(Doesn't have a title yet...sorry)

Prologue1

“I look so beautiful like this Chase…”
“You were…once…Death changes everything.”
Stella moved away from the mirror. She was wearing a dress she had salvaged from the ruins of her house. It had been her mothers. She was so slim now, she knew she was the copy of her mother. Such thoughts tortured her. She moved over to the old table, sat down on one of the old, torn up chairs, then picked up her book and started reading. Chase knew that if he didn’t stop her, she would keep reading for all eternity.
“Alright Stella, stop reading, before I die of boredom.”
“Stop talking nonsense Chase, you’re already dead.” That got a blank look, then a dagger stare.
“Anyway, I enjoy it, it relaxes me.” She stated it with that air of simplicity that always melted away whatever anger he had towards her.
They were in a basement of sorts. It was very dusty. Not the best place for living. Then again, that didn’t matter. They weren’t technically living after all. The stairs in the corner led up to ground level. An abandoned factory of some sort. The other door led to a storage room. It was where they slept. The room they were in now had once been a room where the workers took their break. There were still cigarette burns on the table, and the smells of sweat, smoke, and exhaustion lingered.
“…You feel like hunting tonight?” Chase already knew her answer, but he had to ask.
“I don’t know…it might not be safe…” At the thought of killing, her stomach tightened, and Chase could feel every part of her body tensing.
“You’re still scared? After all this time, you still can’t face the fact that you have to kill?” He knew it hurt her, but he had to say it.
“Shut up Chase, what would you know?” She stopped suddenly, realizing what she had just said.
“Come on, you know I’m right.” He had felt her sudden discomfort.
“Even though I’m dead, I still have a heart…”
“Look, you need to toughen up. I can’t keep hunting for you. It’s not natural.” He was getting to her now, he hoped.
“I know, and that’s why I love you. You put up with it.”
Stella stood, closing the book. She had realized that reading was pointless now. She knew that Chase would never stop bothering her until she stopped. He hated it when she read. It was unnerving, and he didn’t like the silence.
“Let’s go, I need fresh air, and you need a bath.”
“A bath? Where did that come from?” He sounded genuinely perplexed.
“Maybe from the fact that you smell like hell itself? You know, I always thought that vampires had at least some hygiene. Guess I was wrong.”
“What’s your point?” Now he was getting a little annoyed.
“I have no point. Only that you smell, and the simple solution to that is a bath.” She said matter-of-factly.
Chase and Stella left by way of the stairs, moving cautiously. They still snapped back and forth in whispers though.
“Chase, the moment we get there, I’m going to throw you into the lake!”
“Only if you can catch me!” and with that, he ran.
Maybe tonight’s the night. Maybe she’ll finally hunt…maybe…
And so, they left to hunt…and bathe.2

