Kyan's Pov:I couldn’t wait to get away from here again! As much as I love being with my father and maybe even my brother, it felt like time just stood still here. The same shit every day! Not to mention we couldn’t even step outside our territory because of those insufferable humans!Sure, we had more than enough wildlife for us to feast on and, I’ll admit, there were some things about this forest that I liked, but I just didn’t feel like there was a real place for me here, it was just too drab…. Too confined with no real reason to be here. Father tried so many times to keep me from disappearing every few weeks, but it was different for him. He had a place, a reason! He was a vampire lord for fuck sake! Even my brother had his little underground gambling ring he seemed to take so much delight in, not to mention, for some warped ass reason, he seemed happy here with that vixen Lyra.I just couldn’t stomach just how many humans my father had allowed to roam our home now. One by one the
Ellie's POV: I rode my bicycle through the mundane hustle and bustle of the town, on my way to work… or as I like to call it, my one peaceful sanctuary that I immerse myself in to escape the boredom of my life. I pushed open the heavy wooden door that led into the town’s library. It had been one of the first places to have been built and has been around for generations with stacks and rows of books from floor to ceiling. It used to be wildly popular according to my mum, but most days I’m here, the only ones that seem to come in now are kids and teenagers that still attend school. They come to us to know more about our history, our land or poetry and for most girls…homemaking.Apart from me and Andrea Collins, the energetic and hopeless romantic who oversaw everything within these walls, no one else seemed to have a passion for this place anymore. When I was still attending school, as soon as the bell rang for home time, this is where I’d spend most of my evenings, reading book after
It has been two weeks since I saw the mysterious vampire and I had started to think maybe I had just dreamt it all because as much as I didn’t want to, it all kept replaying in my head. No matter what I was doing or how engrossed in a book I was, his face would appear in my head and the more I thought on it, the more it felt too bizarre to be real. The only thing that confirmed it was how different Danny was whenever he saw me. Of course, he said nothing to anyone about that night. He never saw what knocked him down and seeing as how he man-handled me, I couldn’t see him admitting to anything any time soon. But he had never backed off from me before, for years he always tried to get my attention or sleaze his way over to me at a party.It had taken days for me to feel like I was normal, just like everyone else here. Me speak to a vampire?.... Nooo never! I was just like everybody else, not that I really wanted to be, and what happened will be my little secret, never to tell a soul.As
“Is there anything else you’d like me to do before I go?” I asked Andrea, who was currently so engrossed in sorting the accounts she probably didn’t even realise how long she’d been sitting there. I started work six hours ago and apart from a quick lunch break, she hadn’t moved.“Oh, uh Ellie, sorry I didn’t even know you were still here. What time is it?” “It’s 6.15pm, you’ve been at those books all afternoon!”“I know” She sighed as she leant back tiredly in her chair.“Well, I have thirty minutes left of my shift, but I could stay longer if you need some help”.“No, no, it’s fine. But if you could just get out all of the solar system displays for the class that’s coming tomorrow and set it up in the kid’s corner, it’ll save me having to come in early”. “Of course, I’ll get on that now… Are you sure there’s nothing else I can help you with?” “It’s ok Ellie, honestly, I’ll do this last bit and we’ll lock up together. I have a date to go home and get ready for”.“A date? You mean w
After cashing in my payslip at the bank, I rode my bike home with the cool spring breeze flowing through my hair. Trying to blank out how nervous I had been last night, I tried to fixate my thoughts on what I wanted to do when summer came. Maybe go hiking or camping out in the hills, stay in one of the huts by the beach. I didn’t care what I did, as long as I was out of the house for part of it.My parents were just as distant this morning as we ate breakfast around the table in silence. I felt even more suspicious of my dad. All morning he kept dropping things, looking flustered and on edge… What is he up to? I kept thinking and I felt irritated at the fact that I knew he was hiding something, whether my mum knew or not, I wanted to know! I leaned my bike outside the front porch and as I walked into the house, it was just as quiet as it had been when I left. I decided to poke my head round the door to the living room, but what I saw, left me rooted to the spot as the hairs on my ski
I led still, my body stiff and tense on the hard bed. I vaguely remember dragging myself onto it,or how long I had sat and cried for on the floor. There wasn’t even a window in this tight, narrow cupboard, so I couldn’t see if it was still night or day now.No matter how much I tried to go over what had happened, it just refused to sink in. I felt as though I was just in a real life- like dream, that I must have watched a scary movie before going to sleep and now I was dreaming that I was in one of my own.Since I had been in here though, I hadn’t heard a sound, not a faint voice, a door opening or the creak of a floorboard. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing… Are they preparing to drink my blood maybe? Who gets to? Will they take turns? My mind was my own worst enemy at this point. It was doing me no favours in calming my nerves or in any way rational right now! My imagination running wild with what might happen or what was lurking around. I was still trying to pi
