“You turned me bitter and filled me with contempt, Aldric. You did this to me.” Though he was an expert at hiding emotion, I knew what I said affected him; I could sense it. “And I don’t want any part of this life or of you and your sick idea of happily ever after.” I blinked away tears as the sadness over my new unlife turned to silent resignation.
“I’m afraid you really have no other choice, Ava. It is either this or death.” Aldric’s words struck a chord somewhere in me, giving me the escape I had been looking for since waking up in that coffin.
“Fine, then that’s what I want,” I said, turning to look at Chance as I spoke. Our eyes locked for a brief second before I told him what I was sure he didn’t want to hear. “I want you to kill me.”
3
. REDEMPTION
Chance’s face twisted in horror. The emerald green of his eyes instantly faded, distinguishing the warmth I had seen there. I hated saying that to him. I didn’t know him that well—not at all, actually—but he had rescued me by digging me up. Hurting him wasn’t my plan, but I had to save myself. Save my soul.
“Don’t talk like that, Ava.” I could hear the pain in his words, like saying them sent daggers through his chest, through his heart. He kept his eyes locked on mine. I suddenly felt a connection between us, faint and confusing. And even though I wanted so desperately to get away from Aldric and this monstrous new life, I knew at that moment that dying wasn’t going to be the way. At least not by Chance’s hands.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. That warm light once again filled Chance’s eyes, though dimmer than before. He smiled at me and brushed a hand over mine. The electric shock his touch created made my head spin. I wanted to stay in that moment forever, safe and happy and not a vampire, but I knew that was impossible. I pulled my hand away from his and turned to face Aldric.
“So what about sunlight?” I asked, doing my best to control the growing anger I was feeling toward him. “Am I going to burst into flame in the morning?” I had no idea how I knew that about vampires, but I did. Where was I from? No clue. Did sunlight hurt the walking dead? Yep, that I remembered.
Aldric’s cryptic laugh was unsettling. “Ah, Ava,” he said, his gleaming white smile softening his hard jaw. “You manage to keep your humor in even the direst circumstances.”
He stopped speaking and simply stared at me. It took me a moment to realize he was waiting for me to laugh or agree with him; I had no intention of doing either. “No,” he continued. “Sunlight doesn’t hurt us or you. That is merely an urban legend created by storytellers and filmmakers. The sun can’t kill us any more than it can kill a human. It isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world with this pale skin, as I’m sure you can imagine. But definitely not deadly. That is fiction.”
“I thought vampires were fiction,” I quipped. “They turned out to be true. Or, well, we.” I was having trouble remembering that I was a vampire now, too. Hooray for me. “Okay, so I’m good to go out in the sun. But do I seriously have to drink blood?” Even though the thought of it kind of made me sick, a much stronger urge to experience the taste of it was fighting for control. I wanted it but didn’t want it at the same time. Ugh.
“You don’t have to,” Aldric said. “But you may need to one day.”
“Is she in danger, Aldric?” Chance spoke up from behind me.
“Not now. But I can’t promise that won’t change. She needs to be ready for that.”
“She is standing right here,” I said, aggravated at being spoken of in third person. “And I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
“No one has doubted your ability to survive, Ava,” Aldric said apologetically. “But fighting humans and fighting vampires are two very different things. Your safety is all that matters.” His tone was secretive at best. I knew instantly that he wasn’t being completely honest with me.
“One more question,” I said. Aldric simply smiled. “Why did you do this to me?” I didn’t bother trying to hide my anger. I used it to block out the tingling feeling I got when I looked at him. No way did I want to let him get inside my head again.
“I did this to you because I had to,” Aldric said, a seriousness I had yet to see on his face. “You would have died had I not.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, more confused by each of his answers. “I was dying?” I had zero recollection of being in danger, or sick, or dying. I had no clue if he was telling the truth.
“Yes, you were. I saved you.” Aldric flashed a crooked smile, the stern look still present on his face. “But a thank you isn’t necessary.”
“I’d rather be dead.” I couldn’t lie about how I truly felt. A life as a monster was no life at all.
“You could choose death,” Aldric said. “Or you could choose to live.” He circled me like a wolf with its prey, staring me down with those piercing eyes. I felt awkward and self-conscious being on display. Aldric didn’t seem to notice…or didn’t care.
“Don’t you understand? I don’t want to live like this. I don’t want to have to kill people and drink their blood to survive. I won’t do it. And you can’t make me.” I followed him with my eyes as he wore a path into the tall grass surrounding us.
“You’re exactly right, I can’t make you. I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, Ava. And I would never try.” I heard honesty in his voice. No way did I trust him, but I knew he meant what he was saying.
“Finally,” I said, rolling my eyes. Chance smirked under his breath. I looked over at him and smiled before reaching out and grabbing Aldric’s arm as he circled me for the tenth time. “You’re making me dizzy.”
