Disclaimer: I don't own the Nightworld, the concept of Old-Souls or
Hunters, or the names Redfern, Johnson, and whoever ELSE appears in this
story.
Forbidden World
Night had fallen on the quiet town. Mothers called their young children indoors, and teenagers got ready to party at friends' houses for the night. On a lone, winding street sat a small house. This particular house sat at the entrance to a very large, wooded park. A small cat stepped down from the trees and looked around. It moved cautiously into the light until anyone within seeing distance could tell that it was a bobcat. This bobcat stopped and gave a call into the trees. A large form dropped down silently and stood next to the bobcat. This form was a large mountain lion, and it gave off a small "meow" almost. The door to the house opened and a teenage girl poked her head outside. Seeing the two cats she whispered a reproach at them. "You're late! The meeting started fifteen minutes ago!" It appeared as if the bobcat tried to say something, but the girl ignored it and kept talking. "I don't want to hear how sorry you are. This is the second time you've done this. Now get in here before someone sees you!" she said. The two cats hung their heads and walked into the house. Inside was a group of teens. They turned expectantly towards the door and didn't even bat an eye when the cats came and sat down in the room. The girl walked back in the room and surveyed the scene. "Is everyone here?" she asked.
"Everyone except Lilli, but she called to say she'd be late. Her parents wanted to take her to dinner. We'd better get started, Angel, " said a young girl. Angel tossed her curly, hip-length, brown hair over her shoulder and looked at her group from her ever-changing eyes. This was how other Night Worlders knew she was a Redfern. No other lamia family had those distinct eyes. Angel looked at the girl who had spoken. Katarina Vatavich was the only actual witch in the group. Angel and Lilli belonged to the same Circle that Katarina -or Kat- did, but Angel was a vampire on the side and Lilli also had another trait that set her apart from the other witches. Kat's obsidian-black hair was pulled into an elegant braid. With her hair back, you could perfectly see her piercing, amethyst eyes. Kat was one of the only people who had come close to staring Angel down. Next to Kat sat Sage Carter. Sage had hazel eyes and dark-brown hair that got lighter at the tips. Sage was what the witches called an Old-Soul. He had been around in one form or another for hundreds and hundreds of years. But Sage also had another quality that made him a group member. Sage was one of the few werewolves that could tolerate Angel leading him. The other wolves didn't like the thought of a lamia controlling them. On the other side of Sage sat his friend, Jake Lupo. Jake's eyes matched Sage's, but his hair was totally different. Jake had silver hair that looked almost bluish in the darkness. Jake was a white wolf while Sage was a black one. Like Sage, Jake tolerated Angel. But just barely. Next to Jake was the bobcat. Angel suddenly realized that she had two cats in her living room.
"Will you two change back before you shed all over my carpet. Goddess, I
just had it cleaned too!" Suddenly the bobcat began to what seemed like melt. Then its features rearranged themselves until a girl was sitting where once a small cat had been. Next to her, the mountain lion was also changing until a boy sat next to her. "Sorry Angel. Forgot that we didn't change when we came in," said the boy, whose name was Mike Lowe. His brown eyes were sparkling with a light of mischief and affection as he smoothed out his dirty-blonde hair and looked at the girl next to him. Her name was Bobbi Cage. Her brown eyes and brown hair matched each other perfectly. When Mike looked her, she turned away, blushing. Angel smiled at the cat- couple and looked at the two figures sitting next to Mike. One was her lamia friend, Amber Johnson. Unlike her cousin Nissa, Amber hadn't joined Circle Daybreak. Angel was fond of calling Amber the Ice Princess at times. Especially when the talk turned to Circle Daybreak. Amber kept putting the members of that Circle down, including her cousin. Another reason Angel called her the Ice Princess was because of her eyes. Amber had the clearest ice-blue eyes anyone had ever seen. And if she looked at you wrong, her gaze would freeze you in mid-step. The girl's feathery, ice-blonde hair set off her eyes perfectly. Next to Amber was the last vampire of their group, Angel's cousin Lucas Redfern, or Luke as they called him. His brownish- black hair was short, but at the same time wild. Steel-gray eyes gave him a sophisticated look, as if they had seen the creation of life itself. This was most of their group, minus two people, although Angel wished it was only minus one. Just then, loud flapping was heard outside, and a moment later, a golden falcon flew into the room through an open window. Simultaneously, a knock was heard at the front door. Angel got up to answer it, and a second later came back with a teenage boy.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Bobbi commented as Mike chuckled and Angel sent her a look that said:
'Very funny smart-mouth. Ha-ha.'
