Chapter One

To say I'm a terrible person would be a stretch. I mean, not a far stretch... but a stretch.

I lie, I steal, I rob, I purposely inflict terror into people so you know...overall a crappy human.

But over the years I've convinced myself that people do far worse daily. And that they won't miss it, a few golds gone from their pocket won't even make a dent in their savings. The rich were always selfish and hoarded their wealth, not even aware of the struggle of the others in their kingdom. You could argue it was "dishonourable justice", I always remember when Mama would tell stories of Robin Hood; a brave knight that would take from the rich to give to the poor. Which is what I'm doing... Just in a slightly different way... Without the tights... And slightly less green.

I never take more than I need. I know what I'm doing is wrong so that has to count for something right? I guess that doesn't stop the sickening guilt I always feel. I always tell myself that this will be the last one. That this will never have to happen again, that I'll be able to get a job in an inn or work in a field somewhere…something… anything but this. I would save up some money and give it to an orphanage or something to balance out all the bad karma I was building up.

But here I am again doing what comes so naturally to me, I can't help but feel dirty, like I'm scum.

In the distance I can faintly make out the rattling of a carriage matched with the clopping of a horse's iron hooves beating the dry dirt ground like a drum. The sound was faint and soft due to the distance but summer made things easier, the soil was dryer and didn't cushion the sounds like damp soil did. The sounds were clearer - crisper. Making it easier for me to work out the distance and speed of their approach.

So that leads me to here. As to why I'm perched on a thick oak branch easily 40 feet off the ground far away from any prying eyes. The wind kisses my face, being this far up off the ground was always oddly calming - the height being relaxing rather than terrifying. It was like I could detach from the real world. Escaping what was my reality. In this moment, it was just me, the birds, and mighty mother-nature. Inhaling the smell of the oak bark that surrounded me, I closed my eyes as I just enjoyed the here and now, the calm company that only nature can provide.

However, I was consciously aware of the ever-increasing sounds approaching me. The volume of its approach increasing with the decline of distance. The rhythm of the horse's hooves synced with the beat of my heart.

This was the moment when the adrenaline was released into my bloodstream. I could feel the pressure of my chest tighten, my heart rate started to increase and my limbs begin to shake. For this job (and any in particular) to be successful I had to calm my body down. Scrunching my eyes tighter together, I focused on my breathing and reminded myself that my body is having a normal physical reaction to what I was about to do. Accepting this rather than fighting it allowed for me to gain control of my own limbs again.

Snapping my eyes open, I swallowed down one last breath before I did it.

I jumped

It was probably less than 5 seconds but it always feels so much longer when you're airborne. The fabric of my long cloak floated out around me as I fell.

Right now, landing from the height that I did should have crushed my ankles, my shins, my knees. I should have fallen ass over tits. But it didn't, I landed perfectly on the balls of my feet with my left leg slightly behind the other for a balanced landing. The thud of my feet hitting the earth declares my arrival. Although I feel the pressure on my bones in protest it's not painful, merely a reminder of what incredible feats I just achieved. Years of practice and training as well as pure curiosity has tested what I was capable of. I never managed to hurt myself more than a sprained ankle here or there but it was all trial and error. It was vital that I was good at what I was doing right now if I wanted to survive. I adjusted the hood of my cloak over my face.

The Coachman, now only several meters from me, eye's bulged wide in shock from my unexpected presence. He yanked on the reneges of the horse, whom expectantly loudly protested but complied with the sudden halt. The carriage audibly jostled as it also stopped. The beast in front of me was no common plough horse fit for the fields, no this beauty was a rich man's wealthy cart horse, bred to have the shiniest coat as well as a strong build. It was both a commodity and a tool. The horse was an extremely promising sign it meant that he was probably owned by a very wealthy Lord in that carriage.

It was now or never

Keeping my head held high, "Your money or your life?" I called confidently pulling out my pistol - no longer concealed under the fabric of my cloak. I held it out at arm's length while aiming at his skull.

He didn't reply, I presume still in shock at my sudden appearance, it's not like it's everyday a girl falls from the sky with a pistol pointed at your head. Though, from his perspective my voice and height would be the only thing giving away my gender right now. My face was concealed by the shadows of my hood and my body was shielded by the oversized coat I wore. I think we can all agree that keeping one's identity a secret is the very basic first rule of being a criminal.

