Note: Sorry that there was nothing at all interesting to actual characters in the introduction and it totally lacked any form of emotion whatsoever. I give you the juicy stuff now, after all of these thoughts and information. I know, it drags on and on...The italics in this first part is all thinking done by Allison. Bear with me, I have the grand idea in my head but I'm writing the details as I go. Feedback is always appreciated.
Chapter 1 – Couldn't Help Myself
Steam filled the tiny bathroom to the point I couldn't see the towel I had set on the counter. Turning off the water, I wrapped my curves in the article and squeezed the water out of my long hair before stepping out into my cool apartment. Taking a long hot shower in the morning was the equivalent of a cup of coffee for me.
The apartment was small and nothing special; a front room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. I walked into my bedroom and stood in front of a full length mirror in the corner of the room. With mature blue eyes I looked over my features today; they were the same as yesterday.
My skin was a creamy tan, not quite pale; and my body, to my eyes, was average in every way, but I was told I had a slender build with long legs for a woman 5' 6". My wet long hair fell in a clump down my back and across my breast and once dry looked like it was taken to a salon, but was all natural. A dark russet color was the base and within each strand was a natural wheat colored highlight. I had been asked more than once where I had my hair styled at, but after telling a person I didn't go to a stylist, the reaction was less than pleasant.
My morning routine was simple. Prepare myself in the bathroom then eat breakfast and head to work. Sitting at my poor excuse for a dining table, I flipped through my little planner to see which client I would be shooting today while shoving some eggs down my throat. My eyes scanned over the little space in the planner for tomorrow where nothing was written. I had a strong feeling something should have been written there and suddenly I felt as if I'd forgotten something vaguely important. Unable to recall, my thoughts wondered to things of the passed.
Three years had passed since my mother's murder. The emotional sadness and depression had never come to me in that time of losing her; the only family I had after father passed on. I was too angry with the simplicity of the investigation of her murder to remorse. The department simply found the cause of death, bagged a couple of useless items to call evidence and ignored the big signature mark of the killer, the word 'Vengeance' written on a piece of paper in blood; then closed the case with no leads. The most infuriating part of this was that both I and the police knew exactly why the case was so easily dismissed; because her life was taken by a vampire and it would be crazy to write that on a report, even if it were the truth. I was too angry at the time to feel sadness and still the sadness hasn't come.
After the time of her death, I realized I was alone in a foreign country rather than my homeland, but I was still not ready to go home and take responsibility for my people and my country, I decided I was going to kill two birds with one stone: break the Lockett curse and find the vampire who killed my mother. Both ideas were pretty shady and a long shot, I knew I would risk almost everything in order to pursue even one. But both goals were one in the same. All of my answers lie with or around vampires, and if finding one or evidence of one was what I needed, so be it.
I traveled over to the calendar on the wall and flipped through the months, dully noting each day I had marked. Suddenly my eyes went wide, looking at what day it was today. "...Somehow I managed to overlook my birthday is tomorrow." I sighed. I knew my co-workers hadn't forgotten. They were probably planning the surprise party right now.
Speaking of, I worked as a photographer for a modeling agency. I was not one of the big-shot "Tyra Banks" shooters, nor did I plan to be, but I made well on my salary doing photo shoots for models just starting out in the business. I guess you could say I would be the one who started careers for some of the more famous models, but I did not wish to move up the scale of promotions. Living with a false identity and being a celebrity doesn't mix well. Because of this job, I had several cameras and lots of equipment decorating the shelves in my room-for-one apartment, and any counter space was cluttered with photos and portfolios.
Aside from photo after photo laying around, books and newspapers cluttered my living space, all with the subjects of the living dead, vampires. I always knew vampires were not just a myth, and after seeing my mother's blood-drained body I knew for sure; vampires had always been lurking in the shadows, or even right among the crowd. I collected three years of gathered information on vampires (you learn to weed out crap from suspicious) and any leads of where a vampire might be living or general areas. I knew there were plenty of murders on behalf of vampires that the police had simply cleaned up and closed case, and I was determined to put a stop on that corruption by investigating on my own. I had the money (from three years of solid saving and living in this tiny apartment). I had the equipment and I had the sources with hook-ups (I could get the scoop on anything I needed, one way or another).
But even though my interest with these creatures could borderline obsession, Revenge was not my main motive in this search for the bloodsuckers. I wanted answers, knowledge; I wanted to figure out who killed my mother but it wasn't dedicating my life to avenging her death alone, (Now, if the vampire who decided to take my mother's life happened to be drenched in gasoline, I might be the one who dropped the match), but most of all I wanted an answer for this damned curse and clarity for all of the Lockett's who had died. Was it the curse who killed all of those Lockett men, or was it actually a something or someone out in the world? I was positive the answer was out there somewhere, but I was blindly assured the answer lay within the eyes and blood of the creatures named vampires.
