A/N Hi every one! Thank you so much for reading my first chapter! After much debate and typing and re-typing, I finally have come up with the true start to the story. The past fourteen years will appear some what in the dreams/memories of characters. Any way, thanks for all of the reviews! I am so sorry about the long wait, I was in the process of applying for job and bringing up my chemistry grade. I promise to try to write more. And now on to the story!
Los Angeles, California – 2007
Halloween
Ari woke with a start, gasping for air and drenched in cool sweat. She sat bolt upright in bead and ripped off her covers. A nightmare had terrorized her, the one she had been trying to suppress four nearly fourteen years.
She forced her self to take deep, breaths and calm down. Turning to her nightstand she looked at her alarm clock, the bright red digital numbers read 3:00 AM.
Groaning at the fact that it was so early still she turned to the bulletin board that hung over her desk, on it hung a calendar and according to it, the date was October 31, 2007. So that meant that today was the actual fourteenth year mark.
Well, at least that gave Ari an explanation to why she was dreaming of that dreadful night, the night her family was brutally murdered.
She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed, great, now she would be fighting tears all day. Rebelliously, she wiped away the tears that fell down her face.
It was a Wednesday, meaning she still had school. She did not think she would be able to go back to sleep even if she wanted to so she climbed out of bed.
Because it was Halloween, everyone at her school would be dressed up. Dress code rules were bound to be broken, and no one would possibly care.
This is why she felt no remorse in wearing clothing that didn't follow dress code. Her choice in clothing were an extremely holey pair of skinny jeans, and slightly ripped Fall Out Boy t-shirt. She slipped on a pair of Vans and grabbed her back-pack and headed downstairs.
When she walked into the kitchen and set her backpack on the chair, it was no surprise to her that her older brother Mick's office light was on, he was always working late.
she thought it was a little odd, but hey, if that was what he preferred then so be it. Of course, Mick wasn't truly her older brother, Jason was.
Jason however, no longer was in her life, and so it was just easier to define her relationship to Mick as Big brother/ little sister.
Mick was though, the very best big brother she ever could have asked for. He kept her safe, happy, and well, as cheesy as it sounds, feeling loved.
Yeah, she knew something was not quite right about him, he never ate dinner with her, he worked way late shifts, and hated to go outside. But frankly, she didn't care.
She had better things to do than figure out a mystery that she may or may not ever be able to solve.
She had a much harder job, suppressing the terrifying memories that kept coming back, and when they do come back, keeping her self from braking down in front of everyone.
She worked very hard to keep up a tough girl façade. Only a few people knew the real her, the true story. One of which, Alex was her best friend. He was always there for her and they had been best friends since they were three years old.
The memory of their first meeting still stood out in her mind as one of the only happy memories of the time.
It was only a week since Halloween 1993, Ari and Mick had gone to visit Josef.
They stood in a large open room in his house, on one side stood Mick with Ari hiding behind and on the other stood Josef's secretary with her own three year old son standing beside her. Josef stood near the middle.
"come on out Pig-tails, he doesn't bite. He just wants to play" Josef said to Ari trying to get her to make friends with Alex.
"Careful with your choice of words Josef, she is still scared and I don't want to upset her." Mick said. Ari absentmindedly played with the bandage around her arm that hid her "dog" bite.
"come watch my movie with me!" said Alex as he boldly stepped out from behind his mother's legs.
Timidly, Ari stepped out of her own hiding space and shyly approached the little boy.
"w-what m-movie are w-we going to watch?" she asked, her voice wavering with apparent nervousness.
" The Land Before Time I lust got it yesterday! I want to watch it with you!" he explained, his excitement obvious.
"ok" she said and then the two children ran off to watch the brand new VHS already on their way to becoming inseparable best friends.
Ari snapped out of her memories when she realized she had grabbed a cereal box and poured some in a bowl but had missed the bowl with the milk.
The alarmingly icy milk spilled all over her other hand. " Crap!" she exclaimed and reached for the paper towels.
"are you alright?" Mick yelled from his office.
"yeah I am fine" she answered.
