Bataille Des Vampires

1: And So It Begins...

        When I came to; I was laying in the middle of the street in a neighborhood I have never seen before. Each house had its' lights off and their doors ajar which revealed a spotless interior. The lawns were freshly cut and cars were parked sporadically along the curbs and driveways. Placing my hands on the chilled asphalt - I lifted myself to my feet. 

As soon as I was planted firmly on the ground; I was hit with a dizzy spell. Memories from what happened came rushing back. How long had it been since that night...a week? a month? How long have I been laying on this street.

 All these thoughts stopped dead in their tracks as one particular memory resurfaced. The person who touched me. They had said something... I didn't understand it at the time, but now it rang clearly through my mind: "The test starts now...kill to survive".

        The shock of the events that had occurred had settled, at least enough to think clearly about it. I couldn't have been the one who killed my parents...it must've been the person who was there with me... I thought to myself - instead of feeling sadness or grief, I felt anger towards the person who had obviously killed my parents. 

The only thing that didn't fit was the what that the person told me before I blacked out. Kill to survive? There's no one here to kill. Looking around, this area was no more than a ghost town. There was no movement and there were no people.

        Putting aside my new thirst for revenge, I began to walk down the street towards a col-de-sac with cars parked in front of every house. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something was off about this neighborhood. When I think of a neighborhood I imagine kids running around and chimneys letting off smoke from fireplaces that keep them warm. It was around mid-November so it wouldn't be weird to have a fire going, although I did find it strange that even though it was so cold, I didn't feel it. 

I saw my breath coming out in thick clouds, but my skin did not raise into goosebumps with all my exposed skin. Usually I had hands like ice no matter what season it was, but now they were just normal.

        Shaking off the bizarre feeling of not being cold, I decided it would be best to just ask someone where I was...that is if I could find anyone. Walking up to the house closest to me, I examined it briefly. It was a two story house made of red bricks, but not the kind that has wooden paneling on the side that looks really cheap.

 There was a stone path that lead up to a dark oak door. Compared to all the other doors that were cracked open, this one was closed so that lead me to believe that perhaps someone was home. In the center was a brass knocker, I had to ignore the urge to use that to knock because I had a secret obsession with them. Who wouldn't, they are so fancy and remind me of The Labyrinth movie with David Bowie. Though I was sure knocking with it probably wouldn't lead anything except an entry way. 

        Ringing the door bell; I took a step back as the sound chimed throughout the house. Staring forward expectantly - I saw the door creak open. Something didn't feel right, not that it felt right in the first place since the whole world seemed to have disappeared, but this felt more than the previous 'not right' feeling. 

Taking a step through the door I came face to chest with a rather well built male. "Ah...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just walk in bu..." I began, but was cut off by a large hand clasping around the bottom of my chin. Instinctively my hands flew up and pulled at the hand that grasped me and began trying to pry it off. A low chuckle could be heard coming from the man as his grip tightened, any tighter and he might've shattered my jaw, for the record I did apologize for coming in. 

Almost a second later, I felt my feet leave the ground. My legs began to flail in the newly made space below me. My back hit a wall causing breathe to fly out of my lungs and my pursuer stepped forward into the light.

        The man who held me firmly against the wall was illuminated. Looking him over from top to bottom I saw that he had a buzz cut, his features were very young, but his eyes told a different story. They stared at me with a kind of hunger you would see in a wolf that had not eaten in a week. They frightened me - made my being shake as if it knew it was his next prey. If he hadn't been so attractive I might've been able to hate him. 

His well built body re-positioned itself as his face moved closer to mine. "Why would such a weak little girl be chosen as a subordinate..." He said slightly amused. Is it weird that I was too busy wondering how his voice was so deep when he looked so young to actually pay attention to what he said? 

Saying nothing further he moved his face again except this time I felt a hot breath fanning my neck followed by a sharp pinch causing pain to erupt and spread through my body. Feeling his hand loosen on my  chin, my feet hit the floor and collapsed beneath me. Looking up while holding my chin, where the man had been holding, I saw the attractive man, whos voice didn't match his face, on the floor and a rather skinny, or should I say lanky, boy standing over him.

        The lanky boy had red curly hair and an overwhelming amount of freckles on his round baby face. He was taller than me and he wore a plain white t-shirt with a pair of worn boot cut jeans. He looked very young, obviously partially due to the baby face, but none the less was able to take down the buff dude. Focusing my attention on the man who attacked me I saw he was unconscious. 

With his eyes closed he looked a lot less menacing. Smiling to myself I muttered "That's what you get for grabbing someone who apologized!". That retort earned me the attention of the lanky boy. We took about two minutes studying each other before he said "We should leave before he wakes up". 

In contrast to the deep voice from earlier, the lanky boy had a mousy voice that could easily annoy someone enough to where they would want to play in traffic. I just nodded in response. I wasn't entirely sure I could trust a guy who could take down someone twice his size, but none the less I still followed him out of the house. 

" Wait out here a moment..." He said leaving me in the front yard as he went back into the house. I was going to respond with something like 'You don't tell me what to do!', but decided against it seeing as he wasn't as weak as he looked.

        I waited outside for what felt like forever. Whipping my head around at the sound of the red head opening the door, I caught a glimpse of the buff guy still laying on the floor, but his face was a bit more sunken in than it was before. What a shame, he could've definitely been my personal abercrombie model. 

Turning my attention to my questionable savior, as he sauntered over to me, he held one hand out to me smiling and said "It's better if we work together, especially this early in the battle...". I kind of just stared at his hand for a minute. Battle? Are you serious? I black out for...i'm not really sure how long, but I wake up in a war zone? Just my luck. He waited for me to take his hand. 

Looking over his face for the umpteenth time, I decided he didn't seem like a dangerous person so I would try my best to get information out of him about where I am and what the battle was. He obviously knew more about this than I did.

        Sliding my hand into his, my eyes trailing up his shirt to his face. His shirt had wet spots like he had been trying to wash something out of it, but his face was kind and approachable which at this point, was very much needed in light of past events. If you can't remember, I did just have my jaw almost crushed and one heck of a hickey. 

The red head shook my hand and said "My name is Rodney...what's yours...may I ask?" and with a slight hesitation and a light squeeze of his hand, I responded with "It's Elise, my name is Elise".

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This book is still a draft so whatever is written will be edited at a later date.