hey guys, sorry i've been a while, i just got the book shift. guess what? my aunt knows the author so, 1, it hasn't been published yet, so i have the ONLY COPY IN EXISTENCE! 2, it's signed by the author personally to me, and 3, it's the un-corrected copy, meaning it hasn't been proof-read. i'm a beta tester! i highly recommend it when it comes out.
Kori watched as the girl with grey hair sang a short tune, pausing for her to try and replicate it. Kori tried, but like every other time, her voice cracked and she failed to replicate the siren's song.
"Don't worry, it takes time…" she smiled, tilting her head in a bird like manner. The two of them were sitting on the roof, as Kori listened to her hum short tunes.
"Hey guys?" Dick called, poking his head out from the window.
"Okay, I've been here long enough to know…" Alice held up her hands in defeat, crawling over to the sky light. "See ya, Richard." She smiled, pecking him on the cheek before sliding in the house.
"Heh, sorry I'm late…" he laughed sheepishly. In his hand was a bundle of blankets. Handing one to her, he laid the other one down to sit on. "Didn't miss anything, did I?"
"No, you did not." She croaked. Her voice was growing hoarse with the sessions they'd been having over the week. So far, the moon was nearly full. Although she couldn't see the difference, the vampires had such acute senses that they could tell how many days were left. So far, they had about two days left.
"So, do you think you've been getting any farther?"
"Not at all, Richard. I feel as though my voice is mirroring my emotions…" she sighed, tugging the blanket tighter around her.
"I'm sure it'll get better…" he said, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. He smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Staring up at the sky, he studied the sky that he'd tried so hard to memorise. He scanned the sky until his vision rested on one star, the brightest in the sky.
"Hey Kori…" he said, tilting his head to see her.
"Yes Richard?"
"See that star?" he pointed to it, looking at her in the corner of his eye, smiling. "That's you."
"That is… the ironic."
"Why is it ironic?"
"Because in my language, Tamarainian, the literal translation of my name would be 'Starfire'." She smiled, lacing her fingers with his.
"Well, Starfire, what do you think of this night?"
"It is marvellous."
The two sat in a peaceful silence, until Dick tensed, leaning over the edge to get a better look at the trees. Although he didn't need to, seeing as he had heightened senses.
A low growl sounded from his throat, a crazed, wild sound that no one should ever hear. Kori shivered, even though she was warm under her blanket.
"Get in the house." He ordered, standing up. She sighed. It didn't matter anyway, the peaceful air they'd had was shattered anyway. She looked up as she crawled, watching the dark silhouettes peek at them through the trees.
"Kori…" he warned, tearing his eyes from the tree line to look at her. His eyes were pained, but the over-whelming anger they showed scared her. "Just go." He whispered. Although it sounded almost like a whimper. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers before pushing her in the house, locking the skylight.
Kori stood under it as she watched him leap from the roof. She touched her tingling lips, forgetting about her earlier doubts. Right now, her mind was bank, and her heart had swollen to twice its size.
~S~
He stood in the yard, watching as they monitored his house. He could recognize Brother Blood, who was obviously back for revenge, and the silhouette of his partner, Madame Rouge and their interns. Mammoth, a big muscular man with long hair and Gizmo, his almost entire opposite.
He was a short, bald boy about twelve years old whose only strength was his smarts. He had the brains to create almost anything, including strange robotic limbs that boosted him to tower above most people.
What surprised him was that Jinx wasn't there. She was Madame Rouge's favourite intern, and the tall woman was hoping to make Jinx her apprentice. Dick scanned the trees searching for the familiar pink haired vampire.
And almost as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared. Leaving only an unsettling feeling in the air.
Growling, he rushed back in the house, slamming the door behind him.
"Hey, what did you do to Kori? She came in all… dreamy… Richard?"
He pushed past the girl storming off to his room and slamming the door. Alice stood there, feeling her shoulders slump in disappointment.
~S~
She watched through her cat like eyes as they raced off, failing to notice the pink haired girl who was hiding by the ravine. Gizmo had taken her place! She seethed silently, turning back to the gigantic house she'd always watched from afar.
