Prologue - 1864

Something was wrong. Very wrong. The family's ancestral lands we unusually quiet at high noon. Given the size of my family this didn't happen during the day. Scanning the land around the house, I assessed the situation with an eye and cold calculation acquired during my four years serving the Confederate Army.
I don’t understand. This place should be teeming with life at this time of day. The women should be doing the laundry or cleaning, the men ranching and the children playing. It should not be this quiet!

My horse whinnied and began fighting my control. This was another rarity. Shadow rarely fought me. The only times he had was when we came upon a house holding the bodies of innocent civilians or dead soldiers.
A familiar chill swept down my spine even as a horror grabbed my heart. Dismounting quickly I tied his reigns to a post and sprinted into the house only to stop dead in my tracks as I discovered the scene before me.
Spread across the floor was a scene similar to the many I had faced before. My father, brothers, uncles, nephews and brothers-in-law were strewn across the floor, pale, bloody and very dead. The stench was horrendous and it made my eyes water as I dad but I shoved these reactions aside as I noticed that none of the women and children were among them. My heart pounding with fear, I raced to the basement and again froze. Every woman in my family was dead and among them was my wife, clutching two toddlers in her arms. They resembled me closely and there was little doubt in my mind that they were my sons.
When I saw them, I couldn't breathe. My heart ached and tears stung my eyes as I stared at the bodies of my family and my knees go weak. I think to the ground in my hand touched Sylvia’s cold, stiff fingers.

Slowly, in time, my pain froze my heart and I stormed out of the house with a single thought in my head. If my family was dead, that I'd join them.

Chapter One - Miley

As I stepped out of the Toyota Tundra, I shouldered my pack, tightened the laces of my hiking boots and secured the sleeping bag before I marched into the forest, compass in hand. All day, I hiked through the dense forests of Montana, taking less populated trails. After all, I wasn’t here to find other human. I was here for some time alone, to enjoy nature and to get away from the hustle and bustle of New York City.

When I stopped for a snack, I heard a crack in the bushes behind me. As I spun around, a bird flew out of the fern. As the bird flew out of sight, I relaxed and went back to my snack. Before I could fully process what was happening, a wolf jumped out of the bushes. I brought up my arms in time to block his attack to my face and I screamed when it bit my arm, his teeth slicing through my flesh as his jaws snapped my arm as if the bones were twigs. With my mind clouded by pain, I let my body react on its own. My foot came up and it kicked at the wolf’s belly while my uninjured arm raised and my fist collided sharply with his nose. The wolf yelped as I used his moment of weakness to kick him through the air with both feet. He slammed against a tree and yelped while I got to my feet.

Growling and snarling, the wolf lunged at me again. I pulled up my arms, expecting another facial attack but I was wrong. He wasn’t going for my face. He was going for my legs! But before I could dodge, the wolf had already embedded his teeth in my leg and he jerked fiercely, causing me to fall to the ground. Another wave of white-hot pain slashed my thigh and I looked down. A terribly sharp rock stuck up through my flesh, slick and wet with my blood. I howled in agony but otherwise did not react to the new wound. Instead, I rolled, taking the wolf with me to the edge of the gulley. With a skill and strength I never thought I possessed, I kicked the wolf hard enough to send him reeling through the air and down into the valley below. He landed on the opposite wall, fell again and fell to his knees. I watched as he lay there for a few moments then got up, shook out his fur, growled at me and trotted off.

Seeing the wolf leave I sighed and let myself relax and adjust to what happened before I took off my blouse and tore it into strips, then I ties up my leg then my arm before I limped to my feet and to my supplies. With adrenaline still pumping through my system, I was able to search he underbrush for a branch long and thick enough to act as a crutch.
Back at camp, I unpacked and went to sleep.

Chapter Two - Nicoli

I was in mid-hunt, about to overtake my prey when a breeze brought the scent of human blood to me. Abandoning the deer, I changed course and fallowed the breeze back up the gulley. Along the way, I passed a wolf, limping and his chops bloodied. Beckoning him closer, I put my hand on his head and searched his body for his injuries. Several broke ribs, a punctured lung from one of the ribs and a broken paw. He wouldn’t last very long out here with such severe injuries. After whispering a goodbye, I snapped his neck and drank.

