Chapter 1-2

Thaddeus POV

Sitting on the balcony of my penthouse apartment, I looked over the city, my eyes scanning as I watched the crowds of people below, unaware of the monster watching them.

I hear movement behind me, and my eyes snap to the glass sliding doors. She hands me a smoke, and I light it breathing in deeply. Enjoying the burn in my throat from its harshness.

“When are you going to go home, haven’t you punished them enough? They did it to protect you. It is time you stop this, whatever it is you are doing.”

“And what is that?” I ask her, looking back toward the city.

“The destruction. What are you trying to prove? Who are you looking for?” she asks, and I sigh. Only she would get away with questioning me like this. I always had a soft spot for her. She listened and didn’t judge, no matter how much I fucked things up.

“I am not trying to prove anything. I don’t need to.”

“Then why Thaddeus, why all this?” she asks.

“Because I can, that is why,” I tell her. She shakes her head.

“Your mother said there was still good in you. We just had to find it. That we could pull you back from the darkness. Now I am not so sure anymore. I can’t watch you destroy yourself, destroy everything you put your hands on. I am sorry, Thaddeus, but I can’t do it anymore. I am going home, come and see me when you see sense,” she says.

“You’re leaving already? You just got here,” I tell her, growling at her. She steps back, frightened.

“I’m sorry Thaddeus, but please just go home, they will forgive you“ she says before turning away.

“Tell mum, I am not coming back,” I tell her. She smiles sadly before nodding.

She slips inside, closing the door behind her. A few minutes later the glass door opens again, and Orion comes out before plucking my smoke from my fingers and drawing on it. He leans against the railing.

“What did you say to your Aunty Bianca that upset her?” he asks before passing my smoke back.

“I told her I am not going back.” Orion sighs loudly before looking over the railing. I move behind him, pressing myself against him and reaching around him and grabbing his cock through his pants. His dick twitches in my hand at my touch. I groan into his ear before I pull at his belt.

“Not tonight, Thaddeus,” he says, smacking my hand away. I growl loudly before shoving him away.

“Fine,” I snap, going inside. Bianca was gone and only her faint lingering scent remained. “Ryland?” I yell.“Hurry up, we are going out.” 

Ryland walked out, a mischievous grin dancing on his lips. He grabbed his jacket and followed me to lift.

“Where are we going?” he asks.

“I just want out of this house and I need blood,” I tell him. He nods. I won’t risk feeding on him. My hunger is insatiable and as intoxicating as his scent is, I know I won’t stop once I start. Marking him was a nightmare. I nearly killed him, nearly killed my mate. Orion was different. He was vampire, so I didn’t struggle with him.

Walking outside the breeze made Ryland shiver slightly. The snow crunched under our feet as we made our way down the street, looking for my next victim. Only when the breeze shifted, I picked up the most mouth-watering, intoxicating scent I had ever smelled before. I followed it before I heard a feminine scream. Something twitched inside me. Something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Fear.

The sound of the woman’s voice sent fear racing through my cold veins. Ryland, feeling it too, looked at me and we walked around the corner which was an alleyway. I could see a man standing over someone. The person thrashing violently as the man tried to pull her pants down. Her scream sent rage through me, but before I could even move, Ryland was ripping him to pieces with his bare hands. The figure moved, and I couldn’t take my eyes from them. As I stepped into the alleyway, Ryland was pummelling the man, his face completely unrecognisable as human, his blood seeping into the snow.

The figure I realised was actually a woman. She tried pulling her pants up, looking between both Ryland and me, and I could smell her fear. She thought we were here to harm her too. Ryland stops and looks at her fear-stricken face and places his hands out toward her. She slaps his hands away. Her entire body shaking with fear and adrenaline. The cold biting at her skin. She was in a waitress outfit, not properly dressed for this sort of weather.

 The closer I got, the stronger the scent was. She was the addictive, mouth-watering scent I got a whiff of. She made my heart race faster. I didn’t think I needed anyone beside my mates. I wanted her, need her with every cell in my body. Wanting to taste her. Wanting to see if her skin was as soft as it looked.  She cowered back as I knelt in front of her, her hazel eyes filled with fear. I could tell she knew what we were. I place my hand out for her to take, but she slapped it away.

