I'm No Juliet And You're Sure Not Romeo

Every Story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Every fairy tale has a happy ending. In life each ending has a new beginning, and a new beginning may be cause for and ending, and in life not all endings are happy. The truth about life...it's not a fairy tale...it's a nightmare.1

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Raina stared out the window, watching the trees pass by. Her eyes couldn't keep up with the fast pace they moved in, and she gave into her headache. Slowly she rested her forehead against the cool glass, closing her eyes and blocking out the blurred scenery. The soft sounds of the radio drifted around her, and for the first time in a long time she was able to really think about the mess her life had become. 3

It'd only been a month, but it felt like so much longer. Just a month since a car had crashed right through her life, leaving her with a heavy heart. She could still remember that September night perfectly. She could still feel the cool wind on her skin and taste the crisp air every time she thought back to it. It was a horrible thing to remember, but that's how the mind works right? You always remember that worst things vividly, for Raina it was the night she became an orphan. 4

Her parents were late picking her up from fencing, no big deal, it's not like they'd never been late before. She thought nothing of it as she waited patiently in front of the studio. She heard a car approaching, but instead of the shiny silver of her parents car a white and blue police car rounded the corner. It surprised her to see it pull up in front of the studio. She was even more surprised when the officer called to her by name. 5

"Raina Hylal?" The officer wore a traditional dark blue uniform, he was well built and had a pleasant face, however the friendliness of his voice was thrown off by the sadness in his dark brown eyes and the uncomfortable half smile on his face.6

"Um...that's me." Raina frowned not seeing the reason as to why he was looking for her. 7

"Raina, I'm officer Macklain of the Belleview P.D." He paused and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to tell you that your parents will not be picking you up this evening." 8

"Why?" Her frown deepened in confusion. What did he mean her parents couldn't pick her up, and why was he being so formal? 9

"At five seventeen they were hit by a drunk driver, all three were killed instantly." 10

Raina stared at him in shock, his words echoing through her mind. He had the wrong person, that had to be it. She smiled politely, "You must be mistaken, my parents are coming to pick me up." It was the only thing she could think to say. It was just too impossible for them to be dead. 11

Sadly, Officer Mackalin hadn't been mistaken, her parents really had been killed. Raina's life turned upside down as she was put into foster care. She lived each day methodically, it was all she could do. Then the call came, she had relatives, ones she'd never known existed. They had offered to take her in. 12

She was now on her way to live in the middle-of-nowhere Montana with her father's brother, Theodric, and his wife Kaisa. Ray hadn't fought the move, it'd be better to be with family, especially since they knew and understood 'the secret'. 13

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"Raina, sweetie, we're here." The social worker turned around in her seat to speak with the teen, the young girl hadn't said anything the entire ride, and it had been a very long ride. 15

"It's Ray." She muttered one last time pushing open the car door. 16

The scene that greeted her was much different from the suburban surroundings she was used to. 17

A large tan colored house stood in a clearing about the size of two or three football fields. It was two stories tall and very simple looking. Ten feet from the house was a stable. Two horses pawed the ground anxiously in the corral, whinnying in nervousness to the new comer. Both were mustangs, one painted and the other beige. Ray fought back a grimace, no one had told her they lived on a ranch. 18

With a sad sigh Ray turned to retrieve her stuff from the trunk, but the social worker had beat her to it. She held out the duffle bag and Raina took it form her with a sneer. 19

Two people burst our the door. One was a slender middle aged woman with short curly blonde hair. She wore a suede jacket over a flannel shirt and her faded jeans were tucked into high cowboy boots. The other was a bubbly looking ten year old that had her mother's blonde hair and blue eyes. She too was wearing jeans and a jacket. 20

"Hello Raina." The woman cried wrapping her arms around the girl. "I'm sorry we have to meet under such sad circumstances. I'm your Auntie Kaisa." She pulled away. "And this," She pointed to the little girl, "Is your cousin Maya." 21

