Chapter 1
I sat next to Zack, still watching Andy and Leanne staring at each other.
We were on the island of Terrso, with my family, and Andy’s family, the Fryers. There
were also my friends Nadia, Emiliana, Tiana and Aurken, who were all vampires who had
taken me in after my family was taken over by the recently deceased Becka, or her
evil-highness, Lavizsia Jiae, vampire goddess. I was the one chosen to fight her, Reyene
Teya, goddess of love.
Andy’s black hair was spiked up messily, and his chocolate brown eyes were locked in
Leanne’s green cat’s eyes. Her hair was a mousy waterfall, falling over half of her pale
face. Her dazed face broke into a smile, and she broke Andy’s gaze to glance at Zack,
who grinned. I held the hand of the arm which was draped around my shoulder, and gave
it a small squeeze. He leaned over and kissed my cheek gently, before standing and
pulling me towards the ocean. We paddled in the clear, warm shallows. Small fish swam
around them, before we stepped away and scared them. They went and swam over by
where the black rocks were, swimming around them and looking for food. I felt Zack
pull away, and heard him splash his way out of the water. I kept staring into the crystal
clear sea, watching the patterns the sun made on the sand. I felt a nagging inside me,
something that I needed to say, but I didn't know what.
My eyes closed, and I just let the sounds and smells overwhelm my senses. I could feel
the water as the gentle waves lapped at my legs. I could smell the salty air and even
taste the moist air on my tongue. The waves made a soft whooshing noise in my ears as
they broke quietly on the sand.
I saw Becka crumple. She looked like nothing anyone had ever seen before. A shell. A
husk. Nothing more than that.
I gasped and opened my eyes, and saw that I was back on the beach. The light was
bright, reflecting off of the crystal-like sand and clear waters.
“I still get day-mares about her you know,” I said to Zack, turning towards where he
was sat in the white sand. I was using goddess language with him, and, complicated as it
was, he had learned to understand.
“I know. Your thoughts go haywire when you have them. I think this new goddess you
has let you leave your thoughts out of control, so now anyone can hear them,” he
replied. “But there’s no need to worry, Becka’s dead now. Your venom was too strong for
her.”
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“But the stories say that they don’t just go, they put up a fight!” I wasn’t going to let
this slide. “She didn’t, so this isn’t the end. I can feel that!”
Zack sighed, and pulled me closer to him. I felt safe with him, but I was still inhumanely
tense.
“Come on,” he muttered. “The others will be wondering where we are.” There was a new
edge to his voice, but he didn’t show it on his face, which was smooth. I stood and
allowed him to drag me to where the others were standing, waiting for us. We were
going to play Frisbee, the game we used to always play before it had all happened. I
smiled at my friends and family, before taking my place in the circle.
Ready? I thought, and they all nodded. Tiana tossed the green plastic disc high into the
air. Zack leapt up and grabbed it, before landing and tossing it towards me.
I plucked it out of the air, then flicked my wrist and sent the disc flying towards
Emiliana, who laughed as she tried to catch it but missed. Em was one who made people
smile by just being there. I think it was something to do with her gift.
Emiliana’s gift was a very rare one, even rarer than being a Vampirete Goddess while
you’re a human. For one thing, she has two powers, one of which is to produce red
sparkles over someone’s head, which is good for distracting. Her other one is something
very complicated, and I have only just begun to understand it. People had always
wondered what it would be like to be wonderful, to always have someone there for you
and an ability to get on with everyone. Well, that’s sort of what Em’s gift does. If she
gets close enough, she can tell who you are, everything about you and how to get along
with you.
I laughed along with my friends, and suddenly felt that I belong.
*****************************************************************************
I walked along the white sands in the dim evening light, just as the sun was setting. It
was a bright orange, which made the sky seem a deep red, as it always was on Terrso. It
seemed as if the island held Vampiretical properties, like the colour of the sky in the
evening, the way the sun set and rose, even the way the waves crashed on the sand
calmed us down.
