Well, hello to whoever is reading this. This is the sequel to my first story Achroi. If you haven't read Achroi yet, I suggest you do otherwise you'll probably get confused. Anywayys, please read and tell me what you think. I'm going to need a lot of help with this. Enjoyy!!

Chapter One

The creature stared back with eyes the colour of liquid amber. It's teeth were long, sharp and jagged; a killers teeth. It breathed heavily, waiting for instructions.

Midir paced around the creature studying it critically.

"What can it do?" Midir barked to one of his scientists, the infamous Dante Reggins. Dante stepped forward and pointed to various parts of the creature.

"It has impeccable smell. It can smell a specific humans scent from a mile away. Its eyesight is amazing, almost as good as a vampires," Dante said as he circled the creature, "it is in-humanly fast, reaching speeds of up to 25 km/h. And as for its teeth, well, I'm sure you can figure out what kind of damage they'd cause."

"Is it as fast as a vampire?" Midir asked, finally looking at the creature with some type of appreciation.

"No, sir. Not as fast as a vampire. But faster than any human or wolf," Dante answered.

"And was it meant to turn out like this?" Midir asked, gesturing to all the fur that covered the creature.

"No, it wasn't," Dante answered frowning, "it was meant to look like a human and have all the characteristics of a vampire. But I think something went wrong."

"You think something went wrong?" Midir said raising his eyebrows.

"I know something went wrong," Dante said correcting himself, "but first impressions can be deceiving. At first it just looks like some kind of scraggly wolf that can stand on two feet, but if you take the time to look closely you'll see that it also has some human traits."

"Explain," Midir ordered.

"Well, he is not just a wolf," Dante said, "he is also a human. He can change to the shape of a human at will. He can also change to a wolf whenever he feels like it. But it is extremely painful for him to transform into a wolf. It seems that he finds it easier to change when it is night."

"So he is like a vampire. He needs the night," Midir stated.

"Yes, indeed."

"He's like a killing machine."

"That was what I planned."

"What are they called?"

"I call them a werewolf."

"Brilliant," Midir said excitement welling in his chest, "how many more are there?"

"There's exactly one hundred, sir, with more on the way. I'm trying to see if I can perfect it to have the best wolf traits and the best traits of a vampire. If I can achieve that and replicate it, I believe you will have the ultimate army of the best killing machines."

"Excellent," Midir said smiling evilly, "now get back to your lab. I want more of these made as soon as possible. We have a war upon us, even if nobody knows quite yet. And I want to be prepared so I can wipe out these pathetic vermin called humans."

***

Midir stared out the window of his office onto the darkening streets of Myanmalla. The partygoers were just starting to appear and head to all the clubs that lined the back streets of the city. No doubt his son Ash would be among them, seducing some pitiful human girl then having some fun with her. Midir returned to his desk and stared at the papers that were strewn across it. He picked up one piece of paper that had several notations scribbled on it and studied.
It was the plans for the werewolves, the super vampires gone wrong. They were supposed to be the ultimate vampire, the superior killer of the night. But something had gone array, and they had turned into mindless balls of fur; or so he had thought when he first saw them. But now that Dante had explained them to him properly, he had a feeling that they would be much more useful than a super vampire. A super vampire would eventually get a mind of its own and run off to do its own thing, but these werewolves would stay loyal to him; not like those despicable elders who had thrown him off the council and stripped him of his titles when his laboratory had been discovered.

Midir went over the strengths of the werewolves, delighted as to how many there were. As for weaknesses, there was only one Dante knew of: silver. But nobody would be smart enough to think of silver to kill a werewolf. So they were, in every sense, unbeatable. Midir stopped poring over the papers when he heard someone enter the room. Midir swivelled slowly in his chair to face his son, Ash.

Ash's lanky frame leaned up against the doorway, his arms folded against his muscular chest. He had allowed his ash-blond hair to grow just past his ears and fall lazily over his eyes, which were an electric blue. He stared at Midir, mouth twitching as he took in Midirs rumpled appearance and the messy office.

"Something you see amuses you?" Midir asked, straightening the papers and making sure to hide the papers on the werewolves.

"Everything about you amuses me, Midir," Ash said as he pushed himself off the doorway and stood up straight. Ash stood just below six feet, which gave him a couple inches on Midir.