“Please, I won’t tell, just let me go. I saw nothing I promise,” she sobs. Her voice was like music to my ears. I could have listened to her talk all day. Sweeping her light brown hair out of the way so I could see her face. She averted her gaze from my onyx eyes.

“Ours,” I gasp.

She shook her head, and I felt Ryland touch my shoulder, making me look at him.

“We are scaring her,” he says, and for the first time I could tell he didn’t enjoy the scent of fear, at least not from her. The mate pull was strong. Looking back at her, I get up and step back.

“Go,” I tell her, and she gets up before running off. Bending down, I pick up her wallet that she left in her haste. Pulling out her ID, I read it. Evelyn Harper. I have never wanted someone as much as I wanted her, never craved another person more than I did her. She was ours and yet we couldn’t have her. She was light while we were dark. Monsters of the night to her. I had to fight with myself to stop from chasing her down and claiming her. 

Evelyn POV

I had just come off shift. My sleazebag boss swiped my tips once again. Walking through the cold streets, I shivered. Something was off. The streets were too quiet, and a feeling of unease settled over me. Ignoring the feeling, I keep walking, the cold snow sinking into my flats making my toes go numb. I have worked at the same cafe for two years now. It doesn’t pay much, but with the economy the way it is, I should just be grateful I have a job. Work was scarce these days. Finding a job was hard when half the city was in ruins.

It never used to be like this, When I was a child, this city flourished. In fact, most had never heard his name before. But everyone had heard the rumours of the dark one. The man, or should I say monster, that destroyed the world. No one stood a chance against him. The human government tried for years, banding together, trying to rid the world of his evil. He slaughtered not just towns but countries, burning cities of families and people to the ground along with his two mates. Rumour has it he was trying to find something that he wasn’t even sure existed.

Walking between two abandoned buildings, I could see the alleyway that leaders to the caravan park. One more block and I would be home to my trusty tin can home. It wasn’t much, but it was mine. I was quite proud of what I had accomplished, never knowing a proper home. My parents gave me up when I was born, don’t even know their names. Apparently I was dropped off in front of a church only a few days old. The nuns took me in, and I bounced from one foster home to another until I eventually aged out the system, leaving me homeless and living on park benches. Just me and my plastic bag full of clothes.

I was walking the streets trying to find somewhere safe to sleep when I stumbled upon the cafe, a sign in the window looking for staff. It must have been in the right place at the right time because I walked in and asked about the job and the owner tossed me an apron and told me to start straight away as they were overrun with the lunch break. I have worked there ever since. 

As I reached the corner of the building, I went to turn up the alleyway when I see a man leaning against the side of the building. The smell of his smoke hanging from his lips wafted to me. He moved off the wall he was leaning on, and I quickly turned up the alleyway. I could hear his footsteps coming up behind me before I felt myself be tugged backwards. I let out a scream as I felt his gloved hand go over my mouth.

“No, now pretty be a good girl and stay quiet.” I nod my head thinking he was going to rob me. Reaching into my handbag, I feel around pulling my wallet out. It had little in it, but he could have it. I waved it in front of his face, and he knocked it out of my hand his next words made my blood run colder than the snow sinking into my shoes.

“I don’t want your money I want something else,” he whispered, his whiskey filled breath wafting over my face. I struggled against him, realising he has more sinister intentions than just robbing me. He threw me to the ground, and I let out the loudest scream I could muster, praying someone anyone would hear me before he slapped my face. My head whipped to the side as his palm connected with my face, making my vision blur for a second. He starts ripping my black slacks down, and I fight, kicking and hitting and scratching anything I can. He yanks my hair when I dig my fingers into his eyes before slamming my head into the pavement. The force makes my teeth rattle, but I continue to thrash as he continues trying to undress me.

The cold snow making my muscles ache as it seeps into my clothes.