After I finished, I continued my hunt for the wounded human, following the wolf’s tracks.
When the scent of human blood stopped and the wolf’s tracks ended, I looked around. Some of the wall of the gulley was missing and I assumed that new pile of rubble was what had fallen. There was a spot right on it that was big enough and the exact shape of the wolf. I jumped up onto the new bare spot of the wall and saw, shining red in the moonlight, a rock that had never been red. I leaped across the gap easily and landed nearly dead on it. I sniffed it and confirmed it was the human’s blood.
I followed the blood trails through the forest and back to her campsite. As I edged closer, I could now identify the human as I woman but I could now also smell the fresh blood that was still flowing out of her body and the illness that raged around here. I could also feel her fever in the air. I hurried to her and unzipped the sleeping bag. The scents of illness, blood and impending death flooded my senses and I knew she was in serious trouble. I carefully searched for her injuries. Several small lacerations, a broken arm with a chunk missing, literally, and a horribly infected gash in her leg. I sniffed it and drew back with a grimace.
“Gangrene.”
When I spoke, she cried out in her fever, calling for someone and I knew she wasn’t far from succumbing to the fever. I quickly decided and leaned forward.

Chapter Three - Miley

I was dreaming. I had to be. Otherwise there was no way I would be able to see him again.
Ryan stood there, at the head of our favorite hiking trail, looking at me with such love and regret in his eyes.
“Ryan?”
“Hello, Miley.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you. I’ve missed you so much.”
“Then why did you leave me? Do you have any idea how much I missed you, how I cried, how I yearned for you?”
“I’m sorry -”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it! I tried to be everything for you and you left me when I needed you most."
" I know apologizing won't make what I did okay. Nothing will. Miley," he took my hands in his gently. "I was trying to protect you. I'm the one that usually attracts... Danger so I thought that if I left then you'd be safe. But it didn't do any good. They still found you."
"What? Who found me? Protect me from what?"
“You'll find out soon enough."
Just then, space a great wall of fire erupted behind me. The heat scorched my skin and I leaped toward Ryan as I screamed in a mixture of pain and shock.
"It's started." Ryan stared into the fire, ignoring me except for his hands around my forms, his grip gently tightening to the point where I was sure he would leave bruises.
"Listen to me, Miley. Everything I've done was try to protect you. Before you go, you need to promise me something."
"What is it? What's going on?"
"Promise me that you'll stay away from Washington state, what. Space after tonight, space if I see you ever will have no choice."
"Ryan, what are you talking about?"
"I hope you'll never have to discover what I am. Miley, our time draws short." As he spoke, space a young man rose from the inferno. He reached for my hand and I held onto Ryan tighter. "Miley, space he won't wait forever. Promise me!"
"All right! I promise." I yelled. Space "Now tell me what's going on. This isn't like you, Ryan."
"I can't tell you because you won't think of me the same way. Space just please trust me, Miley. Let me protect you one last time."
Ryan hugged me close and I could almost swear I felt a tear land on my shoulder but before anything else could happen, Ryan kissed me and almost shoved me into the fire. Once again, my skin burned and I howled, I couldn't hear anything above the roar of the flames and my anguished cries but I saw Ryan speak and, placing both of his hands on his heart, he made my sign for ' I love you'.
"Ryan!" I screamed, tears now streaming down my face. I reached for him but he shook his head, his face twisted in an agony close to mine, his hands still on his heart.

