Chapter 1: Radar
Kaira
They were here. No matter where we went, no matter how many times we killed, there was always more. My palms started sweating, the moisture making them go numb from the stinging cold. Wiping my hands, I crouched smaller into the shadows. Where were they? I knew they were somewhere, and if the fire on my wrists indicated, they were close.
As if on cue, they arrived. Pulling my scarf up, I reached for my back, calming my breathing as the two figures entered the alley.
"Looks like we're in for some fun," a male voice whispered into my ear. I couldn't help but smirk as Leighton unsheathed his two weapons, rolling his broad shoulders back.
"Do try and keep up honey," with one wink, I jumped from the ledge of the building. My stomach flew into my throat, but there was no fear. There never was. The moment my feet hit the slick ground I bolted forward, my hands flashing out in well-practiced quickness, my fingers already pulling the triggers.
Mortem, or death in English. They were soulless humans who have been raised from the grave, their skin was papery white, once white teeth now black, nails sharpened like a cats, their eyes were bone white the white surrendering the pupil now yellow. They crave human flesh, and their bite can turn a healthy human being into a crazed zombie just like them. Under no circumstances are Mortem zombies, but they are very similar. Mortem eat human flesh, they crave it, it's their drug. But the big difference is, is that Mortem think, their once human compassion have turned sour, all they think about now is hurting everything and anyone around them. They are the devil's minion, the ones to do his dirty work. There is one thing that Mortem do crave more than a human dinner though, and that would be their blood. Human blood acts as a giant power boost for any Mortem, and if you're the unlucky bastard who comes across a Mortem at night, more than likely they'll compel you to become a brainless little follower, keeping you as their midnight snack.
One of the creatures lashed out at me, his fist connecting with my stomach. I doubled over, sucking in air. Pivoting on my foot I crouched and swept the ground. The Mortem screeched in shock as he fell to the ground. Acting fast I jumped on him, pinning his shoulders under my knees as I dealt out a few punches of my own. His knee made contact with my lower back, I ignored the dull pain. I grasped the handle of the black dagger strapped to my thigh, fighting to keep the demon from throwing me off.
"Sweet dreams bastard!" I growled, shoving the sharp tip right into his heart. The Mortem let out one more ear piercing scream. His white pupils meeting mine before he turned to dust. My knee's met the pavement, my chest heaving from exhaustion, the adrenaline making my ears ringing.
"Nice," Leighton fell to the ground, his back scraping against the brick wall as he breathed heavily. He sheathed his own dagger before wiping the two samurai swords on his jacket and covering them also
Nodding in exhaustion I brushed my bands out of my eyes, clicking the safety on my guns before placing them back in their holders.
"I swear to God, This is the nastiest fucking smell in the world," I grumbled, wiping the purple/black Mortem blood on my jacket sleeve before putting it back in the holder.
"Now dear Kaira, let us not use our saviors name as a swear," my head flicked up as another person entered the alley. Smiling Abiather joined Leighton and I, he crouched to the ground, smiling fondly as he passed us each a blue water bottle, "Drink up children, it's going to be a long week for you two."
Catching Leighton's eye, we gave each other a confused look. I knew better than to ever ask Abiather what he was thinking, or even what his motives are, I wasn't supposed to, just supposed to do what he says, and never question his decisions. No matter how hard some of his demands were, I always carried them out. So without a rebuttal I raised the bottle to my lips, the thick liquid coating my mouth and throat, metallic to the taste, but immediately my body accepted the gift, my scrapes and bruises slowly disappearing, my energy restoring.
As I finished the last drink Abiather took the bottles back and stood, "Let's go."
Warm water pounded my shoulders as I stood under the shower head, enjoying the sensation of my muscles relaxing. When we had arrived back at the small run down house Abiather had requested a meeting before Leighton and I cleaned up, sitting us down in the living room he started us as we always did, having us all bow our heads and saying a short prayer before looking up and smiling at us.
"It has come to my attention, that our services are needed here for a little while longer," Abiather started, "this town has some connection, some kind of drawing, to the Mortem. As you both have noticed, in the last two weeks that we have been here, there have been many more Mortem sightings then any of us are used to."
