Chapter One: Paranoia

Rashel eyed the Vampire coolly, as the wind whipped against her, sending her hair flying behind her like a cape. There was a muffled scream as somewhere behind her Quinn staked another Vampire from the coven that had been terrorizing a small town off the Pacific Coast.
She held the vampires menacing gaze taking in his dirty ragged body over the sheen of white that had frosted the ground a week before. He was accepting defeat because he was weak, from the 3 week siege She and Quinn had placed on their cave. Since they were working for Daybreak, everything was about choices and what-not, but frankly she hadn't counted on any of them joining their cause and stop killing innocent people. She had been right of course.
"Do it. Kill me filthy human." He shrieked, eyes wild from blood lust. Rashel decided to put him out of his misery and stabbed him- once with her bokken- cleanly. He was dead almost instantly which was better then him suffering slowly.
"Rashel, I'm going to scoop out for others." Quinn called, and then his presence was gone as he disappeared with the wind to search for any they had missed.
Sighing she pulled her stake back out and headed towards the cave to burn the other bodies. Icy snow crunched under her as she stepped inside, flipping her flashlight on. It was eerily silent with no sound save for her own breathing. The light illuminated the caves small interior that was entirely rock, with a pile of vampire corpses that were laying in a pile by the entrance. The cave itself was too small to hold five vampires much less fifteen.
Rashel started feeling the rock at the back with her hand, feeling the small place where it caved in. She put the flashlight on the ground and felt around for a small dagger that she had left there last night. Finally her fingers curled around a sharp edge and she sliced her thumb without picking it up. Keeping her thumb steady, she stuck it back into the small cave-in and watched as the rock wall split into two. It revealed a dimly lit stairwell made of dirt twisting down into the ground.
The underground passages were ingenious, they probably wouldn't have found the coven if they hadn't followed a conceited vampire after his kill back here. He had covered his finger with some of his victims blood and stuffed it into the small space, then discarded the body by the door. The next vampire who came out, took the body and possibly threw it in the ocean, Rashel hadn't followed him. She started down the right side, pausing in archways to make sure they were empty. At the last entryway she froze. The room looked like a torture chamber, with chains hanging on the walls and dried blood covering the smooth rock walls. There was a cluster of bones in the corner- which she promptly ignored. The vampires we cruel, but as far as she'd seen they had already killed their prey before bringing them here and even so, they always left the body outside.
She walked to the blood, slipping her glove on before feeling it. It was as smooth as the stone was. It didn't feel crusted so it wasn't recent. It felt more like part of the stone, like an imprint. Now she took a better look at the chains and realized they were rusted through. Nobody had used this room in a long time.
Rashel took her glove off examining the blood with curiosity when she heard the first scream. She turned slowly, creeping quietly towards the door, where she paused for noise before stepping out. There was no noise, the dire silence settling in place once more.
"Who's there?" She called, searching the passageway with her eyes, as alert as a cat.
The next scream came from behind her, from the room she had just stepped out of. Bewildered, she spun bokken in hand, to face whatever had moved so quickly and quietly that she hadn't seen it get past her.
The room looked exactly like she had left it, everything in place. But her gaze zeroed in on the chains which were rustling as if being moved by a faint wind. There was no wind- they were underground.
"Who's there?" She called again, backing up into the passageway so she could get a full view of the room. There was a flutter of dirt from the corner, and Rashel threw the small poisoned needles that were attached to her sleeve. The needles made contact with the solid wall and bounced off landing with a clutter on the floor.
There was a scream from behind her and before she could turn around something cold hit her, knocking her back into darkness.

Rashel snapped awake, but trembled instantly and fell back down groaning.
"Take it easy." John was automatically beside her, a hand on her head passing her a glass of water. He waited till she drank before launching into questions. "What happened? I came to find you and you were passed out cold on the ground. Did something attack you? What-" He stopped seeing her give him a playful but dead serious 'shut-up' look. "Sorry. So what happened?"
She sighed slowly putting the glass on their bedside table. "I don't really know, I heard screaming but every time I turned it was empty. Then it was- well then it was silent but I thought I heard something move so I attacked it. There was another scream and something hit me," Her words left her wondering about her sanity- she definitely sounded crazy. "It must have been an enchantment or spell."
"Those vampires didn't seem like they were on speaking terms with each other much less witches," John mused sitting on the edge of the bed beside her.
"The place could have been made by someone else. Those vampires did not seem like the type to think of anything as genius as a blood keyed wall with those passages behind it. The room I was attacked in- I think it had belonged to the original owners, it was some sort of torture chamber and those vampires didn't take their victims inside the passages. It all doesn't add up," She was glaring animatedly at the wall.
"Hey," John said softly, his face suddenly inches from hers. "We'll figure it out. Your probably right anyway."
She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him in closer forgetting the vampires and others. They would have to wait because even if she wanted to, thinking was next to impossible when she was enclosed in her soulmate arms. They made a perfect fit like two pieces in a jigsaw.
Rashel fell asleep again, with her head perched on his chest, all her troubles forgotten as she listened to his steady breathing.

"No, don't hurt them, please I'll do anything. Please!"
"I'll kill him, I'll kill Hunter Redfern."
"We're all bones and skin now, no more blood."
"Please..."

Voices were whispering through her head as she tossed and turned, trying to sleep. Finally, her eyes snapped open taking in the blinding darkness. She was breathing faster and her skin was covered with a sheen of sweat. From the corner of her eye she saw something move. When she had turned there was nothing, but she had an uneasy feeling of being watched.
"John wake up," She shook his shoulder hastily, grabbing the dagger from the table, knocking over the half-empty glass. Her eyes shifted around the room uneasily as she felt him stir from beside her.
"What's going on?" He yawned, his own weapon in his hand. "Are we being attacked again?"
"I-I don't know, I saw something there and I heard voices..." The room was still and exactly the way they had left it, in a fit of messy rage.
John got up and she followed suit, biting her lip unsure weather she really was going crazy. After checking the entire room, the hallway and the grounds, they returned to bed.
"I think your just overworked and tired," He said collapsing on the bed, stifling a yawn.
"Yeah, I guess that's it," She lay back, but jumped up at any sudden sound waiting for something to attack. At least then she wouldn't be crazy.
"Rashel, there's nothing there," John said sternly, collecting her in his arms so she couldn't jump up. "And if there was, I'll protect you."
She stopped herself from rolling her eyes but looked adoringly at her sleepy knight. "Your going to yawn them to death?"
"If that's what to comes to," He murmured in her hair, his arms cradling her.
She feel asleep shortly after, the voices however stayed and she was perfectly sure they were in her head-was it some sort of dream?

People were shouting in muffled voices that she couldn't make out, there were flashes and scenes that flitted through her mind like a scarp book of someones memories. The only picture she recognized was a horrific picture of a man with scarlet hair blazing against a pale blue sky. His teeth gleaming as he smiled in a cruel way, not a speck of blood was on him, but knowing that face she knew he had just committed a murder. But whose?