Fan Fiction ❯ Necromancer ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Hey, we just wanted to tell you guys a little about the story. It's written by two authors, each chapter written by a different author. This is our first time writing anything so please review our story and tell us what you think! Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

Ara

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“Cheers!”

It was busy day at the Black Mask tavern. Laughter rippled through like a wave, infecting one Irishman to the next English one. Glasses chimed in celebration and dancers glided across the floor as gracefully as their liquored legs would let them.

I hated days like these.

Everyman in this forsaken little town of Konan knew where the Black Mask was because other than having the “best Goddamn whiskey” it had the prettiest women serving it. And the reward for trying to “charm” any of the girls was a swift kick between the legs. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy permanently crippling the bastard who grabs my bum, but the satisfaction is lost when the same fool grabs it again the very next day.

Ma, a large, masculine woman, stood behind the counter. Her hawk like eyes scanned her tavern carefully for any ignoramus behavior from her customers. Beside her stood her husband, an equally large man, wiping dry the washed mugs and making sure to stay out of his wife's way. It was one of Ma's `off days', then again when wasn't?

I went up to the polished slab of wood with two empty mugs in my hand and set them down.

“Two more whiskies!”

Ma nodded to her husband quickly and turned her gaze back to the smoky chamber. He smiled lazily before pulling out two clean mugs from below.

“Anyone giving you any trouble, Ara?” he asked.

“What do you think, Bron?”

Bron gave me a sympathetic look as he filled the two mugs with fresh whiskey. I picked up the cups and turned to face the waiting table slapped on an over-shined smile.

I hated days like these.

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“Do that with your wives, you drunken idiots, not each other!” shouted Ma before closing the door shut. “Pig gutted snots.” she muttered under her breath and turned to me and the other girls.

“I want this place to shine like the diamond up the Queen's royal behind.” A series of giggles erupted.

“Now get to work!”

I sighed and fetched a half black cloth and began wiping the empty tables.

“Remind me again, Ara,” an Irish voice whispered behind me “why we bother workin' here.”

I turned around to see a pretty, short haired girl with her hands on her hips.

“Because Gwen, we have nowhere else to go.”

Gwen rolled her eyes irritably and returned to sweeping the floor.

Our work was finished quickly, it was a daily routine. Once finished, me and seven other the girls sat around a table passing around a bottle whiskey. Staying up well past the middle of the night had its advantages and its disadvantages. But the only thing on everyone's mind was the alcohol and the stupidity of men who consume it.

“The damn pig couldn't keep his booze down!” Arianna complained taking a long gulp “And he only had three glasses.”

“Well at least, you didn't have to clean it up.” Gwen said clearly scarred form the memory. “I wanted to kill me'self.”

We laughed as she sniffed her hand bitterly and pulled away looking sick.

“Speaking of which,” one of the girls said “did you hear what happened to that French man and the fat governor?”

The laughter died down slowly as I asked,

“What are you talking about Lyn?”

Lyn grabbed the bottle out of Gwen's hand and took a long sip. She slammed the bottle down sprinkling a few droplets on the table. She looked up at us mischievously and smiled.

“They were found dead by the docks.”

“They were what?”

“Found dead,” repeated Lyn “by the docks, this morning.”

I shook my head, what was she talking about? The passing of such wealthy men would've definitely sparked a bustle of panic, but not a whisper was spoken of any such news.

“I didn't hear anything about that.”

“That's because, the Queen's trying to keep it hidden.” said Lyn “She's hoping to make it seem like a natural death.”

“Why?” asked Gwen curiously.

“Because,” began Lyn, her mysterious grin reappearing “they died the most gruesome death.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“They were killed by vampires.”

My stomach sank as my heart began beating furiously against my chest. Vampires? Of all the things Lyn could've made up, she had to choose vampires. I laughed nervously under my breath, they weren't real…they couldn't be.