"I said, your money or your life" this time clocking the flintlock pistol. "I don't have all day"

His adam's-apple bobbed under the ruffles of his white shirt as he swallowed. He continued his silence. Our eyes danced with each other. His aged with deep wrinkles which also decorated the rest of his face. We were both mentally playing chicken with each other, who would look away first.

Except, something clicked in the back of my mind.

I may have had my heart beat in control previously, but now I felt it begin to speed up once more as I examined his features. He wasn't scared. He should be scared. Nor was he in shock or surprise. After all, for all he knew there was a loaded pistol pointed at his head, instead he seemed irritated by the inconvenience. Why wasn't he scared or shocked or something! Well this wasn't part of the plan. This had never happened before and there had been many befores. I berated myself not to panic and to think of the possible reasons for his irrational behaviour.

My eyes snapped to his waist searching for a holster of any kind. Maybe he had a pistol...a real pistol, maybe that's why he wasn't afraid, he was protected. Maybe I should have thought about that small detail of someone I'm trying to rob is as equally prepared. It wasn't that I hadn't thought of this, just there was no need for humans to carry pistols especially with the gunpowder shortages. Official carriages were always escorted by guards.

But then again, there had been recent news spread to both kingdoms of a possible gang of highwaymen operating on the popular roads of No Man's Land. This was due to the robberies of lord's and lady's carts vastly increasing in frequency in such a short period of time. The situation had escalated dramatically with Lord Santiago being shot last fortnight. It was reported that it was a robbery gone wrong, where Santiago reportedly tried to approach the highwaymen to reason with them and was shot when he moved too suddenly. The highwaymen were cowards that got too cocky and now have a bounty on their heads.

Their confidence would get them killed…or would get me killed too now if that coachman has a pistol.

I had nothing to do with this. But unfortunately for me being someone doing something very similar to those highwaymen doesn't exactly paint me in the best picture right now.

I do not enjoy what I do, why would I, who can be proud of being a low life criminal. However, I do have a conscious, I don't carry a real pistol but instead an old broken thing that can't even shoot anymore, it can't even hold a bullet - the bullet chamber had long rusted away. It acts only as a prop in my performance. Mama gave it to me when I was nine as a precaution, she thought that the sight of it was enough of a threat. Because honestly if you saw a pistol pointing at you would you wait around to find out if it could shoot too?

I'm not completely innocent, I do carry some form of a weapon, but only to be used in a life or death situation or to hunt down my next dinner, I can't afford to buy my food so I have to go get it myself. It sits on my back with the string digging into my breasts hugging my body in a comforting way, with my quiver also sitting on my back only carrying a few arrows with me at a time. I call my bow Bonnie after the miserable old cook in the Crown and Rose Inn.

The coachman coughs drawing my focus back to him when innocently a voice calls out from the carriage's open window.

"What seems to be the issue Phillip?" A bell like voice danced through the air like a butterfly.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck-a-dee-fuck.

I could hear my heart in my throat. I think my lungs just collapsed in on themselves. Panic constricted my body in a consuming manner.

Well I'm fucked.

This coachman did not have a pistol on him. He was protected by something much deadlier.

Only one kind of person could have such an angelic voice.

Only one type of thing would have such a perfect voice.

Vampire

Typically, I like to stay as far away as possible from anything non-human. You know...Because I don't particularly feel like dying anytime soon.

I've never been this close to a vampire before, only stolen glances of their hollow ruby eyes as they pass by. In all my life I've never had the misfortune of having to cross paths with them, I kept to my own turf far away from any of them. But I've heard the countless murderous tales of them but never this.

I hated Vampires like I hated most of the non-humans, they would murder, rape and abuse humans because of their own god thought superiority but I hated vamps second to Shifters due to my own personal vendetta. But right now, less than 15 meters from me stood the living dead itself.

All because I didn't follow my original plan. I'm good at what I do, either I'm good at what I do or I go hungry and starve to death. Survival of the fittest and shit. Part of that survival is planning. Everything happens with the planning...and as you can now see my lack of fucks it all up. I was desperate and you make stupid moves when you're desperate. My regular plan was simple climb a tall leafy tree, jump down, point my gun, get the goods then leave. My normal scouting grounds being the Middle Roads were out if the picture while the Shifters swept the area for any criminal activity due to the highwaymen's recent antics. The Middle Roads were perfect - they weren't guarded nor were they too busy to draw suspicion.