"Hi." Maya smiled. 22

Ray observed the two without emotion. 23

"Your uncle Theo is out with your other cousin Eryk, they'll be back later. Well don't just stand there, come in your room's all ready." 24

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Ray sat on the queen sized bed that was just a little too big for the small room, and fell backwards to the mattress. Her room was nice, not exactly her style, but nice. The dark color of the wooden furniture went well with the forest green walls. Her aunt and uncle had given her all the necessary things; a bed and dresser, there was even a new laptop on the desk that was tucked away in the corner of the room. Maybe this place wasn't that bad. 26

A door slammed somewhere below her. "She here yet?" the deep voice was gruff but not unkind. 27

"She's getting settled right now." Her aunt's voice chimed. "Eryk, why don't you get her, dinner's nearly done." 28

The boy climbed the stairs quickly and knocked on Raina's door. "It's open." She yawned. 29

The door opened and she got her first glimpse of her cousin Eryk. He was tall with wiry limbs and a boyish face. Light hazel eyes were halfway hidden by dirty blonde hair as he leaned uncaringly on the door frame and gave a crooked smile. "Name's Eryk." He said. 30

"Ray." She replied sitting up. 31

"Dinner's gonna be ready soon. Come down when you're hungry." He turned and left without waiting for a response. Ray muttered something about boys being stupid and brushed a strand of her own chocolate brown hair form her face before following him down. 32

"Hi Raina." Kaisa greeted her, "You've met Eryk and this is your uncle Theodric." She pointed over her shoulder to the man sitting behind her. 33

Theo was a big burly man with a rugged face and warm royal blue eyes. "It's nice to have you." He smiled. Ray nodded an acknowledgement. "Before anything there are a couple of rules you should know." 34

"Rules?" She questioned. 35

"We live in close proximity to the Eztli Manor, the border is clearly marked in the woods and town is neutral. Under no circumstances are you permitted to cross that border." 36

Eztli, the name was familiar, it was a family nearly as old as the Hylals and both families were, coincidently, enemies since the beginning. 37

"Other then that," Theo continued, "You are allowed to go wherever whenever as long as you keep to the standard rules." 38

"Yes." She nodded, she'd grown up knowing the 'standard rules,' they were the rules everyone in the family had to abide by. Keep hidden, keep safe.39

"Here honey, this is for you." Her aunt dropped a necklace into Ray's open hand. It was a gold chain with small a sun pendent, about the size of a quarter a black paw print gleamed in the center. "It's our crest, it's how you can identify other members of the pack, anyone with this symbol is wolf." Ray clasped it around her neck and vaguely remembered her father's tattoo of the same design. 40

"Thank you." She sighed. 41

"Don't mention it." Kaisa smiled. "You start school in two days, on Monday with Eryk, but now we eat." 42

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Ray breathed deeply inhaling the scent of the forest. It smelled like earth, wood, and freedom. The clean night air washed over her making her dizzy. She'd needed to get away, for the past month she'd been more or less caged inside and now that she was free there was nothing she wanted to do then spend the night in the forest. The lack of freedom had made her anxious, it felt good to be back in her element, running among the trees giddy with adrenaline. 44

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Izaic sighed deeply and chucked a stone into the distance. He always came out to the woods when he needed to think. He felt trapped in his house, Izaic Eztli was the son of Lylyth and Kirian, he was heir to the Eztli Manor. Being heir meant he never got time to himself. He was suffocating from all the attention. 46

There was a noise from up ahead and Izaic paused and crept closer, it wasn't the noise and animal would make. A few yards ahead the trees gave way to a small field. Izaic sucked in breath sharply, a girl sat hunched over on a boulder, silhouetted in the moonlight that pooled around her. 47

He sneered in anger and his mind screamed trespasser, but he didn't move. He could recognize most of the people from the small town but he was positive he'd never seen this girl before. 48

Chocolate brown hair fell past her shoulder and created a curtain on the side of her face. This girl obviously wasn't a local, he could tell by the way she dressed. Not many people around these parts wore dark hooded sweatshirts, baggy jeans and skater style sneakers. She was oblivious to his presence, working diligently over a sketchpad. 49

