Darkness (Book 1 of The Royals Trilogy)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

ANA

Present time...

"Aunt Daniela, I'm going to school," I shouted from the kitchen of the house where I now lived. Now I lived with my aunt in Orlando, Florida. Her house was along the coast and was two stories high. The bottom floor had large windows in the back where the kitchen and the living room were. Upstairs she had four bedrooms and a separate study room. So yeah, it was a pretty big house.

"Alright Ana, drive safe!" yelled my aunt from the second floor from her room where she was probably getting ready to go to work.

I took my backpack that was on the couch and walked towards the door. Leaving the house, I walked to my car that I bought with some of my parent's money: a red mustang. I had the windows down and the radio playing loudly in the background while I sang along. I arrived at school that had a sign; Welcome To West Coast High School.

I parked in my usual spot and got out of the car. All ready, I entered the school. Senior year please be quick, I pleaded to myself. "Ana!" shouted one of my best friends from this new school, Clary.

I smiled At her, "Hey."

She hugged me tight before saying, "Happy Birthday Ana, you are now 18! I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast!"

"Today isn't my birthday, it's tomorrow," I said shoving my books into my locker before walking past her and going to class. Clary stared at me but didn't follow me, she probably understood I wanted some time alone right now. Tomorrow was going to be torture, I was going to be the center of attention because of my birthday and it wasn't something I was looking forward to, I still hated attention.

The rest of the schoolday flew by. When I reached my locker after school, a folded note fell on the ground. I reached down to get it and unfold it. Your sister is alive. Come and get her.

Surprised, I turned to see if it was some kind of cruel joke but the hallway was empty. I took my stuff and the note before heading out. I walked out and got into my car. I sat on the seat deciding wether or not I should follow the directions from the note. It could be a school prank but then again, few people in the school knew of my life before moving here. I sighed decided on what to do and I turned on the car.

I started following the directions of the mysterious letter and arrived at a seemingly abandoned house that looked like the ones in horror movies. I opened the door trying to make as little noise as possible but failed when the door creaked. Also the stairs were loud and I was sure everyone here now knew there was a stranger inside. A door in the hallway opened and light streamed from inside. Cautiously but at the same time curious, I walked over to the open door. "Ana?" Asked the voice I hadn't expected to hear, my sister, Emma.

"Emma!" was all I cried before running inside and directly to her. I hugged her tightly as if my life depended on it, I had missed her so much. Emma hugged me back equally as tightly and I heard a faint sob escape her.

Out of nowhere, she tensed, "Ana, you have to get out of here, now! They'll kill you, you have to go."

My eyes widened and my expression hardened, "I won't leave you, Emma! Someone sent me a letter telling me that I have to take you with me."

"It's too late for me Ana, you have to get out of here while you can," said Emma, pleading with her eyes while nudging me out the door. We were now out of the room and heading towards the front door.

"No!" I yelled and suddenly my sister's eyes darken and I realized her skin was freezing. "Emma? I think you're sick, we have to get you to a hospital."

"Ana, I don't need a doctor! I want you to get out of here!" Emma now looked scared and worried as she looked around, looking for something.

"I can't leave!" I yelled with tears in my eyes. Suddenly the house was filled with noise. Men came closer and I realized who they were. I screamed, scared, as they stared at me. The mysterious man, tall with dark hair laughed and made me feel small while his taller, dirty blonde partner stared at me with an expression of horror. Then I realized who or what they were, vampires. Nobody had believed me and thought I was a freak, they said I had probably been hallucinating because of the crash and others accused me of causing it. The dirty blonde was the one that saved my life but also the one who ruined it.

"It worked, just as planned," said another voice in the dark and I instantly recognized him. Devion.

"What do you want?" I asked, scared, not knowing where to run. Devion and the coffee colored haired guy laughed again.

"We just wanted to finish the ritual," said the brown-haired.

"What ritual?" I asked bewildered. My instincts were telling me to run, that I was in danger.

"The one you're in now," explained Devion smugly and he turned to my sister. "Your sister is very beautiful and it would be a waste not to have her with us so I made her a vampire." I turned to look at my sister, her face said it all, it was true. Slowly, I moved back, they were faster and before I could react I was grabbed by the one with the coffee colored hair. "Emma, honey, you look hungry, you should eat something," said Devion with an evil smile plastered on his face.

Emma approached me and I closed my eyes, I didn't want to see my sister disappear and I was also very scared. But the pain never came, instead grunts and punches were heard before someone grabbed me and jumped out the second story window. I screamed, frightened. Once on the ground I was still trembling but I was too scared to open my eyes. "Ana?"

I quickly opened my eyes and saw my sister. "Where are we?"

"In the woods, I had to get you out," she said urgently while pushing me along farther into the woods.

"Who were they?" I asked her after a few seconds of silence.

"They are a group of royal vampires," said Emma, looking around a few times for any sign of them.

"Royal?" I asked confused.

"They are the first vampires that ever existed, more than 1000 years old," Pause, "Devion is the strongest among them, the leader, then follows Ethan, the dirty blonde, and finally there's Benjamin the dark haired one."

"What do they want?" urgency obvious in my voice.

"They want more power or at least two of them do. Ethan doesn't believe in that, he doesn't want power but Devion and Benjamin are the only royal vampires left, that's why he stays, to balance things, that's why two years ago he saved you."

"Oh, but why didn't he save you?"

"It was too late for me, they had planned to kill you and our parents while I stayed alive as a vampire." Tears tried to fall from my eyes at the mention of our parents. Emma didn't notice and continued, "for two years they've been searching for you to be able to change me but until now they have."

"What will happen now?" I ask horrified.

"We will continue our normal lives," said Emma shrugging.

"We are not normal," I mumbled out of breath.

Emma laughed, "not even the slightest, but there's no other way. When we finish school we can go away from here, where they won't find us and where you can continue your normal life."

"What about you?"

"I'll have to find my own path."

"But you'll stay a few years, right?"

She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes, "Sure."

The rest of the way was quiet until we arrived at our aunt 's house where she cried with happiness after seeing Emma. We were reunited and relieved but I couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't safe, at least, not yet.