Before Dawn
Summary:Kori Anders is a student who is drawn to the idea of the supernatural existence. What happens when her interest becomes reality and is thrown into the world of supernatural, knowing her life won't ever go back to being normal? RichardxKori Rated T (Rating may change)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
"I want you to believe...to believe in things that you cannot." – Bram Stoker, Dracula
Chapter One: Journey into the Unknown
A tall man stood in front of a classroom, his eyes glancing around the room before answering a student's question. His smile brought a certain warmth to the room, and everyone seemed captivated in the topic of the discussion.
"Yes, another mythical being that we will cover are werewolves. These creatures, though human, will turn into the beast within every full moon. But how does one turn into a werewolf?"
"Isn't it genetic, Professor Wilson?" shouted out a tall, muscular man named Roy Harper. The women in the classroom all turned to look at him, practically swooning over the mere sound of his voice. He gave them a wink before turning his attention back to his amused professor.
The professor was new at Jump University, and unlike the other professors, he kept to himself. That being said, he also managed to bring a certain livelihood to his classroom during his lectures, so it was safe to say he was a student favorite. He was a tall but slender man, not too old but still had specks of grey in his black hair.
"Yes, it can be Mr. Harper," he said smoothly, "A being with the curse of lycanthropy can mate with other lycanthropes, or even normal humans, and produce a lycanthrope offspring."
"However," he continued, "One can also be bitten or scratched, and turn into a werewolf the very next full moon."
"You said one who is born with the 'curse' of lycanthropy? How does one get the curse?" another student on the other side of the room asked, writing notes down as he finished speaking.
Professor Wilson smiled again, observing his students with the look of appreciation. "I am very pleased that I actually have a classroom who is willing to join in on a discussion," he chuckled, "But, one can acquire the curse through different ways. It is said that the curse began by a witch, god, or even demon casting a spell on a human, who then has spread the 'curse' throughout time, by breeding and attacking. So therefore those who are from werewolf decent, have the chance of becoming one was well, and therefore are 'born with the curse'."
He glanced around and watched as many students wrote all of this down, "However, student's, don't get too caught up with werewolves right now. For that is a topic for a later day. We have plenty of time to discuss that and other topics; after all, this class is the journey into the unknown. Today, I want to discuss a different creature, the known rival to werewolves."
"This creature is said to feed off the living, only being able to roam the earth at night. Cruel, immortal beings who are thought to be able to glamour their ways into mortals homes, only to cause destruction, death upon those they can sink their fangs into. Who here knows what creature I am speaking of?" he said, his tone somewhat darker than the casual, smooth tone he had before.
His eyes landed on young woman, sitting closer to the front of the class. She was strikingly beautiful, with her auburn hair, bright green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. She was in the middle of writing something down on the notebook lying in front of her on her desk when he called out, "What about you Miss Anders?"
She practically jumped at the randomness of being called out, and glanced around the classroom to see students still with their hands in the air. Well that's weird, why didn't he just call on one of them? She wondered before answering, "Vampires?"
Her uneasiness faded, as he clapped his hands together, "Very good Miss Anders!" He turned and walked quickly over to his chalk board, writing the word VAMPIRE. He dropped the chalk back down in the tray, and refaced his students.
"Now, I know you all are die-hard Vamp fans due to things like Twilight. I can however, assure you that if such creatures existed, they won't be sparkling out in the sunlight," he paused, appreciating the classroom filling with laughter.
His eyes suddenly darkened, "No. I can assure you that if you were to run into one, you won't make it out alive. Body left drained in some dark alleyway. Or, if you're 'lucky', you'll still be 'alive' if that's what you'd want to call it. You'd be left merely just existing, never being able to celebrate another birthday since you'd never age again. Never be able to walk in the sunlight… If such creatures existed," he continued on, suddenly lightening his tone, "We would live in a very scary world, more than usual."
