CHAPTER ONE. MEETING DESTINY.
REBECCA
A miracle. That's what my parents called me. Born to them in their old age, after the heart ache and despair of having lost a child. A miracle. So they named me Rebecca, meaning 'to bind'. They say I binded their severed hearts together the day I was born. They didn't care what the rest of the family said. How my own relatives wished I had been a strong powerful boy, to raise after my brother. The one they lost.
But I discovered that my brother wasn't lost, but had run away. Years before I was born; he had been much older than me. I'd had a happy childhood. My parents, as nobility in the rising Greek empire in 1000 BC, were treated to every luxury. As I was their daughter. I came from a life of extravagant promenades and tall wine goblets. That's mostly all I remember of my childhood as a human. But I remember how the change came about.
And what vampire can honestly say they wouldn't?
I was a young girl of 15, at another of my parents' lavish, outdoor parties. The details are foggy, but I remember that I had previously managed to elude one of my many, hare-brained suitors. I was lounging against a far wall by the window, when a dark shape flitted by. And then everything becomes just bits and pieces of memories, and my brother has to fill me in on the next actions. I imagine my own details.
How I snuck away from the party in the still of night, tripping along in my long, cream colored dress. Following the curious shape. This strangely beautiful shape that seemed to glide gracefully along, keeping carefully from the light. This was the year of the Pythian Games so I probably wouldn't have been too surprised as I realized he was leading me to Apollo's Temple.
I probably walked, sure-footed through the high labyrinth of tall, marble columns. I probably wondered where the pythia was, the woman oracle, caretaker of the temple and head priestess. Then I would've gasped at the sharp cry. The sound of something falling over. And I turned to see my beautiful shadow hunched over the pythia, her old face twisted in a silent scream. The ethereal attractiveness of the face of the shadow was startling. It took my breath away. Left me gasping. With fear.
If I hadn't felt the overwhelming wave of fear afterwards I wouldn't have thought this to be a devil's cruse. Probably would've thought it to be Apollo himself.
The face was framed by a shoulder-length shock of creamy, white-blonde hair and burghundy eyes. But the most shocking aspect was that the features themselves would have been all my own if not for the foreign, alien beauty that was etched in them. And then came the voice. Soft and low. Menacing: "Hello, sister."
Surprised at the steel in my voice I probably would've answered, "I am no sister of yours, demon." Despite my brave talk, my knees would've been shaking beneath my skirts.
The shadow would've been by my side in an instant. Blowing sweet breath in my face. Then replying in hauntingly luscious tones, "Oh, aren't you, Rebecca?" I would've turned my face slightly, toward this sweet, sweet scent. Unable to turn away. I wanted more.
And then I would've known.
Shocked I would've asked, "It's you isn't it? You're the stranger who comes to my window at night...I see you...I watch you sometimes. Why do you never come in..." I would've trailed off.
I would've seen the slight lift of his shoulders as he shrugged and then he spoke in that same haunting voice, "You're parents wouldn't like that."
"My parents don't like a lot of things." He would've made me weak, his scent releasing my thoughts like a soft breeze. Weakening my resolve.
But his next words would've snapped me back to reality as he replied: "They definitely will not like what I'm about to do to you." I would've frozen. I knew the train of thought I would follow, as an oblivious human: this man had led me off. I was alone with him in a temple. I knew the stories of pretty maids who disappeared by nightfall at the hands of intriguing strangers.
And still I knew I listened as he went on in a thick, alluring voice, "But they will assume you have run away, as they assumed I did..."
No, this couldn't be...no. I'd refused to believe it. I had envisioned my lost brother as a noble, handsome knight in shining armor who would love and protect me and never harm me. Not this...this monster of an Apollo.
"What is your name, demon?" I'd snapped rudely. He'd tisked, his voice sounding pleasant and mellow as he said, "Manners, sister. We cannot spend eternity together if you will not be a lady. And I rather like you."
"I will never spend an eternity with. Let alone an hour," I said, probably raising my head level with the ground like my mother said a lady ought to. I'd brought my hands to the matching cream sash around my waist. Tightened my fingers around the steel dagger I brought everywhere. I'd never had to use it.