The Shifters presence meant that it was a no go to hunt there, if I was arrested I would be dead.

But with only tomorrow left for me to collect rent I was screwed or I'd be homeless, I already owed a month's rent. Newton told me I was on my last warning, the only reason I was still there was because his son kept trying to get in my pants. I only did the things I had to absolutely had to, and like hell was I going to sleep with Mike Newton as rent I'd rather die. I didn't particularly enjoy holding the rich hostage as some had wives and children, and my stomach would twist whenever I heard them in the coach. But I needed money and I needed it fast, I only robbed from the carts I knew could afford it not from anyone that would actually need it. This was the only thing I was good at. Being a criminal, I guess I was just suicidal. All this meant that I had to scavenge a few miles east of my normal grounds, away from the Shifter guards. East No Man's Land had busier roads and no shifters, so it looked promising.

No man's land as it was called was owned neither by the fleabags nor the blood suckers. It was mainly used by us good old humans, for travel and transport. I was one of the few that lived in a house out here, believing that we could protect ourselves.

The East kingdom was owned by Shifters whom offered protection at a reasonable price. They offered this protection for all humans in their kingdom from the threats of Vampires and others alike, although the vamps had become a more peaceful race since the treaty, but that peace did not extend to the nomads who did not follow the laws of any kingdom.

And the cost for this protection? That you abide by their laws which was simple (for most), if you broke said laws and were found guilty by trail of the council, you would be sentenced to do a community service or to be a donation. Those who broke the law where basically punished as food for the vamps in the smaller sister kingdom in the west. The peace treaty had been formed from centuries of bloodshed and war when the kings grew sick of their kingdoms being destroyed as a result of the wars and so agreed on a peace treaty. In return for the criminal-walking-blood-sacks from the Shifters, the vampires offered peace, security and crops for the Shifters as their soil was much richer. The vamps offered work and provided the Shifters with the majority of their crop yield as well as important resources such as iron and gold. Humans may live and work in the vamps territory, form families - live their lives in the kingdom but were protected by the Shifters, no human was to be killed by a vamp in the kingdom or else the Shifters were in their rights to declare a breach of the treaty. Making it simple the Shifters gave vamps the bad guys as food and the vamps gave the Shifters important resources in return.

So now you can see why I, a perfectly non- law-abiding citizen, would like to avoid both at all costs possible.

The coach didn't rattle. It didn't shake. It didn't make a noise, as a body half emerged from the cabin of the coach. Of course it didn't, they moved like ghosts. From the figure emerging I could tell it was female, she from how much I could see, was covered and the most expensive of materials. Blue dyed silks wrapped around her small frame modestly hugged her. Even her neck was dripping in a wealth of jewels. That thing alone could put a roof over my head for at least two winters. It was all so sickening. She stuck her head around the corner of the coach door allowing me a full view of her face when I saw the strangest thing.

Amber. That's all I could focus on as we make eye contact. Her perfect porcelain complexion paired with her pixie like facial structure creates the most alluring of predators. Amber. Why were her eyes amber? It made no sense. Ruby they were supposed to be ruby. All vamps had ruby eyes, I kept repeating to mentally basically convincing myself I wasn't starting to see things. I really didn't need another thing to add to the list of reasons why I'm fucked.

My gut was telling me to run. But it's not like I can exactly slowly creep away going 'excuse me miss I'm sorry, I didn't know you were a leech, I wouldn't have held up your coach at gunpoint my bad'. I really have truly fucked up. The joy of no man's land is that Shifters protection doesn't apply (thus the name). I'm on my own here…like always.

And now, I've basically just thrown a travel snack into her lap. Which to be fair, would be fully justifiable from her perspective...I am holding her up at gun-point trying to take her stuff.

Her eyes suddenly appeared to glaze for less than a second before frowning, if I blinked I would have missed it. She was tiny. But underestimating a vampire purely on size, is like presuming the stove is out then sticking your hand into it. She looked at me penetratingly. Sighing before giving me a once over, she did the last thing I think I could have ever expected her to do. Reaching behind her she unhooked the deeply embellished necklace that coated her slim neck, and threw it at me.

