Crimson Twilight
Prologue
Harsh winds and rain flooded the
“Hello? Boy are you okay?” she asked, bending down slightly to touch him. Instantly the rain stopped falling on him and it began stirring in a way that matched the girl’s barrier.
“Boy?” she asked, shaking him slightly. Footsteps were heard behind her so she turned her head to see her mother.
“Karen! What are you doing out here in the middle of a storm? You scared me half to death!” she said, her long brown hair whipping around her and she embraced her daughter. Karen Smiled brightly and hugged her mother back, giggling and patting her back.
“Is he okay mommy? There is a boy in the water, is he okay?” she asked. Her mother placed her back on the sands and examined the boy carefully. She bent down vigilantly and checked his pulse, recoiling quickly and staring wide eyed at the lad. She placed a hand over her mouth, a sick feeling invading her stomach instantly. There was no pulse. Karen stared at her mom questioningly when the boy made a noise and stood up, his eyes fluttering open.
“Ungh…. Where am I?” he asked, chocolate eyes scanning the area. They landed on Karen first, then on her mother who was staring in shock at the young boy.
‘Seth’
The name rung through her head like a deadly plague and it made her even sicker. He placed a pale hand on Karen’s shoulder and looked into the young girl’s eyes, unable to break the contact. Her mother smacked his hand away from her daughter protectively and wrapped her arms around her. Something about this boy didn’t seem quite right. “Who are you?” she demanded, her grip tightening on Karen. “I’m…I don’t know. Do you know my name?” He said with an odd expression on his face.
“Seth” She whispered quietly.
He smiled, fangs protruding past his upper lip and she noticed his pointed ears for the first time. “Would you mind if I stood with you guys. At least until someone starts looking for me?” he asked.
She glared forcefully about to cast the abomination out but thought about how cruel that would be. “Sure” she said uneasily and she grabbed his hand. There was still no pulse.
Chapter one
It was completely dark; the only thing that could be seen was “her”. Seth was sitting in a meditative position in the dark, just staring at the girl before him. Her entire body glowed with an ethereal luminescence that seemed impossibly beautiful, his eyes completely enthralled by her porcelain skin. Her eyes shone a brilliant blue and her brown hair twirled about her face, blown by an invisible source. She spoke, a single word, her bell like voice cutting into him like something holy to a demon and he cried out in pain, now truly smitten.
She wore robes that were woven from sunlight and his, from the moon. They seemed completely naked yet the radiance of their clothes blocked their skin from view. She smiled at him, a single hand reaching out to him in the dark and he grabbed it. He stood slowly and intertwined their fingers as they gracefully began to dance. Their robes swirled about their feet and the sight of them could beguile anyone.
Trees and plants began to form around them, the sun rising and the beams shooting through the area. Animals, both small and big, began to stare at them but they didn’t notice, caught in the moment of their dance. She laughed heartily and he smiled brightly. Then a large sword appeared above her head and slashed mercilessly through her neck, hacking it off and the blood spattered onto his robes, his blue eyes widening in shock and sick fascination. Tears formed in his eyes that fell onto her lifeless face.
“Karen” he cried. Then hunger overtook him and he bent down, silently lapping up the blood…
Seth awoke screaming, sickened by himself and his dream. He slowly sat up, observing his surroundings, he panted softly and sweat drenched his sheets and his bare chest. Sighing, he was comforted to see he was still in the room he’d fallen asleep in.
“Seth? Are you okay? I heard screaming and I was worried.” Karen said through the door. Seth smiled and quickly pulled some pants over his boxers as he walked over to it, slowly opening it.
“I’m okay Karen, just another nightmare.” He said smiling widely. Karen sighed staring at him seriously.
“This is the third nightmare this week. At first you only had two nightmares a month but now you get them every week. This one must’ve been bad if you screamed. What was it about?” she asked. Seth looked at his feet, his eyes clouding over in a grayish color.
“I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind.” He said wearily. Karen smiled sadly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Just know if you ever need to talk to someone, I’ll always be here for you.” She whispered. Seth felt his heart flutter lightly, his pale cheeks flushing a light pink and he smiled.
“Thank you, Karen. One day I’ll tell you about my dreams and nightmares. For now though, I don’t even know much about myself so I’ll let you know when I find out more.” He muttered fondly. Karen beamed and closed the door slowly, allowing Seth to finish dressing.
“I’ll be waiting”
“Are you sure he’s here Ryan? Last time you got a lead it turned out to be an ambush, I did not appreciate having to slay someone while the sun was still up.” a woman said. There were three of them in the park. Two of them were blond, a male and female in the shadows of a near by alley. The other was a slightly tanned female who was sitting on a bench against the wall of the alley.
“I’m positive. In fact, we have a reliable informant who claims to have him living with her. She should be joining us in a few moments.” Ryan replied. The tanned girl turned to him and smiled.
“So we’re finally going to get him back to Morgana? We’ve achieved a lot, just us three.” She laughed. The blond woman stared at her seriously.
“It’s not over yet Xinri; we’ve had obstacles and hindrances before, what makes you think it’ll be so easy retrieving my brother this time?” she barked, irritated at her companion’s idiocy. Xinri scoffed, brushing a curly black lock of hair from her face.
“Stop being such a grouch Rose. Live a little! You’ve spent ten years of your life searching for your little brother and you’re finally going to be able to see him again. That’s that, nothing complicated.” She retorted smugly. Rose lifted a sleeve of her winter jacket, giving Xinri a rather rude gesture which caused her to laugh.