Until now.
He caught my movements with an almost imperceptible nod of his head and remarked, "Dear sister, you are right. I have been naive, and mistaked you for defenseless." He'd come closer as he spoke, and I'd know it was my chance. I was sure that I'd dove straight at him, unsheafing my gleaming dagger. I'd have been wild and furious.
And completely defenseless.
Here my brother would've told me how he'd stopped me mid-lunge. Bit me. Dragged me to the ground. Drained me and told me his name. 'It was worth it little sister,' he would say. 'I did not kill you, but birthed you into a life of light and wonder and strength and beauty'.
But here I created my own details again. My brother would've met me mid-air, his glistening teeth competing my dagger for brilliance. He would've hurled me against the wall; I would've recoiled from the lines of his hard, cold body. I would've felt the aching slice into my skin as he bit me. I would've cried out and he wouldn't have relented. I'd have fallen to the ground, kneeling in front of Apollo's grand temple. He would've knelt beside me. Chillingly cold mouth attached to my neck, draining away my precious, pulsing lifesource in crimson rivers. I probably would've wondered who this strange, brotherly demon was. This nameless, uncouth man. And I would've been in too much unbearable agony to question how he knew what I desired. Too much aching despair to question if he could read minds. And he would've hissed against my skin in a smooth, sinisterly angelic voice, "Aro..."
I raked my fingers through my soft hair, internally cursing myself for leaving my hairbrush in the hotel. Still, the methodical movements were soothing. There was no reason to dwell on such dark happenings. Event though what my brother had done was wrong, it was forgivable. And expected. He was still my brother. My Apollo.
I wandered through the dry, murky backwoods of Texas. I was just passing through, I reassured myself. Soon I would move northward, to a different state with definitely less sunshine. My first stop would be to buy the necessary hairbrush. Maybe something solid and silver and lined with black. Maybe a silvery mirror on the back embedded with rubies. Something extravagant and unique and different and special. Something like...like...
Like the beautiful being resting several yards in front of me. Unmoving and perfectly still. Like it was etched in some ancient marble stone. I darted closer with quick, lithe steps fluidly slipping between towering evergreen trees, all standing sentinel and uniform like solders on guard. As far as my keen eyes could see, they stood around the grand estates. Perfectly trimmed and neat around the large, pearly white mansion.
Moving soundlessly past the evergreens, I sprinted across the five feet of open space to the tall, wrought iron gates surrounding the pool. The pool looked divine, a sparkling azure blue with lacy puffs of clouds rolling pleasantly across and shot through with the pink and gold of a nearing sunrise. I was suddenly timid, hesitantly wrapping my long, pale fingers around the thin steel of a gate post.
Because this was obviously a succubus. And this was the same succubus of my past, my former best friend. I pushed back the memories of our rowdy past as I watched her float lazily on the water's opaque surface. Mesmerized.
The succubus vampire appeared to be only fourteen. But I knew better. Her hair, midnight amber, vividly contrasted with a bright scarlet ribbon tying it back. Her beautiful, dark mane was brushed gently across her shoulders. Enticing. Her incredibly small frame was clad in a matching bright crimson bikini that exposed flawless golden brown skin that was accented by the usual pallor. Her almond shaped eyes were closed and ringed by long, delicate lashes; her full, plump lips were the gorgeous pink of the sunrise or blooming cherry blossom. A delicate chain adorned by a small, silver cross glittered and twinkled around her tiny neck.
Suddenly her eyes flew open and even from here I could see their strange color. They'd changed dramatically since our last encounter . They were now the tawny gold of a lion.
Then I felt a cold, diminutive hand on my shoulder. But there was noone there. If I hadn't known my best friend's talent, I wouldn't have been able to place her with these stange happenings. As she was obviously lying on an inflatable chair drifiting around the pool's surface, twirling a finger idly through the water.
And then I heard the familiar, melodious voice breathe near my ear, "Hello, Becca."