Something Sweet, Something Sinister; The War Begins (A Vampire Novel)

Chapter 1

"Come on, we have to get moving," Blake whispered, trying to force me awake without scaring me.

His eyes met mine as he crouched beside the bed. The faint scent of cigarette smoke clung to his jacket and let me know that he had already been awake for quite some time before trying to get me up.

"Why? What time is it?" I groaned, my words muffled by the pillow. My body protested at the thought of leaving the bed's warm embrace. 

"It's four, so, time to leave."

My mind was foggy, and a part of me desperately wished I could cling to the oblivion of unconsciousness just a little while longer.

"How did you even get in here?" I argued.

"It's my house, Emma," he replied, his voice threaded with a hint of amusement that didn't quite reach his eyes. There was always an edge to him, a hunter's alertness that never seemed to fade, not even within the walls that he called his own.

"I meant in this room," I grumbled, my voice still rough with sleep.

"It wasn't exactly locked," he replied with an easy shrug, as if the very concept of privacy was alien to him.

The mattress squeaked under my weight as I reluctantly forced myself upright. With a resigned sigh, I pushed back the blankets and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.

My feet touched the cold wooden floor, and a chill ran up my spine—not from the temperature, but from memories that clung to me like shadows. 

It had been two months since my village was burned to the ground, and that meant it's been two months since I last spoke to Pierce. He kept his promise and got me away from there safely.

I know because I wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't.

I just wish that I hadn't passed out. Everything that happened after he drank my blood until I woke up in this town was a mystery.

"Emma, are you with me?" Blake's voice cut through my thoughts, grounding me back in the present.

I nodded, more to myself than to him. "Did you get supplies?" I asked.

He nodded and grabbed at the backpack strap that was tight on his shoulder.

"They're all in here," he said.

Normal people would be packing food or water, but I knew that inside his bag was probably enough weapons for a small group of people. There would definitely be more than we needed ourselves as just the two of us, but Blake liked to be prepared.

I rubbed my eyes before following him out the door. We had been planning on going to the hunter headquarters for weeks ever since he spotted me a few days after my arrival. Well, ever since his dog had spotted me.

Finn, his trained vampire-smelling hound had sniffed me out and brought Blake right to me. Although, because dogs can't talk, he thought it was because a vampire had just been near me and not because I was half one.

He had asked me if I had seen vampires around because his dog had alerted him that I smelled similar to one, and I had explained that the war had gotten to my old town. I showed him Pierce's fang marks on my arm to further prove my point. I wasn't really lying, just witholding some of the truth.

Pierce's fang marks would 'leave a scent' until they fully healed, according to Blake, so I had a bit of time before my little party trick was caught on to.

Unfortunately, I also explained how I had been almost entirely blinded by the smoke and dust for the majority of the fight and couldn't actually see the vampire who bit me. I left out the part where the only way I made it out of there was thanks to him, but instead said I was just lucky to have somehow survived due to passing out.