Blood and Chocolate: Forsaken
Chapter 1: Prologue
It was around midnight in the mountains of Vermont and the half moon shone brightly in the sky. The mountains here were vast, stretching on for miles and miles, some places as flat as a plain, and others as
steep as a cliff. These variants in terrain failed to slow mother nature, for almost every square inch of the forest, regardless of variables, was littered with trees. Though beautiful and obviously useful to the
people in the small town of Sharon, the town at the base of the mountain, many feared to traverse into its densely packed foliage. Day and night were nearly indistinguishable in this forest. The trees were
so closely grown that, in many areas, the sun was completely obscured by their branches, resulting in vast expanses of pure darkness under these great guardians. Due to these features, most of the citizens of
Sharon chose to stay as far away from the mountain and the forest as possible, which was a blessing to Vivian.
Vivian ran as fast as she could through the forest, feeling the cold wind on her fur and the night air on her face. She ran fast and true, heading for the top of the mountain. She wished to find an opening in the
dense branches so she could see the moon. She knew that it was only half full; she had seen it before she had left for her run, but she wanted to see it in it's true glory, hung in the sky among the stars, and free
form the mechanical lighting of mankind. Her wish was finally granted as she came to a small clearing. By what she could see, she was approximately halfway up the mountain. However, none of that mattered
now, for above her, hovering in the sky as if waiting for her to arrive, was the half moon; surrounded by a sea of stars just as she had imagined it. Without hesitation, she reared her head back and gave a
deep, soul-filled howl to the goddess of the moon. Immediately, Vivian began to feel better. Running through the forest had always been a way for her to alleviate some of her stress. Unfortunately, this time it
wasn't enough.
"This is fucking ridiculous! What the hell is Gabriel thinking, for moon sake?!" Vivian thought over as she paced around the small patch of open space. Vivian and her pack had moved to the small town
of Sharon about a year ago, after the "incident" with Aiden. There had originally been no major dilemmas; the pack had purchased an inn from an older couple, where most of the pack lived as well as
worked, and those who didn't wish to restart the family business quickly found jobs and residential areas within close proximity, in case something were to go wrong again. What the pack had failed to realize
was that they weren't the only ones moving into this area; due to a large number of job opportunities created by a corporate expansion over at a lumber mill in the next town, large quantities of people from
along the east coast had begun to move into the surrounding areas. The town of Sharon was one of htose surrounding areas. Within the first six months of their move, the population had nearly doubled, from
about 2,500 people to about 5,000 people. In the second month, the population increased by another 7,000, for a grand total of approximately 12,000 people. To make matters worse, according to a census
taken along the east coast, approximately 50,000 more people were coming. There was no end to the migration in sight.
At the realization of this, the pack had begun to fall into disarray. Many believed that the pack should move elsewhere due to a fear of exposure. Others, however, believed that this "migration" as many of the
pack referred to it, would eventually cease, and life would return to normal. This continued until Gabriel voiced his opinion in favor of leaving Vermont. It was this belief that had frustrated Vivian the most.
"He has to be kidding, right? I mean, we've only been here a year, and we came from a city with nearly five times the population of this place! At least this place would be a bit more exciting
with more humans around!" Vivian thought as she left the solitude of the clearing as she continued her trek to the peak of the mountain. She had been against the idea of moving the pack since the moment it
had been proposed. The pack had flourished in the short time they had been there, their overall size increasing by about a third. Under the circumstances, the town of Sharon was the best place for them,
despite it being slightly boring. Vivian had never really noticed how much she had actually enjoyed urban life. She was actually looking forward to having a larger population in the town. More people meant a
wilder night life, not to mention the possibility that some of the "immigrants" might be loup garou as well. "If you ask me," she said in her mind, still brooding over the situation, "we should stay here until we
know more about…" her thoughts were quickly disturbed as she noticed a strange scent in the air; it was thick and dense and it burnt her nose as she took it in, trying to identify what its source would be.
"What the hell is this? It reminds me of…" No sooner had the question entered her mind that the answer, and all of its painful memories, came to her. A shock of fear overtook her as she ran, full force
toward the source. The scent was getting stronger, and there was no mistaking it now. She knew this aroma from two years ago in Virginia, during that horrible night. It was a scent she would never forget, the
smell of ash and charcoal, the smell of fire.
