The Beginning

A Chapter by Hecate Zariah

Chapter One: The Beginning

The night was dark, as if a black smog had just rolled into the city from the sea. Rain poured down upon the empty dark street, and it feels like forever since she has seen the stars. She was brought here when she was really young, walking and learning these streets as if they were her home land. Twenty-five is the age she goes by now, though she ages differently then the people around her. No one asks questions here, even after knowing that she has seen and lived past that of the years of her friends. Death is a sad thing, but something she has learned to live with. She is at a stand still in this ever changing world, witnessing things no one ever should. A million times over she has watched people's daily lives, in such a hurry to finish things as their life comes to a short end. She does bore of this regular routine, hopefully to be broken soon by a habit she had yet to learn.

Her name? Hecate Zariah Natas. She was taken from her home land, an island of snow and ice where one rarely ever see's daylight. Her people thrived there, able to grow things that would normally die in such harsh coldness. They worshiped the stars and moon. A moon so full and bright that it used to shine blue with health and happiness. Her people have disappeared since the raid of men with guns, she is not the last but has no idea where to find her people now. Books recorded from this trip are written out shakily and made no sense, as if a mad man had written them. These books were destroyed and Hecate labeled as an Eskimo child, abandoned by parents who possibly perished at the hand of winter's icy hunger. Hecate's adopted parents died with her at the human age of three; most did not understand this as the couple had been in their mid-twenties when adopting her and died at the ages of ninety-five and ninety-seven. Orphaned once again, Hecate stayed at the city orphanage where the living arrangements hadn't been so great. Hecate lived in the orphanage for five more years before being adopted at her eighth year, before returning once again four years later. The orphanage seemed to worsen every year. When she returned at the age twelve, the building was shabby with boarded windows and doors that barely hung on their hinges. The place was dark and the employees could barely keep track of the kids dumped at the orphanage front steps. So for twelve years, Hecate left and lived on her own in the streets. Now at the age of twenty-five, Hecate works at a secret club in the back of this city and living in a nice hotel. This is where her life would change forever.

“Hecate!” A girl's voice rang out over the clubs music for a third time before she grabbed the skinny waitress by the arm. The girl was short with long wavy brown hair, she had her lips pudged out lightly in a pout. Her emerald green eyes bore into Hecate's oddly purple colored eyes as she turned to look at her. “Didn't you hear me? I've been calling for you for a while.”

“Sorry Miki.” Hecate plastered a light smile onto her thin red lips. Hecate was naturally beautiful, with tanned skin despite the lack of sun. She had long silver hair that was as unique as her amethyst purple eyes. She was gentle and caring, though no one had ever taken the time to actually upset her. “I was just getting this man another beer.” Hecate turned to look at the male, giving a charming smile as an apology for the rudeness of her friend as she was dragged away. Hecate wore a short purple corset raver dress. It had black checker marks on the bottom right side that soon faded into the nothingness of her purple garment. Her boots were knee high and flat so she had no issue following her friend that was dragging her away from the noise and dancers.

“You're always working!” Miki whined hugging tighter onto Hecate's arm. “It's no fun checking out guys on my own! I need a second opinion.”

“Miki.” Hecate said sternly, her purple eyes narrowing, “You know I'm with Jason.” She pulled her arm free and went behind the bar of the club, watching her friend.

“I know! I didn't mean it like that and you know it.” Miki pouted, messing and folding a napkin that was in front of her, “I would never do anything to pull you and Jason apart. I just want help finding a boyfriend as good as yours.”

“Why don't you have Ryan help you?” Hecate sighed leaning more onto the bar. Ryan was their gay friend, he was always into the latest fashion with skinny jeans and tight shirts. He tried to hard to be cute, with his dark brown sort of emo cut hair and his deep blue eyes, he was cute just in sweats.

Miki frowned, “He's good for clothes shopping but taking him to look for guys is annoying. He is so picky.” She looked to Hecate with big emerald green eyes, she was trying to puppy pout, “Please Hecate? At least just once? You can bring Jason so people don't flirt with you!”

“Miki, we've been over this.” Hecate pushed from the bar and started to walk away, “Jason doesn't want to tag along on our girl events.”

“Fine.” Miki got up, now upset with her friend. “I'll see you tomorrow.” Hecate nodded lightly as Miki left the club and walked to the back room where it was quieter. She sighed and leaned against a wall, she had a horrible headache and had been working most the night.