"Lilli, why don't you change back so we can get down to business," Angel told her. The falcon immediately started to change until it stood up as a human girl. Lilli's copper hair reflected the light, and made her seem to glow. Her amber eyes were definitely falcon related. Her full name was Lillian Hawke, even though no one in her family was a hawk that they knew of. Lilli sat down next to Jake. Angel then pushed the boy standing next to her into Sage. He turned around and said very calmly to Angel:
"Thank you, Angel. I didn't know Peter was here." Peter looked out at everybody from his light-brown eyes, as he nervously ran a hand through his orange-red hair. Angel sat down as far away from Peter as she could. She didn't like vermin period, and she barely tolerated this one. If it weren't for the fact that he was a friend of Sage's, he would've been killed long ago. Kat sensed the uneasiness and quickly spoke up.
"Let's get the meeting started. We're already half-an-hour into it anyway," she said. Angel relaxed a little and spoke to the entire group.
"Okay everyone, I think you know why we're here. No. Wait. Let me say that again. All the Night World people know why we're here. Sorry Peter, I need to explain everything to you humans," she jeered. At this, everyone but Sage and Peter laughed. Amber sent a silent message to Luke and Angel.
'Why is he even here? He's not one of us. Let him go join Circle Daybreak with all the other sissies. Good riddance to vermin!'
"You know Sage won't go with him. So we're stuck like we are," Luke replied. Angel turned towards him.
"Lucky us," she said simply as she turned back to face the group. She clapped her hands once and the room was instantly quiet. It always amazed Angel how well that trick worked. "Getting back to the matter at hand. There was a big meeting of Circle Midnight last night, and a few of us went. Kat went representing the witches. I went for the vampires. Mike went for the 'shifters, and Jake went for the wolves, as Sage was "busy" last night doing little vermin things with Peter. We'll all listen to what everyone has to say because things concerning everyone could have been said to one person and not others. Jake, will you go first?" she said. Jake stood up and cleared his throat. All eyes were on him. Jake smiled before going on. He liked being the center of attention.
"There are reports coming in from all over the place about Hunters. It looks like Circle Daybreak is doing its job. More humans know about us everyday. There's already been a significant decrease in the wolf population. Both regular wolves and us Night World wolves. If we don't do something fast, there won't be any wolves left!" Jake said, as the others took in his meaning. Because of Circle Daybreak, humans were being told that the creatures of legend actually existed. They were panicking and hunting down anyone and anything that looked suspicious.
"This could mean trouble for us," Sage said calmly. Jake stared at him.
"No shit Sherlock! When did you figure this out? How can you just sit there and be so calm?" he shouted.
"Old Souls are like that. They get real annoying after a while," Luke replied. Jake gave him a look that meant Thanks so much for your help.
"Anyway. What did the other 'shifters have to say, Mike?" Lilli asked. Jake sat down, and Mike stood up and began talking.
"Apparently 'shifters aren't getting as much attention as the other groups right now. But there has been an increase in 'shifter Hunters. Most of them are just vampire Hunters that hunt both now. Trust me, if the damn Daybreakers keep this up, kiss the wildlife population goodbye." Lilli and Bobbi looked at each other in horror. Could it be true? Would they have to go into hiding to escape the Hunters? They both hoped that a solution would be reached in this crisis, and fast. Mike sat down and motioned for Kat to stand up. She did, and looked at Angel and Lilli before speaking.