Chapter Four

I was trapped in the fire, burning, screaming, crying. I had no idea what was happening. I was lost, tumbling through the air forever, in pain and in shock.
In time, I grew accustomed to the burning and the pain and I quieted. As time progressed, I noticed the burning moved from my skin inward, closer and closer to my already ashen heart. I felt my heart began to beat wildly as it too burned and then it was silent. At the same time, I felt the dreamlike haze begin to left and I slowly became aware.
I was no longer in my sleeping bag. I was on the soft down mattress with clean and crisp sheets. The air was pleasantly warm, not moist humid. I was indoors and I had bandages on my injured arm and leg. And then my eyes opened almost by themselves.
Everything I saw was enhanced. The colors were more brilliant, I could see every strand that made up everything. Most of all I saw the man that took me away in my dream seated in a chair near me. I moved to run away and he held out a hand.
"Please don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."
"You... You're in my dream. Who are you? Would you want for me?"
"I'm only here to help, Miley. I found you at your campsite, dying of gangrene, which had taken hold in the wounded neophyte. I could've let you die but it didn't."
"So, what, suddenly I am healed?"
"Physically, yes. But it came at a price."
"What's the price?"
He was quiet, as if choosing his next words. "You're a vampire now."
At first, the words didn't think in. "No way its commission point that's impossible! Vampires don't exist."
"I assure you, you are a vampire now. I'm the one that beat you." As he spoke, I saw glimpses of the enlarged canine teeth. Ones that were identical to those in common vampire movies. "They also retract but I don't like to when I'm not around humans."
I didn't do anything except stare at those teeth.
"I know they look scary but you'll get used to them as you grow accustomed to your new life."
Instead of responding, I walked to the mirror in the corner. What I saw nearly had me screaming.
In the mirror, looking back at me, was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. Common sense told me it was myself I saw my brain did not agree. This perfect creature could not possibly have been me. Her skin was the palest shade of white, her hair was a glossy black, her cheeks prominent on the triangular face their figure was so perfect even the most beautiful models would've killed to process her figure. The naturally thin waist, hips and generous trust as well as serve then yet long legs and arms. But what really held my gaze with a crimson eyes.
"This can't possibly be me. There is no way. I have a square face, fat cheeks and I had a stomach. My hair was dyed red, not my natural black."
"The venerable works wonders on the human body. The fever burned away every scrap of fat by excess skin and there are no dyes in creation that can stick to hair that has been amended so it all washed off when Aria bathed you."
"In my eyes for sapphire blue, not blood-red Ruby."
"A side effect of the bedroom. I'm afraid I'll never have blue eyes again. Only read, black gold."
My head was spinning. Everything I had known and thought about myself was no longer applicable. I was a vampire!
"I know it's a lot to take in, Miley, and I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to decide for yourself but it was either this or death with that split second decision I would've made the difference.”
"All right, Nicoli. Leave the poor girl alone."
I looked up at the sound of the new voice and I was blown away. She was blonde, skinny and had a very musical voice.
"She's had enough to adjust to. Give us some time alone?"
Nicolai nodded and left the bedroom.
"I'm sorry, dear. She feels it's his job to however since he's the one who found it changed you. May I sit down?"
I nodded as she sat across from me.
"Your Miley, right? I'm Aria."
"Nice to meet you. How do you know my name?"
"I can see everything about someone I choose to see. I saw your name and general background information. I don't like to dig deeper with someone be living with."
"How can you...?"
"See things about people? Several vampires are giving gifts. Leading people is mine."
"What's mine?"
"You'll have to discover that for herself."
"Does Nicolai have one?"
"Two. He can find and heal injuries with his mind."
"Is that both of them?"
"No. He has another but I'm the only one who knows it's there. I don't know what it is in case you were going to ask."
"Oh, so did Nicolai change you?"
"No, he didn't. He and I have lived in the same coven together since he was reborn. Beaumont changed us, our father."
"Oh."
We were silent a time then spell that Aria stood.
"Well, I should leave you alone and let you adjust. When you want to hunt, we'll be waiting."
"Okay, Aria. Thanks."
"No problem."
So I sat there, on the sofa, staring at the new me until the sun rose in and set again. I never go hungry, sleepy, thirsty and I didn't need to use the restroom.
When I could avoid it no longer, I walked downstairs.

