Prologue and Chapter 1

A Chapter by Gabby

Ellie's life is as normal as any other high school girl, but little does she know...change is coming.

Prologue

Adrianna's heart shattered as she looked at the destroyed apartment. She pulled her dagger from its sheath on her hip as she assessed the area, but there was no sign of anyone inside.

"Des?" she called out moving farther into the apartment. There was no answer. She ran towards the bedroom, bursting through the door. Blood was smeared across the wall, leaving her a message. "Blood will be shed"

No! They'd taken him. Adrianna could barely breathe. She braced herself on the door frame to keep from crumpling to the floor. Her hand instinctively went to her stomach. No, she couldn't fall apart, not now. She had to get him back. Adrianna pulled out her phone. If she was going to get him back, she would need help. Someone picked up the line after the first ring.

"Hello?" the feminine voice was soft and delicate, almost a duplicate of her own.

Adrianna could barely speak past the lump in her throat. Her sister must have immediately sensed the trouble through their twin bond.

"What's wrong?"

"He's gone. They have him."

"We're on the way."

An hour later, Adrianna stood silently in the shadows of the trees, waiting to lead the charge. She would get him back, no matter what it took. She could feel her emotions calling to her fire magic. Small flames danced around her palms as she prepared for battle. Her intense emotions caused flames to rise, curling up her arms. Adrianna took a deep breath and calmed herself, closing her hands and extinguishing the flames. She needed to stay focused.

"I'll bring your daddy home, I promise." Adrianna whispered as a lump rose in her throat. She moved her hand to her lower belly, caressing it softly. She saw the signal out of the corner of her eye and took a deep breath before unsheathing her dagger and walking inside the old abandoned warehouse.

Chapter 1

Ellie's heart thumped loudly in her chest as she turned the page and urged the book's protagonist, Adrianna, to hurry. The words of the story pulled her in and made her feel like she was there with the main character, waiting to charge into battle.

"Hey kiddo,” Ellie's father said, the sound yanking her out of the story she was reading. He walked leisurely into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator in search of juice.

Ellie looked up from the book to watch him. Her father, Demetri Donovan, was a large man who stood at least six feet, which completely dwarfed Ellie’s meager five foot four inches. Unfortunately, she’d gotten her mother’s genetics for height. Her mother was only a small bit taller than her, standing at five foot six inches.

Demetri was a police officer so half of his job was making sure he was large enough to intimidate anyone who crossed him. With all the police brutality that happened in the deep south, her father taught her that he would use any method he could to avoid having to draw his weapon. As a black man in Georgia, he frequently witnessed the deep-seated racism that caused such a rift between the black community and law enforcement. Though he’d gone to school for law, he’d told Ellie that he decided to become a police officer so he could help people before they ever needed a lawyer. Ellie always respected her father for that. Though he would have made a lot more money as a lawyer, his passion for helping the community always made him her hero.

“What are you reading?” her father questioned as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

"Mom's final draft," Ellie responded, turning her attention back to the book. “Her fans may riot when they find out this is her last book. There are only three chapters left and the main character, Adrianna, just left to save Desmond, the man she loves. Oh, and she hasn’t even told him about the baby yet.”

"The baby?" Ellie's dad asked as he turned from the open refrigerator, where he was returning the orange juice.

"See Dad, you should really read it. Mom really went all out with the suspense in this one," Ellie excitedly told her father the premise of the plot up to where she'd put the book down. Her father listened intently. He was always such a great listener.

"The way I see it, Adrianna's gonna be a mommy, or Mom's gonna be a jerk and kill her off in her attempt to save Desmond."

"Hmm, sound interesting. I can’t believe the main character would attempt a rescue while pregnant. She must really love him."

"Of course, she does." Ellie's mother responded, before Ellie could answer. Her mother glided into the kitchen and began taking out the ingredients for pancakes, "She couldn't bear to live in a world without Desmond. Besides…” Her mother began mixing the pancake mix into the large plastic mixing bowl. “Desmond is going to be a great father."

