Serene: Chapter One

A/N: Thank you Lauren, Melissa, Laura, Marissa, and Hannah! This would not have been possible without you girls! I love you all!

Serene
Ahnger Series Book 1
Chapter One

I was one of the many fledglings of Charlotte. The last to be precise. Charlotte turned me on my 17th birthday, "the perfect age", she would say. I wasn’t always the sweet-hearted, caring, loving vampire that I used to be. No, I had changed when someone broke me, made me realize that I was just another "bloodsucking leech". It took a couple months for me to meet this bastard, but I managed to find trouble, yet again, when there shouldn’t have been any trouble at all.

I had a perfect body, as any human female would dream to have. I was born to be skinny with beautiful, unrealistic, shimmering hazel eyes. But the oddest part of my appearance would have to be my hair. Jet black with white blonde streaks, and about back length. My hair was naturally that color, but most didn’t believe me. I was gifted to be tan, and I had perfect white, straight teeth that any man would die for. Sometimes when I would walk down the street I would hear whistling and shouts. Some men even had the nerves to come up behind me and slap my ass. How fucking rude and spur of the moment kind of thing is that?

One night I had met with Charlotte on the street. My father and I had been walking back home from our regular jog around the park. I was totally unprepared! Plus she was with one of her hotter fledglings. Okay, maybe all of her fledglings are hot, but that was beside the point. Charlotte had the boldness to just walk right up to my father and I and started talking. I can tell you, a total and complete stranger walk up to you, in the middle of the night, is pretty fucking scary, if you ask me. I mean, who does that anymore? Come on. Seriously, was this like the 1990’s or something? Because no one does that anymore. Well anyone that wants to have people start being suspicious of them, anyway. But her abnormal questions caught my attention immediately. They were so freakin’ unusual! She asked me if I was interested in becoming a vampire. What an unexpected question.

My father, of course, promptly rejected the offer and silently told me to go home. That only made Charlotte smirk. When I turned to run off toward my house, in an abrupt blur of colors, Charlotte was in front of my father, her hand deeply penetrated inside his chest. His face was in shock, his mind not fully processing what was happening at the moment. Then, she pulled out my father’s beating heart. It was bloody and disgusting. This made me stay and scream. While I was screaming, I tried to run, but with my great clumsiness, I tripped. Within the next seconds, my life flashed before my very eyes, like in those movies where a bullet is about to hit the main character right in the heart and kill them. But I’m not a character in a movie and I don’t have a speeding bullet threatening my life. I’m a human girl with a murder before me, threatening... I don’t know what, but it was something. Then before I knew it, Charlotte was at my neck, her fangs, yes, her fangs, embedded deep into my flesh.

I died that very night, and Brandon, the second oldest fledgling, was carrying me back. I had yet to meet the many other fledglings that Charlotte had turned. Lucky me, right? Wrong! In fact, I was on a very unlucky streak at the time. My father had been killed right in front of me, and now I was dead, but, yet, I wasn’t. In fact, I don’t know what Charlotte truly did to me. It felt like my body had restrained from functioning, but my mind was still working overtime. It hurt, yet, it didn’t. I couldn’t feel pain. I couldn’t feel anything at all. My eyes were wide open, staring blankly at nothing in particular. They just stayed open. But when a person died, their eyes should automatically close by themselves. So, I must not have died. I don’t know what happened. I know that I was unable to operate, but I still was alive, even though my heat had ceased to pump flowing blood to my organs. I had no pulse. I was alive. But was I?

At eleven thirty the next night, I blinked to clear my rusty vision. Blurred objects were all I was able to see. What a blast, huh? But when I tried to get up and off of what ever I had been laying on, I figured out, the hard way, that my body was not so eager to re-start. I stumbled like a child who was just learning how to walk for the first time. It was like this was all new to me. Like a fresh slate. This officially sucked.

"Hey, take it easy." I heard somebody say after I stumbled.