“You let her get to you too much Rose.” Ryan sighed. Rose grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest when Xinri’s head whipped around. “She’s here.” She said, all childish demeanors lost. A woman in her mid thirties entered the park, her long brown hair tied back neatly in a loose braid. She wore a summer dress, flower prints decorating it and making her a very visible target. Xinri lifted the novel she had in her hands, raising it to her face and shielding it from view. Rose and Ryan proceeded in slipping into the shadows. The woman walked clumsily over to the bench, her eyes darting around the area as if she’d committed an apparent crime. She sat on the bench leaning over Xinri’s shoulder to observe her reading material.
“What are you reading girl?” The woman asked, showing sincere interest in her doings. Xinri smiled turning around and lifting the rim of her sun hat.
“It’s a romance novel about a vampire and a human, fighting their parents wishes just so they might be happy together.” She responded purposely, noticing the visible flinch at the mention of vampires. Xinri put the attached ribbon into the book to mark her page, and closed it neatly on her lap.
“So you claim to have our boy? Where is your proof?” She asked, her eyes staring straight into their contact. The woman swallowed hard, obviously realizing that the penalty for having no proof would be death. The woman shakily reached into her basket and retrieved a photo. Xinri snatched the photo, examining it thoroughly. The picture was of a young girl, shoulder length brown hair and bright blue eyes. The boy had brown hair, but his skin was pale and he had fangs and eyes the shone with a bright brown. The girl was smiling, her hair bow in the hair of an apparently displeased boy. It was a cute picture and Xinri had to hold back the laughter that threatened to escape.
“Rose, examine this. Your eyes are far better than mine, you’d be able to tell if the photo was doctored or not.” She said. Rose appeared once again, the woman jumping slightly and dropping her basket on the floor, the contents spilling. In the basket were a large necklace and a vile of holy water.
“This is to clean to have been doctored and look” she said, retrieving the necklace from the floor “It’s our family pendant.”
The necklace was on a silver chain, and from it hung an upside down cross with circles on the corners. Xinri stared wide eyed at it, backing up and gripping tightly on her upper arm. Her teeth clenched together and she staggered over to the wall of the alley way.
“What’s your problem?” Rose scoffed, placing the trinket in her pocket. Clapping could be heard from the alley and Ryan emerged.
“Very good Carolyn, you are the first to have brought actual proof! And look here, you’re smart! By drinking a vile of holy water we are unable to drink your blood or touch you!” Ryan laughed. The woman, referred to as Carolyn, sighed deeply and picked up the vile of it that had fallen. Carolyn had not thought that it would work because she knew nothing of vampires but apparently it had worked. She now had a new confident demeanor and sat down on the bench, a smirk on her face.
“Xinri could you please…” Ryan started his sentence but was interrupted by Xinri’s gasp of pain. Ryan instantly was by her side, a worried expression on his face.
“Good lord Xinri, is that our family crest?” Rose said, staring at the blood that was gushing out in the same design as the necklace. Ryan picked up Xinri, laying her on the bench and placed her head on his lap. He proceeded to rip a portion of his sleeve off and tying tightly around her wound. He grabbed her sunhat and wore it, protecting his already burning body of the sunlight.
“This is my entire fault. Rose, since Xinri is currently incapacitated I expect you to ask the questions and absorb all the information that Carolyn will tell you.” He said, supposedly without emotion but Rose knew all he cared about was the well being of Xinri.
“He can’t remember anything. And Seth… He’s in love with my daughter.” Carolyn said. Rose immediately whipped her head around, staring in disbelief at this news on her brother.
“Seth’s in love with a human? Impossible, I forbid it. We already have enough blood traitors around here.” She said, turning towards Ryan who hid his head in shame. Carolyn shook her head and smiled.
“At least we’re on the same page. I forbid it as well; my daughter must not love a creature of the night, she is not stable enough for it.” Carolyn said, crossing her arms in defiance. Rose smiled wickedly and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder, though she quickly recoiled from the holy water that ran in her veins.
“Tell me more.”
Seth and Karen walked to their lockers, swirling the combinations on the locks. Seth was staring worriedly at Karen. From first hour to then her expression had changed drastically from ecstatic to stoic.
“Karen are you alright? You have this strange look on your face.” He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly but relaxed soon enough.
“I feel something. Something bad is going to happen.” She said grimly. Seth groaned inwardly. Karen’s premonitions were never wrong. He grabbed her arm, and shook her shoulders gently.
“It’s going to be okay.” He cooed into her ear. She seemed to be calmed by these words until she felt a pain in her gut. She grabbed onto the wall tightly and her vision swam.
“Karen? Are you okay?” Seth asked, worry obvious in his voice. Karen didn’t respond, doubling over in pain and then falling onto the floor. Her eyes flashed bright white and her pupils seemed to disappear as a strange vision overtook her.
The woman tried desperately to escape, her brown hair flying loose from the tight plait she wore it in. She felt her arms and legs slacken and she fell face first into the dirt. She frantically fought against her invisible bounds but was unsuccessful in escaping.
She screamed in terror and in hopes of drawing attention to herself so that someone might save her. Once no one came she knew she was done for and she started praying underneath her breath The vampire grinned at her, his shoulder length hair billowing in the light winds of the park.
He opened his mouth, baring his fangs with great amusement at her widening eyes. A female vampire who stood next to him waved her finger and she flew towards her. Several syringes were jabbed into her neck and blood was drawn. Once the task was complete the male quickly and accurately broke her neck.
Seth stared at her, his hands on her shoulders trying to shake her out of her trance as she began to sob slowly.
“Karen!” he exclaimed worriedly. He put his fingers to her eyes and checked her pupils which were still missing. She suddenly took a deep shuddering breath, tears staining her face.
“MOM!”
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