Abnormal is so common, it's practically normal, in my point of view. Seriously, think about it for a moment. What is normal exactly? Everyone is different and unique in their own special, sometimes odd, ways. The abnormality of my life is now normality to me. I have grown accustomed to this odd way of living. I sometimes easily forgot that this is not the way everyone else lives. How long had my life been this way?

I do somewhat remember my old life; only bits and pieces of it, though. I was born in a small Irish village during the 1830s. In the 1840s, the Great Famine, also known as the Potato Famine, ravaged Ireland, forcing millions facing starvation to leave the island for a better life in America. I had just turned fourteen at the time. My family was quite poor and could not afford to leave our farm to immigrate to America. My parents had to use the little money they had to support themselves, my brothers, and I.

I had two brothers, one older and one younger. Aedan was twelve and Quinn was sixteen at the time. Aedan was an energetic, mischievous child and got himself into trouble quite frequently. Quinn, though, was quite the opposite. Quiet, reserved, intelligent, he was the calmest of us three. The three of us were inseparable.

One day, Aedan excused himself rudely from his chores on the farm to 'just take a quick break'. It turned out that during his 'quick break' he went to a wealthier family's home and attempted to steal some of their belongings, like Mrs. McLeary's jewelry. Big mistake. I somewhat understand the reason for this action, though. He wanted to help support our family since we barely had enough food to survive due to the famine. No one else thought of it this way, though. To avoid disaster, we had to flee our village. We moved into a new one miles away from our previous home. We also had to change our identities. I was no longer Catherine Massey, but Ciara Moore, which is pronounced key-air-ah, not see-are-ah, like many falsely presume.

A few days after the move, I was exploring the village with my brothers. Aedan began to venture out of the village. Quinn reminded him him that we were not to leave the village, but my younger sibling just grinned that goofy smile of his and told Quinn that he was just going to have some fun. Quinn returned to our new farm, not wanting to disobey our parents' rules, but I, being just as adventurous as my younger sibling, followed Aedan willingly. It wasn't like we'd go too far, right? Plus, we were just going to run around in the hilly meadow just outside of the village, pretending to be explorers in a magical, faraway land.

The two of us had been enjoying ourselves so much, we barely noticed the darkening hours. We had been warned that horrible monsters, known as vampires, roamed the land during the night, preying upon any people that happened to be up and about in the dark. Aedan and I were two of those people.

After racing down a hill, I fell to the ground, staring up into the stars.

'Wait...stars? Stars! How had it gotten so late? We'll be in so much trouble!'

I jumped to my feet and grabbed my brother's arm, intending to go home. Unfortunately, though, it had gotten so dark, I couldn't tell which direction we were supposed to go. I frantically ran around, Aedan in tow, trying to remember from which way we had come. I slowly released Aedan from my grasp and sunk to the ground, more worried than I had ever been. How would we get home?

Aedan was a few yards away, still searching for any sign of the village, when I heard his scream. It only lasted a second or two. I raced to where I had just seen him and saw someone holding his limp body, his neck hanging at an odd angle.

"...No." I whispered very lightly, too light for any human ears to hear, but the person who had killed Aedan heard it.

In under a second, he was at my side, looking down at me with a smile that made a shiver go down my spine. He was extremely pale, with blood-red eyes. Only two words came to my mind. 'Vampire' and 'run'.

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Well, here's the first chapter of my first fanfic. I had nearly finished it a few months ago, but my laptop got a virus and If Only was completely erased. I just randomly decided to begin writing it again about an hour ago. xD Anyway, reviews would be nice and I'll try to update as much as possible. I'm really busy, though, so I may not update all the time. I have no idea if this story is going to be any good; I'm redoing it completely. I do have a few ideas in mind though....;) I have about three chapters done so far, but I'll only put up one chapter a day. So, I hope you like If Only. :)