Changing Fate (A House of Night Twins Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 1

27th October, 1996, 18:45, Central Time Zone

Erin was five, when she found her mother crying in the bathtub. She was looking through the small opening of the bathroom door, as her mother stepped out of the bath, soaked. Erin missed the glow in Mrs. Bates's eyes, that happy spark that was the most expensive and beautiful piece of jewelry she owned. Instead, her left eye was decorated with a black, slightly blue ring surrounding it.

Mrs. Bates dried her hair with a towel, then her whole body. She wiped away her tears, and practiced the most convincing smile in the mirror. Erin witnessed as her mother put on blue jeans, and a red and beige stripy sweater. The young child saw her mother take a razor from the top shelf on the right wall, and roll her sleave up.

She saw her mother slide the sharp tool across her own skin, carefully to avoid any major veins. The blood slowly sparkled, as it exited the wound, dropping to the white floor tiles.

Erin was five, when she saw Mrs. Bates go a bit too far with that razor. Erin couldn't possibly understand why her mom wasn't sad, or panicing about the fact that she was just about to die.

Erin couldn't have known why her mother smiled to her, when she finally noticed her daughter peeping from the hallway. And smiling, she sat down on the floor and invited her in.

Erin kneeled to her mother, with tears forming in her small, blue eyes. "Mommy? What are you doing?"

Mrs. Bates continued to smile to her daughter, and her tears were a different kind than Erin's. Her tears were happy, relieved. "I love you, baby. You'll be alright, baby, I promise. Mommy's just going away for a while."

Erin paniced, looked around quickly and rushed, putting towels and toilet paper over her mom's wounds. "Mommy, where are you going?"

"I'm going to see God, sweetie. But I promise, you'll come live with me, when you're old enough. You'll come, you'll be there..." Mrs. Bates said, assuring her daughter, carressing her blond hair and closing her own eyes.

Eventually, Erin felt her mother's hand stop. She picked it up from her head, feeling it was cold, and heavier than usual. It felt like a doll to the little girl, as she placed the hand into her mother's lap, kissing her on the cheek and walking out of the bedroom.

Erin remembered her mother's last words forever. She knew that she was going to see her again, she was sure of it. She was sure of it when she was standing at the back of the church with her sister Jenna and her father. She was sure of it when her mother's casket was lowered into the ground and buried. She was sure of it when Jenna cried herself to sleep, and even when five years after, her father brought a woman, barely older than Jenna, to live with them. She was always sure she would see her mother again. Until one fateful event, on a lonely winter's night.

5th December, 2006, 22:00, Central Time Zone

A fifteen years old Erin Pauline Bates, dressed in a pair of black ripped jeans, a red tank top, a leather jacket and combat boots, lay on her favorite park bench. Her eyes shut, she enjoyed the sound silence, and the sleeping nature of December.

Jenna was sleeping over at her friend's house, laughing, eating popcorn and listening to, something that was popular ten years ago, like Wannabe. Her dad and step-mother Carla were having dinner at a fancy restaurant, and she was left home alone. Erin had no intention of staying there, though. As soon as she heard the car leave the driveway, she got dressed, grabbed her smack and a needle from under her mattress, stuffed them in her jacket pocket, and left the small two-bedroom apartment, headed for the park.

And there she was. Sticking a dirty needle through her skin, pressing until she felt better. Erin imagined a world where Carla wasn't the most important thing in her father's life. She imagined a world, where her family cared about her.

As she imagined, she lay down on the bench, shutting her eyes, trying her hardest to fall asleep.

Erin was distracted by the sound of heavy boots hitting the ground, getting louder and louder as the person approached. She shot up into a sitting position, her eyes quickly opening and she grabbed the needle in her pocket as a self-defence weapon.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she finally noticed that dark, tall young man, emerging from the night. Erin's heart skipped a beat as the moon illuminated his forehead, and the sapphire tattoo, decorating it.

"No," Erin whispered to herself, standing up, her hand ready with the sharp object.

"Erin Bates. Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; harken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night," the tall man said, extending his right index finger to touch Erin's forehead.

The young woman felt electricity wash over her body. When she opened her eyes, the Tracker was gone.

Erin knew she had to get out of that place. What used to be her favorite bench in all of Tulsa, the one where she happened to have her first kiss, the one she always came to when life at home got hard, the place where she and her dealer met, was now the most horrifying area she could imagine. Well, almost.

She couldn't imagine going to the House of Night.

Erin stuffed the needle in her pocket, and ran through the park and to her aparment. Through the streets, she ignored the cars and pedestrians.

Erin ran up the stairs, not being able to wait for the elevator. She rushed pass Bella Leeder, who was walking into her apartment, out of her head drunk.

Grabbing the key out of her pocket, she unlocked the wooden door with the sign D04 on it, and ran into her home.

Quickly walking into the very room where her mother killed herself five years ago, she stared into the mirror above the sink, admiring the new adition to her reflection in horror and awe.

The pale skin of her forehead was now ornamented with a sapphire outline of a crescent moon, the sign of the Vampyre goddess, Nyx. Erin touched the tattoo, softly, breathing deeply and knowing that now, she had two choices.

She would reject the Change, die, and her soul would rest in Nyx's kingdom. Or her body could accept the new life and she would become a Vampyre.

Either way, she would not go to Heaven.

Either way, she would never see her mother again.

A/N:

Darlings,

this book will from now on go in a slightly different direction. It's basically the same story, but it will go much slower and you'll get to know Shaunee and Erin much better. As you can see by the cover, I changed the title, cast, and everything else. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Panic now because Bohemia is dead,

Z.J.