Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

 

Darkness.

 

It was all I'd ever known. I was born under a dark gloomy sky and dwelled in the deep pits of the Hallow, a dark lake filled with unknown creatures, that was surrounded by caves and thick forest, ever since. The hallow was my favourite place. It was hideously dark and eerie, but it was quiet and to me, the black water filled with leaves and dead plants was sort of beautiful.

 

The moment I'd been "created", and by that I mean created and not born, I was tossed into a life of shadows and death. We were strange creatures. I wasn't a fabulous exotic being, nor was I human; although my mother had been human before her death. Technically, I wasn't even a living creature. My heart was cold and un-beating, blackened by my sour blood. The deep undergrowth of a dead forest, filled with brambles, creatures, rotting leaves and natural poisons, concealed us; protected us, even. Or perhaps it protected others from us.

 

Either way, I was not permitted to leave.

 

Ever.

 

Not that I'd want to. I was dangerous; A savage, a hunter; a killer.

 

The sun never shined through the forest, or lit up the Hallow. Death had picked the right home for his children. So I'd resigned myself to the fact that I would never see the sunlight. I would never feel the warmth on my skin or rejoice as the rays lit up the world around me. The closest thing to a tan I would ever get is if they decided cremate me when I died.

 

But death was a long time away, so I didn't bother counting on it.

 

I sighed and dug my fangs into the jugular of a rodent I'd been saving as I watched my twin from the murky water below. I wasn't hideous by any standards, however I wasn't a beauty like other females of my kind. My hair was long and brown with curls that fell in ringlets past my shoulders. My eyes were a deep shade of green, that almost looked black in this obscurity. I wasn't tall by any means either and my frame was slender and soft. To the other nests, I looked to be easy pickings. However, those who picked a fight soon discovered I was a survivor.

 

I had stayed alive for what seemed an eternity of endless night with only one living relative and nest mate; my cousin Asya. We are from the same creator, but share different mothers. Our kind are not compatible with the human body, so the hosts don't generally survive long after impregnation. The children survive in the dead carcass of it's host until it's time to enter the shadows. Even in birth we are born into death...

 

A rustling of leaves to the west of the Hallow startled me and I sprung up, tossing aside the carcass of my meal. A female emerged and I tensed, teeth bared and ready to jump into action if she provoked me.

 

The thing with my kind was that everyone wanted to kill you. We don't feel remorse or regret. One immortal dead was nothing but extra food for the rest of the nests. A family member might mourn your loss for a second but we quickly move on; we're void of emotions, so we don't generally get too attached to others.

 

The female's eyes were dark and veins were protruding under her sockets; she was thirsty. I could tell what had led her here, her eyes locked firmly on the rodent carcass. This wasn't going to end well, I'd almost fully drained it.

 

I watched in horror as the urge to attack took over her. Her eyes narrowed and her body coiled tight like a spring. The female was in hunter mode and she was preparing to kill me.

 

I took in my options; I could stay and fight, I might lose a limb but the female was younger than me, only about 80 years to my 300; I could win easily.

 

But that was the thing.

 

I was not like the others of my kind.

 

I felt.

 

I hurt.

 

And I didn't want to kill a mere child over a rodent carcass. So I tried plan B: reasoning.

 

"Stop," I begged, my voice barely a whisper. "We don't have to do this. You can have it."

 

As a sign of surrender, I went to toss the carcass to her. But I moved too fast and she viewed it as a threat. She sprung and I was powerless beyond that point.

 

My natural instincts took over and I knew I was about to kill. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and the monster inside took control. The female was fast; but I was faster. She pounced at me, hands clawed and screaming. Her screams were enough to pierce my eardrums, it sounded like nails going down a chalkboard. Knowing it was do or die, I let the animal inside control me, I grabbed her side with one arm and with the other, I swiftly ripped into her chest cavity. She cried out in pain and tried to scramble away with a fist sized hole in her, but it was too late; I'd already won.

 

Blood poured out of her eyes and mouth before her body went limp and she became mute.

