Today is the one-year anniversary. The one-year anniversary of what you may ask. Let me tell you, exactly one year ago my parents were brutally murdered by this vampire that goes by the name of Rosalind Tussaud, although the police will tell you that it was a double suicide, well that's what they believe anyway. No one wants to believe in things that go bump in the night, and why would we believe it when we were all brought up to believe vampires, wolves, goddesses, shape shifters, demons, warlocks and witches are myths and legends, a figment of our childhood imagination.

Pogue and I were brought up differently though; from a young age we were taught how to defend ourselves from evil lurking in the shadows. Our parents were great hunters- the best in the business I guess you could say. They were involved in the Secret Circle. The Secret Circle is basically a coven of hunters all over the world that keep humans safe as best as they can. Five hundred years ago one in every two hundred people would have been a hunter, however since then the Forbidden World has started hunting us, so our numbers have decreased rapidly.

If only the world really knew what was out there, lurking in the shadows, craving destruction and power. What a wake up call that would be for everyone. That will never happen though, not while me or my brother are still alive and kicking.

Sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Taylor Silver and I have a twin brother Pogue. We're all we have left so we made a pact exactly one year ago to take our rightful revenge on the vampire bitch that killed our parents. Oh did I mention that today was our 18th birthday. No longer classified as naïve children. No more hunting at night while worrying if you'll fail your biology exam the next day. No more lying to your so called friends that you were too busy this weekend to hang out while you were actually trying to find Rosalind Tussaud so you could tear her to shreds and burn the pieces.

So that's basically summed up the last year for Pogue and I. However now that there's no school, we can hit the road to find the Forbidden World. In the forbidden world Rosalind is known as the Hero of the Seducers. Well, that's what one of the demons told us before we cut him in half anyway. Whether or not he was lying; I'll guess we'll have to find out.

"I forgot to tell you this morning but Happy Birthday Sis" Pogue says as we're driving in the car. He leans back, obviously trying to reach for something in the back seat. He hands me a present.

"Pogue, you shouldn't have"

"I know that you don't want to be reminded that it's our birthday but I thought it would make you smile at least for a little while. If only you knew how miserable you look. It breaks my heart seeing you like this"

I open the present to find a black def leppard shirt. Pogue always knew exactly what i wanted for my birthday.

"I love it. Here I've got something for you aswell"

I hand Pogue his present, hoping that he'll like the new dagger I picked out for him, as he lost his on our last hunt.

"Thanks Tay" he says sincerely.

"Just promise me you won't lose this one ok?"

"I promise."

Eighteen months ago if you had asked me if Pogue and I were best friends I would have laughed in your face and said no, however back then we were different people. Pogue hung out with the in-crowd at school as he was on the football team. At school he generally pretended I didn't exist and that we weren't related. I, on the other hand was just another face in the crowd. I remember Mum and Dad didn't want us to be in the spotlight too much incase anyone used us against them. I listened to them and blended in, however Pogue, being the rebel child wanted to make sure everyone knew his name. After they died, all these people I didn't even know started talking to me, pretending to feel sorry for me. I never wanted their sympathy and neither did Pogue. He quit the football team and started sitting with me at school. We sold our house and rented a trailer so we could save all our money for hunts and weapons. Pogue was tempted to drop out of school, however I convinced him to stay. It's what mum and dad would have wanted I told him.

Now here we were, 10 days after graduation and on our way to New Haven to find Giselle Saint Clair. She is known as a wise witch of the spirits. I wasn't sure if we could completely trust her yet, but she was the only lead we had. Being in this business has made me realize to always watch my back, but I had a hunch that she a white witch instead of a dark one.

"Do you think we can trust Giselle?" I ask Pogue

"I'm not sure yet" he replies rubbing his stubble.

"I hope so. I have a feeling that she's a white witch, but I'm not too sure if I should trust my instincts as she could just be using an illusion spell."

"You worry to much. It's not always going to be white or black. There are shades of grey you know?" he tells me.

"I know, it's not always good or evil. Don't get offended when I say this but do you think mum and dad were entirely good?"

"Why would you even ask that?" he says, obviously upset at what I just asked him.

"Well I was just looking through their book of all their kills and they killed this one vampire, even though it only fed off animals. Why would they kill it if it wasn't even doing any harm?" I shout angrily.

"I dunno, but we weren't there. Maybe there's more than meets the eye with why they killed it" Pogue tells me, while I try and regain composure.

"I suppose so, but I still think something isn't quite right."

"Think whatever you like but just forget about it alright and don't look into it" he says ending the conversation by turning up the radio.

We're didn't say another word to each other for the rest of the ride, which was another six hours and thirty-seven minutes.

My bum was numb by the time we reached Giselle Saint Clair's address. Her house was absolutely beautiful. It looked like it was centuries old. We made our way to the door and just as we were about to knock the door opened magically. Pogue and I looked at each other and gulped. What if this was a trap? We were most likely going to be dead in the next five minutes. I'm sorry mum and dad I tell them silently.

"Come in Taylor and Pogue Silver" a soft voice tells us from the back room.

We follow the voice, past a sweeping staircase to the kitchen where an old lady sat sipping on a mug.

"Hello Giselle Saint Clair" I say politely

"Hello child. It has been a long time since I have seen you both."

"Huh?" Pogue says forgetting his manners and looking utterly confused

"I suppose you wouldn't remember me as the last time I saw you two you were both in ready for you first day of grade one."

"Right" we both say, trying to remember back to the first day of school.

"So, I take it you're here looking for a lead on this Rosalind woman"

"Vampire" Pogue interrupts

"That's what I meant. I'm afraid to say that I don't know where you can find her however I do know that she is currently planning an army of the undead, vampires as you would call them. Whether or not this is just a rumor, I guess we will soon find out. "

"Are they planning an attack on the world?" I ask

"No child, they are planning to wipe out all the hunters in the world."

"What?" Pogue bangs his fist angrily on the table

"It's true," she tells us calmly while taking other sip out of her mug, "I have this young fellow I have to introduce you to. He's recently become a hunter like yourself and I believe he may be able to help you on your journey"

"Thanks for the offer but we hunt alone" I tell Giselle the nicest way I can without hurting her feelings

"Nonsense dear, you need all the help you get. In fact he's just upstairs now. I let him stay here as he's my great nephew, if you can work that out."

She gets up and walks out to the bottom of the staircase. Pogue and I follow her.

"Ryder" she shouts up the stairwell, "there's two people I want to introduce you to"

I look over at Pogue to see that he was a worried expression on his face. He looks over at me and I give him a reassuring look. He nods and looks at the top of the stairwell. I follow his gaze to see a tall man, only a few years older than me with brown hair and brown eyes make his way down the staircase.

"Ryder this is Taylor and Pogue Silver" Giselle introduces us.

"Hi, I've heard so much about you" he tells us

"I'm sure you have" Pogue says coldly so I nudge him the ribs.

"Ignore my dear brother, he has social issues," I say with a friendly smile, "So I hear you're a hunter"

"Yes that's true, only for the past year and a half though."

"Cool. Are you a member of the Secret Circle?"

"No, I don't like being told who to hunt. I guess you could say I'm sort of a rogue hunter"

"Right" Pogue says obviously interested in the conversation as he always thought it was stupid that we were told whom we had to hunt.

I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.