Chapter One

Chapter One.

Harden.

I jerked up from the seat's backrest, waking up from the nightmare that has continued to haunt me for years and into the reality as the truck made the abrupt stop in front of the large cabin like wooden-glass house, and I wondered, 'for how long?'. Every single moment I get to be away from everything around me comes that ugly nightmare that I can never get over, that night which would forever be fresh in my mind. I was so young then, yet my fragile little heart has never grown from that horrible day. Not even for a single day for a hundred years.

And as I watched the house seated in front of me, I realized again how much I hated moving and Ester knew that. But after leaving New Orleans,I couldn't care less how many more times we moved and from or to where. At the front,I could hear Charlie and Ester's festive chatters as they snapped their estate car door shut behind them.

Sighing deeply,I stepped out of the truck,Rodger who's behind the wheel only stopping me for a while to ask "you alright,Harden?"

I nodded, wanting to just get this over with. Rodger goes out the car too,going behind to offload our bags. I stood still, watching the oak house seated in front of us. For what it's worth, it's welcoming. When Charlie had told us nights ago that we'd be moving to Fox,I'd abruptly said no. He'd said that this was nature's call. Only now do I see that he may be right. The house is backed into tall forest trees, surrounded with much greener grasses safe for the lawn's driveway. 

Listening,I could hear the water fall from far into the woods, behind the house and the sonorous chirping of birds. It's become so easy to distinguish between the cries of the different species of birds. The place seems isolated and surrounded with trees but I could hear the very tender heart beats of people far away, towards the open street,their walking steps,their low voices. I found myself smiling now. Nature did call this time.

Annette falls beside me on the truck side,her arms folded across her chest.

"I like that smile,Harden"she said,looking up to the the house too "I like to think you like it here already"

"Yeah,"I nodded "wasn't what I was expecting" I returned the smile on her lips.

Annette was my oldest brother's, Wayne's wife. They've been married for a couple of years and Annette hasn't only proven to be a part of this family but has proven to be the sister we all never had.

"Listen,Harden,"she said "don't think about it,okay? Everything will be alright"

Just then,Wayne walked up to us,a travel bag on his one hand. He flings it over his shoulder before reaching for Annette and throwing me a smirk.

"Get your stuff,Harden. It's too early to be whimpering around"he said. Annette hits him playfully on the chest and he laughed before walking them up the doorsteps.

"Hey,Harden! Catch!"I turned superspeed just in time to catch the bag Seth threw my way from the back. Seth was my other brother,the youngest among us all. He jumps off the truck and walks over to me, dumping another bag before my feet.

"I think this place's gonna be fun,Harden"He said, licking his lips. Seth was always the energetic one, always full of the spirits. "There's this club out of town. Every Friday! Lots of human girls go there. Every Friday night, Hardin"

Shaking my head at him,I picked up the bag and replied "quote that 'human girls' Seth. And you better keep it down in your pants" and turned towards the house.

"Keep what in my pants?"He asks,arms spread wide in confusion.

"Your dick, asshole!"Rodger yelled at him from the door as I approached him. He erupted in a fit of laughter, slapping his hand against my back to back him up.

Our parents, Charlie and Ester who are now standing at a corner in the porch are now pointing to something on the porch roof to Wayne and Annette,who watched in awe. This is all so wrong. When Ester turned and her eyes caught mine,I looked away, Seth blocking her view of me as he passed us and pushed the door open.

Truth remains that I'll never get used to this,any of this. And she knew that.

I decided after spending the whole day at the house that taking a stroll alone through the city wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I was getting really really irritated by the place, hating every bit of it as I walked along the night local streets. The sounds,the voices,the people. They all seem so happy, walking around,not giving a care to the dancers of the nights. What had I expected?

To many people, meeting new faces, getting to know new people was exciting but to me,it was a phobia I'd never leave behind. The town was dark but the sight of it was beautiful,from the bright street lights standing along the terraces to the flashing neon,argon and freon lights flashing from the dashboards and banners hanging off the building fronts.

I continued to walk slowly along the sidewalk,head buried down under my black hood. I take a slow turn as I got to the end of the blocks of shops,and taking the short brick town's bridge towards the other side of the open space where more darker corners and alleys were in view. I must admit the city was captivating and there was just something spectacular about the people here. Something about how they did their things without even minding any trespasser, without giving a care. Secretly,I admired the place as I continued to walk off the bridge and along the sidewalks,barely glancing up.

Growing up,I'd had the opportunities of learning many vampire abilities. Why? My family moved from places to places,all around the continent. Of course no vampire's senses are always complete. We keep learning and asides the natural abilities a vampire is birthed or made with,we have the abilities to acquire more as we move around. That's just Vampires.

