Destine

“Zoey, Honey.” I rubbed my eyes groggily as I woke up to the sound of my mum’s voice.

“Mommy?” I said, my voice still laced with sleep as I looked up into my mum’s eyes, I was shocked to see that she looked scared. She picked me up and carried me out of my bedroom.

I noticed that we were going through the secret hole in the wall placed strategically behind the closet in my parent’s bedroom, a hole that I found out a few years back which led straight to the attic. I never understood why we had the secret compartment. As soon as we got into the attic, my mum put me down on the blanket that we used when we came up here to play.

“Now listen to me, honey. Mommy and daddy have some intruders. Daddy is trying to keep them out, but there are too many of them, so I am going back down to help. No matter what you hear you have to stay here. Do you understand mommy?”

As I nodded in reply, I said. “I’m scared Mum, please don’t go, stay with me.” Just then we heard people yelling and screaming downstairs, and we both simultaneously looked towards the entrance of the attic, our fearful expression mirroring each other.

“I need to go and help your daddy.” My mum said, her voice wobbling a bit. She looked around the small room of the attic and ran to the extreme end to grab a notebook lying on the floor, she came back and handed the book to me.

“Read this when you’re old enough to understand what’s written in this book, once you do, you will understand what it all means.” Tears start to well up in her eyes, before giving me a kiss on my forehead. She got up about to leave when she turned around and said...

“And remember, stay here until the morning.” With that, she left the attic...

The sun shining on my face wakes me up. I sit up straight and look around me. I am all alone. I make my way out of the attic through the secret door and I’m surprised that my parents aren’t in their bedroom...

I look for them all over the house, eventually, I get to the living room, I gasp in shock at the sight before me.

“Mom?” I whispered as I made my way to where she was, but received no reply. “Dad?” I whispered to him, but he was silent as well. They both lay on the floor unmoving...

“Miss Zoey!” I blink various time as my teacher’s voice pulls me back into the present... Every time this teacher opens her mouth I tend to go back to that horrible memory. It is tattooed on my mind.

I look up and stare at my teacher, trying to hide the pain that threatens to come back to the surface. The sniggering of my classmate helps me put the cold mask right back into place.

“Yes, Miss Sanders?” I say deliberately schooling my expression to look bored.

“What would you have done to change the story of Romeo and Juliet from ending tragically if you had been the author?” She asks. I lean back in my chair and stare at her with the same bored expression.

“How about a better use of their brains,” I reply, ignoring my teachers glare.

“Could you elaborate more on your answer?” She asks, still glaring at me.

“I understand the part that they were so in love with each other that they would have died for one another. There was no need to make Romeo and Juliet brainless in order to make the supposedly romance romantic. There was no need for the story to end so tragically.”

Miss Sanders glares at me with disdain. “Yes, that is why you have a C in this Class Miss Lehane, because of your writing skills.” I purse my lips but the bitch turns and goes back to the lesson. She hated my guts. But hey, that’s what she gets for trying to pick on me. I wait impatiently for the lesson being taught to end as I don’t believe in love stories or romance.

As soon as the class end, I am the first to leave the class. I head to my locker, return the books and grab my notebook which I hug to myself as I make my way out of school.

I walk towards my crappy car as the memory is still fresh in my mind. “I know mum... You don’t want this life for me... Yet you left me a notebook with useful information on vampires, their weaknesses, their strengths and even how to kill them efficiently and the truth about who kill you and dad...”

Who was I trying to convince? Even if my mother didn’t want this life for me, I wouldn’t change a thing. I lost my parents when I was only 7 years old thanks to vampires. I will kill as many as I can before I die.

I try to concentrate on the road so I won’t die so young. I park the car in front of the pile of crap I call my house and walks towards it dragging my feet.

My hand is on the doornob about to open it when I hear a piercing scream that rang out through the neighborhood. I ignore my house and follow the sound until I stop in front of a man biting into a girls neck.

“Hey!” I shout until the bloodsucker drops the girl and turns around fangs out, snarling at me. He does a double take as he recognizes me. As soon as he does he stops snarling at me and his fangs slowly retract back into his gum.

“Zoey Lehane.” He purrs as he gazes at me. His eyes roam down my body before meeting my gaze again. “To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?”

“You sucking the life out of that poor girl on the floor,” I reply indignantly immediately pulling my stake out making him look more amused than scared.

“I wasn’t going to kill her, just having a little snack.” He says with a sneer. The asshole is looking at me but staring through me to someone behind me. Even if he wasn’t this stupid I would have heard the second vampire. Ever since I was little my enhances has been more than normal almost unnatural and I had similar abilities to the monsters I hunted.

I turn fast and with an expert precision plunge my stake into the vampire dead heart. I don’t have time to rest as another vampire comes at me. I move with inhuman speed again killing the second vampire just as fast as I killed the first one.

“Cheating during a fight. How cliche.” I say sarcastically.