 

The veins that marked her as a creature of the night reseeded and without them she looked almost... angelic. Well, apart from the large gaping hole I'd created in her chest. For the first time since I saw the female I really took in her features, now that she wasn't trying to kill me. She had beautiful glowing red hair and porcelain skin that seemed almost translucent, even in the dark. Her bottom lip was fuller than her top lip, making it look as if she was pouting like a scorned child.

 

I knew instantly she was a child of Leon's line. She was far too beautiful to be any other.

 

Knowing that the scent of her freshly spilled blood would attract others, I had no choice but to sink my teeth into her neck and drain her.

 

Her blood tasted disgusting. A mix of animal, rodent, immortal and something else I didn't even want to know about. But most disgusting of all was that I was her murderer. And even though I wish it wasn't, the blood and the rush of the kill was exciting to me. It made me feel alive, but then again closer to death than I'd ever felt before.

 

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't the first time I'd killed. I'd done it a few times before and I had the fang marks to prove it.

 

But I only did it when it was essential; the only way to survive here was to kill.

 

I was lucky the few times I was attacked. My challengers were younger, and therefore, weaker than I was.

 

However, one fateful day a female from the older nests lost her temper. Instead of killing her cousins in her fit of rage, she charged out, looking for an easier target. I happened to be on my way back to the nests and it was too late for me to realize I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

You could hardly call it a fight. She threw me around and beat me to the point where it was just torture. I thought it was the end when she cornered me by the nesting caves. I'd hoped to make a dash for freedom, but she smashed my leg before I even had the chance to blink. I coward in the corner, my leg gushing and my body torn to shreds. In a moment of weakness, I begged her to spare me. But she wouldn't listen. Listening isn't exactly the way of my kind...

 

I watched in utter terror as she picked up a large boulder with one hand, as if it were paper in her mighty grip. I could see she intended on bludgeoning me to death and I was powerless to stop it.

 

"Goodbye, young one." she sneered before throwing down with all her might.

 

I closed my eyes and waited with bated breath to finally see the light.

 

But it never came. I felt cheated almost...Darkness still remained.

 

"Leave her!" A deep voice snarled, its loud boom echoing throughout the cave.

 

"WHO DARES-" she screeched but the voice cut her off.

 

"I do!" A voice retorted. I could make out her intake of breath.

 

"F-forgive me, I had no idea."

 

"Enough," he ordered.

 

"You must believe me L-Leon..."

 

A giant roar of epic proportion filled the cave and I heard the elder scream in terror. I shielded my eyes and had my leg and body not been so beaten, I would've tried to make a run for it. When I heard the loud crack of bones breaking and a body slump to the floor, I knew my attacker was dead.

 

But she was the lesser evil now.

 

My breathing came faster. Leon...The elder had said Leon.

 

There were hundreds of females, but only four males among us. They were the strongest of us all. They protected us from the other creatures that dwelled outside of the Hallow, they hunted humans and provided more vampires to the nests every hundred years.

 

There had previously been five males. But the four males turned on one for reasons no one knew. Whatever the fifth male did, it must have been a grievous crime. Males are so rare to us immortals that it's almost unthinkable to kill one. He was ripped apart and burned, his ash was even forbidden to taint the air. Not only that, but the remaining four named all his children b******s.

 

He was my creator; Nahoul.

 

Leon was the youngest of the males, but I feared him none the less. He knew I was a daughter of Nahoul, so he could have saved me for no other reason but to kill me himself. The others of my line were all dead; Asya and I were the only two remaining.

 

"Stand," he ordered in a deep and silky voice. I did so immediately.

 

I didn't dare meet his gaze.

 

"What's your name?" My mind went blank. "You're name?" he repeated, this time louder.

 

"A-Alyssa..." I stuttered, from both the pain and the fear.

 

"And you come from?"

 

I was confused. Surely he knew which nest I hailed from? "From the nest of- the b*****d nest of Nahoul."

 

"Hmmm...Nahoul. Of course," he sighed. Suddenly a hand glided across my cheek and down again to caress my chin. It took everything in me not to spring away or attack. "Look at me."

 

I didn't want to. I didn't want to risk looking at him and wonder if it was the face of my killer. But I had no other choice. If I had any shred of self-preservation, I had to look at him. Disrespecting his authority would surely end in my destruction.