Chapter 13

Moonlight…
The sweet caress of the night…
Stella’s mind was racing. What else could it do? She was free. She could look at the stars…
Chase was staring at her, watching her from a distance. He wanted to giver her space. He knew she wasn’t used to the limitations of being a nightwalker, he knew that she missed the sun and the day.
He was naked, and water slowly dripped from him. His skin glistened in the moonlight. He had just finished his “bath.” If, of course, the word “bath” can be described as a very angry female throwing him into a lake, fully clothed, cursing him all the while.
“One day, I’m going to kill her…again…” He muttered so she couldn’t hear.
He still hadn’t told Stella that he had been the one sent to kill her and her family…to make her one of them. He didn’t even know the reason they had chosen her. He had just obeyed like a good dog. It ate at him inside. He was feeling pain for the first time in hell knew how long. He had lived for far too long. She had only been one of them for 5 years. He had been for hundreds of years.
She would’ve been 18 today… He thought. He wondered if she even realized it.
They’d become close friends, making the guilt eat at him even more. No matter how close they became, she would always feel like his prey…and he the hunter.
Her voice called him from his thoughts.
“Chase! Come here…I smell something…”
He came…slowly. He knew that his presence still startled her. She wasn’t used to being able to feel it yet. He saw her flinch as he came near, then swiftly relax.
“I’m not sure what it is, do you smell it?”
He sniffed the air cautiously. He could barely smell it. It was like a gentle coloring of the air. It had the essence of vanilla. He knew that smell, and it awoke terror in him that he hadn’t felt in many years. He knew that she could smell his fear no matter how he tried to hide it.
“Chase…what is it?”
He felt her sudden fear brush his conscience.
“Stella, calm down…please…”
He had to think…if this was what he thought it was they had to get out of there, or they were done for. He moved in front of her and sniffed the air again. It was stronger. He snapped. He grabbed her hand and ran.
Images were flashing though his mind. Bright green eyes…long dark hair…and bloody nails…my blood…all over her face…
Suddenly, the hunter was the hunted, and he was running for his life.
Well, what was left of it anyway…
They ran as fast as they could. Stella was dazed at this sudden reaction. She could keep pace with him, but only for a certain amount of time, and Chase looked as if he had no intention of stopping.
She had to think fast. Where exactly were they? The forest that was about a mile from their current dwelling. She knew that they had to get back before morning. She also knew that something was terribly wrong. Something had caused this fear in Chase. She could feel his terror pressing down on her. She had to find a way to bring him back to his senses.
She didn’t dare try speaking. Not only would he not be able to hear her in his current state of terror, she also feared that whatever pursued them might hear. She couldn’t communicate with him in any other way other than by using her feelings.
She sent to him all of the comfort she could muster, and forced upon him calm. She placed in his mind pictures. Pictures of her past. Of happiness. Pictures of calm. She felt his fear ebb slightly.
She pushed more, and eventually, she felt some alertness creep back into his mind. Shhhh, she thought, I’m here…it’s ok…
They were still running at breakneck speed. Stella sniffed the air. The smell was gone. They had escaped their pursuer.
She managed to slow Chase’s pace to a jog, and then, ever so carefully, a walk. Then he collapsed on a nearby rock, exhausted from the onrush of fear that had just coursed through him.
She sat next to him, and murmured soft comforts. She then helped him to his feet, and supported his weight as they walked home. He had some explaining to do, but for now, she let him rest. It could wait until morning.4

