CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 1
ranen benedict sat in his bedroom, as usual slouched over his computer, the only light in the room emanating from the bright screen. he looked at the smiling face in the picture frame next to his arm. she had been hard to get over, as most first loves are. and since then, he had preferred to engulf himself in darkness, allowing his surroundings to imitate the anguish that constantly gnawed at him.
life seemed surreal, as if he were walking around in a never-ending dream, fighting to wake up. needing to wake up. but relief never came, and he was left with the uncontrollable guilt of having laughed at her when she tried to tell him who the strangers were. if only he had believed her… would he have been able to help? only he knew what had really happened to her, and he vowed to never rest until he had gotten aurelian’s and pandora’s blood.
he looked up, annoyed as his younger sister, macen, walked into the room. she never knocked, and she had a habit of showing up at the most inopportune times.
“can i help you?” he asked, his voice low and cold. his brown eyes fixed upon her, and he narrowed them.
“you know? you almost have the dark and scary thing down, ranen,” she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
he rolled his eyes. he would never be able to make macen understand his need for darkness and emptiness. “what did you want?” he demanded, his words cutting through her caustic laugh.
“i was just coming to ask you if you would be interested in walking to school with us this morning.”
ranen raised his eyebrows skeptically. “us? let me guess… the fag from down the street and the rest of his friends?” he shook his head indignantly. “no, thank you.”
macen rolled her eyes. “ranen, you associate the word fag with any guy who incorporates color into his wardrobe.”
“no. i associate the word fag with sean ramsay. i’m telling you, that guy spends more time on his wardrobe than any girl i have ever met.”
“so? he’s fashion conscious, and there’s nothing wrong with that. in fact, you could probably take some lessons from him." she stared at her brother’s choice of clothing for the day. as usual, he wore a pair of jeans with 42-inch-wide legs; a black, ribbed sleeveless shirt under an open button-down, black shirt; and black boots.
“i’m perfectly happy with the way i dress, thank you.” he stood, reaching for his black jansport backpack. “and, no, there’s nothing wrong with being fashion conscious, but it’s not just sean’s awareness of the latest trends that makes him seem gay.”
“then what is it?” macen clenched her jaw and glared at her brother. in her opinion, he was in no position to pass judgment on anyone else.
“the guy only hangs out with girls, and he’s never had a girlfriend. you tell me that that isn’t odd.”
“it isn’t odd because you haven’t even looked at a girl since mandella died. and no one thinks your gay.”
he started to argue but stopped, realizing she did have a point. “well, they’re too busy saying other shit about me to start rumors about me being gay.”
“well, they wouldn’t say shit like that if you didn’t give them a good reason to.” she turned to walk out of the room. “i’ll see you at school.”
azure stared around at the inside of the empty house. something seemed familiar about this town, but aurelian and pandora had blocked out so many of her memories that everything seemed to fall into a haze.
she walked to a window in what she assumed was the living room. she looked across the street and saw another house very similar to the one she was currently standing in and watched as a girl ran out the front door. a guy, dressed entirely in black, slowly followed her, a somber expression on his face.
that’s him, she confirmed in her mind. he’s the one aurelian told me about.
“what are you looking at?” a voice asked from behind her. she whirled around to face its owner and smiled slightly when she realized that it was azrael.
it had been over three years since he had offered her his blood in place of her mortal life after she had nearly died, and she could still remember how it felt to taste the sweet liquid for the first time. she could still feel the immediate surge of power that followed her transformation; she was a part of him now, and their bond had helped her become accustomed to her new life.
“i was just looking around,” she explained. “there seems to be quite a bit of fresh prey around here. i’m sure aurelian and pandora will make themselves at home.”
azrael laughed. “and dagan won’t have a problem finding girls to seduce. you know, it baffles me that he can sleep with these girls and still have the nerve to kill and feed off them afterwards.”
“it’s just more fun that way,” dagan announced, walking into the house, his footsteps echoing through the empty room. he smiled, running his tongue along the edges of his perfect, white teeth. “and i still have mortal needs.” he winked at azure before disappearing into the kitchen.
azrael turned to face azure, his expression disapproving. “what was that all about?” he asked her.
