Blood Rose

Prologue

As I stood at the door to my boyfriend's apartment, I just couldn't wait to get inside. It had been an extremely stressful day at work and I just needed him to hold me and help me to relax. Raine had this way about him where all he had to do is touch me and I would practically melt in his arms, and that was exactly what I needed at this point.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside, expecting to see his gorgeous face smirking at me as soon as I walked in. Instead I saw the empty den with the one leather sofa and twin recliner.

Hmm. That's odd. Raine hardly ever moves from the couch. He usually sits there all day doing nothing but watching TV.

I walked farther inside and into the kitchen to see if he was there. Still no sign of him.

Darn. I guess he's not home.

As I started to head for the door to leave I heard a noise that stopped me dead in my tracks.

A moan coming from his bedroom.

I turned around and walked slowly down the hall until I was standing right outside the door to his room. As I stood there staring blankly at the door my breathing sped up and my heart began pounding loudly in my ears. With a shaking hand I reached for the handle and threw open the door.

There. In the middle of his bed, lay Raine in all his naked glory along with three equally naked whores. As the door hit the wall all four heads whipped around to face my direction. As the realization of what was going on hit me I couldn't breath. I looked at Raine and he stared back at me with such icy hate filled eyes that I had to look away.

Before I realized what was happening I was running out of the apartment and down the stairs to the lobby. As I passed by the front desk the manager said something to me but I was too lost to understand. I ran out of the building and to my car. With a shaking hand I shoved the key into the ignition and put my foot on the gas. I set off down the road not really knowing where I was going. All I knew was that I just had to get away. Away from the moans. Away from the pain. Away from the chilling look of hatred in Raine's eyes that shook me to the core.

As the shock of what I had seen finally began to wear off I found myself crying so violently that I could hardly see the road. I whipped at my eyes furiously to clear my vision. As I whipped my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time I saw a dark fuzzy figure up ahead. I blinked a few more times trying to clear away the remaining tears and the figure became clearer. I gasped in horror. A deer in the middle of the road not more than thirty feet in front of me. As I swerved to the right to avoid it I lost control of the wheel and went head on into a tree. Then nothing.

It's so cold. Why is it so cold?

"Wake up little one. You can't lie here all night."

As I heard the strange voice, I felt compelled to obey its command. With effort I finally manage to open my eyes to see the stranger hovering above me. His face was startlingly beautiful. His black hair was a striking contrast to his pale skin. His jaw perfectly chiseled and his cheek bones set high. I looked into violet eyes which sparkled with mischief that matched his playful ruby lipped smile.

Who the heck is this guy? And where the hell am I?

As if he could read my mind he smiled slightly and stoked my hair.

"I am Demetry and you are Destiny Marie Hart. Now that we have the introductions out of the way I need to ask you a question that may change your life as you know it forever."

How does this guy know who I am? What does he want to know?

"Destiny we do not have time for silly questions. Now answer me. Do you want to live?"

My mind went blank with fear.

"Wh-what kind of question is that?"

He smiled and his eyes showed amusement.

"Well I would think it would be a fairly simple question. Do you want to live or die? You should probably make your decision quickly though, you don't have much time."

"What do you mean I don't have much time? Who are you and what do you want from me?"

"I, my dear, am someone who has the power to grant you the gift of life. You were in a terrible accident. As we speak the life slowly drains from your body and it is up to you as to whether I stop it from draining completely."

A terrible accident? I thought back to my last memories before I blacked out and suddenly images of the deer and the tree came rushing back to me. Oh god. I looked up at the strange man before me.

"Pl-please, I don't want to die. Not yet."

He smiled an almost gentle smile and lent down to my neck. I heard him hum a soothing melody that had me relaxed before a sudden pain like needles caused my neck to burn and my skin to crawl. Slowly I sank back down into the hazy comfortable darkness. Then, everything went black.