Chapter 6

I felt my breathing stop as I looked into those eyes. Vampire. While we were on speaking terms with each other after the Great War, we still didn’t see each other more than the necessary meetings of peace. I stood still, frozen in place as the eyes looked back at me. I was scared. I needed to get out of here, but my body refused to listen to me.

I heard the bushes move, and I started to shiver. I could see the person’s shadow moving slowly towards me. I stood rooted in place and cursed myself in my mind. Why couldn’t I move? Damn it I needed to run. “Don’t be afraid, little one.” A soft voice echoed from his lips as he made his way into view. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you, little human.” The air I was holding in my lungs finally escaped, only to be replaced with uneven and ragged breaths.

“It’s okay.” The voice was back, and it was crazy. “It’s okay, child, just listen to him.” The voice was calm. I willed my legs to move, but found that they were going forward instead of away like I begged them to. I soon found myself at the edge of the pond, sitting next to this handsome man in silence.

“I am sorry if I scared you. I didn’t know anyone else knew of this place.” He glanced at me and smiled a little. “My name is Xander. May I ask your name, little one?” I kept quiet. The voice of my father and brother in my head was telling me I was not supposed to speak to anyone. I didn’t deserve to converse with the gifted. My hair covered my eyes as I kept a firm hold on the ground beneath me. Unsure of what to do, I nervously messed with my nails, biting them till they were nothing but nubs of flesh. “It’s okay if you don`t want to talk to me. I know vampires are not on the best terms with the rest of the world, especially humans, but I`m not like that. My father is the one who wanted to overthrow the humans and start the war.” He looked at the ground as a smile crossed his lips. “When my father passed and I took over, I promised myself and the clan we would not be a part of this war anymore.

His hand lifted and touched my arm softly. I involuntarily shrank back away from him and wrapped my arms around myself. " I`m sorry, little one.” He moved his hand away and stood up, looking at the fading sunlight. “Well, I have to get back before nightfall, little one. Hopefully, I can see you again?” I looked up at him and cocked my head to the side wondering if he was completely insane. He just smiled and turned around, making his way back across the falls to the vampire coven.

I kept in place watching him as he left. I had never met a vampire before, but growing up I heard they were awful creatures and the only reason we lived beside them was because we signed a peace treaty in order to win the war on humans. After we won, we kept the peace treaty in order to survive, but we never really associated with them after that. He didn’t seem so bad, though; he certainly didn’t seem like some cold-blooded killer the schools make them out to be.

I pondered in my thoughts for a few more moments before realizing how late it was getting. I was out later than I intended to be and needed to get moving before it was dark. Going back the way I came, I pushed my body to move faster. I needed to be home in time to make dinner tonight. Thankfully, luck was on my side tonight as I passed through the woods just before nightfall and made it home with just enough time to get dinner started before the family returned from the weekly Saturday pack meeting.

Just as I was finishing the last steak on the pan, I heard the door open and close with a slam. I kept myself busy preparing plates and setting the table as they entered the kitchen and sat down, ready to eat. After serving the dishes and being dismissed, I made my way back to the kitchen to clean up the dishes and store away the unused food for a later meal. Making my way back to my room, I made a mental note of everything I needed to finish tonight. I didn’t have many chores around the house, mostly just keeping it clean and cooking, but after I finish with the dinner plates this evening, I should be able to rest my body for a while. The bones in my chest were aching by the time I made it up to the attic door. My breathing became shallow as I tried to calm myself as the pain in my ribs raked through my chest, begging me to stop moving.

Eventually, I was able to calm my breathing to a reasonable pace and curled back into my corner. Dinner would be over soon, and I needed to rest for at least a minute. This last beating from my father really did a number on me. Each time it was worse. Just as I was able to relax into a semi-comfortable position, I heard the last thing I wanted today. “Amelia!” My father’s voice thundered through the house, shaking the very walls around me. He only yelled like that when I was in trouble. I lifted myself to my feet and started to shake as I made my way down the stairs and back into the kitchen to see what he was mad about this time.

I was terrified, but I attempted to hold back my fear as I entered the kitchen to meet with my father. When I turned the corner, he was sitting in his chair alone in the kitchen. He was drinking a beer and was quite obviously angry. I shuffled my way in front of him and lowered my gaze to stare at the floor. I could feel my heart racing inside my chest as I waited for him to speak.

“Amelia, as you know, you will be turning eighteen in two months.” I nodded my head acknowledging him. " You will be permitted here only until then; after that, you will have to leave and fend for yourself.” My eyes widened at his words. They were just going to get rid of me? Even if I were nothing but a slave now, surely I could be useful still. “We have made this decision as a family, and as a pack. It’s hard enough having you be the alpha’s pathetic human daughter, but as your brother will be taking over soon, I will not bear him the responsibility of keeping you alive.” His words hurt. This was my father, my daddy. I used to be his princess and now I am to be left all because fate had chosen to screw me over.

“Leave.” My father motioned for me to get out of the dining room as he continued to sip his beer in peace. Instead of going back upstairs, I made my way back into the kitchen to clean the used dinner plates and the floors first. My body shook and shivered as tears began making their way to my eyes. Even as I willed them to stay put, they eventually flowed down my cheeks. I had two months to figure out what I was going to do, or I would be stranded, more isolated and hated than I already was.

As I finished with chores and headed back to my room, I silently kept crying. The pain in my body was long forgotten and replaced by the pain and sadness in my heart. I entered my room and curled myself back into the corner where I would be the warmest and closed my eyes. I was just ready for the night to be over with. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard the same beautiful voice enter my mind. “Go to the Forrest Amelia.”