I know, I know! I'm sorry! I promised this way back at Christmas and well… writer's block, work, and lack of organization made the inevitable delay happen.
For those of you who are come to this expecting Edward and Bella, I am sorry, but I cannot continue with those names. The original story was of Danni and Thomas, with Lindsay (the sister), Joey (the brother), Mel (the best friend), Jesse (Thomas's brother), and Ella (Danni's Aunt). You will see why I have to keep these character's names… and I promise you will love them too!
I plan to update about every second week or so, as I am still in the beginning chapters of this book.
I would like to post more than one chapter to get everyone started, but I am looking for a beta and I may still need to do some tweaking to the first couple of chapters to make everything flow nicely… For now, enjoy Chapter one! (Sorry it's so short, and for the errors! … Like I said, I have no beta! AND I promise to make the next one longer!)
THIS IS BOOK TWO! IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS STORY YOU WILL WANT TO READ "SHADOWS" FIRST!
Chapter One
Chase
The sweat poured from my forehead. My heart pumped blood viciously through my veins. My lungs burned with the intake of the cool late autumn air.
I could hear the wind in my hair as I ran; I tasted the moisture that hung in the air. The sparse trees whipped past me in a blur, reaching their bare arms toward me, scratching my arms as I sprinted past them.
I hated this chase, with every fibre of my being, I HATED this chase. I could never seem to catch them; they only got better at avoiding me, and right now they were out here, laughing at me, somewhere.
I couldn't stand the humiliation; it wasn't supposed to be this difficult.
But still I hunted them, impossible a task as it was.
These weren't your ordinary wolves. These were shape shifters. And two of the most powerful I would ever chase, as they only would shift into one form. They were able to read each others thoughts and feel each others feelings. It made what Thomas and I can to look like a simple party trick.
It wasn't fair.
I was angry. The more I ran, the more my blood boiled. I could not cool my aggravation; instead I felt it swell until it overtook my senses.
I knew I had no reason to be THIS annoyed. My brother (the usual cause of my frustration) wasn't even out here with me, so there was no excuse to be this irritated. But still I was, and chasing my overeager (and overly fast) cousins wasn't helping.
I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath. I was close. Alexi was the more daring of the two, always just out of my reach. Slithering and twisting her way around me, just slipping away like water through my fingers. Jenna liked to play it a little safer, keeping her distance with mind games and tricks designed to fool my senses.
"Can't you just make them hold still for two seconds?" I asked my master, through my thoughts.
The laughter that entered my mind was immediate.
"No, but YOU can."
"How can I stop them if I can't find them?"
"They're playing you Danni, work on one and then the other…"
Thomas had a point; my cousins were at least six times more infuriating than the average person. Together it was like there annoyingness multiplied rather than added itself together. Taking them out separately could cut down my work considerably.
I started to block out everything around me. The forest started spinning slowly as I controlled calm waves of focused energy to leave my body. I blocked out the tall, mossy pine trees, and the cool, damp breeze as it whistled through the air. My thoughts touched the silent critters of the forest (that were patiently awaiting the conclusion of our little game) and slowly began to remove them from my mind. As my head filtered everything but my intended targets, I felt a slow burn glow intensely behind my eyes.
Suddenly I was able to lock onto them; and I found myself instantly chasing Alexi.
I followed her in a full out sprint as she skipped across the damp forest. I locked in on her slender but agile form, wielding my rope and lashing it towards her frame as she lurched from tree to tree, stone to stone, path to thicket. My weapon grasped thin air as Alexi continued to twist and spin just out of my reach.
I rushed closer still, hoping to unleash my cord again and again until I caught her. I held up my arm, waiting for my opportunity to strike.
Just as I was about to lash out with my weapon Alexi did the unexpected: she transformed herself in mid sprint. Shards of clothing littered the forest as my cousin's powerful wolf-like body suddenly expanded the distance between us an evaded my capture.
