Prelude: Normal

To be honest I never thought much about being what I am. I was always loved by those around me and never thought twice about what existed outside my sheltered world. I had a loving family that extended beyond my mother and father. I never knew what it would be like on the outside, the pain that exists. If I had known I wouldn't have been in such a rush to see what it would be like to be normal.

I am anything but normal.

Chapter 1 Introduction

The tree branches swished as I ran quickly by them. I felt the warm humid air hit my hot skin as I ran from the one that was pursuing me. I could hear his quick footsteps behind me. I knew he was gaining on me. I saw the green trees flash by through the corner of my eyes. I could hear only his footsteps nothing else. The forest was strangely quiet as I ran urgently from him. My heart beat was irregularly fast as I tried to match my footsteps to its rhythm. I smelled him now; his sweet floral scent was so close. He was getting closer. I could feel his cool body approaching mine. He would have me down soon. I should start panicking now but I only smiled.

I was standing one moment running and the next I was on the ground. His beautiful gold eyes stared into mine. His short black hair touched his face gently. His lips were formed into a large smile that exposed all of his beautiful white teeth. His nose was straight and perfect. His jaw and chin were strong and pointy. He held me down by my arms putting his full body weight into his hold on me. He let out a long cool breath that caressed my face. His breath was so sweet smelling; it made my throat burn with desire.

He lowered his face from mine and slowly lowered his lips to my neck. I closed my eyes letting my other senses take over. I could fill his cool breath hover near my pulse where it was beating so quickly. His scent overwhelmed me. He bit down gently but then released me. I felt his body lift from mine. I snapped open my eyes to stare at him. He was standing over me with a look of triumph on his face. He was standing shirtless before me; his muscular torso was emphasized by the sunlight that shined on his pale skin.

He had one our race. I jumped up to my feet and started to laugh. He was so much faster and stronger than me. Even with a head start he had managed to get me on the ground. I walked over to him and pulled out a hundred dollar bill and sighed.

"Here's your stupid money." My voice was laced with bitterness. I handed the bill over to him which made his smile larger. He laughed then started gloating.

"I don't know why you even bother trying to race me but I'm not going to stop you." He grabbed me into his cool arms and started tickling me. I hated it when he did this to me. I couldn't pull away from him because he was too strong. I started laughing hysterically when he reached my most sensitive spots; my stomach and arm pits. He let go of me gently but I continued to laugh. I felt tears coming to my eyes from laughing so hard. But my laughing stopped when I looked over at him.

He was standing so still. The random rays of sunlight bounced against his pale skin making different shapes on his body. He had his back to me; all his muscles in his back were tense. I walked over to the front of him to look at his face. His eyes had turned black suddenly which meant he was thirsty. We'd have to hunt. He had obviously picked up the scent of something that he wanted to hunt; his prey. I reached my hand up to his face; gently placing my fingers on his cool cheek.

Let's go! My thought shouted out to him. He ran off ahead of me in a streak of white light. I followed behind him; keeping up with his fast run. We ran through the forest; jumping over fallen trees, large holes that were in the ground, and little bushes that appeared here and there. His run turned into almost a stalking posture as we approached a small pond. There were a group of deer drinking from there. He started going towards the largest one, the stag, slowly. He hid himself well in the tall grass that we were in the midst of. When we were less than five feet from the deer he jumped into the air and landed on his targets back.

His teeth sank into its neck. He did this effortlessly. I watched in admiration as he took his large prey down. His arms wrapped around the deer's throat as he drank from its body. The stag tried to buck him off but his attempts were futile. The stag's legs began to buckle as he continued to drink from its body. The stag let out a loud scream of suffering. Its face was contorted in pain as his life was being sucked out of him. My eyes shifted back to the one that was on his back. His body was almost wrapped around the stag. I saw blood dripping from the stag's neck which caused my throat to become inflamed. I swallowed hard.

My attention shifted when I saw the other deer run from the death scene. I stiffened up my body and started running after them. The burn in my throat began to throb. The deer weren't too quick for me to catch up to. Instead of killing the next largest one, the doe, I decided to go after a smaller one. I leaped quietly onto the deer's back taking it down with my weight. He didn't even have the chance to fight against me. I sunk my teeth into its furry neck. I felt the salty, sweet taste of the hot fluid hit my tongue. I took in a large gulp that soothed the burn instantly. I heard the deer scream out in pain as I sucked its life out of its body. He uselessly fought against me but the longer I drank the less it fought. I drank until there was nothing left. I lifted myself off of the deer.

I felt stronger and my insides felt hotter. I stared around at my surroundings. Trees dominated this area of the forest. I couldn't see three feet beyond where I stood because there were so many of them. The ground was covered in dead brown leaves. I hardly saw any grass breaking through the cover of them. The sun peaked its way through the breaking in the tree branches. Rays of light touched the ground in hundreds of places but there wasn't a solid piece of lighting anywhere. The lighting was almost a brown color where I stood because trees blocked out the Sun. I stepped over the dead carcass to head back the way I had come. I walked slowly listening to the silence around me. Not even a bird sang. He had scared away all of the life in the forest with his presence. Animals feared him because he was a predator. I wasn't sure if they feared me like him because I wasn't like him; not completely anyway. I walked into the clearing again from a different direction.

I stepped out from behind the trees and saw him swimming in the middle of the pond. I walked closer to the edge of the cool blue water that was before me. My feet scratched against the rocks on the ground causing him to pause. His head snapped in my direction. I waved at him and he waved back. He started swimming back towards me. As he reached the shore I could see his hips and I turned my head quickly. He was nude; which was something I didn't want to see. I walked towards the grass quickly. When I reached the middle of the field I sat down; waiting for him to join me. I felt a cool breeze pass over me; which stood out in this hot wet air. I turned my head up slightly and saw him standing behind me. The sun light hit his wet hair making a halo form on his head. He seemed like an angel standing before me. Water still dripped down his pale skin. His jeans hung loosely from his toned waist. He truly was beautiful. If I was a normal person seeing him like this would've taken my breath away but I knew him too well. His beauty didn't affect me at all.

I was about to stand up next to him but he laid down next to me instead. He looked so comfortable. I decided to lie down next to him. I placed my body close to his so that I could cool down. I hadn't realized until down how hot I was; I was sweating. It didn't take long for his body to cause mine to cool off. My mind began to relax along with my body. I was full and safe. I had no worries here with him by my side. I listened to my heart beat quickly and hard against my ribs. It sounded like the patter of rain during a tough thunderstorm. It was so fast, but my heart beat had always been this way. I focused on the rhythm. I looked up at the clear blue sky. The sun was shining right on top of us. I should be extremely hot right now but lying next to him I felt like I was lying next to a boulder of ice.

His breathing became regular and I realized he had fallen asleep. All of the rhythms around me were making my thoughts fuzzy. My eyes became heavy. I nestled closer to his body. His arm wrapped around my body automatically. I lay my head comfortably between the inside of his arm and chest. I closed my eyes. I saw the pinkish light of the sun against my eyelids; then I saw nothing.