Chosen (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends)

chosen

(book #4 of the Vampire
Legends)

emma knight

Books by Emma Knight

SWORN (Book #1 of the Vampire Legends)
TAKEN (Book #2 of the Vampire Legends)
BITTEN (Book #3 of the Vampire Legends)
CHOSEN (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends)
AWAKENED (Book #5 of the Vampire Legends)
RISEN (Book #6 of the Vampire Legends)

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Copyright
© 2012 by Emma Knight

All
rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the
prior permission of the author.

This
ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for
your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places,
events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

“I love thee, I love but thee

With a love that shall not die

Till the sun grows cold

And the stars grow old.”

--William Shakespeare

Chapter
1

Rachel looked
down at her green, scaly mermaid tail and her long, flowing red hair, and for a
second, she couldn’t help but wonder why she looked like a mermaid. Holding her
hand as she swam under the sea was Benji. She looked down at his legs, which
were no longer legs, but a green, scaly tail as well, and the water flowing
through his beautiful mane of hair made it look irresistible as he gazed into
her eyes. The warm water reminded her of the tropics. She could feel the sun
beating down on her through the crystal blue water as she gazed back into
Benji’s eyes.

He leaned in and
kissed her, passionately, as if it were their first kiss. She felt tingley
through her tail and hands and she could feel the little hairs on her arms
stand up. As they kissed, Rachel could feel something being slipped into her
hands. It was cold and metal with sharp edges.

She looked down
to see Benji had handed her a shiny, gold key.

She looked at him,
confused.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the Gold
Key, let’s use it,” Benji said.

“Where? How?”
Rachel asked, looking around the sea floor as if a treasure chest would
magically appear.

“C’mon, Rach,
you’ve done this before, don’t you remember?”

“Um, I think
you’re mistaken, I’ve never seen this key before in my life!” Rachel assured
him.

“This key is to
the Golden Chest. You remember, the one that came out of the old ship.”

Rachel stopped
and thought for a moment and then a smile came across her face. Suddenly, she
remembered it. Benji had found the key they’d been looking for for ages. The
key held the answers to what lie inside the ancient Golden Chest.

“Let’s go!”
Rachel said in excitement, as she grabbed Benji’s hand and started swimming up
towards the rays of the sun. “We don’t have much time!” Rachel said, swimming
faster.

“I know, we have
to move quickly!”

The two swam
quickly up towards the shore, passing other schools of fish, swimming around
them. As they reached the top of the water, Rachel leaned in and kissed Benji
one more time.

“I love you,”
Benji said, in between kisses.

“I love you,
more,” Rachel said back, smiling. “Promise you’ll never leave me?”

“I promise!”
Benji said.

“Say it again,”
Rachel begged.

“I promise! We
will be together forever. Now, let’s go find that treasure,” Benji said with
excitement.

“OK!” Rachel
said.

As they emerged
from the water, their mermaid bodies quickly turned back into human bodies,
with legs and feet. They no longer had their tails and now they could breath
oxygen. As if this were completely normal, it didn’t faze either of them as
they skipped together towards the Golden Chest.

The sun quickly
went behind the clouds and the sky grew dark—darker than Rachel had ever seen
before. It was almost black, like midnight on Halloween. There was a bright
orange streak where the sun had gone behind the clouds that cast an ominous
shadow over the land. Rachel became scared and slunk into Benji’s arms.

“Don’t worry,
Rachel. We will be OK, we just have to get to the chest,” Benji assured her.

“No, I’m scared.
What’s happening?” Rachel asked.

“There’s no time
for questions. Hurry!” Benji pleaded. “There’s the chest, I see it, over
there!” He pointed towards the rocks next to the ocean.

The two ran
quickly towards the rocks where the Golden Chest lay on its side. As they
approached it, the two looked around to see if anyone was there or if anyone
was watching them. They knew they had to move quickly so they didn’t get caught.

“Hurry, get the
key out!” Benji said to Rachel.

Rachel fumbled
around and reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out the shiny golden key.
Her hands were shaking as she lifted it towards the key hole.

“I hope this
works!” Rachel said.

As she put the
shiny key into the hole, a loud crash of thunder boomed above her, making her
jump backwards.

“Try again!”
Benji yelled. “C’mon, Rachel!”

She quickly got
back onto her feet and put the key back into the hole. She turned the key to
the right, and a beam of light came out of the cracks of the chest. As she and
Benji worked together to pry the lid off a huge wave came and crashed over
them, getting them soaking wet. The waves kept coming, faster and faster, and
Rachel felt drenched.

*

Rachel woke with a
start, and felt as if she were falling from a high cliff. She sat up, out of
breath, looking around her as if it had all really just happened. She touched
her legs to see if they were real or if she still had a tail. She couldn’t
remember how she’d gotten to this place as she looked around to find herself
washed up in a dark, damp cave. Panicked, she looked around for Benji. She
couldn’t find him anywhere, but heard someone breathing loudly around the bend.

