On This Side

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me and FWV for all this time! Here's the prologue of the (maybe?) long-awaited sequel to Flirting with Vampires is Dangerous to Your Health (now known as Transversed). If you have not read that story, I encourage you to do so! I've tried to write this so that you don't really need to have read Transversed to understand this fic, but you should still check it out! I'd like to warn you that this fic contains things for a more mature audience, including (implied) sex, language, use of alcohol, and use of drugs. Oh, and violence but since this is a LoK fic I figured that'd be a given. That being said, enjoy!

My name is Amara Dolan. I'm 20 years old, and I'm studying at a small university, majoring in...well, really, I don't know what my major will be. I haven't quite decided yet.

When I was fifteen years old, I had a strange and terrible dream. At least, I hope it was a dream, because the possibility of what happened being real is too frightening for me to handle right now...

"Amara! Hey! Amara!"

Someone was poking me in the head with their foot, and I did not appreciate it. I was aware that I was face down on a carpeted floor.

"Dude, get up. We need to get this shit cleaned up and we need to get showered before the landlord gets here! You do know he's coming to fix that leak in the kitchen sink, right?" I groaned, opened my eyes, and looked up. My heavily tattooed, heavily pierced, purple-dreadlock'd roommate Rupali stood above me with her arms crossed. Her eye makeup was smeared all over her face, like she fell asleep in it. Really, all of her makeup looked that way. I slowly stood up and looked around. Beer bottles, spilled food, and little puddles of God-knows-what littered the floor. There were a couple of ping-pong balls close to where I had been laying.

Jesus Christ, did I pass out in that? Again?

"You really need to not play beer pong if you're going to continue to not make it to the bed," Rupali said, as though she'd read my mind, "Seriously. You can't hold your booze."

"Some of us aren't career alcoholics," I snapped.

"Whatever. Get a garbage bag and help me deal with this shit."

I sighed, stumbled over to the kitchen, and pulled a garbage bag out from under the sink. I felt terrible. I decided to swear off drinking, if only for the next 48 hours. After I got the bag, I walked back to the main room and started shoving beer bottles into the bag. Rupali and I shared a three bedroom apartment with a girl who happened to be a good friend of mine...which reminded me.

"Where's Ice?"

"I dunno. You know how she is. Sleeping late. She'll probably use that anemia excuse again."

Ice had mysteriously developed anemia five years ago. After that crazy dream...

Five years ago I dreamed we got sucked into her Soul Raider or whatever it's called game.

I dreamed that I met this vampire who I thought loved me...but he used and betrayed me.

I dreamed that I saw Ice die.

And then, just before I woke up, Ice was there. She'd been made into a vampire.

But that was just a dream. Vampires aren't real. Ice just somehow magically acquired anemia.

Yeah. I'll keep telling myself that.

"Amara. Quit spacin' out. I can't get this place landlord-ready all alone."

"Oh. Yeah." I absent-mindedly resumed cleaning. "How many people were over here last night, anyway?"

"Nine or ten. Maybe twenty. After the first ten people showed up I kind of lost track of who all was here," Rupali said, pushing her dreads out of her face. "I think your boyfriend was here. I don't think he stayed after the first couple of rounds of beer pong."

"Thank God. I would have hated for him to see me like that..."

"Your ex from high school was here too. The hell's his name? Sayer or something? He put you to bed last night but you wanted just one more round of beer pong, so you came back out, and then you passed out on the floor and we just left you. You know, to teach you a lesson." Rupali laughed, exposing straight, white teeth.

Shit.

"How is it that you can't remember if my boyfriend was here but you can remember if my old boyfriend was here?"

"Easy," Rupali said with a shrug, "Your ex is cuter."

I sighed, set my now-full trash bag down in the kitchen so I could take it out later, and started cleaning the kitchen counters in hopes of avoiding any more discussion on the subject.

My old boyfriend was named Sawyer Hayes. He, Ice, and I practically grew up together, and we dated off-and-on all through high school until we figured out that it was better for us to not date. He and Ice are the only ones who know about my "psychic ability"...if you can count knowing how to read people and sometimes Tarot cards as being psychic. He is cute, I guess. If you're into gothy-emo musician types with long, black hair and blue eyes. I liked my current boyfriend better, though.

