The Blood Prophecy: Antebellum

Chapter 1: Autumn

It was autumn; fallen red and yellow leaves decorated the ground, crunching under the shoes of people trying to make their way to wherever they needed to be. It was autumn and I was happy. I stood beneath one of the hulking English oaks, the chilly breeze blowing straight through my jacket and pressing against my skin. I did this almost every day, waiting in the park for Saoirse to bring me a takeaway coffee before we walked to work.

I had known Saoirse for much longer than it felt, but I suppose when you meet your soulmate time flies incredibly quickly. I was never one to believe in soulmates, in fact I wasn't particularly interested in an actual, real relationship with another person until she sauntered into my university class one morning, sat down right beside me and gave me a look that reflected everything that I felt.

"Morning love, here's your coffee." She gave me a kiss on the cheek before shoving a warm paper cup in my hands. I gave her a grateful smile and fell in step beside her as we walked towards the end of the park. I had never understood why she gave up living in Ireland to move to such a busy city like London, but I couldn't give myself any credit either, since I wasn't a London native either.

Saoirse was the love of my life, but without romantic or sexual strings complicating everything. She was my family, my best friend and truly the only one who kept me sane. Although it felt as though we were made for each other, we were very much different—a clichéd pairing of two best friends that we unfortunately could not avoid. But we filled in each other's gaps. I brought her down to earth when needed and she pushed me out of my comfort zone when I had been in my own bubble for far too long.

"Jesus Christ, it's only just been summer and I'm already freezin' me tits off!" Saoirse grumbled, wrapping her pale arms around herself. "This isn't any good, is it? Lets move to Spain, Lee! We could finally stop being pale as baby's bum and get a tan!"

I laughed, shaking my head as I pulled my jacket tighter. We reached a small shop in the main centre of London. There must have been hundreds of people bustling on the city's pavements, many chatting on their phones or drinking a cup of something warm. Saoirse and I had divulged a plan to open up our own café and book shop only a year ago and although it may have been small, we had opened up our own little shop in the beginning of summer.

I had a knack for baking and Saoirse had a keen interest in casual witchcraft, which I was not against in the slightest, I just wasn't much of a believer in it. We decided that a witchy café was probably going to scare people off, so we created a peaceful environment where people could drink coffee, order some food and read books while Saoirse had a section dedicated to what she called 'modern witchcraft'. The shelves were decorated with everything, from spell books to wands to herbs and dried flowers.

Although we both had meaningless degrees, we attended the same mythology class—the very class we had first met each other. So, on Friday nights and Sunday mornings, we would hold classes for people who wanted to learn more about mythology, from Latin to Greek to African, without sitting through expensive, boring lectures at university.

It was an interest of mine, but not because I believed in it. I was fascinated by the tales that humanity had come up with throughout the millennia. Humans had been storytelling since the dawn of time and so much beauty, albeit some fear, had been created. It was ridiculous to think that any of it was real, though. Things like faeries and vampires and magic didn't exist, but it was a lot of fun to imagine it did.

"Leora, are you going to unlock the door or are you going to leave me standing here in the cold for God knows how long?" Saoirse voice cut through my thoughts, and I rolled my eyes at her melodramatic personality.

"You'll be fine, Sersh. It's not even winter yet!" I chided as I opened the door. London was especially gloomy today. Clouds hung low in the sky, which made the show darker than usual. I switched on the lights, watching as they flickered to life and illuminated the one thing in my life I was actually proud of. Saoirse saw the happiness in my face and gave me a smile, reaching out to hug me tightly before heading off to start setting up the tables.