Mixed Worlds

            The sun is setting as Ally steps out onto her back porch. With her long brown hair lightly blowing in the wind and her dark green floor-length dress playing with her ankles, she takes a deep breath and takes in the smell of the ocean waters waving up to the shore. She listens to the soft music the waves create as they curl over and crash into the sand. She can feel the cool, up-state New York October breeze brush against her cheek. On the night her parents re-new their vows after twenty years of marriage, their giant house on the lake is packed full of family, friends, co-workers, and just about everyone they know. Some of which, Ally has never even met. Ally has never had anything to complain about in life. Her father was the CEO of Clark industries; a law firm that he started just after Ally was born. Amidst all of the music, and people talking and laughing, she hears the heavy footsteps of someone coming up behind her.               “What’re you doing out here Allycat? It’s a little chilly to be out here without a coat. Everyone’s looking for you, and Jamie and I are getting ready to give a toast.” He said as he takes off his jacket and wraps it over her shoulders. “You’re gonna catch a cold. And no offence, but you’re a cranky little s**t when you have a runny nose.”               Another deep breath. Handing back his jacket, she looks up and says “I’m just getting some fresh air. I’ll be inside in a few minutes. I promise.” She smiles and turns to walk out to the pier. She hears the door close behind her brother and she checks her phone. She has a missed call and a text message from her younger sister Jamie.             -where are you? 911             She lets out a heavy sigh as she opens her phone and calls her sister. The call goes straight to voicemail.                              “Jamie? You literally just texted me. I’m just outside getting some fresh air.  I’ll be back in a few and you can tell me what’s-”                Ally’s message is cut short when she hears a big crash from shattering glass and spins around to see her sister hanging half way out of the second story window. She picks up her dress and bolts back to the house. “JAMIE?! HOLD ON!” She screamed as loud as she could. She runs back to the house and sees her dad talking to another man, and the stranger takes off running down the hall. “Dad! Where’s mom? Jamie is-“               “Ally-bear listen to me.” He grabs her by the shoulders and hides her behind the wall. Looking into her eyes, he says “Do you remember the stories your Mimi used to tell you as a kid? About the monsters?”              “Yes, but what does that have to do with what’s going on here? Jamie’s hanging out of a f*****g window!” She yells through her tears. “We need to help her and go find mom and Marcus. Where are they?” She looks around hoping to see a familiar face.               “Ally-Marie! Look at me!” He grabs her shoulders. “Jamie is gone. Rose and Marcus are in the basement gathering weapons. There are vampires in this house and they are the reason for all of this right now. I was a hunter of the supernatural before you were born. I will explain more later but right now I need your help. Can you do that?” He slides his hands down her arm to hold her hands. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out as she is unable to speak due to shock, so she nods her head.  “Okay. Good. Lets go. Stay close to me okay? I won’t let anything happen to you but you have to stay close to me. Do you understand?”               “Yes sir.” She says with a crack in her throat. Grabbing her hand, they both run into the house to find her mom and brother. They head for the basement but when they get to the doorway, they hear her mothers screams.               “Stay here. Take this.” He hands her a piece of wood that looks like it was snapped from one of their mixing spoons. “If anyone with rows of teeth comes charging at you, aim for the heart. Don’t let them bite you. I’ll be right back.” Her dad kisses her forehead and leaves to find the rest of her family. Carefully moving around the house, she sees a man with jagged teeth walk into the living room. Before he sees her, she’s jammed her broken spoon into his back, and he crumbles to the ground. Another grabs her from behind, and throws her against the wall. She grunts, but she stands back up ready to fight.               This man stands about six feet tall, with dark black hair, and a five-o’clock shadow. His fangs slowly come out above his actual teeth, and walks towards her with a low hissing noise.                “Stop! Why are you doing this? Can’t you guys eat animals or something? Why do people have to die?” Her hand begins to shake, so she makes her grip tighter. “What do you want!?”               “Oh silly girl. Humans have a very strong, delightful taste that is simply irresistible. One drop and you become as hooked as a heroin addict.” He takes another step. “Give up now girl, because fighting back will only make it harder for you.”               Ally sees her dad slowly walk up to the vampire with a large stake in his hand. With a firm voice, he calls out the vampire’s name.“Christian.” He jumps forward, aiming for the heart. The vampire spins around, and with one hand grabbing the stake out of her fathers grip, the other is suddenly clenching his neck. She sees his nails grow twice in size, penetrating his skin.               “STOP! Leave him alone. Please just let us go and we won’t hurt you. Please!” She walks up behind him and tries to pull his hand away. He throws her into the wall and when her eyes meet his, Christian takes her dad’s throat into his mouth and rips out a chunk of his neck. “NO!!” She runs over to the man picking the stake up along the way, and throws her self onto him making him fall over. Landing on top of him, she raises her hand high and aims the stake in the middle of his chest. He catches her hand just as the stake pokes through his skin, with a small look of fear in his eyes.                “Not today babe.” Christian grins and with a swift blow to the head, her world slowly fades away.                  What seemed like a few minutes, turned out to be a few hours. She wakes up  laying next to her lifeless father and begins to sob. Her head feels heavy, and feels a stinging pain in her neck. She tries to rub it, and winces in pain.  Horror sweeps across her face as she sees the thick red blood on her hands. She runs to the bathroom, and after seeing the cut on her head and a bite mark on her neck, she screams. “No... no! I don’t want this!”  She bolts to the basement, and sees a door she’s never noticed before wide open. She walks into the room finding a variety of books, trinkets, weapons, and other varieties of items placed all over the room.                  She frantically runs around the room, looking for anything related to vampires. She hears a familiar voice, and turns around to see her father, covered in blood with a big chunk of flesh missing from his neck.                “Hi Ally-Bear.” He smiles, trying to seem okay for his daughter.               “Dad?! How are you here...?” She looks him up and down, and he disappears for a quick moment, and in a second he’s standing at his desk, and pulls out a box of syringes with a black liquid inside. “Dad, if you’re a... a ghost, then how are you touching things?” She walks over to him, puzzled.               “I’ve known about these things for a while, and I’ve been preparing myself for a long time. This is deadmans blood. You need to inject this right into your neck. It will stop the venom from spreading further, and to stop you from transitioning into a-“               “Don’t. Don’t say it. Please don’t say it daddy.” Her eyes fill with tears, and she begins to cry. She takes out a syringe, and jams it as far as she can into her neck, and releases the blood. “Now what?”               “Now, you pack up what you need, and load up the truck. Grab my journals, and whatever weapons and ammo you can.” He walks over to a bookshelf, and pushes a button on the top of the shelf. Ally gasps, and sees what could be thousands of dollars sitting on a shelf. “You’ll need this too. There’s just over half a million dollars here. There’s passports, drivers licences, and birth certificates with different names for you. Take everything here and when you have everything loaded up, you need to get rid of the house. Turn on the gas to the stoves, fireplaces, and anything else you can find. There can’t be any trace of this place. No one can find out what really happened here. Take my phone, and call the first number in the call log. Tell her who and where you are, and she will explain the rest. I have to go now. I love you kiddo.” And with his last word, he vanishes. Ally screams out in agony, as she’s just lost what family she had left. For the first time since birth, she is completely alone.                            After doing what she was told, she drives away from her burning past. With a few memorable items packed away with her things, she finds her way to the home of Anna Blake, where she will spend the next few years learning about the different types of monsters and demons, and starts her new life as a hunter.