“My apologies,” he offered. He even threw in a bow of the head to show he was sorry. I actually wanted to punch him.
“Quit apologizing,” I said. “I’m just glad you finally understand me.”
“Would you like me to end your life right now, or do you need time to handle your affairs first? You know, tie up loose ends?” The ease with which he said ‘end your life’ really creeped me out. I wrapped my arms around myself to keep from shivering. I focused in on his face, almost glowing in the strong moonlight. He didn’t appear to be joking.
“Why would you offer to end my life when you took the time to save it?” I decided to call his bluff.
“I chose to save your life because I thought that a child of such a young age would want to live. However, if you would prefer the alternative, who am I to stand in your way?”
“I’m not a child.”
“Then perhaps we should end this childish game?” Aldric’s face was fixed and stoic. Obviously he was done playing around.
“I don’t want this,” I said, my voice much calmer than before. Though I didn’t remember much about my past—okay, nothing really—I didn’t think I would be the type to back down from an argument. So I actually surprised myself with the amount of restraint I possessed. Of course, I’d never been arguing with a vampire, so that made a bit of a difference.
“I understand, Ava, honestly I do.” Aldric stared at me with what looked like concern in his eyes— though I doubted it was genuine. “And if there had been any other way I would have chosen it, believe me. But doing this was the only choice. The only way to keep you alive.” I wanted to believe that what he was saying was true—and if I would have just taken five minutes to sit down and allow my brain to process what all had happened I would have stopped talking. Unfortunately, I kept going.
“You could have let me die.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks. “But instead you chose to turn me into a monster. A murderer. You.” I could tell that last word hurt. It was brief, but I definitely saw pain on Aldric’s face. It only took a second for him to refocus and return his expression to one of quiet indifference.
“I want to be human again,” I continued. “All human.” I couldn’t believe that I was actually standing in the middle of a cemetery having a conversation with a vampire about my human
ity. Any other time, the irony of discussing life with the undead would have made me laugh.
“Well,” Aldric said, “I happen to know of a way you can get what you want.”
I wanted to believe what he was saying, but trusting a vampire just didn’t seem like a smart thing to do. Of course, most people would say that letting yourself get bitten by a vampire wasn’t exactly genius-level intelligence, either—though I don’t know if I let it happen to me or not. Both statements were probably true, but I didn’t really have the time or energy to worry about it. With no other options, trusting Aldric was my only hope.
“How?” I asked, looking over at Chance. I was hoping to see something in his eyes that would tell me to believe what Aldric was saying, but his face held nothing but deep concern. He tried to play it off with a smile, but I could tell he was worried too.
“I’m not really sure if you’re ready to hear it,” Aldric said, obviously toying with me. “Perhaps living with your new life for a while would make you more gracious when receiving my help.”
“Are all vampires this annoying?” I asked. “Or is it just your charm?”
Aldric laughed. “You could choose to remain a vampire and discover that for yourself.”
“I’ll pass.” I was past the point of impatient. I figured if it came down to it and I made Aldric mad enough to attack me, I’d get to find out how strong being a vampire really made me. Or, I’d be dead. Either way, an entertaining night. “Can you just tell me what I have to do to become human again?”
“It’s a simple task, really. One that I’m sure you’ll have no problem achieving.” Aldric paused and stared intently at me, his mesmerizing eyes burrowing under my skin. “To rid yourself of your immortal side, you have to rid the earth of immortals.” Again with the cryptic talk.
“In English, please.” My attitude was probably coming across as angry, which is how I intended it.
Chance spoke up from behind me. “He’s saying you have to kill vampires.” I spun around to look at him as he spoke, and there was a glimmer of something behind his eyes. Hope? Hope for my humanity, maybe? I wasn’t sure, but something had brightened his face just a bit.
“What?” I said, turning back to face Aldric. He couldn’t be serious. Me, kill something? No way could I do that. Taking the life of something else was not really on my to-do list.
“It’s the only way to become human again,” Aldric said, a sly smile on his face. I could tell he was enjoying seeing the fear in my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Within the last hour, I had been buried and resurrected, told I was some sort of futuristic vampire hybrid, and now that to become human again I had to go on a killing spree of the undead. All in all, the day pretty much sucked.
“So I have to kill vampires,” I stated. “All of them?”
Aldric laughed again, that same creepy laugh that made me both mad and scared at the same time. “Of course not.” He said it like everyone in the world should know that; I wanted to hit him.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath to try and clear my mind. “What exactly do I have to do?” I couldn’t believe I was asking the question. But I so desperately wanted my old life back that I was willing to at least hear what Aldric had to say.
“According to the legend, you must kill one hundred vampires. That’s the only way to reverse what has been done to you.” I knew from the seriousness on Aldric’s face that he was telling the truth. I just didn’t want to believe him.
“What do you mean, ‘according to the legend? You’ve never done this before?” For some reason, I thought he would have at least heard of this happening somewhere in his life. Or death, or whatever. Ugh.
