A/N - So this is the fic I've been working on for a fair while. I've got five chapters ready, and the sixth is in progress. Many thankies, cookies and hugs to my beta Holly.
Please review because I want to know if this is any good or not.
Disclaimer - I don't own anything apart form the OC characters. Otherwise, it's all Steph Meyer!
Life has never been easy for me. My first few years on this planet were a long time ago, and are nothing but a faded memory to me now. Like a photograph long lost in an attic, the details have faded. What I do remember vividly about my most human years was my group of friends. There were four of us. Julliette was the sensitive one. She watched over us, made sure there were no problems or fights. She was also the organised one, and the only one. Sienna was the energetic one. A great laugh when funny, defensive when angry and the girl to stay by if something was about to go down. Then there was Alanna. She was the natural born leader. She knew what was best for everyone, and how to compromise within our group. She was quietly in control, and no-one knew what happened if someone put a toe out of line, because no-one dared.
There was a secret in our group.
I joined the group in 1873. At our girls' school, I simply bonded to them from the number of cliques. Once we became inseparable, I learned the true secret. We were no group.
We were a coven.
Not a coven of vampires. A coven of witches, you might say. However, the image associated with the name in these modern times was not the powerful image we wanted to put across. Therefore we used alternative names, whatever was most suited to the area and time. My personal favourite was enchantress. It came with a certain seductive air. As we passed through school, my gift was discovered, and it was encouraged. I became the newbie, the one who needed a bit of guidance, but the girls were happy enough to provide it. We left school in 1878. I noticed my aging slowed, and we repeated the last few years of school in another state, under slightly different surnames. The evidence was easy enough to fake in those days.
In 1921 my life changed.
This time we were in a mixed school. I hadn't seen any of the other girls date another boy at all. If I asked, they said they were too busy practising, or they would just be freaked out by what they could do. Boys liked control.
It wasn't my fault, despite what they said afterwards. It was snowy. Very cold, so the lake near the house was frozen over perfectly. I thought. I skated a circle in the center of the lake, and I heard a loud crack from underneath my feet. I couldn't run away because of the ice, and I couldn't skate fast enough away. The ice collapsed under my feet, and the ice cold water below consumed me. The air was pushed out of my lungs. I was mostly human, so my fear of death instantly consumed me. What was I to do, my legs and arms flailed around for the hole I'd made in the ice. To get a sweet lungful of air. To see the sky, not blue water. I could feel my limbs becoming heavier and heavier, like they were turning into lead. They refused to obey my demands to kick to the so close surface. It was frustrating. So close but I couldn't reach it. Before I could lose my head big time and black out, a pair of warm arms clenched around my torso, and dragged me up with a tremendous force that was stronger than the crushing water. Before I could comprehend what was going on, I was lying, back down on the ice, gasping for air. My eyelids slowly responded to my demands to open, and I stared at what seemed to be the most perfect being in existence. Wet, jet black hair was dripping on my face and was plastered over a perfect, pale face, from which two golden eyes stared back at me. I was vaguely aware that my clothes were wet, but I was more concentrated that this perfect person's face was at most two inches from mine. The breath went from my lungs for a completely different reason.
"Are you okay?" His voice was like honey on velvet. Yet, it was only a low rushed whisper. Slowly, I managed to nod my head. My heart was pumping in my ears. I slowly sat up, more noticing his hand on my back that replaced his face in front of my eyes. My eyes dropped to my ankles. From below my skirt hem that had fallen up, I could see a large cut, streaming blood. I saw his jaw tighten.
"I, uh, just think it's some ... elixir. I carry a small vial around with me. It's great for bruising, but it must have smashed." I pulled up the familiar tingling feeling from the depths of my body, and pushed it into my hand. I wiped my hand across my cut, and allowed the tingles to close up the gash until it was new. All that was left of the cut was smears of blood on my hand. I tried to casually drop my hand back to my side until the tingles had gone, but before I registered his move; my wrist was encased by his hand, my hand stretched out, palm up. I noticed the remains of the green tingles, now looking like pieces of glitter under my skin, writhing back into my body to wait until they were used again. My eyes moved back to his perfect, pale face.
"Witch." He breathed. His scent filled my lungs, and after a moment I managed to recover my breath. It made sense to me now.
"Vampire." Cold pale skin, golden eyes, the speed at which he moved, and, of course, the reaction to my blood.
He gave a weak smile. "Am I that easy to read?"