"Oh, is that so?" Her father challenged. Ellie's mother giggled as her father playfully grabbed the bowl from her mother’s hand and replaced it with his own hand, which he used to spin her around to face him. His arms went instinctively around her back and he gave her a tiny kiss. Ellie smiled as she looked up at her parents. The love there was so much more than what could be feasibly put into words. Her parents balanced one another so well. Though anyone who looked only on the outside, would never understand how a very large black man and a short, very petite, red headed white woman could have gotten married to one another, anyone who spent five seconds with them could attest to the fact that their love was a thing of fairytales. Ellie would be lucky if she found someone who loved her only a fraction of how much her parents loved each other.

Chad, Ellie’s little brother, bounced into the room carrying his backpack.

"Ready?" Chad smiled up at Ellie.

"Ready for?" Ellie asked closing her book.

"Mom says you're dropping me off at school," Ellie looked back up at her mother who smiled at her apologetically.

"I have a meeting with my editor this morning. Thanks for helping out. Gotta go, love you." Ellie's mother kissed everyone on her way out and Ellie's father laughed at her sudden departure.

Ellie glared at him and he put his hands up.

"Hey, don't look at me. I was completely innocent. But I also have to get to work. Gotta go catch some bad guys. Have a good last day of school." Ellie's father kissed her and her brother before grabbing his briefcase and heading out of the door. Ellie looked down at Chad, who was happily filling his plate with pancakes and shook her head.

"Well let's get you to school, monkey." Ellie said as she messed her brother's soft curls.

As Ellie walked to her car, a sick feeling started to creep over her, like someone was watching her. Ellie turned to see her neighbor, Bob, wave at her as he got his mail.

"Come on, El. I gotta get there early for show and tell," Ellie turned back towards the car and climbed in, but the feeling stayed with her.

�-��-��-�

"You were right," Lucas said walking into the old office.

His brother, Christopher, sat in the large leather chair behind the desk. He waved away the two male vampires who stood in front of his desk. Both the vampires glared at Lucas as they turned to leave. One even bared his fangs. Lucas's jaw set as he tried to ignore the fleeing lackies. He'd been with his siblings for four centuries and the others still saw him as the stray that Christopher brought home. "I found the girl. She is being protected. It took me a long time to pick up on her trail."

"Interesting," Christopher sat back in the chair and looked like he was going deep into thought, "They must have hired a conjurer to mask her scent."

"That would be my suspicion. The house must be cloaked at night. I could only pick her up during the day," Lucas nodded and shuffled his feet impatiently.

"Hm. This is turning out to be more difficult than I thought. I wasn't counting on them being protected. The Pack is clearly catching on to our targets. I'll have to send out some of my boys to kill randomly, get them off our case for a little while," Christopher seemed to be speaking to himself, planning the groups next moves.

Lucas cleared his throat, "So... I’ve tracked the girl, as requested."

"Ah, yes. You have fulfilled your end of the bargain. I will make a call to Marque and have him send over the archive," Lucas bowed his head and turned to leave. As he reached for the door, Christopher called to him, "You won't find what you're looking for. You will never be human again. You may not have completed the transformation, but your human self is dead. You are one of us now. It has been centuries. It's about time for you to accept this."

Lucas's head hung a little lower as he nodded and walked out of the office.

"Hello, brother," Elizabeth greeted Lucas as she skipped towards him. Her blond hair bounced with her movements.

"Elizabeth," Lucas bowed his head in greeting, "How was your hunt?"

"Most unpleasant. Apparently, one of my usuals jumped from a roof," She looked off into the dark corner. Lucas thought he saw sadness in her eyes, but it was gone so quickly, he believed he'd imagined it.

Lucas never understood why Elizabeth always fed from the same individuals. Most vampires fed randomly, but not Elizabeth. This was her second loss this month. When a vampire bites into a human, their venom is released into the human’s body. Too much of it will cause the human to fall into a deep depression, and sometimes even madness.

Elizabeth soon smiled and shrugged it off, "Oh well, some people just can't handle the dark side. It's a pity, really, all that blood wasted on the sidewalk. Is Christopher still in his meeting?"

"No, George and Junior just left." Elizabeth chuckled at the cartoon reference and entered the office. Lucas took a deep breath and went to the dining room to await his delivery.