She leapt to her
feet and peered around the bend of the eerie cave she’d woken up in.

“Benji!” she
cried, her voice echoing. “Are you here?”

Silence filled
the air. The breathing she’d heard just moments before grew louder and louder,
as if following her. She started to whimper and tear up thinking that she may
be alone in this cave with nobody to protect her.

“Benji, please! I
need you!” Rachel cried.

Rachel looked
around to see stalagmites and stalagtites surrounding the ceiling and floor of
the cave. She had to dodge them in the tight areas. Then, suddenly, she saw
him, lying on the floor with blood coming out of his neck.

Benji.

She ran over
towards him, slinking her body down next to his and lying across his body
hysterically crying.

“No! Benji! No!”

Chapter
2

Rachel could see Benji’s
chest rising and falling. He was alive, but in great danger. The wound on his
neck was still bleeding, dripping into a large puddle on the floor that looked
as though it had been dripping for quite some time. She stood back cautiously,
not wanting to hurt him, not wanting to cause any more damage to his body. What
she really wanted to do was pick him up and hold him, kiss him and tell him
everything would be OK—but she couldn’t. She didn’t know if it would be OK.
From the sight of Benji, she knew he was in trouble.

“Benji,” she
whispered, hoping for a response.

His quick breaths
filled the air as she watched the blood continue to ooze from his neck.

“Benji, are you
OK? Please tell me you’re OK, PLEASE!” Rachel pleaded quietly, almost in tears.

Nothing.

Rachel got closer
to his body, reached out and touched his ice cold hand, which sent a shiver
down her spine. For a moment she’d forgotten they were vampires. She tried to
remember.

She remembers
clutching the Blue Tablet. Holding Benij’s hand and jumping. Plunging to what
she was sure would be her death. But, here she was, alive, breathing, trying to
figure out how they got into this cave. Had the jump killed him?

She looked down
at her wrist, hoping her watch was still on, and it was. The time said 11:05am
and the date was September 15
^th
.

“September 15
^th
?”
she asked out loud.

How could it be
September? she thought to herself. The last thing she remembered was the
Halloween Ball and it being almost Thanksgiving. She thought something must
have gone wrong with her watch, maybe the battery was low or maybe it was
broken. She grabbed Benji’s arm and looked down at his watch in disbelief.

September 15
^th
.
How could this be? Had they really been in this cave for almost a year?

Then, out of
nowhere, Benji started coughing and spitting up water.

“Benji! Are you
ok? Answer me!” Rachel cried.

Gurgling noises
came from his throat as one of his eye lids opened and Rachel caught a glimpse
of the whites of his eyes and his pupils rolling back in his head.

“Benji, please,
don’t die, you can’t leave me!” Rachel begged. “I love you.”

Rachel looked at
Benji’s lips, which appeared to be mouthing something to her. She couldn’t
quite make it out. She listened carefully and heard a slight whisper.

“The Red Amulet,”
Benji whispered softly, his eyes still not focusing.

“Red Amulet?”
Rachel asked. “What’s that?”

Then without
another word, Benji’s body slunk back into a state of unconsciousness and his
body lay limp on the cave floor. She took another look at Benji and realized
she needed to find help fast. She tried to pick him up—but he was too heavy.
She couldn’t lift him. She realized the only way was for her to leave him and
go get help. She hated the idea of leaving him here alone—but she had no
choice.

Rachel walked
quickly through the cave, trying to find a way out. It was dark and damp, and
the screeching of bats echoed off the wall. She thought for a moment that she
was still dreaming, or in some sort of horror movie.

Terrified of
being alone, she began to breathe quickly, and her heart started racing. She
had to get out of there—and fast. She ran towards a ray of light she saw
towards the far back of the cave, but when she came upon it, realized it was
only a small hole leading to the outside. She couldn’t possibly fit through it.

She walked
towards the other end but found nothing but darkness and stalagmites. She walked
to another end and luckily she saw a narrow passageway, just big enough for her
to squeeze her way through.

Sucking in her
gut and barely breathing, she pushed her way though the small opening and
followed the smell of fresh air and the warm rays of sun that were hitting her
on the face. Thankfully, she’d applied Hex Lotion in anticipation of getting
out of the cave alive and so she wasn’t worried about getting burnt or killed.

With only the Red
Amulet on her mind, Rachel knew she had to figure out what the Red Amulet was
and where to find it. She knew Benji was in great danger, and perhaps this Red
Amulet was the only thing that could save him now. She felt like a lost puppy
and didn’t know where to begin. She needed Benji now more than ever and he was
unable to wake up or help her. She’d wished he could have finished telling her
about the Red Amulet before he fell back into his state of unconsciousness, but
he didn’t. Now it was up to her to put all the pieces together. It was up to
her to make it right and save his life. After all, he’d do anything for her.
Now it was her turn to prove her love to him.

Rachel leapt into
the air, felt her wings spread, felt the cool wind hit her in the face and
knew, that no matter what she had to do, she would find it.