Chapter 1: Fangs and Misunderstandings

I woke with a start as the elder burst through my door. His white hair, thinning, was smooth as always. His black suit meant business. I just nodded and he left. The clock read 6:45AM. I sighed. So much for sleeping in during the summer.

I made my way over to the bathroom and tripped over a few things. I refused to turn the light on at the time so it was dark and hard to see. Good thing my room wasn't that bad of a mess. When I reached the bathroom, I turned on the light. My own image faced me in the mirror. I smoothed my brown hair. It was slightly curly so it wasn't hard to control. I rubbed the sleep out of my hazel eyes and looked back at the mirror. I had grown to a total of 5 foot 9 inches. I was only an inch from my dad. I shook my head and hurriedly finished with brushing my teeth and hair and getting dressed. I decided to pull on a light blue tightish t-shirt and some dark blue jeans. I was fairly built but I was still pretty slim compared to my comrades.

I finally left my room and found the elders in my living room. "What's going on?" As the next head of the wolf clan I, along with my father, was answered to when things got rusty. And right now, things looked really serious. My father entered the room wearing some running pants and white shirt. With one glance of the whole council in our living room he stood next to me.

"The war has begun." Those words were the only thing we needed to hear. I immediately turned and headed out the door while my father stayed and listened to the rest of the information. I didn't want there to be a war. I didn't see why the werewolf community had to fight so much with the Night Walkers.

I burst into a sprint so I could just get away and be on my own for a bit. At least, that's what I wanted; but people never get what they want all the time right?

As I neared the clearing in the White Forest, I noticed something strange in the air. The scent was sweet, almost like honey and roses. I was drawn to it immediately. I closed my eyes and let my wolf instincts take over. My nose was aroused by the sweet scent and I headed in that direction, with my eyes closed, avoiding every obstacle in my way.

Finally, I came to another clearing about a mile from the one I usually go to relax in. Right out in the open of the clearing was a girl. From where I was standing I could make out her features pretty well. She looked roughly 5 foot 5 inches. Her pitch black, straight hair spread out behind her head. She was definitely slim and she looked about my age, maybe a bit younger. I took a chance and stepped closer. Of course, with my bad luck I step on a twig and she immediately sits up. Crystal blue, almost white in the light, eyes landed on me and she froze. I wonder what she was thinking.

"Who are you?" Her voice broke me out of my train of thought. Her voice was melodious and soft, but commanding, as if she was used to this kind of behavior. Her eyes bore into me. I could practically feel my head set on fire with such an intense stare. "Well?"

I shook my head. "Um, my name is Trevor. May I ask what you're doing here sleeping out in the middle of a forest clearing?" She decided to take a step closer as if to examine me.

"Trevor who?" I blinked. I've never been asked such a question. Usually people recognized me from sight since I was the next leader of the werewolves. Then I realized something: she was avoiding my question. I decided it wasn't important and brushed it off.

"Trevor Bloodfang of the Fang Clan. May I ask your name?" She stopped about two feet away from me, her eyes had gone wide and she smiled…wait…why did she smile?

She held out her hand. "I'm Isabelle Darkthorn, but I ask everyone to call me Izzy. I'm very glad to meet you Trevor Bloodfang." I hesitated but took her hand and shook it. "Do you not know who I am?" She raised her eyebrow. How the hell should I know who she is?!

"Um…no…should I? Are you a neighboring clan?" We dropped hands and she turned her head to the side a bit and snickered. "What?"

She shook her head. "I'm just curious how a werewolf and a vampire, or Night Walker, as your kind call us, have come to the same forest clearing without even realizing it." She gave me a toothy smile. Her smile was perfectly white but the thing that surprised me were the sharp canines that made vampires so dangerous, well that was only part of it.

All of a sudden, realization hit me and I stumbled back falling in the process. I must have landed on a rock or something because my butt hurt after that one. "A Night Walker?!" Again she just stood there and giggled a bit. She stepped forward and held out a hand. I, of course, from reflex, flinched away.

"Do you want some help up or not then? I'm not going to bite if you don't. Oh and just so you know, we can walk around during the day as you can clearly see." For a moment, I hesitated. But, sure enough, I reached up and took her hand. Her skin wasn't cold like I had been told so many times but warm, as if she had been out here for a while. "Their skin is as cold as their hearts and just as dead too." I had always had the impression of vampires being ugly heartless creatures, but she…she was nothing like that. "I'm not what your elders have told you about my kind, am I?" She pulled me up. I just nodded.