My thoughts we interrupted when a timer suddenly went off in the kitchen. "Time for work." I reminded myself thankfully. Something to look forward to, even if my morning hadn't started out the greatest with all of these old memories resurfacing. I grabbed my things as the timer rang infuriatingly, which I turned off before I went out the door. I knew Lucy and Daniel would get my mind off of things.
Two co-workers I had come to enjoy my company with whenever we did a shoot or a project together were Lucy and Daniel, probably the closest people to friends I had at this point in my life. They knew little about my past and vampire interests, but they did know how to push my buttons or enlighten my mood; and my birth date.
"I'm disappointed, Ally. Almost 23 and not married yet?" Lucy teased as I came into work. I tried to ignore her but a smile got the best of me. She was a true blond beauty, medium blonde hair and an aqua eye color on pale skin, newly 21 and loving every moment of everything.
"Just tell me where I need to show up." I told her, trying my best not to be inspired by her sparkling attitude. She could figure out I hated celebrating my birthday with big parties full of people I hardly knew.
Daniel approached my desk as I said this, waving a nice piece of paper at me with a grin on his tanned face. "Well, naturally we've planned a huge party and invited loads of handsome man-candy for you to chew on." he replied, setting the paper in my hands. "Lord knows you need a boyfriend as a new hobby." I fumed, glancing at it to read important information about "my party," which apparently was going to be in a club.
No matter how much Daniel could annoy me, I respected him. He was English and he fully grasped his United Kingdom culture in most everything he did, opposite of what I do with my own culture. Thick and curly chocolate colored hair rooted his head as soft hazel eyes looked over me as I shoved the paper into my bag. The bit of dirt I had on him, however, was his huge blinded crush he had on Lucy. It was absolutely adorable two watch to people be so innocent and blind around one another.
"I'll be there if I have time." I told them with little hope in my voice, which was as good as a yes from me. They left me with satisfactory after that, actually letting me get to work. I glanced at the clock; then started processing the paperwork for the client I'd be shooting today. The day went by easily enough, faster than I thought. I was ready to go home around 4 rather than the usual 6, sometimes later depending on the talent of the model or requirements for the shoot. The woman who saw me today was new to the business but actually knew what she was doing in front of my camera; a Latino beauty named Felicia, something or another.
Lucy and Daniel hardly bothered me during the day about my birthday party they took the liberty of planning without my knowledge. I did, however, get a reminder from Lucy before I could walk outside of the building. "We paid a pretty penny for the band who's performing... so you better at least show up." Her voice was cute and didn't fit the threatening tone she was trying to have, attempting to guilt me into coming when I already planned on it.
"I'll keep it in mind, Lucy." I replied before at last heading home.
It was a nice day, I decided the walk the several blocks home instead of taking a cab or bus. I had time to kill anyway; the only thing to do once I got home was to plunge into the local newspapers for unexplained recent events and check if any messages came from the reporters and journalists I had close ties with. Anything could be related to vampire activity in a big city, more things than one may suspect.
Again, the subject of vampires fluttered to the top of my mind without my control. I needed a break or something to keep my mind from wandering, definitely a new hobby but that wasn't an option for me. Thinking about what I had, I whipped out the piece of paper Daniel gave me earlier with information about my party. 'Ally's 23: Single and Lovin' it!' was the title on the page. I rolled my eyes, knowing the two planners must have sent this to 50 or more people by now. I glanced at the address and time; 9pm at a club Lucy had taken me to more than once named 'Midnight Moon.'
Wonderful. A party in an alcoholic area that gave an excuse for any person to walk in and hit on me. Just what I need on my birthday. I shoved the invite back into my bag and suddenly my legs stopped.
Odd. What possessed me to stop right in the middle of the sidewalk? I stood facing a thick, black metal fence that protected a large yard filled with trees and vines that seemed to try to hide the large home in the middle. The architecture of the home was stone and nicely carved, sort of like that of the big libraries in the city, but it reminded me more of, well, home back in Europe. I glanced up at the street I was on and realized I had been walking the long way home all along, a mistake I hadn't meant to make.
I looked back to the building. It looked too big to be just a resident home, but not public enough for some sort of conference center. The next thing my legs and arms did took me by surprise; I walked over to the front of the gate and opened my way inside the yard. Closer up to the front of the building, the vines grew upward on the porch and along the steps leading up to the door. This suggested the building had been here for a long while, but how could I not notice such a mansion and this much foliage before today?
I knew one thing. This wasn't public area and I shouldn't be walking up to the front door like I was. Oak door with lion head brass knockers, I noted as my hands reached forward to grab the arched handle. I was insane for entering this person's home; I was insane for loosing all sense of reason except to go right on in. The door opened with a click. It would it be crazy to say that I was drawn to this place; but that's what it was! There was some force from outside working within that was telling me to come into this stranger's home and satisfy my curiosity! I just couldn't help myself.