“Hecate?” There was a mental sigh as she heard the door close behind the light male's voice. She opened her eyes to look at her boss, who was suited up but had his tie loosened. “Sorry,” She stood up straight, “I got a small headache. I'll be back out to work in a minute.”

Her boss flashed a dashing white smile, his messy black hair and bright blue eyes made him eye candy for any girl as he had yet to marry. “It's perfectly fine Hecate. You have been working most the night, go home or spend time with Jason.” Hecate smiled lightly and walked to her boss, giving him a light hug, “Thank you so much Scott.” Hecate was Scott's number one worker in the club, if she felt sick of upset he was sure to make her comfortable so she could continue working. She was hardly ever out, in fact, he could only think of one time that she really got sick but that was before she has to work. “You're welcome hun, be careful on the walk home.” Scott smiled as she left the building.

~*~*~

Hecate whined and pulled the silk sheets on her bed up over her head as she heard her door open and what little light poured into her dark room. The door closed and she relaxed until she felt the bed at her feet and near her sides sink in. She turned some to pull the covers down, expecting to see Jason as he was the only person that could get into the room, besides the land lord who always called before coming into her room. What she turned and saw was not her tall tanned and dark haired boyfriend though, it was a man dressed in complete black with piercing glowing red eyes. He chuckled lightly as he smiled down at her, his teeth a bright white but the rest of his face hidden by the hood over his head. “Be careful my little silver wolf.” He chuckled again.

Hecate gasped and shot straight up in her bed, only to be blinded by what little sunlight poured into the room from the door. She ran a hand through her silver hair and squinted lightly to look as the door closed. Her eye sight now with her, revealed Jason. He looked at her concerned and walked over to sit by her on the bed. “Are you okay Hecate?” He placed his hand on her cheek lightly.

“Yeah, I'm okay.” She sighed and then eyed the clock on her nightstand. It was eleven o'clock in the morning, she turned to her boyfriend who was still watching her concerned. “You're early.”

“I know.” Jason smiled lightly, “I thought I'd take you to lunch before the theater.”

“The theater isn't until later tonight.” Hecate shook her head trying to clear her mind of the confusion in her head that was caused by her odd dream. “I'll go get ready.” She slipped from her bed and went to her closet to change. Jason waited on her to ready herself, sitting on her bed lightly as his brown eyes looked over the dark room. Hecate sighed as she dressed and ran a brush through her hair, today felt odd and she was fearful of something that she had yet to place her finger on. She just knew that it was probably the best day to play sick. She ignored that feeling though so she and Jason could have their date. They went to the city's best restaurant, the place was fancy and completely clean. The floors were carpeted in red with white table clothes that hid the wooden tables. The chairs seemed tall and where cushioned with the best material, and the wood walls were dark and had the littlest details on the base board that one would not normally notice. The markings were of boats that sailed, what Hecate called, the “blood sea”. She loved this restaurant as most the lights were candles and, though the place was elegant, the restaurant did not make you dress up as if you were movie stars or some billionaire with all the money in the world to spend.

The day had been going great that Hecate was able to completely forget the nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen. Jason and Hecate went to the theater, it was a play as Hecate enjoyed performances more than movies on the big screen. She believed you could tell more about the character by actually seeing them act in person then in a projection. The play was The Phantom of the Opera, one of Hecate's favorites and when they finally got out of the play house what little sun had been there was now replaced with little moon light as it was hidden behind black clouds. It did not threaten rain, it was just how the clouds were. This world had grown up without much take off of technology, it just wasn't a big deal here as it is in others. People in this world are happy to live with the past as their future. The year? 3498. The roads were stone and the buildings close together, this was a city in New York, closest to the sea where the live theater thrived with people and actors as theater was the number one job that most of the world took to. Hecate and Jason left the theater laughing and talking with happiness, neither aware of the accident to come.

“This was the best night ever!” Hecate giggled, her arms laced around Jason's as she was pulled close to him and leaning on his shoulder as they walked together. “I will never understand how you can always get me out of the house so early.” She giggled and smiled happily up at him. This was the happiest she had ever been in her long life, Jason was the first guy for her to meet and fall in love with. He was just a normal human though so she would live long after his time. Though neither knowing his life would come shorter then either expected. They were laughing as they walked down an ally, a short cut to Hecate's hotel that they took all the time when walking to and from the theater. This time there were a couple of guys standing in the dark, they were laughing and some staggering, it was obvious to the young couple that they were drunk and up to no good.

