Chapter 1
Dawn
I looked down at Cami's lifeless form. I felt the hot tears slide down my cheeks. Her glassy eyes met mine and I felt my heart ache. Her hand was still warm in mine, but was slowly going cold as the Angel of Death lured her away. The Plague was the cause of all this.
That's what was happening in this world of 1665 London. The Plague was claiming many lives, including the lives of my entire family. It fist affected my grandfather. Then it spread to my father, mother, my two brothers, and finally Cami.
The first to die was my father. My brothers followed him just days later. Then my grandfather died slowly and painfully next. My mother followed him just hours later. Her words hung guiltily in my head.
"Take care of your sister. Don't let her meet the same fate as me," was what she told me.
By this time, however, our home was already locked up and sealed so that no one else would have to get the sickness. There was no way I could go out and get medicine for my sister. Not like that would have done any good. All the doctors had fled with the rich, afraid to contract the Plague themselves.
A knock sounded on the door. I went over and opened it as much as I could. I was greeted by a man in a thick leather cloak. He wore a mask with a long beak made of the same thick leather. I knew what he was: this was one of the Plague doctors.
Plague doctors were brave people who would go to the homes of the plagued and try and cure them. They were, however, not real doctors but quacks (as they were called). This man had come to give me small hope that he could do something for my sister, but he was far too late.
"What do you want?" I spat hotly at him.
"I've come to heal the plagued," he said, voice muffled by the mask.
I snorted and let him peak through the crack in the door at my sister. I heard him sigh sadly as he shook his head back and forth. He turned to the door-watcher and asked to get in to retrieve the dead. I stood back as the door swung open and the grave diggers came in. I watched sadly as they loaded Cami onto a cart and wheel her away.
"Do you have the Plague miss?" the Plague doctor inquired.
"What does it matter now?" I retorted. "My family is all dead. I have nothing left to live for."
"What is your name, miss?" he asked.
"It's Dawn," I answered quietly. "Dawn Caldwell."
He was silent for awhile. Then, he reached up and pulled off his mask, revealing a face I would not expect a Plague doctor to have. His face was as beautiful as an angel's, yet as sinful as a demon's. His long black hair spilled out from beneath the hat he wore. His eyes were what got me the most. They were an icy-red with black speckles all through them.
"My name is Adien," he told me as he kneeled in front of me.
Adien reached out and took my hand in his. He reached up and pulled down the scarf I had around my neck. The oozing sore stung as the cool air hit it. I flinched and looked down at the ground. Adien stared up at me with great concern.
"You have the Plague," he breathed.
"I've had it for awhile now," I replied my voice small.
Adien stood and looked down at me. He stayed like that for a few moments before saying something.
"What would you say if I told you I could help you?" he asked.
"Then I'd ask you how," I answered weakly.
He stared down at me for what seemed like hours. Finally, he smiled reveling sharp, pointed fangs.
"Tell me," he said, "do you believe in vampires?"
With that he grabbed me and sank his teeth into the flesh of my right shoulder. I couldn't scream out or anything. I was paralyzed in fear. I felt myself growing weak as Adien sucked out my blood and soul.
After a few more moments, Adien lifted his lips off my shoulder and lowered them to his wrist. He bit down and brought it up to my mouth. I pressed my lips to the bite wound and drank deeply. Once he pulled his wrist away, I fell forward into his arms, plunging into eternal darkness.