He should chase her off. She wasn’t supposed to be here. If anyone else found her..., Izaic shivered at the possibility. 50

Izaic took a step forward and then another. The girl looked up quickly, alarmed when his foot snapped a twig. Her eyes met his in the startled way of a hunted animal, they were a soft brown flecked with gold. 51

He froze on the spot as she scrambled to gather her things before running off. 52

Izaic let her go and was about to turn home when a piece of bright white caught his attention, it stood out brilliantly against the dark leaves that carpeted the ground. One of the girl's sketches was left behind. He picked it up and cursed. It was a drawing of the Hylal crest, she was one of them, a wolf. 53

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Two days later and Ray was riding with Eryk in his truck to school. She had all but forgotten about the boy in the forest. She'd ventured on to his territory, she was lucky nothing had happened, then or afterwards. She'd, of course, told no one about the incident. 55

A little disoriented she walked to her first class. A total of fifteen people were separated into several smaller groups, talking with friends before class. 56

A tall blonde girl drew the room's attention to Raina. "Hey, you must be new, I'm Odette." She stuck out her hand. 57

"Ray." She replied shaking it. 58

"Welcome to Winterbrooke High." She swept her hand around the room dramatically. 59

Ray looked around and felt her heart stop. 60

He was here. 61

The boy from the other night stood off in a corner surrounded by three others. He was staring at her intensely, his bright blue eyes burning right through her. He definitely recognized her, there was no way he couldn't, not with the way he glared at her with a mixture of confusion and anger. He had dark raven hair that contrasted with his pale skin. He watched her darkly, she glared back and an unspoken messaged passed between them. 'I know who you are.'62

"Oh, stay away from them." Odette wrinkled her nose like she smelled something awful when she caught Ray staring. Raina turned to her confused. Odette picked Ray's necklace up and held it between her fingers, running her thumb over the pendent. "Specially since your wolf." She whispered. 63

Ray looked at her shocked, she thought there was only a small amount of wolfs. Odette winked and showed her, her bracelet baring the same sun charm. 64

"Why?" The dark haired girl muttered, but she already knew the answer. But she was new and shouldn't know who they were, having not seen them and all. 65

Odette giggled. "They're the Eztli, they're vamps." 66

"As in vampires?" 67

"What else?" Odette scoffed. 68

Ray's face fell a little. "Exactly who are they?" She prodded. 69

Odette gazed at them for a moment. "The tall one with dark hair is Izaic, he's the Eztli heir." Izaic, he was the boy from the other night, Raina made a mental note. "The lanky blonde girl is Taya, Bastion is the one with amazing green eyes, and the short one is Amos." The blonde continued. 70

Each one of the little group wore exceptional clothing and held a air of dignity and distant perfection that went along with their amazingly flawless looks. Not only did they seem off limits to her, but to the rest of the human population as well. 71

Ray was about to ask another question when the teacher entered the room. Everyone scrambled to get to their seats. Raina was left standing in the middle on the room clueless. 72

"Sit!" Barked the teacher. 73

Hastily she grabbed the closest empty seat. Tension grew thick in the room as she sat behind Izaic Eztli. Every kid in the room that was vamp or wolf glared at her in shock or anger. The human teens sensed something too and shifted uncomfortably in their own seats.74

By the end of the day Ray was glad to get out of school, it never had been her thing. And she was reviled, yet slightly disappointed, to find out that Izaic was only in one other class. 75

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Raina walked solemnly as she was making her way back to Eryk's truck when a movement in the shadows caught her eye. She stopped, Izaic stood twenty feet away, watching her. He looked like he wanted to talk, but before either could make a move Eryk appeared next to her. She turned tentatively to greet him. "What are you looking at?" He asked. 77

She looked back to the spot Izaic was standing only to see that he wasn't there. "Nothing," She replied slowly, "Just spacing." 78