Someone then grabbed my arm, trying to help me steady myself.

"Where… where am I?" I asked tentatively, not sure if talking was the correct thing to do.

"You’re in Charlotte’s mansion. Darlin’, you’re her last fledgling. Congratulations." The male voice replied.

I looked up, but my vision had not yet come around. It felt like I was blind.

"How do you know that I am her last?"

"Because Justin will slaughter her tonight."

"Who’s Justin?"

"He’s a very, very powerful vampire and Charlotte’s first fledgling."

"Why would her own blood son want to kill her?"

I was surprised that I had said blood son. Where the hell did I get that from? All of a sudden the words just popped into my head and I, at once, figured they were the right thing to say.

"It was bound to happen sometime, and Charlotte knew it. She knew from the very beginning that Justin would be her demise. Oh, and by the way, I’m Brandon, the one who carried you here."

Brandon seemed nice... yeah; nice enough to try seduce me. Great, wasn’t this something that I just needed right now. His voice was calm and impassive. It was velvet smooth, like the finest silk in the world... how I loathed it.

I attempted to stand again, and would have succeeded, if a loud and painful scream wouldn’t have happened. It echoed off the walls, continuing to grow in strength. It reminded me of an old horror movie type of scream. I mean, people just didn’t scream like that anymore. At least, not when I was around.

"What was that?"

My eyes frantically searched for the cause of the devastating scream.

Brandon turned to me, "Justin is feeding again."

"Feeding?"

My face looked sick after hearing that word. I closed my mouth before bile could come free.

"Yes, feeding is how we survive." He said casually, as if this was an everyday question to him.

When I finally managed to stand on my own and my sight had returned, only one question remained in my mind. Who am I? It lingered in my mind, going in and out of all the holes. It made me angry that I didn’t know the answer. For Christ’s sake! I should know who I am! I mean, I’m me! Who else would I be? But my head still never processed an answer for my simple question. It was irritating. It was pathetic. I honestly didn’t feel very smart right now. This pissed me off to a point where I was about to start fuming

But before I could ask it, Charlotte strolled into the room.

"Your name is Serene; that was your human name at least."

"How… how?" I stuttered.

Charlotte only smiled, "Your mental walls are still at their weak point, having just been changed and all. When those walls become strengthened they can repel even the most powerful wondering eyes."

Charlotte truly amazed me, I mean, this women was strong, and not just physically, but she looked like she could back up this shit she was talking. Not many people can do that. People who can’t, and just speak so that they can impress others, piss me off to no end.

While my mind meandered into outer space, Charlotte did the last thing that I expected her to do. She drifted up close, running her fingers through my hair. It was alarming. It’s not just any day that a total strange wanders up close and personal and runs their fingers through your hair, but for Charlotte, it seemed like an everyday thing for her. Her face never showed any emotion or reaction to my gasp after her action. It was strange, in that unnatural sense.

"Yes," she stated out of the blue, "she will be strong at heart, mind, and body. Serene will be perfect for breeding."

Whoa! Pause! Rewind! Play! Hold the fuck up! What did she just say? Images, thoughts, and emotions came whirling straight into my head, and most of them were not what I wanted. This was so out of the question! I mean, where the hell did that just come from? Does she think about that every time she meets somebody? Or am I the lucky number nine? I had my eyes widened in horror. If I had had water in my mouth, it would have all come spurting out onto Charlotte’s smug face. That sentence made my stomach go very uneasy. I was only 17 for cripes sake! I was in no position, at all, to be thinking, or even wondering, about having children. It was simply out of the question!

"Yes, Serene will be strong. She will be perfect for a male, which is really rare among our kind."

I slapped her hand away, for no words would come out of my mouth. How could I say anything? What could I say? What would sound like a good argument? What the hell am I suppose to do? Backing far out of Charlotte’s reach, I bumped into something, making me fall straight on my ass, which I can tell you, doesn’t feel the greatest. Have these people never heard of carpeted floors? Stone was not on my side today. Definitely not.

