I do not own the House of Night series
It belongs to Kirsten and P.C. Cast
This story will take place in the HON universe but story centering around Zoey and the Tulsa House of night will not be touched upon.
P.S. some thing WILL differ from the Casts story but there will be reasons why.
Please leave a comment afterwards. Hope you'll enjoy.
Also it will be Vampire oppose to Vampyre.
Chapter one: A normal day... right?
"Birdy!"
"There she is."
"Dose Polly want a cracker?"
"Aww why did she run away."
"Come back here and sing for us again."
This is something I have been dealing with for the last year. Ever sins the incident I have had on the school stage I have been taunted by those bullies. The name calling, the chasing, chain mails and rumors. I keep running, dodges people and spitballs. When would it end? Couldn't they just forget about it already? I managed to shake them off, I have always been very lean, and at times it had its advantages. The chilly air in the January afternoon graced my cheek. A lot of things have changed since I entered High school; much of it was not for the better.
One of my childhoods friend Brook had moved to Adamsville, Tennessee, shortly before we were to enter high school. Brook and I still keep in contact with each other by letters, email and phone conversations. But it is far from the same. I still miss the night where we would just stay up and talk.
My other friend Mara was one of them that had chased me and called me name. After we entered high school Mara became more or less obsessed with climbing the social latter, she may have never physically hurt me but her words still stings. Mara has always been extremely impulsive and to an extent naïve. She had a tendency to get caught up in whatever was happening and follow the crowd.
I still had someone at the school that still cared for me a girl that I exchanged letters with. She wanted to be a good friend to me but something was holding her back. A few weeks before we were to go on Christmas holiday there came a letter stating that she would be leaving the school but that we would meet again. Attached to the letter was a small Christmas gift. I just hope she managed to find mine as well.
It had been a long day and the new semester only started about 2 weeks ago. The flue is going around and I at times wonder if someone is 'sick' just to get out of exams or tests. But during these last couple of days I have been so sleep deprived and I swear I am hearing voices. I keep walking until a strange man came up to me. I tried to walk around him. But he kept following me. I slowly began to pick up speed. He kept following and the only thing that stood out was the blue marks on his face. I keep running, hopefully I can get away. I kept running, while I looked back I saw he was gone but when I turned around he was before me. When I looked into his dark eyes I became petrified I felt like I couldn't move. He placed a finger on my forehead and opened his mouth.
"Wren Shannon! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee, hearken to her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night." Suddenly a sharp pain made me pass out.
I woke up a short while later my head stinging and I feel nauseating. I need to get home and rest.
It wasn't that far away, I could probably walk the rest of the way blindfolded, I have been living in the same house for as long as I could remember. It was a single store building that was made out of wood and bricks. The house was just right for the four of us; we even had a spare bedroom for guests when they stayed for the night. When mom and dad purchased the house it had been recently made and I think luck was on my parents' side because they got it even after such a long time of looking for a home.
I more or less stumbled into the living room, I was probably first home today. Robin was probably still at his basketball practice, while mom and dad probably still at work.
"I'm home." I shouted much to my surprise a very familiar voice answered.
"Oh, hi Wren." My dad answered his brown hair in slight disarray. My dad would turn 55 later this year but he still looked like a Casanova. Something he was in his younger years. With pale blue eyes he looked at me and smiled. He looked like he haven't shaved for a few days and he was already getting a thin layer of hair on his face.
"Hi dad. How are you?" I said smiling even if the headache got worse by the minute. I would worry him; he have had a rough couple of days. Granny and Grandpa had been under the weather and it had caused dad to lose a lot of sleep. Also the firm he was working for had hit a bit of a rough spot so at times dad was sent home a bit early because of setbacks and cutbacks. I just hope his firm will get better soon. Dad loves his work as a car mechanic and partly I think it is because he is allowed to be covered in grease when he tinkers.
"I'm ok. I think I am coming down with something." My head started to pound again. I must have scrunched my face because dad looked worried.
"Want me to make some of Aggie's tea for you?"
"Yes please." Aggie or Agnes Love is my maternal grandmother. Dad still calls her Aggie as a term of endearment, grandma Aggie still has the 'hippy spirit' from the 1960's and is still very active woman, even after grandpa Curtis died 14 years ago she is still so full of life and optimistic till no end.
"Well you go to bed and I'll bring it to you." I smiled at him and made my way down the hall, the walls where a soft ivory colors and a lot of our house had wood decorations and furniture. Big windows that let in the light and a high ceiling that made the rooms feel bigger. I walked into my bedroom, it was a medium sized room with light blue walls a black ceiling with glowing stars pasted upon it, my bed had never looked so inviting there in the corner of my room with the nightstand and desk at opposite ends of it. I more or less dived into the polka dot printed duvet and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.