"Well come on." He prompted leading her away. 79

Izaic watched the two from the shadows, a snarl on his face. What was it about that girl?80

"What do you know about Izaic Eztli?" Ray asked as she and Eryk were driving home. 81

Eryk swerved violently on the deserted road, caught off guard by the question. "Why do you want to know about him?" 82

"Curiosity really. He's in some of my classes." 83

"He's bad news, just like the rest of them." 84

"Them?" 85

"All the vampires." 86

"What's the deal between us and them anyway." 87

"You mean besides the fact that werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies?" He sneered overly sarcastic. 88

"Then why do we live so close together?" Ray asked really trying to grasp the reason behind their closeness of the two clans. It was unheard of for them to live so close. 89

"That's part of the problem. Living and hunting so closer together only heightens the tension between us." He sighed, "Because of the old agreement we share the land and put up with each other. No one is allowed to attack the other with the exception of a territory breach, but it doesn't mean we're friendly." 90

"Oh." Ray breathed. 91

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Ray's curiosity about the Eztli wasn't satisfied. She watched Izaic when ever she could. He seemed like a decent person, although she couldn't say the same about his friends. 93

She also continued her nightly trips across the boundary. She only ever went to the clearing, it wasn't that far on to their side, it was the perfect place to think and secretly she hoped to see Izaic there again. Rain never did like rules to begin with and as long as she wasn't caught there was no harm done. 94

Izaic swung his feet on the branch trying to get some feeling back in them. He was watching the girl again. She sat below him, coming to the same spot nearly every night for a week. 95

When it seemed to become a habit for her he toyed with the idea of warning her off. The longer he thought about it the less he really wanted too. It's not like she was hurting anyone. She just sat there drawing or staring off into space. She seemed lonely. Sure the kids at school had accepted her but the smile she put on around them was a fake smile he knew all too well, having worn the same expression for years himself. Unwillingly he found himself curious about her past life. All anyone knew was that her parents had died. 96

Ray sighed and put her sketch book down. "I know you're there." She muttered, the unseen presence that haunted her here nightly was starting to get annoying. She was hoping he'd come down on his own, but it seemed that he wasn't planning on it. 97

Izaic cocked his head. There was no way she knew he was there. 98

"What do you want?" She breathed softly. 99

Izaic was about to jump down and make himself known when Bastion entered the clearing. The girl was visibly shaken. She'd suspected the it was Izaic stalking her, not one of his friends. 100

"Clever wolf girl." Bastion sneered. 101

Not good, Izaic prayed that he would give her a warning and scare her off, too bad Bastion wasn't like that. 102

"You're on our territory." The boy moved closer. 103

"Really? I hadn't noticed." She backed away from him. 104

"You're about to find out what happens to your kind when they don't abide by the rules." He snarled an animal sound and she fell to the ground with a yelp tripping over a rock. 105

"Wait Bastion." Izaic's voice was soft but powerful. Bastion stopped in his tracks. Both he and the girl looked at Izaic shocked. 106

"She's on our land." Bastion growled. 107

"She's new, she doesn't know." Izaic reasoned. 108

"Because the 'keep off: private property' signs are so confusing." Bastion rolled his eyes. 109

"Signs?" Ray squeaked managing to sound ignorant, of course she'd seen the signs, but they didn't need to know that, Izaic was giving her an out and she was going to take it. 110

Bastion stared as her, his green eyes filled with piercing disbelief but he had no proof that she was lying and backed off. "Let this be a warning then." He hissed venomously, "Next time he wont be around to save you." He shot a mutinous look at his friend. 111

"Go." Izaic commanded. 112

Ray didn't need to be told twice. She scrambled to her feet and took off running. 113

"What's gotten into you?" Bastion rounded on the other boy. "Since when do you care about them?" He spat the word like it was something vile. 114

"Nothing." Izaic replied a little to quickly. 115

Bastion narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Whatever." And stalked away. 116

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Raina's heart was practically beating out of her chest as she slipped into her bedroom window silently. She'd run all the way home. 118

