Love & War Book 1 in the Arcadia Falls Chronicles (10 page)

Over the last few years I have noticed your
interested in the supernatural has become more of an obsession.
Yes, you have tried to hide this from me, but you are not the only
one with secrets, my son.

Before you were born, when I was a young
girl, something horrible happened to me. I was attacked by several
men… yes, just regular guys. I had to close up the café that night,
so it was after midnight. I worked nights because my college
classes took up most of my day and I had to pay the bills somehow.
These three men, they attacked me, took my purse from me, beat me
with their fists, and tried to do more… I can’t bring myself to
describe that to you, but you understand what I am telling you, I
hope.”

My voice cracked as I read the last part. We
worry so much about the evil of the supernatural, that we forget
the sins of man.

“Go on.” Zander, examined his fingernails,
unable to look any of us in the eye.

“These men, they were not allowed to
continue their attempts. I was saved.

I lay there, on the cold cement of the
sidewalk with my eyes closed, expecting the worst to happen and
hoping that it would be over soon. The moment never came. I heard
sudden screaming and struggling. Taking a chance, I opened my eyes
and saw this other man, all in black and extremely pale skin. He
snapped one attackers neck with one twist of his hands, then turned
and slammed the other into the sidewalk where he either died or lay
passed out until we left. He snatched up the last attacker and held
him to his chest like they were embracing. The attacker begged for
release and the dark man told him ‘You will have your release; I am
releasing you from this world. But the hell you will find after
this shall be far worse than the life you have endured and the
crimes that you commit.’ Then his yanked him by the hair, tilting
his head to the side so far I was sure it would snap and then he
bared his fangs and sank them into the attacker’s neck.

I remember screaming and crawling backwards
in effort to get away from this monster…this, vampire. When the
vampire had finished with the attacker he threw him aside and came
to me. I begged him not to hurt me, that I would do anything.

‘I am not going to hurt you’ he told me
softly ‘Tell me where your home is.’ He lifted me gently off the
sidewalk retrieving my purse from the ground with a simple swoop of
one hand and carried me home.

That was my first encounter with a
vampire.

He took me back to my small apartment,
placed me on my couch and covered me with a blanket. Then moved
into the kitchen where he came back with a steaming mug of tea,
which he offered me.

Most of this took place in silence, for I
did not know what to say. He was this monster, yet he had saved me
from those horrible men.”

I stopped reading for a moment to take a sip
from the water glass on the table. Trevor, I was beginning to see,
had a soft spot for women, which made it hard to see his evil side
sometimes.

I read on. “He asked me my name and he told
me his. I could see him examining my meager living arrangements
with a critical eye and chose to ignore it. I owed him my life and
he had the right to be critical if he wanted to be. Then, he told
me he had to leave.

I found myself not wanting him to go, I felt
protected and safe with him near me. I chose not to voice this, but
nodded and whispered a pathetic thank you that could never come
close to how much I actually appreciated what he did.

Long story short, he came back. Every time I
left work to walk home, he was there. I never saw him, but I knew
he was out there. One day, I stopped on the empty street and called
out. ‘Trevor, I know you are out there. You don’t have to hide from
me.’ And then he emerged from the darkness, showing himself to
me.

I asked him why he hid from me and he
responded with a simple answer. ‘Because I am dangerous for you.’ I
shook my head and told him he was the best thing to ever happen to
me, that he need not hide any longer.

After that, we were together, and you were
created from that union. Trevor never knew about you because once I
found out I was pregnant I knew that life with a vampire father
would not be the best for my child. I told Trevor I was leaving
town, and that as much as I wanted to be with him, I could not. He
seemed to understand, and nodded his approval. Somehow, I wanted
him to fight harder for me, even though it would have made leaving
harder. Emotionally, I wanted him to fight for me to stay.

So I moved, with you inside me I moved all
the way across the country and found a big city to call home. The
bigger, the better, the easier to be hidden.

