Irish Luck

Reoccurring Nightmare

None of the vampires in the coven were sure how Soren had become a vampire. No one knew of Soren's life before he was turned. Yet, to Soren, it was a reoccurring nightmare that plagued his dreams.

X

801 AD

IRELAND

An insistent hand shook Soren's shoulders, rousing him from sleep. Soren glared blearily up at the blurry figure, his father. "W'do you want?" he demanded sleepily.

"Come on lad ...wake up Soren! We're going to herd the sheep ... wake up boy! Don't go back to sleep! We are going now ...and be quiet. Your mother and brother and sister are still asleep."

"Why do I have to come?" Soren whined, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand.

"You don't want to leave Lilah on her own do you?"

Soren's heart leapt wildly, "L ...Lilah's going to be there?" His father nodded and a kind smile lit up his bearded face.

Lilah and Soren had been best friends since they were young children. Lilah was beautiful and the face of perfection in Soren's eyes. She was tall and willowy with waist-length dark red hair, the color of dying embers on a fire. Her lush green eyes were always bright and flashing mischievously. Even though Soren and Lilah were both twenty-one, they still played like children, racing all over the tumbling green moors.

Soren leapt out of bed and hurriedly pulled on his woolen garments, his heart pounding like thunder in the sky. He, now eager, followed his father through the tiny wooden house and outside. The morning was chilly and Soren trembled slightly. The sun was just rising and the sky was painted pink and purple as the sun rose over the tiny village. The tiny farming village was close-knit. Everybody knew everybody and everyone was friendly. Soren's father worked with Lilah's father, herding sheep in the pastures in the hills near the woods. Together the two men with their sheepdogs spent the mornings herding the sheep while Soren and Lilah frolicked and explored in the woods.

It was a long trek to the pastures and by the time that Soren and his father arrived they were huffing and puffing. Lilah's father along with his three sheepdogs were already there, and as the dogs leapt up at Soren licking around his ears, Lilah's father shook the hand of Soren's father and they clapped each other on the shoulder smiling. Lilah's father Timothy turned to Soren and pulled the excited canines away from him. "Lilah's in the woods," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the woods.

Soren nodded his thanks and cautiously entered the thick woods, knowing that Lilah was probably lurking in the darkness somewhere. Sure enough Soren barely went two paces more when two soft, pale hands closed over his eyes. "Guess who?" a soft female voice mewed in his ears.

"Hmm ...Rachel? Bernadette? Merry? Or is it ... Lilah?!" He yelled out her name and whirled around, playfully pushing her to the ground.

Lilah looked up at him smiling, her green eyes practically radiating mischief. She reached up and pulled Soren to the ground beside her. She laughed a soft, sweet, tinkling laugh and then pouted, her pale lips looked enticing to Soren, "How did you know it was me?"

"Well your father is in the pastures, he said you were in here and I could tell your soft, whispery voice from anywhere."

Lilah giggled and shook her pretty head. Her dark red hair was braided with flowers, which in Soren's opinion made her look even more angelic. She leaned down close to Soren and for a wild moment Soren thought she was going to kiss him. However she whispered in his ear, "Bet you can't catch me!" then, leaping to her feet, she ran away laughing. Swallowing his extreme disappointment Soren gave chase. They spent hours running and weaving through the woods. Soren saw Lilah run into a clearing and followed her.

Lilah was standing in front of a large gnarled tree, looking at something on the ground. Soren crept up behind her and playfully wrapped his arms around her waist and followed her gaze to the ground. "Its a fairy circle," Lilah murmured. "Its beautiful."

A ring of green shamrocks ran around the tree in a wide circle while tiny colorful flowers encircled the tree's thick trunk.

Lilah slipped a small carved claddagh ring off her ring finger and laid it within the circle. She closed her eyes and murmured something indistinguishable under her breath. She opened her eyes then blinked and turned her head to look at Soren, "There. I made my wish."

Soren frowned in bewildered confusion, "Wish?"

Lilah sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head but smiling, "Honestly Soren! Any slower and you'd be going backwards," she pointed to the circle. "You give the fairies a gift and make a wish."

Soren grinned and shook his head, "And?"

" And your wish will come true." Lilah slipped a small white flower out of her hair and passed it to Soren who placed it beside Lilah's ring. He closed his eyes and thought hard,

I wish Lilah could know how I feel about her, he thought desperately. He opened his eyes and looked around for Lilah who had vanished.

"Hide and Seek," Lilah's voice laughed from in the woods. Soren shook his head smiling and began counting loudly to twenty.

"Alright I'm coming now," he announced.