Looked up I saw a pair of coal black eyes. It felt like staring into a bottomless pit of doom. There was no sign of emotion in them. They were completely black, because I couldn’t even tell the pupil from the iris. Forcing myself to unlock my gaze from those devastating eyes, I looked upon the face of an extremely good hot guy. My eyes wandered freely on their own accord down his whole structure, taking in every last little detail. He was wearing black leathers that clung to his terrific thighs. No fat whatsoever was on those legs. His muscle shirt was black, clasping tight to his upper, toned body. From what I could see, he sported a six pack, and what a nice one it was indeed. Random, unfamiliar tattoos covered his arms, and, from what I could see, parts of his neck that then played downward from there. Piercings could be found in his lip, eyebrows, nose, all up both of his ears, and his tongue. The tongue piercing was a blue barbell because when I had bumped into him, he gasped, revealing the barbell.

A hand with black painted nails extended out, offering to help me. Grabbing it with gratitude, I muttered a thank you, under my breath, as I was pulled up.

"Serene!" yelled Charlotte, "Come over here this minute!"

"Huh?"

"NOW!" she commanded.

But when I turned to walk toward her, I was held back by the extremely hot guy. I looked down at his hand, his fingernails were painted black. He had me right where he wanted me.

"So, this is the new one Charlotte?"

"Justin, you will release her at once!" screamed Charlotte.

"What if I don’t want to?" Justin replied.

So this really, really hot guy was Justin, the one who will bring Charlotte to her death? It couldn’t be. I had pictured him to look different. But as the good saying goes, "Never judge a book by its cover."

"Release her." Snapped Charlotte.

"Oh, Charlotte, have my words… made… you… angry?" retorted Justin, as a smile crept across his lips.

"I should have never turned you. You were already evil enough. What I wouldn’t do to kill you right now."

"You know that you will never be able to kill me."

His words flowed like smooth wine. The facial expression, to me, was unreadable, being that I had just met him. And yet, I had just met him and already my thoughts were of him. Damn his good looks to hell and back again. Oh… but I guess he has already been to that place…

Justin then pulled me up against his body, encircling me with his arms. Charlotte’s mouth dropped open. Brandon stood against the wall with a smile on his face, and his thumbs were pointing up.

I gasped, looking over to Charlotte, trying to send her a message that I was uncomfortable and a little scared. When I put my hand up against his chest, trying to push away, I felt a six-pack. Obviously Justin worked out. I had gasped again and literally melted in my shoes.

Justin then started to run his hands through my soft hair, bringing it up to his nose to smell, which was odd.

"I love your hair, Serene, where did you get it done?" he questioned me.

"It’s my natural color." I answered back.

Something nicked my face, as Justin pulled me aside, but he was a little late. His eyes immediately fell on the blood that had started to come out on my right cheek.

"You hit her." He said, turning to face the person who had thrown the knife.

"Well I would have hit you, if she wasn’t in the way," then turning to me Charlotte said, "My apologies."

Justin then stood, pushing me behind him, protecting me, I think. "This fight begins now." was all he said.

But before Charlotte could put up her mental shields, blood started pouring out of her mouth. It made me sick. Justin had attacked with his psychic powers.

All vampires have mental shields and psychic powers that you could fight with. Only the strongest vampires have the power to use both.

Justin came right in front of Charlotte, who had a diabolical look on her face. He just smirked and bent her head back, then sinking his pearly white fangs into the right side of her neck.

The sight of him draining every last drop of her damned blood made me sick. Clutching my stomach, I closed my mouth, so that bile didn’t come out. Brandon saw me fall to my knees, and he immediately came to my side.

"Serene, are you okay?" He held my in his arms, trying to help me feel better.