Chapter 25

“Chase?” Stella whispered softly, “Chase, wake up.”
Chase tossed and turned in the midst of some dream.
Run…run…run…Don’t ever stop running, or she’ll catch you…Run! Hurry Chase…you remember…You remember what she can do…Remember your fear…She has power over you…She has power over all she lays her hands on…Remember your blood…You are marked…Run!
Chase awoke to Stella leaning over him. Her hair hanging over her face. He had a sudden impulse to reach out his hand and brush the hair away. He wanted to see her eyes. But he smothered the impulse. He knew he couldn’t.
“Chase, what’s going on? Who was that, in the forest? Why are you so afraid?” Stella was clearly frantic.
“Stop! Too many questions…I’ll explain later, just let me get my thoughts straight.” Chase was exhausted. He couldn’t bare answering those questions. Not yet.
He looked around. They’re “nest”, so to speak, was merely a pile a scavenged blankets. It was a small, cold little room. There were stains running up and down the walls, and empty shelves which now held random belongings of the two of them. It was very cramped, but it worked well as a temporary living place. He knew that they would have to move soon. Especially after the night before. How could she have gotten so close without him even realizing?
Sarah, the one person he feared. She had created him. He was her prey, and always would be.
Chase forced himself to get up. “Stella, I have many things to tell you. Please, don’t say anything before I’m finished. Please pass no judgment. After I have finished, you may say or do whatever you like.” With that, Chase sat down at the table, and began his tale.
Stella did not know what to think. She sat and stared at him, mesmerized, waiting.
“Are you aware of how old I am?” Chase asked softly.
Stella could only shake her head, no.
“I’m far older than you might think. I’ve lost count of the passing years. I’m probably closer to 500, more or less. I was changed at the age of 18. My parents were farmers. They were extremely poor. I was one of their 11 children. They thought that the source of their misfortune was an evil presence in the forest. They were quite right, but they chose to deal with it by offering me as a sacrifice. They tied me to a tree in the heart of the forest, and left me there half starving.”
At this, Chase paused, clearly remembering. Visions passed across his eyes. Visions Stella would never know.
“She found me there,” Chase whispered, “Half dead already. Her name was Sarah. I thought she was an Angel, sent to save me. She was so beautiful. What a naïve and foolish child I was.”
Another pause.
“She untied me, and fed me. I don’t really remember what food it was. I was staring at her the entire time. She had bright green eyes, and long dark hair. She was tall, and so pale, it seemed as if her skin had never seen daylight. She wore a long midnight blue gown that whispered every time she walked. She had a soft sent. A sent of vanilla that you could only smell if you were very close to her. ’Child,’ she said to me, ’Come with me child, and I’ll take care of you.’ How could I say no? She beckoned with her hand, and I followed. She took me deeper and deeper into the forest. We came to a clearing in the trees, if you could call it that. The trees were so close together. In that place was a small cave of sorts. She pulled me inside, and then all melted into chaos. I never came out alive.”
Chase looked at Stella. Now was the time, he knew. Now was the time to tell her who he really was.
“As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, it was her that turned me, and it was also her last night. After she changed me, she then sent me back home. I don’t know if I ever told you, but whoever changes you has complete power over you. She forced me to kill my entire family. She then made me burn my house to the ground. In an instant, everything I had ever cared about was destroyed, and by my own hands. I had to watch my 5 year old sister screaming in my arms as I sucked the very life out of her. My mother and father, I trapped in the house as it burned…” Chase trailed off.
Stella stared at him. “Does that mean that whoever turned me has the power to control me?”
Oh, that is the least of your worries, considering who changed you. Chase thought.
“Yes, but I wouldn’t worry about that just yet. I have yet to finish my story. That all happened 500 years ago. After that incident, she left me to wander the night world alone. I traveled far, and eventually, after a very long journey, I ended up near here. I found others of my kind, and they admitted me into a sort of gang. Basically, I do whatever the boss tells me to do, and I can roam free to do whatever I want. My most recent order, was you.”
Stella stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I am your Sarah. That your family was killed by me. That everything you knew and loved is gone because of me. And,” Chase went down on his knees before her and grabbed her hands, “I beg your forgiveness. Though I know you may never find it in yourself to give it.”
Stella was dumbfounded. She thought back to the night of her death. There had been so much fire and smoke, she had never gotten a clear view of her killer. He had been a hazy shape. She had been knocked out of her senses anyway. She had fallen, and ended up hit over the head with something.
Did she really care that Chase had been the one who had done this to her? Now that she really thought about it, yes, she missed the day, but the world of the night had so many things in store for her. She was stronger. Her sense of smell was 20 times greater, at least. She was now a predator.
Her life before had not been the best. Her father had been an alcoholic, and he had beaten them regularly. Her brother was a druggie, and probably would’ve ended up dead anyway before too long. Her mother had had cancer. In a way, Chase had saved her from months of prolonged agony, and a long drawn out death. There was only one person she truly regretted leaving. Her older brother. He had been away from home, at college. Thomas was the only person she completely trusted.
“I forgive you,” She said. “I have no reason not to. My life now is far better than my life before.”
Chase looked at her in disbelief. “Really?”
Stella smiled, “Yes. Really. You’ve given more than you’ve taken. You take care of me. I just wish I could see Thomas again. He’s the only one I regret leaving.”
“Who’s Thomas?” Chase asked.
“My older brother.” Stella replied, looking down at him. “Are you planning on getting up any time soon?” He was still on his knees.
“Oh!” He hastily stood.
She looked deep into his eyes, and said, “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be ok. You saved my mother, Karyn, from prolonged agony. My father deserved to die. My brother, Alex, would’ve died sooner or later. Thomas was away, so you didn’t kill him. You gave me a life of adventure. You made me a predator. I am a weak, defenseless creature no longer. All thanks to you.”
Chase stared at her in amazement.
All of this time, he had thought that she would hate him for what he’d done. Instead, she was actually grateful to him. He had never know all of those things. Perhaps that was why they had chosen her family. They liked to choose people that wouldn’t be missed. That didn’t explain this random “older brother” though. That was just one more mystery. With this burden off of his shoulders, all he had to worry about now was Sarah.
As if reading his thoughts, Stella said, “So what are we going to do about Sarah? From what you’ve said, she poses as a great threat.”
“I don’t know yet.” Chase replied uncertainly. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
They looked at each other for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts.
“Let’s go to sleep. Night will bring us clarity, and maybe even answers.” Stella suggested.
So, they went into their cramped quarters, slept upon the ragged blankets, and waited for night.