Prologue
If you could change something, what would it be? So many people ask that question, and so many people say 'nothing, because I wouldn't be here'. Wrong answer, well, that's in my opinion anyway. I would change a whole lot of things, all of which have led me to be where I am. You may want to know, where am I in life? Well, I'm not in a good situation. I'm a vampire hunter, well, technically. My friends have trained me to be a hunter since I was nine, rather than being a normal child and going to school, hanging out with friends my age, I have to capture vampires, and bring them here. To my home. My home is rather nice, I must admit, but I don't spend much time in it, all I use my room for is to sleep or to email other hunters online. If there was one thing I could change, it would be being a hunter. I walk walking on the beach at night time, which my sister Stephanie didn't like in the least, but who was she to talk, she sneaks out her window all the time, and I sat down on the sand, looking up at the sky, but that was when everything changed. A vampire was out on the prowl, and now I know it was only one of the infected, a newborn. If it wasn't for my friends, I wouldn't be alive right now. I have many reasons for not wanting to be a hunter, one of which is I simple cannot stand the sight of blood, that is why I only capture the vampires, and only ever weak ones (though there is hardly such a thing). My friends do the killing, they say they do it quickly, to avoid any risks, but all the screams that rupture through the town and my room at night, they say different. My name is Alice Edgley, and I am a vampire hunter.
Chapter One -
You might want to know about my family, right? Well, my sister, is very secretive, and just plain weird at times, I've watched her a lot lately, and all she ever does is hang out with those weird friends of hers. She doesn't know I've seen her sneak out, and neither do our parents, she would be grateful for that. I've seen strange things, like her reflection climb out of the mirror, and dress into her school clothes to walk me to school, I wish I could do that. Stephanie practices things in her room, things a normal person her age wouldn't do, like playing with the shadows in her room with a ring. I tried it on once, it was the coldest thing I had ever touched, almost as cold as ice. Though I probably shouldn't be judging her, as it's her life, and mine is also dangerous. I'm only ten years old, and Steph is twenty-seven now. She is pretty, long dark hair, but sometimes she looks a little... Sad. She comes home with bruises and cuts, but they're gone by the time I see her the next day after school. I want to know more about what's going on with her, but I'm afraid it's going to have to wait. Since most of the time I don't even go to school, and my friends have to persuade the teachers I wasn't there for a reason, or sometimes they get a person who tells the teachers I was at school that day, though the students are a little more complicated. Sometimes I want a normal life, but then I think, I would want the exact opposite if I was normal.
I pull on a pair of loose fitting pants that I can run in, and a tight black shirt with long sleeves, then a jumper over the top. I listen to the window opening in the other room and wait for a while. She jumps down from the window and I hear her land gracefully onto the ground, that's when I watch from my window, that is considerably easier to both climb up and out of. Once I am sure she has gone, I climb out of my window, shutting it almost completely behind me, but I must leave it open a little, or I won't get back through it again. My dad has already left for work, and Steph to do whatever she does during the day, now it's time for me to go train.
Training is incredibly difficult, there is this vampire, his name is Dusk. I was told he was dead by some people, but apparently not. I duck down low as a ball of flame narrowly misses me, I roll and come up on one knee, then stand up quickly and run the other way, attempting a wide circle around my opponent. It is too obvious, and she cuts me off, sending another flame my way, this time it catches the bottom of my pants, setting it alight. I squeal and try to pat out the flame, when that doesn't work, I look up, only to see my opponent isn't in my line of vision. I tear off the bottom of my pants and stomp it into the ground, then spin around. He is there. I'm pushed onto the ground with just enough force to make me cry out, and he shakes his head.
"You see, you would be dead in a fight with a vampire." He says disapprovingly. I look up at him and shove him off.
"I guessed that when I couldn't see you anymore, but a vampire wouldn't be able to set my pants on fire." I say, he nods.
"That is true, but you lost focus due to a little inconvenience. What you did just then, tear the flaming part of your pants off, should have been your first reaction. Always keep eye contact with your opponent."
"I know... I'll try better next time." This makes him smile ever-so-slightly.
"Who said we were finished?" Then he pounces again, I roll out of the way and come up again, scraping my leg on the gravel a little. I go in for the attack once he is close enough, I catch his hand that he was going to use to punch me with, and twist it around his back. He groans a little and tries to pull away, but I hoist myself onto his back and put my other arm around his throat. He smiles.
"Well done." I don't actually strangle him, as he said we will never truly harm one another.
"Thanks." I say, letting go and landing on the ground, I look up at him, he is tall, with blue eyes, a little like my own, but paler, and with short blonde hair.
"Well, I think that was a good session, you go do some cool down stretches and we'll finish off the lesson soon." He says, I nod and bow, looking down at the ground for a moment, then stand up straight and walk out of the graveled area we call the arena. The ground surrounding is smooth cement, and cold too. A shiver crawls up my spine as I sit on it, leaning over and putting my fingers over my toes, leaning forward until I can feel the burn in my leg muscles. Another friend walks over and pats me on the back, gaining my attention, I look up.
"Kat?! What are you doing here?" I ask, jumping up and hugging her, she has been my friend since as long as I can remember. She taught be about vampires and was the one to kill the vampire that attacked me all those years ago. She laughs and hugs me back, then holds me out so she can look at me.
"My, you've gotten pretty haven't you?" She teases. I giggle and shake my head.
"No. You've gotten taller." I say, grinning, she smiles back and hugs me once more, then pulls back.
"You should finish off your session, I have a surprise for you." She says, I nod and go back to my cool down stretches. Kat has always been there for me, she never wanted me to become a hunter, but she didn't have much of a say in it. The person who wanted me to, the person I was just training with, his name is Luis (pronounced, 'Loo-ie'). Luis and Kat used to be very close, in fact, they used to be in love, but Kat began to talk to vampires more, and Luis suspected the worst, now she is hardly allowed near me or any of Luis' friends.
"Thank you!" I almost shout, hugging Kat once again, she laughs.
"You're most welcome, you can try it on when you get home, as of now, you should be arriving back from school." She says, I nod and look at the dress, it is beautiful, I can say Aunt Beryl have it to me, and my parents wouldn't really be able to know the difference. Luis motions for me to come over and I nod, letting go from Kat and walking over.
"Have fun Alice." She says from behind me.
"You too!" I yell back, Luis opens the car door for me and I climb into the front seat. Before I know it I'm back home in Haggard. At the bridge, I see Stephanie and hesitate, she's sitting in the car with a strange looking man.
"Skulduggery Pleasant." Luis growls.