Being a newly hatched goddess had its pulls on me, so I usually went into a secret cave
and calmed down and went through my thoughts. It was like my brain was a computer’s
memory, where I can delete things and memories I don’t want. Except I was unable to
delete the memory where I became a real goddess fledgling. The time I killed Becka. I
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could still picture her face as she crumpled on the ground, reacting to my venom as if it
was the most powerful drug in the world.
I reached the cave, which was only accessible when the tide was out. It was cool and
quiet, and the rocks had long dried out. It smelled of the sea, and it calmed me more
than the smell of Zack.
I sat on my usual smooth rock, and crossed my legs and closed my eyes. I focused on
counting my breaths. One……… Two……… Three………
Then I drifted away, lost in my thoughts. I focused on one particular memory. The
memory of when I first met Zack. I watched as I fought the other Vampire, and saved
him. The way I was drawn to him, like two magnets, or gravity was keeping us together.
It was like I couldn’t be away from him. I visualised our first kiss, the way I had felt,
what the scents were, the sounds I could hear. Then, the scene changed. Becka was
laying crumpled on the sand, and I was towering over her. I reached down and planted
my fangs in her cold, hard flesh, and then stood upright. I had her venom leaking out of
the corner of my mouth. It was a light yellow.
I opened my eyes and I found that I was in Zacks arms, screaming. My eyes were
pouring with animal blood, and I was staining both my clothes and his.
“I-I-I saw her, Zack!” I spoke loudly, and soon all of my friends were there, making
sure I was ok. “She was there! It felt so.. so.. so real! Like she was really there!”
“It’s ok, it’s all over now,” Zack soothed me, but I could tell that he was still tense from
earlier that day. I held him closer, breathing in his scent. He smelled sweet, and I was
addicted to him, like a drug. He sighed, and I could feel his muscles loosen a bit, but his
jaw was still tight. I ran my smooth fingers along his jaw-line, before beginning to undo
his blue shirt.
“No,” he said firmly, before getting up and walking out. The atmosphere had changed,
and I felt sad. The sorrow of being rejected flowed through me. I was sure my
thoughts were loud enough for him to hear, as my friends comforted me and tried to
cheer me up, including Andy, who tried one of his old raps.
“Yo yo yo Mr A’s in the house!” he began, but Leanne shushed him before he could carry
on.
I left the cave slowly, walking back to the hut where I stayed with Zack. He was sat on
the bed, his hands clasped together on his knees, head bent over and eyes closed. He
didn’t seem to notice that I had entered our room.
“Zack? Honey?” I began. He didn’t raise his head. “Have you gone off me?”
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“And why would you think that?” he asked coldly, not raising his head.
“It sorta seems that way to me,” I replied, feeling the tears arriving in my eyes. This
time he opened his eyes, but he didn’t move any closer to me.
“I think you know what the matter is with me. My family. Don’t you think that you being
here with your one big happy family won’t remind me of the family I left?”
I couldn’t reply. I felt like crying, but I hadn’t hunted in a week since the whole episode
with Becka had put me off drinking blood.
“Obviously you didn’t notice,” Zacks voice was cold, and sharp. It cut through the air
and it cut my heart deep. Suddenly he stood up and began to walk.
“I thought you were part of my family? Part of me?” I whispered, stopping him from
leaving the room.
“I am, or was,” he pushed past me, muttering.
“What do you mean, was?!” I yelled at his back. He turned towards me.
“Look Chloe. I’m going to find my family. I’ll probably never come back. Goodbye,” he
said softly, and then he was gone.
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Chapter 2
I was sat in the cave, where my hammock was on a high ledge, high enough for the day
time tide not to reach me. I spent almost all of my time there, except from going out to
hunt, because my throat burned more than ever without him. I cried almost all of the
time, but one day I heard a voice in my head. It said, don’t let him bring you down, find
something to do, another person to spend time with.
