ONEUS 18 + Blood Moon - Vampire - (Book 1)

Released Part 1 *xion*

Neoma had been sleeping only for a short while when the sinistrous sound of screaming filled her home. Heart pounding, she sat up quickly, her golden brown hair falling in tangled waves around her shoulders and pale face. Even at the young age of nineteen, her survival instinct was honed enough to enable her to calmly and carefully slip down silently from her bed. Her bare feet made contact with the thick rug as her thin nightgown grazed her ankles. Feeling blindly on the bedside dresser, she managed to grasp a nearby candlestick. The weight of the makeshift weapon provided her with enough courage to approach and open her bedroom door.

She stared out into the ensuing chaos. Blood. Everywhere. Along the floor and up the walls. Furniture, ornaments and paintings splattered in bright blood littered the floor. Among the devastation, the slumped bodies of the dead provided a pitiful indicator of the carnage still in motion. And there, standing amidst the toppled furniture and lifeless bodies stood a creature from hell.

It's eyes lurid white as it presented a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. At the same moment her father appeared from his own room. His sword brandished in his hand, he took a swing at the beast. Tragically, having been struck by recent illness, the Kings strength was not what it once was. Neoma watched, as in seconds the creature merely knocked the blade from his hands and without hesitation, plunged it's teeth into her fathers neck. The King died instantly. 

Neoma was stunned into inaction, as she continued to watch in horrified astonishment as the thing dismissively dropped her fathers lifeless body to the ground and slowly approached her. Before she could even begin to feel afraid, a blade shot out from the monsters chest.

A brief look of confusion crossed its hideous face before it slumped slowly to the ground, landing with a sickening thud. As the defeated beast disappeared, there in its place stood one of the most captivating and beautiful men Neoma had ever seen. His tousled ebony hair contrasted with his skin which glowed like moonlit ivory. Together, they provided a mesmerizing canvas for his hypnotically pale green eyes that seemed to stare deeply into her soul as he urgently surveyed her paralysis. He was dressed in the armour of the Monarchs of the legends she had seen depicted in some of her books. An additional accessory he was wearing caught Neoma's attention, a small red stud depicting a rose sat on his right ear.

Seeing him standing there, a myth in the flesh, increased Neoma's growing sense of dissociation from the situation. None of this could be real. She attempted to take a step back as everything around her began to spin into darkness. Overwhelmed, Neoma succumbed to a sudden state of unconscious absolution that released her temporarily from the waking nightmare. The candlestick slipped uselessly from her fingers, clattering loudly beside her. With lightening speed, Ravn rapidly advanced towards Neoma, catching her seconds before she made contact with the ground.

Clutching her unconscious form to his chest, Ravn's mind was reeling with the scent of her. Honeysuckle and soap, denoting purity and sweetness invaded his senses. He had been imprisoned for ten years, denied contact with the humans he had spent a life time protecting. Even so, this did not mean that the blood of those he cherished didn't call to him like a sirens song. 

Dizzy with desire, it took exceptional effort for Ravn to focus on lifting the princess and unceremoniously placing her over his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Ravn took his sword in his free hand and purposely strode out of the bedroom and back into the chaos. The blood lust still glowing in his emerald eyes. 

On encountering the top of the stairwell, Ravn witnessed Hwanwoong wrestling with one of the demons. The battle was short-lived as Hwanwoong skilfully manoeuvred from the beasts grasp. His slender, yet muscular body gracefully spun around, and plunged his sword into its chest. Breathing hard, Hwanwoong glanced up to meet Ravn's steady gaze, his face shone with perspiration and his ash blonde hair hung damply on his forehead as his large amber eyes  surveyed the female form slumped over Ravn's shoulder. Hwanwoong  raised an eyebrow inquisitively. Ravn nodded in response, silently confirming that their mission was accomplished.