Chapter Five

The house was magnificent. It was very large, spacious, and beautifully decorated. It has three floors, each floor and pastels with white accents with the overall theme being English Victorian and each bedroom had its own color with a continuing white accents. The stairs were white carpet with a gold beam banister. The downstairs held the usual rooms. A living room, a kitchen, a laundry room but each room had white walls, tiles and the legends surrounding the room that had some sort of light built into them, these theater lights glowed in a different color and the furnishings in each room match the colors of the lights.
"Wow, this is a very nice place." I said as I walked into the family room. "It's very colorful. I really like the theater lights."
"Aria chose the house and decorated it." Nicolai replied, sprawled across the red couch with his hands behind his head. "All I did was pay the bills."
"But doesn't that get expensive? Decorating every house so beautifully every few years?"
"No." Aria’s voice came from behind me in a chair in the corner. "We never move. Because we don't have real jobs, we never need to show ourselves to the general public."
"Then how can you afford this?"
"I'm told I'm good with the stock market." Nicolai replied. "Since we don't each human food, we have nothing but close, movies and furnishings to spend money on."
"Oh. That makes sense." I felt kind of stupid. Geez! I've got to stop questioning them. Just because I want to know doesn't mean they have to answer.
"So, Miley, would you like to learn how to hunt?" Nicolai offered, standing up with the casual grace that rendered me speechless. I covered it up by nodding and Nicolai motioned for me to follow him as he walked to the back door. I waved goodbye to Aria before I followed. Nicolai bent down outside the door and I saw three pairs of shoes.
"Which ones on mine?" I asked, eyeing the two pairs of flats. One black and the other a bright red. Nicolai handed me the red flats and put them on easily, then waited patiently as Nicolai laced up his boots. I took the time to look around the backyard.
The backyard was nothing short of breathtaking. If the color that had been in the house was now outside. Just nine defenses, no goals, warning glories, gardenias and every colorful plant was there, bordering a gravel walkway that split off. One branch headed to a sparkling turquoise-bordered pool and spa, complete with a waterfall and rocky overhang and a diving board.
Another led to a jazzman-covered gazebo with blue Christmas lights inside. A third path led to a barbecue area with a table and chairs an umbrella. And on the main path was a maze of hedges and a large mobile phone.
"Wow. This is the most beautiful garden I've ever seen, bar none."
"I'm glad you think so. I'll garden often attracts hordes of rabbits in the house is surrounded by birds and their feeders."
"Oh my gosh!"
"But we don't hunt in the garden."
Justice he said that, we wish to fence without missing a beat, Nicolai leapt right over it and disappeared on the other side. Now it was my turn. Budget my leg muscles and pulling in my arms, I launched myself into the air... And flew through the air. Below me, I could hear Nicolai shouting "whoa!" As I overshot my jump and, when I looked down, I saw him racing after me until he also jumped. He came up beside me, his arms stretched out on either side of spotty. Excite "congratulations, Miley. You've just learned how to fly."
"Literally flying? Like birds?"
"Well, more like Superman but yeah."
"This is normal in a vampire?"
"Yep. It comes with our heightened senses, strength and looks."
"Wow." I stretched out my arms as well.
"It's a great way to travel if you're in a hurry but I prefer running so I can see the landscapes and smell for prey."
"Oh. Would you like to run?"
"No. You should practice, it used to flying before you transition to the ground."
"Okay. Here I go!"
Tilting my torso upwards, I tried to get up often but I succeeded in doing a never-ending loop-de--loop. Before I got dizzy, I lowered my torso and I leveled out.
"Okay. Mental note: watch the angle of my torso. Next experiment!" Tilting my arms, I was able to bank left or right by pulling the appropriate arm against my side, I spun in a spiral while I lost altitude until I raise my arm.
After a while, I found Nicolai again.
"The so much fun!"
"I'm glad you like it. You're the only one that likes to fly."
"Okay, so you mentioned hunting. Will he be hunting... Humans?"
"It's your choice what to hunt but I'm going to start you off with animals to teach you the basics. Then you can hunt what you want when you want."
"I don't think I can handle human blood."
"Trust me, you can. You know, I served in the Civil War when I was a human."
"You didn't? Which side?"
"Confederate but it wasn't for the slavery issue. I never cared about owning slaves. I fought to protect my family."
"Your family? With a sad smile Nicolai nodded but he didn't offer more information so I didn't press him.

In time, we returned to hunting. While we saw the family of cougars, one adult and three clubs about to leave the mother, Nicolai told me what I would need to know then he lured them into a clearing with a sound similar to that of a separated fawn and the four cougars ran for it. I start liking cougar had a limp. Nicolai had scanned the Earlier for disadvantages and discovered this Had a broken paw and a heart defect so it was my target.
When my prey was fully separated from it mother and siblings, I leapt on it. Before he could howl, I clamped its muzzle shut between my hands and waited for her to fall asleep from oxygen deprivation. When it did, I latched onto one of the arteries in his neck.


When I finished, I buried the bodies of the other three cats wouldn't freak out when they found my victims body. Soon after I finished, Nicolai came back and without a word we jumped into the sky.
"Have you had enough or do you want to keep hunting?"
"I think I'm done. Let's go home."

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 13.12.2012

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