You, my son, are half vampire. They call
this breed a dhampir. If you haven’t discovered it already, it is
why you have the ‘special’ abilities that have caused you trouble
in life.

I am so sorry, but at the same time I am not
sorry because you are my perfect son, my perfect boy, and Trevor
gave you to me. For that, I am not sorry one bit.

Since I am not here to help you, if you
would like to find him for yourself, to find out more about who you
are, his name is Trevor Krasimir. I have no pictures or other
information aside from the address of my old apartment, which is
enclosed with this letter.

I love you, Zander. Please do great things
with your life and always keep me in your heart.

Love always and forever,

Mom.

I finished the letter and actually had to
wipe away tears. “I’m sorry about your mother, Zander.”

He nodded and reached across the table for
his letter. Everyone was pretty quiet, it was one of those awkward
silences where nothing you say is an appropriate thing to say. He
was actually the first to speak. “Chloe, I don’t know if you want
to, but we have to stay in touch. If we are family, I have no one
else.”

I wrote down my cell phone number on a piece
of napkin. “Before I give this to you, I’m going to tell you that I
don’t trust you. But I believe in giving people chances, and you
better not be lying to me.” I handed him the napkin. “If I do find
out you’re in on some kind of trickery, you will find out just how
dangerous I really am.”

He shrugged. “Believe me, I have my own
trust issues. And I don’t normally have these mushy conversations
with people. So, same goes for you, if this is some kind of trick,
it will be you who sees how dangerous that I really am.” He wrote
his own number down and then gave it to me in return and I snatched
it away from him

“I really should get going.” He stood to put
his jacket back on. The bad boy persona had returned quickly.
Zander leaned over and gave Christina, who had been surprisingly
quiet this whole time, her own napkin with his number on it. Then,
he just left.

“Oh, my god.” I slumped back in my seat. “I
did
not
see that coming at all.”

~~~***~~~

Christina dropped us off, and we filed into
the house. It was around three in the morning, and we were all
exhausted. Alice and I went straight to our room and practically
fell into bed. She passed out immediately, but even as tired as I
was, I tossed and turned in bed. Finally, realizing I wasn’t going
to be able to get to sleep, I did something I had never done
before.

I crept out of bed as quietly as I could.
The hardwood of the floor was cold against my feet, causing me to
shiver. I had on only my shorts and tank top, but I didn’t let
myself stop to get my robe. Sneaking out the door, I hurried down
the hall to Drew’s room and entered without knocking.

I stopped right inside the doorway and
quietly eased it shut. Drew lay in bed on his side, snoring softly.
The window shades were drawn so the moonlight shined through and
bathed him in glowing light. Slowly, I approached him, peeled the
covers back and slid in next to him.

He startled, and I realized that climbing in
bed with him while he was asleep was akin to a car backfiring
around a soldier with PTSD; probably wasn’t the best idea that I’d
ever had.

He didn’t reach for his gun or hit me, after
the initial confusion he realized it was me. “Chloe?”

“It’s me.”

“What are you doing in here?” I snuggled as
close to him as I could get and still remain facing him, His arms
found my waist and rested there.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

He smiled. “I don’t have that problem.”

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I can leave.”

I shifted, intending to let him sleep. I
should have known it was a bad idea.

“No, no. It’s all right.” He tightened his
arm around me and pulled me against him. I pulled my leg up and
rested it on top of his legs because it was more comfortable that
way. Strange how we could probably cuddle this same way on the
couch downstairs and it would seem far less intimate and more
playful.

I looked into his eyes, searching for
something, although I didn’t know what. “Is it okay if I just lie
here with you?”

“Of course,” he whispered back to me and
then kissed my lips softly. “Are you all right after meeting
Zander?”

“I don’t know. I hope that he’s telling the
truth, but fact is, we don’t really know if he is.”

“So if he is telling the truth, how do you
feel?”

“I have to think about it some more. I guess
if it’s true, we will probably have to spend some more time
together. He is a vampire killer, too, so it makes sense. It just
feels weird to have us, as this whole community, as a family, and
then to have my… brother,” I choked on the word, “out there
fighting them all by himself.”

He nodded, understanding my dilemma.

I thought for a few minutes before I
continued to speak. “I also wanted to make sure that you knew Gavin
left.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, he
left?”

“He left. He’s gone. I don’t know where, but
he told me that he was going somewhere, but that he would be
back.”

Drew rolled his eyes. “Good. I’m glad he
isn’t around. It’s one less thing for me to worry about.”

I let out a huge sigh. I should have known
better than to say anything. I just kept hoping that one day he and
Gavin would let go of their animosity and just be brothers. So what
if Drew’s mom is a bitch? I had seen Drew and Gavin fight together.
They were a great team. They could
be
a great team, if only
they could bring that into other aspects of their lives.

“Do you want him to come back?” Drew asked
softly.

I so knew better than to answer that. “I
don’t want to talk about it. I just wanted you to know he isn’t
around.”

“Are you sleepy yet?” Drew yawned while he
spoke.

“I can try. Will you let me stay with
you?”

“Sure.” He reached up and moved some of my
hair away from my eyes. I turned around so my back was to him and
his chest was pressed against my back. He placed his arms around my
waist and entwined his fingers with mine. I could feel his breath
on my neck, his heart beat against my back, and the heat of his
body keeping us warm. I hadn’t felt so utterly peaceful in a long
time.

“Oh, and Chloe?”

“Hmmm?”

“We’re gonna take the Talon Building.”

THE ARCADIA FALLS
CHRONICLES CONTINUE

IN BOOK 2

TAKING TALON

READ AN EXCERPT

