Chapter 1: The Closet

The closet could be called some kind of cozy. I sat crawled up in the corner, my hair hanging in my face. I tried to hide myself, curling a little from the last venom that entered my body. It never stopped hurting when they bit me, but I got used to it. Very slowly.

The dead vampire had to be somewhere in the house. I heard him groan for a while but then it had become silent and I knew he ended up just like anyone else that ever bit me. Dead, with no chance on recovering. They didn't even needed to be burned afterwards, one sip of my blood and they just would be... gone. Forever.

I trembled, gasping softly while feeling how the wounds in my neck would heal. Stupid hunters, stupid… immortal life. It was my personal hell.

Suddenly I heard a noise and I shot up, bumping my head against the shelf of the closet. Footsteps moved, silently and graceful but I could hear them. Sometimes they stopped, like they were searching for some particular goal. Would that be me? But… that couldn't be, I had no one left that would search for me.

The steps came closer to the closet, and I heard soft sniffing, followed by a gasp and a complete silence, like something had stunned the other presence in the house. I was holding my breath, which I did not need, but I still breathed out of a habit.

'Hello?' a soft men's voice could be heard and I trembled. The voice was on guard, and I heard how a hand got laid on the doorknob of the closet.

I peeped softly, pressing myself against the wall.

Two more steps…

The door got pulled open and someone grabbed my cloak. I was pulled outside, into the little rays of sunlight that fell through the dusty window.

'Let me go, let me go!' I immediately started to scream, trying to struggle but the man that caught me was obviously way stronger.

'Hey! Hush!' he told me annoyed though he didn't let go of me. Studying he did, his eyes wondered over me unashamed and I trembled, peeking at him from my eyecorners. He wasn't tall, just a few inches higher than me, and I was pretty tiny. His eyes were fluid red. A vampire. The crest he wore on his chest, which was the same as on his cloak, was a V in classical handwriting.

'Are you an immortal child?' he asked suspicious, probably noticing the fact only one of my eyes was red. I backed off, ducking in, even though his presence wasn't really threatening me. I just wasn't used to company.

'No.' I peeped, I wasn't, I just got changed the wrong way. If there was such thing as a wrong way.

'Liar.' the young man hissed as he grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. 'I can smell the human. You must be a mix.'

'I'm not, I'm not!' I begged him. 'The vampire who changed me died during the transformation! It's all I know, it's all I know!'

He let slightly go of me, like something bothered him for just a moment. His eyes widened slightly and his nostrils trembled, like he smelled something in the air that I could not find. I watched him curiously, as he came a little closer to me.

It took almost too long till I noticed the change in his eyes, they turned almost black. I shocked, trying to pull myself away from him, seeing what the young men wished to do. It happened a lot but I never saw this strange look in anybodies eyes. That... it almost looked like passion.

'You can't bite me...' I tried to mutter, but my voice was to unsteady. Still, he seemed to hear it.

'Why... why not?'

'You... you will die.'

'People die when they taste your blood?' he said and he backed off. I bit my lip, somewhere sad to see I scared another person, a vampire even. And not even one that seemed scary to me. It was almost... he was, he seemed to be almost nice...

I quickly nodded.

'The... the man, the vampire, in the other room, he drank my blood as well, it always happens.'

The young man seemed to be torn by doubt, somehow and he let go of me. I followed his movements through the room, his nervous walking. I didn't dare to ask him what was wrong, scared he would attack me after all.

'You need to go.' he said then. 'You need to get away from here, they can be here any minute.'

'W-What?' I stumbled. 'W-Who will be there?'

'My... clan.' he said and he started to drag me along, randomly crossing through the house. I was trembling an shocked. What did he mean with his clan and why would I have to go? Was he trying to... save me?

'Demetri!' a loud voice suddenly sounded. The young man who had pulled me with him looked uit shocked, his head moving in panic as if he searched for a way to escape. I could hear footsteps. Soft, rhytmic footsteps that could only belong to a vampire.

'Felix...' he muttered, as a long man stepped in and I could only gaze a little. The presence of the second man had guarded me, and made me scared. The one, probably called Demetri, holding me must have felt because his fingers seemed to squeeze my skin for a moment comforting.

'Can she be of any use?' Felix wanted to no. Demetri quickly shook his head and I trembled.

'No.' he said fast. Way too fast.

'Please...' I suddenly said. 'Please let me go!'

I trembled, tried to pull myself loose and once again, Demetri seemed to be torn by doubt. What was is? Why did he want to follow my orders so badly. I wished he would though, as I pulled once again, repeating my words, peeping.

'Please let me go!'

'Is she still human?' Felix suddenly asked, inhaling my scent obviously.

'Half.' Demetri said, but not willingly as he looked to the ground for a moment. 'Felix listen, we need to let her go.'

'Why do you want that so badly?'

'I just have the feeling we need to.'

'You know perfectly well the being of a half vampire is strictly forbidden. If she can't be of any use for the guard, we need to destroy her.'

I started trembling, trying even more to pull myself away now. My eyes must have been big and scared. They couldn't destroy me for what I was, they just couldn't. Why didn't that tall man listen to Demetri?

'She smells good, doesn't she?' Felix suddenly asked.

'Better than you can imagine.' the one holding me hissed softly as he moved between me and his companion. 'We have to let her go, Felix, right now.'

'Oh gosh Demetri... you didn't... is she your...?' the man groaned.

'Can we discuss this later?' Demetri growled as he looked as his friend. I had honestly no idea where they were talking about and it scared me. I tried to find my protector's gaze for some comfort, but he did not look at me.

'Well, we can share...'

'We can not drain her!'

'Not so possessive, my friend.'

This strange conversation was leading into something I really didn't wish to do. Letting people drink was... killing them and when I looked at the person who found me, I did not wish to kill him at all.

'I'm not possessive, it's... something in her blood.'

'You can't drink.' I told Felix just as I told Demetri, my voice being unsteady. 'The vampire in the other room tried to, and he died. Loads of others wanted to, they are all dead now.'

'Not useful, you said?' Felix told his friend amused as he pulled him aside. The one movement of his arm was enough to smack my only guardian against the wall. 'So, little girl, tell me your name please?'

'G-Grace.' I was trembling all over. 'Grace Erynn.'

'An Irish?' The man grinned, turning to Demetri. 'Our clan is getting multicultural!'

I didn't understood, what they were talking about, but then I got suddenly lifted over Felix shoulder. I tried to scream, but the man held me with an iron grip, which I could impossible escape. Demetri struggled up from the ground, staring at me and I caught his gaze, but he would look away. What was he hiding? Who was he at all?