I Sacrifice Myself (2 page)
Read I Sacrifice Myself Online
Authors: Christina Worrell
Tags: #romance, #vampire, #erotica, #love, #horror, #life, #death, #paranormal, #supernatural, #werewolf, #sacrifice, #sexual, #free, #cheap, #spine tingler
The monstrous, hideous, and dark nightmarish
creature turned towards her with bloody fangs sharper than knives,
and smiled. His eyes glowed dark and red, like the flames in the
fireplace. Another image permanently imprinted on her young and
innocent mind.
Shade could not accept the loss of her
precious parents, who’d given up everything to take care of her,
who’d died mercilessly right in front of her face. She looked down
at the good luck charm that her aunts had made especially for her
birthday, wondering why it had not protected her family, and let
the sob finally go. She was doomed either way.
The vampire strode jauntily over to her and
lifted her easily out from under the bed, by the hair of her head,
and laughed in her face.
She kicked, she screamed, she fought back
pitifully and uselessly.
All her fight did was cause the horrid
creature of the night to laugh harder. It easily blocked her
ineffectual fists and exposed her frail ivory neck. When she
attempted to bite him back, he smacked her across the head and
face, instantly crushing her tiny, elfin nose and busting her
cherry-red lips.
Laughing cruelly, he took his razor sharp
fangs and ripped open her neck, letting her crimson blood flow
unhindered all while he savored the enticing and maddening aroma
that only a virgin child could bring.
She remembered her mother’s fire power, the
one that she had been teaching young Shade to develop, and summoned
every bit she possessed. She pulled it from her inner depths and
threw every last bit into the vile vamp’s face, hoping against hope
that it would somehow do what even her own mother could not.
It accomplished something alright. He
dropped her, clearly shocked. He easily tamed the small flames that
licked at him, threatening to singe his flammable body into
ash.
With maddened eyes he picked her up once
more. He slashed at her ribs, ripping her side open, and attempted
to slake his thirst. Her precious life sustaining nectar wasted and
spraying everything within reach.
Shade resigned herself to her helpless fate,
as she stared down at her lifeless parents. Broken, crushed, and
nearly dead, Shade slumped and accepted the fact that she was too
damn weak to do anything.
Just as the darkness began to envelop her in
its sweet and deadly embrace, she heard the vampire struggle and
choke. She could no longer see, she could only hear, hear how the
vampire cursed.
He dropped her, much like a fragile rag
doll, like he had her beautiful mother. Shade was jarred by the
sudden impact, confused by her sudden release. Her wound now
trickled blood, and instinct told her to stay absolutely still, to
give herself much needed time to heal or await help.
The vampire howled like a wolf, cursed her,
threatened to skin her alive and eat her tender organs while she
watched.
Shade smiled, like a dying and crimson
cherub, as the darkness washed over her and taking her from the
macabre of insanity and death.
When she woke, with a whimper and a tremor,
it was still quite dark. Despite the terror she was instantly
consumed by, and the unfathomable pain all over and mainly in her
ribs, she struggled to rise. She smelled the blood. Something told
her that she was carrying quite a bit of it, the sticky and stiff
outfit proved as much.
She could not see at all and it was icy
cold. She knew the fire had died, and that daddy had not added more
wood.
There was a strange and intense burning
throughout her body, as if she was on fire. Almost like the moments
after she practiced their secret power, only intensified beyond
reason. She felt weak and confused. Her ribs felt scabby, as if
she’d hurt herself. That was when she began to realize her
nightmare may have been realistic.
As she struggled to pick herself up off the
floor she stumbled over, what felt like broken furniture, to a
candle. Glass crunched under her bare feet, cutting her, making her
sob.
Something was wrong, morbidly and
frighteningly wrong. Deep down now, she knew her nightmare had not
been dreamed, had been reality and when she lit the candle her
parents would be lying cold in their own blood.
Her will almost died, almost gave in, but
she clenched her eyes, and one fist, and put the light to the wick.
