Note, this is just a repost of chapter 38 In two pieces.

Authors Note; Hello all my readers, I have to say that I owe you an apology. I know I am way behind on updating for Kalin and Rebecca, but I fear my attention has been elsewhere, I am planning my wedding, and my new puppy needs the attention of a child. Not to mention my new book. But I want you guys to know I haven't forgotten about you, and I am very sorry for my lack of updates. So, here is the prologue and first chapter of my book (well, one of them anyway) mind you, this is unedited, so there are mistakes everywhere lol. I hope you guys enjoy it and accept my sincere apology. Thank you for everything you guys do for me!

Prologue

I struggled to breathe through the ice that was surrounding my lungs and making every nerve ending in my body go completely numb. I wasn't even shivering anymore; I don't think my body could even register its temperature anymore.

I licked my lips, not even able to feel my tongue as it ran along them, and wondered how close to death I was. Surely it had to be close? This had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I wasn't so sure. My skin was pale, as pale as the snow that fell around me in a soft sort of dream.

My vision suddenly went blurry, and I felt my body jolt as I swayed and it tried to right itself. But my muscles were too stiff form the cold and from the hunched position I had taken to try and hide from the cold. I landed in the snow, the pain jolting through me as my body untangled itself. As I lay there on my back, I blearily looked up at the sky, wishing I could see the stars through the blanket of grey.

The last thing I felt was the power spark in my hand, glowing gold even through my closed eyes, too heavy to be kept open anymore. I felt a smile tug at my lips, even as the darkness pulled me under.

The raiser of the dead had finally died.

Chapter One- The Invitation

I stared at the little piece of white paper that sat in front of me on the worn oak breakfast table. It was a small piece of paper, maybe four inches wide and five inches long, and written on it were maybe fifty odd words perfectly typed out. I didn't want to touch it; I was looking at it like it was a venomous snake that was coiled, waiting to strike if I so much as stuck out my hand. It wasn't that the paper itself was actually dangerous, it was more of the fact that I didn't know how it had gotten into the mailbox, never mind how it had my name written on it.

Dear Ms. Althaia Brooks,

We are pleased to inform you that you are invited to attend the opening gallery event at Aphrodite's at seven p.m. this Sunday. Please bring the small blue invitation that is included in the envelope, for if you do not bring it you will not be given entry. Please dress accordingly, and we hope to see you soon,

Sincerely,

And of course down at the bottom was some name made to look like it was signed by hand. First, I could not believe they had even used my full first name, most computers rejected the name like it was battery acid and constantly changed it every time you looked away. Twelve years at public school and them never once spelling my name right on any piece of paper they gave me proved that enough. Even the most proper teachers had even ditched trying to call me by my first name and had eventually begun calling me by my dubbed nick name. I often wondered what my mother was thinking of when she looked down at me when I was a baby and named me something that no one in the twenty- first century would ever understand.

The weirdest part about the whole invitation thing though? I had no clue who could have even sent this to me. I was not involved in any sort of art community, and from I could gather Aphrodite's was a gallery for not only pieces of new art but also fashion the owner had made that would soon make it to some runway or something like that. I had seen it when it was just being built, since it was on the road that I walked on when I used to go to high school. As it was, I had graduated a month ago, so I hadn't had a reason to travel that way and had no clue that it was in the midst of opening in four days.

I leaned over the paper, tugging on a piece of my waist long hair, the color of black sable, rubbing it between my fingers to feel the smooth texture. It was a habit I had since I was a kid, and it was a big sign that I was extremely nervous and/or agitated. I shuffled my feet, my socks sliding on the tile of kitchen floor, shifting in my seat, feeling the familiar feeling of my jeans rub against my legs, almost soothing in its consistency.

I didn't know what to make of this. Could it be a mistake? Unlikely, since my name was not likely to pop up in some auto correct.

The phone rang, making me jump, but I when I reached for it, I answered it and began speaking without even looking at the caller ID.

"So did you happen to know that Aphrodite's is opening in like, four days?" I questioned, looking at the paper once again, as if the words were going to rearrange themselves and somehow spell out FOOLED YOU.

