THE DYING MOONLIGHT
In a world of life and happiness, lies the truth of what has become of mankind. Scratch the surface and you will see a world of darkness, chaos, and death. Earth has been under attack by the creatures of the night, and doesn't even know about it. A war has been raging between the Day Watchers and the Midnight Keepers for centuries. The only chance for either to survive is if the heir to both circles comes together. What if the heirs had a secret past that no one knew about…
Serena Moon, the heir to the Day Watchers; a witch who knows nothing of her destiny...
Endymion, the heir to the Midnight Keepers; a vampire with a seductive reputation...
PART ONE: THE WITCH-Chapter One
The Spot light was on her now. This was the last of the Winter Finals. If she won the competition, her mother would be so proud of her. The room was large and white, mirrors surrounding the walls. Up against those walls were benches completely filled with parents watching their children compete. Flashes of cameras went off every so often; a small sound of chatting was heard. The room went dark, and a bright spot light landed on a young thirteen year old girl. The small child had long golden streams of hair that was braided down her back tightly. Her skin color could be compared with that of the snow. Wide Sapphire eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky, as the girl held her head up. She wore an ivory silk material for her ballerina outfit with a gleaming silver tutu.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, our last contestant for today is Serena Moon. She has been in our class since she was three. Serena has won forty gold metals, five silver metals, and two bronze in the past ten years she has been with us. She has brought our company great pride. Please give her a round of applause."
The female announcer spoke out through a microphone and was recognized by several adults, as the dance instructor for their children's ballet classes. The audience clapped their hands briefly, nothing more, nothing less. These were sophisticated aristocrats, politicians, and any other rich family there were in the district. The applause lasted for a very short time, before the instructor spoke again.
"Miss Moon will be performing a very delicate move, which no one else has been able to make. Her music today will be played by the animated musical, Anastasia, Once Upon a December. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for Serena Moon."
Serena stood in a basic ballet position. She stood straight, with heels touching and toes sticking out to the side, making a straight line. Completely balanced and still, a great task for such a young teenager. Her arms reached out in front of her, creating an oval, her fingers merely touching and the elbows relaxed. The young girl's face was emotionless, as if someone had painted a mask on her. It was her eyes, however, that betrayed her. They held such passion and joy for dancing and when the music began, she was carried away. The blonde danced gracefully; with such agility that everyone in the audience was in complete awe. For such a young age, she had an extent amount of experience and training.
As she moved along, her eyes aimlessly searched for her mother, Irene. The single mother was Serena's greatest fan. When she danced, her mother had as much joy and love as she did. Irene would brag to all who came into her shop of how talented and beautiful her daughter had become. Serena loved her mother more than words could tell and she owed her for introducing ballet to her. Serena had been to all the musicals, all the plays, anything that appeared on stage, she had seen it. Dancers mesmerized Serena and she couldn't get enough of them. Upon searching, Serena concluded that she was no where to be found. Gwen, Serena thought to herself. Gwen was Irene's best friend; she would be there for her. Her mother must've been running late at the shop and would be here later. During mid-song, Serena saw neither of the two women and was heart broken. They hadn't come to watch her. The small teenager wanted to stop then and there to cry helplessly. In spite of the fact, she went on...
The small ballerina smoothly dance throughout the song and was at the end. She moved her body for the last position. The blonde twirled several times before coming to a stop on her tip toes. Very slowly and very cautiously, she slid her feet flat on the ground. One delicate foot in front of the other; parallel to each other, with only a step in between them. The heels of her feet were even with the other's toe. She held out an arm to her chest, elbow relaxed. The other arm raised to the ceiling, arched over her head. The blonde elegantly lowered her body, from the waist up, downward and swung it back up. Her other arm, coming up with her and arching on her other side as she stood straight again. The finger tips touching.
It was then, that a sharp pain gnawed at her insides. She winced and felt something grow within her and it felt horribly wrong. The pain passed and it left the feeling of emptiness and loneliness at the pit of everything. Serena tried to ignore it and go on, she was almost finished. The song was coming to an end and the blonde was in the process of her last moves. She began to twist her body and was going to twirl one last time on one tip toe, with the other leg in the air. As she began to turn, her feet twisted together and she lost balance. Before she could catch herself, Serena fell flat on the floor. The room filled with gasp and then loud chatting. Her right ankle began to twinge in pain and she let out a grunt. The instructor, rushed towards the middle of the dance floor and most of her classmates surrounded her. Serena rolled on her back and held her right leg, her knee pressed against her chest.
"My ankle!" She cried out "My ankle! It hurts!" She cried out again.
The medical crew arrived and had carried her into the student locker rooms. From there, they had checked it, examined it, and then bandaged it up. She hadn't done much damage to her ankle, merely twisted it. Within the hour she was able to walk again and when the announcements called out for awards, she couldn't bare hearing that she had received second place. So she grabbed her things and left.
Night had started to fall as Serena walked along the street of the chilly December day. Her mother's shop was around the corner from the dance studio. The distance between the two places was a mere fifteen minutes. She still wore her dancing outfit; only now with sneakers and a large grey overcoat. Her head bowed down and eyes cast to the sidewalk she was walking on. Her mother would be so disappointed in her and Serena knew that she couldn't take the look in her eyes. Yet, she continued on towards her mother's shop. The flashing of blue lights and sirens never caught her attention until she reached the corner. Serena glanced up in time to see that a black body bag was being hauled out of the shop. She began to make her way through the crowd, until Serena reached the yellow police tape that had stood in the way. The police laid the body on a stretcher, just outside the ambulance doors. The young girl stood there, frozen and captivated by the scene before her as she watched the police identify that the body was Irene Moon. They zipped up the rest of the black bag and lifted the body into the ambulance. Serena didn't know how to react to all this. She had just witnessed her mother's dead body being carried away. Only when the ambulance started to drive away, did she start to make a scene herself. The young dancer began to run after the vehicle that had her mother in it, with tears streaming down her rosy cheeks.
"MOMMA! MOMMA!" She scream out at the top of her lungs.
She was suddenly picked up and held into someone's arms. Serena kicked and screamed out to her mother as the ambulance faded in the distance. She heard the comforting words of a familiar voice and recognized it to be Gwen's voice. The woman cried along with Serena and tried to calm her down. The blonde's screams had lowered and finally into hushed whispered voices. She held onto Gwen, arms wrapped around each other's necks.
"Momma . . . don't leave me . . ." she whispered in a muffled sound, because her mouth was covered in Gwen's shoulder. With a few more sniffles and whimpers, Serena kept watching the street where the large vehicle had drove off to. That was all that Serena could remember on that dark and cold winter's day . . . that day she had wanted to be someone entirely different...