It was the oddest feeling. A part of my subconscious told me to free myself from him, and run as far as I could, as fast as I could, although I could never outrun him. The other part was in complete opposition, and I could tell it was nothing to do with the shallow things like his beauty, but because I felt complete. I felt like I would never be able to look at another man again without comparison and that if he left me now, he would take that part of me away again. I managed to tear my ice blue eyes away from his golden ones so that I could hint at him by glancing at my wrist. I heard a murmured "Sorry" and he let go. I could see a couple of bruises forming where'd he'd gripped just a little too hard. I didn't know how bad bruises were for a vampire trying to resist, but I decided I wouldn't take any chances. I circled my injured wrist with my other hand and used the residual energy left to help heal the bruises quicker.
"If you don't mind me asking, are you nomadic? On your own?" He smiled at the question. Was I predictable?
"No and no. My coven and I just moved into a house nearby. Me and my siblings will be going to school here within the month. What about you? I apologise if I don▓' appear to know much about your kind."
"My coven has lived here for almost a year now. For around 29 years all I've known is us to move from place to place, getting the knowledge the area has to share, and then moving to the next place. I consider myself a healer, but I'm the youngest of the group so I have a lot to catch up on." I smiled to reassure myself and the stranger that I wouldn't do anything out of control. Just yet. I told him about the different members of my coven, trying to help to understand how our two types of coven weren▓t that different. ⌠I apologise if I know too much about your kind; I just find what's been documented fascinating. Alanna has got some materials for me, which have only made more curious. May I ask if you have any specific talents? If it's too personal a question, you don't need to-" Before I could finish, he had placed a finger on my lips.
"I have a knack for being able to sense if someone's in trouble. Usually only people close to me, and it doesn't work so well if the trouble's spontaneous. So how I was able to sense you is beyond me." He seemed to raise a hand to move a wet strand of hair off my face, but stopped himself and let his hand drop back to his side. Only then did I realise my teeth were chattering, and I couldn't feel my toes or fingers. He noticed as well, and pulled off his thin jacket to try and cover my arms. "If you tell me where you live, I'll run you back. I want to make sure you get home safe." As the smell of his jacket ran through my lungs, I simply managed a nod, and allowed him to scoop me up. He walked off the ice at a human pace, but once we hit the forest he started running a lot faster than even Sienna could manage. But I could feel him purposely being slow.
"I know you can go faster than this." I muttered, but I knew he could hear me. There was a husky laugh in the wind, and the scenery around us quickened in its passing. I smiled and watched nature fly by. Too soon we reached the house. It was the only house around for a fair distance, and if anyone came to it, the nature of the inhabitants was all too clear. Several herb patches grew around the house, yet the herbs were all manner of colours from bright orange to an electric blue. A few burn patches were visible on the house and on the ground, where a circular flame must have been burning. If that wasn't enough, hung beside the door was a small wooden sign, engraved with the words "Witch's Abode - Enter at Own Risk". Luckily if anyone did come past, we simply told them it was a family joke. My new vampire friend made a face at the sign. As I was carried through the front door, the atmosphere of the house hit me. The first person I saw was Julliette who ran to me, and hugged my neck. She then asked me a million questions about how I was, what happened and how come I was so wet. Next to appear was Sienna at the banister, who took once glance at my rescuer, and flew back to her room and came back with fistfuls of vials; none of which were a happy colour. She threw one at him, but he caught it in his hand, perfect and unbroken. I unhitched the breath from my throat. Sienna started screaming.
"Do you realise what you've brought into the house?!? We could all be killed within a matter of moments!! And do you honestly think-" I noticed the shouting stopped, although I stopped paying attention to the words a while back. I glanced at Sienna, and what I saw could have made me laugh or cry. I was stuck between the two. The vampire was bent at her now exposed throat, teeth no more than an inch from her throat. Sienna was frozen. He winked at me, and I started laughing. A speechless Sienna was a first. After a moment, he stood straight again, and smiled at a dumbfounded Sienna. He gave a small bow, and descended the stairs.
"I do apologise if you think I came here to have a snack. If you'd have preferred, I could have left your friend here to drown below the ice." He wandered back to my side, and he placed a courteous hand on the small of my back. I suppressed the tingles shooting up my spine. ⌠I am sure I can leave her in your care, ladies. However, I would like to take your friend to dinner, just to make sure she doesn't have shock or anything. I think you can trust a being with a medical degree and several decades of practise." He waited for the response as I did, with suspense. Would I even be allowed to date someone, never mind a vampire?
"Sure, why not? Sienna please put those vials back in your room before you drop one." Alanna appeared in the kitchen doorway, her apron stained with a thousand droplets of potion ingredients gracing her frame. She smiled at me, then him. "What's your name then?" She asked him.
"Adan." He bent down to whisper in my ear. "Nice to meet you, Giovanna." And with that the space beside me suddenly felt empty.