Three centuries ago, at the tender age of six, she discovered that she was utterly alone. No one would attempt to save her, not even her own kind. The resentful memories of the night she nearly died penetrated her thoughts. The moment she discovered her freedom from darkness, the ones she thought were kin hunted her as soon as the night rose. She had no chance to escape, nothing to bargain or reason with. Before she plummeted into darkness, she remembered her sire nodding his approval, his face barren of all emotions — signaling his consent to her death.
Her body shuddered, remembering the Hell she had lived through to get to where she was today. Another soft sigh escaped her lips; she tilted her head back to inhale the warm spring air and exhaled loudly. She found herself thinking of her past more frequently lately, it was certainly a mood killer.
She shrugged her shoulders and readjusted her legs to sit up, crossing her slender legs securely under her. She tilted her head side to side to stretch out her stiff muscles. The days have been quietly passing by recently, it had been a few weeks since her estranged clan had sent another vampyr after her. Still, she shouldn't become complacent. They will always be a threat to her safety. Someone is always watching, silently lurking in the night waiting for the right moment to strike.
Though, she had a few hours of daylight left. There was no need to retreat early, in fact. It was almost time for the main event.
As if on cue, a loud squeal sounded just yards away to her right.
"Miss Avalenne!" a young child with bright blue eyes and chestnut brown hair in a ponytail beamed her a toothy grin, pulling her bicycle to a screeching halt on the tarmac riding path. The little lady quickly dismounted her pink and purple, bedazzled My Little Pony bike and ran towards her. "You're here!"
Avalenne grinned, her mood brightened at the face of her favorite little friend. She stretched out her arms, eager to receiving the girl in an adoring embrace. "Here I am! I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long."
Molly, with one of her front teeth missing, flashed her a bright grin. "That's alright! Daddy says you have to go on a lot of business trips. Are you finally done working?"
Avalenne lightly shrugged, "For now."
"Will you be staying a while?" Molly settled herself on Avalenne's lap, looking up at her with admiration in her eyes.
"Maybe," she replied. The threat of her clan hunting her will always exist. Sometimes it would take hours to lose them, sometimes it would take weeks. The sense of uncertainly always loomed above her head. "Hey," Avalenne shifted the subject, wanting to redirect the child's thoughts. "If I remember correctly, I think I beat you at soccer last time. How about a rematch, have you been practicing?" She nodded over to the soccer field to their left. She knew this would get her attention — Molly was a competitive creature.
Molly pouted for a split second, then bounced onto her feet. "You're not going to win this time, Miss Avalenne! I've been practicing!"
A lifetime of worries soon disintegrated into the air as the duo raced into the soccer field to play a rematch game. She loved Molly dearly and thought it was ironic that the little girl's father was exactly the same when he was a child. Her father did the same thing when he was no older than seven— he came up to her and offered to play a match of soccer. Arrogant little chit even wagered on ice-cream, the loser buys. That day, she let him win and bought him as many as he wanted. Simply because she found his courage most refreshing. And she secretly found it satisfying watching the poor boy suffer from having a brain freeze. It's the little things in life.
Time flies when you're having fun, as the saying goes. Daylight faded into dusk as the sun began to set over the horizon, triggering the stadium lights to flickering on, signaling the rise of night.
"Molly, it's time to go!" Her father, Daniel Jefferson, hollered from the edge of the soccer field.
Avalenne stopped the soccer ball under her foot, and turned to greet him. She had sensed him coming long before he had announced his presence. Ever the cautious man, Daniel would make sure that the surveillance of the property would be completely covered before letting his eldest loose. The security of his family meant the world to him. After all, Avalenne couldn't fault him for being over cautious. He was the only living human that knew of her dark secret. He is, how some people would say, "woke" to the ways of the arcane races.
She waved her hand in the air and offered him a bright smile, "Howdy, Mr. Jefferson!" She pretended to wipe the sweat off her forehead, brushing her glistening silver hair away from her eyes. "Your daughter puts up quite the fight on the field. She's fiercer than a bull with a rider!" Avalenne grinned, wanting to give little Molly some encouragement.
He laughed heartily at Avalenne's over-the-top southern accent and exaggerated compliment of his child. Jogging effortlessly, he made his way over to her and his daughter. He approached quickly, his form lax and friendly. As old friends, he pulled her into a platonic embrace. "Avalenne! How are ya, girl?"
How odd. It seemed like just yesterday that Daniel was no taller than her hip. "Faring well. It's good to see you again," she returned his embrace. "How is your wife and youngest?" It had been a while since she seen had seen Daniel's other half. The last time she had seen them as a family unit was when Molly was born.
