I looked into Gabriel's eyes, and he looked down on me. A tear dripped down his perfectly tanned cheek. His tousled white-blonde hair stuck up in tufts that gave him the look of a little boy.
"Don't cry, love, its okay," I whispered into his neck, snuggling him closer. He pulled me tighter and closer until we were almost the same person.
"You're leaving. That will never be okay."
"I have to do this, you know that. But you know that I love you," I said. He sneered at the air behind me. He knew what I was going to say, he had heard it one thousand times, and would hear it one more time before I left.
"Don't tell that crap to me! I know how you say that I need to move on, but that's ridicules, I love you!" he yelled jerking away from me.
"We were never supposed to fall in love in the first place, and this is why. I'm leaving and I guarantee that I will never see you again," I said and stepped farther away from him. He reached out for me, but I shied away. An angry look plastered itself on his face.
"You're not going to leave me!" he yelled. He grabbed my wrist and shook me. I tried to yank away, but his superhuman strength tightened until the tips of my fingers were numb.
"Let me go! You don't understand!" I yelled back at him. I yanked hard and ran. He ran after me and caught me, when we were about a mile away from the nearest town.
"You are mine!" he yelled, and yanked me back into his arms. I went limp and a curling smile formed on his face.
"You don't know how much I have sacrificed to help people. This is not your destiny," I said. The darkness in his eyes lifted and his arms loosened.
"I'm sorry. But please," he begged," don't leave me."
"I have to. Goodbye, Gabriel," I said, and tears dripped down his perfect face. His eyes got dark again, and I ran for it before his arms tightened again.
I could hear his heavy footsteps behind me, and he was slowly gaining on me. If I could only get to the nearest town, then I could get to a place with people, and he won't be able to hurt me.
I could see the sign up ahead and I ran harder than I had ever in my life. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck and I ran faster. He pushed me from the back, and I flew to someone's porch and I had an idea.
I rang their doorbell, and prepared for a fight just in case there was no one home. The door creaked open and a boy stepped out. I dashed inside and slammed the door shut and felt it vibrate as Gabriel slammed against it.
"Who are you?" he asked, confused look on his face. I looked around. He looked maybe around fourteen or fifteen, with black hair, and chocolate brown eyes.
"I'm Ashleigh, and I'm real sorry, but there's this guy…" I trailed off. He nodded vigorously.
"Oh, say no more, I get it, do you want something to drink or something?" he asked. I nodded, sensing around the house.
"Who's upstairs?" I asked. There was someone of great power, someone I was supposed to Guard. He looked surprised, then amused.
"What are you, a vampire, witch, Seer?" he looked hopeful. I smiled and climbed the stairs. There were a few bedrooms down a short hallway, but I could hear The Power in the back one. I pushed open the door to find a tall kid sitting in a chair in front of a lit screen.
"Ethan, you've been gone for like, thirty minutes! What took you so long?" the kid asked. He turned around and his mouth dropped open. His energy escalated, and I felt his pulse beat frantically in his chest.
He was cute, fifteen years old, skinny, but enough muscles to be able to defend himself. He had wiry brown hair, brown eyes, and a smile to light up the world. He was taller than me, a rare occurrence since I'm almost five foot nine.
"Do you understand me?" I asked. I used the Guardian language to test him. The Guardian Language is a secret language that only the Guardian and their Guarded can understand. This was the only way to find out if he was The Power.
"Yeah, but it's weird. It's like I know what you're saying, but at the same time, I know that it's not English," he said. I let out a sigh of relief. The boy at the door came up behind me.
"Hey, Benny, so you've met Ashleigh?" he asked. He pulled out a chair for me to sit in next to Benny.
"So, Ashleigh what's your story?" Benny asked. I looked at both of them and got nothing on their emotions. Their faces expressed nothing except curiosity.
"My name is Ashleigh Elizabeth Arrow. I'm a vampire that has been alive for thousands of years, protecting other vampires. Except that it's more than being a vampire. My official 'species' is called Guardians. But we're not really a species anymore. There's only two of us left," I said. I paused, letting them stomach it.
"So you're a vampire?" Benny asked.
"Yes and no. I am because I have all the abilities that a grown vampire has, but I don't need human blood," I said. Ethan said nothing, but sat and listened patiently. I felt bad only telling them part of the truth. I don't need human blood, but I do need vampire blood. Fledgling blood to be exact.