On reflex, I caught it.

"Leave" she stated.

I can honestly say I was just standing there in a complete state if what the actual fuck. I must have had my neck snapped as her travel snack and now I'm just imagining this all.

The necklace laid dumbly in my hand like a lead weight.

"Leave" she repeated but this time it was commanding and darker. It woke me up, I didn't want to stick around for any longer. Giving one last glance over my shoulder as I turned to run back into the shadows of the foliage of the forest I saw the coach jerk forward, carrying on with its journey like nothing happened.

The jewels dug into the flesh of my palm in an unfamiliar manner.

This whole day has made me extremely uncomfortable to say the least, there were too many unanswered questions on my mind. Why had the Amber eyed leech given into a human girl with a useless rusty gun. She could have killed me. She should have. But she gave me her necklace. Glancing down at the alien object in my hand, it felt to heavy, too expensive to be in my dirty grasp. I shoved it in the pocket of my oversized coat. Out of sight out of mind. I really couldn't afford to dwell on the oddity of this day right now. I was still in unfamiliar grounds and I didn't need to run into a more-hostile nomad in my journey home. I knew I never should have gone into the unfamiliar. It was stupid and dangerous. I know better than that…. I am better than that.

At least I have rent.

A canvass of deep green leaves obstructs the full effects of the day's sun. I wasn't lost but I wasn't confident of my location either, which was understandable in this forest. I needed to get higher up to know exactly where I was going. The sky was my best friend at this point as the soil paths were too similar in this part of the woods with little variation in tree species to act as location markers. Even the ground lacked the usual trail markings of animals, probably due to the dry soil - it hadn't rained in a while. Years exploring the forest allowed me to gain a rich understanding of its paths, species and inhabitants. I could track a bear down using its own shit. And I loved it. Being surrounded by dirt, mud, shit and trees is where I felt most at home. I loved the forest with all my soul. It was the only place I knew where I felt the most comfort, even in times like this where it felt like someone had replaced my stomach with a boulder. I felt like I could actually breath here. Resting my head on the rough bark of the tree I took a moment to collect myself. I needed it after today. The symphony of bird songs was soothing enough for me to relax the tension in my shoulders I wasn't aware I has holding.

Sighing to myself, I opened my eyes before looking around for the right type of branch, low enough to grab and thick enough to hold my weight. Out the corner of my eye I saw a deer run out of a set of bushes with only a rustle of its presence, I spent a second to admire it's elegance and beauty before I noted the wild look in its eyes. Blinking, it was gone again.

I heard the snap of a dry branch before I heard them. It was the low rumble of their conversation I heard that sent the hairs on the back of my neck on fire, my heart dropped and a sudden cold sweat glazed my body. I couldn't make out how many only that they were here now.

Again, my heart sprinted in my rib cage. This time I didn't need to think I just ran.

I think that all the bad luck I was building up over the years decided today would be the best day to come crashing down.

Guards and they were here.

I ran as fast as I could with every fibre of me, being extremely careful in not to make a sound as I weaved in and out of trees keeping my run silent but my frantic panting cut through the drumming in my ears.

My sprint was abruptly cut short by a unexpected pressure wrapping itself around my ankle before I was suddenly jerked up into the air upside down. My arrows fell out of my quiver crashing to the dirt ground. I grunted in discomfort. There was thick rope wrapped around my ankle resulting in me now dangling in mid-air. My right leg and arms hung uselessly around me. A bell jingled as I was yanked up into the air announcing my presence into the otherwise quiet woods. I managed to make some distance when I was running but now I might as well have a siren attached to my head.

When I thought my day couldn't get any worse, I was now suspended in a rope trap with a bunch of Shifter shitheads on their way to pretty much kill me.

And I thought the looming threat of having to sleep with Mike Newton could be the worst thing in my life.

Another twig snaps.

"I've got it!" I heard a low voice rumble in the near distance…

Until next time...

Make sure to turn on notifications!

Heya, I really hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it.

Big and dramatic things are to come in this story!

Also do you guys want little recaps at the start of every chapter I don't know if they're everyone's cup of tea

Leave a comment on your thoughts and any recommendations.

As someone with dyslexia writing is really the only way I can practice and improve and I just want to spread the ideas I have crammed in my head!

xXx