“No. NO! I can’t!” I whispered. I pulled my knees up under my chin and rocked back and
forth. I closed my eyes and chanted to myself, “I’m fine, I’m Ok.”
I looked around at the cave. It looked dull, damp and dirty. It was poor living conditions
for a young Vampirete. I sniffed, and, not giving it a second glance, I packed up my
hammock and walked out. There was no need for someone like me to mope because of
someone like him.
As I wandered out of the cave, my friends rushed over.
“Hey! You’re out!” Nadia exclaimed happily. “Guess what!”
“What?” I spoke quietly, although I was happy to be out in the sun.
“Meet Alistair and Antone,” Tiana said, gesturing to two tall Vampires, one with midlength black hair, and the other with short, cropped hair. “They arrived yesterday.
They heard about you and the fight.”
“I don’t think there was any Vampire who didn’t,” Alistair said. His voice was slightly
delayed, but he looked fairly confident, keeping in mind the monster he was facing.
“Yeah, and then there were voices in my head?” Antone muttered. It was obvious he
had been changed before his voice had broken, since it still had a boyish tone. He also
looked young, although God was he tall.
“Yeah, that’s my bad,” I said, laughing. I could really relate to those two, and I could
talk to them easily.
“So, what do you guys do all the time?” Alistair grinned happily. “No coffins or
anything? I’m kinda new to all this.”
“We basically do anything. We play Frisbee, meditate, hunt, talk, anything,” Nadia said.
She was always the most outgoing of us. And the look in her eyes was one I knew. She
liked him. I nudged her in the ribs.
“Ouch. You know, this burning is getting on my nerves. What is it?” Antone muttered.
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“Oh! You need to hunt, Antone. That’s what the burning is. Your thirst,” Emiliana
explained. “Come with us, we need to hunt anyway. Well, from what Chloe’s thoughts are
saying, then yeah, we need to hunt.”
I laughed. I had forgotten my gift from all of the days I had been isolated. I hadn't
spoken to anyone, but I felt the need to now.
We wandered through the forests until we came to our usual clearing. We sat in a
circle, larger than normal, because of Antone and Alistair, and we waited until scents
came to us. When they did, we went to hunt. We went towards them, going downwind, so
that they couldn’t smell us.
Before I knew what was happening, I had rushed forward and grabbed a huge mountain
leopard and planted my fangs into its rough flesh. The smooth blood flowed through
the two puncture holes in its neck, tricking down my throat. It was like liquid silk was
erupting from its now limp body, the way it made my body tingle with excitement. The
blood filled all of my empty veins, ready to either dissolve into my eternal body, or be
cried out of my eyes if something tragic was to ever happen to me.
Once the leopard was crumpled on the floor, its skin more than slightly shrivelled, I
looked around. The sun had set, and my friends had already finished and left. The trails
of scents were old, and it was hard to follow them and ignore all the glorious scents of
animals and their blood. I began to walk through the trees, pushing branches and
ducking through bushes. I felt as if I was walking for an eternity, before I reached
another clearing. There was long, emerald coloured grass, with ruby coloured flowers
dotted around. The sky was velvet blue above, and there were stars twinkling. It
seemed as if the sky was a cloudy grey, apart from the bit above me.
I looked around for any recent signs of life, but there was none. The place looked
completely natural, as if no one had ever set foot there. I wandered through the waist
grass, being careful as to not crush any of the delicate looking flowers. In the middle
of the clearing, almost fully concealed by the grass, was a gold-rimmed mirror.
My natural, human, instincts told me that the place was dangerous. But there was a pull,
like Gravity, pulling me towards it. The mirror reflected the sunlight into my eyes,
blinding my path in front of me. The pull became stronger, tugging at my wrists and
almost knocking me over, as if there were hands gripping at various places.
