Chapter One
Today seemed like a normal day to me when I woke up to a glorious Monday morning. It's my favorite day of the week because it was the day when the new girls arrive and, being my job, I 'introduced' them to the Camp. I got dressed and did my thing. Everything seemed normal.
As I raced down stairs to catch the General before he left to pick up the Camp's food for the week, I looked out my window and saw a huge buff looking man jump out of the back of a torn up van. The van looked like it had been through many muggings. So did the man, but with a gun in his hand, he ran into my mansion. I couldn't help but think how clumsy he looked. Almost as if he was part bear.
This could've been normal but the General always told me that if anyone arrived without him telling me before hand that they were going to be there, well then they were not welcome. Seeing as the General was nowhere to be seen, I was on my guard before I told myself to be. The man busted open our front door and disappeared from my view.
Our house is guarded by the good Lord and the General's shotgun and the gun is used more often then not. I knew just what to do with it, but I dont use guns. As a last result, maybe, but not when I had to workable hands at my command. My hands, and knives, are my speciality so, I decided to use them. They never failed me before.
I heard the mysterious man coming and got ready to put up my best fight. This was a time where looks and age made me seem like a helpless little teenager. Only the determination in my eyes, as the General has so often told me, gives away the fact that I'm a trained deadly weapon. I stalked the man all through my house. Finally the man walked into my kitchen, where I followed. Even though I knew I was quieter than a mouse, the man, apparently knowing I was there, had fooled me. He went into the middle of the kitchen and stood there.
Right when I decided to do something he turned around and before I could think to throw a punch or do anything the man sprayed pepper spray in my eyes and covered my mouth so the General couldn't hear or, in the more likely case, just to shut my a** up. He sprayed some sweet perfume that sent me into an instant disaray.
Noone knows it, besides the General, but I have a super immune system. Even as a youngster pain didn't effect me. Pain has nothing to do with anything but I thought I should let you know that it doesn't effect me because my immune system heals the pain quicker than natural. Pain does one of two things. One, it gets me mad and my adrenaline sky rockets and everything about me improves like lightning. Or two, it doesn't even bother me.
I've never ever caught a cold or been sick and when I come close to it, whatever I had disappears. When I get a cut or a wound, it heals over in a matter of seconds, but, if its too big a wound, my body fights it off and heals over fifty percent faster than a normal humans. Thats even if the weapon conflicted on me doesn't break over my perfect skin.
So, in a time like this, my immune system decided to kick in, fighting off the sleepy spell. It was doing its job well but, the man, noticing my hidden resistant force, got mad. He took out a hand knife and shoved it in to my right shoulder, all the way to the hilt, then pulled it down, tearing through layers of my muscles and making me bleed like crazy.
It p***ed me off, but too much blood had been lost for me to not pass out. The last thing I remember before passing out is that this was going to be the first scar I've ever had, besides my birthmark above my left eye. Then I blacked out, smiling with laughter as the man looked at me angrily.
When I woke up I was tied up and had the worst migrain in the history of migrains, and I was inside a dark vehicle going down a bumpy road. I guessed it was the same van the buff dude had showed up in. I had to have been out for a while. The only thing I could take in was that inside of the vehicle smelt of burnt hair, molded fish, and gasoline. My headache, the metallic smell of my blood, and the heat from the inside of the vehicle caused me to get drowsy and an hour later I was passed out.
I woke up when the van doors opened. Late morning light filtered in through the open doors. I wondered to myself how long I was out. Too long, my Voice guessed. Ohh, I forgot to mention. I have a Voice. It stays in the back of my head and gives me annoying warnings of danger.
It keeps me out of danger but, like making out with boys in the mall, some danger I liked to be in. Her prescence was unwelcome, but unavoidable. Only the General and I know of My Voice but he told me it was a gift. I thought otherwise but, again, I never talked back. He told me it would either go away or I would learn to control it. None of those two had ever happened.
The man grabbed me by my wounded shoulder. Remembering my pain, I pulled back but he had me at my weakest. Ever. He pressed his thumb into the cut, then twisted. Making the almost healed wound bleed again. The blood poured out like water and I stopped defending. I finally got to see what my monster looked like. He had black hair and yellow-red eyes. He looked like a human bear on steroids. A little explicit but trust me, I don't have any other words.
