.

Prologue

Life Interrupted

June 15, 2012

Rachael was sleeping in her little apartment when suddenly she heard a man call her name and pound on her door. "Rachael!" The noise woke her abruptly. "Damn it, Rachael! Open up!" The man pounded louder. "I know you're in there. You better get your ass out here now! You owe me rent!" He yelled as if she couldn't hear him. She wouldn't be surprised if he woke up the whole building with all the racket he was making. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. Mr. Lake could be such an asshole sometimes

"Rachael!"

"Alright! I'm coming, I'm coming! Keep your shirt on!" She screamed back at him. She hated putting up with this shit, but she had nowhere else to go. She didn't make enough money to live at a nice apartment or even a decent for that matter. While it may be summer and she was out of school for the moment, she was just a college kid trying to make it by. It wasn't like her family could support her. She didn't have any money besides her scholarships and what little she made with that crap job at the coffee shop she worked at. So Instead she lived in the most passably non-condemnable hellhole this city had to offer and unfortunately it came with its own personal devil for a landlord: the bastard that was yelling at her now.

"I'm going to fucking kill this bastard one day…" She mumbled as she pushed herself out of bed. She looked out the window and saw that it was still dark. So she checked the time on her phone and saw it was four in the morning. What a fucking prick.

Quickly pulling her long brown hair up in a messy bun, she walked to her front door and opened it. Just as she imagined, Mr. Grant Lake was fuming right on the other side with his cigar in his mouth and his greasy comb-over slicked against his scalp.

"Jesus, Grant." She glared at him, "What the hell is wrong with you? You have any idea what time it is? The sun isn't even up!"

"You owe me rent for this month, girl." He puff a cloud a smoke in her face. She scrunched up her nose and waved it away in disgust, "Now either you give me my money or you find a new place to live. I run a business here, not a charity."

"And I'm not looking for any." She huffed, "Alright? I get paid on Thursday. You'll have your money then."

"I need that money now."

"Well I don't got it now!"

"Then I suggest you start packing." He crossed his arms.

"Wait- Wait, listen! I can give you half of it right now. But that's all." She argued, "Come on, cut me a break."

"Why should I?" He frowned, "This is the real world, girl, it doesn't give anybody breaks."

"If you kick me out now, you won't get your money."

"Oh I'll get my money." He took a step closer and towered over her, "You can be sure of that, girl."

"I suppose," Rachael crossed her arms, "But you'd have to hunt me down and that'd cost you more money. So tell me, do you think that's worth it?"

Grant paused for a minute and considered her words. The man was cheap and greedy and she knew that the last thing he wanted was to lose a profit. So after much thought, he nodded, "Fine. You can pay me on Thursday, but not a day later. Also an extra twenties dollars for being late."

"Fine," She went in her apartment and grabbed a few hundreds and handed it to him, "You'll have your money then."

"I better." He waved a finger at her in warning. "Or you're outta here. Understand?"

"Yeah yeah." She muttered.

"I didn't hear you, girl."

"Yeah, I got it." She spoke louder and rolled her eyes. Satisfied, the crazy old geezer nodded. He began to back away, but not before noticing some of the other residents standing outside their doors and staring at the two of them.

Grant shook his fist at them and scream, "What the hell you prats lookin' at? Are any of your names Rachael? NO! Go get back in your apartments!"

More was said, but Rachael didn't still around to hear the rest. As soon as Grant's attention turned away, she closed her door and went back to bed.

It was nearly three hours later when Rachael got up for work. Just as she was walking to her car to leave, she noticed Mr. Lake taking out the trash. Not the one that came after her last night, this was his husband, James.

"Hi Mr. Lake." She smiled at him.

"Hello Rachael." He grinned. Unlike his spouse, James was nice and a rather handsome for a man his age. He would always wave at her and occasionally offer her food when Grant was out. When Rachael first met him, she had been very wary. She couldn't believe anyone as nice as him could possibly authentic or not have any ulterior motive. However it soon became apparent that the man was just a rare sweet soul. Rachael wondered how on earth he ended up with such an asshole like Grant. "Listen, I'm sorry about last night. You know Grant, a couple beers and he thinks he owns the city."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." She shook her head, "I been through worse than Grant's bad moods, trust me."

