Nothing In This World

Prologue

Esme.

Esme, don't go outside.

Never leave this tower.

Stay under our watch.

It's dangerous out there . . . because of who you are.

You're too dangerous for the world, too, because . . . because you're a vampire.

So promise us that you'll never try to escape, okay?

Tears stung in Esme's eyes as she ran away from the tower that her guardians had locked her up in for as long as she could remember. She didn't remember any of her childhood, or how she had come to exist, or why she was even here. She already knew that her guardians, Mr. and Ms. Ambrosia, weren't her parents, but she wasn't even sure what parents actually were. She had never been outside of the tower, except for a few times when they had given her errands to take care of outside. She had managed to escape from the tower through a small crack that she had been exploring for the past few days, and as far as she knew, Mr. and Ms. Ambrosia were asleep at the moment.

Esme had always known that she was different. First of all, the Ambrosias had told her that she was a vampire practically since birth (if she had ever even been born at all, that is). Knowing that she was a dangerous vampire made her quite a bit scared of herself, especially when, on her birthday each year, she felt the strong urge to drink blood. She never drank human blood, of course, but the Ambrosias would catch her live animals once every year so that she could finally feast.

And, secondly, Esme had . . . powers. Special powers. As far as she knew right now, she could make herself invisible, camouflage herself against her surroundings, fly, and shoot ice from the palms of her hands. She still thought that it was bizarre why she even had these powers - was she really that special? And if so, why?

As for why she had wanted to escape, well . . . she was tired of being locked up her whole life. Besides, no one had ever told her why she had always needed to be secluded from the rest of the world. She wanted to explore and experience things, and no matter how many dusty old books she read inside the tower, she could never get any answers.

That was why Esme was running away. That was why she was abandoning the only two people that she had known her whole life, and escaping from the only place that she had ever lived in.

Maybe she would regret this decision later. But she didn't want to wait for who knows how long to finally find out.

Esme pulled her dark cloak over her head as she reached the edge of the eerie forest. It was almost pitch-black outside, other than the moonlight that peeked through the tree branches.

Before she plunged into the woods, though, she glanced behind her shoulder to say farewell to her home, hot tears streaming down her face. She could see the tall, isolated tower looming in the center of the large stretch of grass, covered in spindly vines and thorns. She wished that she could say goodbye to Mr. and Ms. Ambrosia, that she could thank them for everything that they had ever done for her . . . but she knew that if she had told them that she was planning to escape, they would never have let her.

Am I really a danger to this world? Esme thought sadly, turning back around and letting herself be engulfed by the dark trees. I wish I wasn't . . .

When Esme was deeper inside the forest, she picked up the pace, keeping her dark hood over her head and watching out for any lurking dangers. Every once in a while, she heard strange noises, which made her mildly freak out. After all, she was only nine years old . . . well, according to the Ambrosias, at least.