Three days later.I sat up on the bed and started to get dressed for the day, just my usual jeans and one of my strap tops that were starting to smell a bit musky. I had noticed the corners of the room were damp and some of them covered in bits of mould, so by now I probably smell like an old piece of furniture that had been left out in the rain to grow new life! My armpits smelt and my hair was greasy. I hadn’t showered or bathed at all since I’d been here, I was too scared to use anything other than my own room. Just constant thoughts of what if I’m in there and somebody knocks? Is there a schedule for who uses what and when? And what if Lyra finds out? She’s constantly snarling at me every morning when I deliver their breakfast. Only yesterday she chucked her raw steak at me, claiming it was too small and the bloody steak stained the top I had on. Seeing as I still didn’t know where the washing room was, I chucked my dirty top into the dumpster in the kitchen. I sat quietly, shut
Two weeks later:Thanks to my human friends I made, I finally got to bathe and shower regularly. They had taken me down to where their rooms were, they had three bathrooms just on their floor and told me I could use them any time I wanted to shower in peace. So, every night after I did all that Lyra tasked me with, I’d take a fresh fluffy towel that they insisted I use, and take a long hot bath in solitude. It was all I looked forward to after each long day of cleaning their room, polishing her shoes, fetching her food, collecting all her clean clothes and putting them away and basically waiting on her hand and foot. Whatever she wanted and when she wanted it, I had to fetch it, do it quickly and just the way she liked it.In general, I wouldn’t have minded doing all those things… apart from the fact that my fingers were stiff, and I could hardly feel them now. Everything I did, at least made the time pass by quickly, rather than just sitting in my cupboard alone willing the time to s
I woke up early, the birds outside my window tweeting away as the sun was beginning to rise. I could already hear Talon in the next room rummaging around and I knew we weren’t the only ones awake. Everyone would now be getting out of bed to prepare themselves for the day ahead. I quickly put on all of my clothes I had chosen to wear whilst we hid in the tunnels. I knew it would be cold down there, so my three layers of tops and jumpers would hopefully keep me warm enough. I tied back my hair and clicked open my bedroom door, to see Talon putting away a handful of papers in a big black folder. “Good morning Ellie, you’re ready to go?” “Yes, what are you doing?” I asked as I watched him neatly place the folder on the main table. “Just getting things in order, in case I don’t make it back”. He said so calmly as if he didn’t realise exactly what his words meant. “You WILL make it back, Talon, I know you will”. I tried to reassure him and myself, even though doubt was ma
“You’re quick” Del said as he walked back across the mats, “But you’ll need to be quicker”.I bent over leaning my hands on my legs as I tried to catch my breath, I had so much sweat forming all over my body, even my pulled back hair was wet! “I’m being as quick as I can!” I told him in annoyance. “You do have an advantage, in case you’ve forgotten”. “If you find it hard now, how are you going to defend yourself against rogues? He asked with a frown.“I’ll just have to do as best as I can, Del”. “I don’t think you’re at your best, Ell’s, and so far I’ve taken it pretty easy on you!” “Easy? You call that easy?”. “Del, let her have a break!” Kiko suggested as she watched our training. “She looks like she’s about to topple over!” “Fine!” He slightly eased up. “Get some water, then we’ll go again!” “Fuck!” I said as my chest heaved, trying to catch my breath. I dragged myself over to the bench and drank what was left of my water.“She’s improved a lot, Del. If we go too hard she won
I sat at the table in the main hall with Del and Kiko as we decided to take an extra long break in between training. Kiko was telling Del about my improvements, that I had been able to floor her more often than not and, with a cheeky grin, Del looked at me. “How about I come on in these training sessions, see if you can knock me down?” “Yea, sounds good to me!” I said confidently with a shrug.“Del!” Kiko groaned. "I’m trying to build her up so don’t be too full on." “I won’t, I won’t! I’ll try to take it easy. Don’t worry Ellie, I won’t be too hard on you!” he said with a playful wink.“Bring it on!” I replied, feeling competitive.“You think you can take me down that easily?” He said with a cocky smile.“I think you’re scared I’ll be able to!” I shot back at him.“Ooooh” Kiko cooed, chuckling. “Del, you’re not going to back down are you? But you can if you’re too afraid!” She joined in with goading him.“Alright, alright girls! I know what you’re doing. But I’ll join in, don’t you
