Chapter One -- Introducing Riley

My full name is Rachael Kaily, but everybody in my pack just calls me Riley. I’ve been a werewolf for a long time now, and it hasn’t caused me any problems. I go to high school just like any other normal 17 year old, I have human friends, and I do my homework like I’m supposed to. The only out-of-the-ordinary thing about me is the fact that I turn into a huge carnivorous wolf every night.

~

I was 16 when everything changed. It was Saturday, and I was hanging out at the beach with my friends. Everyone was swimming in the lake, but I didn’t feel like getting wet. I didn’t want to sit alone like a loser and watch everyone else have fun without me, so I ventured off into the woods. I walked around for a while, examining the odd plants and stopping every so often to relax. Pretty soon I realized how dark it was getting, and I turned around to go back. I headed in the direction I thought I had come, but just ended up in the exact same spot I was before.

I was lost.

I started to panic because my friends were going to be leaving soon, and I didn’t want to worry anyone when they saw I wasn’t there. The last thing I wanted was for someone to call my foster parents and tell them I had gone missing. They’d probably get fed up with my antics and send me back to the agency. I didn’t mind being alone in the woods though; I always found nature to be very calming. I sat down on a large rock and tried to figure out what I was going to do, but as soon as I got comfortable I heard a sickening noise in the distance. It sounded like an animal was being eaten. Then I heard a little girl scream. My eyes widened and I stood up. A little girl was in danger and I was going to help.

I started running towards the noise. The girl continued to scream so it wasn’t hard to find her. I ended up in a clearing. It was surrounded by trees and bushes. I knew that if I stepped out too far, I would forget which way I’d come. When I looked to the middle of the clearing, what I saw rooted me to the spot. A beast…a huge wolf…I didn’t know what it was…was gnawing on a bloody mass. I assumed it was the mass of a person. When the little girl cried “MOMMY, NO!!!”, my suspicions were confirmed. The little girl ran from her cover in a bush and ran wildly towards the mangled body.

I had no idea what to do. If the girl got any closer to the center, that beast was going to kill her. If I tried to save her, I’d be putting my life at risk as well. I was torn. I couldn’t stand there and watch a child be brutally murdered, and I couldn’t bring myself to leave the clearing and let her fend for herself. But I also couldn’t help her. I was too scared, and my feet were rooted to the ground.

“MOMMY!!!” The little girl hollered. She had reached the center. At the sight of her mother up close, she fell to her knees. She was sobbing uncontrollably, and the beast was leaning over her…getting ready to strike.

It was at that moment when I knew I could not let that little girl die because of my cowardice. She had already been through enough pain, and I knew what it felt like to watch your parents die. I held back my tears as a terrible memory flickered across my mind, and I ran with all my might to the girl.

“You have to get away from here!” I yelled, pulling her away from the beasts’ eager lunge.

“But my mommy!” She screamed as I picked her up roughly and ran back to the woods.

The beast growled threateningly and started chasing after me. I was nearly into the woods when I felt a harsh yank on my leg. I fell to the ground with a thud, dropping the little girl in the process.

“You have to go! Run away!” I bellowed, struggling to break free from the beasts’ strong grip.

The little girl wailed and shook her head. She was obviously terrified, but I had to convince her that it was okay to run away.

“Your mommy would want you to be safe!” I yelled. The beast was dragging me back to the center; its claws were tearing into my skin. I cried out in pain.

She reacted to that, and turned to look at her mother’s lifeless body.

“GO!” I hollered. “GO RUN TO WHERE IT’S SAFE! DON’T COME BACK!”

The little girl nodded and got up from the ground. With one last look at her mother, she turned and disappeared into the trees. I was happy that I was able to save her life, but I still had to save my own.

I jerked my leg away from the beast, and cried out in agony. When I jerked my leg away, a chunk of my skin was left behind. The beast swallowed it hungrily, and continued to attack me. It got a hold of my other leg and sunk its teeth in really deep. I hollered, clawing at the earth in a lame attempt to escape. The beast was holding onto me so tightly, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get away.

Just when I was about to lose all hope, another beast jumped out of the woods and came running toward us at warp speed. This one was a bit smaller, and it looked a lot less evil. The new beast pounced the evil one, distracting it from eating me. As soon as I was free, I began to crawl as fast as I could towards the woods. I didn’t even want to look back.

I made it to the woods, and collapsed onto the ground. I was exhausted and in so much pain, but I knew I had to find my way out of there. It took a long time for me to stand; my legs were in pretty bad shape. I had to hold onto the trees to keep myself upright. Eventually, I was able to walk. But every step was hell. I had to stop a lot to regain the little strength I had left. Everytime I stopped I would listen for the little girl, but she wasn’t close enough for me to hear, so I gave up on her. I just had to assume she had made it out of the woods safe and sound.