In ancient legend, it was said that our town was once a large city infested by a great family of vampires. They attacked only at night when the moon was full, preying on the unlucky of men who wandered the streets. They killed mercilessly, murdering thousands in one night. But one full moon, they all disappeared, and no one has seen a vampire since. It was said that a stranger had arrived that morning in a dark cloak with a book, and drove away the blood sucking dead. Coincidentally, the stranger was never seen again either. The city

Of course the story was old; so old even the town elderly can't decipher fact from myth. For all I cared vampires were a simple tale of fright, an easy way to make children go to sleep at night. That's all they were...

I looked over at Gwen from the edge of my eyes. Her face was white washed and her eyes round. I shook my head, she couldn't possibly believe this? This was ridicules. I stood up, causing the chair to scrape loudly against the floor. All eyes turned to me as I took a final drink from the bottle.

“C'mon Gwen, we better go-,”

“How do you they were killed by vampires?” Gwen asked.

I turned to see her looking at Lyn hungrily.

“Gwen…”

“Hold on Ara.” she snapped.

I let out a breath, and sat back down to wait for Lyn's answer.

“Well?”

“They found bite marks on their neck.”

I rolled my eyes; of course they did, they had to find bite marks. And all bite marks meant that they were vampires'. Yes, that was definitely logic.

“Who told you this Lyn?” a light haired girl asked suspiciously. I smiled, glad that I wasn't the only one seeing the flaw in this story.

Lyn looked at the girl coldly but quickly grinned.

“I have my sources.”

Of course she did. I stood up once again and grabbed my cloak.

“C'mon Gwen, we really have to go.”

“Yea, comin'” she said and fetched her own cloak. She sounded a bit disappointed, I smiled; she finally came to her senses.

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The wind howled in agony against the chill of the night. Gwen and I made our way through the darkness. The moon was full but barely bright. Blankets of clouds gathered above, caressed gently by silver light. The beauty of the moon however, didn't help the fact that I couldn't see three feet in front of me. I was surprised that the street lamps weren't lit, but I forced my imagination not to run wild that fact.

I shivered slightly inside my cloak and my teeth chattered lightly. I drew in a shaky breath and let it out watching the fog fade away. I drew myself closer; it felt like the night suddenly got colder. I turned around to Gwen. Her face was flushed and her breath was steaming through her nose and lips. She looked up at me, shivering and eyebrows pursed. She noticed it too, the temperature had dropped.

We quickened our pace, concentrating only on our foot steps. My heart sped up a few beats as my mind drew pictures of ghouls jumping out from the next dark corner. Oh, how I hated Lyn and her stories! I'm going to kill her tomorrow! I thought as we turned a sharp corner.

In the shadows, something crashed loudly. The debris tumbled and landed at my feet. I jumped and sucked in stinging cold air. Gwen shrieked and grabbed my arm digging in her nails. We stood still in dark silence breathing heavily. Something began scratching against the ground. It was eerie, like a painful tingle of the spine. Then it stopped. Time inched by but Gwen and I stood rooted to the ground. Suddenly a black shape emerged from the pile of debris. I froze along with my breath. Gwen squeezed my arm tighter and let out a soft squeal. The shadow moved close to the ground, and it moved toward us. I panicked. I wanted to do something, I wanted to run, to scream, but my mind was on a temporary holiday. The shape stopped abruptly, and looked up. My eyes widened. Two bright, shining, eyes stared right into mine. A sphere of lightened colors shimmered as the creature titled its head. Suddenly it opened its mouth and let out an all too familiar sound. I relaxed and shook my head,

“It's only a cat,” I squeaked, more to myself than to Gwen.

I turned around to see Gwen still frozen stiff. I gently put a hand on her arm,

“It's only a cat, Gwen.”

Gwen slowly shook her head, staring past me. The color in her face drained before my eyes. I turned my eyes to see behind me when I felt the hairs on my neck stand alert. Gwen's grip on my arm began to ease. I turned back to her, my stomach fell.

Her eyes were glazed and dreamy and her face was light and relaxed and her mind seemed spellbound.

“Gwen?” I whispered.

She didn't respond, instead she continued to stare past me, dazed. I called to her again, still nothing. Cursing to myself, I turned around slowly. I gasped.