She barely noticed the burn as the flame licked closely at her tiny
fingertips.
She readied herself for the horror that she
knew would greet her, would burn itself into her memory. Her
failure at saving her parents would always haunt her. She had
betrayed them. She was too weak, too young to save them, and now
they lay broken and lifeless before her.
Her ever increasing sobs were loud in the
still night. Moonlight reflected from the mirror that stood in
moonlit shadows in the corner. Its grotesque picture was one that
would always be the one she saw when she closed her eyes.
The metallic and stale smell of blood
sickened her. She felt the stickiness on her face and hands and
knew that she was covered in it. The way her hair was stuck to her
face made her want to rip it off.
She crumpled to the floor as the unavoidable
wails erupted from within her. Her mind nearly refused to see the
sinister madness in the room. It wanted to protect itself but was
too strong, too much of a fighter to let go.
Shade did the only thing she could, the only
thing she knew to do… she summoned her aunts. She had never done so
before, knowing it was something saved especially for emergencies.
If ever there was one, now was the time.
Sixteen Years Later
rather intently to the others at the long, mahogany council table
as they discussed their next big vampire hunt. Like cavemen
thumping their chests and showing who had the bigger brain and
brawn.
Tomorrow was the full moon, a blue full
moon. I was more than eager to see it since the moon was something
special to me. I had an ability many others had never heard
of.
Since I’m getting ahead of myself I’ll
explain while waiting for the others to finish their harsh, erratic
arguing. I had experienced so much of this that it was beginning to
scar me.
I was born under a full moon, and during a
rare equinox, and raised mainly by my aunts who are Pagan witches.
Not the devil worshipping kind, but the ones before Christianity
took over. They also hold Buddhism close to their hearts. They
practice white and shadow magic, and worship the moon and her
goddess Selene. Some know her as the goddess Luna.
They taught me their strange ways from the
moment I came to live with them, my mother before that only shared
tiny bits of this fascinating knowledge. I was not as gifted in
this as I was my curse, something they called a blessing. If they
only carried this living thing, this demon, inside them as I did,
then they would not say that.
In time, I learned how to control my element
fire, and use it only when I had to, in defense. It was powerful,
nearly uncontrollable, and had a mind of its own. All the elements
are alive in their own way, but from the very moment fire is
summoned, or awakened unto our existence, it not only breathes as
living creatures do but it grows and adapts. It can suffocate and
die, if left unattended wreak havoc, and gives us more than just
heat or light. It gives us security, safety, and a sense of power
when the wielder controls it.
I had only just turned five when I came to
them, still just an innocent, and on my birthday.
My family had died tragically and brutally
by the hands of a sadistic vampire. I was bitten and nearly died.
My heart had actually stopped and my aunts were sure I was close to
turning. The hospital and my aunts’ powers, along with the Goddess
Selene’s, saved me at the very last moment. So now I’m a very
unique case, with a very unique curse.
I have all the abilities of a normal
full-blooded vampire, but little of the blood lust, more of a
manageable appetite. Unfortunately, I require daily doses of fresh
blood, but only because I’m sort of anemic. We had tried to inject
it through an IV, but that did little good, it just made me weak
and sick. My aunts quickly realized my problem and gave me a
mixture of their blood and deer blood. I choked at first but it was
obvious it worked, when I started gulping it, and turning a nice
healthy pink.
My strength returned, as well as the unusual
powers I now have. I’m super-fast, super strong, and can see as
well as a vampire in the dark. I also age slowly. Well, that
started when I hit puberty. I’m now twenty one but look sixteen or
seventeen.
I also have other abilities. Abilities I
only have when the moon is out. These I obtained from my mothers’
and aunts’ line, which was ancient, powerful, and reverently feared
by others who are aware of us.
I can become a midnight black and ethereal
shadow, undetectable even by vamps, and other supernatural
creatures. My smell changes to that of a vampire, and is also
nearly unnoticeable. My eyes change as well. They change shape much
like a cat’s, and become black as night, with a thin red ring
around them.