When suddenly his weight is gone. I stare, shocked for a second after he completely vanished on top me. I start yanking my pants up my legs when I heard grunting and a gross sound of flesh on flesh. Looking toward the alleyway I see a man, or maybe that the wrong word for him. I didn’t think I would meet a bigger monster than the man that just tried raping me, but I didn’t know what else you would call him. He literally was ripping the man to pieces. I have to hold my stomach as I feel it lurch when I see one of his arms fly off and hit the snow. Blood coated the ground as the man pummeled his face until it was unrecognizable, the snow turning red. I clench my eyes shut, not being able to handle what I was witnessing.

It was like something out of a horror movie. I was shaking like a leaf, my teeth chattering from the cold as I sat frozen with fear. Fight or flight was kicking in, and here I was paralysed by my own fear. Scared I was next, I kept my eyes closed, waiting for death.

The noise stopped. I looked up, and two men were staring down at me. One held his hand out and I smacked it away, covering my head with my hands fearing him belting me and inflicting what he just did to the man in the alley.

“Please, I won’t tell, just let me go. I saw nothing I promise,” I beg them as sobs wrack my body. The biggest man kneels down in front of me, moving my hair away from my face and brushing it over my shoulder. Looking up, I see pitch black eyes staring at me. Eyes so dark I was afraid they would swallow me whole. I turn my gaze to the ground, not wanting to see my own death through his eyes. He holds his large hand out for me to take, and I cower away from him, flinching as he goes to reach forward.

 “Ours,” he gasps. And I almost think I heard it wrong. Were they going to finish what the other man couldn’t?

 “We are scaring her,” the man who brutally slaughtered the other man said, making me look at him. He was drenched in blood, dying his skin a scarlet colour. The smell of death so pungent on him I could almost taste it.

 “Go,” the man with onyx eyes says. He was watching the other man, who I see nod to him. I take off running down the alleyway, thanking god they let me go. I ran the entire way home, running like my ass was on fire. Running through the caravan park before finding my tin can. And never in my life have I been as thankful to see my shitty van covered in graffiti and falling apart. Just as I reach the door, I finally lose my stomach. Doubling over and puking the contents of my stomach into the snow, I retch for a few minutes, trying to rid the taste from my mouth. My face grows hot from throwing up, and the back of my throat burns from my stomach acids.

I must have been making a fair amount of noise because I see then van beside mine flick on its lights, and I quickly slip inside before my neighbour sees me through their window.

Stepping inside, I see the familiar surroundings of my humble abode. I shut the door before sliding to the floor, my legs giving out from under me. What the fuck just happened? How the fuck am I still alive? Whoever they were, they weren’t human. I couldn’t get the picture of his dark eyes staring at me. So dark I could see my reflection in them.

Yet they let me go. Why? I could have run to the… well no one. You didn’t last long as an officer in this city. Most law enforcement was dead, and the only justice found in the city these days was vigilante justice or the underworld trades. But with the way that man tore him apart limb for limb, I doubt anyone could match up against them. He didn’t even break a sweat.

Closing all the curtains, I quickly make sure all the doors are locked. I was never this paranoid before. I grew up in this city, knew it like the back of my hand. Sure, every city was dangerous, but growing up here, I knew all the do’s and don’ts, knew which streets to stay away from. My area was considered safe mostly, nothing much happened in this area. Never have I been attacked on my way home. Few people lived on this side of the city because there wasn’t much left. Even the homeless refused to live over here because the place was that abandoned there weren’t many places to beg or dumpster dive.

After what happened, I feel like this was just the start of something bigger. I have always been pretty intuitive, but I had this nagging feeling something bad was going to happen, and I prayed this feeling was just because of the events of today. Once I was convinced I had locked up completely. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Stripping off, I hopped in. The water burned my skin, making me jump. My skin was so cold the water felt like it was blistering my skin, only I knew it was my skin that was cold by the shaking of my hands and the fact that my toes were blue. Easing myself in slowly, I let the water warm my freezing body, inhaling the smell of my strawberry two dollar shampoo.

 When I hopped out, I grabbed my fluffy towel and walked into my room, quickly getting dressed before hopping in bed. I had to be back at work by 530 am for the breakfast shift. Wrapping myself up in my duvet like a human burrito, I closed my eyes, drifting off into the darkness of sleep.