Chapter One: The Beginning
It was an age of war; we had been battling our enemies for as long as either side can remember. The war of blood as it had been named, had claimed the lives of many brave warriors on both sides. No one truly knows how or what started the war, but in the midst of all the fighting, Lucifer our clan leader,and his wife Melissa, were able to have a child. When our enemies heard of the birth, they launched an attack on the castle. Lucifer and most of his councilmen were captured and imprisoned. Melissa managed to get the child to safety, although she was never seen or heard from again. The days of honour and glory were now scattered to the four winds. All of our hopes now rested on a child that was now being raised by a couple in a small village. Only time would tell if the child will save us all.
Unlike most of my classmates, I stuck out. I was, by far, the tallest girl of my age in the school. My long black hair, reaching just below my waist, my cheek bones we're unusually high, I was pale as a ghost, and I was extremely thin. No matter what I did I just couldn't put on weight. The doctors couldn't explain it. It just wasn't natural. To me it seemed that I wasn't natural in many ways.
My adoptive parents, James and Sarah, seemed to be like all the other kid's parents. My name is Alexandria but most people call me Lex for short.
I didn't have many friends. Jess was my best, and only, friend. Considering the group of people she normally associated with, it was strange that she and I were best friends. She was like the rest of the girls; the right weight, blond hair, blue eyes, "Little miss perfect" I nicknamed her. The students in my collage seemed to be split into sharply defined groups. The largest of these groups were ordinary school kids. They had "no axe to grind" with anyone. I was in this group. The second group contained the "in crowd". It was mainly populated with kids "from the right side of the tracks". That included my friend Jess. The third, and maybe the strangest group, were the Goths. They had adopted a very strange. View of authority. Both the "in crowd" and the Goths seemed to feel that they were some part of a "secret society", like the Freemasons or such. Even I avoided the Goths they were even too weird for me!
Anyway, at the end of the school day Jess asked me, "Are you coming over to my house tonight Lex?"
"I'll need to ask James and Sarah. If they let me, I'll be over about seven or so. Is that okay Jess?"
"Give me a ring if you can't make it. I'll hope you'll be able to come Lex. Bye!"
"Bye"
If James and Sarah let me go I would have to retrace my steps since Jess and I lived on the opposite sides of the town. The town was pretty quiet. In general, you seldom saw a fight after closing hours on a Saturday night. I didn't really care for alcohol.
One reason I got picked on was that I walked passed the graveyard on the way home. Jess always got "the creeps" when we passed the graveyard, but I loved it. That was one of the reasons why I go to her house and she very rarely comes to mine.
James and Sarah adopted me when I was a small child. They'd been honest with me and insisted that I called them by there first names, not mum and dad. Other than their last name, I never knew my real parents so as far as I was concerned they we're my parents.
I got to the door and started rummaging for my keys in my school bag. As usual, they we're at the very bottom of my bag. I'd just gotten to them when James and Sarah pulled up in their car.
"Hi Lex, how was school?" James asked.
"It was okay. Can I go to jess's about seven or so?" I asked.
"Only if you take your mobile and you're back before eleven. Okay"
"Okay, thanks James."
We went into the house and they chatted, with me, about collage and their work. They both worked in a laboratory doing some form of testing. I hadn't ever really paid that much attention to their work. Scientific sorts stuff bored me. They also had a side business. Our house had a barn and a few acres of pasture. At one point our house was "in the country" but slow growth had it now on the town's edge. Anyway, James and Sarah boarded horses for various people. The horses all belonged to other people, so riding them was not an option. Beside that, I was nervous around such large animals.
Sarah made a lovely dinner of chicken potatoes gravy and vegetables. After dinner I got ready to go to jess's. I put on jeans, a t-shirt, and my favourite red jacket. I tied my hair back into a ponytail and went down stairs to tell James and Sarah I was leaving. They made sure that I had my mobile and my house keys with me.
I bid them farewell and set off for Jess's. It took me about half an hour to get to her house. I knocked on their door. Jess's dad answered, "Hi Lex! Jess is upstairs just go on up." he said.
"Thanks!"
I went up to her room and knocked on her door.
"Come in."
That night we talked for quite a while about collage and what we wanted to do after collage. Jess wanted to become a beautician when she graduated. I wasn't at all sure what I wanted to do, but I wasn't worried. I had plenty of time. I was only nineteen after all.
I looked at my mobile. The time was half past ten.
"I'm sorry Jess but I have to go. James will kill me if I'm late. I'll see you tomorrow at school."
I left. I hurried along the street. As I got near to the graveyard I got the feeling that someone was following me. I tuned around and sure enough there was someone standing there.
"Are you Alexandria Blackhavour?" the figure asked.
A chill went up my spine. How on earth did he know my birth name and not even Jess knows it?
"Who wants to know?" I asked.
"Just answer the question! Are you Alexandria Blackhavour?"
It sounded as if he was starting to get a bit annoyed.
"Yes I am. Who are you, and what do you want?"
The figure stepped into a cone of light formed by one of the street lights.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matthew and all you need to know is that we've been looking for you for a very long time. You need to come with me quietly. I promise I'll make it quick." he said.
"Make what quick?" I asked dreading the answer.
"Your death of course. Did you honestly think that we would just let you walk around after what your father did?"
That was more than enough for me. I turned and bolted for James and Sarah's house. I realized that there was no way I was going to make it to the house without him catching me. I saw the graveyard and made my way there. I ran as far, and as fast, as I could, hoping and praying he wouldn't catch me. I dived behind a headstone at the very back of the graveyard. I had my mobile out and was half way dialling the house number when I felt a hand push my mobile away.