My curse has damned me to be a pitiful and
horrifying monster.
When I say I am fast, no other human can
match me, except one who was also a hybrid like myself. He had some
of the same changes as me. I’ll explain more about him later,
though.
My ex sat next to me, glancing over at me
every so often, giving me peculiar looks. It was obvious from my
posture and blank gaze I was totally not listening anymore.
Ash nudged me, getting my attention. I
really didn’t need to listen to the same old crap they discussed
every time we sat here.
I noticed Santos glaring at me, as well as
our leading Commander Ian. He was only in charge because I was
young and too inexperienced in battle and war games. I think they
feared me more than they cared to admit.
One day either I or Dimitri would take over.
That is if we survived, and if they would somehow see that although
we are dangerous we are not to them.
I smiled ruefully at him. He was no threat
to me and he knew it. His fiancée was my best friend, Lane. We’d
known each other since diapers. Ian was a little bossy but totally
awesome when he was around. He was so quiet that even when he was,
you wouldn’t notice him unless he wanted you to. He adored Lane and
that was the only reason I allowed him to be with her. I refused to
let her be hurt. No matter how she felt about me, she was my best
friend, my sister, and as the stronger one
I was her guardian. Deep down I knew my
freakish and mental side worried her, quite possibly scared her,
and would one day push her from me.
She was absolutely normal, or rather so
hippishly awesome that everyone had to love her. She was the
opposite of me, even though it was like our minds seemed to travel
the same road.
Lane obviously adored Commander Ian right
back. The only time he was gentle or sweet was with her and their
husky Slayer.
If she was threatened in any way, the two of
us were an unstoppable force of nature, slaughtering everything in
our paths. Slayer was her bodyguard of sorts.
He and I had an understanding. I couldn’t
talk with him, or any animal that I knew of, but he understood my
commands nonetheless and his body language was clear. His job was
to protect her with his life and love her like his mother. Both of
which he did willingly and expertly.
I was getting distracted again and totally
off subject. I did that a lot it seemed.
My current, kind of, boyfriend was Dimitri
Stark. He was a hybrid like me, but with a few different talents
and abilities.
As hunters, we were not allowed to
technically date one another. It was only because if the group was
in danger, we would not hesitate to defend them first. The humans
in our group were what mattered. The humans in the facility, that
were not hunters, were top priority and much more important in the
grand scheme of things. Humans would soon become extinct if we
didn’t give our absolute best shot at defending them at all
times.
I think this is a good time to explain why
and how I became a hunter.
It’s the year twenty thirteen. In February
of nineteen ninety-one our world, as we knew it ended and quite
sadistically and suddenly. Somehow supernatural creatures invaded
and took over earth, slaughtering over three quarters of the
population. There were seven something billion people in the world
and now only thousands.
Only the strongest survived, a lesson we
were only now coming to understand.
Zombies, vamps, shifters, and other kinds of
supernaturals flooded the cities and started either eating us or
changing us. No one knows where they came from or if they had been
here all along. We never found portals or gates from other
dimensions. There was no proof these creatures had been human and
all at once changed. If there were witches like me with cursed
blood, then there was bound to be something else out there,
something much worse and much more ominous.
What humans were left lived sheltered lives
with precise jobs and schedules. Sadly, it was more of a caged and
simple life, I thought.
When I was of age, on the eve of my
thirteenth birthday, I was instantly drafted by one of my uncles
into one of the bases to prepare. He ran a camp up in the northern
states where he trained young hunters. Our world was more or less
divided into four regions; north, east, south, and west.
Our military base was a fortunate miracle.
We lived deep in the swamps of Georgia. When the world was changing
and trying to survive, everyone had to bunker down. We call this
change the apocalypse.
creature turned towards her with bloody fangs sharper than knives,
and smiled. His eyes glowed dark and red, like the flames in the
fireplace. Another image permanently imprinted on her young and
innocent mind.
