stories were exceedingly high too.

   I let Bella pull us down a side alley, which was hidden in shadows. The walls were covered with graffiti and looked as if they were at their capacity limit. The walls above of us were clear, not so much as a fire escape. The alley itself ran straight into a brick wall, which meant we had walked straight into a dead end.

   I heard footsteps and grabbing my sister's hand, I pulled us behind the dumpster that lined the alley. A rat appeared beside us and my sister let out a small squeak. I gripped her hand tighter and she gulped in air. If there was one thing that would've made the situation worse, it would have been a rat. Bella always had a strong stomach, but rats were where she drew the line.

   "I think the sound came from down here." A voice said. The footsteps had gotten closer, and the voice sounded like someone gargling gravel.

   "Hehe, it's been awhile since we've had any fun," another voice said laughing. His voice grated against my ears and it seemed to come from a mere block away.

   It hit me that we might have a fighting chance if we knew ahead of time what we were up against. I squeezed my sister's hand and she nodded, knowing what I wanted to try with just a glance. I nodded back and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the brick wall. I felt the darkness and cold clutch at me and then I broke through.

   Colors swarmed around me, and I tried to focus on us. My body looked like it was swimming in a dark black pit, while at my side my sister gave of a beautiful pearly gray aura that almost covered her body. I let my perimeter expand slowly and suddenly I latched on to a group of people less than a block away.

   There was five of them, all walking together in a group. Two of them both glowed blue, but their colors were slightly different. Blue auras often signified shapeshifters. In truth, it was the first time I had ever seen one up close. One was a small dark blue, that didn't even spread past his chest. Judging by his build, he was most likely the one who laughed earlier.

   While the other was obviously a girl and her aura was a brilliant blue that shown almost white in comparison. Her aura poured down past her shoulders and belly, but didn't make it to her knees or elbows. She was obviously more powerful than the guy. Not that it mattered, we'd still have to deal with both them if we were caught.

   Two of the others in the gang panned out to be a werewolf and a vampire. Unfortunately a werewolf was probably one of the worst possibilities to show up. They were strong, cunning and only listened to their pack or "alpha" in this case. On the other hand, a vampire was like a god send. His aura flowed purple and was small, but his body seemed strong. Since vamps were already partially dead, this meant my sister and I could control him, making it 3 to 4.

   I finally forced myself to look upon the leader of the group. He glowed with a golden light that filled him up perfectly. A witch. They were the same as necromancers essentially, except they chose to rely on potions and what everyone refereed to as "light magic."

   I felt a hard shake on my arm and opened my eyes. My sister kneeled in front of me, with a worried expression playing on her face. I looked over her shoulder to see the gang of five, standing over us. They had been approaching the whole time and I had gotten so distracted that I didn't realized they were feet away from us.

   I quickly stumbled to my feet and tried to gain my balance. I was still slightly shaky from peering, but I stepped in front of my sister, prepared to stand my ground.

   "Look, We don't want any trouble," I said, putting both my hands up in front of me.

   "Oh, but we do mate..." Said the witch. He snapped his fingers and made a small clicking sound with his mouth. At their signal, the 2 shapeshifters changed into wolves and began to prowl at his sides. They snarled and I heard my sister take a step back. I raised my hand out and up, pointing it at the closest shapeshifter. This caused my white shirt to raise high enough that I could feel the wind that blew down the alley.

   "Stop," My sister said, grabbing onto my arm. She turned to the witch, "There's got to be a mistake, we haven't done anything."

   A crooked smile appeared on the werewolf's face," You didn't have to do anything. We know you're kind, all you do is cause things to wither and die, so we're going to repay the favor."

   I shook her hand off of my arm and the air around me began to grow cold." No..." She whispered.

   I looked at her and shook my head." This can't be solved with talk Bella. Trust me, when I say they will not listen to reason."

   She took a deep breath and nodded. The air in the alley dropped further and I felt a small smile slip onto my face." Go easy," She whispered in my ear.

