CHAPTER 1: HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

As I walked into the cafeteria the usual mindless humdrum of the inhabitants of my fellow classmates bored me, as it always did, I sat with my family at our usual table and started to look around. A new pupil had joined our school and it seemed that almost every other moronic idiot wanted to be his best friend. I didn't even turn to look at him; he held no interest to me.

As I turned around a voice from next me spoke "He's already quite intrigued by us, especially you. His mind gives him away greatly."

Another voice spoke so softly that even if anyone else was listening to us they would have never heard it, "Oh yes, his mind is made up quite solidly, I can see the outcome clearly. He is just perfect for our Emmii".

Just then, as a window was suddenly opened, I heard a quiet gasp come from across the table "oh my!" In a heartbeat the scent overwhelmed me; I was suddenly hungrier than I had ever been in my whole existence. I was already thinking of ways to satiate my hunger. I had never had this happen to me before and I was so very much overwhelmed by it, I was unprepared to deal with it. Suddenly another window was opened and I was blessed with a breath of fresh, clean air. It was all I needed. I looked at the faces around me and stood up. I gave them one last glance and I fled.

As soon as I exited the building my head was cleared fully and I could think clearly again, but I knew I could not risk going back in there so I quickly went to my car. Driving home I was outraged, never in my whole existence had I ever had the urge as strongly as I had it today. This was not acceptable; I would find a way to banish these unsavoury thoughts that I was now starting to have out of my head. I would not give in to the monster inside; I would not become everything I despised. As I pulled up outside the house I could see them standing there, my grandparents, well that weren't strictly true but I am at a loss to find a better word at this point in time. Once I stepped out of the car I realised they weren't the only ones there, the rest of my family had beaten me home. I looked into their faces and I knew that they were about to question me greatly, as the two who would normally have been able to inform the others of what had caused my sudden departure today wouldn't have been to see as far into my mind as usual as I wasn't even sure of what was really going on.

My aunt looked at me questionably, as did all of them. My father, again for lack of better word, ushered me inside. We gathered in the sitting room, each member of my family looking at me with great concern in their almost honey coloured eyes.

My father was the first to break the silence. "How bad was it?" he asked me this with a look of total understanding.

"The worst I have ever felt, I never thought one of them could be this appealing", as I answered I saw the looks on each of their faces, it was as if they were sort of expecting this. My bear of an uncle was the first to respond to this.

"Listen kid it happens to all of us at one point, we just have to learn to control it but if you slip then we'll understand that."

My grandfather gave him a pointed look and turned to me "Of course sometimes it is hard for us when faced with such a great temptation, but we all made a choice to live this way and we have to try has hard as we can to maintain that choice."

As I looked around my family I knew that only one of them really understood, as I asked to speak with him alone I knew I had hurt the others feelings but I knew that they couldn't really comprehend the choice I had to make.

"I have to know what she saw" a statement I knew the man who had become my father would understand.

"She saw only one thing Emmii and you're not going to like it. She saw you together and happy. She saw him as one of us."

A rage I never thought I possessed, even in my darkest moments, came bubbling to the surface and spilled out "I WILL NOT, IT WILL NOT, NO NO NO!" I could see the shock and fear in his face as he fought to stop me losing control

"Emmii, calm down please, this is all she has seen please understand it for what it is". All I knew was that my aunt could see only what had been decided on so why was she seeing something I had not yet decided on? "I did not make this decision so how is she able to see anything?"

"She can see because he has made a decision Emmii and that has set the wheels in motion, he saw you from afar today and made the choice to come and speak to you and that's when it all clicked in for her. It's the future based on what he chose."

Well this was a new one. I guess I will just have to make my own choice and change all that, I know, I thought, I'll leave. That way nothing will come of it. "Don't you even dare think of leaving" the tone in his voice was so undeniably fierce I was brought back to my senses

"And if I stay? Who's to say I won't kill him? He is too tempting for me even if I wanted to get to know him, which by the way I don't." And with that he left the room, I didn't know where he went but I knew he was back with the woman that I thought of as my mother, "Look at her Emmii, do you think I didn't have the same concerns when we first met? Of course I did, I tried my hardest to stay away from her and it didn't work. It ended up causing more heartache in the long run. The day I accepted that I could not live without her was the first day of the rest of my existence. Please trust me when I say you do not want to make a rash decision Emmii."