Two hours later, I was finally out of the woods. Both my legs were killing me, and I had to resist the need to hurl. I looked up at the sky; it was pitch black and littered with stars.

“RILEY!? ” Someone called. It sounded like Johnny, my best friend. I was so relieved to hear his voice. They must’ve been searching for me.

“I’M OVER HERE!” I called back. I heard several feet running in my direction.

Soon my friends were all over me, hugging me, slapping me on the back, patting my hair…I was so glad to see them.

“Where have you been? What happened? Are you OK?” I knew the questions would come sooner or later, but I was way too tired to answer any of them.

“RILEY, YOU’RE BLEEDING!” Johnny yelled, pointing at my legs. He was always the most concerned with my health.

I don’t know what happened after that because I blacked out. I woke up in a hospital bed, feeling worse than I did when I was last awake. My senses seemed much clearer; I could hear people talking in the next room. I looked down at my arms and literally saw every single hair. It was as if I had superpowers, like I was in a really weird dream. I leaned back against the pillows, sighing heavily.

“What’s happening to me?”

~

That night changed my entire life, and I had no idea it was only going to get worse.










Chapter Two -- Introducing Bo

I’ve been alone my entire life, and the emptiness has never bothered me before. I was abandoned by my mother in Paris, where I assume I was born. I never knew my father. My clan found me underneath the Eiffel Tower. I was a little boy dying of starvation and was in dire need of a warm home. They took me in and nursed me back to health. I became a part of their family; they treated me with kindness and care. It was not until my 17th birthday that I realized they were all vampires.

~

1957*PARIS, FRANCE

It was the middle of the night, and I was fast asleep in my quarters. I was having a terrible dream…a young woman was being chased by a blood-hungry monster. He disappeared from sight, only to reappear directly in front of her. The woman stopped running, shocked that the monster could do something so unimaginable. He whispered something to her, pressed a finger to her forehead, and soon the young woman was unconscious. He held her in his arms and let out a piercing screech. His teeth were so sharp, and they sparkled underneath the lamplight. Then, he bit down on her neck and drank her blood. He consumed so much of her blood…it would have been a miracle for her to still be alive. When the monster was finished, he dropped her body and vanished into the darkness.

I woke with a start, breathing heavily. I was so afraid, I didn’t know what the nightmare meant…and I felt like I had to tell someone. I pushed the heavy blankets away from me and rose from my bed. I opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone. When I made sure that there was no one around, I crept across the hall and into Emmeline’s room.

Emmeline was like a mother to me. She was the one who took care of me as a child when everyone else was too tired to play with the needy boy. I could always talk to her, and she always listened. I knew that she would be able to tell me what my nightmare meant.

I expected her to be asleep, but she was sitting up in her queen-sized bed, reading a novel.

“You may come in, Bo,” She said, without looking up from the book.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked curiously, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

“I always know, mon cher,” She smiled warmly, closing her book and setting it beside her. “What do you need?”

I frowned and glanced out the window. “I had a bad dream. I want to know what it means.”

“What happened in your dream?” Emmeline asked, concern in her voice.

“It was awful…” I began, taking a deep breath. “ There was a monster, and he was chasing a young woman…”

Emmeline’s slender body seemed to tense, and her eyes grew dark.

“ …He was gone for a moment, and then he reappeared right in front of her! The woman stopped running and he whispered something to her…like he was putting her under some sort of trance. The woman fell into his arms, unconscious, and he bit her neck! Emmeline, he was drinking her blood! It was as if he was a …a…”

“A vampire?” Emmeline said, finishing my sentence.

“Well…yes, but vampires aren’t real!” I scoffed, and searched my brain for a more reasonable explanation.

“You do not believe in vampires?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I looked at her then, and saw her features change before my eyes. Her once chocolate-brown eyes had turned jet black. Her skin was whiter than it had ever been, and when she opened her mouth to smile…the same sharp teeth, like the ones in my dream, glistened at me.

“What is this, who are you!?” I yelled, jumping up off the bed.

“ Look at you, bébé pauvre, I did not mean to frighten you,”

I blinked, and she was suddenly standing in front of me.

“Tell me what is going on!” I demanded, backing against the wall.

“You should think before you speak, mon cher, or you could get hurt…”

She was slowly advancing towards me. I didn’t know whether to feel scared or intrigued.

“Who are you? Partir de moi!” I shielded my face, worried that she might actually hurt me.

“Don’t be a fool, I’m still the Emmeline you know and love! Come now; let down your guard. There is nothing to fear,”

It took me a while to trust her words, but she waited until I was ready. I finally lowered my arms, and looked into her eyes. She looked normal again, like the old Emmeline. I took a step away from the wall, and she took both my hands in hers.

