Chapter One: Marked
It had been a regular day at my high school as I walked down the hall with my best friend Sam, talking about our English assignment. The final bell had just rang and we were getting ready to go to Sam's house for a sleepover when we were stopped. The man standing in front of us was obviously not human, and the crescent mark and additional tattooing proved that. He was a vampyre, and a tracker at that. Sam stared at him in horror as I just looked shocked. When he pointed at Sam my expression also changed to shock. The hall had about six other people in it and they were all staring wide eyed at her. I could tell she wanted to bolt but she was frozen there staring at him.
"Samantha Howl!" He started.
"No!" I cried out, stepping in front of her as she coward behind me. Sam didn't deserve this and I knew she didn't want the life that came with being marked. Sam was a good person and her life was on a good path. Becoming a vampyre would ruin everything she had worked for. I on the other hand had less to lose. Unlike Sam I had divorced parents, with one sibling and was going through school as a normal student while Sam was in honors classes and getting good grades. She couldn't become a vampyre and lose everything.
"No!" I repeated. "Take me instead!" The tracker regarded me as everyone stared at me in shock.
"You cannot change who the night chooses." He said coldly.
"Please! Take me instead. Sam has worked too hard! Please let her continue with the life she has worked for!"
"I'm sorry, child. I cannot change it either." He said.
But I can, came a voice in my head. Suddenly I got dizzy and my vision started going black. I was pulled into darkness and I felt cold. Suddenly I felt light, warmth coming towards me. There was a woman standing in front of me, smiling and I gasped at the sight of her. Later when I tried to remember what she looked like I couldn't find the words. All I remembered was that she was beautiful.
"Who are you?" I asked in awe. Her smile widened and she came a bit closer.
"I am Nyx, the Goddess of the Night and of the vampyres." She said in a magical voice. My eyes widened as I took this in and I realized what that meant.
"Please don't take my friend Sam!" I begged her. "She's worked too hard for the life she has now and the one I know she will have! Please spare her!" Nyx smiled sadly.
"I cannot take away a mark once it has been given. Someone must be marked."
"Then take me instead! Please!"
"You care for her deeply, don't you my child?"
"Yes. She is my best friend. One of the only people who understands me. She's like my sister. I would give anything for her." Nyx thought for a moment before smiling.
"Fair enough, child. You have a strong caring heart. Use it well." She smiled and kissed my forehead. As soon as her lips touched my forehead I felt a jolt of pain and shut my eyes tightly though it. When it finally quit hurting I opened my eyes back to school, Sam holding me up and the tracker regarding me.
"Very well. Marie Ann Smith. 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 House of Night!" And with that he was gone. I looked up at Sam who was staring at me with her huge green eyes. I thought that maybe she would let go of me and run but she helped me stand up. I smiled sheepishly at her before noticing amazement in her eyes.
"Marie. Oh my god. You should see your mark. It's incredible. I've never seen one like it before." She said in awe. "I can't believe you would do something like this for me. You are the greatest friend in the world! We are going to have to keep in touch when you leave!"
She smiled and hugged me. I stood there in shock for a minute before smiling and hugging her back. She then let go of me and helped me pick up my things.
"This is so amazing Marie. I mean you were just telling me the other day how you wish your life was different. This is like your chance! Thank you so much! I can't believe you did that! No one has ever done anything like that before! I bet you are the first!"
I smiled as we walked out of the school before noticing other people staring at me. They stared at my forehead and I saw a mixture of emotions. I saw fear, anger and disgusted but I also saw a small amount of amazement and awe. I could almost feel all the emotions rolling off of everyone and they hit me hard. I doubled over as all the emotions attacked me. Sam stopped and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Marie? Are you ok? What's wrong?" she asked, her panic not helping much. It took me several minutes and after several people left I managed to regain control of myself.
"I'm fine." I said, having no idea what had just happened. I stayed quiet the rest of the way as Sam talked. Finally we were out of the school and we started heading down the road. I stopped when we reached the cross roads.
"Well come on." Sam said, pointing towards her house. I bit my lip and sighed.
"I think I should go home and grab some stuff before I go to…" I stopped and bit my lip again. Sam nodded in understanding.
"You want me to go with you? My mom could give you a ride up there."
I thought about it for a minute. I was so happy that Sam hadn't run away from me but I could see her looking at me with awe and could almost feel it too. It was a little uncomfortable and strange but at the same time I didn't mind having a friend with me. At least she hadn't reacted in disgust and fear as so many others did.
"Ok. That sounds good." We headed towards my house and Sam went off on her talking spree again. She hadn't talked this much in awhile but it was nice to have something familiar in all this weirdness. We walked to my house, her excitement and awe bubbling in me. I started thinking how weird it was that it seemed that I could literally feel her emotions. After a minute, when she looked at me and awe and a small flash of fear went through me I suddenly realized I was. It confused me and amazed me at the same time. I thought back to when I had walked through the school and felt all those emotions. I realized that I literally had. I thought about this and wondered how it was possible. I was thinking about it so deeply that I almost didn't realize it when we got to my house.
"Marie?" Sam said, pulling me back to this world. I looked up and saw my house, sighing.
