Chapter One

I want this book to be a little more mature than Cross My Heart. For mature teenagers and up. :P

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Present day

The phones rings as soon as I run the water for my shower.
I groan and shuffle over to the phone in my bedroom.

“Hello?”

“Wes?” the voice is rough and hoarse. The voice of a someone who has smoked too many cigarettes and drank a little too much.

“Yeah.” I run my fingers through my chocolate brown hair.

“Hey, Its Ryan.” Ah, my collage room mate and a close friend.

“Oh, hi. You’ve kind of caught me at a bad time.”

“No problem, dude, this will be quick. I just wanted to ask if you were still going out for drinks with me, Steve, and Lyn.”

I sigh, “I forgot about that. I might be able to make it, what time would we be going?”

“Umm, around ten-ish. Its, like, nine-thirty now.”

“Sorry, dude, I don’t think I can do it tonight, I have some stuff I gotta do...”

“Oh, no big. We’ll have a good time anyway.”

“Give Lyn my best regards.”

“Will do, Wes, will do.”

“Safe haven, Ryan.”  I hang up.

I put the phone back down, and shuffle over to the bathroom.

I test the water in the shower before I take of my blood stained clothes and get in.

As I stand there in the shower, I think about the young man I staked in the warehouse.

I hid behind wooden crates while the young man’s elder watched his student tear out a woman’s throat. Armed to the teeth with stakes from a willow tree, the only wood that will kill a vampire, I stepped out from behind the crates, pulled my cross-bow out from over my shoulder and shot at the grey-haired elder in the arm, making my presence known to all three of them.

The woman cried, the man tore away from her neck looked at me with a face of anger and hate, as well blood that dripped from his mouth, down his neck, and colored the collar of his white shirt to crimson. The elder, along with the man, hissed at me and made a dash towards me.

The man turned his attention back to his dinner, confident that the person teaching him how to do things would take care of his intruder-me.

Unfortunately for him, that was no how it worked out.

The elder, despite his appearance (and the fact that he might have been someone important, someone who taught the next generation of vampires) was as fast and as agile as somebody who was twenty. This man who was charging at me, had no chain, silver or gold, indicating he was no one’s soul-mate. Also telling me that he was part of the rebel group of vamps in Colorado (every place with vampires has them), the clan that doesn’t believe in being ruled, or following them.

As the elder growled at me, he jumped at me, somewhat like a football tackle. Pumped on adrenaline, I did a forward roll, pulled the stake from my left boot and I stood up.

I charged at the elder, while drawing a stake from the back of the waistband in my jeans. He had barely finished turning around when my stake was on a direct coarse for his chest. He deflected it, but like a left hook, my stake hit him in the right shoulder, causing him to yowl. I pulled the stake from him and his eyes flashed emerald, before he jumped through the window behind the crates where I was hiding.

Once you do enough damage to one, he leaves to get reinforcements and you have about fifteen minutes until you have to take on a huge group of them. I learned that the hard way.

I turned around to face the young vampire, still latched onto his meal.

I dashed towards him. stakes in hand, and stabbed one into his back, causing him to scream and thrash wildly.

I let go of the stake in his back as he turned around to face me. I kicked him hard in the gut- just before his futile attempt to grab my foot in hopes of turning the tables- sending him stumbling backwards, before tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his back- impaling himself on the willow stake.

Amateur.

The blood that tints the water in the shower came from trying to save that woman’s life. I knew it was useless, but if the victim is still alive, I’ll always try to comfort them and apply pressure to the bleeding.

I’ll stop trying to save them when I kill every vampire on the face of the Earth if its the last thing I do.

When I  get out of the shower, I towel dry my hair and then wrap it around my waist. I look in the steam-covered mirror that is in front of me.  I stare into my deep brown eyes and think about where I should be moving next.

In Colorado, I’ve moved eight different times this year, because its easier to find someone if they are settled down, and with rouge vampires after me, I have to be close to invisible when you think about how many I’ve staked.

I leave the bathroom, and walk to the dresser to get sweat pants and then get to bed and be well rested for work tomorrow.

I slip on the sweats and throw the towel into the pile of dirty clothes, while making a mental note to make a trip to the laundromat sometime soon. I saunter into the small apartment kitchen to shut off the light and set the timer on the coffee pot. I grab the cigarette package on the counter and walk back to my room, where the balcony is.

I open the sliding doors and step out onto the balcony, while closing the door slightly behind me. I grab out a smoke and place the package on the coffee table, exchanging it for the lighter. I light the cigarette and take a drag. It immediately relaxes me.

I lean over the railing and look at the orange and yellow lights of the cars turning and stopping on the streets below me.

“Hey, handsome.” says a female voice beside me.

I turn my head slowly, facing the person who spoke. It is my neighbor, Grace. She stands overlooking the streets as I am. She lets out a puff of smoke and smiles, though she doesn’t turn her head.

“Hey, Grace.” I take another drag and blow it out.

When I first moved into this building, Grace was the first person to introduce herself. Any time she got the chance to talk to me, she made it very clear what she wanted from me. She called it being ‘friends with benefits.’ I don’t have any interest in being a ‘friend with benefit’ to anyone. I don’t have time to be in a relationship, and even if I did, I would expect her to be like Avery.

“Doing anything exciting tonight?” she asks me seductively. Grace turns her body to face me. Her black stilettos make hard clicking sounds as she places one foot in front of the other in her dominating walk towards my balcony.

“Nope.” I turn to face her and lean against the railing on my hip.

Grace pouts at me and rests her elbows on her banister. She spreads her legs slightly apart and sways; putting her weight on one foot and then on the other and back again, “Doing anything at all?”

“Nope. Are you asking me if I wanted to go do something?” I watch her take the last puff of her smoke before crushing the butt into the metal banister.

“Do you want to?” Grace straightens up but places her palms on the railing.

“Actually,” I put the smoke out in the ash tray and grab the package of cigarettes next to it, “Its getting a bit late for me.”

She cackles, “Are you kidding me? Its, like, five minuets past ten. I’m a night owl, Westley.”

“And I’m an early bird, Grace.” I face the sliding door of my apartment.

“Shut up.” she snaps and flicks her black hair back with a quick hand. Eyes black as night stare at me, then relax. “Just come dancing with me Wes.” she holds out her hand, “Please?”

“Not tonight.” I open the door and step inside my house as she scoffs . I poke my head out and speak, “Maybe some other night.” we both know I’m lying, “Safe haven, Grace.”

I close the door just as she yells, “What does that even mean!?”

I started saying ‘safe haven’ to people just after Avery, my fiancee, and our son died, as a way to say good bye, mostly because the world can be a cruel place to be and so many unexpected things can happen when you close your eyes. I don’t wish the fate that my family had on anyone else, no matter who they are, and ‘safe haven’ means to have a safe place to be; where no harm can come to you.

Author's Note

Please note that this chapter is not finished. I will try and finish it asap.
EDIT* Done this chapter. Finally. :P Onto number 2!

Reviews

[Tasha]

I liked it finished or not, can't wait to read more.
♥ Ta'Shandra

[Victoria Everly]

I like it, whether it finished or not. I look forward to reading more :)