She was in so much trouble. Bastion was bound to tell someone, unlike Izaic, who for some odd reason, never told, no matter how many times she broke the rule. What was up with that boy? 119

Ray was too nervous to sleep. She nearly fell out of the bed when the phone rang in the early morning. She shrunk under the blankets, there was no mistaking what that call was about, she'd been waiting for it for what felt like forever. 120

Sure enough, just minuets later there was a not too gentle knock on her door and a very disappointed aunt and uncle burst into her room. 121

"I told you to keep off their side!" Theo wasn't yelling but his tone cut her deep. 122

"I...I didn't mean to." Her carefully planned argument slipped away uselessly. "I'm sorry." 123

Theo calmed as Eryk, followed by little Maya, appeared beside him. Her cousin stared at her accusingly, of course he knew, why wouldn't he? 124

"Raina get ready for school, we'll discuss a punishment later." Kaisa sounded vexed. 125

She did so without complaint, skipping breakfast to avoid the uncomfortable stares. She couldn't, however avoid Eryk, he was driving her to school and made sure to make his position known. 126

"We give you one rule, one simple rule and you break it!" He refused to look at her. "Your lucky you only got a warning. Not only did you put yourself in danger but all of us too." She cringed, she hadn't even thought about that. "Don’t ever do that again!" 127

"I'm sorry." Was all she could mutter. The rest of the ride went by in utter silence. 128

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"Why did you want me to meet you here?" Ray hissed lowly as the figure approached from the other side of the wall. 130

Izaic had slipped her a note during school asking her to meet him at the border. She'd debated on whether or not she should go, especially since she was supposed to be under house arrest as a punishment. The sheer curiosity of what the vampire prince wanted got the best of her and now here she was, meeting him in the moonlight at the wall that separated her territory from his. 131

"I didn't think you'd come." He smirked. 132

"Yeah well to tell you the truth I didn't think I'd come either." She snarled. "Now why are we having this meeting? If they find out I left I'm so dead." 133

"Your different then them." He observed. 134

"So what?" she snapped. 135

"I like that." She was taken aback, this boy just got more confusing by the second. "You don't let them think for you, it's the old prejudice that keeps the grudge so strong. Really we're not that different they just refuse to see it." 136

"Wow, that was deep." She scoffed. "Figure that out all on your own?" She took a deep breath and brought up a question that had been bothering her since she first met him. "Why do you never turn me in? I know you've been watching me and there was that first night..." 137

"I don't know why." He admitted. "There's just something about you." He was closer now they were both leaning across the short wall face to face. "We're so different but so much alike." He breathed. 138

"How?" She muttered her anxiety falling away under his examining gaze. 139

"Surrounded by people but never more alone," Izaic was captivated by her gold flecked brown eyes and the way the moonlight reflected on her dark hair. He barely knew her, but he realized, as he leaned closer, that he was absolutely taken by this mysterious wolf girl. Their lips met and Ray froze dazed about what had just happened. Izaic kissed her and she found herself kissing back, it felt right. It didn't matter that he was a vampire and this relationship between the two was forbidden. All that mattered was that he felt the same about her, since that first meeting she'd been head over heels for him. 140

Do you believe in love at first sight?141

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From that one kiss bloomed a relationship and mortal enemies shared a bond. Izaic and Raina ignored each other at school and met at night by the wall. They soon knew everything about each other, things not even their closest friends had known. It was weird how barely knowing each other they could trust in one another so completely. It seemed like a classic fairy tale ending, but this fairy tale was made to go horribly wrong.143

"I hate all this sneaking around." Ray groaned out of breath, late again for the meeting, it was getting harder, not easier to sneak out of her house. 144

"I agree." He smiled, happy to see her. She smiled just watching him. 145

Izaic jumped the wall in one swift movement and took her into his arms. "You smell good." She breathed in the scent of his shirt. It was him there was no other smell like it. The smoky, crisp after storm clean new world scent, she loved it. Izaic laughed and his chest rumbled beneath her. "We can't keep this up forever." She mumbled ruining the moment. 146