I wanted to struggle, to scream and pull away from this new feeling. My body didn’t feel
open to it, as if it was unnaturally dangerous. But I felt calmed, as if nothing could
happen, could harm me.
I was slowly becoming aware of the feeling of being dragged into water.
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“What?!” I tried to yell, but my mouth was being clamped shut by some invisible force.
Guys!!! I thought as loud as possible. Nadia! Aurken! Ti! Em! Mum! Help!!!
My thoughts began to dim. As I faded into sub-consciousness, my last thought
projected was; Zack...
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Chapter 3
I could hear faint voices humming in the background. They were only quiet whispers
beneath the buzzing of my brain. I felt a burning on the back of my neck, the point I
was bitten on my first encounter with Becka and Andy.
I began to hear quiet voices whispering in the background, over a noise that sounded
like a machine whirring. My eyes seemed fixed shut, as if they were glued together. My
sense of smell was going haywire with the smell of bleach and the sharp stench of
strengthened mint. I tried to force my eyes open, and they opened bit by bit, exposing
them to too-bright light. The place I was in was all white, white walls, white ceiling, and
white furniture. Two people were sat at a white sofa bed covered in white sheets,
talking quietly. They were too far off to be seen as more than just a blur in the
background, but their talking suddenly became louder than ever.
“I’m serious!” the first voice, belonging to a girl, whispered harshly. “She’s going to flip
when she finds out!”
“Nobody cares!” the second voice, a boy, muttered back angrily. “I think we both know
that everyone else values our lives before hers.”
“Well she’s going to affect our living if she finds out! I can’t let her do that Jake!” the
girl seemed to be getting desperate. “And this girls thoughts are killing my head!”
“I won’t let her do that to you,” the boy, Jake, sounded more comforting. “I promise.
There’s nothing to worry about, Soph.” I heard the quiet noise of someone being kissed
lightly on the lips.
Soph?! I thought, with the biggest feeling of realisation. Soph!
I had been so occupied with my mind that I hadn’t noticed Soph striding towards me,
holding her head as if she had a really bad migraine. She looked hauntingly familiar, as
if a dead friend from a past life has come to see you again. I recognised her mousy
brown hair, her almond-hazel eyes and her big, pouty, lip gloss covered mouth. She
looked exactly the way I had last seen her, being the last one out of the park and
tripping and falling as she climbed over the fence. The last thing I had heard from her
was her shriek of “Chloe!!” as I blacked out.
“Chloe?” Soph knelt down next to me. “Is it really you?”
“Yeah? Is it honestly you Soph?” I asked her. She looked older, but younger at the
same time. Her eyes flicked from side to side, as if she were scared.
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“Duh!” she smiled, and old, familiar smile that used to flash almost all the time. “But...”
“What?!” I questioned, and watched the different emotions flicking across her face,
like a robot filing through documents.
“Well, you’ll never guess,” Soph looked both excited and full of dread. “Jasmine’s here.”
“Wow! Why the enthusiasm?” I said sarcastically. “Don’t tell me. She’s evil?”
“You guessed it,” Jake came up from behind Soph and linked his fingers through hers.
“The most dammned evil Vampirete in the mirror world.”
“Whoa. The mirror world?” I did a mental double take. “What the hell?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Jake sighed. “See, the thing is, Jasmine ordered us to drag you through the
mirror and bring you to her once you wake up.”
"She's truly evil?" I murmured.
"Well... Yeah," Soph wasn't always the one to reassure. "But she's not as bad as
Lavisia."
"Lavisia?" I said. "That's a nice name."
"Yeah, but her name is the only thing nice about her," Jake muttered as he dragged me
roughly to my feet. "Trust me. She even looks evil."
I laughed. They made it sound like she was the worst person in the world. And I
doubted that would be true. I sighed and closed my eyes, breathing in and trying to
ignore the quickly spreading burning sensation in my throat. I knew that from what had
happened recently that it meant only one thing. I was missing him again. Ask them, I
thought, but then I saw the questioning look dawn on Soph and Jakes faces.