Shade could not accept the loss of her
precious parents, who’d given up everything to take care of her,
who’d died mercilessly right in front of her face. She looked down
at the good luck charm that her aunts had made especially for her
birthday, wondering why it had not protected her family, and let
the sob finally go. She was doomed either way.
The vampire strode jauntily over to her and
lifted her easily out from under the bed, by the hair of her head,
and laughed in her face.
She kicked, she screamed, she fought back
pitifully and uselessly.
All her fight did was cause the horrid
creature of the night to laugh harder. It easily blocked her
ineffectual fists and exposed her frail ivory neck. When she
attempted to bite him back, he smacked her across the head and
face, instantly crushing her tiny, elfin nose and busting her
cherry-red lips.
Laughing cruelly, he took his razor sharp
fangs and ripped open her neck, letting her crimson blood flow
unhindered all while he savored the enticing and maddening aroma
that only a virgin child could bring.
She remembered her mother’s fire power, the
one that she had been teaching young Shade to develop, and summoned
every bit she possessed. She pulled it from her inner depths and
threw every last bit into the vile vamp’s face, hoping against hope
that it would somehow do what even her own mother could not.
It accomplished something alright. He
dropped her, clearly shocked. He easily tamed the small flames that
licked at him, threatening to singe his flammable body into
ash.
With maddened eyes he picked her up once
more. He slashed at her ribs, ripping her side open, and attempted
to slake his thirst. Her precious life sustaining nectar wasted and
spraying everything within reach.
Shade resigned herself to her helpless fate,
as she stared down at her lifeless parents. Broken, crushed, and
nearly dead, Shade slumped and accepted the fact that she was too
damn weak to do anything.
Just as the darkness began to envelop her in
its sweet and deadly embrace, she heard the vampire struggle and
choke. She could no longer see, she could only hear, hear how the
vampire cursed.
He dropped her, much like a fragile rag
doll, like he had her beautiful mother. Shade was jarred by the
sudden impact, confused by her sudden release. Her wound now
trickled blood, and instinct told her to stay absolutely still, to
give herself much needed time to heal or await help.
The vampire howled like a wolf, cursed her,
threatened to skin her alive and eat her tender organs while she
watched.
Shade smiled, like a dying and crimson
cherub, as the darkness washed over her and taking her from the
macabre of insanity and death.
When she woke, with a whimper and a tremor,
it was still quite dark. Despite the terror she was instantly
consumed by, and the unfathomable pain all over and mainly in her
ribs, she struggled to rise. She smelled the blood. Something told
her that she was carrying quite a bit of it, the sticky and stiff
outfit proved as much.
She could not see at all and it was icy
cold. She knew the fire had died, and that daddy had not added more
wood.
There was a strange and intense burning
throughout her body, as if she was on fire. Almost like the moments
after she practiced their secret power, only intensified beyond
reason. She felt weak and confused. Her ribs felt scabby, as if
she’d hurt herself. That was when she began to realize her
nightmare may have been realistic.
As she struggled to pick herself up off the
floor she stumbled over, what felt like broken furniture, to a
candle. Glass crunched under her bare feet, cutting her, making her
sob.
Something was wrong, morbidly and
frighteningly wrong. Deep down now, she knew her nightmare had not
been dreamed, had been reality and when she lit the candle her
parents would be lying cold in their own blood.
Her will almost died, almost gave in, but
she clenched her eyes, and one fist, and put the light to the wick.
She barely noticed the burn as the flame licked closely at her tiny
fingertips.
She readied herself for the horror that she
knew would greet her, would burn itself into her memory. Her
failure at saving her parents would always haunt her. She had
betrayed them. She was too weak, too young to save them, and now
they lay broken and lifeless before her.
Her ever increasing sobs were loud in the
still night. Moonlight reflected from the mirror that stood in
moonlit shadows in the corner. Its grotesque picture was one that
would always be the one she saw when she closed her eyes.