“Come on Jason.” Hecate pulled back on his arm lightly, the nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen spiked and Hecate felt a surge of panic. Something she had never felt before. “Lets just take the long way.” They were already half way down the stone ally road way and the clicking of Hecate's boots had already caught the attention of the men only a few feet from where they stood now.

Jason nodded lightly, tapping into Hecate's panic, “Okay, good idea.” They turned and he pushed her out in front of him protectively, guiding her from behind back out of the ally and back toward the main street. They paused suddenly when a man spoke up behind them, “Hey. Where you two heading?”

Jason turned lightly to look back at the men, to answer, but Hecate pulled at his arm. “Jason ignore them, come on. I don't feel right here anymore.” They started to walk off without answering the men, but it seemed to piss them off.

“Hey! Where are you going? I asked you a question!” The male yelled and strode up to the couple. His friends not that far behind him. Jason turned to look at the man, he was shorter then Jason but not by much. “We're going home.” Jason answered, standing in front of Hecate so she would be safe from the men that may or may not mean any harm to them. What they didn't know was that in the shadows, on top of the house roofs, lurked a third party of two, watching over what was happening and just waiting for the right moment to come in.

“Home?” The man nodded and his friends seemed to slowly circle around the couple. “That sounds nice. You live far from here?”

“That's none of your business.” Jason felt Hecate press closer to his back and looked away from the male in front of him to glance at the four others moving around them. “We don't want any trouble, we just want to go home.”

The man frowned, “Well that's not very nice. I asked you a question and, as a gentleman as yourself, I would expect it to be answered.” The man's voice was gruff, possibly from smoking, and had stubble upon his face. He looked to be mid thirties, or older, along with his friends.

“We live a few blocks from here.” Jason answered calmly, but was an obvious lie.

“Lying isn't nice either. Others would have grabbed a carriage if you lived so far away.” The man pulled something from his belt and about that same time Hecate screamed as she was yanked away from Jason's side. “You know what we do to liars boy?” The man chuckled, he had a gun in his hand. Hecate struggled against the four men, able to knock one down as he was to drunk to stay stable on his feet in the first place. Jason moved quickly, not noticing the gun as he turned to help his girlfriend. He grabbed Hecate's arm and pushed against the men, tugging at her to get her free and back to his side where she would feel safer. A loud pop went off and Hecate screamed as blood splattered lightly on her face. Jason went limp, his hand releasing hers as he fell to the stone ground.

“Jason!” Hecate screamed and struggled more to get to him, not knowing if he was really dead or needed medical treatment. There was blood though, and a lot of it. The man that had fired moved to Hecate, pressing her to the wall and placing barrel of the gun to her neck at her jaw line. Tears spilled from Hecate's purple eyes as she looked at Jason, this was the first time for her to cry in what felt like a life time.

“Sh, sh, sh.” The man tried to sooth her lightly. She could feel his free hand moving down her body as his friends started to gather around. She felt his leg move between hers, to force her own legs open more and she jumped struggling to get away, only to get the gun pressed more to her neck.

Suddenly, there was release, a tingle left where the gun had once been. Hecate fell on her knees, crying. The men were no where in sight, but at how much blood was flowing around Jason there was no doubt that he was dead. Someone knelt in front of her, his hand moving under her chin to lift her head up so she was looking at him. “You disappoint me my little silver wolf.” He smiled sympathetically though, his red eyes glowing in the dark. Hecate jumped and moved away quickly, it was the man from her dream.

“It's okay my little silver wolf. Don't be afraid.” His voice was smooth but carried some harshness. Suddenly he leaned into her, his mouth opening and clamping onto her neck. No. not her neck, more of her shoulder just before where her neck and shoulder meet. There was a surge of heat that caused her heart to race faster. She let out a scream, only to have it silenced by a hand across her mouth, she struggled some against the pain and the haze that filled her head. Unknown images filled her head and as the pain died down, her world went black.