“Bo, mon fils, there is so much you have to learn…”

I couldn’t hear anything else she said because the moment she touched me a floodgate of images rushed through my mind. I saw a crying girl being dragged away from her parents, a burning house, several monsters feasting on the blood of the innocent, a man and a woman kissing in the dark…I saw death, blood, war…

The images were gone as quick as they’d come. As I looked into Emmeline’s questioning eyes, suddenly it hit me. It was then that I knew, vampires were real…and she was one of them.

“Quel est mauvais?” She asked, removing her hands from mine. “Tell me.”

“I…I saw…” I was confused, and deeply disturbed.

Emmeline stared at me, determined to hear what I had to say.

“Le quel est?” She pressed on. “What did you see?”

“When you touched me…I saw…everything…” I looked away; feeling tired all of a sudden.

Emmeline didn’t seem surprised for some reason, instead a knowing look spread across her face. She turned away from me and began walking towards the door.

“Follow me,” She commanded, with an authoritative tone.

I obeyed and followed her down the spiral staircase. She led me into the front room, where everybody was. I glanced at the father clock. It was 4:30 in the morning, and the entire clan was sitting in the front room chatting merrily.

“Doesn’t anybody sleep in this house?” I asked loudly. I was irritated, something was going on and I still had no idea.

“You’re the only one who sleeps around here,” Lyle, one of my brothers, muttered. My other brothers, Rafael and Gerard, were sitting on opposite sides of him. They burst out laughing when they heard his remark.

“Idiots,” Helena, my only sister, rolled her eyes. She stood up from the window seat, and whacked Lyle on the head with a newspaper.

Jean Luc, Emmeline’s beloved husband, held up a hand to quiet my bickering siblings.

“Bo, what are you doing up so early?” He asked, gesturing for me to sit beside him on the sofa.

Emmeline settled into her rocking chair, and looked at me expectantly.

“I should ask you the same,” I said darkly. This caused Lyle, Gerard, and Rafael to laugh again.

“We were talking about what to make you for breakfast,” Jean Luc replied. “It is your birthday, you know.”

I blinked stupidly, having completely forgotten.

“Oh. My birthday,”

“Yes, now tell us why you’re awake,” He was too curious. I sensed that whatever I said would have a great impact on the rest of the day…and maybe the rest of my life.

I told them about my dream, and then what I saw when Emmeline touched my hands.

“So you see?” Emmeline smiled when I was finished telling my story. “He knows.”

The rest of the clan just stared at me with these blank looks on their faces. It was a while before anyone spoke.

“We’ll have to turn him,” Helena said softly, breaking the silence.

“Are you telling me that The Prophesy is coming true?” Lyle asked, he seemed amused.

“Yes,” Jean Luc nodded thoughtfully. “Helena is right, but who will turn him?”

They were silent again, all of them focusing on me.

“I’ll do it,” Emmeline announced, standing up. “I am his mother, it should be me.”

“Why are you all speaking as if I’m not even in the room?” I asked, eyes widening in fear. “ What the f*** is going on?”

“Regarder votre langue!” Jean Luc berated.

Rafael and Gerard snickered behind his back. Lyle and Helena exchanged worried looks.

“Pierre, mon chere, do not be afraid. Everything is going to be alright,” Emmeline said as she came closer towards me.

“I’m not afraid!” I lied, beads of sweat forming on the back of my neck.

“Good,” She grinned, baring her razor sharp fangs. “Then this will be much easier.”

I hollered in agony as Emmeline sank her teeth into my neck. I whimpered as she drank my blood. It was such a strange sensation…shivers went up and down my spine. My entire being tingled, and I could feel every drop of blood that exited my body.

When Emmeline pulled away, I could barely keep my eyes open. I fell into a deep sleep, and awoke in my bed hours later.

When I opened my eyes, I felt an awful gurgling in the pit of my stomach. I coughed; my throat was incredibly dry. I was so thirsty…I needed a drink. I went into the bathroom and turned the sink faucet. I stuck my hands underneath the running water and drank. Almost as soon as the water touched my tongue, I spat it out. It tasted disgusting, like copper and salt.

Sighing angrily, I looked into the mirror. And when I saw those jet black eyes staring back at me, I smiled morbidly.

“Hello vampire,”

~

I was alone for a long time before the clan found and rescued me. Now that I have a family, I don’t know how I could have ever been so content with emptiness. When I was a teenager in 1957, my new family was all I needed. Soon I realized how very much I needed more: love.


DICTIONARY*FRENCH TO ENGLISH


mon chere -- my dear

bébé pauvre -- poor baby

Partir de moi -- Get away from me

mon fils -- my son

Quel est mauvais -- What is wrong

Le quel est -- What is it

Regarder votre langue -- Watch your language