“As I said earlier,” Aldric stated calmly, “you are very special. The first of your kind, in fact. Legends in my world have spoken of your existence, but no vampire has ever seen a creature such as you. Until now.” He stared at me, making me feel self-conscious again. Thankfully, though, I didn’t feel heat rush to my cheeks. Maybe being a vampire meant I wouldn’t embarrass as easily as when I was human. Of course, I had gotten embarrassed when I first saw Chance’s face, so I had a feeling that theory wouldn’t be holding much weight.
“So how do you know it’ll work?” I asked, concern littering my words.
“I don’t,” Aldric answered honestly. “But every other legend in my world has come to pass. And you now exist, just as the legend said you would. So it stands to reason that this, too, will come true.” I really didn’t like the fact that Aldric had no clue if my killing a hundred people—okay, they were technically already dead, but still—would guarantee I would be human again, but what other choice did I have? Live the rest of my life—which now would be forever thanks to the whole immortal thing—as a vampire? Kill myself, or have someone else kill me? So I gave into the only option I had.
“Fine,” I said with defeat. “When do I start?” I watched Aldric’s face practically light up. I mean, it didn’t really light up, he’s dead. But it definitely was a much happier expression.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “On your first day of school.”
“On my first day of what?”
“School. You will be going to school tomorrow. Just like a normal teenager.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I snarled, my teeth clenched tight.
“I am very serious, Ava.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Did he honestly think that I would be going to school in this condition? And let other people, my friends —if I had any—see me like this?
“How am I supposed to go back to school when I’m a vampire?” Just saying the word out loud was too weird. I couldn’t imagine walking around in front of people with pale skin and fangs.
“Well,” Aldric said, taking a step in my direction. “You won’t actually be going back to school. At least not the way you think.” Again his statement confused me, but this time I only had to roll my eyes to get him to explain.
“You will be attending a new school,” he added, and I nearly choked on the thick fog wafting up from the ground.
“What?” I asked with anger. “I’m not going to a new school!” I almost stamped my foot into the thick, damp grass for emphasis. I intended to stand my ground.
“Do you remember your old school?” Aldric asked.
“Well, no,” I said. “But that doesn’t matter.”
“Whether you remember or not is irrelevant. You simply cannot attend the same school where everyone thought you died. That’s impossible.” What Aldric was saying made sense, but I refused to accept it. I wanted to lash out and hit something—and by ‘something’ I meant a certain dead man walking—scream and go totally ballistic.
“Why?” I asked. “Why is it impossible?”
“Because you died, remember?” This time it was Chance who spoke up. “What would everybody say if you showed back up?”
“So they all know I died?” The thought weighed heavily on me. My past. It was over and I couldn’t even remember it. Aldric was right; whether or not I could remember was irrelevant. I couldn’t go back even if I wanted to, not after dying. “What about my family? My friends? Do they all know I died?”
“You had none of either.”
Aldric’s words cut me. No family? No friends? How could that be?
“That’s impossible,” I said, fighting desperately to hold back more tears. “I came from somewhere. I at least have a mother, don’t I?”
“Of course you do,” Aldric went on. “Everyone has a mother. Yours, unfortunately, did not keep you.” Again, more painful words that cut deep. My own mother didn’t want me. The day kept getting better.
“So I was what? Homeless? Living on the streets? Where did you find me?”
“We don’t have time to get in to all the details,” Aldric said, waving his hand for emphasis. “I promise you I will tell you all you want to know. But right now we need to get out of this cemetery before someone finds us here.”
“Who’s going to find us in the middle of
the night?” Aldric cut his eyes at me and I knew who. Vampires. “Oh.”
“So you two get a move on. I’ll stay behind and take care of this.” He was looking down at the open grave beneath our feet; the grave where I came from. I supposed then that Earth was my only mother now.
“So about this whole ‘going to school’ thing,” I interjected.
“Don’t worry,” Aldric said, obviously sensing my nervousness. “You won’t be going alone.” I watched his eyes roll across the open area of the cemetery, coming to land on Chance, who had been idly watching our exchange. He had a peacefulness to his face that instantly calmed me. I hated the idea, but if Chance went with me, maybe going back to school wouldn’t be so bad.
Though I hated to admit it, I was all out of other options. I was now a vampire. The sooner I accepted it, the better off I would be. I now had to live life in two separate parts: one half of me would be a quiet and reserved teenager attending school and acting normal, while the other half would be a thrill-seeking vampire hunter whose mission was tracking down vampires and killing them to save her own life.
I had no clue how I would do either one.
4
. BEGINNING
Chance graciously offered to let me sleep at his house, swearing his mom wouldn’t mind. I had absolutely nowhere else to go since I had no memory of my life before the coffin, and no way in hell was I going back there, so I reluctantly accepted. Since it was well past midnight, he said he’d wait until his mom woke up for work to tell her.
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