Chapter one

Makenzie

Legend says the first vampire started off as a farmer outside a small village in England. He was bitten by a bat. His DNA mutated with the saliva from the bat bite, making him an original vampire. His first victim was his wife, the first ever he sired. Together they would be later known as the King and Queen of vampires.

They traveled the world by night, making an army along the way. Soon there were enough vampires to populate an entire country. They all spread out across the globe, feeding off humans as their only way for survival. Once changed into a vampire, they can never take their human form again. They cannot walk in sunlight, garlic repels them and the only way to kill them is by staking through the heart or beheading.

Fast-forward six hundred years to the early 1700's when humans and vampires raged war. Vampires wanted to rule the world and have the humans as slaves. One day, while the vampires took refuge from the sun, a small group of soldiers under Queen Anne entered the vampire castle. They managed to find their way to the vampire King and Queen's chamber. They open the coffin they thought was the King and ran a stake through the heart of the Queen.

The King woke to his wife's final screams and killed all but one soldier who managed to get away. That night the King compelled a young maiden, the daughter of a Lord, Lord Jeffrey Kingsley. He took the woman back to his castle and forced himself on her as revenge to the humans. Once he was done with her he thought of killing her, but did the opposite. He forced her to leave England and sent her off to the New world.

Little did he know that by sleeping with the human girl, he created me, a Dhampir, half human, half vampire. It's never been known for humans and vampires to mix so it wasn't known what would happen. My mother took shelter with a woman and her husband who ran a tavern. When she found out about me the compulsion wore off and memories of what the vampire King did came flooding to the surface. She tells the woman she's been living with for the last few weeks and she and her husband swore to protect her and her child. They would keep the child secret from the world.

When I turned sixteen I had my first change and lust for blood, vampire blood. It scared my mother and the couple running the tavern, but when I started killing vampires and protecting them, they welcomed me. They even welcomed me when I started developing both genders. I always wondered why I had the strength of ten men when it came to helping with chores. Now I know why, it's because I'm half vampire.

It was quiet for two years until word traveled back to the vampire King about a hybrid killing vampires in the New world. He thought back to the time he compelled a human and came to the New world looking for the maiden he bed. We were cleaning up the tavern when he barged in and killed my mother. I tore his head off in rage and promised to protect humans until my dying breath.

Present time...

After three hundred years I still mourn the death of my mother. She was my world and was killed because of me. As promised, I continue protecting the humans. I don't bother with moving around much. Stories about me were told generation to generation. I live among the humans during the day and patrol the small town I've lived in all my life.

I survive by eating human food during the day, but at night, I drink vampire blood to keep my strength. The tavern my mother worked in evolved over the years into a 24hr restaurant/bar, like a modern day tavern. Every night I walk by there, just before day break. A young woman who works there has caught my attention and I feel oddly protective of her.

I follow her home at a safe distance, wanting to make sure she's safe. There have been nights I've saved her from vampires without her noticing. She always has this sad look on her face, like she doesn't feel worthy. I wanted so bad to approach her, but I didn't want to scared her. Out of nowhere a group of vampires start chasing her and she turns down a dark alley.

She screams for help and thankful for my vampire speed, I was there in a flash. I blocked her from the vampires and quickly take them all out, draining them of their blood. I turn to her in my vampire form and she screams. I let out a breath and feel my fangs retract and shift back to my human form. She looks at me as if she were looking at her favorite celebrity.

She reaches to touch my blood coated face as if wanting  to know if I was real or not. The moment her hand touches me I let out a calming breath. The only other person who touched me like this was my mother. The adrenaline rush from the encounter wore off and she collapses in my arms. I lift her in my arms and carry her the rest of the way to her familiar small house. The door was unlocked and I carry her into the living room.

I lay her on the couch and find my way to the bathroom and wash my hands and face. I wet a cloth and walk back to her in the living room. I fold it and place it on her forehead. I decide to sit in the chair across from her and watch her sleep. She was more beautiful up close with her plump lips and raven hair. She seemed to peaceful in her sleep and I close my eyes.

I'm startled awake by screaming and for a moment I forget where I am. The woman I saved was wielding a kitchen knife at me, fear washing over her face. I hold my hands up to show her I wasn't armed. I left my short swords by the door. Recognition fills her eyes and drops the knife. "The legend is true? You're the Dhampir," she asks in disbelief, reaching to touch my face. I close my eyes to her touch and picture my mother. Tears roll down my cheeks and she pulls her hands away. "Thank you for saving my life."

I open my eyes, meeting hers and I'm left in awe of her bright blue eyes, almost like ice. I was mesmerized by her beauty that I was caught of guard of her hugging me. She sniffles in my chest, soaking my shirt with her tears. I slowly bring my arms around her and she lets out a calming breath. "No one has touched me in three hundred years," I choke in a whisper, my mother's native accent spilling from my lips. "The only one who ever held me like this, was my mother."

"How old are you? Some legends say you're a thousand years old," she asks curious, wiping my eyes.

I chuckle at her curiosity and say with a light smile, "I'm three hundred eighteen years old. I was born, April 11th, 1704."