The creature that stood in front me was beautiful. His face was pale as the moon, his eyes, brushed with long lashes, were dark as midnight and his thin lips wore the cruelest, most beautiful smile I had ever seen. His eyes moved away from Gwen's and into mine. Immediately a felt the world around me drop away into the abyss. I felt lightheaded and focused at the same time. I felt weak at the calling of his mysterious eyes.

Without warning, a shadow dropped behind him, and then another. Soon it was raining a blanket of these shadows in cloaks. They all stood up and pulled off their hoods revealing more angelic faces, bright and luminous. Each of them had their eyes piercing into ours. My knees shook, but I didn't care. These faces were too beautiful; I didn't even dare to blink.

But in an instance everything shattered, the `angels' charged at us with their mouths open, and their teeth bearing. My mind went blank but leaving only one thought behind; they're vampires.

People say that their life flashed before their eyes when they were about to die. Of course, they could've been hanging from a cliff or trapped in a burning chamber. None of them were chased by vampires. So what does happen when one's chased by a blood sucking nightwalker? Don't ask me because all I remember was running and screaming bloody murder, at the top of my lungs, for my dear life.

Where we were, or where we were going, I did not know, I just ran.

Escape, naturally, was a fragment of my imagination. The vampires were gaining but kept falling back. Our speed compared to theirs was like a snails compared to a cats'. Yet they were letting us get in front even letting us hide, before they would spring out of the darkness.

They were playing with us. We were their toys.

Tears welled up in my eyes, I couldn't run anymore. My heart was gasping for air, my muscles were crying for rest and I was desperate to live. Gwen was ahead of me but I could see the fear in her face as bright as a beacon. She too was beginning to slow down and eventually we both came to a halt.

I feel to my knees, inhaling great gulps of air. Gwen collapsed beside me, she trembled violently.

“How disappointing,” a musical voice said “our second hunt in over five centuries and they've already given up. Looks like they've gotten weaker”

Light footsteps echoed around us as one of the vampires' marched forward.

“Nevertheless, a hunt is a hunt.” He stopped behind me and I felt him lean towards my neck,

“And a kill is a kill.” he whispered.

I squeezed my eyes as razor teeth penetrated my skin.

Gwen screamed and lunged forward but another vampire caught her by the arm. He looked at her hungrily, teasing himself with the fear in her eyes. Grinning cruelly, he bit her neck. Gwen stopped struggling, slowly losing consciousness. My mind too was feeling giddy; the pain was too much to bear. I saw the bloodsucker drop Gwen and lick her blood from his pale lips, before everything eroded away.

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A bright orange light shined into my eyes. I was leaning against something cold and hard and something wet was dripping on to my cheek. Wet… My eyes snapped open. I sat up straight and looked around through the morning light. My mouth hung open; I was in the middle of the street! I shot my hand to my neck. A soft cloth was bandaged against my skin. My mouth dropped to the ground, I was alive! But where was I? And where was… Gwen! My insides dropped.

“Gwen!”

“Keep it down! I'm right here!”

I snapped around to find Gwen up on her elbows. A hand moved up to her head and down to her neck gradually. She froze, her eyes widened. She looked over at me, face flushed with joy.

“We're…”

“Alive.” a deep voice finished.

It's funny how damsels in distress are always saved by a knight in shinning armor, but sometimes I wish our knight just left us to die.

The face to which the voice belonged to emerged from behind a tree. With battered clothes and a rough exterior, I knew this man was definitely a bounty hunter. His hair hung loosely about his strong face making it hard to see his eyes. He couldn't have been any older than twenty but he looked like he'd seen enough of life to last him a lifetime. He approached us with a long pistol and a dominative stare. Oh yes, definitely a bounty hunter.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked standing up.

The hunter brushed the many strands of hair in his eyes and cocked an eye brow. He pocketed his pistol and looked straight at me,

“I am the one who saved your life, I am the one who bothered to take you away from the vampires and I am the one who made sure your wounds would be closed so you don't bleed to death.”