He left the clearing and slowly made his way to a narrow trail, which led Soren to the seaside cave where Lilah always hid. However to his shock the cave was empty. He retreated and turned back up the trail. He headed for the woods when he saw something bright green on the edge of the cliff. It was a four-leaf clover. Perched precariously on the edge of the cliff was the worst possible place for the clover to be. The ground was extremely slippery and if Soren slipped or made a wrong move he would fall into the cold blue ocean below and die. Slowly and carefully Soren edged his way towards the cliff edge; going down the trail towards the cave was dangerous enough and Soren began to sweat with worry but then Lilah's angelic face shone within his mind and he dropped onto his hands and knees and crawled determinedly towards the clover. At last he reached it and carefully plucked it and pocketed it, then he carefully backed away from the cliff's edge. When he was back a safe distance he stood up and let out a shaky breath. He turned around and yelped with surprise when he came face-to-face with Lilah.

Lilah snickered, 'Sorry Soren. Didn't mean to scare you." She playfully pushed him onto the ground and dropped down beside him. Soren grabbed her wrists and held them as he rolled over on top of her. He couldn't hold back his arousal anymore and he leaned in for a kiss when Lilah looked into his eyes and Soren was startled to see tears.

"What's wrong Lilah?" he asked her. He sat up off her and looked at her sympathetically.

Lilah started to sob, "It's... it's ... oh Soren! I've been promised to Samuel! It was his ring that I was wearing."

Soren felt a heart-wrenching ache in his chest and he looked away from Lilah, "You've been promised to my brother?" he asked softly. Soren's heart was shattered and he felt as though the shards were tearing at his body. Samuel was Soren's elder brother.

Lilah nodded and choked out, "Yes. He came over last night and asked my father I would be his wife," Lilah wept louder and pearly tears sprinkled her pink-tinged cheeks. "But I don't want to marry Samuel. I'm sorry but I don't love him. I love –" Lilah's voice was cut off by the sound of her father calling her. Lilah quickly dried the tears and looked at Soren, " I have to go. Please don't tell anyone what I said." She jumped to her feet and called out to her father. She raced off towards the sound of his voice but turned back around to look at Soren. She stumbled back and grabbed his hands, "Meet me here tonight," she said softly.

"What?!" Soren said, gaping at her.

"Meet me here tonight. I have something urgent to tell you. Goodbye." With that she took off into the trees and vanished. Soren stared after her for a minute before he staggered off in the direction Lilah had just ran. When he came out to the pastures he saw that his father was waiting for him. Soren looked around but Lilah and her father were gone.

"Come on lad," said Soren's father clapping him on the shoulder. Soren followed his father but his mind was whirling. What could Lilah possibly want to talk about? Who did she love? Was it ...could it be possible that she loved ... him?

X

Soren waited until his family had gone to bed before he quietly slipped out of his room and quietly slipped out of the house. He was profoundly happy that his family didn't own an excitable sheepdog.

He made his way up to the pasture and saw, on a rock, a lantern already waiting. Grabbing it, Soren made his way through the woods back to the cliff. As he stepped out of the trees he saw Lilah already waiting for him, illuminated by the warm glow of her lantern.

"Soren!" she gasped running forwards. They set their lanterns down and Soren gazed intently at Lilah,

"What's wrong? What did you have to tell me?"

"When I said I didn't love Samuel I was going to tell you who I really loved but I didn't get a chance. I ... I ... I don't ... I have loved this person for ... ever since I've known them but I was frightened to give voice to my feelings but I have to tell them sooner or later."

"Who do you love then?" Soren asked bitterly. Soren's heart was still aching and was unable to take any more pain.

Lilah stepped up in front of him and laid her head on his chest then, she looked up and put her hand on the back of his head, " I love you Soren," she whispered huskily. She brought his mouth down to meet hers. Soren was completely stunned and felt as though he had been hit with a club. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist. Their legs gave way, and with them barely noticing, they fell to the ground. The flickering candles within the lantern threw dark shadows across the soft grass and the lover's intertwined bodies.

X

Soren and Lilah lay side-by-side staring into each other's eyes. Clothed only in the lantern's warm glow they lay as close as their bodies would allow. Soren took Lilah's hand and kissed it and Lilah smiled and ran her hand through Soren's shoulder length black mane. She softly kissed his clean-shaven face and sighed softly, "This is the most perfect moment of my life."

Soren nuzzled her neck and nodded, "That motion is seconded."

Lilah looked deep into his eyes and smiled, "I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

Soren nodded, "I never want to leave you," he whispered. Then he remembered the clover. Reaching for his discarded shirt he gently pulled it out and handed it to Lilah. She was rendered speechless and could only gape at Soren. Then she squealed with delight and, overcome with passion, threw her self on top of him.

The lovers kissed passionately, when, a sudden loud scream rang through the still air. The lovers leapt to their feet in panic and hurriedly reached for their discarded clothes and quickly pulled them on. Lilah was pulling on her woolen dress, when she looked into the woods and screamed. Soren looked up just in time to see a club slam into his skull. The last thing he heard before he blanked out was his lover's petrified cries.

The Vikings were attacking the village.

A/N: My new story! The first ten chapters will be about Soren and Lilah's lives through various time frames and then after that the story will run through Underworld and Underworld Evolution. So Selene, Michael and others will be in this story but in later chapters.

Please read and review. Reviews make me happy and will brighten up my X-mas : D