"Ask us what?" Soph asked, suddenly harsh. I guessed it was because I had thought it
out loud into her head, instead of asking her straight out. “No I can hear your thoughts
because I can read minds.”
“Read minds? Whoa!” I felt embarrassed, and then remembered what I going to ask.
"Have you seen a teenage Vampire come through here? About this tall, mid length spiky
black hair and dark, dark blue eyes?" I felt my eyes prick just at the thought of him.
"And the cutest dang smile in the world."
"Lemme guess. Your guy?" Soph asked sceptically.
I nodded, afraid to open my mouth in case I began sobbing blood again.
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"I have seen someone like that, he's with Ja-" Jake began, but then stopped. "I mean,
Her."
I closed my eyes again, before the tears came out. Suddenly I felt them lift me up, and
I let them, I felt too sad and heavy to do anything about it. I felt a sharp pain in my
neck, then I was relaxed and I saw Zack again.
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Chapter 4
"I miss you Zack," I mumbled into his neck, feeling both content and sad.
"I know. I know" I felt his voice box vibrate as he spoke. His heartbeat was soothing
and I began to feel sleepy for the first time. "I miss you too."
"Why did you have to go?" I whispered. "Why did you leave me?"
"It doesn't matter. You don't have to worry anymore."
And then I was being rocked, back and forth, back and forth.
"Zack?" I called, as if rising from a slumber.
"It's Ok Chloe" he reassured me, and it seemed as if he kept saying "Chloe. Chloe"
"Zack!" I called again, but this time in reality. I gasped and opened my eyes. My hand
instinctively rose to my neck, to my scar.
I gasped. The scar was damp and sticky, and more importantly, open. I pulled my hand
away and looked at it. It was the tiniest bit shiny, with a small patch of yellow on my
palm. I felt the need to touch it, and to taste it. I touched my tongue to it lightly, and
suddenly felt dizzy with sensation. It felt like all of the good things in the world, all
the tastes, all the smells, mixed into one small, yellow patch on my skin. My skin tingled
where it was, and my taste buds burned. I wanted more.
But I couldn’t. My skin was impenetrable. Nothing could break it. But something had,
and now it was affecting my flow of venom. My goddess instincts were taking over
again, and I had an idea. If the wound was closed, then my flow would resume as normal.
I needed something to close the wound. I looked up at my surroundings for the first
time since I had woken up. The walls and ceilings were a vermillion red, and looked
shiny, as if it was newly painted. The walls were lined with mirrors, each misted with
faded pastel colours like peach and lilac and yellow. The mirrors didn’t seem to reflect
each other, as if one had nothing to do with the other. I walked over to the nearest
one, which was to my right. It had a picture of a forest scene, with trees of all shades
of green. The picture was slightly faded behind the mist, but I saw myself facing out
of the mirror. It looked as though I was standing in the forest, beneath a dark-green11 | P a g e
leafed tree casting its shadow out for miles. I reached out to touch the mirror, feeling
first the smooth surface, and then I hit a spot which felt like water. My hand went
through it easily, but then I felt a tug on my arm, and I was dragged through the
mirror, and then landed on a rough, itchy patch of grass.
I looked up. Straight into the face of Jasmine.
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Chapter 5
The sudden appearance made me jump, but the look of thunder mixed with surprise on
her face made it even worse. Her eyes were a concoction of different colours, blue and
green rings, deep purple pupils, a mixture of lilac and pale yellow between the dark rings
and the parts of her eyes which were meant to be white were a pale, pale pink. These
eyes seemed to mean that she had many sides, loyal, disloyal, charming, and rude. As if
she was all opposites and no certain decisions. Her dark tanned skin was tinted with a
light grey, as if someone had passed a sepia ray along her. Her hair was now long, and
wavy, reflecting the dim light from the stars blinking through the darkness. She
seemed to have grown, at least 5 inches, because she was slightly taller than me.
