Chapter One:
'It takes a few seconds to say hello but it takes forever to say goodbye.' That quote has been in the family for generations but I never really thought anything of it, well, until that day.
I was in the hospital just sitting in a blue chair waiting. I was about ten and my mother was lying in bed on the edge of death. I was sure every second that passed was an inch closer to death and it frightened me greatly. I had a great understanding as a child when I was spoke to about life and death and I am still aware of all of those things that I was told. My father was silently sitting in the seat beside me. I could feel how tense he was and as hard as he tried to hide it I could see tears in his eyes, he knew what was going to happen and that there was no way of avoiding it. My mother was dying. My Aunt Rita and Uncle Jon were there as well, all of us, silent. We sat just outside of my mother's room where await her death. We were sitting silently looking in each other's eyes trying to find something to talk about that would take mom off our minds. All of a sudden there was a loud long beep and seconds later doctors were running in and out of her room. All of us stood up and ran into her room at the same time. As I watched the doctors try to shock her to life tears filled my eyes and in a matter of five seconds everything was blurry. My blue eyes seemed even more crystal-like as water filled them. My long dark brown hair was getting in my face as I rubbed away the tears.
"MOM!" I screamed as my father held me back. I tried to get to my mother, beckoning her to wake and play with me. Even though I denied it I knew she was gone. All of the doctors were clearing the room sorrowfully. I broke my father's strong grip and ran over to my mother who was lying peacefully in her bed. I ran over to her and grabbed her hand, it was ice cold. "Mom! Please mom! Wake up! Wake up and play with me!" I screamed putting on a shaken smile. When I saw she wasn't moving or even getting warmer I crouched down still grasping her hand and cried silently. I was crying, dying inside, hoping, when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I broke my grip from my mother to rub my eyes then I looked up expecting it to be my father but it wasn't. Staring down at me was a doctor, I had no idea why he had still been there but I didn't care. I stood up and stared up at him as tears flooded my eyes.
After what seemed my eternity the doctor picked me up and held me in his arms like my mother had done. I lost it, I sobbed into the doctors' white jacket and he tightened his grip. I knew at that time my father had looked back with red eyes and saw me sobbing into the doctor's shoulder. I felt like we were walking but I ignored it as I kept crying.
"I'm just going to give her something that will comfort her." I heard the doctor say to my father.
The doctor walked around the hospital until I had calmed down enough to speak to him. We were in his office thing and he sat me down on a little black couch and handed me a tissue. I whipped my eyes and then looked straight at him. He was on one of those twisting chairs and he was sitting across from me about a foot away.
"Umn…who are you?" I asked.
"Well formal aren't we?" He paused then showed a small smirk. He was very handsome and I blushed when he smirked at me. He chuckled under his breath. "Anyway, my name is Gabriel. I was your mothers' doctor." He paused once again and his smirk vanished. "You really don't know do you?" He stated, than asked.
"Know what?" I asked wanting to see that smirk.
He hesitated which worried me. He sighed, "Stephanie." He said and I felt him staring at my neck. I immediately knew what he meant.
Before he could say anything I started. "I know what you are." I said and that stunned him. "I know a lot about your kind, I'm just not sure why you chose to talk to me about this." He gave me a smirk again and this time I blushed even more of which he could see perfectly.
"So you know about me do you? And what do you mean by 'kind'?" He asked.
"To answer your first question yes I do and your second question," I said but stopped. As much as I loved vampires I never really thought about actually meeting one. "You are a vampire are you not?" I asked.
"You really are smart." He teased. "But yes I am, and I also know who you are, I've known you your whole life. I've looked over you since you were born. I promised myself that when your mother died that I should find the courage to explain all of this to you." He said.
"Wait, I understand all of that but… why me?" I asked a little confused. I felt a tingle in my stomach which made me blush.
He got up from his chair and came closer to me. He was right next to my ear; I could feel his warm breath. "Stay quiet." He said then moved my hair away and undid my pink button up dress.
I blushed like crazy and my head spun. Then I felt my sleeve slide down my arm to show my bare neck. I then felt his cold lips on my neck, then his teeth. I cringed a little at first and grabbed a hold of his shirt. It hurt but the pain gradually soothed as I felt as if I were falling.
"Gabriel." I managed to sigh which made him look up and realize what he was doing and how much blood he had taken.
"Sorry, I didn't realize." He said apologetically.
I grabbed my neck where he had inserted his fangs, it was numb.
He leaned down once again.
"Wait, you're not going to 'bite' me again are you?!" I asked and blushed madly.
He chuckled sweetly. His lips were only a few centimeters away from mine and I blushed even more as the thought ran through my mind. "No, I'm going to put you to sleep." He said.
"Wait what do-"I said but was cut off as a pair of cold lips pressed against mine. I passed out and after that I woke up in my bedroom and never saw him again.
After a month of suffering from the ddeath of my mother my father committed suicide shooting himself in the head and I was forced to live with my aunt. I can't say living with my aunt and uncle was necessarily a bad thing. But we constantly moved because my uncle was the head officer in the police force and when I started high school we moved to Coventry and so did my friend Sam. We promised that if either of us moved the other would follow and her parents and my 'guardians' agreed that we shouldn't be separated. And now I am currently a member of Coventry High a sophomore to be exact.