I looked at the two people in my life that I cared for more than any others and made a choice and it was not on they were expecting, "Can you excuse me for a while please? I need to go gather my thoughts away from where they are being overheard." As soon as I said this I regretted the harsh tone I had used, "I am sorry it's just I need to be alone for a while, I will be back soon, I promise." With this I left in a hurry as I could sense that they were about to try and stop me again.

Outside running free with nature, I felt at one with my surroundings. I could breathe freely again knowing that my thoughts weren't being studied too closely. As much as I loved my father, it was very annoying that he could read my thoughts so easily all the time. I sat down on a fallen tree, most probably the result of our last trip into forest, and thought back to first time I saw my father. It was a cold, wintery night almost 55 years ago. I had ran away from my foster home (my parents having been killed when I was a very young child, I'm still sketchy on the details) and was wandering down an unlit winding road when a truck came out of no-where and struck me from behind. I was flung into the dense undergrowth and would have lain dead and undiscovered for many years, as it was an unused part of the forest, if it had not been for him; my saviour, my hero, my father. He came out of the dark like a beacon of light and swept me up in his arms. I looked up and it was then that I thought I had already died and gone to heaven, for he had the most beautiful, kind face I had ever seen.

I don't really remember that much after that, my family have since told me that I almost died while he was carrying me to the house, so he had no choice but to save me there in the middle of the forest. I remember the days after vividly. It was dark and so very, very painful. I prayed for God to come and take me and to stop my suffering and he eventually answered that prayer on the third day. When I came round I knew things were different, that I was different. As they explained who they were and what I had become, I felt the same hunger that almost overtook me this afternoon. I knew then that this would be my life from now; I would always be fighting the monster within.

My family were, and still are, wonderful. They taught me how to control the hunger, they taught me their way. Vegetarians, that is what we call ourselves; our little inside joke. In reality we feed on animals. The bigger the predator the better, they keep us stronger to resist the thirst. You see it will always be there, the urge to feed from humans, but my family and I are different. We don't see why we have to be the monsters we were destined to be. I guess by now you have realised what I am, what we are. Vampires. Good vampires, but still vampires. It is thanks to the head of our family, my grandfather you could call him, that we are the kind of vampires we are. He is the most compassionate of us all. He is desensitized to the scent of human blood. I supposed that is what happens after living our way for almost 500 years.

He is my biggest inspiration after my father. My father, the most important being in my existence, he is the one who taught me the most. He guided me through the difficult first years of my new life, helping me when I was close to breaking point, staying by my side on our hunting trips never letting me too far out from under his watchful gaze.

I shouldn't forget to tell you about my wonderful mother in all this. She is the most kind-hearted, graceful and beautiful being you could ever imagine to meet, I owe her everything. I owe her my second life. I had only been to this life for about a year when I became too confident in my abilities and decided to go out hunting on my own. I crossed a pair of nomad females and they engaged me in a fight. They had the upper hand and I was barely holding my own when all of a sudden she was there, my mother. She fought them both off with such anger and ferocity they went running off into the hills without looking back. She has taught me many things, the greatest one being unconditional love. Like the way she loves my father, my sister and myself.

Ah Nessie, my big sister. She is my mother and father's biological daughter. She is a wonderful sister and my best friend. She held my hand through my transformation and wouldn't leave my side, not even to sleep. Unlike the rest of us Nessie is half human. She is married to a great man, Jacob, even if he does smell funny to the rest of us.

As if by magic, I saw her; my big sister. Running through the trees; her eyes frantically scanning the forest looking for me. I called out to her and she came running over, relief flooding her face.

"Please tell me you are not leaving Emmii?" She asked me, her tone frantic.

"It's my only option, Ness. I have to leave. I feel like I don't even have a say in MY future anymore. Aunt Alice's vision was based entirely on this human boy and his decision. What does that mean? That my future is subject to a frivolous human boy who can change his mind at any second? Never mind the fact that I have never spoken to this boy in my life and have no intention of doing so!"

"Well if that is the case then there is no reason for you to leave is there?"

Damm it, I hate it when she gets the better of me like that!

"Well....." I started unsure of what other excuse I could come up with

"That's settled then, I'm taking you home"

With that she grabbed my hand and we sped off into the forest back to our family.

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