The Vesper Creed

Chapter 1

The air was gone. My lungs felt like they were filled with hot coals, burning and raw, as I fought against the weight of the water. It was thick and black, a heavy blanket that refused to let me go. I clawed at the darkness, my arms moving in desperate, heavy strokes, trying to find the surface that felt miles away.

It was happening again.

It was that same dream Im always dreaming about. The one that felt so real I could swear I was wide awake. In this place, there was no breath to be had. No matter how hard I struggled or how much I kicked, I stayed trapped in the deep. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird, and the silence of the deep was so loud it made my head throb.

Then, something changed.

A shape moved through the shadows. A man was swimming toward me, cutting through the dark water with a calm, steady strength. I stopped fighting. I just watched him while my body frozen as he drifted closer.

Even in the middle of that black void, his eyes were bright. They shone with a strange, silver light that seemed to pierce right through me.

As I stared into that silver glow, the last of my strength began to fade. A heavy feeling washed over me, making my limbs feel like lead. I tried to keep my eyes open, but my eyelids were too heavy to hold up. The world around me started to blur and pull away.

The very last thing I felt before the darkness took me completely was his hand catching mine, pulling me upward as I finally lost consciousness.

I woke up with a jolt as the sound of tires screeching cut right through the music in my headphones. We were driving down a road that felt familiar, headed toward the place where I grew up.

"That truck driver is an i***t!" my dad yelled from the driver's seat. "He almost hit us trying to pass like he was driving a tiny car. Did I wake you up, sweetie?"

I just shook my head and went back to my music, turning my gaze toward the window. A few moments later, I saw a large sign on the side of the road. It read: Welcome to Caxwell Town.

I grew up here, but I can't actually remember it. A month ago, an accident wiped away my memories of this place.

My parents split up when I was fifteen. My mom took me to live in Covington, Georgia, for her work, while my dad stayed here in Caxwell Town—a place in Forks, Washington, where the sun almost never shines. We were supposed to celebrate my 19th birthday on November 26th, but that was the night our car went off a cliff and fell into the ocean. I have a feeling that the dream I keep having is actually a memory of what happened that night.

It's been a month since the crash. My dad has been taking care of me ever since, and now we're finally moving back to his home. He told me that in two days, I'll be starting classes at St. Carmelle Academy. I honestly have no idea how to start a new life when I don't have any memories to lean on. The doctors said the trauma was so bad that my brain just shut down, making me forget half of my life.

All I know is my name—Aizere Soleia Forbes—and that I'm nineteen years old. I grew up here in Caxwell Town, in Forks, Washington. I know my parents' names are Paul and Wesley. I'm currently a second-year college student with a love for music and history.

But that's not enough. That's just a list of facts. What I really need is to find something more—something that can actually tell me who I was as a person before the accident changed everything.

The car engine finally cut out, leaving a heavy silence behind. My dad helped me carry the last of my boxes into the house. He led me upstairs to a room at the end of the hallway and pushed the door open.

"I kept everything just the way you left it," he said softly, giving my shoulder a small squeeze before leaving me alone to settle in.

I stood in the doorway, feeling like a stranger in my own life. This was my room, but I was looking at it through the eyes of someone who had never been here before. I walked over to the desk by the window. It was covered in old sketches—charcoal drawings of trees and shadows. I traced the lines with my fingers. Was I an artist? I didn't feel like one now. My hands felt clumsy, not creative.

On the nightstand, there was a stack of books with worn-out spines. Most of them were mysteries and dark fantasy. I picked one up and a dried flower fell out from between the pages. It was a small, pressed red rose. I held it to my nose, but there was no scent left. I wondered who gave it to me, or if I had just picked it myself because I liked the color.

Then I turned to the boxes I brought from Georgia—the few things that survived the move and the accident.

I pulled out a heavy, dark hoodie and a pair of old, scuffed boots. Everything I owned seemed to be in shades of red, black or white. It looked like I had always preferred to dress sexy and baddie based on my preference in these clothes.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the walls. There were no photos of friends. No bright posters. Just a small mirror and a corkboard with a few ticket stubs from a movie theater in Covington.

"Who were you?" I whispered to the empty room.

From what I could see, I was a girl who liked to be the center of attraction. Someone who read a lot and drew things she couldn't say out loud. Maybe I was even a bit lonely because no one ever message me after they found out my mom died and I faced a car accident with her. It was strange to realize that even before I lost my memory, I was already a nobody.

As I tucked the pressed flower back into the book, I wondered if the girl who lived in this room would even recognize the person I had become...

"Aizere! You have a visitor," I heard my dad call out to me.

A visitor?

I was confused, but I made my way downstairs anyway. I saw my dad standing by the door, talking to three people—a couple and a guy standing behind them who was grinning widely at me. He looked to be about my age.

"Oh, there she is," the woman in front of my dad said, looking at me with a warm smile.

I gave her a small, polite smile in return as I walked toward them. The woman pulled me into a hug and reached out to brush the hair away from my face. Suddenly, the way she touched me felt different.

A wave of longing hit me for my late mother, even though I couldn't remember her. Was this what it felt like to have a mother?

My thoughts were cut short when I felt my dad's hands rest on my shoulders. "This is the Hamilton family. Clark is my best friend, and this is his wife, Camille. Ruan, back there, is their only son. You two grew up together," he explained.

"It's good to see you again, Aizere," Clark said with a huge smile. He looked like the type of man who lived for the outdoors, the kind of guy who lived in rugged boots and a cowboy hat.

"Come on in, it's freezing out there." Clark led the way inside, joking around and playfully nudging my dad. Meanwhile, Camille looped her arm through mine, and I saw their son close the door behind us.

"When you were little, your parents used to leave you with me all the time so you and Ruan could play while they worked. Your dad was a police chief and your mom was a nurse. I heard you're studying nursing too? Ruan is in medicines too, and you're both going to the same school." After she said that, she turned around and called out to her son.

"Ruan, come here," she told him, and he followed her lead immediately.

Ruan was the type of guy with a sharp jawline and deep-set eyes that made him look quiet and intense. His honey-brown hair fell over his face in a messy, effortless way, and he was wearing a simple outfit of charcoal grey and navy plaid.

"Tomorrow, I want you to take Aizere to buy her school supplies. Show her where the school bus stop is so she doesn't have to go looking for it on the first day," she said.

"Okay, Mom," he replied, smiling.

"You take care of her for now while I see what I can cook for dinner. Why don't you two head downtown to pick up some pizza and carbonara? That used to be your favorite meal together. Take Aizere with you so she can look around town," she said before walking away.

As she left to talk to her husband, Clark suddenly tossed a set of keys toward us. They flew right toward where I was standing, and for a second, I thought they were going to hit me. But Ruan caught them with lightning-fast speed. When our eyes met, we both couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's go?"