"It looks like the message is the same all over. Remember the Salem witch trials?" Everyone nodded, and Sage got a look on his face like he had been there to actually see them. "Well they're starting all over again. Helpless old ladies and teen girls are being accused of witchcraft. Any kind of Pagan religion has gone underground until this thing blows over. Things have gotten so bad here on the East Coast that the Maiden, Mother, and Crone called an emergency meeting of all the high-ranking witches. Things aren't looking good for anyone around here." All eyes turned to Angel. They knew that if it was this bad for the rest of them, the vampires must be seriously hurting.
"Well guys, I don't have good news at all. Sorry about that. Those stupid Daybreakers don't seem to realize what they've started. Any vampire within twenty miles of a major population has had to pack up and move. The Redferns especially. All these new Hunters want to take down a Redfern because... Well, because we're Redferns! The Daybreaker vampires are okay because no one knows where they are. Well that's great, but what about the rest of us? Hunters only used to go after "bad" vampires. Well nowadays if you're not a Daybreaker, you're a "bad" vampire. So guess what guys, we're screwed big time!" Amber's face went about fives shades of starched-sheet white, and Luke put his arm around her to comfort her. Bobbi put her arms around Mike's neck, and buried her face in his shoulder. Kat started trembling and Jake leaned over and put an arm around her small frame. She held him and started crying softly. Lilli tried to stop her hands from shaking but couldn't. Sage put his hand on her shoulders to see if she was all right. Peter looked at Angel, but Angel sent him a look that clearly said 'Don't even think about it, vermin.' Peter wisely sat where he was.
"What are we going to do?" Amber asked, her voice cracking for the first time that Angel could remember.
"We're going down to Vermont, where the rest of Circle Midnight is. Once we're all there, a conference will take place to find out what we should do. Everyone go home and get your things. We leave tomorrow morning at four a.m.," Angel replied. The group got up to go. Jake and Lilli changed shape before going out the back door. Bobbi and Mike shifted outside and then jumped into the trees. Amber and Luke walked to their bikes and then rode back to their houses together. Kat didn't live far from Angel, so she started walking home.
"Um Angel? Can I ask you something?" Peter asked.
"What is it now, pond-scum?"
"Can I come to the conference with you guys?"
"Can you what?"
"He wants to come with us to the conference because he's part of the group and deserves to know what's going on," Sage calmly answered her.
"Why should he? This conference is not, I repeat, not for human ears! He has no business coming."
"Let him come, Angel. He has every right to know what's going on. Especially if he wants to become a Night Worlder." Angel immediately understood what he was saying.
"Fine. But if he screws up, he's not my responsibility to protect. Just remember, my cousins are not as nice as I am," she told him bluntly. After saying this, Angel walked back into the house. Sage and Peter stood there a moment talking. Peter was promising not to do anything wrong and to stay out of the way. 'Stupid vermin. He has no business being there. Even if Sage turns him into a wolf, he's still vermin in my book,' Angel thought. She watched Sage get on his bike while Peter strapped on his roller blades. When the two of them were out of sight, Angel walked back into the living room. She paused beside an old picture of her family. Her grandmother was standing next to her grandfather at the top of the picture. Standing next to her grandfather was a tall man whom Angel realized was her grandmother's father. Angel stood below him. There was a smile of pride on her great- grandfather's face as he stood with his hand on Angel's shoulder. Her great- grandfather. Hunter Redfern. The most feared and respected of all the lamia in the Night World. Angel hoped that Hunter wouldn't be at the conference. If he found Peter, he wouldn't hesitate in ripping him apart piece by piece. 'Stupid vermin. I hope I'm not making a mistake in letting him come.' Outside, the wind was whipping up in preparation for a storm. Angel closed the window and went to pack for the trip.