"Yes, but I do wonder how you know that." My best friend, Sue, said with surprise in her voice. "The last time I checked, you weren't into fashion, or art."

"Well, I know because I happened to get in invitation to go to the grand opening." I bit my lip, waiting for the response that I knew I was going to get. Sure enough, there was about a ten second pause, which I am sure she used to make sure that she was hearing me correctly, or that I wasn't going to say psyche or something stupid like that.

"Did you just say what I think you just said?" Her voice was awfully low, but I could hear the shock her voice. I knew how she felt; I still thought I was dreaming.

"That I just got an invitation to the grand opening of Aphrodite's, one of the most anticipated events since I don't know when?" I paused, as if I were checked. "Yep, pretty sure I just said that."

"ARE YOU KIDDING!" she screamed into the phone, and I had the good sense to pull it away just in time. Now THAT was the response I had been expecting from her.

"No, really not kidding. I don't like pulling legs, you should now that."

"How the hell did you get an invitation? Everyone who is anyone will be there, for crying out loud! I have been in every single art show and program that is available here, and I have been involved in so many fashion classes I can't even count. How is it that you, a person who had not even made a doodle since we made finger paintings in pre k, got a friggin invitation?"

I felt for her, I really did, this kind of thing was her life. But I felt at a loss as to what I was supposed to do.

"Should I go?" I asked, because I could not honestly picture myself among the kind of people she was talking about. Not to mention I was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl (sneakers all the way!) so how was I supposed to dress up and fit it?

"Are you nuts? Of course you are going, and you are going to take pictures of everything and tell me everything in deep detail until I felt like I was actually the one who had gone!"

"Sue, it says dress accordingly, and you and I both know that means posh. For Christ sakes I don't even own a skirt, let alone a dress and a pair of heels. How am I supposed to pull that off?"

"Easy," she replied, but I knew what she was going to say and I cut her off.

"I am not going shopping." I said in a firm, knowing if I let her drag me on a shopping I would not be able to leave until I had tried on every single dress and high heeled show in enough combinations that I would be ready to burn down the store before we were even done.

"Well, fine," she said on a pout, "what are you going to do then?"

Good question.

"I am sure my mom will have something I can wear," I hedged, not really knowing if it was true, but I was willing to try. Anything was better than shopping with Sue.

"Well, can I at least come over and do your makeup and hair?"

"Oh, uh, I guess."

"You weren't planning doing them, were you?" she said suspiciously, and with something akin to horror, as if I had just insulted her religion. Maybe I had.

"Well, you are the one always saying that my hair looks good no matter what."

"You are so lucky I am not there to smack you. I will bring over all of my things and we will go through a full makeup and hair do up. Maybe I can even do something Greek to go with your name." She sounded pleased with the idea, so I didn't voice my grimace at the idea. The image that was conjured up in my head at her giving me a Greek hair style was not a pretty picture.

"I still don't know how my name even managed to make this onto whatever list they were going off of."

"Why question it? Just go with it and rack it up as the weirdest thing that had ever happened in your life." She said with a laugh, but I felt all of my humor fade as quick as the smile on my face. Sue had no clue that he words meant something else to me entirely.

How could something be weirder than somehow raising the dead?

"I am actually surprised," the words came out of my mouth before I could stop them as I stood there, looking at myself in my full length mirror I kept on the inside of my closet door. I wore a strapless black dress that cut off just before my knees and 'hugged my breasts' as Sue had said. The dress clung perfectly, showing the flair of my hips from my small waist, and even showed a little thigh. My mother had pulled it out of her closet when i had spoken to her a few days ago, saying it was due to be a birthday present for me a in a few weeks, but I could use it now. It has also come with matching black heels, with straps that laced their way up my calves, and were not too steep, but had more a boot like heel.

And I was also surprised about my makeup. I had expected Sue to go Nazi on me, but she had barley applied any, just enough to enhance the icy blue of my eyes, she had not applied any blush to my tanned skin, and a light shimmer lip gloss.

But really, what got me was my hair.

