~Dark Princess~ (Edited)

~Annika: Chapter 1~

I skipped down the hallway as usual. Tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life, like I always said on my birthday. But this year, it feels as if something big will occur, other than the fact that it's my 17th birthday. Hopefully it's very eventful and interesting. Suddenly, it's as if I feel someone's presence coming towards me. Out of instinct, I whirled around to see that Grace and Shawn were standing behind me, about to scare me. They both jumped from my sudden movement and I burst into a fit of laughter at their expressions, relaxing my muscles once again.

Shawn scowled at me, but before he could comment, Grace spoke up.

"How do you always do that?! I swear that we're quiet... most of the time anyway." I shrug in response, not really knowing how to explain how I can sense their presence. It would most likely be pretty weird to tell someone that, so usually I kept it to myself. Not even my foster parents knew about that part of me. I smiled at the two of them and brought them into a bone-crushing hug. Grace squealed at my hug and Shawn grunted in annoyance. I chuckled and then let them go. Grace was dramatically gasping for air while Shawn wore his usual glare.

"Oh Shawn, lighten up a bit." I told him, making a pouty face at him. He rolled his eyes at me, but the glare softened a little bit in return, bringing a smile onto my lips. Just as I was about to speak up and say that, that was much better, the bell rang... shattering the silence that had come. Huffing, we made our way to our first block class.

After classes ended for the day, I bid ado to my lovely friends and headed on home. My foster 'rents wanted to do something for my birthday today and then throw a party tomorrow with all my friends.

I walked into a silent house, which brought curiosity into my system. Cautiously, without making a sound, I made my way around the house. I couldn't hear anything, so I doubt that this was some kind of surprise thing that my 'rents' were doing. I raised an eyebrow when I saw someone lying on the ground.

Suddenly, I noticed it to be Marie, my foster mum. Oh no. I ran towards her then. When I reached her, a gasp escaped my mouth at the scene before me. Marie lay on the ground surrounded by her own blood. I couldn't watch this anymore. I held back the tears threatening to fall, knowing that doing that wouldn't help a thing, so I did the next thing that came to my mind.

"Andy?!" I called out to my foster dad. There was absolutely no sound coming from the house, giving it an eldritch feel. I shivered, absolutely afraid for the first time in my life. I took deep breaths to calm myself and ran to the phone hanging on the wall in the hallway. I stopped short when I saw another trail of blood that I hadn't seen when I came in. I followed it into the living room and another gasp escaped my now trembling lips. On the ground, in front of the sofa was Andy.

"No, no, no. This can't be happening." I murmured to myself repeatedly, and then ran back towards the phone, ignoring the sickly smell of metallic from their mingled blood. I gulped as I dialed the number, looking around to see if the person who had done this to them was still here. My whole body trembled in utter trepidation as I waited for the police to answer their phone. Finally a lazy voice answered.

"Police, how may I help you?" My breathing was becoming ragged, but I forced myself to concentrate and tell her what had happened to my foster 'rents'.

"I-I came h-h-home and m-m-my parents are... lying in a pool of blood. P-please come." I said, tremors shaking my entire body, making my voice quiver as well. She seemed more alert at that moment and then I told her where I lived and we hung up. Not too long afterwards, I heard the sirens coming towards the house; but my eyes never strayed from the motionless bodies of Marie and Andy.

I sat emotionlessly, staring into space when they came. They took their bodies away from me and then some police asked me questions that I didn't answer. They asked me about how long they were dead for, when I found them, and all these other questions, but I couldn't even find my voice for a mere second. They ended up giving up on me about an hour later, leaving me as they carted Marie and Andy off into the ambulance.

I walked up to my room in a trance, not really having many thoughts. I felt completely numb.

There was a note of my bed, which piqued by curiosity just a smidgen. Who would have sent me a note? Could it have been Grace or Shawn sending me a birthday card? I slowly walked towards the note and sat on my bed. Opening the note and reading it, my eyes widened in astonishment. Who the hell was this?! I read it once again, trying to bring myself out of the numb state my body had taken refuge in. The note read:

Annika, I know what you are. Prepare to die.

I stared at it, pondering over what the hell that was supposed to mean. I looked at the clock and notice the time read 12:00AM. It was officially my birthday. I remember how ecstatic I had been before all of this shit happened. Where was I to go now that Marie and Andy were gone? I refused to return back to the orphanage and wait for someone to come and buy me, as if I were some animal.

Packing my bags, I knew where I was headed now. Although I hadn't seen him in 12 years, I knew that he existed and he would have the answers to what the hell was going on in my now disastrous life.

The only information I had on him was that his name was Eximus Lucas. I had two things left from him. An ancient necklace and a picture of me, him... and my deceased mother. Yes, Eximus Lucas was my one and only father. Now... I was on a mission to find him.