“i don’t know,” she lied, shrugging. it was times like these when she was grateful that she had learned to prevent azrael’s access into her mind. “he was obsessed with sex even when he was alive. why not continue the habit in death when he has more power?”
azrael nodded but was not convinced. azure’s mental brick wall no longer allowed invasion into her mind, but dagan was still susceptible. and azrael did not like what he was finding.
at school, ranen fell into the monotonous crowd of students as he made his way to his first class. he was tired of this routine, and he contemplated the idea of walking out and returning to the comforting darkness of his room.
he looked up at the exit door across the hall but instead found his gaze falling upon a mysterious girl. she wore a black tank top that stopped just above her belly button with a short, black skirt that fell between her hips and her knees. a pair of black, fishnet stockings adorned her long legs, and she wore four-inch platform boots that extended upward to the bottom of her knee. her long, brown hair cascaded across her shoulders, framing her abnormally pale face.
ranen stopped walking and struggled to get a better look at her. he knew that he had never seen her before and assumed that she was new to the school. two guys joined her after a few minutes, and ranen studied them as well. one, who had a protective arm wrapped around the girl’s shoulders, stood at about six feet and had dark, brown hair and chalky skin. he wore a pair of black jeans with a plain black tee shirt and black reebok sneakers. the guy standing next to him was dressed similarly in a black, short-sleeved, button-down, transparent shirt; black leather pants, which were slightly baggy; and a pair of black combat boots. his skin was the same pale shade, but his hair was sandy blonde and shorter than that of his friend.
who are these people? ranen wondered. he was both comforted and frightened by the sight of them, and he was not sure how he should react. they did, after all, seem to be surrounded by a strange aura, and he hesitated to approach them. he turned to look at the open door of his biology classroom as the tardy bell rang. when he turned back toward the mysterious students, he realized that all three of them had vanished almost as quickly as they had appeared.
baffled and curious, he searched the empty hallway, looking behind lockers and into classrooms. as he opened the door to a closet, he felt a sharp tap on his shoulder. he quickly jumped and turned around, finding himself face to face with the three students for whom he was searching.
“looking for something?” azure asked, her eyes catching his and refusing to let him look away.
“i… uh… i-“ ranen stammered. “no. i was just looking for a place to hide out until i felt like returning to class.” he stared back at azure, locked in her gaze. his mind whirled because he sensed something strangely familiar about her. something almost mystical and dreamlike. something that would affect his entire existence but was not of this world.
he shivered, suddenly very cold. he could feel her in his thoughts, and he quickly stepped backward, tearing his eyes from hers.
“what’s wrong, ranen?” she asked, leaning forward as an evil smile formed on her thin lips.
he caught her eyes again, and all the blood drained from his face. a world of memories washed over him, and moments with mandella flashed through his head like short movie scenes.
“ranen, i have to tell you something,” mandella whispered, her fingers trembling as she reached for his hand.
“what?” he asked, startled by the frightened expression in her eyes.
“i saw something yesterday. it scared the shit out of me, and i really have to talk to someone about it.”
he nodded. “go ahead.”
she took a deep breath. “okay. well, yesterday i went for a walk down by the lake, and i saw emily and brian.” her voice was shaking now, and she quickly cleared her throat. “they were with this girl, and they… i saw brian lean over her and bite her neck. ranen, they killed her.” she looked at the floor for a few seconds before bringing her head up to look at him. “i think they’re vampires.”
ranen stared at her, incredulous. she was a year and a half older than him, but at that moment he felt as if he were talking to a child. vampires? he had to laugh. “mandella, have you been drinking?” he asked seriously, taking into consideration one of his girlfriend’s frequent pastimes.
she glared at him. “no, i haven’t. i’m completely serious, ranen. they killed her, and they drank her blood. i saw it dripping from brian’s lip.”
ranen shook his head. “that’s crazy. vampires don’t exist, mandella.”
she let go of his hand and sat back in her chair, her jaw clenched. “that’s what you think.”
ranen jumped, once more tearing his gaze from azure’s face. how had she been able to bring back that memory so vividly? he had always been able to push the slightest thought of mandella from his mind, and this image refused to go away.
he looked back at azure, who wore an equally confused expression. had she seen it too? he was afraid to find out. he took a deep breath and shook his head. don’t be ridiculous, ranen, he mentally chided himself, though he knew perfectly well what the truth was. vampires don’t exist.
azure laughed wickedly and pushed her way into his thoughts once more. he heard her voice in his head as she hissed, “that’s what you think.”
chapter 2
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