“Jas?” I asked, staring at her sitting in the branches. I felt terrified, but in awe.
“Yeah,” Jas muttered. She sounded moody, as if she was in the middle of some giant
argument. “It’s you.”
I blinked. She seemed to move quickly, as if she was unable to stop moving for more
than three seconds. I shuffled back a bit, so that I could see her easier.
“I knew you were coming,” she said, quietly but menacingly. “I knew where you were
going, and why.”
“You can see the future?” I asked.
“Partly,” she replied, jumping down from the tree. “Only if I focus on one particular
person or group at a time. Otherwise my head gets too full and eventually it becomes
unable to work anymore.”
“I see,” I made sure I remembered this.
“So, how’s your new life been?” Jas sneered towards me, stepping forward, no
movement slow.
“New?” I asked, trying to keep my mind blank.
“Don’t play stupid with me. I know all about you, Reyene Teya. You and your family.”
How come? Who told you?! My mind thought loudly before I could stop it. I saw the
snarl on her face, and smelt the anger she produced.
“Why would I tell you that?” She laughed. “Oh wait; there was one person you were
looking for..?”
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“No,” I lied, and kept my mind busy with thoughts of my friends on Terrso, and my two
years there. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I knew that had confused her, so I saw my chance to run. I sped away along the treeline, feeling the cold wind on my face, and smelling the cool, pine-fresh air. I could hear
slow footsteps fading away behind me, since Jas was never good at running, and I
guessed that even as a Vampire she was slow.
I began to slow down, and look at my surroundings. I felt completely caught by surprise.
Before I was running, I was in a thick forest. Now, I was in a barren desert, scorching
hot, and very thirsty. My throat was burning, and it felt almost as hot as the sun which
was beating down on my back. I looked around, and saw a trail of things that looked like
people walking along in the distance.
I began walking towards them, struggling to stand up straight. I wasn’t sure if Vampires
could pass out or not, but I was sure I was about to find out.
I covered the distance slower than I would have liked, stumbling and tripping over my
own feet. But as I rolled down a particularly high sand-dune, I fell at the feet of a
strange looking person, with bright blue eyes. It was obvious from that instant that
this person was not human.
“Hello,” the stranger said in a quiet voice. “I am Bethanah, psychic and immortal. And
you must be..?”
“Chloe..,” I struggled to get up. “I mean, Reyene Teya.”
“Ah, the Vampirete,” Bethanah nodded. “I saw you coming, so we set out to meet you.”
“So, you’re really a psychic?” I asked, and examined her expression. The blue in her
eyes sparkled, and her tallness emphasised her power even more. “I mean, not a
Vampire?”
“No, I am a different kind of immortal,” she replied. “Psychics are quite common,
although not as common as the average Vampire.”
She began to turn. “Come with us, and we’ll help you seal that scar. Otherwise you’ll lose
your venom and won’t even be an average Vampirete.”
I followed Bethanah and her entourage over the sands and to a small village of tents.
There were horses grazing in strange patches of grass, people collecting water from
water-holes and children playing ball games on a concrete black-top. She led me into
the largest tent, where, inside, was a large bed, a small table and two chairs. On the
table was a crystal orb, the inside misted and confused.
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Bethanah sat at one of the chairs, and beckoned for me to sit opposite. The chair was
cushioned softly and was comfortable to sit on. As I looked up at Bethanah I saw her
eyes sparkle with a strange gleam, a gleam I had never seen in anyone’s eyes before.
Her face began to look older, more experienced.
Her hands moved over the crystal ball slowly, as if it were her lover or something
important to her. I could sense the power erupting from her body, and the love of what
she does. She closed her eyes, and I could hear her breathing slowly and steadily.
“Ah, Reyene,” Bethanah breathed quietly. “You have travelled far and suffered much on
your journey.
