Chapter 1
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Thunder blast!
The sky was unsmiling.
The wind was furious.
The night was filled with the sound of trees, swaying to the reckless movement of the wind, loud cans rolling endlessly on the ground.
Where was I? I was frozen in the middle of the deserted street, my parents slashing, grunting and thrusting at a hooded figure in the distance.
They'd warned me. 'Stay home,' Mom had said, but I was scared—scared that I wouldn't see them again.
"Ceci! Get down!!!!" Her voice was a shrill scream.
My heart roared in my chest, goosebumps lining my skin. I'd never heard Mom's voice that high.
Quickly, my stiff body ducked, with a scream of horror, as a jet of fizzling blue light shot past me faster than a bullet. My eyes widened as the tree behind me was instantly split, cracking open. I rolled roughly and painfully with urgency, as it landed heavily on the ground, raising up dust, and trash that had spilled out of the trashcans.
My knees were scraped, my dark hair a billowing storm around my face, and my now-dirty cardigan was nothing against the harsh wind blowing like ice. The insane wind continued to holler, and pick up noisy trash cans, tossing them about. Man, I'd be lying if I said my heart wasn't a trapped prisoner banging on the walls of my chest to escape.
Mom was now dashing towards the hooded figure in a dark cape, a wicked knife in her hand, her growl fierce as she attacked, nails sharper than the knife itself. She wasn't trying to kill this creature. However, this creature wasn't about to lay around doing nothing. It whizzed out a long sword, and the sound of metal clashed. Dad hopped down from a building, as fast as lightning, but the creature was faster, its senses too fast.
The next few seconds seemed to happen in a blur. Mom was blasted away somehow, and the creature was running from Dad.
Wait… was it actually… fleeing?
"Dad," my voice was a whisper of horror as the hooded figure raced directly toward me, its sword shimmering with blue flames, as it raised it across its chest, ready to swipe down with ferocity.
Its eyes… I saw its eyes. They were mysteriously blue, and filled with vengeance.
"Ceci!" Dad yelled, his eyes turning a desperate blood red, as he raced for the creature.
Yeah, this is the part where I also transform into something, right?
No. This is the part where I have my eyeballs rolling upwards, and out of sight, and my body dropping to the ground heavily like a sack of potatoes.
<<<
The sun hit me hard as I turned on the bed, an uncomfortable ache seeming to pulse through my head.
I groaned softly, and opened my eyes, blinking to regulate the harsh stream of sunlight targeting my eyes. I was in my room. Was last night a dream? What sort of dream was that?
However, as I stood in front of the mirror, staring at the red lump on my forehead, I knew it wasn't a dream. The events of the night were realer than my hand was.
Panic flushed through me, as I turned, dashing out of my room, skidding down the stairs, my neck turning in every direction. The smell of Mom's coffee was in the air, so my feet bolted straight to the kitchen.
The air in the kitchen was stiff.
Dad was making coffee, while Mom was seated at the kitchen table, looking whiter than Dad usually was.
"You're awake, hon," Dad said, his voice lacking strength as he turned to me.
"Why are you this pale? Did you use your sunscreen? What happened yesterday?" I asked, heading over to Mom.
Dad shot me his usual charming smile—the one he'd used to charm my Mom, one of the toughest wolves in her clan, into forsaking an Alpha and choosing him, an entirely different specie.
Well, Vampires never play by the rules, which is why they marry humans, wolves, witches, and any other pretty woman they can get their hands on, while only a few stick to the pure vampire race.
"Ceci," Mom said softly, and I closed my eyes, bracing for her to spit harsh words at me, chastising me for leaving the house when I shouldn't have.
I prepared my defense instead, "I'm sorry! Each time we get attacked, I get scared that it may be the last time I'd see you guys. Also, you guys looked really worked up when you were notified of the danger. It seemed…" my words spilled out in a rush, but were cut short.
"We're happy you didn't stay home," Dad said, whirling around, his purple eyes alighting on my dark ones.
"Uh?"
"You've never left home before when we had attacks. Why did you leave this time?" he asked.
"M…my mind wasn't at peace. I couldn't stop thinking. I knew there was nothing I could have done to help, but I couldn't help staying. What do you mean by you're happy I stayed home? I was almost killed." I said, my eyes darting from him to Mom, and back.
"Yeah, almost killed is better than killed. You would have been killed if you stayed home," Mom said weakly.
My face was twisted into puzzlement.
"That creature is a Fiérré. Fiérrés are creatures that eliminate anything they consider a threat. They do not target anyone or anything order than their threat," she took my hand, squeezing it till my face contorted into pain. She found it hard to say whatever it was she wanted to say.
Then finally, she spoke, "You were the Fiérré's target, Ceci,"
My heart dropped two thousand feet, "What?" I whispered.
"The Fiérré's sword didn't glow when it fought us both, but the moment it saw you, it sent a jet of lightning your way. After it was able to squeeze out an opportunity, it went after you, and its sword unleashed its fire."
It's eyes.
The image of the menace in its eyes played back. Those blue eyes that had that sparkle, that glow, that danger.
She continued, "If you'd stayed home, we'd wonder what happened when it disappeared, and wouldn't come back in time to realize it would have been at home to murder you."
"But… but magical creatures don't chase humans. I mean, I'm not human, but I'm practically useless. I'm not a wolf, or a vampire, or a witch. I'm just a vessel without any powers, so why? Or do Fiérré's also chase creatures like me?" I asked, puzzled.
Mom closed her eyes for seconds, before opening it with a deep-seated sigh, "One thing's for sure—they don't chase whatever is harmless, or whatever others can easily handle. They don't chase people like your father and I. If a Fiérré was chasing you, Ceci… it only means one thing."
The silence was thick enough to block my breathing.
"You're a threat."