She watched as the lights turned off and blinds slammed shut. They were obviously going into lockdown. The normally bright and shining house was now dark and gloomy, reflecting her feelings almost perfectly. She could hear them returning, this time with more.
She recognized the footsteps of Billy, and quickly made her way away from them, leaping into the water. Even as the cold water hit her skin, she didn't feel human, only empty. Being bad was all she'd had left, and now it was gone.
~S~
Sometime in the night, probably early in the morning, it had begun to snow. In big, fluffy flakes the white stuff had covered the ground quickly. Ominous shadows cast by the tall, twisted, trees gave it a terrifying air.
It was all too easy to picture the white snow drenched in blood, and the bodies that lay in it. That was impossible though, seeing as only three of them could bleed, and only one of them was defenceless.
Kori wondered what her Koma was doing. Was she hanging out with friends? Or playing in the snow with their dog Silkie?
Right now the world would be bustling with people running out to get their last minute Valentines cards and things like that, and Kori was sure that some couples couldn't wait and were already sitting giddily on the couch eating chocolates. It was the perfect day…
But Kori sat alone on the couch, her only company being Alice, who was currently busy picking at her cuticles out of boredom. Curled up with the TV on as white noise, she clutched her cup in a death grip. Taking a sip of the dark liquid, she flinched. It was bitter and dark, and her first instinct was to spit it out, but she knew better.
She hadn't slept at all that night, and her voice was hoarse from lack of sleep. Apparently, the drink was supposed to wake her up, and soothe her sore throat. She had to admit, she did feel better…
"Kori, are you okay?" Raven emerged, tugging her fur trimmed cloak tighter around her body. Even though they couldn't get cold, it seemed that they were trying to be as human as possible. Garfield had growled something un-intelligent about 'if the fur was real' and stalked off, falling asleep again. It seemed like he never stayed awake…
"I am fine, friend Raven…" Kori slurped her drink, watching the snow hit the window lamely. "Raven, why are they just waiting there? We are defenceless, yes?"
"Yes… but they're waiting for something… I'm sure they have at least one or two scouts out there."
"But what are they waiting for?" Kori slurped again.
"They're waiting for an opening." Raven said as she shuffled over to the window.
"An opening?" Kori asked.
"For the full moon. They want to change you at the height of your power…" Dick growled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
"Horrible idea." Alice said, looking up from her fingernails. "Mine's the solstice, so it only happens twice, but it's still a horrible idea. You must be really powerful, seeing as the gap between your highest and lowest is so small."
"Oh yeah, and that's a wonderful thing."
"Shut up, Richard." She snapped. His glowered at her but his mouth seemed to be glued shut.
~S~
With half an hour until mid-night, Kori felt as though she were a six year old again, running around on a sugar high. She was not tired at all, and almost wanted to scream by the time she found out where she was going to hide.
It was a small room at the end of the hall that had no carpeting and bare, concrete walls. It was one of the only rooms in the house that didn't have any windows, and was lit by an old, flickering light bulb. Bree sat inside with Alice, who was currently singing out small hymns to try and subdue her brunette friend.
Within seconds of her first song, Bree had passed out.
"Why is Bree asleep on the floor?" Roy asked, nudging the sleeping girl with his toe. She snorted and shook her head, lifting her head off the ground.
"…" she muttered quickly, sitting up and holding out her hand. Roy grabbed it and yanked her up swiftly, smirking.
"Hey Alice, next time she starts talking too much, just do that." That earned him a slap on the up-side of his head. "Anyway, just came to tell you that there's twenty minutes left…" he glanced sympathetically at Kori before dashing back outside.
~S~
The coven stood outside, watching as their opponents stepped onto the grass, emerging from their dark hiding places.
"And so it begins…" Bruce sighed.
like fail, i wrote this right after having lunch with my grand-parents. i seriously had no idea what was going to happen before they started fighting...
huge date gap, sorry!
oh yeah, just want to say thanks to my faithful reviewer: WinnerTakesAll. seriously, you're my sole reason for continuing.