It was six o' clock p.m. and I was at the park sitting on a swing. Much time has passed since my father's death and within that time I stopped talking. When I was in school never talked to anyone but my grades were above average. I have a few friends that I sometimes talk to. It was fall and I wore my school uniform. It was a long sleeve and skirt. It was gray, I had a bow tie thing that was tied to my chest, and it was a black bow. I had a gray hat with white bows on the side. My long dark brown hair was waving in the wind. I looked down at my cell phone. My aunt thought that if I had a cell phone I would start talking again. It was gray with black lining. I had a 'chococat' charm that I attached to the antenna.
I looked down just listening to the wind and the season of fall just beginning. I guess I was expecting my friend Sam to call right about now. She was my only friend when I first started school and she has been ever since. She was the one who comforted me when we had recess and I would sit on the swing and just cry over anything. I was such a crybaby when I was younger. Now all I do is ignore all of my emotions so I don't have to feel that pain anymore. But, sometimes the pain leaks through. When I do feel the pain and can't block it out, well I cause myself pain to rid the emotional pain. I looked at my cell phone, the time read '6:12 P.M'. I was about to get up and run back to my house. I didn't have track or Tai Kwan do practice so I was just killing time sitting on the swing. I didn't have to be home until seven, but I figured that if I stayed all I would be doing is wasting time. I also had the report on Rome that I had to do for Mr. Valencort's history class that was due tomorrow. I had no problem remembering anything, I can still remember everything that I had learned and what happened since age five. I remember every trip to the hospital with my dad to see how my mother was doing. I already knew everything I needed to know about Rome so all there was to do was to type it out and press print. I was the top student in the school, all of my teachers wanted me to move up a few grades but I wanted to stay with Sam and my own grade. For some odd reason I can remember everything, I am unable to forget anything now. It's only natural for me to go with what happens in my everyday life.
"Why are you sitting out here all alone?" I heard a voice say from in front of me. I looked up slowly. Before me was a boy about my age maybe a little older. He like me wore all black. He had a black short sleeve shirt and pants. He had dark short brown hair with medium length bangs that were parted on either side of his face and light brown eyes that when in light looks like they were yellow. As I looked at this mysterious boy I had the feeling as if I had seen him somewhere before but couldn't remember.
I hesitated to answer but then I opened my mouth and answered him in a soft gentle voice. "I was just sitting here thinking."
He walked over to the swing next to mine and he sat down.
"I'm Jake Connor. I just moved here a few days ago." He looked around the street lights were dimly lit. "It's quiet around here." He said bringing his attention back to me. "So, what's your name?" He asked with a kind smile.
I looked at him unemotionally. He was just like everyone else, talkative not knowing the true meaning of pain. I shrugged off the sudden hate for him, I didn't even know this boy ten minutes ago and yet he's talking to me as if we've known each other for our whole lives. "Stephanie Ayame." I said. My voice was so soft that it sounded like it was a whisper that was fading in the silence.
He looked straight into my eyes. His eyes seemed to show that he was a little on edge of my name, as if he had heard it before and knew what danger within me that has only been dormant eager to awaken. "Steph, cool name." He said. His voice sounded a little shaky at times.
"I better get going; my aunt is probably waiting for me." I said standing up. My hair was down to the end of my rib cage and curled at the bottom. It waved in the air as I stood up. My skirt slowly flapped around playfully from the cool air brushing against it lightly. I looked back over my shoulder to look at Jake.
"Well…latter then." He said to me.
I looked back and walked home. As I walked through the park and my neighborhood I thought about that boy, Jake.
'Why had I gotten the feeling as if I had seen him before?' I thought to myself. When I reached my house it was six, fifty-eight. I opened the door and walked in. Before I stepped on the hardwood floor I took my shoes off and placed them by my aunts. My uncle wasn't home yet, so I assumed he was just working late. He was the head of the police force and he often came home late. I stepped onto the hardwood floor and walked into the kitchen.
My aunt was chopping some carrots and lettuce, probably for my uncle to have when he got back from work. "Hi sweetie. Welcome home!" My aunt said to me then turned around to look at me. "How was school? Did anything interesting happen today?" She asked cheerfully. I stood there looking at her unemotionally.
"No…not really…nothing to talk about." I said softly then took a step to go up to my room when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me but no one was there.
"Oh, Stephanie, you say the same thing every day." My aunt said putting her hands on her waist. She has shoulder length blond hair and she had a baby blue dress on with her perfectly white apron on. She sighed as I looked over at her. "So, do you want anything to eat?" She asked.
"No thanks, I'm not that hungry." I said then resumed on up the stairs to my room. I walked into my room and opened my window and sat down on my window seat. I looked at the newly starlit sky and the awakening moon. I looked over at my clean organized desk. There my computer laid dormant eager to awaken and be used. I stood up and walked over to my computer very calmly. I sat down in my black chair and turned my computer on. It only took a few minutes to wake completely. I opened up 'Microsoft Word' and started typing my report. A few minutes had gone by and I was in the middle of typing my report when I felt a small warm draft and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I felt as if someone was watching me. I looked at my arms and softly traced down my arm with my hand. I had goosebumps all over my arm. I looked up and around my room then I realized the window was still open. I stood up and closed the window and locked it shut. I held my arms as I got that uneasy feeling the feeling you get when you watch a scary movie in the darkness of the night. I scanned the room once again then resumed my attention to the computer. As I typed I felt a hand on my shoulder once again. I turned around thinking it was my aunt but as I looked I saw no one there. I felt two hands on both of my shoulders then I felt soft ice cold breath brush up against my ear.
"You will be awakened soon….my princess." I heard this guy say softly. It was a familiar voice; I wouldn't be able to forget his voice…ever. It was the voice of the vampire Gabriel. I turned to speak to him and then everything went black.