The books, all of the Nightworld books are just a work of fiction written by an idealistic Circle Daybreak member with ideals on how to narrow down the enemies' numbers. Just imagine what that means. The Night World is real. There is no Lord of the Nightworld to protect them or a mansion for them to live in. There are no Wildpowers, no movie endings. Just death with no compensation – no soulmates.
And imagine Circle Daybreak getting smaller everyday, because the Nightworld are watching them like cats would watch pretty, helpless goldfish in a bowl where they are polluting the water. Circle Daybreak is losing allies fast. They live in constant fear of discovery and Nightworld spies are rampant amongst them. There is no where to hide. Death flows ever among them.
Chapter 1
Jez trailed on to the bus, after the stampede. Okay, it was the school bus home, but was it that exciting? Jez didn't think so. Though, looking at the only seat left it would have been worth while using her new marital art skills to acquire first pick of the seats. Any seat, as long as it was as far away from the vampire as possible.
He was sitting there, glaring a death promise to anyone daring to sit beside him. People where actually cringing away from him. If Jez hadn't been so scared, hadn't had the breath knocked out of her by the fear of being discovered she would have laughed. As it was she was going on the double-decker. For one day she would take having coins chucked at her along with half chewed Mars bars to avoid the vampire.
She turned, and came face to face with the closing doors.
"Sit down!" The bus driver told her, happy in the knowledge that no more kids would fit on his bus. He set off leaving Jez to lurch up the narrow bus aisle between the seats. She felt like she had a massive neon sign flashing multicoloured above her in the dark. As if everyone was pointing at her and screaming, "Human Circle Daybreaker here!" As she sat down she realised that she could have just stood at the front of the bus. Goddess, I'm slow today. Looking studiously out of the other window to the vampire she still couldn't help but notice that he was beautiful. A typical vampire, she mused pointlessly, wiping her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans.
She had to stop saying vampire, even in her mind. They could leech into your mind. Not that her being a Circle Daybreak member meant she thought vampires where leeches and other unimaginative names, but better to be safe than sorry.
To be safer than sorry, she'd get off at the first stop in Stanhope since against her desperate pleas the vampire hadn't budged at any of the other stops. Please don't follow me…
She disembarked safely and breathed a massive sigh of relief as the bus went off round the corner in a large choking pile of smoke, vampire and all. " Well that was for nothing." She told the air beside her. "You have just awarded yourself two miles to walk uphill in the freezing cold when you forgot your jacket." The gun grey sky started to leak. Could it get any worse? She was going to be late, again.
Sighing she hunched her body against the cold and forced her self to quick march her aching legs. Hey, if she went via The Dean it might be more sheltered, or she might just be dripped on. She walked on, her head down, not stopping to admire the gang graffiti. She had to be home for dark anyway, so why-
She automatically muttered a "sorry" as she walked into someone. Raising her head she saw jeans, leather jacket and an inhumanely beautiful face sporting fully silver eyes. They seemed to glow against his black hair. He had her frozen, in his shooting scope. "So we meet again, Daybreaker."
She knew he knew. She knew that even if she hadn't been a Daybreaker that she'd be dead. But still she tried. "I don't know what you're on about..." And tried to walk off. Run off, anything to get away from the dark light looking too clean amongst the grime of the street. He grabbed her arm, hard enough to bruise, his fingers viciously digging in.
Oh goddess, don't let me betray them. Her unheard prayer went with the one certainty she had left in her life. I'm going to die.
She looked into his merciless eyes.
Painfully.
*
"We have to get out." Storm stated, already moving on to alert the rest of the house.
Ioia looked at her disappearing back. "What?"
Jez has been taken, mind-raped. We have to hide...
We are hiding, Ioia grumbled, but not to loudly. They hadn't been hidden enough. That saying seemed so true, you can run but you can't hide. They Nightworld seemed to just watch them pack up and leave, settle down and then take another victim, like selecting an apple to eat. To them life and death was just a game.
She looked regretfully at her book and dropped it, running to get her bag. There where only nine books that they bothered to take with them at a time like this. The Chronicles, the ones that where written by a dead Daybreaker and told of a better time and better things. And most importantly, the good guys, Circle Daybreak won. They where so beautifully written...
As she grabbed her weapons mechanically it caught up with her. Jez was dead. Or at least she hoped so. She'd seen some of the bodies and knew what they where capable of. She stood beside Sylvia, as she started to gather her forces and prepare for an attack. Wheels could be heard, screeching up in the drive outside, gravel pinging off the windows.
"That'll be our ride..."
In silence they filed out and climbed in. No more did they quip about Tyler's driving, or groan about what they'd had to leave behind.
For the rest of that day it was burning rubber, the roar of the engine and a stressed, tense silence. The unspoken thoughts of will we be able to run enough? Will we be able to hide? Making the air solid and unbearable. Ioia bit at her ragged nails and tried to concentrate on the numbers in meditation to keep herself calm. It wasn't working. As the car desperately ate up the miles she found her self analysing everyone of her fellow Circle Daybreakers.
There was Tyler, the other human in their thinning section. Once they'd been three, before that four... they always seemed to go for the humans first. Her eyes filled with tears that couldn't fall. Oh Jez... But Tyler, he could take on a vampire, if the conditions where right. He was six foot six, muscled and quick. Brown eyes, brown hair that flopped over a scared face.
The Nightworlders should be able to deal with other Night people. Two witches, Sylvia and Tamani, both thin and light, shining with their own light and three vampires: Rus, Storm and Bittern. An odd friendship group, but chosen.
Ioia drifted asleep, her neck cramped upright trying not to think but ending up dreaming. In the dream she was running so hard way from something that was right behind her and could catch her at anytime. When she gave up and turned to face it, it was Jez. A changed Jez that was rotting and laughing blood.
She jerked awake with a gasp, feeling sick and unsettled. The engine was cut. Peering out of the window Ioia could see the new house. The square concrete walls seemed to shy away from the Daybreakers as they waked cautiously to the peeling front door.
Ioia shivered. This was it. New home, new school, new name. Circle Daybreak did have some resources. Enough to die another day.
*
Jez whimpered her throat raw as burning iron was pressed on her flesh. She flexed her only remaining finger in the agony. She didn't know anything, just the small fact that she would not scream. She would not. That was all that was left to her.
She welcomed unconsciousness to her torturers' disappointment. Her last thought was that they'd got away, and stayed away.
*
Well? Do you like? It's my first LJS fic in a while... Do I post the next lot? Please review – constructive criticism welcome. A reviews a review. ^^ Sorry for shortness, if it offends.