Prologue
Screams filled the night as Janie stood frozen in the woods with her 4 year old daughter, Zoe. "They got him!" she thought. They were running from the slayers and he fell. He told her to go on. Save herself and Zoe. She didn't want to. She didn't want to leave him there alone. But he told her to run. Run as fast as she could. Get Zoe to a safe place. "A safe place." she thought. "Got to get to a safe place." She jumped when the dogs started up again. They had finished with her husband and were now hunting her. She had to hurry. Time was short and the men were fast. There were many of them. From all over Kentucky. She could move a lot faster if she didn't have to carry Zoe. She saw a big oak tree with a hole in the bottom. Carefully, she layed Zoe down inside with a blanket. "Zoe, you be very quiet or the men will find you. No matter what you hear or how close they get you stay here and be quiet. Mommy will be back to get you when it's safe. STAY HERE. I love you, baby." Janie told her daughter. She gingerly kissed her cheek.
"I understand mommy. I love you too." said Zoe sadly.
Janie stood up and started running again. The men had gotten closer. She could see their flashlights in the darkness. What if she didn't make it? What if they caught her and killed her? No one would know where Zoe was. Sunlight wasn't a problem. It wouldn't hurt her until she turned 18. How would she feed. Her vampire teeth wouldn't come until the full moon after her 16th birthday. Would Michael know where to find her? Would he take her in as his own and raise her with Cole? All of the sudden Janie felt a sharp pain in her head and everything went black. She opened her eyes. She was laying on the ground. The men were standing over her. Big men with stakes and crosses. Priests with their holy water. She stood up. A few of them backed aways. Her eyes glowed red and she opened her mouth to reveal her razor sharp fangs. One man lunged at her but she was faster. She snapped his neck like a twig. A couple of men ran to his side. Then they all came at her. She couldn't fight them all at once. They stabbed her, held crosses to her body, threw the holy water on her. Zoe could hear her mother's screams. She bolted out of the tree and ran as fast as she could. She ran until she fell from exhaustion. The woods were silent. Zoe lay paralyzed by fear. She layed there until morning when a woman jogging through the woods found her. Zoe was taken to an orphanage and then adopted out to James and Alexis Abercrombie. A few months after Zoe's adoption the Abercrombie's moved to Los Angeles. Zoe had nightmares almost every night. She'd wake up screaming in a cold sweat but she never would talk about her dreams. Alexis finally sent Zoe to a psychiatrist. But even that didn't get rid of the dreams. She was a pale child and very thin. Almost sick looking. The doctors said she was perfectly healthy. Then when she was 12 someone came to the door. Zoe was standing behind James when he opened the door.
"Yes, may I help you?" asked James.
"I just came over to introduce myself." said the man. "My name is Michael. And this" he said looking down at a boy "is my son Cole. We're your new neighbors."
"Oh, well it's nice to meet you." said James shaking Michael's hand. "Alexis, honey, come meet our new neighbors."
Zoe stepped out from behind James.
"Hello there. Who might you be?" asked Michael.
"I'm Zoe." she answered.
Michael smiled and turned to Cole and said "Why don't you take Zoe to play and let the adults visit."
A year passed by and Zoe and Cole became the best of friends. He was only a year older than her and when she needed to talk he was there. She had told him long ago about her dreams and that's when she found out what she was. A vampire princess. Michael tracked her down after he found out a small girl had been found in the woods the morning after her parents' slaying. He talked with her and told her everything. Her parents were the rulers over all the vampires. They had gone out hunting that night and were caught by the slayers. Since their death Michael had been the leader of the vampires. He fed Zoe blood and soon she was no longer the pale, thin, sick looking child. She was looking more like her mother everyday. She had dark hair, deep green eyes, and olive skin. She would get her vampire eye color on her 16th birthday. Michael figured yellow since the color comes from the father. She would have to be very careful because the color only came at night. He hoped no one would become suspicious. He promised Janie if anything were to happen to her he would take care of Zoe and protect her. Cole trained her to fight and taught her how to hunt. You never went after a human. Only small animals. Humans were too dangerous. Animal carcasses were easier to discard. A human corpse would come up somewhere. Then on Zoe's 16th birthday more information came in. The leader of the men who killed Zoe's parents was found. He had died a few years before but he still had a living son. Zoe had been given orders to destroy him. But it wouldn't be easy. It was Kevin Richardson. He was a Backstreet Boy. Zoe's training became more complex. She had only 2 years to get as much information as possible on them and then she would go to Orlando to college. Sooner or later they would come to town and Zoe would have to be ready for them. She would disguise herself as a fan to get close to them and then go for the kill.
Chapter 1
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