"I know, Honey. But I'm sorry all the same."

"Did he do that?" She pointed to a bruise on his right temple. It was mostly hidden by the old man's white hair, but Rachael could still see it.

"We had a little spat. Nothing to worry about." He shrugged.

"You shouldn't have to put up with that." Rachael patted him on the shoulder, "You deserve better." This wasn't the first time she found something like that on James. One time he had a cut under his eye, but it scarred over. Another time he had a terrible burn on his arm and she almost called the cops, but he pleaded her not too. The list goes on and on.

"We all do." He smiled sadly," but sometimes that's not in the cards."

Seeing him like this reminded her of her own family. For years she watched her father beat her mother for no other reason than he could. It never stopped until the man got sick and died from a rotted liver. She feared if things didn't change, one day the Lakes would end up the same way.

"Mr. Lake, you know if you ever need anything, I'm just right upstairs."

He smirked, amused by her concern. "Don't you worry about me, honey. I can handle whatever the old man throws at me. I have been for 30 years."

"If you say so."

"I do." He grinned.

"Well, I have to get going." She took a step back and pointed to her car, "I got an early shift at the Comet. You should stop by and get a coffee. I'll give you a discount."

"I just might." He nodded and waved goodbye. "But if I don't see you, know I'm making dinner at six. If you can make it by then I'll have a plate ready for you."

"We'll you know I can't say no to your cooking." She laughed, "Thanks Mr. Lake."

"Any time, honey." He smiled.

It was late by the time Rachael got home from work. One of her co-workers called in and being as desperate for money as she was, she offered to cover his shift. However now she missed her chance to get some dinner from James and was completely exhausted. All she wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep, but that wasn't going to happen. As soon as she walked into her apartment building, she knew something was off.

As clique as it sounds, the building was quiet. Way too quiet. Usually she would hear a baby crying, the floor squeaking, or the couple from to 5A screaming at each other, but there was nothing. As she walked up stairs she noticed her apartment door was open. Naturally her gut screamed at her to turn around and that was exactly what she did. She ran back down the stairs as quietly as she could and pulled out her phone to call the cops. Much to her dreaded realization, it was dead. Not knowing what else to do, she went to the Lake's apartment and knocked on the door. Grant may be an ass, but he didn't screw around when people broke into our place. He was a Vietnam vet and would be the first to pull out his shot gun if he so much as expected there was trouble. Considering her predicament, she could use someone like that right now.

"Mr. Lake!" She rung his bell and knocked as quietly as she could, hopefully not alerting anyone else that she was there. Sadly no one answered, but for some reason she tried the knob anyway. Much to her surprise, it was open.

Inside the apartment was dark, so she assumed that the two were out. That was fine. If that weren't there she could just use their phone and take the shot gun herself. It'd keep her safe until the police got there. Grant didn't like anyone coming to their place and touching his stuff, but she was sure she he'd understand once they got home and saw everything. James always told her if she ever found herself in this position, that they kept the gun under their bed. So she felt her way around for a light switch so she could see where she was going first. It didn't take long. She reached for the wall and found it immediately and flipped in on. However once it was on, she realized that the Lake's weren't out. Instead they were home, laid out on their carpet, bloodied, and dead.

Rachael covered her mouth to hold back her screams.

Grant's body was the closest to the door. He was on the ground with his shot gun in hand and his throat torn out. Not to mention his body was covered with several lacerations. His husband was right behind him with a kitchen knife and –dear God- his torso was ripped open and his guts where torn out and thrown around around them like confetti.

Unable to hold it in, Rachael bent over in the corner and threw up. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had just talked to them this morning, now they were dead! They were dead. Fuck! Jesus! They were dead!

Tears started to well up in her eyes, but before she could lose herself she heard a noise. Because of how cheaply this place was made, it had a lot of squeaky floors. She could always hear when her neighbors got home or when they people above her walked around. So right then she could swear that someone was coming down the stairs from the second floor.