"It's not like we can tell anyone." Izaic sighed. 147

"They might understand." 148

Izaic nuzzled her neck, "You don't believe that." He teased. 149

"We can only go so far with this," She ducked away, it was important he understood. "Midnight meetings aren't enough, I hate having to act like you’re my enemy." 150

"But I am." He sighed unhappily. "What do you propose, We run away?" He threw his hands into the air exasperated. 151

Her eyes lit up. "We run away." She sounded confident. 152

"We can't!" 153

"Don't you want to be together?" She snapped. 154

"Of course, Ray, I love you." 155

"You sure have a crappy way of showing it." She turned haughtily and marched away. 156

"Wait!" Izaic took a couple running steps towards her. 157

"Follow me and I'll enact the boundary, your on our side." Her voice was ice in his veins. 158

"Fine." He muttered retreating back across the wall. 159

Ray ran from him, tears blurring her vision. She didn't know why she was crying, but it felt good. 160

She didn't make it back to her room. Her distraught state made it difficult for her to sneak in effectively, Eryk woke up when she failed to climb the wall a second time. 161

"What are you doing?" He scolded. Ray slide back to the ground defeated and he noticed her tear streaked face. "What's wrong?" 162

"Izaic,...stupid,...I'm sorry." She wailed between sobs and gasps for air. 163

Eryk's face turned to stone, he stood up and took off at a fast pace towards the border. Maybe he could still catch the vampire.164

Izaic hadn't left, he waited for Raina, hoping she'd take back the threat and come back to him. When he heard the rustling in the woods he was elated and rushed to it's source. Eryk was waiting for him. 165

"What did you do to Ray?" The older boy demanded. 166

Izaic stopped dead and fearfully took in the other boy's unexpected appearance. "Nothing." He said truthfully. 167

"Liar." Eryk spat. 168

Izaic couldn't believe she'd actually sent someone out to get him. All this over a refusal to run away. She might not have much here but Izaic had everything. Everything suddenly felt like a whole lot less when faced with the fact that she seemed to no longer love him. 169

Eryk took a step forward and Izaic a step back. "You're on our side." His voice was dangerous. 170

Izaic made a break for the wall. Eryk was faster and stopped the boy before he'd even made it two feet. Izaic fell to the ground with a thud. 171

"Izaic, are you out..." Bastion stood on the other side of the wall and was obviously stunned at the scene before him. Bastion didn't think, he leapt automatically to his friend's aid. 172

"Bastion no!" Izaic shouted. 173

It was too late. The forest around them echoed with cries of pain as the two flailed on the forest floor. Who was winning was hard to see. Izaic was no use at trying to break up the fight, he was too disoriented and stunned to do much more then watch. 174

Within minuets the surrounding area was splattered with blood, shining deep crimson in the silver light. Battle never had such a beautiful ending. 175

Bastion rose to his feet breathing heavily. Eryk hadn't taken a breath in several minuets. "Werewolf scum." 176

"Look where we are." Izaic chocked. 177

Bastion took a quick three sixty and it dawned on him. He was the one out of line, not Eryk. "But he was, and you, you never leave." 178

"He was right in attacking me." Izaic admitted. 179

"Come on back to the manor," Bastion sounded scared, "Your mother will know what to do." 180

"Go on a head. I'll catch up." Bastion ran like he'd never ran before trusting his friend to follow behind. 181

Izaic took a deep breath and stepped forward slowly, smudging several drops of the crimson rain. It was the right thing to do. Another step, Ray would never forgive him if he didn't. 182

He had to tell them about Eryk. 183

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Ray smelled Izaic's approach before she saw him. His normal smell was mingled with that of blood. 185

"What happened?" She sniffled, still having been unsuccessful in her attempts to sneak into the house. 186

He jumped at her voice. He saw her and shook his head unable to speak and knocked on the door. 187