Stepping off the bridge,my hands tucked into my hoodie pockets,I started along a pavement of shops, glancing at the fountain seated and springing water in the middle of the square,I watched the people,mostly young parents seated on the white spiral chairs just before the fountain.

The place reminded me of New Orleans. A lot of things happened in New Orleans,things I've enjoyed over the years of staying there,things I've kept close to my heart. And now,the sight of this magnificent village was one to behold and savor. The people dressed so elegantly, walking and talking festively around the place,the bright porch lights giving the place a bright and dim touch,the fountain,the stalls running just fine regardless of the late night hour,the slow music playing from a close by music room,the lovers enjoying the perfect view of the far away fields from the park. All of these I saw in a blink.

I fought to shut out every conversations the people around were having. I needed to get out of myself tonight,feel free,feel impossible. The slow and fast beating of the hearts surrounding me wasn't helping. It was too loud. Everyone seems so happy.

I take a turn towards a corner, falling in line towards a block of shops. This side of the square is a lot quieter. Just then,my mind zoomed in on the conversation transpiring between a group of teenagers far away at the other side of the sidewalk.

"Stop that, Patrick!" A feminine voice protests and I'm forced to look up,just to see the owner of that voice.

She sat on a parked motorbike,a grin on her face with such loveliness in her eyes. She's clad in a brown leather jacket over a yellow mini gown with wine colored flowers printed all over it. Her cowboy boots runs up her calf. She's laughing and I'd be damned if that wasn't the sweetest laughter I'd ever seen. I continued to watch,her spiraling dark hairs cascading her shoulders and face. Her laughter was beautiful,that's far from doubt.

"Come on,babe!"

That's when my eyes moved besides her,that's when I noticed the other male beside her. My eyes lingered on him.

"Let's have some fun!"he exclaimed again.

He continues to laugh as his hands moved towards her and grabbed her waist. I find my fists clenching unintentionally. I quickly released them and scoffed internally. What do I care?

"Hands off pat!"Angelic voice protests again and she jumped off the parked bike. The other guys,three in number who stood around them laughs.

"Sometimes I wonder what's gotten into you babe"The said Patrick retorts, laughing in between.

"I told you Pat,this isn't school,Okay?"she replies"and I told you to stop calling me that"

"What? 'Babe'?"

He begins to laugh again and I felt disgusted at this guy. I didn't know if my irritation towards him was because he was a complete scumbag to women or because of the stupid look on his face which gave his idiotic personality away at a first glance. Or because of how he kept trying to grab that lady without her consent.

He was a jerk. His type are never hard to read. The way his heart kept pondering gave him away. His heart is clad with bad intentions,mostly towards the young woman with him. He was notorious and definitely a dangerous kind of young guy for the woman to be around. I avert my gaze away from them and towards the other end of my direction. They are not my business.

As I got to the end of the sidewalk,I felt the girl's eyes glance at me. I don't look back and instead,walked past them and stepped on the next step leading to the dark alley,my eyes meeting with the arrogant jerk's for a split second as I walked past him before facing forward again.

'look at him man' I hear the boy say to his friend,followed by the friend's laughter.

'he looks suspicious' the other friend added but I continued walking anyway.

"Hey!"douchebag calls out and I stopped abruptly. A part of me wanna just keep going but the other part wanted to stop and not get into any trouble tonight. I bet that's the last thing Ester wants.

"Turn around" he said but I stood firmly,only raising my head.

'who the hell is he,man?' his third friend whisper-asks.

I listened and douchebag's heartbeats started to increase by the second.

"I said turn around!" He yelled,fear coating his voice. He's just trying to look tough. I bet he'd piss his pants if I turned into a vampire or a grim reaper in front of him.

Slowly,I turned around. The first set of face I held belonged to the lady who stood wide eyed at the back, waiting to see whom I'd turn out to be too. I moved my eyes from hers to the scumbag's.

A smirk settled on his lips before he said "What is your problem,man? Why didn't you just turn around when I asked you to instead of walking like a complete creep?

I saw no need in replying and instead,stared at him.

"Answer me creep!"

"Leave him alone, Patrick"Angelic voice says and my eyes quickly sought her out again. It was something I did unintentionally. There was something strangely comfortable about her voice.

She meets my eyes and I could feel her calm immediately. Scumbag looks from her to me and exclaimed "you're looking at her,huh?!"

He's gonna push me. Like I'd sensed,his hands pushed my shoulders and I staggered backwards a bit. 

"I'm asking you a question and you're freaking looking at her?!"

"Patrick!" She yells and I find my eyes averting to her again. There was just something about that voice.

"What?"scumbag says again before pulling his hand back.

For something that never happens,I never foresaw his fist pushing towards me until I felt it connect to my face and I stumble to the floor,face down.