“Your journey began seven years ago, when your family was changed. Your life excelled
from there, and your inner goddess was slowly brought out of its shell, and then your
transformation forced it out. I can see your whole life here, past, present and future. I
have in my pocket three cards, one for each element of your life. The blue is for past,
the green is for present and the red is for future.”
She opened her eyes. The blue sparkled and glinted even in the dim light. She flipped
the first card over, the blue, and there was an intricate pattern in all shades of blue.
In the middle of the pattern was an ice blue heart, shining brightly. I looked up at
Bethanah with a questioning look, and she quickly explained.
“The pattern shows the complicated maze of your past, taking you to dead ends or new
places. The heart is a rare sign, the colour determining something that only Vampiretes
can tell. Close your eyes and place your index finger on the centre of the heart, and tell
me what you can see.”
I did as I was told, placing my index finger on the cool card. Immediately I saw a
kaleidoscope of colours, mixing in on the lids of my eyes. A bold, ice blue erupted, out
shining the other colours until it was the only one left. The blue was bright enough to
hurt my head, but not as to blind my third eye. The brightness began to fade, until
there was just blue left. It formed circles and patterns, all in the same shade of blue.
Then a heart burst out from the middle, and suddenly my brain was full of questions
and answers, and I opened my eyes. Bethanah was looking at me, full of curiosity.
“It’s the sign of the goddesses, the good ones. If it was dark red, that would mean an
evil goddess,” I said, and watched all types of emotions flick across her face. “If the
shape was a star, it would mean a God-Like Vampire. The colours mean the same thing,
for either Vampire or Vampirete.”
Bethanah nodded, as if she knew remotely what I was talking about.
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“Right,” she breathed. “Now for the present card.”
She flipped the present card over, and there was a heart, very much like the first one,
but it seemed to be throbbing, and was broken in two. There was a dark red
background, and the shape of what looked like eyes faded at the top. I immediately
knew those eyes, the way they curved upwards instead of straight, the way the anger
glinted in the eyes the way a person’s happiness would.
“Ah. I see. Heart break. A loss, an enemy, a lover,” Bethanah said. “Loss and love is
strong, but hate is stronger than all emotions, especially with ones small enemy.”
“Becka,” my voice sounded both strangled and angry, sad and hateful. I felt like
breaking down, and also killing her.
“Yes. Lavisia Jiae. The one who has done much to you, and will do much more.”
Then Bethanah reached out on the table and put her thumb and forefinger on a corner
of the last card. It was agonising suspense, the way she kept her hand there and just
waited. I could feel the air moving around me as she breathed, and smell the last drops
of blood in my empty glass.
Finally, after what seemed like two ages, she slowly lifted up the corner, then put it
back down. She shook her head.
“No,” she muttered quietly. “You can’t read it. It’ll put the future into motion, it’ll
change and mutate into something no one can ever imagine. You can’t ever imagine it,
you won’t ever imagine it. That is final.”
“What?!?!” I shouted. “You leave me here sitting and waiting and then tell me that I
can’t know?!”
“Calm down Reyene,” Bethanah soothed me, and it worked. “Here, take it, but only look
at it when you’re finally ready.”
She gave me the curled card, now tied with a red ribbon, and stood up.
“Now, if you’ll join me, I’m going for my dinner.”
I nodded, and followed her out of the tent, with the future in my pocket.
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Chapter 6
“So, Zack left, and then you got attracted to the mirror, and then you got here?”
Bethanah asked me for the third time in ten minutes.
“Yeah,” I nodded, smiling. Bethanah was the only person who I could talk to about Zack,
without crying. “It sorta dragged me in.”
“I’ve heard about that. Some Immorts have the power to enter mirrors, and they
create their own world in there.”
“Immorts?” I asked, taking another sip of blood from my glass. “What’s that?”