Forbidden World
Night had fallen on the quiet town. Mothers called their young children indoors, and teenagers got ready to party at friends' houses for the night. On a lone, winding street sat a small house. This particular house sat at the entrance to a very large, wooded park. A small cat stepped down from the trees and looked around. It moved cautiously into the light until anyone within seeing distance could tell that it was a bobcat. This bobcat stopped and gave a call into the trees. A large form dropped down silently and stood next to the bobcat. This form was a large mountain lion, and it gave off a small "meow" almost. The door to the house opened and a teenage girl poked her head outside. Seeing the two cats she whispered a reproach at them. "You're late! The meeting started fifteen minutes ago!" It appeared as if the bobcat tried to say something, but the girl ignored it and kept talking. "I don't want to hear how sorry you are. This is the second time you've done this. Now get in here before someone sees you!" she said. The two cats hung their heads and walked into the house. Inside was a group of teens. They turned expectantly towards the door and didn't even bat an eye when the cats came and sat down in the room. The girl walked back in the room and surveyed the scene. "Is everyone here?" she asked.
"Everyone except Lilli, but she called to say she'd be late. Her parents wanted to take her to dinner. We'd better get started, Angel, " said a young girl. Angel tossed her curly, hip-length, brown hair over her shoulder and looked at her group from her ever-changing eyes. This was how other Night Worlders knew she was a Redfern. No other lamia family had those distinct eyes. Angel looked at the girl who had spoken. Katarina Vatavich was the only actual witch in the group. Angel and Lilli belonged to the same Circle that Katarina -or Kat- did, but Angel was a vampire on the side and Lilli also had another trait that set her apart from the other witches. Kat's obsidian-black hair was pulled into an elegant braid. With her hair back, you could perfectly see her piercing, amethyst eyes. Kat was one of the only people who had come close to staring Angel down. Next to Kat sat Sage Carter. Sage had hazel eyes and dark-brown hair that got lighter at the tips. Sage was what the witches called an Old-Soul. He had been around in one form or another for hundreds and hundreds of years. But Sage also had another quality that made him a group member. Sage was one of the few werewolves that could tolerate Angel leading him. The other wolves didn't like the thought of a lamia controlling them. On the other side of Sage sat his friend, Jake Lupo. Jake's eyes matched Sage's, but his hair was totally different. Jake had silver hair that looked almost bluish in the darkness. Jake was a white wolf while Sage was a black one. Like Sage, Jake tolerated Angel. But just barely. Next to Jake was the bobcat. Angel suddenly realized that she had two cats in her living room.
"Will you two change back before you shed all over my carpet. Goddess, I
just had it cleaned too!" Suddenly the bobcat began to what seemed like melt. Then its features rearranged themselves until a girl was sitting where once a small cat had been. Next to her, the mountain lion was also changing until a boy sat next to her. "Sorry Angel. Forgot that we didn't change when we came in," said the boy, whose name was Mike Lowe. His brown eyes were sparkling with a light of mischief and affection as he smoothed out his dirty-blonde hair and looked at the girl next to him. Her name was Bobbi Cage. Her brown eyes and brown hair matched each other perfectly. When Mike looked her, she turned away, blushing. Angel smiled at the cat- couple and looked at the two figures sitting next to Mike. One was her lamia friend, Amber Johnson. Unlike her cousin Nissa, Amber hadn't joined Circle Daybreak. Angel was fond of calling Amber the Ice Princess at times. Especially when the talk turned to Circle Daybreak. Amber kept putting the members of that Circle down, including her cousin. Another reason Angel called her the Ice Princess was because of her eyes. Amber had the clearest ice-blue eyes anyone had ever seen. And if she looked at you wrong, her gaze would freeze you in mid-step. The girl's feathery, ice-blonde hair set off her eyes perfectly. Next to Amber was the last vampire of their group, Angel's cousin Lucas Redfern, or Luke as they called him. His brownish- black hair was short, but at the same time wild. Steel-gray eyes gave him a sophisticated look, as if they had seen the creation of life itself. This was most of their group, minus two people, although Angel wished it was only minus one. Just then, loud flapping was heard outside, and a moment later, a golden falcon flew into the room through an open window. Simultaneously, a knock was heard at the front door. Angel got up to answer it, and a second later came back with a teenage boy.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Bobbi commented as Mike chuckled and Angel sent her a look that said:
'Very funny smart-mouth. Ha-ha.'