Anger. I felt the urge to retaliate,to split his whole body into two. But just then,I remembered that would be the dumbest thing to do right here in the open. Charlie says not to ever get noticed. He'd said "not everybody loves to have vampires lurking around the neighborhood"

"Patrick! What is wrong with you?!"

I heard boots urgently skating towards me and a second later, she's kneeling before me and grabbing my arm. I'm forced to look up at her but all I see is her hairs as she's turning towards scumbag and saying "do you always have to do this patrick?"

"Get away from there,kitty"he yelled.

"No! You get away from me,okay?" She snapped. She pulled at my arm and I let her lift me off the floor.

She starts pulling at my arm and dragging me towards a store.

The moment we stepped into the dimly lit room,I smelled the reeking odour of native medicines all over the room. Even though I wasn't hurt at all,I let her lead me to a booth around the corner of the packed room. 

Heads snapped towards us the moment we walked in,the bell tied to the door jingling to announce our presence.

"I'll be back" she said after helping me sit on the chair. She turns around immediately, hurrying away and I watched her. She was impossible not to watch. I watched as she walked towards the counter up front and as she went and I watched, everything suddenly seemed to be happening in slow motion.

My eyes moved to her brown boots as her legs moved in slow motion,up to the long and moderately slim exposed legs which shone under the room's dim lighting. My eyes continued its journey up her legs and up her lower thighs which were on full display, running down her mini yellow dress. Her hair flew around her as she went, stopping just before the counter,the lady behind it smiling at her.

'excuse me?'i heard her say to the counter lady 'can I please get an ice?'

The woman smiles with a nod and turns away to get her the ice. I forced my gaze down the moment she turns around to see me again.

And my heart actually beat way faster because I thought she'd caught me staring at her. I decided fixing my gaze on this damn old table in front of me would be the best thing to do as I started hearing her walk towards me. I felt her press the ice against my chin where the douchebag had hit me earlier. I looked up immediately to find her eyes perched on mine. Her oval eyes had the deepest shades of Auburn,encased with a Toffee outer casing shades. I could suddenly see the different shades of brown her eyes were made of. They were the most beautiful pair of eyes I'd ever set my eyes on and I just couldn't tear my gaze away. But despite all the beauty in them, I saw fear.

I forced my eyes from her and took the ice from her,my hand grazing hers as I did for a split second "I got it" I told her.

"I'm so sorry about patrick,"her voice fidgeted "he can be......like that most of the time"

Something about how she talked,like she was unsure of her words made me smile secretly.

"You two seemed to know each other,"I told her boldly "he your boyfriend?"

"Well,"she said uneasily and I got my answer immediately "technically,but......I mean,I'm sorry okay?"

"It's alright, really. See?"I take the ice from my face "I'm okay"

She smiles for a moment. I watched, fascinated about how her doe eyes went into a line as she smiled,like a snail coiling back into its shell,her thick lashes overcasting her face. It was the sweetest smile I'd ever seen. And it happened right in front of me. I took a moment to watch her,to see her. Her bottom heeavy heart shaped lips are a bright shade of pink,soft and succulent. They moved in the most sensual way, revealing her perfectly white teeth.

"I'm glad you're okay"she finally replied.

I continued to stare at her,not minding that I was being a complete creep to a strange woman I'd just met off the streets. I would probably scare her away by the time I'm done staring at her exquisite beauty.

She had an elfin fair face,her nose pointed and slim,her lashes full and thick,giving her cheeks a shadowy reflection from the dimness of the room's lightening. Her dark hairs Cascades her chest and back, giving her Petit body a spark. My eyes moved down to her chest and suddenly,I could hear her heart beat slowly but loudly,like she was scared and excited about something. I could picture her heart as it beat continuously,the blood in her system running and vibrating throughout her neckline, setting off a hunger inside me. I was suddenly thirsty.

"Your heart is beating fast","I told her,my eyes not leaving hers "why?"

She blinks hard,her perfectly oval eyes staring blankly at me. "Are you scared?" I pressed.

"How'd you know that?"she asks,traces of amusement in her voice.

"I was just....,"I shrug my shoulders "... asking"

She flashes her perfectly white teeth at me in the most mesmerizing grin I'd ever seen and I found myself staring harder at her lips.

"Alright,"she said, leaning over the table now "well you might wanna stay away from that guy outside"

"You mean I should stay away from your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, technically"she replied,her smile disappearing behind her eyes.

"I'll just heed to your advice then"I replied, giving her a liplined smile.

She smiles down at me again. She had the most beautiful doe eyes,I'll never get over that. We locked eyes for what felt like ages before she broke the building silence.

"I'm Alessia"she points her hand out to me "My friends call me Leesha"

I stared back,my smile seeming to be frozen and it felt like the time suddenly waited. Waited for me to take that hand into mine and hold on to it.