My current boyfriend was a super relaxed psychology major named Alex Nolan. He has short brown hair and brown eyes and he's as far away from being into the music scene as you can possibly be. He's also a very sharp-dressed man.

After a little while, I'd gotten the kitchen squeaky-clean, the trash taken out, and the dishes done. I decided to take a quick shower, and call Alex. There was plenty of time before the landlord showed up.


Alex came over late that night. I was in my room, reorganizing my jewelry box when I heard his voice on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Amara, can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah. Come on in," I said, standing up to greet him. I set the jewelry box on the edge of my dresser and hurried to the doorway. Alex pulled me into his arms and gently kissed me. The gentle kiss quickly turned passionate, and before I knew it I'd backed into my dresser and knocked my jewelry box over.

"Oh, damn." I pulled away from Alex and quickly started picking up my jewelry. Alex knelt down beside me.

"Let me help you," he said, "I'm so sorry! And after you just got your room straightened out..."

"It's not your fault." I said, absent-mindedly reaching for a necklace.

Alex reached for the same necklace and our fingers touched. I pulled my hand away. "After you, sir."

Alex laughed and picked up the necklace. It was a round amethyst pendant, set in silver, on a thin silver chain. My breath caught in my throat. It can't be...

"This is a really pretty necklace, Amara. Where did you get it?"

"It doesn't matter," I said with a shrug.

Alex chuckled. "So...Sawyer gave it to you?"

I smiled and chose not to answer him.

"So. Sawyer. Haha. I'm not jealous. Here," he said, handing me the necklace. I took it, and as soon as I touched the cool metal I was reminded of how I got it.

"If you need me, ever, hold that in your hand and will me to come to you..."

In my mind's eye I saw the vampire who gave me the necklace. He was sitting in his throne room, idly staring off into space, and then he stared right at me.

"Amara...?"

I shuddered and practically threw the necklace onto my dresser. Alex was resting a hand on your shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just got one of those weird chills, you know?"

"Well," Alex said with a wicked, flirtatious grin. He rested a hand on my shoulder, and let it slide down to the small of my back. "I happen to know the best cure for the chills..."

"Oh, do you now?"

"If you'll just go over to the bed we can start treatment," he purred. He gently kissed me, and that was really all the persuading he needed to do.


Afterward, I snuggled up close to Alex. "You need to come over more."

"You know where my dorm room is," Alex said.

"Yeah, but you have a freaky World of Warcraft nerd for a roommate. That kid never leaves the room."

Alex laughed. "That's not true. He leaves...when his mom can come pick him up."

Both of us burst into laughter. I gently kissed Alex. "Well, come over more, and you won't have to deal with him."

"We'll talk about this more in the morning."


Dumah woke with a start. He was in an unfamiliar place. Somehow, he was standing. He quickly looked around. The fact that it was dark didn't deter him, he could, after all, see perfectly well in the darkness. He was in a bedroom. There were two people fast asleep in the bed, and he smirked. They would be easy pickings. He crept toward the bed, when he noticed something laying on the chest of drawers. Curious, he approached the chest. There was a necklace laying on top of it. A very familiar necklace. Dumah slowly picked it up, feeling the slight weight of the amethyst pendant in his hands.

"This pendant...I gave it to that girl..." he said softly. Now even more curious, he resumed walking toward the bed, with the necklace still in his hand. He saw a young woman and a young man fast asleep there. The man had short brown hair and was otherwise uninteresting to Dumah, as he was more interested in the young woman beside the man. She had long, blonde hair, but he couldn't see her face. She was turned away from him, and deep in sleep. Dumah gently took hold of her jaw with his free hand and with utmost care, he turned her face toward him. When he saw her face, he dropped the necklace.

Amara! It can't be! That was five hundred years ago!

Amara stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

When she saw Dumah, she sat bolt upright, pulled the blankets over her bare chest, and screamed.