"And why is that?" Midir asked, clasping his hands together and leaning forward as Ash dropped into the chair opposite his.

"Because for an evil mastermind, you are seriously unorganised," Ash said gesturing to all the piles of books and papers that littered the office floor.

"Well, not everyone's perfect," Midir, said.

"Yes, you're right. No one is like me," Ash said as he grinned lazily. Anybody who had overheard this would think of Ash as stuck-up, but in fact he was telling the truth. He was a dhampir, half human half vampire. The best of both worlds, as Midir had said.

"Of course not. No one's like Ash the Great," Midir mocked. Ash just grinned even wider. "Now, why are you here?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm here because I'm bored," Ash said as he flexed his arms.

"I see. And what would you like me to do about that?" Midir asked leaning back and sighing. Ash was so restless; he could never stay in one place for too long. He had only arrived back in Myanmalla a week ago and already he was bored. Midir didn't have enough people that needed to be "offed" to keep Ash satisfied.

"Got any new targets?" Ash asked, "anyone who needs to disappear…permanently?"

"No, not really," Midir answered, "you've been working too fast for me to gain any new enemies."

"Well, you're boring aren't you?" Ash said sighing disappointedly.

"Well, you shouldn't enjoy your job so much," Midir reprimanded.

"How can I not enjoy my job? Being an assassin is awesome: the stalking, the killing, and the screams. It's great," Ash said, his face lighting up as he reminisced.

"Yes, well maybe you should stop being so great for a while and go back to being normal again. School starts soon, you know."

"To hell with school," Ash said angrily, "I shouldn't have to mingle with God forsaken humans. I'm a dhampir for crying out loud."

"I don't care," Midir said, standing up, "I've made up my mind. You'll be returning to school next month. I've enrolled you at Zodiac High. If you can mange to stay out of trouble for a whole semester, I may let you lose on the world again."

"And if I don't behave?" Ash asked.

"No more assassinations for you, my boy."

***

Merean walked through the empty streets quietly, trying not to draw any attention to herself. She stepped into a side street and continued east, heading for the outskirts of town. She hadn't stepped foot in Ollabandia for over 400 years, and it felt awkward to be walking through it now. 400 years ago, Ollabandia had been this tiny town on the edge of the Evannha Forest. Hardly anyone had lived there, and those who did soon moved on to bigger and better places. But her family had stayed in the town for more than 200 years when the first Gallagher's had moved here. Now there were no Gallagher's here at all, well, not direct descendants anyway.

The town had changed so much. The small warehouses on the edge of town had been transformed into huge factories; the inns that lined May Street were now luxurious hotels and small, cheap motels; Main Street was covered with small boutiques, cafes, restaurants, banks and the occasional jeweller. The outskirts of town, which had been surrounded by small farms, had been changed to massive suburbs with houses ranging in size and price. There were only a few of the original houses remaining, some were in excellent condition and others were just falling apart. Merean continued to walk down the winding streets, stopping every now and then to marvel at the monstrous houses that had been built there. Yup, Ollabandia was no longer the small farming town it once used to be.

Merean rounded a corner and started walking more slowly as she entered the part of town that had been preserved. The original houses of Ollabandia stood on either side of her, quietly creaking in the shadow of the setting sun. Merean continued down the road then stopped and stared. It was still there, the Gallagher Homestead; her home. Merean had to mentally order herself not to sprint up to the house and run through all the wide, beautiful rooms. She walked quietly up to the chain link fence and gracefully jumped over it, not caring if anybody saw her. She walked up the grassy hill towards the house, stopping to stare at the giant cherry blossom tree that grew just in front of the stables. She remembered climbing up into that tree and bawling her eyes out when Da had told her something that she now wished she never knew.

Merean walked past the cherry blossom and stood on the wide, sweeping veranda that surrounded the entire house. She closed her eyes as she remembered countless times when Da had chased her around that veranda and swung her high up into his arms. She took a deep breath and placed her hands on the front door handle. This is it, she thought, you've finally found the courage to go home. Merean pushed gently against the door and it swung forward, inviting her home once more.

Well, that was chapter one. I hope you liked it. I'd really appreciate any reviews, even flames are welcome.
Well thanks for reading!

VampSa (Sarah)