~*~*~

Hecate shifted with a clouded haze swirling around her head. She felt as if someone had hit her in the back of the head with something hard. She shifted again and soon caught sound of muffled voices, she whimpered and slowly opened her eyes to look with blurred vision around her apartment. The voices cleared first before her vision, she rubbed at her eyes and wondered if she had drank the night before and this was the hangover she got because of it.

“How could you be so stupid? You're lucky that the others aren't around.” A male voice cried, the sound of boots pacing the wood flooring in the kitchen.

“Scott calm down.” A harsh but smooth voice answered, it was familiar to her, but why? “We both know that she needed to know. She could have defended herself then.”

“We were supposed to get permission from the Elders!” Scott's normally sweet voice seemed to boom through the apartment. “What am I going to tell them to cover for your a*s this time?”

“Um...,” The other male hesitated a little bit, “Tell them I tripped?” At that he let out a light laugh, as if the serious matter that Scott was talking about was nothing but a joke.

Hecate shifted and lifted up to sit up but screamed out in pain as the surge of heat erupted throughout her shoulder again, she fell back onto her pillows and whimpered. Scott and the other male froze, both pairs of uniquely colored eyes staring back at her, as her own watched the two men. She was in to much pain to speak, and they were at a loss of words to say as they had not thought through to the matter of her awakening. It was Scott that moved first, he walked over and picked up a rag which lay draped over a bowl. He soaked it in the water and lightly wrung it out and began to lightly clean the bite wound on her shoulder, the water was cold and made the sting die away but she still winced and shivered.

“Try not to move so much Hecate.” Scott's voice was smooth and soft again, he really cared for the girl. He cursed to himself for allowing his partner out of his sight long enough for him to do this damage to her. “I'm sorry you're in pain. My partner thought he would step in and try to speed things up before allowed.”

“Wha....” Hecate started but shook her head a little as if trying to clear a never ending fog from her mind. “What's going on?”

Scott let out a sigh and glared at the dark figure in the chair. The man hadn't moved from where he sat but was now hidden under his hood, almost blending into the shadows with only his eyes really visible. “I would tell you if I could Hecate. It will all be clear soon, I promise. As long as the big idiot over there doesn't ruin it for us.” Scott stood again, draping the rag back over the bowl and headed into the kitchen. Suddenly his hand lifted and delivered a nice smack to the back of the shadow male's head.

“What was that for?” The male growled and almost jumped to attack Scott, instead he settled back more into the shadows with his hand lightly rubbing the back of his head.

“For being stupid.” Scott's voice was heard but he was not seen. The sound of water was followed before he showed himself again. He walked back to Hecate and lightly held out the water. “You'll need to drink a lot of water to help you feel better.”

Hecate, still dazed, took the water with her left hand and lightly brought it to her thin red lips. She was pale and hadn't noticed until the sight of her hand and arm, she drew the glass back to examine her pale complexion with curiosity. She had never been this sick before and why she needed two people to help take care of her was confusing. More importantly, why was it Scott and a man that she didn't ever remember meeting? Where was Jason? Why wasn't he here helping? Jason....There was something that was missing in her memory about last night. Jason....where was Jason? Suddenly, like the hit from a punch to her gut, everything flooded back to her. She sat up quickly, her amethyst purple eyes filling with tears. The glass slipped from her fingers but Scott quickly grabbed at it so the water didn't completely spill from the glass.

“Hecate?” He looked at her worriedly and put a hand to her face as her tears ran down her cheeks. “Hecate what's wrong?” He tried to lightly shake the girl, she was completely entranced in the memories of last night. She cried heavily and the only word she was able to mutter out, was that of her dead boyfriend.

“Jason...” She whimpered softly. “Jason....Jason...” She couldn't seem to stop crying as she kept seeing his worried look just before his body went limp and fell to the ground after the loud echo of a pop.

“Hecate snap out of it! It's okay, it's all over now. You're safe.” Scott did his best to gain control of her crying but there was no stopping the memories. His blackened partner soon came up behind him with a sad expression under the shadow of his hood. Her memories were flooding back sooner then either thought would happen. They needed to transport her back to the Elders before something happened that would surely prove life threatening. So with a defeated look, Scott's hand rose to the girl's face and she fell back completely limp. She was not dead, no, just in a sleep where not even her memories could find her. At least for now. The next part was to transport her from the city, while keeping it a secret where they would be going and how to cover it up if she were to not return.