She quickly turned off the lights. Then as quietly crept to the front door and closed it before whatever it was out there could see her. Then she stood on her tippy toes and looked out the eye hole to see who was coming.

She didn't see anything at first, but then she saw a ragged hooded figure walk past the door. Her tears flowed freely from her eyes, she was so scared. Then when things couldn't possibly get any scarier, she started hearing a dark deep voice echo around the room. She looked around frantically to find its source, but she couldn't find it. That's when she realized… it was actually in her head.

It was gibberish at first. She couldn't understand it at all. The slowly it started to form words she knew and addressed her directly.

"Hello Rachael Alexandria Haroldson." It spoke, "I know you are here and that you can hear me."

"What the…?"

"Come out now and you will be spared a painful death. If you do not, I will hunt you down and dispatch you in the most painful way imaginable. You think your friend James Samuel Lake suffered?"

Rachael's eyes looked back at their bodies.

"His pain will be nothing compared to what you will endure."

Suddenly something hit the door and nearly made her trip over her feet. It sound like something was trying to break it down. She knew that it had to be that hooded creature. Fearing for her life, she grabbed the knife from Jame's mutilated body and dashed out the back door. She made it just in time too. Just as she left, that monster came stalking in behind her.

Never before had Rachael ran this fast. Sure she's been in dangerous situations, but never anything like this! She needed to lose this thing and fast, but she didn't know how! Where could she go to escape something like this! It looked like the damned grim reaper himself!

Distracted by her own thoughts, she didn't see the car coming as she ran across the street. Without any warning, it sent her flying in the air. The impact was excruciating. It knocked the wind out of her. Then once she hit the ground with a sickening smack, she couldn't move or do anything to defend herself from the monster coming her way.

"Oh my- Fuck!" The driver stopped the car and stepped out of his vehicle. She couldn't get a good look at him though, her eyes were too teary. "Are you okay!? Shit- I didn't mean to- I didn't see you-"

"Hel-" Rachael tried desperately to form some words, but she could barely breathe with the pain, "Help-"

"Shh, Shh!" The man shushed her, "Don't speak, save your energy! I'm calling 911 now!" He knelt next to her and pulled out his phone, but he wasn't able to make the call. Less than a second later, Rachael heard mangled screams come from the man. Then she was kicked in the gut from an unseen force sent her flying again, several feet away until she hit a light post and fell back to the ground. There she laid bloodied and broken.

"You attempt to run from me was in vain." She heard his voice again; it sent uncomfortable chills down her spine. "There is no place in this realm I where you can hide and where I can't find you. Like all beings born of magic, we are drawn to one another." The monster reached down and brushed the blood-mated hair out of her face and wiped away her tears so she could see him properly. She cringed at the sight.

His was a tall thin creature with the body of a man, but the face of the monster. His teeth were razor sharp like a shark and his skin was gray like his body no longer had blood flowing through it. However the most oddest feature she noticed first was his ears. They were long and pointed like he was an elf or something like one.

"It's such a shame, you had so much potential. You would have been a worthy heir to my legacy."

"What the hell are you talking about? Who are you?" She demanded in a low hoarse whisper. A normal person wouldn't have been able to understand her, but somehow she knew he would, "Why are you doing this?"

"It is a long story, young one. One you will no longer have a part in." He reached out with a strange baton looking item and then amazingly it expanded into a long black sword with spikes all along its edges.

"Wha-? N- No! No!" She gritted her teeth.

He raised his blade. "Long live the Queen," He spat and plunged it through her heart.

A/N: Hi everyone, I know this is a tad confusing, but I promised it will all be cleared up in the end.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and stick around to read the next. I love hearing peoples thoughts, so please review if you have a chance and tell me what you think. Also if you guys have any suggestions or ideas, let me know. I might use them and add it to the story. So far I'm not sure who my OC's romantic interest will be. I was thinking about Allanon or Ander, but honestly its still all up in the air. Everyone, including the ladies and deceased characters are still in the running(except will because reasons). I probably won't have it set until a few more chapters. So send me reviews or PMs. I need help deciding. Thanks guys, seeya!