Prologue

The small group of around six walked out of the warm, homely pizza parlour and into the cold air of the chilly New York street, fanning the smell of perfectly cooked pizza towards their observer. As the scent drifted up his nostrils he instantaneously covered them as his stomach moaned – I need to eat he thought , wistfully staring at the bright red and yellow restaurant, sighing, he stepped out of cover and began to whistle.

That got their attention.

They all turned and stared at the man who had just emanated from the shadows of the dark and dank street. He was tall – around six feet or so- had dark brown hair, cocoa eyes to match, and was wearing a simple jeans and t-shirt ensemble. He was astoundingly attractive; and he acted as if he knew it.

He began whistling again, this time a tune "The dead can't testify." For a young man of only seventeen the boy had a voice deeper than most fully grown men, yet it was soft like marshmallow fluff to the ears and spoken with such distaste dripping from every word that group barely noticed others materialising around them. They were trapped; yet they did not realise. Stupid rich kids the boy thought bitterly

"Just tell them already!" A girl opposite the boy in the circle shouted, making the enclosed friends aware –and even more wary- of the boys presence. The boy looked briefly at the girl an amused look appearing upon his face and then washing away the moment he laid his eyes back upon the group and stepped forward.

"My name is Lucius and these are my friends" he spread his arm wide and gestured to those encompassing him. "I, we have come here to-"Lucius began. "Please don't kill us" a girl of the group begged. She had soft, brown hair that fell to her waist and she looked intriguingly similar to Lucius, whom was now staring at her coolly. He scoffed and a smirked began to etch itself upon his face. "I am not here to kill you Isabella, as you well know. I have come here to get a message to a friend." If she's still alive, he added silently, wishing he'd at least seen her at least once whilst doing his observational checks of the group.

Isabella glared at him and her friends followed suit, trying –and failing- to replicate the poisonous contempt. They slowly started to form an outward facing circle. They're gonna fight, Lucius thought grimly, and looking at their stances confirmed their terrible idea.

"Please, we don't need to fight." He spoke as if trying to convince himself yet the sheer shock of what he'd said froze even his friends into place. "We only wish for a favour, one that could help all of you as much it could us. It is a harmless request." The astonishment in his associates did not cease, it increased tenfold and was joined by curiosity.

Lucius never told them what the job was. It was for the best he soundlessly said, they could not hear him, and nor would he want them to. He did this for her and he knew that he had spies in his squad, ones that would kill her if they got the chance. I won't let that happen, ever.

All of the inner circle turned to Lucius, then at Isabella and nodded their conformation. Despite the challenging look on her face, his sister conceded.

"Okay, what is it?" She said stepping forward.

Chapter One

*Lexi*

It was lunch on Tuesday which meant tacos. Shells of mystery, fantastic Lexi thought. She sank back against the wall with a disgusted look on her face.

"-Lexi?" She turned instinctively at her all-to-familiar nickname. The speaker suddenly came into view. Calvin. He was a distance away but she would always recognise his tall, muscular body that perfectly suited his spiky ginger hair and emerald eyes. I'll always remember those eyes; they were always so kind Lexi gripped tightly to the memory of the past, before everything changed. Her face became pale as she remembered why he had left her. He was supposed to be my friend but he walked away; leaving me with no one. Why does everyone leave? Suddenly her anger flared as she realised they were walking towards her.

"You're Lexi right?" Lexi tilted her head up and acknowledged Helen. Such a pretty girl Lexi thought shame about the makeup though, she added nastily. Helen was around 5'5 and had platinum blonde hair to accompany her sea water blue eyes, she was also flawless, much like all other vampires - especially Lamia– although her makeup was so thick, it seemed as if she had taken 'How to apply like BoBo' lessons.

"Hello" somebody snapped their fingers Isabella, Lexi thought grudgingly.

"Maybe a year ago yeah" Lexi hated too be reminded of the past and seeing a female replica of Lucius everyday didn't help, so she had adapted to peaceful ignorance but now Lexi instinctively knew something was wrong.

"My brother wished us to send you a message. He told us to-" Isabella began.

"Not here" Lexi chastised "my house after school, I'll text you the address" she bargained .

"Fine, but you don't have my number" she replied meekly.

"I do "

"How?" A worried look passed onto her face.

"You've seriously forgotten me already Isa?" A smirk couldn't helped but appear upon Lexi's face when she remembered how much time she'd spent braiding Isa's hair when she was younger; Isa was three years younger but she was forced to age faster. The smirked disappeared and was replaced by a sad, knowing smile that Lexi shook off.

Lexi stood and walked away, knowing that if she stayed any longer she would go back to that night.

She felt their presence as soon as she opened the door. Using vampire speed she ran into the dining room, and hugged each one as hard as she could. "Nice to see you to kiddo" her uncle ash said as he grabbed her and squeezed her as tightly as he could without hurting her and picked her up - slightly shaking her. "Uncle Ash" She whined , trying to detach herself from him. Eventually he conceded – earning him a kick from Lexi "I like my feet to stay on the ground and aunt Mare told me to do it every time you do something wrong."

"Of course she did" was all Ash could say before everyone burst into fits of laughter.