CHAPTER 1
NIA
Nia ran across the yard, ignoring the chaos that began around her and stretched her mind to her house. Every room was empty, except one. They were in her brother's room. The brain activity in that room hit her like a wall and as she reached the front porch she fell to her knees. The scene took her over and she was left watching it unfold, unable to react or pull herself from the nightmare.
\
A man Nia did not recognize stood over her mother. Nia fought to keep her attention on her mother but it was pulled back to the man as he spoke.
“Where is she?” He asked through clenched teeth. “He promised me she would be here!”
“What makes you think I would tell you anything?!” Her mother yelled back. Nia had never heard her mother yell until that moment.
He was much angrier now. Nia pulled at the walls of his mind. It was heavily guarded, but she continued to try. “This will not end well for you…” he started but stopped as he turned to the boy who woke up suddenly.
“What's going on, Mom? What-Who is he?” the boy asked as he sat up his dark hair ruffled with sleep.
“This does not concern you.” He put his hand up toward the boy and whispered something under his breath. Seconds later the boy slammed against the wall and fell to the floor unconscious.
“Leave him alone!” her mother yelled.
Nia cringed in pain at the sound her younger brother's bones made as he hit the wall, but at that moment the man's mental shield was distracted, he dropped his guard but for only a few seconds. It was long enough. Nia pushed through the mental wall and was flooded with the inner workings of this man. She saw in those few seconds’ mostly dark anger, but a few emotions lingered behind it, hatred, revenge, and desire. She fought to pull herself from his mind, she didn't want to see anymore, but pulling herself from him pulled her own mind out of room.
\
She found herself back on the porch. She jumped up and ran to the door only to find it, and every first floor window, locked. She ran around the house to where her brother's window was. She searched for anyway to climb up the wall but there was nothing. She wanted to scream out in frustration. She slid down the wall into the grass, she placed her head in her hands completely helpless, but even then she had to see what was happening, she hated being left in the dark. She closed[ACSL1] her eyes and focused on the room again.
\
It came back to her quickly. Her mother was scared but stubborn, she stood tall and tense glaring the man in the eyes. Nia could feel her mother’s will power growing with the man’s anger. No matter what this man threatened, she would not budge. “You will not get my daughter.” She said defiantly. “I spent a lot of my time keeping you from her. I won’t just hand her over.”
“DO YOU SEE THIS??” He pointed out the window “This is my doing!” The night was cool and dark, but the streets were unusually full of people, people that were running from the monsters that once lurked only in the shadows but now they moved through the streets killing everything they touched.
“I am not afraid of you.” she said stubbornly standing her ground.
“Then you have made your choice.”
“Wait! will you let him live?”
“You have my word.”
Nia's mother said nothing back to him; she only walked over to the unconscious thirteen year old, leaving the man staring angrily at her back. She placed a gentle hand on the boy’s cheek, and then leaned down to kiss him lightly on the forehead.
“My dear boy,” she whispered, “I love you so very much, and I hope you forgive me someday. I pray you live long and become exactly what you were born to be.” Then she stood again, stepping away from him and closed her eyes.
Nia’s heart pounded. She reached for her mother’s mind. . She had an idea of what her mother’s plan was but she prayed it wasn't true. It worked, she tapped into her mother's mind, but she didn't like what she found. Her mother was surrendering to this man. Nia tried to figure out a way to stop her mother, but suddenly the connection pulled her in deeper. Nia had never been this connected to anyone. She didn't know what to do when suddenly she felt everything her mother felt. Nia couldn’t move or fight her way from this connection. This made it that much worse when the man struck her, knocking both her mother and Nia to their knees. He pulled her mother back up by the arm and lay her head back exposing her bare neck. Nia felt the man’s sharp teeth pierce through her mother’s skin. She began to scream she knew this was it and there was nothing Nia could do as she lay paralyzed on the ground outside her house. All she could do was scream so she did, for her mother, for her city, for her life. He was going to kill her mother and she was forced to let him. It was the first time Nia had ever been truly afraid, she screamed louder as she felt her mother’s life drain away and for a moment Nia thought he might be killing her too, until her mother’s final ounce of life was taken and the pain was gone.
\
Nia gasped as she snapped back into her own mind, she sat physically unharmed in the cold grass and looked around at her once peaceful neighborhood. She fought back tears as the night came crashing down on her. Only moments ago there were hundreds of people running and screaming from the monsters that chased them through the streets, but now the streets were deserted and everyone around her was dead. Bodies were thrown around the streets, every one of them completely drained of blood. Almost every house was destroyed most on fire others torn apart.
Why would she do that, Nia thought. How could she just give herself up? She pulled herself up from the ground and looked up at her own home. It was the only one on the block that stood just as it would on any other night. She threw her mind into the house one last time, maybe by chance her brother was still alive in there, she never saw the man kill him but still she found nothing and held back more tears that fought their way to the surface. She walked toward the trees behind her house she knew that she still had to get out of there, but she was so stunned she found it hard to move. She couldn't believe what just happened. Her mother and her brother, gone in a matter of minutes. She walked with such a daze that she didn't feel him behind her.
“Nia.” He said.
She knew she shouldn’t but she turned when he called her name, but didn’t even have time to react before she felt one of his huge hands press into her back, the other holding her head and exposing her neck. He lowered his lips to her neck, just lightly touching her skin as if he was savoring the moment. His hands were cold against her fiery hot skin. He began to press his mouth harder onto her neck. She felt his porcelain fangs lingering over the thick vein that ran down her throat.
Everything her mother gave her life up for was slipping through her fingers. His fangs pressed into her skin. This wasn’t how he had killed her mother. He killed her out of anger or spite, but this seemed almost sensual. He slowly slid his teeth into her skin. She wanted to fight him. She wanted to kill the man that killed her mother and her brother, the man who was killing her, but she let him sink his sharp, porcelain teeth into her skin. Mostly because she knew she was completely powerless against him.
She felt her blood being forced through her veins like liquid fire. Everything in her told her to fight this pain and run. Half her family was dead and her father was too preoccupied with his precious work to even realize what was going on around him. He probably wouldn’t notice they were gone. Nia wanted to fight for her what her mother gave up and what her brother never had a chance to fight for. More then anything she wanted to, but if you struggle, it hurts.
He tightened his grip on her and she cried out as he forced his teeth in farther. She stopped fighting the tears and let them pour down her face until finally out of both fear and lack of blood she began to lose consciousness. Then her heart beat slowed. As she drifted into the darkness she counted each beat as they became slower, then even slower until they weren’t there at all.
Okay, I'm hooked!!! Bravo, madam...bravo.
ReplyDelete