He glanced up at the clock, and realized his class was already almost over. "Well, I was going to go a bit more into detail, but I fear time as slipped away from us. I brought up Vampirism today because I want you all to write a paper dealing with how vampires came into existence, focus on different theories about them, include famous legendary vampires, and your own personal opinion on these creatures. Anything and everything, the sky is your limit. I'll send further instructions on blackboard, have a good night class, you are dismissed."
Kori quickly gathered her notebooks and her bag, and stood up from her chair. She felt eyes on her, and she paused and glanced to her left to see Roy Harper looking at her from across the classroom. She rolled her eyes at him were he could see, and continued onto walking out of the classroom.
She took a deep breath as she stepped outside onto the campus, the cold air hitting her hard, causing her to shiver. It was dark outside, since she chose to have a night class to accommodate her part time job in the library during the day.
She wrapped her jacket tighter around herself, and continued her path towards the parking lot. Kori glanced around as she realized that the parking lot was a lot more empty than usual, and it made her feel a bit uneasy.
She quickened her pace, suddenly thinking she could feel someone watching her every move. Oh stop freaking out, there's no one here. This parking lot is practically deserted, she thought to herself, still glancing in every direction around her.
For a moment she thought she could hear footsteps near her, but when she turned in said sounds direction, there was nothing there. She kept her eyes on her red car, parked still at a little distance. "Of all days to park so far away," she muttered, but then sighed in relief as she reached her car door.
She searched her bag for her car keys so she could unlock her car, but paused again, whipping her body around to face the darkness around her. "I know I heard something that time" she whispered to herself, fear consuming her. She quickly turned around and again, shoving everything around in her bag desperately trying to find her car keys.
She felt a sudden warmth behind her, and a hand grabbed her arm. Her body tensed and as she went to scream, but a hand covered her mouth before she could.
"Shhh, Kori. Calm down, it's me," Roy Harper said, turning her around, laughing at her expression. She was fuming.
"What the hell is your problem? You clearly knew I was freaked out. You are such an ass," she shouted, venom dripping from every word. He threw his hands up in defense, "Oh chill out. I was just messing with you."
"Well I don't want you to mess with me Roy. In fact, I don't want anything to do with you ever again, " she spat out, glaring up at him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll be going home now."
She pulled out her keys from her bag, and pressed the unlock button. Her eyes never left his, staring each other down.
Finally breaking the eye contact, she turned and opened her car door. She got into driver seat and went to shut the door when he jerked the door back open.
"Are you really going to be this way, Kori? I mean… I said I was sorry," he said, almost pleadingly. She fought back any sympathy she might feel for him, and snorted, "Sorry? How is one word supposed to make up for you cheating on me, after being with me for two years Roy? With my sister, of all people. I'm done with you, now leave me alone." She grabbed her door, and slammed it shut, almost shutting his fingers in with it.
She started her car and quickly pulled out of the parking lot, causing Roy to jump back in surprise. Surprisingly enough for Kori, she felt no guilt as she left him standing there in an empty parking lot, looking devastated. She smiled slightly to herself, watching as his figure shrunk in her rear view mirror, before disappearing completely.
She wanted to hurt him, she wanted him to feel as badly as she did walking in on them having sex at her friends party in an upstairs bedroom. Kori was tired of being the girl to walk on egg shells to avoid hurting anyone's feelings, of always being the type of person to forgive – she was done with being Roy's doormat, and she wanted to make that clear to him.
Kori was quickly snapped out of her thoughts as a figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. "SHIT," she screamed, slamming down on her brakes. The figure held his hand out in a fist, punching the hood of the car as it started to slide into him. In return, the car came to a stop, a dent in the hood of the car.
Her mouth hung open as she glanced from the dent in her car from the punch, up to the smiling man who stood in front in front of it.
She self-consciously locked the doors, and sat there uneasy and silent. She felt around her coat pocket, searching for her cellphone, not knowing what else to do. Her eyes never left the strangers, who was strangely quite beautiful, but had a smile that was more frightening than comforting.
Kori felt her heart beat start to race, as the man started to walk around her vehicle, as if he was doing an inspection. She found her cellphone, and starting to dial 911 when she jumped and dropped her phone as the man had punched her window.