"Lilli, why don't you change back so we can get down to business," Angel told her. The falcon immediately started to change until it stood up as a human girl. Lilli's copper hair reflected the light, and made her seem to glow. Her amber eyes were definitely falcon related. Her full name was Lillian Hawke, even though no one in her family was a hawk that they knew of. Lilli sat down next to Jake. Angel then pushed the boy standing next to her into Sage. He turned around and said very calmly to Angel:
"Thank you, Angel. I didn't know Peter was here." Peter looked out at everybody from his light-brown eyes, as he nervously ran a hand through his orange-red hair. Angel sat down as far away from Peter as she could. She didn't like vermin period, and she barely tolerated this one. If it weren't for the fact that he was a friend of Sage's, he would've been killed long ago. Kat sensed the uneasiness and quickly spoke up.
"Let's get the meeting started. We're already half-an-hour into it anyway," she said. Angel relaxed a little and spoke to the entire group.
"Okay everyone, I think you know why we're here. No. Wait. Let me say that again. All the Night World people know why we're here. Sorry Peter, I need to explain everything to you humans," she jeered. At this, everyone but Sage and Peter laughed. Amber sent a silent message to Luke and Angel.
'Why is he even here? He's not one of us. Let him go join Circle Daybreak with all the other sissies. Good riddance to vermin!'
"You know Sage won't go with him. So we're stuck like we are," Luke replied. Angel turned towards him.
"Lucky us," she said simply as she turned back to face the group. She clapped her hands once and the room was instantly quiet. It always amazed Angel how well that trick worked. "Getting back to the matter at hand. There was a big meeting of Circle Midnight last night, and a few of us went. Kat went representing the witches. I went for the vampires. Mike went for the 'shifters, and Jake went for the wolves, as Sage was "busy" last night doing little vermin things with Peter. We'll all listen to what everyone has to say because things concerning everyone could have been said to one person and not others. Jake, will you go first?" she said. Jake stood up and cleared his throat. All eyes were on him. Jake smiled before going on. He liked being the center of attention.
"There are reports coming in from all over the place about Hunters. It looks like Circle Daybreak is doing its job. More humans know about us everyday. There's already been a significant decrease in the wolf population. Both regular wolves and us Night World wolves. If we don't do something fast, there won't be any wolves left!" Jake said, as the others took in his meaning. Because of Circle Daybreak, humans were being told that the creatures of legend actually existed. They were panicking and hunting down anyone and anything that looked suspicious.
"This could mean trouble for us," Sage said calmly. Jake stared at him.
"No shit Sherlock! When did you figure this out? How can you just sit there and be so calm?" he shouted.
"Old Souls are like that. They get real annoying after a while," Luke replied. Jake gave him a look that meant Thanks so much for your help.
"Anyway. What did the other 'shifters have to say, Mike?" Lilli asked. Jake sat down, and Mike stood up and began talking.
"Apparently 'shifters aren't getting as much attention as the other groups right now. But there has been an increase in 'shifter Hunters. Most of them are just vampire Hunters that hunt both now. Trust me, if the damn Daybreakers keep this up, kiss the wildlife population goodbye." Lilli and Bobbi looked at each other in horror. Could it be true? Would they have to go into hiding to escape the Hunters? They both hoped that a solution would be reached in this crisis, and fast. Mike sat down and motioned for Kat to stand up. She did, and looked at Angel and Lilli before speaking.
