PREQUEL:MARKED (DEC.6.2011)
People never expected much from kids who came from the streets in rags. I was lucky I
had made it this far. For the past three years of my life I lived alone on the streets, working
hard in school only to realize it would never make a difference. I was abandoned and I would
always be unwanted. Today was no different, but it would be made official. I had given up on
life. I kept my gaze to the ground and head down as I prepared to walk into the warm school
from the November chill that ran right through my thin layers of clothes to my bones, aged far
beyond my 16 years.
Finally looking up for the first time, I noticed everyone was staring at me. I was the
dirty kid who didn't belong. I had no friends, and no place here. I stifled a nasty cough I'd
contracted a few days earlier and carried on to the guidance counselor's office, my final
destination in my educational career, or so I thought.
Kids stared and wrinkled their noses at me. Typical shallow teenagers. I turned quickly
down the next hall and ran smack into my most favorite person on earth. Principal Newland,
or as everyone else referred to as Hall Monitor Newland. Not that he knew that.
"Ha-, I mean Mr. Newland," I stuttered, "I was just-" He looked down on me with his
beady eyes as he dabbed sweat from his wrinkled brow. His triple chin jiggled as much as his
beer belly when he spoke.
"You were just going to class, Miss Havenport. Do not make excuses." He spat right into
my eye, leaving me to try not to retch as his rank jelly-doughnut-and-over-sweet-coffee breath
swathed over me and lingered in my senses. I swear I could see it.
I decided enough was enough. I wasn't going to take anybody's bullshit. I had been
stripped of my home and my family but nobody was going to strip me of my dignity.
"Actually, Miss Davenport was just going to check out of here. Permanently. So if you'd
excuse me, I would like to get the hell out of here." I emphasized as I pushed past his rolls of
fat.
Finally I was free. One more door to push through and I was back out in the cold,
crisp, winter air. Before I could lay a hand on the bar, a commanding voice crackled with
electricity between us. I whirled around to see a vampyre Tracker, calling my name.
"Lyra Davenport! Night has chosen thee. Thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee;
hearken to Her sweet voice, your destiny awaits you at the Skye House of Night!" The tracker
pointed at me with one long, pale, shaking finger and my forehead instantly blossomed into
pain. It was as if someone had taken a hot branding iron to my forehead. When I finally
opened my eyes and shook my matted curls out of my face and saw the glowing Mark on my
grubby forehead in the reflection of the door's window.
Out of all the pain and the glare of the now shining sun, I grinned madly. This was the
jump-start I needed-no, it wasn't a jump-start, it was a new life. I, Lyra Davenport, was no
longer human, but not yet a vampyre. I was special and Marked as the Goddess Nyx's
daughter.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey everyone. This is Talison. I hope you liked the start of Lyra's journey into becoming a
vampyre! If you would like more, R&R! A few housekeeping things before I leave you to
other stories or on to the next chapter. You can use this story, but I own it, and you must
always state so. I will know if someone has used my story and not given the rightful
ownership. Also, I will be posting as I have the time to proofread and edit, as well as
how fast I produce with writer's block. I am in school and usually busy but I will
write when I can. I should be able to put out a nice long chapter a week. Anyway, you know
what to do!