"Is it true what the vampire King did to Lady Olivia Kingsley," she asks curious and I shift out of anger, hearing his name. She flinches a moment, afraid of me as tears roll down my cheeks. She looks at me with a mixture of fascination and sympathy. "I'm sorry, I'm not good with socializing."

I shift back and choke quietly, "No, I'm sorry. Even after three hundred years, my mother is a sore subject and I miss her dearly.

"We didn't know what to expect, a vampire never bed a human before...For sixteen years we thought I was only human, until I had my first change and thirst for blood. I have never fed off a human, only vampires, like in the alley. I eat regular food when I don't come across vampires.

"Somehow word of my existence reached his ears. He killed my mother in front of me and I tore his head from his shoulders. I've been killing vampires ever since," I say quietly and her eyes held such sympathy to my story.

Anita

Growing up in an orphanage since birth was crucial for me. No one ever adopted me or showed me any affection. I was never told anything about my parents and punished for asking about them. I was often punished for no reason, until the day I was thrown out at eighteen.

I stayed at a homeless shelter until I found a job and saved enough money for this small house. Although my job is shitty, it pays my bills, gives me food and a roof over my head. I only speak when taking a customer's order and relaying it to the cook. I worked nights because it was too busy for my social anxiety during the day.

Tonight I walked home like any other night when vampires came out of nowhere and chased me into an alley. I scream for help and moments later a woman with short swords on her back comes between me and the vampire. Faster than lightning, she drains them of their blood. I panic, it's just another vampire. She faces me with her face dripping with blood and I scream.

I watch in amazement as she shifts into human form. Not believing what I was seeing, I reach out and touch her bloody face. She lets out a calming breath as a single tear rolls down her cheek. I feel the adrenaline rush fade and pass out.

I woke up on my couch, not remembering how I got home. Across from me is a strange woman sleeping in my chair. I run to the kitchen and grab a knife. I see blood on her shirt and scream, startling her awake. She holds her hands up showing she's not going to hurt me and I realize she was the one who saved me in the alley.

She starts telling me about her life story and it breaks my heart hearing the pain in her voice. I think back to how I grew up and tears of my own roll down my cheeks. I shrink away from her, hugging my arms to my chest. "I grew up in an orphanage and was beaten on a daily basis for no reason or when I asked about my parents. I have bad social anxiety which is why I work nights to avoid large crowds," I choke quietly in a scared whisper. "I'd give anything to have loving parents, anyone really to show me affection."

"I've watched the restaurant you work at, evolve over the last three hundred years from a tavern. I was born there and it's also where my mother...," She says trailing off as tears roll down her cheeks and she didn't need to finish.

I could fill in the blanks and could only imagine how long she's been holding this in. She looks as if she's fighting with her emotions and shifts into her vampire form. It seems to be her defense mechanism and I'm not afraid of her. As fast as she shifts into a vampire, she's back to human and crumbles to my living room floor.

Letting out three hundred years of grief must be hard for her. I've only lived twenty-seven years alone, she's been alone for three hundred. I slowly approach her and place my hand on her shoulder. When she doesn't pull away I gingerly take her in my arms. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. Releasing all that pent up grief must have exhausted her.

I tuck her golden locks from her face and saw how beautiful she was. For three hundred eighteen years old, she didn't look a day older than thirty. Her human eyes were a lovely shade of emerald green, but her vampire eyes, they were crimson red. Her lips luscious and swollen from crying.

Even with her tall, muscular frame, I managed to lift her from the floor to the couch. Before I could get up from the side of the couch, her strong arms pull me down next to her. She pushes her face I my neck and lets out a content sigh. "Mum, I missed you," she murmurs in her sleep.

I woke to something poking my thigh and I was laying on top of the Dhampir. She was still asleep, dry tear streaks on her face. I trace her parted lips and her eyes flutter open. Our eyes meet and our breaths hitch. I could feel whatever is poking me grow harder and it was then that I realized what I was feeling. I've never been with anyone like this and judging by the blush on her cheeks, neither has she.

I move from on top of her and she takes a pillow, holding it in her lap. "I'm sorry," she murmurs shyly. "This is a first for me.

"I had a dream about my mother, I swear I could smell her perfume," she chokes with a smile, closing her eyes. "The sweet smell of vanilla and cherry blossom."

"It's a first for me too," I say shyly and she looks at me. " I wear vanilla and cherry blossom fragrance too."

"I should go," she says quietly as tears fill her eyes and heads for the door.

"Wait," I say not wanting her to leave and she turns to face me. Tears threatened to roll down my cheeks and ask, "When will I see you again?"

"I need to sort through these feelings. I've been blocking them since my mother and it's overwhelming," she says in a wavering whisper as a stream of tears roll down her cheeks.

She walks out the door and I'm back to being alone. The walls closing back in around me and I didn't want them too. Being in her arms last night made me feel safe, the first I've felt safe in my life. The warmth radiating off her was comforting and I miss it. It's the first anyone has held me and I wanted more of it. I noticed she left her jacket on the back of my chair and I hug it to my chest.