�-��-��-�

Ellie walked to her locker; it was easy to spot because it was one of the only ones not decorated. Locker decorations were a big end of the year tradition to remind students of what they'd accomplished over the year. Usually friends would fill lockers with pictures and collages. Looking at her bare locker, Ellie fought down the lump in her throat. She quickly turned the locker dial to her combination, but she wasn't quick enough. Amber and Tiffany were walking towards their lockers. It was hard for Ellie to remember a time when they were all friends. They'd chosen these lockers two years earlier so that they could be close to one another.

It had been Ellie's first year at a new high school and she didn't know anyone. They'd moved to Atlanta from Denver so that they could be closer to Ellie's grandmother, who was dying of cancer. Amber was recruiting for the JV cheer leading squad during lunch. Ellie was always filled with more energy than other children her age, so when she was young, her mother enrolled her into gymnastics. Ellie nervously grabbed a flyer from the table where Amber sat.

"Do you cheer?" Amber asked.

"No, I did gymnastics for eight years." Ellie felt dumb for thinking that she could just take up something like cheerleading, which she knew nothing about, "Maybe I'll just come watch the tryouts."

"Don't be silly. We could use someone like you on the squad. Some of the girls can tumble but they are awful with the flips. Perhaps you can come show them how it's done."

Amber and Ellie hit it off instantly. After tryouts, Amber didn't wait to post the results before she told Ellie that she'd made the squad. Amber invited Ellie to celebrate with her and Tiffany. They were inseparable after that. Amber became the head cheerleader that year and she unofficially named Ellie her co-captain, a move that did not please Tiffany at all.

Ellie quickly rose in popularity. Before she knew it, she was dating Sean, the captain of the soccer team. He'd asked her out after a game one night.

"Hey, El" Sean ran to catch up with her. Amber raised her eyebrows and smiled before she told Ellie she'd meet her at the bus. Tiffany glared disapprovingly at her before Amber dragged her along.

"Hey Sean, nice winning goal. For a minute, I thought the team was done for," Ellie nervously pushed her curly locks behind her ear and tried not to look at her feet.

"You doubted me? Oh, she of little faith." Sean smiled down at her. There was a moment when neither one of them said anything. Sean looked down at his feet for a moment before breaking the silence, "So Jason's having a party to celebrate our victory. And… I was wondering if, maybe, you'd want to go with me."

"I'd love to," Ellie said finding his gaze which drifted instinctively back to the asphalt.

A smile crept across his face, "Cool, well, I'll pick you up tomorrow, at seven."

"Tomorrow at seven," Ellie nodded and headed towards Amber's car.

"Cool," She'd looked back to see Sean still smiling. She'd really liked Sean. He'd stood by her even when everyone else turned their backs. She'd, however, broken things off with him, knowing that the last thing he needed was to become their new target. He had his own secret and way too much to lose. She, on the other hand, could take their ridicule.

The sound of Tiffany slamming her locker snapped her back into reality.

"Wow, El, nice locker," Tiffany sneered, "That bare-naked look really suits it."

"Aw, thanks. And here I thought you'd despise the competition. You’re both shaped about the same" Amber couldn’t hold in her laugh and Tiffany scoffed. Ellie remembered how self-conscious she was because of her flat chest. Sean walked up and Tiffany cast a menacing glance at Ellie before pulling him in for a kiss. Sean pulled back and he looked over at Ellie uneasily. Ellie gave a small half smile to reassure him. He really was a good guy.

"Let's get out of here," Amber flipped her straight brown hair over her shoulder and headed down the hall.

Ellie looked back to her bare locker and a tear escaped and slid gracefully down her face. She quickly slammed her locker shut and wiped the tear from her cheek. Ugh, why did I get out of bed? She saw another group of friends walk past her giggling. Ellie couldn't take it any longer, so she quickly scurried down the hall.

As she passed C hall, Ellie saw that her English teacher's door was open. She paused outside the door. Ellie could not believe that this would be her last time walking through this door. Dr. Held's classroom had been her haven, a place to take refuge when the drama of high school life made it seem like the walls were closing in. Ellie had to swallow the large lump that still fought its way up her throat as she glanced around the room, which had been stripped bare. Dr. Held was sitting behind her desk with her face in book. Ellie put on a smile as she walked in.