The metallic and stale smell of blood
sickened her. She felt the stickiness on her face and hands and
knew that she was covered in it. The way her hair was stuck to her
face made her want to rip it off.
She crumpled to the floor as the unavoidable
wails erupted from within her. Her mind nearly refused to see the
sinister madness in the room. It wanted to protect itself but was
too strong, too much of a fighter to let go.
Shade did the only thing she could, the only
thing she knew to do… she summoned her aunts. She had never done so
before, knowing it was something saved especially for emergencies.
If ever there was one, now was the time.
Sixteen Years Later
rather intently to the others at the long, mahogany council table
as they discussed their next big vampire hunt. Like cavemen
thumping their chests and showing who had the bigger brain and
brawn.
Tomorrow was the full moon, a blue full
moon. I was more than eager to see it since the moon was something
special to me. I had an ability many others had never heard
of.
Since I’m getting ahead of myself I’ll
explain while waiting for the others to finish their harsh, erratic
arguing. I had experienced so much of this that it was beginning to
scar me.
I was born under a full moon, and during a
rare equinox, and raised mainly by my aunts who are Pagan witches.
Not the devil worshipping kind, but the ones before Christianity
took over. They also hold Buddhism close to their hearts. They
practice white and shadow magic, and worship the moon and her
goddess Selene. Some know her as the goddess Luna.
They taught me their strange ways from the
moment I came to live with them, my mother before that only shared
tiny bits of this fascinating knowledge. I was not as gifted in
this as I was my curse, something they called a blessing. If they
only carried this living thing, this demon, inside them as I did,
then they would not say that.
In time, I learned how to control my element
fire, and use it only when I had to, in defense. It was powerful,
nearly uncontrollable, and had a mind of its own. All the elements
are alive in their own way, but from the very moment fire is
summoned, or awakened unto our existence, it not only breathes as
living creatures do but it grows and adapts. It can suffocate and
die, if left unattended wreak havoc, and gives us more than just
heat or light. It gives us security, safety, and a sense of power
when the wielder controls it.
I had only just turned five when I came to
them, still just an innocent, and on my birthday.
My family had died tragically and brutally
by the hands of a sadistic vampire. I was bitten and nearly died.
My heart had actually stopped and my aunts were sure I was close to
turning. The hospital and my aunts’ powers, along with the Goddess
Selene’s, saved me at the very last moment. So now I’m a very
unique case, with a very unique curse.
I have all the abilities of a normal
full-blooded vampire, but little of the blood lust, more of a
manageable appetite. Unfortunately, I require daily doses of fresh
blood, but only because I’m sort of anemic. We had tried to inject
it through an IV, but that did little good, it just made me weak
and sick. My aunts quickly realized my problem and gave me a
mixture of their blood and deer blood. I choked at first but it was
obvious it worked, when I started gulping it, and turning a nice
healthy pink.
My strength returned, as well as the unusual
powers I now have. I’m super-fast, super strong, and can see as
well as a vampire in the dark. I also age slowly. Well, that
started when I hit puberty. I’m now twenty one but look sixteen or
seventeen.
I also have other abilities. Abilities I
only have when the moon is out. These I obtained from my mothers’
and aunts’ line, which was ancient, powerful, and reverently feared
by others who are aware of us.
I can become a midnight black and ethereal
shadow, undetectable even by vamps, and other supernatural
creatures. My smell changes to that of a vampire, and is also
nearly unnoticeable. My eyes change as well. They change shape much
like a cat’s, and become black as night, with a thin red ring
around them.
My curse has damned me to be a pitiful and
horrifying monster.
When I say I am fast, no other human can
match me, except one who was also a hybrid like myself. He had some
of the same changes as me. I’ll explain more about him later,
though.
My ex sat next to me, glancing over at me
every so often, giving me peculiar looks. It was obvious from my
posture and blank gaze I was totally not listening anymore.