Ellie’s POV:I opened my eyes to see Kyan already awake looking back at me and my whole body fuzzed as I looked dreamily into his eyes.“Good morning”. He whispered.“Good morning”. I said with a little smile and a little wish that we could just stay like this.“Did you sleep ok?”“I did”. I nodded against my pillow. “Thank you for staying here, I hope you got some sleep too”. “I did, don’t worry. In fact, it’s probably one of the best nights’ sleep I’ve had in a while”. “Me too”. I grinned and my stomach flipped when he gave me one of his own right back.“I’m sure you didn’t expect to be back here again”.“I wanted to come back at some point. I would have always wanted to come back, I just didn’t think it would be so soon. I was only gone a day and now I’m back already and you all have to put up with me again”. I smiled with a chuckle, trying to lighten how heavy my heart was feeling.“No, we’re always happy to have you here Ellie”. “Wow Kyan, you’ve gotten softer, carry on like t
Kyan's POV:“FATHER!” I shouted as soon as the castle doors were opened. I set Ellie down on the edge of the table as I quickly scanned her for any injuries. But when my eyes clocked the red palm mark on her cheek, my stomach lurched, and my throat let out an unvoluntary growl.Father came to the balcony and with one look at Ellie, he sped down the stairs and stopped right in front of her with a furious look. “What happened??” He asked in demand for an answer.“Two rogues got into her house and tried to take her. We managed to ambush them once they crossed into the forest”. I informed him.“What?” He asked as his eyes widened and his mouth turned into a scowl as he looked back at Ellie. “Did they attack Bluebay?” “No”. She replied quietly and I could see her trying to gulp through her nerves. “At least… I don’t think so”. “No, we were near the border, nothing happened!”. Zekan informed them both.“How did they get in?” Father asked her.“Through the yard doors, it was boarded up, bu
My legs were tired, and my brain felt fried. I had spent hours last night doing my resume and printing numerous copies. I had headed out first thing this morning to hand deliver them, but finding an open position I could fill was more difficult than I’d hoped. I cycled from building to building, streets and blocks. I had gotten to the point where I practically pleaded for them to notify me of any positions available…. At this rate, I would be happy to be an errand girl or a janitor if it meant I’d have some wages for the time being! Out of the fifty copies I made, only five got handed in and I still didn’t know where I could stay. Apart from one little old fashioned hotel out in the hills, there weren’t any others, it just wasn’t a needed thing here. But that place was for campers and hikers. I doubt I could afford to stay there on a nightly basis. My head hadn’t stopped swimming today with everything I had to secure in time, before the house was no longer our
Here I was….. back again! I stared through the gap in the trees at my town as Kyan took my hand and helped me down from his back. It was just as gloomy today as it was last time, and my stomach churned with nausea as I looked at the street ahead where only a few days ago I was holding my dead mother. I already knew coming back so soon was going to be hard, but my legs felt like jelly and my head was starting to feel dizzy and hot. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Kyan asked and it was only then I realised he was still holding my hand. I just nodded glumly as I squeezed his cool palm, wishing I didn’t have to go alone. “We’ll be right here if it’s too much”. Del reassured me as he rubbed my arm supportively and once again I just nodded in reply as if I’d completely lost the ability to speak. “Remember keep your wits about you!” Kyan reminded me as he stepped closer, looking right into my eyes. “You run
Two days later: “Does the coat fit ok?” Talon asked as I put on the black coat he had insisted I wear with the black knee length dress that belonged to Cecelia. “It’s perfect!”. I replied, trying to muster a smile, but I was thankful for him letting me wear these clothes. It’s not like I had packed anything smart enough to wear, especially for something like today. “I know today will be very hard on you Ellie”. He said with a long sigh. “Me and the whole town”. I said as I flopped down onto a chair at his room table. “I very much wish I could be there to help you through it. If there was a way….” “Of course, I know you would!” I interrupted him, not wanting him to feel any guilt for me having to go alone. “I’ll be ok. I have my friends and my dad will be there!”. “I know… I just”. “You worry!” I smiled a watery smile. “You’ve worried and kept me safe the whole time I’ve been here”. I told him as I got up and walked over to him, placing my hands in his. “So, f
Ellie's POV: I woke up, blinking open my eyes that felt almost as dry as my mouth and I could see by the light shining through my curtains onto the wall, it was daytime. My stomach sank once again, just as it did every time I woke up from my perfect dreams. I’d sleep and see her just as she always used to be… smiling, happy, dancing! Then the moment my eyes opened, I’d see her face breathless in my arms and the reality would hit me, like I was seeing it for the first time all over again. I pushed myself up against my pillows, relieved to see the glass of water on my nightstand. I gulped it and felt the coolness run through my body, finally hydrating myself, but unfortunately it didn’t wash away the heaviness in my chest. I can barely even remember coming back here. I knew someone was holding me and in my mind I saw Kyan. I wanted it to be Kyan, but I only noticed the cold breeze, but just for an instant before, I slipped back into the peaceful darkness of my sleep. I h