The Vampire Hunter

Chapter One

I didn't even think I could run this fast. My legs slicing through the cold wind at full speed. Every noise around me, including my own breath, has been deafened by the vociferous thumping of my own heart. Even though I had probably broken my mother’s heart from the things I'd said to her, I could not let it get to me. Not now. I could feel guilty later. But for now, running is all I could do. In this instance, nothing else mattered but him. Not mum, not Riley, not anyone or anything. I had to save him. The threat had grown bigger than any of us could have anticipated, and it continued to grow with every step I took. Time was running thin, and hope was wearing away. We had one chance left, our ultimate army now shot down to one soldier. Me.

TWO MONTHS EARLIER.

My name is Leila Taylor and I'm from Louisiana. A place full of opportunities, happiness and having a damn good time. Call me biased, but Louisiana is the best place I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. From frog festivals to Jazz music, it is my home.

But I have to move to the gloomy country of England because there is something coming after me and my family. Something bad, dark. And the only way for us to escape it, is to go a new location. It's hard, but it's the only way to keep my family and I safe.

My family are descendants of the first generation of vampire hunters, and for many centuries vampires have been trying to kill my family. And we have been trying to kill them. Escaping the enemy has always been one of our strengths, we have bunkers and safe places below the levels of our Louisiana home which have never been discovered. Surviving in the safe space for a week or so has always been a success when dealing with young and clueless vampires. But I fear that this time we will not be so lucky. We have the four most powerful vampires in the world on our trail, they are called the First borns. They want to kill us because we have discovered the only way to kill them. But First borns are the oldest and deadliest vampires alive, they have special qualities to ordinary vampires. They can only be killed by chopping off their head and that isn't easy with their outstanding strength. They stick together and are never apart. Their names are: Ivan, Cassia, Evangeline and Joseph. Each of these vampires are the only ones of their kind that have special abilities, Ivan can turn you to a skeleton. Cassia can blind you with the use of black fog, Evangeline can inflict sudden pain, and Joseph can make you do whatever he wants.

Myself, my mother, my father, my brother Riley and my sister Hannah managed to make it to England in the early hours of a foggy Thursday morning. We left everything behind; clothes, phones, friends, memories. Everything, apart from our Hunting weapons and our life’s savings. My Dad’s real job is owning a successful electronics company called 'Treaty appliances.' But it is written in my Dad’s friend’s name, so if anything happens to my Dad it will not go global. But that's another story.

I remember the sky that night we arrived, even though England is known for its gloomy weather, there was not a single cloud or drop of rain in the sky. Just stars that glistened beautifully giving our dramatic travel a nice ending. We stayed in a hotel that night because we had no house to call home. But our money would soon sort that out. Despite being ‘on the run’, living a normal life is still important. Myself and Riley would have to be enrolled into a college, and Hannah have to be enrolled into a secondary school. But we have bigger problems to deal with. Living normally is a priority, but is it worth it? The likelihood is that, settling in here could be the dumbest thing we could do.

A month passed and we had a house, a car, clothes, etc... Riley and I would start our College, and Hannah would start her school. Living… Normally.

My Dad chose the closest college to our house and did the same with Hannah. So if the First borns find us we can quickly get home, grab everything we need and escape as soon as we can. My parents have everything planned if we are ever found. Riley, Hannah and I just need to live our lives like normal teenagers. That sounds easy, right? Wrong. My whole life I have never been normal. From the moment I could walk I was trained to be a hunter. I never went to school, I was only taught to hunt vampires. But my Dad is determined that we will stay here for a while and we need to act like everything is normal. For the first time in my life, my parents have given me permission to try and have a normal life. To me this is a blessing, I suppose, like a little kid being able to eat their dessert before dinner.