Glass flew all around her, and she screamed as she tried to grab her phone off the car floor. She heard the man unlock the car door, and soon his hands were ahold of her, dragging her out of the car. Her arms began flailing around trying to punch him, but he soon had ahold of both of her arms before any hit actually connected to his body.
"No need to be screaming," he said in a sickeningly sweet tone, his eyes going up and down her body. He had pinned her against the car, and leaned forward to smell her hair. "You smell delicious, and not just your hair and perfume either. That's just a bonus."
"What do you want?" she stammered out, her body tensing under his intense gaze. "I can give you all the money I have and anything else… Just please… Don't hurt me," she squeaked out, fearing for her life. I'm going to die tonight, oh my god… she thought to herself, feeling herself panic even more as she realized he was in fact wearing black leather gloves.
Though she was scared, she hated to admit that the man holding her against her will, was oddly beautiful. He had pale skin, brown hair, and a beautiful shade of golden eyes. "You think I did all this for what little money you probably have on you?" he snorted coldly, breathing down on her. She pulled her eyes away from his and looked at the ground. "Please… just… do what you want and leave me alone," she said, practically crying. She knew she sounded weak, but she knew she also didn't stand a chance against him. She could see how muscular he was, and his body already towered over her own petite one.
She shivered as she still felt his breath on the top of her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to blink away the tears that were beginning to stream down her face as she felt him put his finger under her chin, guiding her face to look up at his.
His eerie smile was now gone, and she almost thought she saw a look of sadness across his face. "No need for the tears, cutie," he began, before bringing back his smug, cold tone, "Not yet anyways. No, I'm just here to greet you tonight and to give you some instructions."
She narrowed her eyes, "Instructions? Instruction's for what?"
He looked down at her, still with a smug look on his face. "I need you to come to a… party with me tomorrow night," he said, pulling out an envelope from his back pocket, handing it to her. "That is the address, and instructions on what to wear. Don't disappoint."
This time she laughed. He raised his eye brows, somewhat surprised at her reaction. "You find something to be funny?" he asked, all seriousness returning to his face. She knew she should be intimidated, but she couldn't help but to keep laughing.
"You did all this to make me go to a… party?" she choked out, still laughing out of disbelief.
She suddenly stopped laughing as his hand shot up and held her throat, "I used 'party' for a lack of a better term, dear. And if you don't come willingly to this gathering, you will still come even if I have to go to your apartment tomorrow night and drag you there by your hair." His grip on her throat tightened, and he grinned at the fear in her eyes.
"2234 Willow Street, Apartment C. You live there alone, with exception to your cat. Your father is Myan Anders, who visits every other weekend. And I must say cutie, your purple satin sheets on your bed are very comfortable."
"What the f-"
"Ah ah ah," he taunted, "Language. Now be there tomorrow, or I promise you, your night will be a lot worse if you don't participate willingly. And if you speak a word of this to anyone, trust me, I will know. So don't even think about it."
"In fact," he went on, his eyes sparking up as he leaned into her car and grabbed her cellphone, "I'll be taking this for tonight as well." He shoved it into his pocket with his free hand, and finally released her throat.
Kori brought her hand up to her throat, rubbing it gently where his hand had been. "What… are you?" she asked aloud, quietly as she thought back to how he just randomly appeared out of thin air – or so it seemed – in front of her car. He chuckled, "You'll be finding that out tomorrow, cutie."
He leaned back into the car, and popped the hood. He walked to the front, and almost effortlessly popped the dent of it. After shutting the hood, he brushed his hands off, and placed them in his pockets.
He looked back at her, with a charming smile on his face, "Oh, and by the way, I'm Xavier. You can call me X. Have a nice rest of the night, cutie. See you tomorrow." And with a wink, he was out of her sight in a matter of seconds.
Read and Review if you want, let me know what you think of it so far. As I said, right now I'm keeping it T, but it may change later on as the story progresses.