Chapter One

Dear God, my head hurts.

Why does my head detest and utterly loathe me this much? Thousands of tiny, razor sharp knives, coated in salt and lemon juice and nail polish remover, stabbing into my temples and stinging badly enough to rouse me out of my coma like sleep. Yes, that’s what it is. Oh, my entire body aches, and the stone floor I’m currently residing on isn’t helping at all. What in the ever loving hell did I do to deserve this?

Actually, as the memories come back, I did a lot to deserve this. In fact, I took a lot of punishing hits last night, though I did give as good as I got. Maybe even better. Years of living on the run had turned me into a practiced fighter. And no, I’m not an amazing kung fu expert, but you know what? I’m still alive, albeit a little banged up. That counts for something.

It counts for a lot, when you’ve been hunted down by the United States for about five years for doing nothing more than existing. I can’t help my current condition. Not at all, since I was born this way.

A noise coming from somewhere above my head startles me, pulling me from my thoughts and reminding me that I’m not alone, something I’ve been for all my life, both figuratively and literally. It sounds like an annoyed sort of sigh.

“Will you please wake up already? You’ve been out for thirteen hours and dawn’s coming soon.”

Every single sense I possess shoots adrenaline alarm bells through my system, causing me to scramble up in terror, eyes snapping open, looking around wildly for the source of the sound. I can’t see anything yet, but my eyes will adjust in a bit to the complete darkness. The sound echoes off the walls in the way only enclosed spaces can create. Fabulous, I’m trapped in a stone sort of room with an unidentified threat, not to mention dizzy beyond belief and not in any shape for another struggle for my life.

Still, they don’t have to know that. I steel myself for another fight, willing away the waves of fatigue. I have to do this, have to survive, I can’t let them win. An instinctual hiss escapes my mouth at the thought, and I find a wall to put my back against. Protect my life at all costs.

“Calm down, kitten! I’m not here to hurt you.” The voice is a little bemused, and distinctly male, originating from a ledge up and to my left. My head whips around, and I can finally see the threat. A teenager was sitting on the ledge, about my age actually- maybe a bit older, with shaggy ink black hair, pale skin and a stupid little smirk I’d have smacked right off his face if not for one little detail about those sapphire eyes.

He was holding a small flashlight pointed at him, and his eyes reflected the light dimly, much like a mirror would. My own eyes widened at the sight, before narrowing with suspicion. Yes, he might be one of my own, but I still had no idea where I was, how I’d gotten here, who he was, never mind his intentions or if he was alone.

Protect my life at all costs.

“My name is Gabriel Adaire. I’m not here to hurt you,” He repeats slowly, as if I’m too stupid to understand. I continue to glare at him, not relaxing one bit, though my bruised and beaten muscles are screaming at me for release. I’m really in no condition for a battle.. And if this Gabriel finds out, then I’m screwed.

“I can actually help you, if you’ll allow me,” He continues smirking at me. It’s really starting to irritate me.

“Will you stop sneering at me like I’m such an imbecile?” I snarl- or try to snarl. My voice comes out pathetically weak sounding, cracking in all the wrong places from lack of use. Discreetly, I try to clear my throat. If anything, it makes him simper even more.

“Well then, if you don’t want the assistance of a Healer, then I guess you’re just a masochist who wants to suffer for the next couple of days recovering from your severe beating.” I hiss again, though my ears perk up when I hear the term Healer. That particular gift is rare and much coveted. ”By the way, this place isn’t extraordinarily safe at the moment. It’s crawling with Crusaders and it’s almost dawn, so if you want me to leave you here to be found, it’s fine by me.” Gabriel stood up to leave, leaping down from the ledge- which was a good twelve feet in the air- with grace only present in our kind. I made my decision.

“Wait, just a minute…” Ugh, my voice is still embarrassingly raw. He paused mid step, looking at me expectantly. “Could you just, please Heal me?” I ask timidly, deciding I can trust him for now. I can’t hear or smell anyone else in the enclosed space- just him. So I can relax for now, despite my lack of information about my situation. The thing I really need is to be Healed, so I can actually do something about my unknowns.

Unfortunately, this is the moment my body chooses to fail me, and my muscles give in to exhaustion and damage as I lean against the stone wall behind me for support. Great, now I look like a weak little girl who can’t take a beating. The spinning in my head I’ve held off until now returns with a vengeance, and I let out a sigh of frustration, which hurts a hell of a lot. I should be stronger than this.

“You know, it’s okay to ask for help sometimes,” Gabriel says softly as he approaches me cautiously. “You have bruises everywhere and some fractured ribs, which I need to reset or they’ll heal wrong. Which they’ve already started to. You had some internal bleeding earlier as well, but that’s been taken care of already.” By now he’s right next to me, and I can’t help but stiffen a bit. I haven’t had a civil conversation in years. It’s…nice. “You’re one hell of a fighter. May I?” He asks, gesturing to my arm, which has more bruises than skin and is openly bleeding. I nod, and he carefully runs his fingers across my shoulder, down my arm to my wrist. His touch leaves tingles of warmth that only come from a Healer, and they spiderweb from the point of contact, seeking out the damaged tissue and bone. I can actually feel myself stitching back together.

Gabriel moves on to my head and ribs, spreading warmth all over until it overlaps every inch of my skin.

“Now, this is going to hurt a bit,” He says suddenly, and then I feel three sharp, acute spots of pain in my chest as he rebreaks my ribs. I grimace, but I can take it- I’ve been through worse. Repositioning the broken bones earns a brief whimper of pain, but then I feel that bright warmth surround the hurt, and it slowly fades away.

I take a small, experimental breath, and it’s a little painful but still manageable. My whole body, though healed, is still very weak from my blood loss. I need to refuel soon.

Oh, and by the way, by refuel, I mean I need to replace the blood. Because if you haven’t figured it out yet, and I doubt it, because I’m not really fitting the stereotype of coffins and Transylvanian accents, I’m a vampire. Also known by the Crusaders as the Fallen, I am hunted down mercilessly, and though I’ve never actually killed anyone, they don’t care. The Fallen are an abomination of God and in His holy name must be exterminated.

The kicker is, it’s all perfectly legal. When the United States hit the debt ceiling of ninety trillion dollars in 2056, the economy fell apart. So the second most potent superpower, Italy, basically bought America and threw out the Constitution, replacing it with their Bible. Everyone who wasn’t Christian went nuts because it contradicted what the country was built for, and the Christians basically were in heaven. But they won, and now medicine is cut way back to basic antibiotics and prayer, everything is monitored and censored; not going to Church without a valid reason is cause to be fined upwards of five thousand dollars. Everything is in the name of God.

It’s sickening.

So when women starting giving birth to babies that weren’t human, it wasn’t caught at first because the symptoms don’t kick in until your thirteenth birthday. It’s like clockwork, really. You suddenly have heightened senses, fangs, are very allergic to sunlight, and develop a craving for red meat. Not to mention you more than likely have powers or gifts like those people in X-Men. You could be a Healer like Gabriel, or be a Kinny like me (telekinesis). It varies on your genetic disorder. And it all came from huge levels of pollution and nuclear leftovers from the third world war in 2045, not to mention the fun drugs moms use constantly to give their kids a genetic boost- make them smarter, faster, stronger. It worked too well.

But of course, our new government is completely blind to science, and intolerant to anything that contradicts their faith. So when your genetic defects turned you into a Fallen One, you are classified as a Demon and exterminated as soon as possible.

Unless you escape.