“Oh, yeah,” Bethanah smiled between mouthfuls of food. “It’s a slang word. Psychics
and some Vampires use it, along with others. Immorts means Immortals. Same as
Vamps, although that one’s obvious, and Psy’s is short for Psychics. It’s a habit we get
into, and then we have to explain it to most people.”
“Even Morts?” I asked, smiling. “I mean Mortals?”
“Sometimes, like friends or family who are in on your secret,” she laughed. “But
sometimes, if you use it in front of ones that don’t know, they get confused, and some
people even blow their secret. It’s difficult living in the real world for some of us.”
“But not all,” I reminded her.
“No, not all,” Bethanah agreed, taking a rather large gulp of raspberry smoothie. “Like
you for example. You’ve lived there for your whole life, although you’ve only been a
Vampirete for a relatively short time. Others can’t stand it, and their families move
into the Immorts world.”
“I’ve wanted to ask you something,” I began, and she nodded. “Can Immorts like, you
know, have kids?”
“Yeah, but they all reproduce in different ways,” she explained. “For example, some lay
eggs, some just bite humans, like some Vampires. But some Vampires and Vampiretes
reproduce like humans, but carry a child for three months instead of nine.”
I nodded, and drank the last from my tall glass. I needed some fresh air, it was getting
too hot in there. And loud. I guess Bethanah heard that thought because she looked up,
nodded and then went back to her food. My stomach churned. Normal food had become
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slightly disgusting to me since I hadn’t been near it for almost five years. It probably
increased the longer you were away from it.
As I walked out of the tent, I felt the relief in my head. There was less noise, and a
little less people. They were walking around, as if they have everything to do. I studied
each of them closely. They were all stunning in their own way.
Suddenly I saw a familiar face in the crowd. The silver-blue eyes stood out, shining. I
smiled at Rebecxa and walked over to her. Her smile revealed a small row of perfect
teeth, which wasn’t surprising, since the change always fixed flaws like messed up
teeth. At each side she had two sharp fangs, which glinted in the fading sunlight.
“Hi,” she nodded, as if she’d known me forever. “Chloe, right?”
“Yeah,” I smiled. She was easy to talk to. “Is there anywhere for me to get fresh
blood? I can’t stand that domestic stuff, sorry.”
“Don’t apologise, I’m just about to go and hunt anyway. Just follow me.”
Before I could say anything, she sped off faster than any Vampire I had ever seen.
Then she zoomed back next to me after a second. Laughing, she said; “Oh, didn’t I tell
you? My gift is super speed!”
“Oh!” I laughed half-heartedly. I ran quickly towards the tall sand dune in the distance.
Rebecxa sped past, kicking sand up behind her. I closed my eyes for five seconds, and
then opened them again. I was on top of the dune, next to her. There was a strange
scent in the air, strong and putrid. It was so strong that it burned my nostrils and made
my eyes water with blood.
“Urgh!” I wrinkled my nose and laughed. “What is that?”
“Long-distance programming,” Rebecxa smiled. “We use it to stop intruding Vampires.
They can’t stand the smell for too long, so they leave. Bethanah programmed it herself.
A mixture of modern and magic technology specially made so that only we can smell it.”
I nodded and held my breath for a minute, so that my head cleared. The long-distance
programming would work on Vampires who would be stupid enough not to hold their
breath, I thought to myself.
I wanted to ask her about what Bethanah had meant when she told my fortune, but my
in-built natural hunting sensors had picked up on something. A small animal was passing
by, and immediately I took off to chase it. When I closed up on it, I noticed that it
wasn’t a small animal like I had thought, no, like I had hoped. It was a creature of some
sort, but definitely not an animal.
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It crouched on the sand, curled into a tight ball, as if it were a defence reflex. It was
wearing ragged cloth, and no shoes. It’s hair was messy and greasy, with matting in
some places.
Suddenly, the creature’s head turned.
I immediately recognised the face. I burst into spontaneous tears.
Zack.
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Chapter 7
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