My feet made distinct tapping noises on the marble floors as I entered, which broke the eerie silence the home held. With the tall ceilings and vastness of the interior, the place seemed abandoned. Finished wooden furniture and brass items decorated the rooms and hallways, dust and webs clung to every surface, no matter how elegant. I only walked through the front room and into a grand living room to the right, though I had plenty of choices of doors to my left down the hallway. My breathing was scarce as my wide sapphire eyes drank in every detail a human could, though it was less than difficult to see when curtains covered almost every window, not letting much natural light come in through the glass.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw a path leading up a winding stair case to the second story. My neck hairs stood on end either from the suspense or the excitement, I couldn't tell. At this point, all common sense had left me. The mind set I had was that this place was a playground, and I roamed where my body felt I should; and that was up to the next level.
I still didn't quite know what was causing me to do these things. As I mentioned before, some force was just pulling me along and I was complying eagerly toward a room near the beginning of the hallway. My hand grasped the brass handle of the door securely before turning the mechanism and it opened with a click. My body slowly drew inside of the room; it never occurred to me once to take a picture of anything, but right about now I was thinking that the reason this mansion stood outside of the normal city and was so huge but looked as if no one lived here, was because a vampire had made this large piece of real estate their home.
The single object in the room that made me jump to this conclusion was a large rectangular stone in the exact center of the room. Dust did not cover the surface of the stone, and as I walked closer I could see the unique design of angels and demons that was carved in, almost eloquently enough to cause me to overlook that the object was a stone tomb. My mind reeled as this realization took me over; and I knew I was going to meet the creature I had so long looked for. My senses came back in a whirl and that force drawing me here had suddenly disappeared as the lid to the tomb moved aside to reveal what was within.
My breath completely stopped as the heavy stone lid slid off far enough for the body within to rise and see who had disturbed their rest. A body did rise, though it was not a corpse as it should be inside a tomb, but the torso was that of a topless man, pale as snow, his head was decorated with short but shimmering blond hair that seemed to sparkle even though he was covered in shadows. I gasped in a much needed breath of air as I realized I was looking at the back of a vampire's head, and in that moment he turned his neck so quickly I didn't realize he was staring at me until the icy blue eyes had already penetrated my soul. I was too petrified to scream. My entire body, just a moment ago moving against my will now wouldn't move when I was screaming "run" inside my mind.
He looked angry, his thick eyebrows scrunching together in frustration as he stood completely up and stepped out of the tomb in such a way it seemed as if he hadn't moved a single muscle and somehow appeared to be standing before me. I was mentally at war with myself as this went on, trying so hard to get myself together and take control over my own limbs again. He came closer and closer and towered a good 6 inches over me; his nose was touching the strands of the loose hairs sticking out around my forehead.
Finally at this, I managed to mutter a very shaky "no!" and jump backwards. Finally my body began responding to my mental signals, I continued to inch backwards, my legs working of their own accord again as my eyes lay petrified on his shadowy form that was moving closer every time I stepped away. The anger in his sharp features seem to lighten once he got a good look at me and my pathetic form cowering away. I was more frightened beyond any other fear that had plagued my senses before. I could feel my body shaking until my legs hit the wall and a window seal behind me, which my hands automatically clenched in some form of desperation. Suddenly I felt a warm, comforting feeling envelope my backside; I had stepped into the little amount of sunlight that came into the room through the window.
He frowned as he saw the sunlight had overtaken me, acting like armor to my being. It seemed he had stopped coming closer, though I was still sure he hadn't moved a muscle since he arose from the tomb. A very unhappy, almost a snarl, and defeated look washed over the pale face in the shadows. He could not touch me now.
Finally I heard a voice. A voice that was a deep growl and threatening in tone. "Consider yourself lucky, miss Allison Lockett." I gasped and my body froze as I heard the words but saw his lips did not dare even twitch. Not only that, but I was sure I'd never met this man, or creature before in my life and he knew my true name! My knees were shaking with panic at this point, I had never expected them to be so...cunning. He stared at me with those icy blue eyes and slowly his tall dark form sunk back toward the stone coffin I had disturbed him from. Then too fast for my eyes to see clearly, he lay back down and sealed himself within the stone prison once again.
Whatever breath I had been holding came out in a long sigh. I didn't move from my sanctuary-like place until I was absolutely positive the danger had passed. Part of me told myself the danger never completely would pass, and that by entering here and making contact with the vampire, I had started a course of something bigger than my life alone; a destiny I could not escape from.
I banished all of these thoughts and many more as my legs carried me as fast as they could out of the mansion, down the streets, and up into the safety of my apartment.