Chapter 1

We had been walking around this town for what seemed like years. Max and I had arrived in Spokane a few days ago, searching for the Strigoi I knew were here somewhere, we just hadn't found any sign of them yet. Or I should rephrase that to 'I' hadn't found them yet. Max is hardly interested in this whole trip, the only reason he is here is because he's curious as to what I'm up too. And he has no choice.

About 4 months ago I started having visions. Like real visions. Except most of them were from the past. I saw my family from centuries ago, and what caused them to be driven out of our world. I am a Nesahla, previously a Markson, and I'm a Moroi Vampire, living with elemental magic. Which isn't entirely true but I'll explain that soon. We need blood to survive, we just don't kill to be satisfied with our feed. Although this is exactly what strigoi do, they kill when they feed which is how they can be turned. The other species in my world is a Dhampir, our guardians. They are born half human half Moroi, with traits from both races.
They don't need blood to survive and have our best traits of vampire hearing, sound and what not, as well as having human stamina. We have twelve royal families, thirteen including the Nesahlas, but we aren't really recognised considering this family line was meant to have been eradicated centuries ago. It's all a complicated world. But I guess I don't really belong there anymore.

Nesahlas were hunted down and killed because we are special. We have special powers and abilities others don't, the specific word used: Witch. We can perform spells and the like, this is what tore our family line apart. We are a dead name, rising from the ashes. Anyone who is found wearing my last name is hunted down and killed.

"This is pointless" Max sits back in the chair opposite my bed. When we arrived, we figured we needed somewhere to set up base camp. So I somehow conjured up enough money for a hotel room, it's not the fanciest of places but its secure and its somewhere to sleep.

"Everything is pointless with you Max. How about you sit quietly in your little corner and let me work" I narrow my eyes at him and he leans back in his chair more. One upside to turning Max Strigoi is that I control him. I don't know how it works or why it happened it just did, so he doesn't test my patience that much and it's why he doesn't have a choice but to stay with me.

"I'm just saying, you've been at this for days, we tried walking around town, we tried your little, witchy joojoo," he waves his hand in my direction, "Or whatever you want to call it, and nothing. It's useless."

"Yeah, well, we can't always resolve to violence can we now Max." I sit upright again and prepare myself for my magic.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath and concentrate on the connection with strigoi blood. I took some of Max's blood and its now sitting in a bowl that I'm holding.

I feel rushes of hot and cold and something flaming through my veins. I summon abit more and I feel it rush towards my hands and flow around the bowl, searching for some clue as to where someone with this blood might reside. I hold the magic for a few more minutes but nothing happens. I let go of the magic and sit the bowl on the bedside table.
I stand up and pace around the room, my temper flaring. Picking up a nearby vase I fling it at the wall across from me and it smashes on impact. Flowers and water spray the wall before falling to the floor.
"And you thought I was the violent one" Max says with a smirk. I whip around to a stand in front of him. With a quick movement of my hand, Max starts gasping for air. I've mastered stuff like this. Taking his air away from him, leaving him gasping. I hold it for a few seconds and then let him breathe again. I lean in close to his face.

"I don't have time for your snide little comments. Do it again and you might not ever breathe again, got it?" I raise my eyebrows at him. For a fleeting second I think I see a little fear in his eyes but then his face changes into his usual compliant one and his jaw tightens.

"Of course Vienna" he breathes out and he slightly narrows his eyes. I stand back up and sit back on my bed. This is all so frustrating. I'm not getting anywhere and I need my book back. I replay the last few weeks in my head and mostly images of Danahi flow through. I wish he was here to help me. He was the only one who ever helped me, and he's my family. But I can't exactly reach out to him now, considering he is dead. Along with his death, I expect my family to be with him. I doubt they would have let any of them survive, not if they knew my true father is a Nesahla.

I come back to the real world, I examine my surroundings. It's a small room, the bathroom to the right of me, tucked in a little room and the door opposite it. The bed resides in the centre of the room with a small TV on the stand in front of me and the chair Max sits in, is next to it. The walls are a light brown with a few paintings on a wall here and there. It's not much but it's what we could get on short notice with not a lot of money.

I sigh again and watch the TV without really watching it. I need to come up with another plan. I'm playing through different scenarios when Max interrupts.

"Have you thought of...?"

"Yes Max, I have." I say automatically because I probably have. He hasn't been of much use, but I need him later for brute force. I hear him sigh.

"Have you thought of walking around town, and doing the spell at the same time." He says evenly. I sit up. Actually I hadn't thought of that. It's a simple plan. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it, my minds been kind of all over place.