"It looks like the message is the same all over. Remember the Salem witch trials?" Everyone nodded, and Sage got a look on his face like he had been there to actually see them. "Well they're starting all over again. Helpless old ladies and teen girls are being accused of witchcraft. Any kind of Pagan religion has gone underground until this thing blows over. Things have gotten so bad here on the East Coast that the Maiden, Mother, and Crone called an emergency meeting of all the high-ranking witches. Things aren't looking good for anyone around here." All eyes turned to Angel. They knew that if it was this bad for the rest of them, the vampires must be seriously hurting.
"Well guys, I don't have good news at all. Sorry about that. Those stupid Daybreakers don't seem to realize what they've started. Any vampire within twenty miles of a major population has had to pack up and move. The Redferns especially. All these new Hunters want to take down a Redfern because... Well, because we're Redferns! The Daybreaker vampires are okay because no one knows where they are. Well that's great, but what about the rest of us? Hunters only used to go after "bad" vampires. Well nowadays if you're not a Daybreaker, you're a "bad" vampire. So guess what guys, we're screwed big time!" Amber's face went about fives shades of starched-sheet white, and Luke put his arm around her to comfort her. Bobbi put her arms around Mike's neck, and buried her face in his shoulder. Kat started trembling and Jake leaned over and put an arm around her small frame. She held him and started crying softly. Lilli tried to stop her hands from shaking but couldn't. Sage put his hand on her shoulders to see if she was all right. Peter looked at Angel, but Angel sent him a look that clearly said 'Don't even think about it, vermin.' Peter wisely sat where he was.
"What are we going to do?" Amber asked, her voice cracking for the first time that Angel could remember.
"We're going down to Vermont, where the rest of Circle Midnight is. Once we're all there, a conference will take place to find out what we should do. Everyone go home and get your things. We leave tomorrow morning at four a.m.," Angel replied. The group got up to go. Jake and Lilli changed shape before going out the back door. Bobbi and Mike shifted outside and then jumped into the trees. Amber and Luke walked to their bikes and then rode back to their houses together. Kat didn't live far from Angel, so she started walking home.
"Um Angel? Can I ask you something?" Peter asked.
"What is it now, pond-scum?"
"Can I come to the conference with you guys?"
"Can you what?"
"He wants to come with us to the conference because he's part of the group and deserves to know what's going on," Sage calmly answered her.
"Why should he? This conference is not, I repeat, not for human ears! He has no business coming."
"Let him come, Angel. He has every right to know what's going on. Especially if he wants to become a Night Worlder." Angel immediately understood what he was saying.
"Fine. But if he screws up, he's not my responsibility to protect. Just remember, my cousins are not as nice as I am," she told him bluntly. After saying this, Angel walked back into the house. Sage and Peter stood there a moment talking. Peter was promising not to do anything wrong and to stay out of the way. 'Stupid vermin. He has no business being there. Even if Sage turns him into a wolf, he's still vermin in my book,' Angel thought. She watched Sage get on his bike while Peter strapped on his roller blades. When the two of them were out of sight, Angel walked back into the living room. She paused beside an old picture of her family. Her grandmother was standing next to her grandfather at the top of the picture. Standing next to her grandfather was a tall man whom Angel realized was her grandmother's father. Angel stood below him. There was a smile of pride on her great- grandfather's face as he stood with his hand on Angel's shoulder. Her great- grandfather. Hunter Redfern. The most feared and respected of all the lamia in the Night World. Angel hoped that Hunter wouldn't be at the conference. If he found Peter, he wouldn't hesitate in ripping him apart piece by piece. 'Stupid vermin. I hope I'm not making a mistake in letting him come.' Outside, the wind was whipping up in preparation for a storm. Angel closed the window and went to pack for the trip.