"Ok. Let's get this over with." I said before walking up the steps into our small two story three bedroom house. I walked inside, trying to be quiet and Sam followed close behind. I could feel my mother's drunken numbness from the living room but didn't feel anything from my brother. I guess he wasn't home. We tried to pass the living room without my mother noticing but we had no such luck. She stood up just as we were almost out. We both froze and looked at her. She stared right back at me, eyes widening in surprise before she recognized what was on my forehead. I felt her emotions go from surprise to disbelief to anger.
"You. Get the hell out of my house! You… you monster!" she shouted to me. I bit back tears. I had partially expected this but I had had one small hope that my mother would behave like a mother and help me through this. I felt her anger and suddenly it sparked my own. Our combined anger consumed me.
"I'm not the one who's the monster! At least I don't sit around all day and drink myself to sleep! At least I don't abuse my son and neglect my daughter unless she does something wrong! You want me out? Fine! I don't need this anymore!" I ran up the stairs and grabbed some stuff quickly throwing it all into my suitcase. I grabbed my favorite heart shaped pillow and stormed down the stairs passing my still stunned mother, grabbing Sam hand.
"Come on. Let's leave this hell hole." I said as I turned my back on my old life and led Sam out the door. When we got to the door it opened and my twin brother walked in. His eyes widened as he saw my mark and his jaw practically dropped to the ground. I felt his shock but was still too consumed by the anger to really care. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the house as well. When we were out of the house and a few blocks away Andrew finally snapped out of his shock.
"You're a vampyre?" he said in amazement. "When the hell did this happen? And I've never seen a mark like that before! How did you get the heart?" The last question finally got to me and I stopped in my tracks, letting go of them and turning to face him in confusion.
"Heart? What do you mean?" I asked.
"You mean you still haven't seen your reflection yet?" Sam asked, her eyes going wide. I shook my head and she sighed, pulling a small compact mirror from her bag. She handed it to me and I opened it to get my first look at my mark. It was amazing, a crescent moon outline in a beautiful blue as all marks are. But the part that was really amazing was the small but obvious heart dangling from the top tip of the crescent. The blue shined brightly against my pale skin and made my blues eyes glow slightly. I stared at it in the same awe and amazement I felt coming from the other two staring at me at the moment. I gave the compact back to Sam and we started walking towards Sam's house.
"So now what?" Andrew asked. "Are you going to leave? Go to the House of Night and live there?" He hid the hurt and abandonment but I felt it slowly seeping out of him. I knew I couldn't leave him alone with my abusive mother.
"I have to go, Andrew. I have no choice." I felt the pain come off him stronger and almost buckled over from it as I felt my own pain. They both stopped and looked at me worriedly before I recovered.
"Look. Maybe I can find a way for you to come with." I told him. He looked at me sadly and sighed.
"You know they don't allow anyone but vampyre there."
"Well maybe we can figure something out. I'm not letting you go back to that woman." I said, some of my own anger coming back. "We have to at least ask."
He sighed but smiled slightly, nodding. Sam linked arms with me and smiled as well as we headed to her house. When we got there I hesitated. With how many people had reacted badly she worried that Sam's mother wouldn't accept her and throw her out. Sam looked at me questioningly before trying to give me a reassuring smile. I smiled weakly back and then sighed before heading in. The minute we got in Sam's little sister and brother came running down the hall to meet us. They practically tackled Sam and me, hugging us excitedly.
"He Joey, Maggie." Sam said as she gave them each a hug. Joey came over to me, reaching his hands up for me to pick him up. I smiled and picked him up, feeding on their happiness and excitement. He smiled back at me before staring at my forehead. He touched it in amazement before he smiled wider.
"Pretty!" The little five year old said, his green eyes sparkling. I smiled and ruffled his blond hair before setting him down. Maggie stared for a minute before also telling me it was pretty and then ran off as her younger brother chased her down the hall.
"Mom!" Sam called out as my stomach clenched.
"I'm in the kitchen dear!" I heard Mrs. Howl call out. Sam looked at me and gave my hand a comforting squeeze, while Andrew nodded, staying close behind looking determined. I could feel the nervousness coming off of them and it just made mine worse. I had to stop for a minute while they looked at me worriedly again.
"I'm fine." I said finally regaining control. "Let's get this over with." Sam nodded and pulled me to the kitchen. We got in there and saw Mrs. Howl cooking dinner already. Her back was too us so Sam walked in and pulled me a little behind her, Andrew also moving, acting like a magnet. I could feel that he was feeling very protective of me at the moment.
"Mom? We need your help." She said, sounding and feeling nervous.
"Sure, honey what do you-Oh my!" she said as she turned around and saw my mark. I felt her shock and became terrified she would reject me. I felt Andrew's hand wrap around my wrist, trying to protect me. Then I felt her awe and amazement and sighed slightly in relief.
"Marie, my dear. That is the most beautiful mark I have ever seen! My goodness."
"Mom. Marie needs to get to the House of Night. Can we take her?" Mrs. Howl smiled at us.
"Of course we can." She said. I sighed in relief.
Next Chapter: The House of Night