"I've got nothing to connect too, I connect to your blood, and I can't exactly walk around town with a bowl of blood can me?" I snap at him. He stares back at me for a moment, weighing something in his head.

"What if you're holding my hand? It's not direct contact to my blood but it's better than nothing, and you've felt a connection without my blood before, so why wouldn't it work this time?" he asks. I run his questions through my head a million times. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I mean it's some sort of connection, it might be weaker than actually having his blood but I have to try something. The problem will be actually having a connection with the magic, it's hard to concentrate while walking or doing something else. I suppose if we stop in different spots and I try to make a connection it might work. I look back at him.

"Well it turns out you're not as useless as I thought. Let's go." I get up and grab my backpack from beside the bed. Max stands with me and escorts me out the door. Luckily it's the middle of the human night and the shops are closed, though people still walk around, going to restaurants, night clubs and the like. Max keeps his face down so people can't see his face. The last thing we need is someone staring at him and wondering why he is so pale and has red eyes.

The shopping centre itself is closed so we just walk around the building until we find a spot with not many people then I turn to him. I let out a deep breath and grab both of his hands. His hands are cold and it startles me for a second. I regain my focus and begin to summon my magic. A few minutes pass and nothing happens but then Max gives my hands a reassuring squeeze and I continue. That was weird. Why would Max care if I succeed?

A few more moments pass and then I feel something different. Some sort of direction I think, like I'm being drawn the certain spot. Trying as hard as I can to keep my magic going, I slowly open my eyes, and I see Max staring intently at me, a frown on his face.

"What's going on? Did it work?" he asks, with a slight tinge of sincere concern and curiosity. I try to keep my magic flowing, explaining it to him at the same time.

"I don't know," I begin, my head is starting to hurt, "I feel something different, like I'm being directed somewhere and I don't want to stop my magic in case I lose the connection." I tell him, gritting my teeth, now I have a splitting headache. Maybe doing magic and something else at the same time isn't such a good idea. "Just start walking, don't let go of me" I say and I squeeze my eyes shut in hopes of some relief but it doesn't change.

"Is it ok to let go of one of my hands?" he asks quietly and I pause for a moment, analysing my magic.

"I think so" I answer. He lets go of one of my hands slowly and my connection fades a little so I try to regain it back. Within a few seconds its back to full force, though my head is clearly taking the toll on this one.

I start walking directly forward, feeling some sort of pull towards another side of the building. As we walk my breathing gets harsher and spots start dancing in my vision. I don't think this will last long. "We have to walk faster, I can't hold this much longer." Max squeezes my hand again and I feel a small rush of energy go through me.

We walk a little faster, going around a few corners, dipping into dark spots here and there. Suddenly we stop in front of a door. The door is located on the side of what appears to be the shopping centre. Its dark and not well lit outside, it looks more like an emergency exit.

Max looks to me unsure but I just nod, I can still feel it, the urge to go in. The door turns out to be unlocked and we both head in. In front of us is a small stairwell, there are steps leading both up and down. I feel the pull to go down so I begin walking down the stairs.

Every step resonates in my head. We go down two flights and we open another door, ending up in a dark tunnel. Or at least I think it's a tunnel.
My head almost explodes and it a moment of weakness, I lose my connection. I have a splitting headache, I think I'm going to pass out and we are in some dark tunnel. Fabulous.

"Hey, you alright, what happened? Why did you drop the connection?" Max lets me go and leans down in front of me.

"How did you know I lost the connection?" I ask. I didn't tell him. For a moment he looks lost.

"Oh, Um, you nearly fell and I know you wouldn't be able to hold it for much longer. You did good though, that was a lot of magic." He says, his voice wavering a little, he suddenly looks tired. I frown at him, not sure if I completely believe him.

"Ok then. Well we found something, I just don't know what to do now" Max stands up and looks around. With his Strigoi sight, he might see a bit more than I can.

"It just seems like an empty tunnel, I can't see the end or where it starts." He says, intently staring down both sides the tunnel. He's staring down the tunnel to the left of me when he suddenly straightens up.

"Vienna get up." He says sternly, and honestly, it scares me a little. I hesitate for a moment. "Vienna, get up. Someone is in here." His voice bring me to my feet instantly. When I do, my vision sways and fades a little but i regain it after a few moments. I stand beside Max but then he moves in front of me in a protective manner. I can't hear anything. Seconds later I hear quiet footsteps approaching us. Before I can say anything Max speaks in a cold voice.

"Who are you? Why are you down here?" He says. A reply comes shortly after.

"I heard there was a new Strigoi and Moroi around town. I'm Isaiah."