"Just dandy, they're at home," he hoisted his daughter up in his arms as he replied. A sincere note touched his voice, "Staying out of trouble?" His tone held an underlying question — he meant to ask, 'are they still hunting you?' If Molly weren't paying attention, the conversation would've been a little different, perhaps on a darker level.
Avalenne flashed him a knowing grin, "You know. Same ol' stuff, different day." Yes. She hadn't meant to be gone for so long, her stalkers have been most persistent lately. "I can't always linger around. You know that."
"Uh huh," he nodded knowingly, that was all he needed to hear. A part of him wondered if she was tired of being hunted like a criminal, always needed to check behind her for trackers and the like. He knew of her deepest, darkest secrets—she trusted him, utterly and completely, yet a part of him questioned if she had more she wasn't telling him. Her past was deeply mysterious, if not confusing. "Do you want to stop by for dinner? Chicken quesadillas' on the menu tonight."
She smiled at his offer and shook her head, her silvery tresses shaking with motion. "No. Thank you though, I best get going. You know how it is." She nodded up at the darkening sky. There were things she wanted to avoid when once night fell, the last thing she want to happen is to have her friend and his family injured because she was visiting with them.
A whisper of cool breeze combed through the grassy field, the all too familiar feeling raised the fine hairs of her skin. Shit.
A dark voice slithered around them, "Yes... this one and I have some private talking to do."
Avalenne and Daniel visibly tensed at the voice of the intruder. Her large, pale amethyst eyes followed Daniel's free arm, reaching for the gun holstered on his duty belt, ready to defend his family and dear friend. She knew it to be futile though. Human weapons will not work on this intruder. She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.
"Go, I'll handle this," she whispered, her eyes gazing intently into his. 'You've got a family to protect,' her eyes seem to say.
Daniel's jaw clenched tightly as balanced his options, his hand still in contact with his gun. He hesitated until Avalenne shook her head and nodded at Molly in his arms. First and foremost, Molly's safety came first, and Daniel agreed. Reluctantly, he shifted Molly in his arms and shot the intruder a cautionary gaze before turning away. 'Be careful,' he mouthed to her, the back of his head facing the intruder so his words couldn't be lipread. He knew she was capable, though, as a friend, he couldn't help but be concerned of her well-being.
Avalenne smiled and nodded, she reached over and brushed a quick kiss to Molly's temple. "I'll see you again soon, kiddo."
Molly, aware of the tension in the air, nodded silently, her wide, observing eyes glistened with worry.
Without sparing another moment, Avalenne headed to collect her belongings under the tree she was resting at earlier. Her back was relaxed, showing the intruder that she was not threatened.
"My, my… what wonderful friends you have, dearest," the intruder was instantly behind her when she paused right by her bag, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear.
Avalenne resisted the urge to gag at his scent. The scent of the living dead invaded her senses —no, not zombies. Vampyr. "What are you doing here, Zephyr?" she asked in an exasperated tone, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of her voice. The last tracker she had was more experienced, and someone she didn't know about. But Zephyr? She had known him the night she was cast to die by her sire. He was ultimately, the most harmless of the trackers that had been sent for her. Probably because he once mentioned that her sire betrothed her to him. Ugh, she grimaced at the thought. Why would her sire bother to mention betrothals when everything that he had done showed her that he wanted her killed?
Three hundred years. She had been running, hiding, fighting, defending herself against the vampyr that her father had been sending her way. Every time she would successfully lose one, another would shortly follow, eager to please their master by capturing her. She was so weary, as of late. Of the hiding — the fighting, and the violence. Every night, she wished for peace.
Though she knew, the betrothal was a ploy. If she surrendered, she will die.
"Your father wishes to speak with you. Time is of the essence," Zephyr took a step closer, gripping her shoulders tightly—trapping her under his deadly nails.
Avalenne tensed, "Isn't it always?" She shrugged off his grip roughly, his nails scraping against the fabric of her burgundy cotton long sleeve v-neck shirt. "Not interested, sorry," she said flippantly and began walking away.
Zephyr flashed in front of her with his inhumane speed, not caring that humans were still on the perimeter. "It's not a choice," he hissed, barring his vampyr fangs at her.
No, it will never be her choice, will it?
Avalenne sighed and tossed her bag to the ground. Yes, she wanted peace. She dared to dream of it every night for the last century. But she wasn't a coward. The hunts of the last three hundred years allowed her to hone on the skills she was born with, and skills she had learned along the way.
With a hiss of her own, Avalenne lengthened her finger nails into deadly claws, red rims encircled her pale amethyst irises, rendering her vision into that of a full fledged vampyr.
If it's a fight Zephyr wants, then a fight she will gladly give him.