"Sorry." Her eyes expressed confusion and she just rolled her eyes after a bit. "What's that for?" She just smiled at me.

"I don't need an apology. I'm very used to others assuming that vampires have 'cold skin that matches their cold, dead hearts and a blood thirst greater than anything you'll ever know'." She had added a bit of an accent in there as if imitating someone. She smiled. "I was always told that werewolves were peaceful creatures who only fought when necessary, a long time ago. But now, I hear the elders telling us all that werewolves are despicable creatures who would like nothing more that to destroy our kind. Is that true?" Her eyes met mine and all I wanted to do was tell her everything and anything.

"That's not true about us. I've been told the same thing about your kind as well. I guess our leaders are trying to fool us just to turn us against each other." I hung my head. "They're trying to fool even me, the next head of the werewolf community. My family has listened to the council for years and they have done nothing but tell us about what they think is what we should do." I looked up to see her motioning me over with her to sit in the clearing.

"I guess we're in the same boat then. You see, I'm the next ruler of the vampire community and every time those idiots try and tell my mother to do something she either listens or screams at them to stop acting like morons and do their job right, depending on the situation. She's even fired all of my tutors so that I won't hear this nonsense about the werewolves and teaches me herself. She is the oldest of all vampire royalty. I am the youngest and supposedly the hope of our community." She shook her head. "I still don't get why she tells me that all the time. Heh…Oh! You should meet her!" She looked right at me again. "She would love to know that I've made friends with a werewolf." I just stared at her.

Those beautiful, bright blue eyes seemed to brush away any doubts I would have had about her. "Fine…but one question."

She smiled and said, "Anything!"

"What do you know about this war? I was just informed about it and I didn't stick around long enough to hear details but…but I don't want this war to happen! But I need to know what's going on from your side." She faltered. It looks like I knew about this...but she didn't...

"I knew I heard the elders talking about a war with my mother...but...I...I had just though it was another one of their lies. I don't believe this!" Her head dropped into her hands and stayed like that for a moment until it shot up. "I'm going to tell you all that I heard. But you have to promise that you'll tell me whether what I heard was true or not, alright?" I nodded and she sat up straight and closed her eyes. "I had finished up with all of my lessons by that time and I had already had lunch...so...I'd say it was after noon. I had wanted to go and see my mom so she could tell me more about her werewolf friends when she was younger. I've always loved listening to her stories." She smiled for a moment. But the smile seemed sad...distant almost. "Anyways, when I came to the door I saw the elders speaking to my mother about something. They were saying that one of our own kind had been slaughtered and the only evidence of his murder was claw marks that resembled that of a wolf. At first my mother didn't bother to listen to such nonsense but they seemed serious. She investigated into it. Pictures were brought to her and even the body was brought into the throne room! It smelled awful. I almost left but then my mother asked for some kind of advice from the elders. They said it was time to end this and attack. An official documenter was brought in and was told to write a letter of war. You have to tell me something Trevor!" She opened her eyes and looked straight at me. I felt afraid for a moment. I wasn't used o people looking at me like that.

"Yes?" I gulped and licked my all of a sudden dry lips. 'Why the heck am I acting like this?' I straightened and looked her in the eyes with as much force as I could at that moment. She flinched.

For a moment, I saw her falter for the second time. "T-tell me if you know of any murders amongst your kind."

I blinked in confusion. That wasn't much of a question...it was more of an order. "There haven't been any murders since ancient times for me. We've always been pretty peaceful. If there were any murders, then I never knew about them." She let out a long breath. How long had she been holding it?

She looked away and at the ground. "I thought as much." I hesitated and then reached out and made her face me.

"What's wrong?" She seemed shocked from the contact. It wasn't like I had tried to hurt her.

She stared in my eyes as if she were searching for something. "I don't think werewolves have become a problem. I think it's something else that is against my kind." All of a sudden she stood up and held out her hand to me. "Come on. Tomorrow meet me here around noon and I'll bring you to meet my mother. She'll be glad to hear this information from you." I took her hand and stood up and nodded.

Then, she did something really unexpected: she hugged me. My body tensed and for a moment I stood there. When she pulled away she was smiling. "Thank you." With that she disappeared. 'Vampires really are fast...' I turned and headed back to my own home. Hopefully, I could get some information from my father.

Hopefully, I could prevent this bloodshed.