"What could have happened? Did one of the townsfolk find out about us? I hope everyone is alright." All of these ideas raced through Vivian's mind, repeating over and over again, like a broken
record. She had been consumed by these thoughts that she had not realized that there was no spreading wildfire, no black smoke rising up towards the heavens, and, most importantly, that she was running
uphill, towards the mountain's summit. After what had felt like hours, which in reality had only been minutes, Vivian stopped running, sliding to a dead stop. However, it wasn't due to lack of a roaring wildfire,
slowly engulfing the forest around her, or the fact that she had reached the top of the mountain range and was now overlooking the horizon, fifty feet from a steep two-hundred foot drop off of a cliff. What had
halted her advance was that, standing at the edge of the cliff, bathed in the moon's radiant glow, was a young man.
Vivian found herself frozen in the young man's presence. It was not love that held her there; she could not even see his face. It was simply something about is being, it was mesmerizing. The air around her was
saturated with the aroma of ash and charcoal, and stronger than it had ever been. Vivian attempted to locate the source and was in shock when she realized that this young man was the origin of the scent; his
entire body was draped in it. Vivian decided to use the moment to try and pinpoint some of the man's physical characteristics. From what she could determine under the moon's pale glow, he was young, no
older than twenty. She noticed that he also had short hair, and was wearing a black cloak- like jacket. The rest of his features were, unfortunately, either hidden, due to his coat, or were indistinguishable, lost
in the blackness of the night.
The young man was staring out at the horizon, or more accurately, at the moon. He stood in it's presence for the longest time before raising his arms from his sides, holding them out horizontally. "Why?" he
said in a soft and shaken voice. Though gentle, Vivian found herself shaken by his simple one-word question. He waited for a moment, as if expecting a response, before he spoke again. The entire time he
spoke, he never moved. "Why have you forsaken us? Why do you continue to punish us for our ancestor's mistakes? Have we not suffered enough?" This time his voice was loud and powerful. He bowed his
head as as if speaking to an elder or a king. When the moon failed to answer his question, the young man took a few steps backwards and began to chuckle. "I see…" he said raising his head to the stars, "I
now clearly see my destiny, and why I was cursed, forsaken…" he suddenly stopped. Vivian had assumed that this was another part of his ritual, until he ran forward and threw himself off of the cliff in front of
him. Once gone, Vivian found herself able to move again. Instinctively, she ran over to the ledge, hoping that the man was still alive. What she saw shocked her.
Though she was hoping the young man was still alive, Vivian knew the chances of survival were slim. She had expected to see a carcass at the bottom of the cliff, sprawled in a strange pose due to the impact
and broken bones. She had expected to see a river of blood from where the sharp rocks below would have impaled him, like a lamb on a roasting spit. She had even expected to see dismembered limbs
strewn about due to the force of the impact with the side of the cliff wall on his way down to the rocky floor currently beneath her. What she saw was nothing. There was nothing below her, no blood, no
appendages, and, strangest of all, no carcass. She quickly scanned the area and found a trail which led to the floor below. The path was steep, too steep for her wolf form to traverse, so she was forced to
revert back to her human form. As she climbed down the path, the wind started to pick up. Vivian allowed the cool night breeze to blow over her body; she was naked, due to her transformation, but she
didn't care. "Ah, that breeze feels so good" she said aloud, allowing herself to become lost in the moment. "You just can't... hey, I can breath again." She took a few deep breaths and sniffed the air around
her. As she had mentioned, the scent of ash and charcoal had completely vanished, which made Vivian slightly uneasy. "Okay, that's just weird. Under normal circumstances, there should be some kind of
residual aroma in the surrounding area, but there's…nothing." Vivian thought about it a little longer, but than remembered what it was she was doing. She continued to follow the path down to the bottom of
the drop-off and quickly scannedthe area for any sign that the man had lived. Unfortunately, even with only the light of the moon illuminating her path, it was clear that the area had not been disturbed for at
least a decade. "Alright, this doesn't make any sense at all. What the hell is going on here?" Vivian yelled at the top of her lungs. She took a deep sigh and decided to head home. She ran as fast as she
possibly could, hoping no other strange occurrences would happen that night. "Wait until I tell Gabriel about this!" Vivian thought as she left the woods behind her and sprinted as fast as she could towards
the inn.