Falling Stars

the vision

Chapter I

Kallias was an anomaly, and from what he knew the only one of his kind.

It was a somewhat complicated existence; an existence where he didn't quite fit in anywhere. Though Kallias couldn't find it within himself to be bothered too much, when he had always been surrounded by love and warmth since his birth. His parents were fierce, yes, but were able to maintain a kindness that many creatures of the night so easily lost after losing their humanity. It was a miracle that Kallias was able to find calm under the weight of his beast; unlike his parents, he would never know what it meant to be human.

He placed the remainder of his belongings into the small metal suitcase and closed it carefully. It seemed that their time with the Jaguar shifters in Brazil was coming to an end. There was a slight ache at the thought of leaving, after spending the last two centuries with what he considered kin. His family had traveled for all his existence, spending time primarily with shifters and helping them eradicate vampire threats. Kallias had lived with the lions scattered across South Africa, and across the vast landscape of China with the many tiger clans. They'd briefly trekked across the Scandinavian Peninsula, only so his mother could share her ancestry with him since he'd been born long after she had fled at the end of the Viking Age.

His mother, Ylva, felt it was her duty to educate young shifters, who often felt lost and helpless during the traumatic change. His father had always loved a good fight, and, as well as being utterly devoted to his mother, had no qualms tearing apart his own marble-skinned species. Kallias let out a light laugh; it was always a challenging effort for his father to be welcomed into each shifter clan.

Leon was tall, with broad shoulders and a lithe build that was packed with muscle. His hair was thick, black and silkily fell to his shoulders. His skin was pale as snow and his eyes interchanged between gold and red. Kallias' mother didn't mind the diverse diet, as long as Leon's victims deserved it.

In most ways, Kallias looked just like his father; the same sharp angles and onyx waves, but his skin flushed pink with warm blood. Though his eyes, his eyes were all his mother's– azure pools with bleeding rings of gold. Kallias knew he was beautiful. It was, after all, the cause for his name.

His thoughts wandered back to his father. Leon was an odd vampire, at least in Kallias' eyes, and really the only vampire he did know. His father never talked about his past, and did everything in his power to keep Kallias extremely sheltered when it came to interacting with other vampires. Kallias, in fact, didn't think he'd ever actually had a conversation with another vampire other than his father; he'd only killed them. Kallias was, in all essence, a shifter...who occasionally had the need to consume blood.

The only thing Kallias really knew about Leon was that he was born and changed in his late twenties in Ancient Greece, and that he'd rarely seen eye to eye with his coven. When Leon had met Ylva, he immediately sensed that they were mates, and faked his death to be with her. It had never been heard of before, a vampire falling in love with a shifter, and both parents knew that they'd never be accepted by the vampires, so they fled.

Kallias' mother was breathtakingly beautiful in not just her looks, but within her soul. Ylva was born during the Viking Age, and at just twenty years had shifted after her village called to the Gods for aid against the wave of vampire's sweeping over what now would be called Scandinavia. The Gods had clearly answered their plea, and quickly the strongest warriors began shifting into beautiful wolves that towered over the tallest man.

Ylva was treasured within her community for her feats in battle in both human and wolf form. She was a gorgeous beast with white fur, similar to the white blonde waves that fell to the middle of her back as a human. Her figure was strong and stance powerful; she had never stopped being a warrior.

Ylva wasn't just known for being a shifter, she had also been a respected seer among her people. After Christianity had taken hold and the waves of vampires had subsided, she let her visions guide her. It eventually led her to Leon, and the moment their eyes had met she'd found her one. She described it to Kallias as hitting as fast as falling stars and like sinking to the depths under tumultuous waves, only to resurface to the blinding light of sun.

It hadn't been love at first sight, at least not for Ylva, and Leon quickly followed in feelings of hostility when he'd discovered what she was. They'd met in secret for a few months, undoing years of prejudice and hatred, and once those feelings had begun to simmer, Leon ran away with her. It wasn't love, but they knew it could be, and it wouldn't have been able to blossom with the suspicions of Leon's coven.

Kallias was born sometime during the 18th century, none of them quite remember the dates anymore; it'd been so long ago. His parents had, undoubtedly, panicked. It had never been heard of before, interspecies pregnancy. There had been a universal understanding that vampires were unable to reproduce; that theory was clearly out the window the minute they realized Ylva was pregnant.

Her visions had directed the couple to modern-day China, where they came across a group of bengal tiger shifters that had surprisingly taken them in. They were understandably weary of Leon, but their priorities were on the very, rapidly pregnant Ylva; most clans would never turn a shifter away.

The pregnancy was extremely difficult on his mother, and his growth was rapidly accelerated. She'd only been pregnant with him for three months until she had given birth; she would've died if she was human.

And this was where their new journey began. His mother was struck with a vision of a birth, a birth of a human-vampire hybrid. They still had never come across anyone similar to Kallias, and his mother was desperate to help the couple who were most likely panicking about the pregnancy. His mother had always been too nurturing and willing to aid those in need; his father had always been indifferent unless it came to the three of them.

Kallias was intrigued by the thought of meeting a creature like him, but was unsure about interacting with a coven of vampires. His father had never spoken kindly about his kind, and living with shifters hadn't painted vampires in a positive light either. Still, he knew their leaving to North America was the right decision. He'd always had an incredibly strong intuition; he couldn't see visions like his mother, but knew if what he was doing was right or if he was in the right place.

"Kal?" His mother's voice filtered into the room as peered in through the doorway, "Are you ready to go?"

"I'm all set, mother," Kallias grabbed the handle of his suitcase, and turned to face her.

"Valentina will take us to the airport and once we reach Washington we'll run to Forks."

Kallias groaned; he hated airports. He'd only gone once before, but it was absolutely the worst experience– too many humans and too much noise. His family had only recently acclimated to the modern world around seventy years ago, and Kallias didn't know how his father managed to get the appropriate documents for their traveling, but he doesn't question it.

"Your father is already in the car," Ylva motioned him to follow her out the house, "I'm sorry we have to leave. I know you love it here."

"I trust your visions, mother," he gave her a small smile, "You've never steered us wrong before. Though father doesn't seem happy about it."

Ylva laughed, "When is your father happy about anything? He's a grump."

"I think it's more that you're dragging him to a coven of vampires."

"Your father will learn to accept his own kind again, just as you will."

"I will?"

"I know that this journey will affect all of us, and it will be for the best," she looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.

Kallias rolled his eyes, "You're always so mysterious, mother."

"You will find more than you could ever hope for. Trust in me, Kal. "

"I do, mother. I do." 

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