Beyond the Dawn (Life and Death, Book II)

16. COULD WE JUST GET ON WITH THIS THING ALREADY?

PART TWO

BRANDEN

Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both.

Rev. Montague Summers

The images in those memories, the last moments of my life, were blurry. It was like looking through dark, murky water. Just one thing in particular stood out with any significant detail: Riley.

I still remember how she had looked that night. When I say she was the hottest girl I had ever seen, the description doesn't come close to capturing it. That word didn't even do her justice. She was perfect in every single way—the way you might expect an angel to look, but even better.

She didn't remove her sunglasses, which I thought was odd given the total darkness. It only left me to imagine how much more stunning her eyes would be. Hell, even the sound of her voice was attractive, so gentle, so seductive, while at the same time leaving me frozen in fear. And still, I would have done anything for her, in exchange for food or otherwise.

It had been weeks since I'd run away. I was days away from turning sixteen... or at least I think I was. I sort of lost track of the days in the end there. My abusive asshole of a father told me I would starve to death as I'd escaped out the back door. It was the only thing he'd ever been right about.

I hadn't eaten much more than a bite of food since then. Starvation was going to take me any day. But that outcome looked better at that point than living another day with that man.

I wish I would have run years ago when my mother did. Dad was insane. He craved authority. I was certain he was one of those sadistic people who got some kind of sick pleasure out of verbally and physically abusing someone else. I spent my last three days with him locked in his basement.

I couldn't understand what this supermodel of a girl could possibly want with some homeless kid off the street in the middle of the night. Why would she bother to look my way? There was some instinct deep inside me that told me to get away from her, but I didn't listen. Everything about her drew me in.

"Want a burger, kid?" she'd asked me, standing there in the rain. I remember it was like being hypnotized.

And of course I wanted it. At that point I would have eaten something she'd dug out of the trash. I didn't even question why she was interested in helping me. I was too hungry to care. She took me inside the nearest diner and ordered me a massive cheeseburger. I destroyed it like a ravenous animal as she sat there across from me in the booth in silence.

"You must have been really hungry," she said to me when I swallowed the last bite.

"You're damn right. But why...?" I'd trailed off.

She just stared at me like she was evaluating... trying to decide something important. Then she spoke again.

"What's your name, kid?"

I almost stuttered the word. "Um... Branden."

"Well, Branden... I can offer you a new life. How does that sound?"

I couldn't have known at the time what she'd meant by that, but I would have taken anything from her without hesitation.

She took me to an abandoned apartment building. All the lights were out, and I was confused at how she seemed to get around so well in the darkness. When we were finally alone, she took off her sunglasses, and I could see that her irises were a fiery red. Totally creepy, yet all the more beautiful to look at. I couldn't move. I just stared at her, stunned... wondering what the hell this girl was. That's when she'd asked the final question.