Disclaimer: I do not own Night World or it's concepts. They are owned by L.J. Smith.
It was first official day of winter, and it would be the day that Piper Arnandas found out her parents were assassinated. Her physical appearance wasn't very eye-catching; she was rather normal looking, with her straight chestnut hair and her dull blue eyes. People didn't notice her much, let alone talk to her, so she was quite lonely at times. She was slow to temper, and was also very realistic, prone to turn her back on fantasy.
Piper used to live on the outskirts of New York, but was tossed over to downtown Toronto when those foster parents got bored of her. She never really stayed in one area for a long time, bouncing from foster parent to foster parent. Piper had really loved it in California, and it was there that she met a friend, Josie Heldon, a nice, quiet girl like she was. However, that didn't last long.
Her parents were long since dead, and the police didn't say much about it, but only let the social worker bombard her with questions. Piper's own questions never did get answered, and so she was left in mystery for the rest of her life…until today.
Piper trod down the dusty alleyway, making her way towards the decrepit convenience store around the corner. Her new foster parent was half the time drunk with fury and half the time suppressed to a tight corner, rocking back and forth. She guessed that Casey only wanted the foster parent money and nothing else. All she did was buy beer, so Piper had to do the rest.
Piper caught the convenience store in her line of vision, and gradually picked up her pace. The sun was covered with thick gray clouds, and large flakes of snow were fluttering down from the sky. The alley was creeping her out, and she regularly felt that she was being watched. Piper hurried on to pull open the store's door, and picked her way through the aisles, selecting food off the shelves. She didn't get much, only some microwave meals and junk food. The girl finally trudged to the counter to pay.
"Hi," Piper muttered to the store clerk, barely glancing up while placing her items on the countertop.
"Hey, you new?" The store clerk asked, leaning on the surface of the counter, staring straight at Piper. He didn't touch Piper's items.
"Umm, yes, I am," Piper answered, "Can you please hurry up, I need to get back and eat."
"There's no hurry, love. I'm Chris. What's your name?"
Piper glanced up just once, and was surprised to see large, olive eyes gazing intently in her face. It belonged to an extremely handsome young man, with a mass of light brown curls. Piper introduced herself quickly, feeling her face turn bright red with embarrassment.
"Piper Arnandas."
With that one phrase, Chris' eyes grew larger, and his face was scarred with shock. Piper gulped and opened her mouth as to ask 'what's wrong?' but was cut off by the ringing of the store door opening.
A melodic voice resonated across the convenience store, "Chris, what did you bring me today?" The voice belonged to a slim, African American girl, with her hair cropped short and hawk-like yellow eyes. The girl took one look at Piper and her eyes narrowed. "Oh…" There was something at the end of her statement that sounded like 'vermin'. Piper just stared at the stunningly beautiful girl.
"Her name's Piper Arnandas," Chris put in, emphasizing Piper's last name as if it was a forbidden word.
"Oh, my name is Holiday," the other girl smiled widely, almost wickedly, "Do you have any idea who your parents are, lovely?"
"No." Piper's voice came out confused.
"They were Vanessa and Isaac Arnandas, assassinated by an unknown vampire hired by some unknown person because they knew too much," Holiday shrugged, her eyes cynically sparkling in the florescent lighting, "They were safe donors, and you know what those are? They sit in some building, waiting for a vampire to come and drink to their heart's content. Your parents reproduced in order to help bring in a new line of safe donors. It's funny, isn't it?" She giggled. "Your parents snuck into a vampire's house and overheard some bad business. You were just a baby, lying near your parents' corpses, and a human pitied you and took you away."
"T-that's not true! You don't know anything! Why are you telling me this?" Piper was hysterical, and tears were streaming down her face.
"Sweet pea, I'm a vampire, and you've got to know. Haven't you stayed up all night imagining that your father was Superman? Well, darling, I'm just telling you the truth, don't you want the truth?" Holiday mocked a sympathetic glance, playing the innocent girl. As if to prove her point, her lips pulled back, exposing her teeth. In seconds, long, slender canines were protruding from her mouth.
Piper's eyes flashed wide, and she screamed. As she turned her head she saw Chris, half man-half wolf, a wild craving look in his eyes. Piper's scream raised an octave and she ran out of the store.
William Rasmussen absentmindedly meandered through complicated alleyways; his feet experienced enough to know the way around. He was walking away from his father, again, this time with a more fiery argument than the last. The Rasmussen line, including Will and his father, Charles, was connected with the Redfern, a prominent family. They were both intertwined with the Harmans, a line of witches. The Redferns and the Harmans were blood-bound, close kin, an unusual tie of vampires with witches.
Will's father was an Elder, one of the few remaining after the final battle in which the Night World fought with Circle Daybreak. The Night World was back to it's original state, in which all the members were back and the world was secret one more. All the humans involved stayed, though, and the original rules were lightened. Will personally thought that the humans, vermin, should stay out, but he was in a minority. He thought the soulmate principle was rubbish, and the vampires who were connected with vermin, were a disgrace.
This is what brought me out here in the first place, Will thought angrily. His father believed in soulmates and all that junk. They argued all the time, Will saying humans stay out, and his father saying stay in. He was about to round a corner when a weight collided with him, and he fell back onto the cement, the figure above him. It was a human girl, her face wet with tears. Will sighed, cursing in his mind because his jacket was probably ruined. The girl continued sobbing, beating Will's chest with all her strength. It wasn't much.
"Alright, alright, what's the big deal?" He asked impatiently, grabbing onto her gloved wrists and yanking her to her feet.
The girl gained her composure and stood up, trying to avoid his eyes.
"Please tell me you're not one," she whispered.
Will felt like throwing her on the concrete; it would be extremely easy. "Not what?"
"A vampire!!" the girl hissed, glancing around her.
Will blinked for a moment, his brain processing what she said. So this was her first time with vampires. Great.
Will grimaced, shook all thoughts from his head and said, "Never mind, just tell me your name."
"Piper Arnandas. If that name means anything to you, don't you dare say anything. I know who my parents are now, and-and I know what monster killed them. It's just up to who that specific monster is. Now if you are a vampire or that vampire, I'm going to scream and kick you until the police come. Now let go of my wrists, you creep."
Will's mouth set itself to a grim, straight line. This was the daughter of the safe donors. What a coincidence she came to this neighborhood. It was full of his kind, and other things, like shapeshifters, werewolves, and witches as well.
"Okay, well, first things first. I am William Rasmussen. Don't freak on me, but I am a vampire. So sue me. It's not like I was born with the choice, okay? If you scream and kick me, chances are, you're going to rouse the whole block, with is filled with vampires and other sorts of odds and ends. Calm down, and think. I know bloody well who you're parents are. Just think about it. If you hadn't told me your name-you would be dead yourself," Will breathed in deeply, his anger flowing rapidly, and dangerously. His voice had a sharp edge to it, and it was known to scare anyone, vampires and vermin alike.
Piper, whose anger was often stifled easily, glared back at Will. She squirmed and fought against Will's grip, feeling her glove slip off of her hands. It was then that their skin touched, and both of their worlds collided.