~~~***~~~

Chloe’s Diary

~~~***~~~

Feb 10
^th
,
2012

A person does not choose their destiny.

We are given free will and the ability to
choose which direction to take on the map of our lives. However,
fate will always lead us back to where we belong, no matter which
road we take to get there.

My destiny is to be a Hunter. Fate put the
choice in my hands and gave me gifts to succeed at my destiny. I
have finally accepted … no, chosen to embrace the life placed
before me. The blood of the Hunters runs through my veins, mingling
with the demon vampire blood of my father. It took a long time to
realize that this was not a curse, but a gift, a road sign on the
map leading the way to where I need to be in life.

As I chronicle our adventures in this
journal, I write it down, recalling what we’ve done and what has
happened to us. As these events sink in, it really occurs to me
just how crazy it all sounds. Someday, this journal will be found
and recorded for the history books of the Hunters. Through these
pages, we will continue to protect the human race from the ever
present evil of vampires.

I have found my place, but the life of a
teenager continues.

We are amidst plans for taking out the Talon
Building. Drew has finally agreed to go along with my idea about
bombing vampire central … aka, the Talon Building. Now, it is
merely a matter of getting other Hunters in on our plan.

Alice, Oscar, and Christina are with us, of
course. So is Luke, but the board doesn’t think we should move on
the vampires. We, however, saw Sostrate—my demi-goddess ancient
grandmother—appear to us with a warning about the coming war
between the Hunters and the vampires, so none of us are willing to
risk the community, where our homes and families are.

Zander is my long lost brother whom I never
knew I had, which is another story. We are debating on bringing him
into the group, into our community and our plans, but we can’t let
just anyone through the gates into Arcadia Falls, even if they are
my family. He is my family on Trevor’s side, not my mother’s. I am
not sure I completely trust him enough to bring him here yet.
However, we have been spending some time together, to talk about
Trevor.

I loathe talking about Trevor, that man was
one of the worst things to ever happen to me, but I do it because
Zander deserves to know where he comes from. I admit, even though I
hated Trevor, it was nice to have learned my heritage during the
time I spent with him.