Making sure we were still listening to him, he continued, "So it has been told to me, that we must try and figure out this connection, and rid the world of it. It is our sacred duty. We must protect His flock," Abiather closed his eyes as he touched the crucifix that hung around his neck. Meeting out stares he smirked, "starting tomorrow, you two shall resume your lives before you were Risen."
Abiather's words had shocked me, it has been fifteen years since my rising, and I have not lived by normal means since then. To be starting school, to pick up where I left off, well I would rather be facing an army of Mortem then the trials of teenagers. A second death sounded like a god sends at this point. A second death though?
Fifteen years ago, I died. I was seventeen years old when "it" happened. "It" was my death, my memory of it wiped the day I was Risen. Just as Mortem are undead, having been brought back from the dead, so am I. The only difference is, is that I am one of The Risen, someone chosen by God to help rid the world of evil, to be graced with my soul back. And just as Mortem, I drank human blood, though it was against my will. Human blood kept me alive, helped preserve my body and heal it. Without human blood I would fall ill and die again. Abiather rose Leighton and I, he is our "Father", the one who watches over us and relays the Lord's messages.
Abiather was a Soul Kindler, which in short terms means, he can raise the dead, in this case, me. You see, Abiather can bring Leighton and I back as many times as he pleases. There have been battles that Leigh and I have not won, in the end, instead of us killing the Mortem, they killed us. And there comes Abiather, saying his prayer and bringing us back from the darkness. Each time it happened though, the images of the dead became clearer and clearer to remember, each time it seemed as though death was anything but peaceful. But no matter how it chilled my bones to visit the grave, I had to do as Abiather wanted, and fighting as hard as I could made sure that I would not be visiting again anytime soon.
"And what are your thoughts of becoming normal people again?" Leighton asked, not bothering to knock as he entered the bathroom, already stripped to a towel around his waist.
"Can you knock?" I snapped, quickly wrapping the towel around me.
"Oh please Kai, it's not like I haven't seen it all before," he winked before stepping into the shower, the bathroom filling again with vapor, "Now answer my question."
Wiping the mirror I gazed into my reflection while answering. "It should be interesting."
Leigh snorted, "Mhm K, what are your real feelings?"
"It fucking sucks," I muttered, smirking as he laughed.
"Understatement of the year," He added.
Running a comb through my hair, we fell into comfortable silence. Staring into the mirror I tried hard to remember what high school was like, though nothing came to mind, I knew that it would be hell of a lot different now than it would have been so long ago.
"You going to stay under the radar?" I asked while pulling on a pair of pajama bottoms and an old sweatshirt.
"You know it baby," Leighton winked as he got out of the shower. As I gave him a serious glare he ran a hand through his dark wet hair, touching my face he looked down, his brown eyes becoming serious. "I promise you that I will stay under the radar, alright?"
Nodding I sighed, enjoying the warmth from his hand. Smiling lightly he kissed my forehead before leaving the bathroom. Placing my hands on the cold porcelain sink I stared at myself. My long dark hair, olive skin tanned from training outdoors, grey eyes. Saying a quick prayer that I would blend in I started to my room, falling into a dreamless sleep the moment my head hit the pillow.
Jared
There were a lot of things that I enjoyed doing. Hanging with the pack, playing football, wrestling in the forest, eating at Sam and Emily's, all things that I loved to do. Going to school, well let's just say it wasn't on my top ten list. If it had been my decision, I would have skipped the first day altogether, but with an order from Sam I got up and headed to the hell hole.
Every year it's the same thing, the same people. The same drama and same boring classes. Only difference was that this was officially my last year and Sam figured that I shouldn't miss it, especially since I usually had to skip for pack duties. Not this year though, supposedly he was going to try and cut down on all the work us wolves had to do. He promised us a more relaxing meeting, with fewer patrols, and more chances to live or lives the way we wanted to. As much as I wanted a relaxing year, I highly doubted that Sam would be able to stick to his promise. So instead of arguing I nodded and silently came up with plans to skip.