She had pilled it up on top of my head and curled it, so it cascaded down my face and shoulders in a shower of black ringlets. They shone several different colors when they light hit them, and they felt silky against my bare shoulders and back.

"Why should you be?" Sue said indignantly, standing beside me in jeans a t, her hands on her hips. While in the heels I was several inches taller than she was, whereas normally we were the same height. But where I was small Sue was full, her breast bigger and her body more curvy. Where I was boney she was . . . attractive. She had green eyes that always shone with laughter, and dimples that always made guys melt in her presence. She had blond hair that fell onto her shoulders in spiral curls, giving her an almost innocent look.

Standing beside her, I was always used to being ignored by members of the opposite sex. This helped, I guess, since I had firmly set on not dating.

"Relax," I soother her with a smile in the mirror, showing white, even teeth. "It was not a comment on your expertise."

"It better not be. I mean for a girl bordering on nineteen, you think you would be willing to dress up a little more often." She huffed, stomping over to my bed to clean up the stuff that was tossed in all sorts of directions.

I glanced over at Sue while her back was turned, contemplating my friend. We had been friends since diapers, our mothers being the very best of friends from the moment my mother moved here with me almost nineteen years ago. Needless to say I hadn't made many friends, since the kids here in Alamance, North Carolina seemed to love making fun of my name a little too much. Not like I could hide from them, since the population was a whopping just over four hundred. Sure, when I wasn't in school it was easy, and Sue didn't make fun of me, but school was unavoidable.

Still, I had dreaded the first day of school, even with Sue there at my side, holding my hand with the cutest look on her little four-year old face. She was so determined to show me that no one would tease me, but I knew they would. After all, who really had a name like Althaia?

"It will be okay, Al," Sue had told me with a bright smile, showing her missing front tooth. I had said nothing, sitting down beside her at the table in the classroom. We knew all of the kids here, how could we not?

Surprisingly, no one had said anything, but they were all giving me looks. I knew it was coming; it was only a matter of time.

Then it came. Near the end of the day, we were all given a bowl of paint and paper to finger paint, something to pass the time on our first day. I was sitting at the end of the table, Sue on my left. A little boy named Billy and a boy name Alex were sitting across from us. I noticed Billy giving me looks, and I tried to ignore him, knowing he was going to say something, and I was determined not to cry.

But apparently Sue had also noticed.

When Billy finally looked right at me, opening his mouth to say something, Sue reacted faster than both of us could have even guessed she was capable of. She had taken a handful of paint, reached across the table, and shoved it right into his mouth.

For five split seconds, we were all silent, though Sue had gone back to her finger painting as if she had not done anything at all. Alex, Billy, and I were all frozen in shock.

Then hell broke loose.

Billy lunged for Sue, who moved out of the way, yelling for the teacher, saying Billy was bullying her, and that he was eating his paint. The teacher grabbed Billy by the arm before he could even reach her, yanking him from the class room, ranting and raving about his behavior, and how his mother was going to be hearing about this. Billy had been struggle and screaming the whole way, spitting paint in all directions, hitting many of the other kids and staining their clothes in the process. The next day he hadn't said a word to me, but that was only because of Sue firmly at my side, and we giggled together that his mother must have given him the whooping of his life for him to act like this.

Since then she had been my protector and hero. So I had no idea how someone so tough had turned out so girly in the end. She loved fashion, loved art, and her room was painted in pink and reds.

I looked around my room, noting the differences. Mine was painted pastel blue, but that was only after me and Sue had fought over which shade and compromised. I had a bed pushed against the window, sporting a blue comforter and a mountain of pillows of all colors and sizes. A desk sat beside the bed, and every viable inch was covered with books. As a matter of fact, almost all of the room in my bedroom was covered in books. They were piled high on the walls and some were even hidden in the closet. There was glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and what was left of the visible walls. Clothes littered the floor, covering up the grey carpet, and if I dug through them, and maybe even looked under the bed, I know I would find a crap load of Sue's things as well. She spent almost as much time over here as she did at home, and half of the time she never bother taking her stuff back home.

She had kept me sane.