“Well, you do know we don’t hunt alone, young girl.” I dart towards him, angered by the slight comment. This young girl is going to be your death tonight. I thought as I started battling the irritating and rather arrogant vampire. He was harder to kill than the first two and he gave me fresh new bruises but eventually I manage to plunge the stake into his dead heart...

He was right about not hunting alone. Every time I try to move I was face to face with a vampire. Making me stay in the alley for about an hour battling vampire after vampire making them 7 in total. I drag them all one by one to the same alley they kept pushing me to and set their bodies on fire.

“Filthy creatures...” I decide to call it a night and head to my favorite bar to unwind. The bartender knows me and although I’m only 18, he lets me drink there.

“Hey Zoey, rough night?” He asks smiling referring to my appearance. I must look all dirty, bloodied and all over the place. He pushes a small shot glass my way. I grab it and down it in one gulp.

“You can say that again,” I reply. “Can I have another one?”

“Sure thing.” He makes another one and slid it my way. I was about to gulp it down when I notice a guy entering the bar.

Making his way to the bar, he sits a few chairs down from me but seems to be so lost in thought he is oblivious to my presence. Dim lit as the bar is, I cannot make out the color of his eyes, but they are shadowed gently by his long hair that is clipped neatly in the back of his head.

My gaze is drawn from his hair to his lips, there is an air of attractiveness about him. It also isn’t difficult for me to picture the smooth lines of his skin from the way his white collared shirt clings to his form in a light caress.

Giving myself the luxury of admiring him for a bit, I languidly sip my drink for a bit before calling it a day.

As I start to drop some money on the table for the bartender, he comes over to me, shaking his head.

“Nathan has paid for you tonight.” The bartender says, jerking his head a little in the direction of the man I have been admiring. I glare at the stranger who hadn’t move a muscle or look in our direction to acknowledge the fact that he was the topic of our conversation, which just made me angrier.

“Tell him, I said thanks but no thanks,” I say as I throw down a couple of bills. “I pay for my own drinks.” Thanks to money my parents left me before they were murdered and I got a scholarship at the university every year for good grades. I didn’t need anyone... Once my parent’s money ran out... I would find a job or charge the other hunters for my nightly work.

As I make my way out of the bar towards my apartment, I can hear footsteps behind me. I am a young girl that looks defenseless and the fact that I could hear the footsteps mean the person following me might be a stupid human man, or an immature vampire thinking my human ears won’t hear the footsteps.

My senses were always enhanced not that I was complaining... I am a slayer one who is being followed.

I pretend not to hear the footsteps and instead of going to my apartment I lure my stalker towards my secret killing alley. Once I am there, I turn around to face my stalker. It is the handsome stranger, and he doesn’t look surprised at all that I caught him out.

Now that he is in front of me, I could see he has really nice green eyes and I have to look up to meet those eyes. He is tall, but then again every other vampire that faces me were. I am 5′2 and this guy looks to be about 6′3. I definitely look like a kid in comparison to him.

“Are you always this rude?” He asks smirking.

“Always.” I snarl, whipping out my stake before assuming a fight position. He was not human.

“I only want to talk.” He says, putting up his hands.

“Well, if you truly know about me, you will know that I don’t “talk” with your kind,” I reply to which the asshole just smiles at me.

“Oh, I know. That is why I didn’t come unprepared. I am quite strong, which means I can make you stop and listen. I won’t do that, so just put the stake down and let’s talk like two civilized adults.”

“Fuck you!” I retort, angry at the condescending tone that he used to speak to me like I was a child. Just because I was short didn’t give these assholes the right to talk to me like that. He definitely didn’t seem surprised at my use of expletive language as he just smirks.

“Fine... the hard way it is.” He says. With an unbelievable speed, and before I could react or even see him move. He pushes me hard against the wall with such strength that has me dropping to the floor, my stake falling out of my hands with a clatter.

He grabs me again roughly and pins me up against the wall.

“You are not a slayer. You belong with us.” I snicker at the stupidity of his words.

“Oh silly me...” I reply with sarcasm.

“Why do you think you are the youngest slayer able that can kill vampires?”

“I can’t defeat you,” I say a little annoyed that I had to point out that fact...

He smirks. “That’s because I’m not the weak ass vampire you are used to dealing with. There are a few vampires like me...”

“How lucky for me,” I say sardonically.

“You have been, believe it or not. I could further proof to you I am stronger by simply biting you into submission. I am trying to be nice.”

“Don’t bother, I won’t listen to you either way,” I replied still trying to pry him off me, but he doesn’t budge.

“Would you listen if I mention that I know something about your parents?” I stop struggling and stare at him.

“Only if you tell me who killed them.” I bargained with him, hoping he would.

“In time, however the first thing I’m going to tell you is that they weren’t your real parents...”

“Liar!” I shout indignantly. I start struggling against him yet again.

“I’m not lying princess.” I stare at him and stop fighting, I have to admit he did have my attention now.