"Hey, Held," Ellie said as she slid into the desk in front of her.

"Hello, Ellie-girl," she said turning the book page, "How's your last day?"

"Hell, as always," Dr. Held smiled at her responds and looked at Ellie over her book. Held reminded her so much of her mother with her fiery red hair. It always made her feel comfortable and protected.

"Oh, don't you start looking all sad. I may be in a new city, but I’m always just an email away,” Dr. Held said as she put her book down. “You better keep me updated on all of your new adventures."

"Yeah, sure," Ellie shrugged.

Held made her way from behind her desk and hugged her tightly. Ellie had to fight back the urge to cry.

"I know the world may seem like a dark place, but you will find the light when you need it the most," Ellie smiled at her words and bid her goodbye.

�-��-��-�

Lucas had to fight the urge to throw the ancient book across the room. The book wasn't even complete. The binding showed that pages were missing. Even if those pages did hold the cure, there is no way to track loose papers. There was nothing there to help him. It just told him what he already knew. He would remain in this limbo between human and vampire until he chose to consume human blood. That much, he'd figured out unaided. It had been so long ago, but he still remembered the way the blood had burned in his mouth as his body purged it.

He hadn't known what the liquid was when it was offered. He'd woken up in a foreign room. It took him a few tries to open his eyes because the light only increased the pounding in his head. He only had flashes of the previous night's events, but none of the memories made sense. A blond woman walked into the room. She was beautiful and she seemed to glow. Her long blond hair cascaded down her back, and her pink dress glided across the hardwood floor. Lucas couldn't speak as she walked towards him. She introduced herself as Elizabeth and handed him a metal goblet. Her voice was melodic as she promised that it would end the aching in his head. He moved as if her golden eyes had him in a trance. Lucas could only nod and take the goblet. The liquid had a metallic taste and made his mouth and throat burn. He struggled to swallow the think liquid. A few seconds later, he began to heave, and his stomach did not stop until every bit of the red liquid was flushed from his system.

"Interesting, very interesting" Elizabeth responded taking the goblet back.

"Wh-what did you give me?" Lucas asked as he tried to catch his breath. Lucas feared that the woman was trying to poison him.

"Blood, of course," Elizabeth answered as if it was the most normal response in the world, "That's what all new vampires need to complete their change."

The answer only made Lucas feel more ill. He couldn't breathe as he internalized what she said. No, it couldn't be true. He tried to reason with himself. He couldn't be a vampire. He didn't feel any different. To prove his point, he ran to the window where he could see a small ray streaming onto the floor. He threw back the heavy curtains and Elizabeth hissed as she darted towards the dark shadows in the room. A large man with blond hair, matching Elizabeth's busted through the door and watched the scene in amazement.

Lucas was sure that they were wrong because he wasn't burned. His forvarian mother had taught him all about the dark creatures of the night. They all perished in the sunlight. In the sun, he was in the domain of the gods, safe from the darkness. He stood for a minute just soaking up the sun's rays. He smiled and thanked the goddess that he hadn't been changed. He turned to tell Elizabeth that she was wrong, but that's when he felt it. His skin began to feel like he had ants crawling around everywhere. The tingling soon turned into burning and he screamed before the man blurred and closed the drapes. Lucas sat on the ground; horror struck. No, this couldn't be. The man knelt beside him.

"Little brother, you have much to learn. For starters, the sun is not the place for our kind. Here, have some blood. It will help you heal." Lucas shoved the glass away and pain shot through every muscle as he attempted to move away from him.

"It's no use, Christopher. His body won't take it. I've already tried. His body rejected it."

Christopher looked at Lucas's arms, which were already healing. Lucas looked down in amazement as the burning in his skin lessened.

"Well, it seems like you are a special one. That may just come in handy." Christopher continued to watch him. Lucas had to swallow the sorrow that he felt. Everything he was, everything he knew, was gone. All that was left was darkness.