   The shapeshifters took that moment to attack. I aimed both my hands at them and the male crumpled instantly. The female backed up a few feet, snarling the whole time. The vampire lunged at me and I spun sideways, making him barely miss me. I turned around to fight him and saw him standing still instead, with his eyes glazed over. I darted a glance at my sister. She had both hands aimed towards us and was obviously keeping him at bay.

   "I got him," she said, her voice straining slightly," Watch out!"

   I spun around and got hit straight in the face. My eyes swam with stars and I staggered around, trying my best not to fall flat on my face. I tasted iron and reached up, only to bring my fingers back down spotted with blood. My lip had split on me and the whole half of my face stung.

   "Nick!"

   My eyes refocused just in time to notice the right hook descending on me. I dropped to a crouch in time to watch it sail over my head. He had put too much power in his swing through, and it sent him tumbling to the ground. I raised my hand at the werewolf while he was still down, but I instantly felt a searing pain run up my leg. I screamed. The female had snuck up on me in wolf form and bitten my leg.

   "Get away from him!" My sister screamed.

   The vampire suddenly launched forward, grabbing the shapeshifter and tossing her into the wall. She slammed hard against it and fell to the ground. After a few minutes, she didn't move to get up, but it was obvious her chest was still rising and falling. I turned to the werewolf who had risen back to his feet. The vampire stood by my side still, thanks to my sister.

   I got ready to lung, but instead I ducked. A bolt of light had come streaming towards me with almost no warning. It hit the vampire straight on and he crumpled to the ground.

   "Sorry Josh." The witch said, turning to us," but we have to have an even fight."

   It suddenly hit me. The whole time we had been fighting, this guy hadn’t even entered into the equation. He had stood by just watching the outcome and there wasn’t even a spot of blood on him. Who the hell was this guy?! I lunged forward, hoping I could get a lead on him, before he turned his full attention to the fight.

I only made it a few feet before my feet felt as if they had been glued to the ground. I tried to pull forward, but my feet stayed planted beneath me. I looked up at the witch and he laughed. It was an empty laugh, that would have chilled most people to the bone.

   “Damn you!” I yelled.

   He smile back at me and ran his hand through his hair. “Name’s Alex,” He said, “After all, I suppose it’s only appropriate you know the name of the man who kills you.”

   He reached into his waistband and pulled out a pistol. It was a .45 caliber M1911. The light that fell into the alley glanced off of it, making it shine like jewelry. He chuckled and ran his fingers over it. With my feet still stuck, all I could do was watch. He raised it, pointing it right between my eyes.

   "Now then, say your prayers necromancer." He said, cocking the gun.

   "No!" Bella screamed, raising her hands at Alex.

   A blinding light bathed the whole alley, making it impossible to see. After the light disappeared, I blinked the spots out of my eyes. My feet could move again & I took a shaky step forward. Alex was slumped against a wall, with his hand clutching his side. Blood leaked through his fingers and I heard my sister take a shaky gasp.

   "I- I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to get hurt," she said, gazing over at me. She turned back to Alex, "Here, let me fix."

   His eyes turned up to look at her like dart pits, "Don't touch me!" He seethed.

   My sister bit down on her lower lip. It was obvious that she wanted to help, but not being able to made her feel even worse. After a seconds hesitation she took a step forward…

I don’t remember exactly what happened after that. There was a gunshot and screaming. So much screaming that it made me feel as if my head was going to explode. My face was wet with tears and there was rage. So much rage. I woke up in that alley that night. I was drenched in blood and the whole place reeked of death. Alex and the others were gone, or at least their bodies were. I had to choke back from throwing up at the stench. My sister’s body lay five feet away from me, a bullet wound straight through her stomach. A small amount of the blood in that alley was hers and it didn’t take long to sink in. She was… gone. I didn’t have her with me anymore, I didn’t have anyone.

That was when everything in my old life ended and I became someone… Something else.