He took me and half dragged, half walked me up a flight of stairs towards two brass steel front doors. He opened them and took me into a ball like entrance. Two maids, who were walking by, looked at the two of us with curiosity but then quickly turned away when my wardrobe built monster said, "Get back to work slaves before I tell the Old Maiden you were snooping off with the stableboy. Shoo, Pest!" He called, throwing the cigar from his mouth at them.
It flew towards them, hitting the younger of the two girls in the neck. She let out a shrill scream but immediately fell silent with a whimper of pain. Tears fell freely from her face, and being so cold hearted, I wanted to protect her. Her eyes, atleast what I caught of them before they fell to her feet, pleaded for mercy. The older girl took her by the hand and led her away quickly. The beast, still holding me with his finger dug into my wound, grunted in disgust.
The 'slaves' seemed like beautiful young girls. The oldest around my age, the youngest about ten. I felt sorry for them. I thought how horrible it would be if they made me into their slaves. Oh, you better hope not! My Voice said. Usually she didn't talk but now she seemed really, really active. Usually just a prescense, she was now a soul. Another soul inside me. Could this be my Dragon?
As if reading my mind the wardrobe dude said, "Don't worry, pretty pigeon. I can't hurt you if I wanted to, let alone make you a slave. Boss wants you in perfect condition. Stupid human lover! If I was running things around here there would be blood for all vampires and shapeshifters." He fell silent, looking around him, as if someone had been listening.
"Now, we can't have you seeing how to escape, now can we pigeon?" The man put a cloth bag over my head. There was a whole at the mouth for me to breathe, but it was barely enough.
I thought about this crazy dude. What could he be talking about. Vampires? Shapeshifters? They didn't exist. I thought these things but in the back of my mind the small, annoying voice commented, Or do they?, but I forced myself to erase my Voice's thought. How would it help my situation?
After, what felt like hours and hours of walking up stairs after stairs, I heard the big dude chuckle and then rip of the bag. I was drowsy but quickly woke myself up. I thought of my location and my Voice began to scream. Oh, I wish I knew what hes going to do to us! I wish he'll just let us go! It was annoying but I ignored it. I looked around and found myself in a large office.
My arm was throbbing and, for the first time in my life, I felt pain. Not too much but still enough to irritate me. How could I stoop this low? ,I thought, as I gritted my teeth. The man barked for me to stand straight and to quit fussing and thats exactly what I did. Looking around, I took a glance at my surroundings. No escape. Well there was a window but just looking out I could tell it was a long drop till I hit the Earth. Was death better than what they had instore for me?
In the center of the room, sitting at a huge desk, was a rather angelicly looking man with silver eyes and dark brown hair. He was writing carefully on a piece of parchment. I felt like I had seen this man before but put it to the back of my mind. Who cared who he was? But my Voice thought differently. It began to panic. What the H***? Could this day get any worse? Nope, I don't think so, but likewise, I was going to be provin' wrong.
When the strong dude pulled me into the room the angelic one quickly put the paper in the desk. He must have noticed the condition I was in and that I was tied up because he stood up and started yelling, in a voice that matched his look, at the wardrobe dude. "Barbas, untie her at once. What's the matter with you?", he bellowed.
"I told you to go to her house and find her.", he continued. "Get her to come with you as quickly as possible, without hurting her. Do you always have to be so harsh? She's my neice! Right now she looks as bad as a peasant does. I'm so sorry Dear.", he said this, all while keeping his voice like an angel. Not human-like at all. I didn't know how he did it but it was amazing.
Barbas started untieing me the first time this 'uncle' of mine told him to. He seemed afraid of him. Very afraid. Intimidated almost. This 'uncle' seemed to be the 'Boss' Barbas was talking about when I first arrived. He was very interesting to me. How could a buff man like Barbas be afraid of an angel man? Well one thing was for sure, this man must be very powerful to make a wardrobe cower.
I wasn't too afraid, though. Well, at least I wasn't scared out of my words. "Excuse me sir, but where am I? And if its not too much to ask, who are you?"
My supossable 'uncle' looked at me and said, "So the pigeon can talk. I almost thought you'd forgotten your tongue. Completely impossible."
This was getting annoying. I wasn't a freakin' pigeon! They were going to get an ear full if they didn't stop calling me that. Who the H*** was he anyways? "You're at my mansion. I've heard wonderful things about you. I'm guessing your sixteen now. Am I right?"