"So what brought you here to White Chapel?" Benny asked. I looked around and my hope soared.
"This is White Chapel? This is great! Do you guys know where a vampire named Erica is?" I asked. They looked at each other.
"Yeah, Erica goes to our school. She's not very nice, but I'm sure she'll talk to you," Ethan said, checking with Benny for reassurance.
"I don't need to talk to her, I need to make sure she grows up to be selfless and pure," I said. I had already hoped that someone brought her up that way, but by the doubtful look on both of their faces, I knew that hadn't happened.
"Um, you're a little late for that," Benny said.
"Yeah, she's, like, the most selfish person we know," Ethan said. I looked at both of them. I caught a bit of Ethan's thoughts.
"I need you guys to help me," I tried, but Ethan stopped me, holding up his hand.
"If you're a vampire, then why didn't you have to ask to be let in?" he asked. I brushed off his question.
"I'll have time to answer your questions later, but right now, I need two things," Ethan looked apprehensive, but Benny was staring into space. I barely even knew these people and I was about to ask them a huge favor.
"Well, if you want to get to know Erica, then you're going to have to have to register at school, and you have no money, no access to food, and no house," Ethan said. I smiled sweetly at them and they both caved.
Ethan said he'd talk to his parents and ask them if I could stay for a while, and Benny said he'd talk to the principle if it was okay for a late registration.
They rushed off to go see about my preparations while I thought about what to do. I mean, what if Gabriel comes back? How am I going to tell Erica about the prophecy?
Just then, Benny walked through the doors and pushed my cares out of the way. I don't know what it is about him, but I'm drawn to him, not because of The Power, but because of something else.
"There's something different about you," he said and stepped inot the room.
"What would be different about me?" I asked. He didn't blush, but treaded on confidently.
"You have something that I've never seen other girls. You don't have the urge to make yourself look perfectly perfect, you want to protect people, and when you look at me, I feel like you can scoop into my soul and know all my secrets."
"What secrets would you ahve that I wouldn't be able to know them?" he blushed furiously and shyly looked down at his black Converse.
"Well that's why they're called secrets, right?" he said nervously. I smiled and grasped his hand, walking him downstairs. His hand was warm and totally soft. I thought of Gabriel, how I used to hold his hand. I slipped my hand out, remembering Gabriel and the danger I was puttung everyone in by staying here.
"Ethan?" I called out. I felt Ethan's energy in the kitchen and I made my way toward him. At the last second, I felt someone else's energy in the room with him.
"Yeah, I'm in here talking with my parents," he yelled. I walked in and saw a grown couple standing next to him worried.
"You must be Ashleigh," Ethan's mom said, and I nodded and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. It was great meeting you both, but I need to talk to Ethan. Alone," I said, waiting for them to leave. They nodded and I heard their footsteps clunk up the stairs.
"What's up?" Ethan asked.
"It was great meeting you guys, but you all are in too much danger if I'm around," I explained.
"That's why you need to stay here, so that we can protect you," Benny said. I smiled.
"Some things no one can protect me from. White Chapel is the center for all things magical and mystical. You two have not even begun to fathom the power both of you have. You, the Seer," I said pointing to Ethan," and you the witch," I said pointing to Benny. I nodded to both of them and made for the door. Ethan reached out and touched me and I felt him getting a vision. I grabbed on to his temples so that I could see it, too.
I saw Gabriel and me locked in a fight. He was winning, and I had scratches all over me. I saw Benny come out of nowhere and stake Gabriel through the heart. As soon as Benny staked him through the heart, I felt like my own heart was being ripped out of my chest. I felt myself crumble to ashes while Benny lay crying in front of me. Then later, I saw Erica, living the prophecy. She sat on a thrown that was made out of bones, and she ruled both the humans and the vampires like her slaves. I saw Ethan and Benny and a blonde headed boy at the right side of Erica, and I saw a gravestone. It read clearly, Sarah and the death date was soon.
The vision ended and me and Ethan looked at each other. We both knew what was going to happen, and we were both afraid.
"This is why I need to leave, Ethan. The boy you saw I was fighting with, that was Gabriel. He is very important, and I need to find Erica. I'm so sorry," I said, and ran out of the house and into their lawn, straight into the arms of Gabriel.