The air had changed; it was foul smelling and heavy, the walls where of brick and the only light that could be seen where from the torches lighting up the tunnels. Their orange glow made the brick walls turn red. I began walking the floor was littered with bones everything from dead rat carcass to what appeared to be a horse skull.
But what was really chilled my bones where the human skulls that could be found stacked up on each other. Something had or was living here, when I heard a hiss from behind me I picked up the pace I needed to find a way out or at least someplace to hide.
The beast came closer and closer and it turned from hissing to a deep nerve chilling roar. No matter where I went, I couldn't shake it. I ran until it had me cornered. The beast leaped into the air and with teeth bared it roared again.
"Wren!"
"Wren, wake up." I flew into a sitting position, my head was hurting worse than before and the sudden movements made me feel dizzy. When I finally did get my mind in order I recognized the face and voice immediately.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" Worry was written all over her face. It hurt to move; even nodding my head caused me to scrunch my face in pain. Mom then did the most natural thing try to sooth the pain.
She stroke my forehead, it always calmed me down When she brushed up my bangs I saw her eyes widen the shock was written upon her face and if wasn't a pleasant surprise from what I could read.
"Mom?" My raspy voice caught her attention; she snapped out of her shock and turned her eyes back to me.
"What is it sweetie?"
"What is wrong?"
"Wren, did you meet someone that had strange marks in their face?"
"I.. I … saw someone with a bluish facial paint."
"Wren, you are turning into a fledgling."
"What?! Why? Mom please can you call a doctor, I don't want to die." My eyes are wide as saucers, I grabbed onto her shoulders, and with clammy grasps I took hold of her wool shirt and held onto her. Trying to find an answer in those pale mint green eyes. I felt tears getting ready to spill from my eyes. This could not be happening.
"Oh, sweetie. It will be ok." I know it was a lie, she knew it to. There was a chance that I would die before I became an adult. But she just did what most mothers would have done. Try to comfort their children.
"Wrenie. I will make a phone call but I will be right back. Try to rest a bit ok?" My head is pounding my sight is hazy; I feel nausea brought on by the changes in my body. I felt out of breath and my head felt like I had a stone dropped on it over and over again. Before I knew it I passed out.
I feel weightless like a bird in flight or an astronaut in outer space. It was scary, yet exiting. Just floating where no one sees me. Yet in all this isolation I still felt warm, like a summer breeze caressed my skin. Above me was a white glowing sun and around me was nothing but a blue sky with soft white clouds. I looked up at the sun and slowly it got closer to me or was I ascending? As the distance grew shorter the warmer and safer I felt. I was embraced by the soft light and a faint voice called me.
"Miss Shannon, Wren Shannon. Wake up." The unfamiliar voice of a woman awoke me. My sight was still hazy from my sleep. But as I regained my conscious and my sight cleared I saw a woman. With long almond brown hair, with clear brown eyes, she was built like an athlete and had a wide jaw and some almost masculine features. On her forehead was a crescent moon and along the sides of her face was what appeared to be a pair of archers aiming their bows towards the moon. The moon was the symbol of the children of the night, which could only mean that she was a full-grown vampire.
"Oh, good you are awake." The female vampire came off as a very stern and no-nonsense.
"Who are you?" I said as I raised myself up into a sitting position.
"My name is Diana and a teacher at House of night here in Little Rock." Her answer was direct and short.
"It's nice to meet you and all but, why are you here?"
"Your mother was extremely worried about you. Apparently she managed to find a number to the school and asked for us to send an adult vampire over to your home. You were lucky that I arrived when I did; you looked like you were going to pass on. "
"So it is true, I am a fledgling." I said disappointed. I really had hoped that it was just a fever and headache inflicted nightmare. But I know that once you are marked, you have no chance of turning back.
"Yes, you are now a child of Nyx and for your own wellbeing and safety you will move into the house of night." Diana almost looked apologetic. Perhaps she knew that it was a lot to take in, no longer being an ordinary person.
"Can't I wait? Perhaps I could finish school and then start at the next semester."
"I'm afraid that is out of the question. I take it you don't know a lot about vampires."
"I have heard rumors but that is about it."
"Dose one of them says what happens when a fledgling doesn't attend House of night?"
"The fledgling will not make it." I almost whispered, hoping to whatever deity was out there it was a rumor to scare students.
"Yes that is sadly, the truth. Not all fledgling will survive. But if you stay here you will die before the sun rises tomorrow. Do you really wish for your mother, father or brother to find you here then?" Diana's word sank into my skull. It would be difficult to leave my family and my life behind but if I stayed they would have to see me die. I could not do that to them. I cared too much about them; we had a hard time accepting when our pets passed. How would mom, dad and Robin be able to handle burying me?
"So when do I leave?"