Some people just can't handle the dark side. Those words brought Lucas back to his room. Lucas sprawled out on his bed and looked at the ceiling. For only a second, Elizabeth showed a small sliver of humanity. Was this what he had to look forward to? Fleeting moments of humanity that were slowly drowned by the desire for blood. Then again, being stuck between the two worlds, not completely vampire but not completely human, was creating a larger darkness in him than he could battle. The battle must end, tonight, no matter what.

�-��-��-�

Ellie leaned on the wall between her and Chad's doors. She could hear her mother singing Chad to sleep. Her mother's voice helped to soothe the anger that bubbled inside her. She was ashamed that she'd let the b***h squad upset her, again. The thought brought back the anger and she stormed into her room, and plopped, face down on her soft orange comforter. Why did they always have to be so cruel? Even as Ellie asked herself that question, she knew the answer. For Amber, it was the product of betrayal, but for Tiffany it was a sport. That had been what caused Ellie's clumsy fall from grace.

Ellie got up and picked her guitar up from its stand. Plucking at the strings helped her to calm herself. Music always had a way of making everything easier. She heard a light tap on her door and looked up to see her mother pop her head in.

"Is this a private concert?" her mother asked.

"It depends, did you wanna buy a ticket?" Ellie smiled holding out her hand, palm up.

"Oh, well let's see. I think nineteen hours of labor gets me a free VIP pass."

"Touché," Ellie said dropping her hand, "You may enter."

Ellie's mother sat down beside her on the bed.

"What's bugging you, Elena?" Ellie's mother asked as she pat Ellie's hair.

"Nothing," Ellie said getting up and placing her guitar back on the stand. Ellie didn't even know why she attempted to lie. Her mother could always see through her facades. When she was little, she asked her mother how she always knew when something was wrong, and her mother joked saying that her hair changed color when she was upset. Ellie leaned against her desk and looked up at her mother.

"Uh-huh," Ellie's mother clearly wasn't buying it.

"It's just been a hard year, Mom." Ellie finally said with a sigh, as she looked down at the floor.

"I know. Teenagers can be cruel. You are a lot stronger than me. You have met their hatred with kindness. I would have met it with my fists," Ellie's mother walked over to the desks and put her arm around her daughter.

Tears gathered in Ellie's eyes as she leaned into her mother.

"I don't feel strong, Mom. I feel like every day I'm crumbling more and more," Ellie's mother's arms pulled her in tighter and she hugged her close as Ellie let the tears fall freely.

"Oh, my love. If I've learned anything in this life, it’s that heroines always overcome their demons."

"Yeah, but I'm not a character in your book. I'm nothing like Adrianna. She is so strong and fights all types of demons. Meanwhile, I can’t even handle teenage bullies." Ellie wiped tears from her face and looked up at her mother.

"You would be surprised," her mother said and chuckled, "Adrianna actually has so much of you in her. You are so strong, and you always have been. I simply used that as my inspiration in writing her character. Believe me, we all have times when we feel weak, but the goddess is strong in all of us. You will get through this. And just in case you ever forget that..." Ellie's mother took the necklace from around her own neck and held out to Ellie.

"Really?" Ellie's eyes filled with more tears. It was her mother's carnelian fire pendant. It had been passed from mother to daughter for centuries. Her mother had always told her that it was her connection to the goddess.

"Of course," Her mother placed the pendant around her neck, "This stone will protect you and give you strength when you need it, just as it has for generations."

Ellie's mother led her to her bed and tucked her in, "I love you, Elena. You and your brother are the best parts of me."

"I love you too, Mom."

"May the goddess protect you in your sleep and light your way back home to me," Ellie's mother said, as she always did, before she began to sing Ellie's favorite lullaby. Ellie could still hear her mother's voice as she drifted into the darkness.

next chapter

© 2020 Gabby

Author's Note

What do you think of the beginning? Do I change POV too much for the chapter?

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Featured Review

a.dreaming.poet

Hey! So....I loved this! It was sooo captivating to read, and I really felt like everything around me melted away leaving only the pictures you painted in front of me. And to answer your question, no, I don't think you change POV too much :-D

My only criticism is that it looks a little messy, but leaving a few lines between paragraphs would surely fix it.

Other than that, I love it, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it! When do you update?

Dreamer