"Seriously, what the fuck is he even talking about?" Paul muttered angrily as we sat in the back of our English class. Mr. Thomas had the tendency to start every year off by threatening his students, he was known for kicking students out of his class and yelling every class period. With his short fuse, he was the one teacher you did not want to upset. Even Paul and I weren't stupid enough to get on his bad side.
"How much a dumbass you are probably," I smirked at Paul as he flipped me off once Thomas had turned around.
"You will fill out these papers and talk silently when you are done," Mr. Thomas snapped before sitting down in his chair and starting reading his book.
"What are you doing after school?" Kim asked as she turned around in her chair. I smiled at her, my senses filling with her wonderful floral scent.
"He's hoping you," Paul smirked and covered a laugh as I jabbed him in the side.
"Probably just hanging out, you want to do something?" I asked my imprint, smiling once again.
"If course," Kim said in a 'duh' sounding voice. She played with a curled end of her black hair as she finished filling out the paper work.
"How was North Carolina with the cousins?" I scratched out a mistake and looked up to meet her dark gaze.
"Amazing!" she beamed, "I missed being able to spend time with all of them. My uncle owns this huge lake house and we got to go swimming every day. We had campouts and went hiking. And the last week we were there we got to have the whole family over for a week long reunion. We played games and hung out. It was just like old times."
I couldn't help but smile as she did too, "It sounds like you had a lot of fun."
"I did," Kim smiled, her eyes twinkling, "it would have been better if you were there too though?"
"I missed you too," I read the hidden message in her last statement. Smiling, she leaned forward and kissed me quickly. My lips tingled as she drew back, smiling broadly as she doodled on a piece of paper.
"And what reason do you have to be coming into my class uninvited?" the room became silent as Thomas yelled.
Looking up I saw who was receiving Thomas' wrath, confusion swirling around the room as we set eyes on the two strangers.
"Here," the boy shoved two pink slips at Thomas who scanned them quickly.
"Leighton Taron?" Mr. Thomas asked and the boy, Leighton, nodded. He was as tall as me, and had the same muscle, though he seemed to be leaner then any of the guys in the pack were. He had dark brown hair, tanned skin, and was smirking at Thomas. "And, Kara ?"
"It's Kaira," the girl snapped as the boy snorted. I glued my eyes to her as she snapped at the teacher. She wore jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, old converse adorning her feet, a jacket slung over her arm. Her grey eyes drilled into her companions as he smirked at her.
"Kaira," Thomas said slowly, sending her venomous look, "and where are you two from?"
"Denver," the two answered in unison, Thomas nodding slightly.
"Are you two siblings?"
"No," no more information was given as the two new comers both waited for Thomas to let them sit down.
Without saying anything, Thomas handed them the papers and gestured for them to sit down.
"Way to be a bitch K," Leighton muttered as they sat down at the table in front of us.
Kaira said nothing as she leaned over her paper, her ponytail shifting so it was over her shoulder. I froze as I caught her scent. She smelled of earth, oranges, and….and blood.
Quickly I looked over at Paul, he wore the same expression I did, his face contorting to anger as he stared at the back of Leighton's head.
"Can you stop trying to burn a hole in my head? Seriously," Kaira turned around and snapped. Kim flinched back, dropping her stare as the new girl glared at her with those sharp grey eyes.
Anger swelled in my chest as I opened my mouth to say something. Kim's hand found mine under the table and she squeezed it, "I'm sorry, staring is rude."
"Damn right it is," Leighton winked at her before turned and bowing his head next to the new girls.
Class flashed by in a flash, Paul and I watched Leighton and Kaira leave before getting up. Kissing Kim goodbye I rushed to the exit with Paul, the moment our feet hit the ground we shifted, my head clouding over with the animal instinct.
"Bloodsuckers," Paul growled, his thoughts shifting to how the two new kids smelled.
"They smell like it," I clenched my jaw tightly as I remembering that girl scaring Kim. "Sam was fucking wrong about this year being peaceful."
A/N: Alright guys, this was the first chapter, more is to come very soon, marching season has now come to an end so I have a few weeks before I start up with winter guard, tell me what you think of this story. Some drama will be happening with Jared; well of course I did pick him for a special reason. And don't worry, there will be some Kaira/Leighton and Pack interaction coming up very soon! Thanks for reading! :)
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