A wave of guilt washed over me when I thought about the fact I had not told her about my gift. Truth be told, I was not sure how she would react if I DID tell her. Would she think I was crazy? Would she believe me? Would she start screaming, call me a freak, and go around screaming out my dark secret?

I shuddered to think of it, because I was more afraid of losing her than I was of my own ability.

And how did you bring up the subject to your best friend that you had found out you had the ability to raise the dead?

"You okay?" Sue asked and I snapped out of my thought web when I realized not only had she turned around, but I had still been staring at her. She sounded concerned, and I didn't want her to be.

"Yeah. Sorry," I gave her a sheepish smile, "I was just thinking about our history."

"Ah," she said with a happy sigh, "and some history it is, isn't it?"

"You go t that right," I laughed with her, feeling relived that I didn't have to bring up the subject just yet.

"So, I have a favor to ask of you." Sue looked gleeful, rubbing her hands together, eyeing me like I was a piece of meat. I inwardly groaned, knowing here goes another one of 'Plan Sue'. It never turned out well for me when she got that look in her eye. Last time I had ended up on a blind date without even remembering agreeing to it.

"I am not going to ask for your kidney, Al." she said with a pout.

"Just about," I grumbled.

"Are you going to hear me out?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips, meeting my gaze and not allowing me to pull away.

"Yes," it was the least I could do. Didn't mean I was going to do it, though.

"Okay, well, I was just thinking. Since you are all dressed up already, and you are heading to the most amazing place in all of creation, I thought that you could look for some hot guys while you are there."

"Why did I have a feeling this had something to do with guys?"

"You make me sound like some kind of Nympho." She easily caught my look, even though I tried to conceal it. "Hey! I am not a Nympho! I just know how to enjoy a hot man when he walks by."

"Oh," I glanced at the clock and grabbed my bag off the bed, hastily heading towards the door. "Would you look at that? I am going to be late if I don't head out!"

"Al! I am serious! You are going to die alone you know! With cats! LOTS OF CATS!"

"I LOVE YOU!" I hollered and basically ran out of the door in my haste to escape the dam subject that I was forced to face constantly. And for some reason, it was a subject I felt desperate to avoid.

Well, I couldn't promise her anything, but maybe I would check out some of the guys there.

For Sue's enjoyment, not mine, of course.

I had decided to walk to the gallery, since it was only a few blocks away for my neighborhood, and I didn't want to have to deal with the issue of parking. The night was warm, so I didn't need a jacket, and the sky was clear with a full moon to guide my way. I didn't need to worry about any crime, since we hadn't even had so much as a robbery since me and my mother had moved here. I used the walk to center my nerves and go through the small black elbow purse Sue had lent me for the night. In it were only four things. My wallet, with my ID and a bit of money; a camera, per Sue's demand; my invitation, and last but not least, my cellphone, put on silent so I would not have to deal with any embarrassing outbreaks.

Okay, so I hadn't forgotten anything.

I rubbed my hands down my body for the hundredth time, hoping my dress was smooth and not bunching in places and making me look stupid. I didn't dare reach up to touch my face or hair in fear of smearing my makeup or messing up my hair. I shook out my palms instead, hoping to get rid of the sweat on them that way.

But it was then that I noticed a small problem.

As I casually glanced over my shoulder, I noticed that someone was following me. Well, maybe that was jumping to conclusions, but they had not been there two minutes ago. It was male, judging by the large frame that I could make out, though his front was shadowed so I could not make out his face. Where had he come from? I hadn't heard him even make a single step.

I shook off the paranoia, or at least I tried. I was heading to the best party of the year; surely someone else would be heading in the same direction. But why was he staying several feel behind me, not making a single sound?

Jumping to conclusions again, Al, I chided myself, and took a deep breath, increasing my pace just a little, eager to cover the next three blocks and just get where I was meant to go. Maybe I was being paranoid, but my mother had always raised me to be safe rather than sorry.

A sneaky glance back showed that this dark stranger had not increased his pace to match mine, and that put me at ease a bit, allowing my steps to fall back into their normal rhythm. Surely he would have increased his pace if he was interested in me, right?

I had to start watching more 48 Hours.