What was he talking about? That's what I thought while my Voice thought, Get. The. H***. Out. Of. Here. Now. She didn't want me communicating with this man. So, likewise, I was going to do it anyway.
"No. I'm fifteen. I'll be sixteen in a month." I answered him wondering to myself why I was even talking to this stranger. He interested me greatly, but my Voice panicking made me more interested. She never did this. Usually she was annoyed, not panicked. And she never spoke this much. Please Arrianna! For once just listen to me!
"Well...", my 'uncle' said."Have you ever heard of the Blue Vampires or the Underworld? Have your parents ever told you about them?"
I shook my head. "No." I lied. General had told me about the 'Underworld' a million times when I was younger. I had thought they were fables, though. It was the General and I's secret little world. We made jokes about it all the time and to this day I still sometimes dream of the magical place.
"So my dear brother hasn't told you about the truth of your world? Bet his shifty wife wanted to keep the vampire in you hidden. Zanna was always so... Bossy. I don't know how my brother put up with her, let alone had a child with her. But he fell in love with her emerald eyes and long, beautiful, flaming red hair. Typical of-"
I cut my 'uncle' off. "Don't talk about my parents that way." I felt the need to defend my unknown parents. I always knew I wasn't the Generals' biological daughter but he had told me a million times that my parents were amazing and important people. I had things against them, but I wasn't about to let them get trashed.
"I've no clue what you're talking about. I've never met my real parents in my life, but I'm sure that my mother wasn't shifty and my father couldn't have been too great a pushover. I'm positive you're not my uncle. You must have the wrong girl. I'm sorry about that but I don't belong here and I don't know what you're talking about. Please, please, please just let me go home?" I begged, not absolutely, a hundred percent sure they had the wrong girl.
The Angel Man's eyes softened a bit at my words and when he answered, it was slow, and with the most gentleness that I had seen any man in the world use. Maybe he did have a heart. "I apoligize for this rude introduction Arri. I am your uncle. My names Meraz. You used to call me Uncle Raz. You can use the name again if you want. Your Father hasn't or wasn't able to tell you that our side of your family is not a practical sunny day, eat at the park, kinda family.
"We've... Dark secrets. Your mother didn't want you to know them. She wanted you to have a normal life with normal friends. She didn't want you sucking blood all the time. What I'm about to tell you may sound weird but its the absolute truth. Promise me you'll believe me Arri?" When I agreed, Raz continued.
My Voice began pounding in my head, making my temper short. I was only half listening to Meraz, but with my Voice telling me not to believe him or talk to him and to get the h*** out of here, well, let's just say I wasn't in the mood to try to escape.Then he said something that made me stop and listen fully.
"Me and your fathers side is not human, or at least not fully." I was listening now. Was this guy crazy? "We are in fact the oldest living family in the Blue Vampires." He had to be. "There are three kinds of Vamp's in the Underworld. The Red Vamp's, or Vamp's who want to rule and want to have human blood drank freely and substantially for each Vamp', are the bad Vamp's. Don't trust them.
"The second is the Blues and they are good Vamp's who are fighting against Reds and feast not on human blood but animal blood. They are part human and their human side keeps them from even trying human blood. They want Humans to rule because when the Reds rule the humans will die out and so the Blues will die too.
"The third and last are the Nomads who don't want a war so they stay out of it and hope that the side they want to win wins. Nomads usually drink animal blood and ocasionally stop and kill a human or two then get on with life. They either walk in packs between two to ten members at the most.
"You are an amazingly unique halfbreed. Or would that be quarterbreed?", Raz muttered the question to himself. "Anyways, fortunately you were born into the right race. The Red Vamps would have killed you at birth. Your parents kind of love was forbbiden in the Underworld.
"You were our family secret, at least for a while anyways. We all loved you so much. You were the most beautiful and precious gift anyone could have received. Your parents came around a bit ago asking me for a favor. They wanted me to put some of my magic into blocking your memories of me. Of course I agreed. They said it was for your safety and everyone who loved you was doing it too.
"It wasn't my choice but I loved you enough to erase your memory of me. It was your mothers idea. My brother didn't agree either. But she batted her eyelashes and he gave in. What your mother said seemed like law to my brother.
"If you dont mind I can try and put your memory back intact of me. If that doesn't work and you still don't beleive me I swear you can send me off to the Loony Bin, okay?" Raz added jokily, when I rolled me eyes at him. Raz knew I thought he was pulling some kind of prank. What else was I to believe?