Swearing under her breath she continued to wipe up the mess she had made. Tossing the dirty paper towels in the trash, she grabbed her bowl and a spoon and then headed over to the kitchen table to eat.
After eating she sat down and watched some TV to pass the three and a half hours until she had to go to school. Nothing good was really on when she flipped through the channels, only Halloween stuff which she made a point to stubbornly avoid.
She flipped and flipped until she came to the first Underworld movie. She shuddered, vampire movies brought up to many memories that she put way to much energy into locking up.
She stopped squirming because she knew it was no use and she watched as he brought his sharp fangs toward her and bit down, hard. She screamed and he put his other hand over her mouth. Between the lack of air and harsh tugging sensation in her arm she started to pass out.
" aaahhh!" she exclaimed and blinked furiously as she tried to block the evil memory that threatened to completely break loose.
She turned the TV off quickly and tossed the switcher to the other side of the couch. Sliding backwards, away from the TV like it was a venomous snake.
Old fears crept through her and her heart raced. She curled up into a ball on the couch and willed her self to calm down. It was just a nightmare, not real she lied to her self.
This time Mick actually came out to check on her .
"Ari! What is wrong?" he asked as he walked out to the living room were she was sitting.
"Nothing" Ari answered through clenched teeth. He gave her the look that says I-know-your-lying, she still didn't know how he could tell. Oh well, another mystery she will never figure out.
"I know your lying, what scared you?"
"alright fine, I had a nightmare and it still haunts me. Are you happy now?"
"do you want to talk about it?"
"not really, no."
Mick then looked over at the clock, 6:30 was the time it read.
"shouldn't you head to school?"
"yeah, I guess I will, see you tonight." Ari said as she tried to get away.
"not so fast, you are going to hang out with Alex tonight and have fun" he commanded. Of course he knew she would try to escape, every Halloween it was the same thing. she just did not like Halloween.
"ok, I will" she said as she rolled her eyes. She walked over to the door and grabbed her helmet, keys, and back pack. She did not have a car to get to school, she had a sleek blue motorcycle.
The motor cycle was her 16th birthday present. It was from Josef. Of course, Mick did not exactly approve of it , but he didn't make her give it or anything that came with it back.
The drive to her school was very short, soon she was pulling in to her favorite parking space, Alex was standing there waiting for her. She got off her bike and took her helmet off.
" hey, ready for tonight?" he asked her as he approached.
"heck yes! What are we watching this time?" she asked with fake enthusiasm. Every year it was the same routine, scary movies and junk food.
" we are watching a new movie this year, well not exactly new it came out in 1931, and stars Bela Lugosi."
"huh, that actors name sounds sort of familiar. I just cant place it, What movie is he in?"
"oh no, this year it is my turn to pick, and choose to make it a surprise" he said forcefully.
"so, I'm not allowed to look it up on Wikipedia at lunch?" she asked innocently. Of course, that was her plan. Halloween movies were risky to her. She wanted to make sure that this was ok for her to watch.
"no, this is a surprise and I want it to stay that way."
"fine, I will see you at sixth period."
"ok cant wait!" he exclaimed, and then left. Unfortunately, they only had the last class together.
School went by quickly for Ari, and soon it was lunch. She respected Alex completely and hated to cross him, but some times, the worst had to be done.
She crept into the library and sat down at one of the computer stations, the machine was already running so she just keyed her password in. she looked around her, to make sure her best friend was not in the library, for she did not want him to be mad at her.
She typed in Wikipedia's address and waited for it to pop up. Unfortunately, a big red window popped up. ACCESS DENIED it flashed way to bright.
" I'm sorry, the school board decided to block all Wikis." The librarian called from her desk. Perfect, now it truly will be a surprise. She hit her head on the desk in frustration as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.
The rest of the day whizzed by and soon she was heading out to the parking lot with Alex. The both got in or in Ari's case on their vehicles and headed to his home.
Alex and his mother lived at Josef's house. Ari did not know why exactly, she only knew that she worked for him. It did not take long to get there and soon they were heading into the massive home theatre.
