beLIEve

Chapter One-

Angel

It was getting dark outside Kin Castle. The world outside my window was slowly beginning to glow a quiet blue, a safety precaution against the Onyx race. The stars were still visible in the glow, twinkling slightly in the sky. Beside them the full moon illuminated what the blue glow didn't in this half of the world of Manaka.

There was to be a battle tomorrow, she knew. They always came on Hallow. It was like a ritual. Of course, Hallow was the day when the Onyx warriors were most powerful. It would be smart to try to attack your enemy on that day.

What they were to fight for, they didn't know. We had all lost track millions of years ago. Even before Sen's time.

She walked across the cold, wood floor towards her canopy bed. Her nightgown floated across the floor as she touched the polished oak of the bed frame with her finger tips and lowered self into the soft, comfy bed. The silk of the comfortable pillows soothed her aching skin.

It was okay to go to bed now. She had already prepped for the following day. Her leather battle outfit laid out on a chair opposite of where she lay. Her sword, in it's sheath, sat on the floor beside it with the three sharp-blade knives laying near it. Her four viles that held the fire potions that she always took to battle, freshly made this morning, sat on the table next to her bed.

She laid her head back on the pillow and took in the darkness that surrounded her. It was quiet, with only the murmured hum of the night as background music.

And with that, Sen fell into her dreams.

******

It was dark, like it always was beyond the long stretch of Kin territory. But this time it was because Sen was chained up in the dungeons of Onyx Castle, a place not known to many, probably any, slayers.

She could hear the screams of people being tortured in the other cells, but Sen couldn't cover her ears or even attempt to help them. She was too weak from starvation and dehydration, not to mention she was chained up to a stone wall that even she couldn't break free from.

Sweat was sticking to her forehead and her pin-straight black hair had puffed up around her face, making her feel all grungy. The electric blue eyes she bore were still clouded with tears from just hours ago when she had been forcefully captured, then raped and beaten by the two Vampyre guards that stood watch outside my door, her skin still wet with the very same salty tears.

Sen let out a shaky sigh as she laid her head back hard on the stone wall. It was beginning to grow cold. She was so used to the welcoming warm of the Kin Kingdom that the freezing cold of the dungeon was starting to get to her.

Suddenly, the huge wooden door, laden with bolts and locks that kept her in this prison, swung open, scaring the bloody hell out of her.

Then, much to her dislike, in walked the one and only Princess Tsuchiya Anna, more known as the Princess of Eternal Darkness, of which she dubbed herself.

Her long, elaborate black dress swept the floor, with just a hint of leather high-heel boots peeking out at the bottom. Anna was beautiful by all means, but, of course, she was Immortal and all Immortals were flawless. Her golden blond hair hung in careful waves down to the middle of her waist and her deep brown eyes captured your gaze instantly.

"Why, hello." She smiled in her fake, arrogant accent. "I suppose you know who I am, little slayer. Now, who are you?"

She crouched down beside Sen, staring straight into her eyes.

"Pardon me." She snipped after Sen didn't answer, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at her. "I asked you a question and I expect an answer. Who are you?"

Sen looked her straight in the eyes, with hate swarming deeply in her own.

"Sen Bishamon." I spat out. "A proud member of the Kin Castle Kingdom and ready to rip you to shreds, your highness."

She threw Sen's face out of her hand and made her head hit hard against the wall behind her. She reached for the chains that held Sen to the wall and pulled violently, forcing her to rise to her knees.

"In that case." She held her hand out to one of the guards behind her and he handed her a freshly sharpened knife. "I'll help you think about what you just said to me."

She grabbed Sen's shoulder and pushed her down on the ground. She felt the knife cut open the back of her shirt.

A skin-splitting pain shot down her spine as she began to carve something into her shoulder blade. She screamed at the pain in her head, but no sound escaped her lips as she pushed them together.

Anna pushed her back up into a sitting position as she felt the red-hot liquid pour down her back.

"Why don't you ever scream?" She asked Sen, a bit frustrated. "Fine, then."

She reached out for her hand as she tried to pull it away from her, but that only hurt her wrists more. Sen felt them go limp and Anna grabbed them up. At first, she pulled it up to her face and she looked like she was smelling it.

"Yum." She smiled. "I really wish I had the time to taste your blood, but I'll leave that to my two favorites, here. But before I go..."

She took the knife to Sen's hand and, this time, she was able to see what she carved. It was a capitol "V" with a cross drawn through it. The symbol for the Onyx Kingdom, now branded in her skin.

When she finished, she watched the blood run down my arm for a second, then she smiled at me before getting up to leave.

"Take care of her." Anna told the guards before she left. "Then send her back to the Kins. Make an example. And make sure she's dead."

They both nodded at her as she returned the knife to the one on the left.

When the wood door slammed again, Sen knew she was as good as dead.

"Gen?" One of them said slyly. "What do you say to one last round before we finish her off?"

Sen know she was meant to hear the statement by the arrogance in his voice. And when she heard the other one laugh, she knew that was an agreement.

Sen felt them reach for her, touching her skin with their cold, clammy fingers. Their touch might have been what set her off. She felt her eyes go completely white for a second as a surge of power ran through her veins.

The bigger one with the keys unlocked the chains holding her down, and, at first, Sen just laid there. She stayed still to make them think she was going to obey, when she was really about to make them wish they never laid eyes on her.

She kicked away the chains at lightning speed and punched one of the guards so hard in the stomach that he flew back against the dungeon wall before his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

When the other one came for Sen, she jumped up, hanging onto the ceiling for only a second, then dropping down behind him. She grabbed the sword out of his belt and swung back. When she looked at him, there was a big bloody gash on his back and she could see part of his spine sticking out.

Sen smiled widely as he reluctantly fell to the floor.

She chained both of them carefully and stuffed pieces of their shirts into their mouths to make sure they didn't scream and blow her cover.

Then she ran.

She glanced outside her door and found an empty hall lined with other cells. She stepped out into the hall and began to speed walk towards the exit. She looked through the bars of steel at the end of the hall and saw, yet again, no one. She pushed them open silently, and fit myself through and up the stairs that lead to an opening. She tip-toed to the top of the creaky stairs and saw that, as soon as she stepped over the threshold at the end of the stairs, she was in a cemetery.

How ironic, considering Vampyres and Immortals never died. None of them did. Maybe it was a memorial for the Vampyres and Immortals that had been killed, but neither of them would have cared about that kind of thing, so she was still confused.

As soon as I saw the coast was clear, she used her incredible navigational skills to run towards the east, where she sensed the Kin Kingdom would be waiting for her.

Within minutes, she was out of view of the Onyx Castle, but she still couldn't help but think that was far to easy. She spread my huge, white feathery wings and pushed off the ground. She flew high into the sky and over the purple and pink clouds. Shecould almost see the sun risen high above the Kin Castle, but she knew it was still a long way to go.