He hovered almost a foot above me “Do you have a problem with that? Because I can damn well take you back to those bloodsuckers.”

I nodded my head, more afraid of the man standing in front of me then the dead creatures that attacked us the night before.

“You saved us?” asked Gwen, pushing herself off the ground.

“Yes, I did,” he said.

Gwen stared at the stranger for a moment. She narrowed her eyes,

“Who are you? How did you get rid of all of them?”

“I'm Nicolas O'Brien and I'm a vampire hunter.”

I stared at him. Of course he was a…

What the hell was going on? Just the day before I was serving booze to men who couldn't tell right from left even when sober; and now I was standing in front of a man who claimed to be a vampire hunter, and a bandaged vampire bite. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This had to be a dream, a very bad dream. I was probably passed out on the floor of the tavern, drunk and this dream was just a bad omen for drinking. I opened my eyes.

Huh, no such luck.

The hunter was still standing before me, gaping at me like I'd gone rogue and Gwen was still beside me, completely lost to herself.

“Now, if you'll excuse me,” O'Brien said and turned around “I've got more bloodsuckers to hunt.”

“Hey, wait!” Gwen cried as he began to walk away “You can't leave us!”

I stared at her,

“Why not?” I hissed.

“What if they come back?” she hissed back.

“In daylight?”

“Well, it's better to have him with us than be sittin' ducks!”

I sighed, sometimes she could be so difficult!

“Gwen, we'll just go back to the tavern and everything will be fine.”

Gwen threw me a dangerous glare. I stepped back. She just shook her head and looked after the hunter. He stopped a few feet in front, his back facing us.

“What tavern are you talking about?” he asked.

I stayed silent for a second, why did he care? Before I could ask, Gwen cut me off,

“The Black Mask, will you take us there?”

Mr. O'Brien sighed and took a step forward. Gwen and I hung behind, unsure of his answer. We looked at each other when we heard him say,

“Well, are you coming or do I have to carry you too?”

We scrambled quickly after him.

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Twenty minutes passed while we silently made our way to the Black Mask. I still didn't understand why Gwen wanted this Nicolas O'Brien to escort us there. Oh, right, protection. I forced myself from rolling my eyes. But, still, why had he accepted so solemnly? It seemed clear to me that he wanted to be rid of us fast as he could and yet…

Besides, we didn't need protection now, not in daylight. Vampires didn't attack in daylight; they hate the sun so we were safe… I closed my eyes and cursed myself, what am I thinking? That was the least of my concerns. There were vampires attacking people! The vampire said that we were their second hunt, which meant that Lyn had been right. Vampires did kill those two men and the Queen knew about it! So these vampires weren't a legend. But why now? Why were they attacking now? How did even come back? What was… The millions questions in my head drowned away when I heard the low growl of voices.

I looked up from the ground. In the distance, a crowd of people had gathered. They were whispering feverously to each other. Smoke faintly tarnished the clean air and a wispy clouds of grey swirled into the blue-grey sky. My throat lodged itself, the crowd was pooling before the Black Mask. I broke into a run towards the tavern, praying desperately. Gwen was at my heels as we pushed our way through the cake of bodies. The hunter knew something was wrong, that's why he agreed to bring us to the Black Mask… I breathed in heavily, tears welled up in my eyes.

Where the “best Goddamn whiskey” was once served now was occupied by a pile of charred rubble. I felt Gwen drop next to me, staring at the ashes of the only home we knew.

“What…?” Gwen whispered.

“They're gone love,” a sympathetic voice said. “They're all gone”

A light hand fell on my shoulder. I shut my eyes, letting my tears fall to the blackened ground. It was then that everything that had happened dawned on me. We were in danger and we had no home and no one to go to. Vampires had returned and were very much real. We were the only ones who knew, and we were all alone. I began shaking, fear and rage rushed through my veins wildly. They did this! Those damned creatures! They killed them!

I fell beside Gwen, limp and confused. What do we do now? Where do we go? Everyone we knew was gone. They were… gone.

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That was the first chapter, what did you think? Please review. Should we keep going?

--Daemon--