They decided to start the movie right away because it was a school night and both had homework. Alex popped in the movie , but would not let her see the case. She knew Alex well, and knew that the movie would not want to be one she would pick, that is why he is so secretive. She just didn't know how bad it would actually be.
The movie started, and it was soon apparent it was Dracula she held her tongue and watched, forcing herself to stay calm and control the memories bubbling at the surface. In the movie he uttered the famous line ""Listen to them—children of the night. What—music—they make!" and that was the cracking point for Ari.
Memories broke through, Jason had been listening to music that night, she could her it from her room. But then;
Suddenly she heard a loud crash and a blood curdling scream. Her eyes snapped open, now filling to the brim with fear and tears. Her door busted open and her older brother ran in, he dragged her out of her warm cozy bed and shoved her in the closet.
Suddenly , all of the crashes from downstairs ceased and it was ghostly quiet. Her little heart started to pound, no noise was good right? that meant they got him she hoped. She just knew any minute her brother would be up to get her. The stairs started to creak. She knew that meant someone was coming up stairs.
She backed as far back into the corner as she could. Accidentally in her haste she cut her hand on a toy and gasped in pain. The attacker that was looking in on her changed right before her eyes. His eyes whitened over until the irises were nothing but black specks and he grew long fangs. He wrenched open the closet door and roughly grabbed her arm. She squirmed, trying to break free, but he wouldn't let go.
Back in the present, Ari started screaming and sobbing. her chest heaving she clung tightly to Alex, who awkwardly clung to her too. He did not know exactly what to do. Never before did he have to deal with a nervous breakdown, and this one seemed serious.
What should he do? Leave her when she was so dangerous to herself, or stay? He knew he needed to get an adult, and fast. Luckily, Mick and Josef came in to the room. Huh, he hadn't known Mick was here. Alex supposed he was spying on them, the traditional big brother worried about his little sister on a date.
"what happened?" Mick asked worried. He knelt down to the couch Alex was holding Ari on.
" I – I we were watching a movie, I – I knew it would probably scare her, but not this much."
" What movie?" Mick asked Alex.
" ummm…"
" over here Mick" said Josef who had the empty DVD case. He tossed it to Mick who caught it with ease, not even looking.
" you have got to be kidding me Alex, Dracula? How could you not know this would scare her?" Mick asked as he glanced at the DVD case.
"ok, you caught me red handed, I just wanted to her to figure it out. I was told not to tell her anything, I promised I wouldn't but I couldn't help but hate keeping secrets from her." Alex explained, guilt coloring his face.
Ari, had been listening to this whole conversation, she calmed herself down and pulled herself a way from Alex. Curiosity that she never had before replaced the rotten memories that threatened to drag her to insanity.
" you wanted me to figure what out?" she asked, it was only after that she remembered he was bound to his promise not to tell. But Ari was intelligent, and had an inkling of what the secret was. The movie and memories were to large of a clue to ignore. She just had to be one hundred percent positive.
" I need some one to tell me the truth, that vampires are make believe."
"which do you want the truth or the other one Pig-tails?" Josef asked.
"shouldn't they go hand in hand?" Ari asked.
" Go on Mick, you tell her. I am the one who said she should have known years ago, but no you have to keep her sheltered and in the dark." Josef said turning to Mick. Mick looked very uncomfortable but proceeded to speak anyway.
" No Ari, Vampires are as real as your teachers at school" he said quietly. Ari still refused to believe this.
" no way! If they were real, I probably would have met one by now, and I doubt I have ever met a vampire." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.
Josef laughed out loud. " yeah you have! What do you think massacred your family? Why am I so pale? Why does Mick work at night? Why have we stayed the same?"
" um, I, ummm…." Ari said as she tried to come up plausible excuses, but none came to mind.
This was way to much for her, she got a massive headache and then fainted into Alex's arms. He looked shocked and then moaned " oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt her"
Josef shook his head, "that's ok kid, she will wake up soon" and with that proceeded to walk out the door. This left Mick, Alex, and Ari all alone…
A/N wow, long chapter! Any way, thanks for reading. Next chapter starts on the pilot episode and introduces Beth. Please review if you have time. Thanks! Have a great week!