"What are you doing?" She cried as the lights inside flicked on and he made no move to leave. 188

Her uncle answered the door. "What do you...Izaic?" the annoyed tone took on a sharp edge. 189

"Sir," Izaic fidgeted and Ray watched from the shadows. "Sir, your son is dead." 190

"What?" Theo roared. 191

"Bastion killed him." Izaic repeated shrinking back. 192

"No!" Ray gasped, no one heard her. 193

"What's going on out here?" Kaisa demanded appearing at the door.194

"Kai, go check on the kids." 195

She ran up the stairs and several doors were hard slamming above. "Theo they're gone. Ray and Eryk are gone!" She was frantic. 196

"Where's my son?" Anger took over on Theo's face. 197

"His body is in the woods near the wall." Izaic backed up. 198

"Where's Raina?" His voice made Izaic shiver. 199

"Over there." He pointed to her betraying her position. 200

"Hi." She muttered coming to stand beside Izaic. 201

"Inside." Theo barked. She didn’t' argue. "Boy I want you off my property before I put you under it." Izaic hesitated and left. "Kai call the others we need a search party." 202

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Eryk's body was found before the sun rose and revenge was claimed on the Eztli household. 204

Blood for blood. It was obvious the slaying had been done on the Hylal territory it was time for payment. There would be no settling until Eryk's murderer was resting six feet under. 205

"We want Bastion, it's obvious from his wounds he was the killer, my son wouldn't have gone without a fight." Bastion slunk back and tried to hide his cuts. 206

"I'll go instead." Izaic's voice rang out over the arguing crowd. 207

"My son no, it's Bastion they want not you." Lylyth snarled at Bastion. 208

"The fight was my fault, I was the intruder, Eryk was only defending his territory until Bastion got involved." Izaic shook from fear, anger and sadness. "It should have been me dead on the floor not him." 209

"He is acceptable." Theo declared. 210

"Not my son!" Lylyth snapped 211

"Your son for mine, it's more then a fair exchange." The mourning Kaisa sounded uncharacteristically cut throat. 212

"It's my fault." Izaic broke free from his mother's grasp and went with the wolves. The vampires let out a collective gasp. "My life is yours." He gave a short bow. He couldn't live knowing his love hated him anyway, at least this was a noble way to die.213

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Ray was in shock when she learned of Izaic's proposition. He couldn't, the stupid fool what was he thinking?215

She mourned for days afterwards, she never had got to see him again, never got to apologize, the wolves didn't let the boy breath a second longer then was necessary. The old ways were cruel. 216

Finally it got to much for her to live in a house that brought nothing but memories of death. She ran and planned to never return, her heart was broken beyond repair. 217

It was her fault. 218

She came to the spot that she'd visited so many times before under the watchful gaze of Izaic. The spot across the border. It was there that she found the letter and there that she ended her life. 219

They found her the next day clutching a piece of paper to her heart on one side her drawing that Izaic had found so long ago, on the other words ran from tears and the paper was stained with blood. 220

My dear Raina, 221

I love you always, whether it be in death or life, your smile is my sun, your happiness my life. I feel responsible for your cousin's death and the only way to fix such a mistake is to offer mine in return. You may never find this message, but if you should, know that your kiss took away the pain of their blade, for it will be the last thing that graces my memory before I hit the ground. I know not if your feelings for me remain the same, but mine will never change. I regret now not leaving with you when I could, and not being able to wipe away your tears now that I'm gone. Blame not yourself, but the destiny of the world. Hate is born of love and rights are made by wrongs. With me gone you're free to live as you choose, it could have never worked out for us anyway. We knew it wouldn't last, it was only a matter of time before reality caught up with us, like Romeo and Juliet our love wasn't meant to last. So to you, my fair Juliet, I write my final farewell. May we meet under the full moon in another life. 222

Love always Izaic223

"Stupid boy, I'm no Juliet, and you're sure not Romeo." Her words carried through the night, the last words of true love's death and fate's cruel laugh. 224

The End