DARK (Supernatural Beginnings ) Book One

Check Boxes

Vincent

What normally would take me a few hours, turned into three days. I could never be too careful when it came to Tonya. She was the only light in the darkness that was my life. My secret actions behind the scenes to keep her safe over the past years had reached their expiration date, the moment she and her friends stepped into that rave.

Neither of them was supposed to be there, let alone have an invitation. It was obvious something else was amiss, especially with the climbing deaths within the human and supernatural world over the last month. The minute our eyes connected when she was on the dance floor left me shaking for a bit. Luckily, I was trained to control my emotions and she didn't see the effect she still had on me.

The Cree thought they had thought they suppressed my memories after my uncle took me back from the orphanage. If he only knew that none of their powers or spells worked on me, I would have been dead right along with my parents. Hiding my true abilities until the time was right kept everyone I cared about safe.

now. The Cree was hiding something and my instincts were screaming that not only my friends and I but Tonya, Phoenix, and Mariana had a big part to play in the secrets being kept.

Nathan had mind-linked me a while back, that he and Phoenix had made it to our first meeting point. Along the way, I discovered we were being followed, so in order to lose the tail, it took us longer than usual to get there. Tonya was exhausted when we reached the secret base point that would lead us to Nathan and Phoenix and from there we would meet up with Alexis and Mariana. The news of Mariana being a pure-blood hunter, and Phoenix having hybrid sun abilities made us wonder if Tonya was special as well. It would explain everything that has happened so far. Her two friends alone were rare breeds in the supernatural realms.

Mariana had been bitten, which activated her abilities. This also made her dangerous to be around and we had to wait for five days until Alexis gave the clear on reuniting everyone. A leech's bite was deadly, but to a pure-bred hunter it was pure insanity. This was Alexis' specialty, being the first hybrid hunter. I wasn’t worried that she would help Mariana through the next two days to overcome the challenges she would now face.

The motel we stopped at looked run down and abandoned, but that was only on the outer service. I could feel Tony's confusion but she didn’t complain or fuss as we walked inside. I know she had a lot of questions, but time wasn't our luxury right now for me to answer anything. I needed to regroup and plan for what lay ahead for us. As much as I wanted to take her into my arms right now and comfort her, it was a bad idea. She had become a never-ending bounty of temptation for me. This woman that stood before me, hit all my checkboxes as I knew she would. The time we spent at the orphanage together was one of the happiest and brightest memories that kept me sane over the years we spent apart.

Now that fate had reared its head, I wasn't letting her get away again. I watched her in amusement as she looked in amazement at the things and people around her. The rundown motel was actually a secret base for the Sect League. Once inside the entrance, we would teleport to the sect base where we could rest, reequip and receive any mission relay that was meant for us.

"Come with me," I said, taking her hand in mine as I led her to one of the private rooms reserved for me and my team here.

"Okay." she said, obediently following me as I led the way. "oh my god!" she shrieked, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head, as one of my comrades, Drake, passed by us in the hall. He stopped to greet us at Tonya's screen. The sight of his true form always threw people off, but he was someone I trusted with my life.

"Vince." Drake stopped in front of us with a grin on his face in amusement and one eyebrow quirked upward as Tonya quietly hid behind me.

"Drake," I answered back as we clasped forearms in greeting, smiling back as I introduced them.

"This is Tonya." I nodded my head toward her. " Tonya, this is my comrade Drake."

"Yup, uh huh, hi," she murmured back, hiding her face from view. She was scared, we could both feel it, but she was trying to be brave at the same time. Drake glanced at me after hearing her name. He was the only person outside of my friends that knew the truth about her and me.

Tonya

I was grateful to Vinny for not letting go of my hand. The guy named Drake was terrifying. His red eyes were sizing me up while my eyes couldn’t get past the two very distinctive antlers protruding from his head. He looked amused at my fear of him. I guess it was because it was more of a fear of the unknown as to what was standing before me at that moment.

After our awkward introduction, he and Vinny shared a knowing look. At that moment, I didn’t care. All I wanted was to sleep, my body felt like it had been run over by a Mack truck and I needed my senses intact to take in all the information soon to hit me.

After their exchange, Vincent leads me down the long hallway to a private room, or shall I say suite. I have to admit from what I was able to see around me, this place was pretty badass. I wondered what other creatures or, as Vincent called them, supernatural beings were there in the world.

He didn’t say a word to me as he let me process everything. He took out a change of clothes for me. The set of comfortable women’s wear had me arching my brow up at him in question. Did he have a girlfriend? I knew I shouldn’t be thinking that right now, but the thought of Vincent being happy with someone that wasn’t me left a sad pang in my heart.

"Don’t think too much Toto, this is Alexis's." he smiled at me, then headed over to another closet taking out towels and hygiene products for me to shower with. I nodded my head slightly in embarrassment. At our last stop, he mentions his friends Nathan and Alexis. Nathan was the one I saw with Phoenix, but I hadn’t met Alexis, who saved Mari yet.

After confirming with Vincent that I had everything I needed. I headed to the bathroom to shower. The hot shower was exactly what I needed, it washed away the tension and confusion within me, clearing my mind as I thought of all the things that had happened up til now.

Strangely, things made a lot of sense when I thought about it. It explained why I couldn’t find any traces of him until now. Had he been secretly protecting me instead, all this time? I dried myself and quickly changed. We didn’t have much time here. I knew he was waiting for Nathan to contact him and I couldn't wait to see Phoenix.

We are safe for now. No sooner than I had the thought. Drake and Vincent came barreling through the door. My mouth hug opened as I stared at both of them. They were complete antlers as I got a good look at him. He guarded the door holding a samurai Kitana sword. Echoed into the blade was the shape of a dragon that glowed a golden light. I was star-struck for a minute. I still didn’t know what Drake was being, but he was already over seven feet tall....... I blinked and shook my head. Vincent was over six feet and Drake.... damn my imagination about tall men kicked in.

As if he could read my mind, Drake turned to look at me for just a second, smiled, and winked. s**t were those fangs? They didn’t look scared of him one bit. Vincent moved past me to collect a bag and a load of gear I didn’t even know he had prepared.

It was at that moment that I heard a commotion going on outside the room.

"What is going on?" I asked Vincent as he took my hand again and led me toward Drake. I now stood in between them, watching intently as Drake seethed the Kitana behind him.

"Time to go, sweets," Drake said as he swiftly took me in his arms. "What!?" I gasped in shock. "Hold on tight Toto". Vincent then embraced me from behind.

Damn, this would be one hell of a beautiful sandwich, I thought, as I felt a tingling sensation all around me. I didn’t understand why we didn’t just leave the door. As the world shifted around me, I was facing toward the door. The creepiest eyes set their sights on me, ones that I would never forget from that night. It had splintered the door into pieces coming straight at me, but it was still too late for that thing to reach us.