But when I looked up again, into Charlotte’s eyes. All I saw was pain. Her face expression had changed from shock to an indescribable pain. It must have been agony to have someone suck you dry of all your precious blood.

I averted my gaze from the scene before hand. Looking up into Brandon’s black eyes, I asked, "Why do you not like Charlotte?"

Brandon took a slow, deep breath before he answered me. "All of Charlotte’s fledglings hate her. We all grew to hate her in time, but now you won’t have to experience the stuff that we had to. You’re lucky."

"But why do you hate her?"

"She was always cruel to us, telling us what to do. She never respected any of us, treating us like dirt on her shoe. Once we became accustomed to the vampire ways, she left, not wanting to help is anymore, didn’t want anything to do with us. For you, that will never happen."

Then before I could respond, the bile came spewing out of my mouth. Brandon softly patted my back, trying to ease the pain.

"Don’t worry," he stated, "We all did the same thing. It’s natural for your body to not fully cooperate."

Then I heard a soft thump, like someone hitting the floor. Brandon and I looked up, seeing the very dead body of our blood mother, Charlotte. Justin’s mouth was covered with her blood. He had drunk every last drop of blood out of her body.

When my stomach finally started to calm down, I stood up. Looking over at Justin, I saw him wipe blood from his mouth. Pointing to me he said, "Brandon, bring her to my room in three minutes." Then he walked out of the room.

Brandon picked me up bridal style, bringing me to the bathroom to wash my face off. Then he picked me up again and he started walking toward Justin’s room.

"What does he want from me?" I asked.

"I have no clue, but Justin is now the strongest vampire alive."

"What do you mean?"

"Serene, there was only one immortal alive that out ranked him in age and that had been Charlotte... but seeing as she isn't truly living anymore, now has taken Charlotte's place. You keep what you kill. So he basically controls everyone who is damned, whether they like it or not. I suggest that you don’t get on his bad side."

I nodded against Brandon’s well-toned chest, He felt like an older brother to me and I felt like a younger sister to him. I had never had a brother before, because I only had two sisters, but they died at birth. This feeling was really cool, and I liked it. Hopefully it would be able to last.

When we came to Justin’s door, Brandon kicked it, because he couldn’t knock while I was in his arms. The door opened all by itself and I heard some voice in my head telling me to sleep. It overpowered me and my mind shut down, making me go to sleep.

"Place her on my bed." Justin said, who was changing his bloodstained shirt.

It was, of course, black. Brandon nodded, placing me on Justin’s soft bed. Then he turned back to his brother.

"What are you going to do with her?"

Justin looked over at Brandon and smiled.

"My brother, I will do nothing more than necessary."

That made Brandon frown.

"Justin I know you, I grew up with you. You tend to do more than the rest of us expect."

Now that made Justin smirk.

"Are you going to take her away from me? You know I wouldn’t hurt you, but you have to remember that she is mine."

"Since when?" retorted Brandon.

"Since the moment Charlotte was killed."

"I don’t understand."

Justin sighed, then walked over to me. Running his hands through my hair he brought his face down to mine, kissing my cheek where Charlotte’s knife had nicked.

Brandon had a shocked look on his face. "Justin… w-why?"

"Because she is mine."

Brandon looked down at the floor. The question of possession was now adjourned.

"When is she going to feed?"

"When she wakes up."

"Brother, what is Serene to you? I won’t let you hurt her. She is more than just your pet."

"Brandon, Brandon, Brandon… she isn’t my pet, she is my slave."

"What! She hasn’t even done anything to you!"

"If I wasn’t mistaken, I would say that you are falling in love with her." Said Justin, while smirking.

"No, it’s just that she feels like a sister to me, that’s all. I am just concerned about her, that’s it. Nothing more."

All Justin did was smirk, then point to the door.

"Out." He commanded.

When Brandon left, Justin pulled me up, tracing my features with his fingers. He smiled again and kissed my cheek.
~*~*~*~