Zephyr Prologue

He walked down the path between two walls of leaves, hearing nothing but his own breathing.  His heart pounded in his chest as he realized that the chirping of the birds and crickets had completely died away, the eerie silence seeming to trap him, giving him a feeling of helpless dread.  He felt as if he were the only man left on the face of the Earth.1

He spun around suddenly when a sound other than his quickened breathing and steadily beating heart entered the silent domain.  A wind picked up and whistled through the leaves, blowing his hair back and sending a haze of dust into his face.  Shielding his eyes with his hand, he turned to the direction and saw, before his last moment of life, a swift shadow flying through the air.2

His screams did not bring him a swifter death, and soon he was gurgling on his own blood.  His body went limp and dropped to the ground as the shadow slowly stood up and delicately wiped its lips.  The figure looked down at the pitiful corpse, one it could've given the gift of immortality to...but he was too weak.  Only the strong should be allowed to live, and strong not in body, but in else.3

With a disturbingly human and feminine laugh, the female vampire turned her head up to face the artificial sky, her laughter reverberating off the walls and sending all the freakish beings into hiding.  Her deep brown eyes, which had dark slashes of black expanding away from the dark blue pupil, told all that was needed: this was her domain...and none dared entering without seeking certain death...4

Kismet Productions Presents...5

Soft Whisper "The morning is coming when a messenger of dreams..."6

An Eternal Angels Project...7

Voice "The heart has its reasons, for which reasons cannot know..."8

Sponsored by Destined Magic, Mystik Eternity and Chaos's Love...9

Scream "...omae korosu...!"10

Zephyr...11

Book 1: Trysts12

Prologue...13

His eyes flew open, revealing a shocking dark mahogany, encircled by a ring of light brown streaks encircling the pupils.  His forehead was drenched in cold sweat and his breathing was ragged.14

He sat up, the covers slipping off of his bare body, and felt the cool wind blow in through the open window.  The dream came as vivid as always...every night the calling seemed to get stronger.15

He looked over to the side.  It was 4:00 in the morning, still.16

Getting up, he walked out of his room and turned left into his bathroom.  Once there, he turned on the cold water in the shower and stepped in, not bothering to take his Nauticas off.  The freezing water blasted over his bare chest and back, and cascaded down off his pants.  There was a certain air about him that almost made him lifeless...a lack of emotion and reactions.17

The Asian teenager had burgundy colored hair, with a hint of dark green.  His body wasn't very amazing, but he was well in shape.  His stance wasn't stiff, but he was well alert, ready to react to any unusual noises or movements.18

Ten minutes passed before he reached out to turn the water off, and he stepped out.  Toweling himself off, he hung the wet clothing and changed into a new pair of Nautica's.  His whole closet was filled with black clothes, but was amazingly organized for a boy his age.  His room was the same, and the house seemed strangely still.19

Stepping out into the game room, still topless and with damp hair, he walked by his father's room.  On the door, there was another note...he had flown to New York again, without doubt.  He didn't blame his father; he was a busy man.  He owned some sort of a large business, and was rarely in town.  Being the only child and motherless, there was no one to take care of him.  He'd always been on his own; he's lived a lot of his life in this way.  As long as his father had the bills paid regularly and transferred money into his account every week, there wasn't a problem.20

He walked silently down the stairs, not making a single creek, and opened the fridge.  Pouring himself a glass of milk, he went back towards the stairs but turned and exited into the yard.  After downing the milk, he set the glass down and began to stretch.  Warming up, he began to throw light but quick punches into the silent air...21

As the sun began to rise, he finished his final kata without breaking a sweat.  He walked back into the house, brushed his teeth at the sink, and went upstairs to put on a sleeveless shirt and socks.  Snapping on a wristband and tying his hair back, he looked into the mirror and paused for a second.  He got his backpack and left.22

It was 7:40 by the time he got to his bus stop, and he stood there, alone and early, listening to his Discman.23

I can see inside you the sickness is rising…24

Don't try to deny what you feel…25

(Will you give in to me)…26

It seems that all that was good has died…27

And is decaying in me…28

(Will you give in to me)…29

It seems you're having some trouble…30

In dealing with these changes…31

Living with these changes…32

Now the world is a scary place…33

Now that you've woken up the demon in me…34

Madness has now come over me…35

Everything was like a routine; the other students arrived, the bus got there and they got on, and they were at school in no time.  No one talked to him, and he talked to no one.36

When he reached the front gates, he tucked the CD player into his backpack and walked on to his usual spot.  Again, he was left completely alone, not noticed...except by one.  He only noticed her when he saw the close movement out of the corner of his eye on his way to the tower.37

"Good morning, Rannison..." the girl greeted, her eyes warm and cheerful despite his lack of optimism.38

"Mornin'," he muttered with a nod of his head.  His bangs fell over his eyes, but there was a sudden hint of emotion that wasn't there before.39

Amber nodded back, her black hair with red highlights swaying down past her shoulders.  She was a pretty Asian girl, a couple of inches shorter than he was, and had a minor scar going vertically down her right cheek but still looked amazingly attractive.  She wore a black sleeveless shirt under a black, opened up, long-sleeved top.  Below, she wore black jeans that ended past the ankles showing black Etnies.40

She walked along with him towards the clock tower, near the heart of the campus.  Once there, they stood under the tall structure.41

"Rannison, wassup?  Hey, morning Amber!" shouted Angio from a distance, his bangs swinging around while he jogged towards them.  He was also an Asian teenager with a darker toned skin, and looked a little younger.42

"Hey Angio!" Amber replied, her face lighting up with a smile.  There was no doubt that she was glad he arrived.43

Rannison nodded once again, and continued to wait.44

Angio was a couple of centimeters shorter than Rannison, and was slightly less fit, but a lot merrier.  He had black hair, common brown eye, and wore a white jacket with white baggy pants.  His face was wider, and his jaw more square, but still was in good shape compared to many others.45

The trio chatted under the shadow of the tower, while the rest of the group began to arrive.  Miyaki, a slender and petite girl, exchanged greetings with them and joined Angio and Amber's conversation.  Stephanie, the youngest girl in the group, arrived soon after, and a couple of friends with her.46

Though the others chatted with each other enthusiastically, Rannison remained silent, adding in a grunt or a shake of a head only when a question was directed at him.  Though he was normally quiet, some people noticed that he was especially withdrawn today.47

"Are you alright, Rannison?" Miyaka asked.48

He was shaken out of his revere by the sudden voice, and realized that he'd been spacing out.49

"Uh, yeah, sure.  Sorry, just...thinking about some stuff..." he replied, but his voice didn't sound very apologetic.50

"No prob, just tell me if anything major's on your mind, alright?  You might not agree, but sometimes it's better to--"51

"Yeah, yeah, I know.  Thanks anyway," Rannison said, and walked away.52

Miyaki continued to look at his retreating back, ignoring the bell and the crowd pushing against her, rushing to their classes.  There was a deep sense of lost within her, and a feeling of helplessness.  He shuts himself off from everyone, even her...so how could she help him?53

With a dejected sigh, Miyaki turned and trudged slowly on to her class, disappointed.54

Angio, as always, was making his jokes and comments and generally entertaining the class.  Amber was laughing, the class was excitedly discussing about their upcoming dance, and the teacher was allowing them a break...not that she could've controlled them anyway.  Everything was fine today...so why did he feel afraid?55

Ever since this morning he'd been feeling dreadful, and he had no idea why.56

'Something's gonna happen, I know it...but what?' he thought.57

Dismissing it as being over paranoid, he tried to ignore the feeling and continued to joke around with Amber and his other classmates.  After all, what could possibly happen?58