Ash nudged me, getting my attention. I
really didn’t need to listen to the same old crap they discussed
every time we sat here.
I noticed Santos glaring at me, as well as
our leading Commander Ian. He was only in charge because I was
young and too inexperienced in battle and war games. I think they
feared me more than they cared to admit.
One day either I or Dimitri would take over.
That is if we survived, and if they would somehow see that although
we are dangerous we are not to them.
I smiled ruefully at him. He was no threat
to me and he knew it. His fiancée was my best friend, Lane. We’d
known each other since diapers. Ian was a little bossy but totally
awesome when he was around. He was so quiet that even when he was,
you wouldn’t notice him unless he wanted you to. He adored Lane and
that was the only reason I allowed him to be with her. I refused to
let her be hurt. No matter how she felt about me, she was my best
friend, my sister, and as the stronger one
I was her guardian. Deep down I knew my
freakish and mental side worried her, quite possibly scared her,
and would one day push her from me.
She was absolutely normal, or rather so
hippishly awesome that everyone had to love her. She was the
opposite of me, even though it was like our minds seemed to travel
the same road.
Lane obviously adored Commander Ian right
back. The only time he was gentle or sweet was with her and their
husky Slayer.
If she was threatened in any way, the two of
us were an unstoppable force of nature, slaughtering everything in
our paths. Slayer was her bodyguard of sorts.
He and I had an understanding. I couldn’t
talk with him, or any animal that I knew of, but he understood my
commands nonetheless and his body language was clear. His job was
to protect her with his life and love her like his mother. Both of
which he did willingly and expertly.
I was getting distracted again and totally
off subject. I did that a lot it seemed.
My current, kind of, boyfriend was Dimitri
Stark. He was a hybrid like me, but with a few different talents
and abilities.
As hunters, we were not allowed to
technically date one another. It was only because if the group was
in danger, we would not hesitate to defend them first. The humans
in our group were what mattered. The humans in the facility, that
were not hunters, were top priority and much more important in the
grand scheme of things. Humans would soon become extinct if we
didn’t give our absolute best shot at defending them at all
times.
I think this is a good time to explain why
and how I became a hunter.
It’s the year twenty thirteen. In February
of nineteen ninety-one our world, as we knew it ended and quite
sadistically and suddenly. Somehow supernatural creatures invaded
and took over earth, slaughtering over three quarters of the
population. There were seven something billion people in the world
and now only thousands.
Only the strongest survived, a lesson we
were only now coming to understand.
Zombies, vamps, shifters, and other kinds of
supernaturals flooded the cities and started either eating us or
changing us. No one knows where they came from or if they had been
here all along. We never found portals or gates from other
dimensions. There was no proof these creatures had been human and
all at once changed. If there were witches like me with cursed
blood, then there was bound to be something else out there,
something much worse and much more ominous.
What humans were left lived sheltered lives
with precise jobs and schedules. Sadly, it was more of a caged and
simple life, I thought.
When I was of age, on the eve of my
thirteenth birthday, I was instantly drafted by one of my uncles
into one of the bases to prepare. He ran a camp up in the northern
states where he trained young hunters. Our world was more or less
divided into four regions; north, east, south, and west.
Our military base was a fortunate miracle.
We lived deep in the swamps of Georgia. When the world was changing
and trying to survive, everyone had to bunker down. We call this
change the apocalypse.
Other books
Hooking Up by Tom Wolfe
Rules of Harte (Harte Series #1) by Harris, Brooke
The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander
A Mountain of Crumbs: A Memoir by Elena Gorokhova
Sea of Christmas Miracles by Christine Dorsey
Darkness before the Dawn by Anne Stuart
Midnight Temptations With a Forbidden Lord by Tiffany Clare
Samson and Sunset by Dorothy Annie Schritt
The Great War of the Quartet (The Imperial Timeline Book 1) by M.K. Sangert