I sighed and let my feet come to a stop. I was exhausted. I'd been chasing Alexi and Jenna for well over an hour, and I suddenly realized how breathless, thirsty and tired I was.
My knees buckled beneath me, and I sat down on the littered floor of the forest in disgust. My hands curled around a fistful of leaves and dirt and I scowled in frustration.
Two oversized wolves slowly prodded into focus in front of me, meeting me with large chocolate-brown globes.
"You win," I said.
I could see the laughter in their eyes.
I hated loosing.
Thomas was suddenly there, pulling me up to my feet. He then turned and spoke the large beasts in front of us.
"Thank you ladies, I hope you're up to trying this again sometime soon? It looks like you wore Danni out…"
The barking laughter of wolves cut Thomas off. I saw him smile in response.
"Yes Jenna, she will be ready. See you both Sunday," Thomas answered a thought that was obviously directed towards him.
With that, the wolf forms of my cousins trotted away and vanished into the shadows of the forest. We would play our little game again soon enough… apparently this Sunday from the sound of it.
A pair of cool lips brushed against my forehead.
"You did well."
"No Thomas, I didn't. I just couldn't focus!" I complained, half exhausted.
"It will take time, but it will come," he pleaded, piercing me with his emerald eyes. "Be patient Danni."
"I don't have patience, Thomas. I am annoyed and frustrated and …"
"Don't forget whinny," he laughed.
I scowled. It was true, for the moment anyway.
"Let me take you home," he spoke as he lifted me into his outstretched arms. I would have protested to walk on my own, but I was way too tired to think about arguing so I simply let my head rest on his cold stony shoulder as I was whisked away back to the comfort of my home. I gently closed my eyes and let Thomas shield me from the cool breeze and chilly night air until my skin responded to the warmth in my bedroom.
I inhaled a breath of stale, tepid air as Thomas sat down on the bed with me perched comfortably on his lap. I gazed sleepily into his beautiful jade eyes and smiled awkwardly. The way he looked at me always made me blush a little.
He squeezed me gently. My body relaxed and I yawned in response.
Thomas gently leaned in to whisper in my ear.
"I'm so jealous," he breathed, as he placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Why?"
"Because, within the hour I will loose you to the world of dreams."
"Huh?"
"I remember what it was like to dream, but only barely. There is only one dream that I remember, of my mother baking in our kitchen. I dreamt that she was making cinnamon bread, it was one of my favourite things that she would make for us. She rarely had the opportunity to bake other than our regular meals so I guess my mind came up with a way to… experience?... it more."
Thomas, my Master, was also a vampire slayer. The vampire in him made it impossible for him to sleep, EVER. Thereby effectively robbing him of any dreams he could ever have.
"Do you remember what it was like to taste it? Food? The cinnamon bread? Anything?"
"My memories of taste and food have been tainted by years of being in this 'undead' body. Human food can be quite repulsive. It has no appeal to me anymore, even though I probably smell it far more intensely than you do."
"So you don't like the smell?"
"No, not really. It's no more appetizing then the smell of gasoline or bleach." Then I noticed a small smirk play across his face. "No wonder I hang around you so much."
I remembered when he told me that I smelled wonderful and… edible.
"I'm appetizing to you?" I questioned, awkwardly.
"Yes," he whispered into my neck, placing kisses along my collar bone. "You are completely, absolutely, and undeniably desirable in every way possible."
I felt myself shiver at the soft tickling sensation his cool lips left along my skin. My eyes automatically closed, and I focused on each touch Thomas placed along my heated neckline. Eventually his kisses slowly trailed up to my jaw, and his mouth softly formed around mine erupting my senses and losing all thought in his touch.
My hands slowly moved up his chest until they latched themselves behind his neck, locking him in my grasp as our kiss slowly deepened. My mind started to involuntarily wrap itself around us, keeping us in a protective yet intimate bubble, making Thomas unable to escape my desperate clutches.
