Chapter One

I strolled along the street eagerly as I looked round for signs of peril. The atmosphere felt extremely strange, and I sensed as if possibly something was going to burst out at me. I closed my eyes and focused on my senses.

I should not have encountered so much difficulty. I was a Hunter and a formidable one at that. My family had a prestigious popularity for having the fiercest vampire killers ever, yet I rarely lived up to those principles.

I turned my head quickly as I detected the sound, noises too subtle for a mere human to recognize. He loomed behind me. Rex. I had been chasing him for over two weeks now and he kept on escaping from me each time. Rex was a very deadly vampire. I'd tried to prove myself a worthy hunter by hunting and slaying vampires all by myself, even though I have not really succeeded once without the help of another hunter(which sucks, by the way). Still, I had to keep trying.

I sensed his presence and turned around sharply to strike. Not this time, I thought as I spotted his eyes. Uh-oh, terrible move, I was hypnotised. Vampires had the capability of entrancing anybody by glancing in their eyes. Not that they actually needed this gift though, I mean their looks alone were sufficient; they were flawless. There was something about the change from human to vampire that could make you look breathtaking- some are naturally more appealing than others obviously, but it would be difficult to find an unattractive vampire anyplace.

Rex drew in nearer to me. I knew precisely what he planned to do; he was going to toy with me, likely draw the life out of me and kill me, or he would make me drink his blood and change into a vampire like him. I just couldn't think which fate would be more terrible.

It was comical how the thought of living for eternity was as frightening as the thought of dying. I understood the two situations, yet I didn't move. I was totally hynoptised.

I tried inhaling deeply, Rex was clinging to me now. I struggled fiercely within myself to gain power, and it appeared to be working. His lips were virtually at my throat now, with one final strong determination I made to move and before I knew it, a hand pulled Rex away from me and his entrancing spell was completely broken.

"Jake!" I shouted, seeing that my rescuer was also my closest friend.

He didn't pause to say anything just yet, rather he took out a knife and in one quick move he forced it into Rex's heart. Rex let out a grim shout and then his entire body dissolved into dust.

"Rhea!" Jake looked at me now. "Why did you go after him alone?"

"I've been trying to get him for quite a while," I explained.

Jake was too protective. Since we were little, he never failed to protect me. He'd saved me from danger a number of times too, so I couldn't actually grumble. He was ideal; I could talk with him about anything, except recently since he declared he had a crush on me.

"We should head back home," I declared, not in that state of mind to go into why I had lost control to a vampire once again.

Jake came and wrapped his arms around me to teleport back to my home. I instantly felt uncomfortable. We had done this a lot previously, but at present as Jake embraced me, I could sense something different. A mysterious mist surrounded us and we disappeared.

After about ten seconds we were back at my home.

"You realize he might have killed you Rhea," Jake chastised.

"I know Jake, loosen up alright? I'm fine, it's late, and we have school tomorrow, I'll talk with you later, OK?" My ego was wounded and it truly was late. I chose to stay away from my mother and my sisters and go directly to my room.

In my room, I gazed at myself in the mirror. My mahogany brown colored hair was out of control, and my olive green eyes looked real tired.

I had no doubt that tomorrow, my mother would be shocked at my lack of hunting skills and nobody would have been surprised that I needed Jake to save me. Again. I realised I would need to go down the stairs to get my backpack to get my homework done, thus still with the desire to remain unnoticed, I used my power of invisibility to stroll past everybody unnoticed.

That was obviously the most outstanding aspect of being a hunter: the powers. All hunters could teleport and we could hear, see, and smell better compared to any human. We also were stronger. Those abilities were all fun and so on but the most astounding part was our individual powers. I could become invisible, it was one of the most useful powers one could have, but in spite of my astonishing advantage I was still no match for my elder sisters.

*****

I woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. Last night I had managed to successfully avoid my family and the questions and accusations that were (and probably still are) running through their heads. I knew Jace had to have told my mom about last night. He never intended to get me in trouble, but the minute I did something really stupid, like going after a powerful vampire and getting hypnotized, he made sure to tell my mom or one of my older sisters so that they'd able to stop me the next time.

I groaned internally the instant I realized I had to go to school. I looked at the alarm clock next to my bed and saw that I had a half hour again before the alarm would go off. Instead of trying to go back to sleep like a normal person, I rolled off the bed and went to my closet to pick an outfit to wear to school. Yes, I am one of those very rare and special morning people.

After staring at my closet for two minutes, I gave up and settled for a pair of old jeans and a plain black t-shirt. I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and pulled my hair back into a pony tail.

I heard the hustle and bustle of everyone getting ready for the day' activities when I went down stairs.

"Rhea? Are you finished getting ready for school?" I flinched as I heard my mother's voice calling me.

"Yes," I called back to her.

"Come in here for a minute, I want to talk to you," she ordered.

I walked into the kitchen reluctantly and saw my mother, Natalie Sinclair, sitting at the table, sipping coffee, and flipping through the newspaper. Sitting next to her was my oldest sister, Cheryl. My mom was your traditional blond hair blue eyed beauty and my three older sisters looked just like her. I was the only one with my dad's brown hair and green eyes. When I stood next to the rest of my family, I didn't look like I belonged. Often times, I didn't feel like I belonged either.

"Rhea, how could you let yourself be hypnotized by a vampire?" Mom asked in a stern voice.

Uh-oh, here it comes.

As usual, when she finished her standard five minute lecture, she mentioned my dad. "Your father used to be reckless too, you know?" she said making me feel guilty.

My father died three years ago. He was killed by a vampire name Lucien. Various hunters had taken a shot at hunting Lucien. All had failed and only few had survived the task. My mother herself had tried four times to avenge my father, but it never worked. Lucien was one of the nastiest and most evil vampires there was, killing him proved to be impossible.

Lucien had killed one of father's best friends. When my dad found out, he made a priority to hunt Lucien down. My father ended up with more than he had bargained for and Lucien won the fight.

My mother's description of my father as reckless was a little harsh, my dad was brave. He would risk anything and everything to get his prey. He used to be considered one of the greatest hunters in the world, and he was still remembered as such.

"I'll be more careful next time," I promised my mom.

"Of course you will be," she said, "but just in case, I'm revoking your right to hunt by yourself. From now on when you go to hunt I want you to be with one of your sisters or Jace. Do you understand?"

"What?!" I exclaimed angrily.

 Hunters were only allowed to hunt by themselves when they turned sixteen. My sixteenth birthday had been two months ago, having my mom not let me go out by myself was embarrassing.

"Don't be difficult Rhea, I have to make sure that nothing happens to you," my mom said calmly.

"You can't do this," I said to my mom.

She shot me one of those disapproving eye glares.

"Fine," I said curtly and walked out of the room.

I was pissed off at my mom and at Jake; this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't told her.