Disclaimer: All aspects of Night World belong to LJ Smith. I'm sorry if my American Geography isn't totally accurate; I'm Canadian and have never actually been to Nevada. This takes place not too long after Witchlight, but before the Apocalypse. Thanks so much to my beta Fireflies Glow, without whom this story would not have been possible. Read and review!
"Am I willing to give up what I have in order to be what I am not yet? Am I able to follow the spirit of love into the desert? It is a frightening and sacred moment. There is no return. One's life is charged forever. It is the fire that gives us our shape" –Mary Richards
Cassandra
I had almost gotten used to the stinging... Okay, that was a total lie; nothing can get you used to having open cuts all over your body while you're stuck in a desert in Nevada. I was tied to a wooden cross, which was aggravating my wounds. My clothes were ragged and tattered from my struggles, leaving me more of a victim to the elements than was comfortable. I couldn't remember exactly how long I had been here. At most probably a day, but it seemed like eternity. The sun was beating down on me, sapping me of most of my strength-- not that it would have helped anyway, mind you; the ropes that bound my hands and feet to the wooden cross were made from woven cedar and my captors had thought of everything. But then again, why wouldn't they come prepared? This was their job, and they took vicious delight in carrying it out. They were vampire hunters.
I needed to get out, and soon. It was getting harder for me to breathe; I hadn't fed since the night before and I wasn't sure how much longer I could last. I wriggled, trying to see if there was any slack in my bonds. To my amazement, the ropes shifted slightly; the person who tied me up must have been a real amateur. My wrists were slick with sweat and blood. There was a chance that I could get out. I twisted my wrists, ignoring the pain as the rough ropes chafed against my skin. I had never tried doing this before, but I was desperate; this was a matter of life and death. If I didn't get out soon, I would suffocate and die. Maybe, if I was lucky, somebody would find my body. However, I doubted that. More likely than not, my carcass would become food for the vultures. I shuddered at the thought and tried to calm down. Worrying right now wouldn't help me one bit. I felt the ropes give a little, and my heart leaped with joy. I kept struggling with the ropes as the hot rays of the sun beat down oppressively against my exposed skin. Just as I was about to give up all hope, one of the ropes moved that fateful inch and my hand slipped free. I swiftly untied my other hand and both my feet.
I collapsed on to the dusty sand and nearly fainted from the excruciating pain. Sand had managed to seep in all of my wounds and furthermore, I was pretty sure that my leg was broken.
Tough it out, Cassie, I chided myself, tough it out. This isn't one of your stupid romance novels or fairy tales. No princes are going to rescue you, and you know it. You know what happened to your last "prince"... I winced, and immediately shoved that voice and the accompanying image to the back of my head. I had no time to think about the past and started limping across the barren desert to the outline of buildings and flashing lights on the horizon. Las Vegas, I thought grimly, here I come.
Ash
Theoretically, I shouldn't even have been out there; I was supposed to be "relaxing" after my last mission. Of course, that didn't stop me. I needed to get some fresh air, to get away from the stuffy hustle and bustle of Las Vegas. I chuckled. Who would have ever imagined that the infamous Ash Redfern would ever want to get away from the city? But things had changed, and I needed a place to think. So I walked. Walked out of the city, and into the desert, walking and walking and finally, a mile or two away from the city, I sat down beneath a cactus. If anyone had asked me why I was wandering in the desert, I would have told them to buzz off and given them the menacing Redfern smile. There would be no way I would have told anyone the real reason for my aimless roaming: I was scared. Scared of a human.
Before I had met her, I had thought that all humans were weak little vermin. It was what I had been taught all my life. But she was different. There was nothing weak or little about her. She shone as brightly as the stars she loved. Independent and feisty, she was Mary-Lynnette, and she was my soul mate. It was almost a year since she had sent me away to repent for my past sins. I had tried to be good and change in the past year, but was it enough? I didn't know what I would do if she rejected me.
As I sat there, bathing in the last rays of the sun and mulling over my fears, I noticed a silhouette emerging from the horizon. At first, I thought it was one of the Daybreakers trying to find me until I realized that the person was walking the wrong way. He or she was walking towards Vegas, having apparently come from the desert. That was really weird; certainly, no sane human would walk though the desert. Actually, that held true for all Night Worlders as well. So who could this mysterious person be? My curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself approaching, albeit cautiously, the person. Curiosity killed the cat, I thought to myself somberly.
As I got closer, I realized that it was a girl, aged about 18 or 19 years old. Although she was limping, I could still tell that she was a vampire. I knew that I shouldn't have approached her, but since she seemed to be injured I figured that she couldn't have been too dangerous; nothing I couldn't handle. Thanks to the setting sun and the decreasing distance between me and the girl, I could see her more clearly. Her black hair was matted by what seemed to be blood and she was wearing a white dress that was tattered and ripped and covered with bloodstains. Her pale skin was covered with methodical cuts and I wondered, concerned, what kind of person could have done this. Suddenly, the image of Mary-Lynette in the same condition popped unbidden into my mind. It started merging with the image in front of me, until I couldn't tell which was real and which was fake. Part of me knew that it wasn't my M'lin limping towards me, but the rest of me didn't care. I just knew that I had to save her. Throwing all caution to the wind, I broke out into a full-speed run towards her.
Cassandra
I stumbled towards the scintillating lights. They seemed to taunt me, fading and then growing ever brighter. Deep inside, I knew that this was a bad sign, but I was too busy trying to get air into my lungs to pay much attention to the thought. I knew it wasn't long before I would pass out. I was feeling light-headed, and the only thing keeping me grounded was the pain that would shoot through my leg every time it hit the ground. Then I saw it. Or rather, him. I thought he was an apparition, created by my oxygen-deprived brain. But as we got closer to each other, I could tell that he was real. Was he human? My mouth watered at the thought. But I looked closely at his walk, watched his smooth and effortless strides, and immediately knew that he was a vampire. I didn't know why, but I felt drawn towards him. For some reason, I knew that he could help me. I didn't know how much longer I could hold on to consciousness, but I tried to limp as fast as I could towards him; which, compared to my regular vampire speed, wasn't very fast at all.
Suddenly, he started running towards me. As he got closer, I felt my legs give out under me. He caught me, and then something happened. Something indescribable passed between us. Something that was familiar and yet like nothing else I had ever experienced. It was as if I had been missing part of me for all my life, and finally I was complete. I looked at him, at his face filled with shock, and I knew that he felt it too.
"Help," I whispered almost inaudibly.
As I slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing I saw was his eyes. How pretty, I mused, they change colour. But before I could ponder further about that fact, I was swallowed up by the comforting darkness.