"You're doing it again," the whisper of his thoughts entered my mind.
"I'm sorry," I thought it, but I didn't really mean it. I continued to gently peck at his lips.
Thomas laughed inside his chest. He knew I didn't mean it; I couldn't hide from him inside my head.
"It's completely involuntary," I insisted. "I don't even think about it, it just happens." At least now I was being somewhat honest.
His kisses slowed as he responded to my thoughts.
"Your gifts are tied to your emotions, Danni. It's OK, it just means that things are natural for you. Your mind knows what it wants."
I pried my lips away from him and leaned away ever so slightly to use my own voice. I made my mind release its hold on him.
"So, what your saying is that on some level of conscience I want to keep kissing you, and my mind is working on reflex to not let you go?" I questioned.
"Exactly," Thomas boasted with his usual irresistible smirk.
"I'm surprisingly OK with that," I smiled back, grabbing his shirt around his collar, and pushing him flat on my bed.
"I thought you were tired?" Thomas laughed as I wrestled against him.
"No, I'm not," I insisted, then yawned involuntarily.
"Liar," he said, forcing himself back up into a sitting position, shifting my body like I weighed nothing. I silently wondered if all vampires were as freakishly strong as Thomas. "Bedtime for the slayer."
I huffed. I hated this part of our master/slayer relationship. It made me feel like a child even though I knew that Thomas was only looking out for my best interests. As my Master I HAD to obey him, under almost all circumstances.
"Alright, I'll be right back…," I hesitated, sauntering off my bed and picking up my toiletry bag and pyjamas. "Don't go anywhere."
"Your wish is my command," Thomas saluted with a grin. I rolled my eyes at him as I left my room and marched to the washroom.
This part of our little routine had become familiar over the past two months. Thomas would spend a couple of hours training me each night, then bring me home. Once home I would shower and change in the washroom with Thomas waiting patiently in my bedroom. Oddly enough Thomas had my parent's permission to stay with me; in fact dad was almost insistent that he stay (probably a result of the events of last Thanksgiving; when an overzealous group of shifters tried to kill me and my sister after they kidnapped my brother. Since the ringleader of that group was still at large, my dad was rather happy that I had a round the clock bodyguard.) After I washed up I would go back to my room to find Thomas laying across my bed or sitting on my chair in the corner, usually reading a book or writing down theories that would be too complex for your average professor, let alone the high school student that he pretended to be.
I viciously scrubbed my teeth with my toothbrush and then hopped into the shower. I loved the feel of the hot water over my muscles after an evening of training. Not only did it warm me from the now chilly late November evenings, but it also helped to wash away the stiffness from my overused muscles. Even with Thomas waiting I took my time in the shower.
After I slipped on my oversized flannel pyjamas I gave myself a quick glance in the fogged up mirror, I was smirking at myself with the now ever-present grin on my face. The thought of Thomas did that to me. I then quickly picked up my laundry and skipped back to my room, back to my Master.
"You know, I've been thinking…" he spoke softly as I re-entered my bedroom. "You are going to miss me tomorrow night."
"What?" I thought briefly, then remembered the sleep-over date that Mel and I had. Mel didn't know I was on permanent sleep-over status with my boyfriend, and even though she was my best friend, I had no plans to educate her on that fact. "Hardly, it will be a girls night! No time to think about boys!"
"Are you saying that you're not going to miss me?" Thomas looked at me sheepishly with a raised eyebrow. He was sitting across the room in my rocking chair.
I tried to act nonchalant.
"No, missing would require thinking about you." I paused as I crawled into my bed.
I heard the low growl suddenly beside me.
"I bet I can make you think of me," his tone was low and very, very seductive.
"You CAN, but you WON'T," I blushed and then yawned sleepily.
"Alright," he laughed lightly as I felt his cool lips brush my cheek. "Sleep, Danni."
With his words it only took seconds for darkness to overtake me.