"As soon as possible. I will give you an hour to get your things and say your goodbyes." Diana said as she left me in my room. A place I have been sleeping for 16 years of my life. Now everything was different, I found my suitcases that was in the back of my closet and began taking everything I would need. I just kept focusing at the task at hand; if I stopped I wouldn't be able to keep myself from crying and screaming about the unfairness of this situation.
After half an hour of packing I looked around my room was so bare now, I took my three bag (one school bag and two suitcases) and was about to enter the living room. There was everyone waiting for me. Mom looked so scared and my younger brother was there terrified, dad was pacing back and forth, Diana was still there, I assumed she had told my family what was going to happen to me. I stayed in the hallway hoping to hear at least a bit of their conversation. My mother then began to speak her voice slightly raspy.
"Virgil we do not have a choice."
"Avis, I, we," Dad tried to find a good argument.
"We have to let her go Virgil, if we don't. Oh God" Mom said as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. A bit more of her mascara was smeared across her face. Robin sat there in our couch I haven't seen him this devastated sins we had to bury our dog Truman a few years back. His normally happy and energetic demeanor was thrown out the window and he just sat there like a marionette with its stings cut.
"There is still no guarantee even if we let her go."
"Your daughter needs to do this Mr. Shannon if she isn't looked after or cared for properly she will not live much longer." The calmness of the female Vampire was fueling the fire rather than helping the distraught man before her.
"Wren is no pet; you cannot storm in here and just say that you will be leaving with her!" My dad was fuming; he rarely got this angry, that he started to shout.
"That is the way it works Mr. Shannon, if you want to do what is best for your daughter you will let her come with me, because staying here would send her to her grave." Dianas' biting comeback sent a shock into dad, his eyes wide and he just sank to his knees. My father was a proud man and he rarely showed signs of weakness in front of anyone. But seeing the man that had raised me cry like a frightened child made my heart ache. I walked into the room making my presence known. Four pair of eyes turned their attention towards me.
"Are you ready?" Diana asked, the vampire woman was very straight forward. I do not know if it was common for vampires to pick up their fledglings or if they wait for them to arrive at the school. You could cut the tension with a knife, dad still had tears running down his face but he was no longer sobbing, Robin and mom looked a bit less miserable but I couldn't tell if they were just putting on a brave face.
"Can I have a moment with them alone?" Diana nodded and walked out the front door. Time seemed to freeze when the door clicks shut. Before either one of us could speak Robin was already embracing me and much to my surprise hitting me in the chest.
"ROBIN! What are you doing?!" Mom was terrified, sure my brother and I have had fights but Robin was far from an aggressor. Father rose from his kneeling position to come to my rescue but I knew that Robin would never harm me intentionally.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it," He repeated over and over again until he began sobbing and his hits was reduced to nothing more than a harmless touch. The brown haired boy was just as sad and heartbroken as his father had been, big blue eyes looked into mine begging me not to leave. It is true that at times this 12 year old boy might have made me angry and pushed my buttons. But we would never wish for something like this to happen. We would always be siblings no matter what happened.
"Robin, I need to do this." I said trying to put on a brave face in front of my younger brother. For once it was role reverse when I had come home sad about something Robin would use 'tough love' to help me get back up on my feet again, my brother is blunt to the point of insult. Robin was never a book smart kid, but he can read people like a polygraph.
"Will you come back?"
"I will do everything I can to get back to you. But for now that means I need to leave. Do you understand?" Blue eyes staring into each other searching for the answer we desired. Even if I couldn't give him a guarantee that I would complete the change. He would at least know that I would do everything I could to be able to return to them.
"Yeah I get it."
"I will send letters and call, you have my word. And you can have me on speed dial in case you get girl problems." I said smirking back at my younger brother who's cheeky grim came back and cheeks became pink.
"She is not my Girl." he pouted knowing exactly to what I was referring to. I let go of Robin and turned to face mom and dad. They were both there standing so unsure of what to do. I was glad that they didn't interrupt mine and Robins' conversation. Dad stepped up and wrapped his arms around me. We stood there for what seemed like an eternity. How long would it be until I got to see them in the flesh? I didn't know but I tried to remember every detail, from the way his developing beard tickled and the smell of musk.
"Promise you will take care of yourself." He whispered into my ear getting ready to release me.
"I will." I answered just as hushed. I left those strong arms and smiled back, then turned my attention away from him to mom.
"No matter what happens you will always be my girl." She was the last one to say goodbye and she embraced me.
"Wren, promise me that you will be careful and not do anything you will regret."
"I will mom."
"Don't let anyone change you, my little songbird."
"They won't. I will send letters every week so that we stay in touch, I will also call."
"I know you will. I love you." I felt the tears stream down my face, I would miss them dearly.
"I love you too." I mumbled back and our hug ended. With that I gave my goodbye and closed the door. Bracing myself for the road ahead, the road I didn't willingly pick. But I gave my family my word, I would fight to complete the change and they would see me again.