Prologue
Aria lay in the damp grass, watching the sun rise. She knew she'd have to get up soon for chores, but for now, she was happy lying there.
"Ari, how long have you been out here?"
Aria shot up, but relaxed when she saw it was only her brother. "Charlie, you scared me!" She giggled.
Charlie smiled. "Good, that's what I was going for." He reached his hand out for her.
She grabbed it, and he pulled her up. "Have you done your chores yet?"
Aria sighed. She knew she had forgotten something. "Not yet."
Charlie shook his head slowly. "Dad's going to be back from the market soon, he won't be happy."
Aria frowned. "I know. I'll go get started." Charlie suddenly burst out laughing. Aria blinked. "What?"
Charlie grinned, his red eyes glistening with humor. "I was kidding, I already did them for you."
Aria smacked Charlie's arm. She couldn't believe she fell for that. "Charlie!"
Charlie backed away from her. "Come on, it was funny."
Aria raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Was it really?"
Charlie sprinted to the back porch of their small cottage. "It was, honestly."
Aria chased after him. "You're a jerk, you know that, right?"
"Obviously." He flung the door open. "You should go get ready, dad said he had a surprise for your birthday."
Aria grinned. "Awesome!" She followed him inside. She inhaled, enjoying the slightly damp smell of her home. She made her way to her bedroom to get ready. She looked through her closet until she settled on wearing a plain olive green dress that flowed down to her ankles. She brushed her black hair and let it fall down to her waist. She was about to lace up her boots when she heard shouting and banging from the main room.
Charlie was being pinned to the wall by men in uniforms. "What did I do?" Charlie asked, his eyes wide with terror.
One of the men scoffed as he put handcuffs on him. Aria couldn't see the man's face through the helmet, but she could tell he was scowling by the sound of his voice. "You know exactly what you did."
Charlie looked at Aria desperately, but she was frozen, she knew she needed to do something. She needed to scream, punch, throw something, do anything. But, she couldn't move, no matter how hard she tried. "I didn't do anything wrong, please let me go," Charlie pleaded.
The man snorted. "You know it's punishable by death for a vampire to pose as a human. You have to face the consequences of your actions."
Aria broke out of her daze and ran to help Charlie. "Let him go, you have the wrong person!" The other man swung his hand at her.
Aria lay on the cold floor, slowly opening her eyes. She looked around, Charlie, and the men were gone.
Aria sat on the rocking chair on her porch, staring at the scenery. She sighed as she thought about Charlie. It had only been a month, but it felt like an eternity. She only snapped out of it when she saw someone approaching her. It was the village's messenger. He handed her a letter in an envelope with a fancy seal. "Seems the royal family made a decision about your brother, good luck," he said as he began walking away.
Aria nodded. "Thanks." She held the letter, her knees shaking as she went inside to her father. "They've decided what to do with Charlie." Her voice was barely a whisper.
Her father looked up at her, his face slightly pale. "Open it."
Aria stared down at the envelope. She knew this was the moment everything would change for her, for better or for worse. She watched her hands slowly open the letter. She cleared her throat. "After a lengthy trial, it has been decided that Charles Moore is guilty of impersonating a human, and is set to be executed on-" Aria gasped. "He's going to be executed in two weeks!"
She watched her father break down into sobs, but couldn't feel anything herself. This couldn't be real, this couldn't happen, not to Charlie. He was her brother. What would she do without him? Suddenly, the tears began streaming down her face. Charlie was gone. She would never see him again. Never feel one of his warm hugs, never laugh at one of his jokes, never be teased about her messy room, he was gone forever.