 

Slowly, I shifted my gaze to him and I don't know what I had expected. I'd only ever caught glimpses of them when they ventured out to hunt but the second I dared to lift my eyes my breath caught. I felt blinded by his sheer flawless-ness. He was, by far, the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen in all my years. He looked young, but I knew he was older than I by a large margin. Leon had porcelain skin with full luscious lips and a tall and toned body. His black shiny hair was combed slickly back, making him look incredibly sharp and dangerous. Each move he made, it seemed as if a hidden muscle would ripple and my eyes would be drawn to it; like a moth to a flame. His eyes were a deep blue that seemed never-ending and I could see myself so easily getting lost in them.

 

Leon was something I'd never encountered before. Even his movements seemed feline-like. He was graceful and careful, as if every step he took he deliberated on. His eyes held this wicked mirth in them; like he was a child up to no good and he loved it.

 

"I only asked where you nest, Alyssa, because as a stranger, I would assume that you nested in the Hallow...Considering how often I see you there."

 

I jumped when his voice shook me out of my stupor and my eyes widened in shock. He watches me often?

 

"You shouldn't be watching me!" I growled, letting my rage take over before I could control it.

 

His hard gaze landed on me for a moment and he seemed to be deciding something. He looked me up and down, the mirth in his eyes disappearing to be replaced with...something I couldn't put my finger on. Maybe he was deciding whether to end me...

"I'm sor-" I started but he cut me off.

 

"And I take it you'll continue to visit?" I gave him a blank stare and he continued, "The Hallow, I mean."

 

"Oh...well...I would like to..." It came out sounding like a question.

 

"You say it as if it's a question," he stated, his voice almost accusing.

 

I backed up further against the rock, trying to gain enough space between he and I. My battered body ached in protest at the movement. "I-I...I only meant if I have your permission..."

 

His brow furrowed and his gaze hardened again to a point where he looked angry. Obviously my answer didn't please him.

With a hard nod of his head and a sharp look, as quick as he'd arrived, he vanished.

 

I blew out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. Although as I made a frantic dash back to my nest, something inside me felt unpleasant at the thought of never seeing him again.

 

I shook my head, as if shaking the memory away.

 

Once I'd drained the red-haired girl, I sat up from my hunched over position and wiped the remnants of her defeat off my face. Then I softly nudged her into the watery depths of the Hallow. She was the creature's that dwelled below the surfaces meal now.

 

"I'm sorry," I told her as I watched her submerge. "I didn't want this to happen. You forced my hand."

 

When she had sunk into the blackness, my eyes moved slowly to my hand. I looked at her heart, which was still a lump of black flesh and gloop in my grip. I threw that in too and it hit the water with a splash.

 

I was a fool to think we could just walk away peacefully.

 

There was just no changing what we were. No matter how much I wish I could.

 

My eyes filled with tears and I couldn't stop as the blood trickled down my cheeks. My heart broke for the girl who was exactly like me, a frightened survivor who was just trying to stay alive and make something out of her eternity. A sob ripped through me and I watched as my blood filled teardrops mixed with the water. I contemplated how easy ending it would be. I could throw myself into the Hallow and be done with it. I'd never have to kill another again...

 

But I knew I was talking s**t the moment I even thought it. I was too much of a coward. I think that's why I'd been around so long.

 

With a deep and heavy sigh, I wiped my cheeks and looked up to the caves to see if it was safe for me to return to my nest; there I could mourn properly for the unknown girl no one will miss. Although I promised myself I would forget him, I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering to the largest cave of all the nests. It housed the males...more importantly, it housed him.

 

My eyes shifted over it, however all I was met with was darkness. I sighed, because I'd be lying if I said the thought of him watching wouldn't thrill me.

 

Suddenly, a light flickered and my cold black heart skipped a beat. He emerged and I could tell it was him by how he held

himself; confident and...sexy. The tall figure gazed down on me from above as if he could read my mind.

 

Leon.

 

I don't know why he found me interesting or what it is he saw when he looked at me. But even the knowledge that he was looking made me feel ...Different.

 

Alive.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed reading - more to come