Prologue

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As of now, the story is not entirely edited, you'll see typos here and there, I'm sorry and I hope that doesn't bother you, I will go back and edit when I'm done with the book but for now, please be kind!

"Aurelie, are you sure that it's a good idea to be out alone? I don't really like the way it looks outside." Aurelie shook her head softly at her brother's concern, his french accent adding a certain uniqueness to his words.

"Raphael, I've lived here for the past three years. I'll be fine, ne stress pas." She stretched her hand out, feeling the air until a small smile made its way to her face when she made contact with her brother's arm. She gave it a comforting squeeze while he turned to look at her wearily.

"I know, I just don't understand how you can live in such a busy city all by yourself and in your condition." Aurelie frowned at this statement, she hated the word condition because her blindness wasn't a condition. It was something she was born with and simply couldn't change. She had never known a life where she could see, so to her, this wasn't a condition but merely reality.

"Raphael, you know I know I hate that word and besides, I can still see shadows. I know when a car is passing or when someone is approaching me. And, I'm not alone, I have Rusco." As if on cue a Siberian Husky, with piercing blue eyes and fur of a beautiful shade of grey and white, ran into the room, rubbing its head softly against Aurelie's leg. She bent down, giving the dog the attention it wanted while Raphael watched the two of them with admiration. He didn't know why he was so worried about her, she was his little sister and yet he felt like she was more responsible than he ever could be. "Besides,Raph, you know all of this. Why the sudden concern?" Aurelie didn't bother to face him , instead she remained on her knees petting her beloved dog. Raphael simply shrugged, looking out the large windows of his sister's loft to face the rainy and dreary New York weather. Their parents had bought her this loft, making sure that it catered to her disability and allowed her to live life as normal as possible, well, as normal as a twenty year old blind girl could at least. That being said, Aurelie had never felt abnormal because at the end of the day, what was normal? Normal was just a standard placed by humans and she had decided from a young age, that humans were to selfish and imperfect to decide for her what normal was. Normality was what she defined it as, no one else but herself.

"Oui, I know, but I'm your older brother.It's my job to worry about you." Aurelie let out playful sigh standing up to face the direction of her brother's voice, she crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look.

"Raphael, you're going to be here for several weeks, s'il vous plait, don't make my life difficult. I've always been ok with or without you." With that, Aurelie decided she was no longer going to delay her going out, all this fuss because she wanted to visit the bakery down the road. It often made her angry when people treated her as if she were incompetent, especially her brother who has known her since birth and so knows that she is very much capable of almost everything. Wordlessly, she grabbed her transparent rain coat and an umbrella, putting on the coat before attaching Rusco to his leash.

"Aren't you going to take your stick?" Raphael questioned as he watched her walk towards the door, she ignored him instead of replying choosing to take some treats and poop-bags for Rusco. "Je t'aime!" Raphael called just before she closed the door and though she was upset with him, she still mumbled the words back.

Aurelie had only walked a few meters away from her home and yet she had already made up an entire speech filled with insults and profanities that she would use the next time her brother were to treat her as a child.

"I mean who does he think he is!"She finally let out with an an aggravated sigh, feeling a certain relief after letting out some of her pent up emotion. However, only then did she realize the strangeness of her surroundings. Instead of the usual hustle and bustle that was found the streets of New York, it was oddly calm and peaceful. She could hear a few footsteps here and there and make out the shadows of some passing cars but that was it. She bent down and stroked the nose of her guide dog gently before reaching into her pocket for the red chicken flavored treat that he was familiar with.

"Rusco, are we in the right place?" She whispered, as if he could reply. She held the treat tightly in my hand, contemplating whether it was still a good idea to go to the bakery. The treat acted like a signal showing Rusco where she wanted to go and when she arrived there safely, she would give him the treat. Red meant Amelia's bakery a few streets down where you could smell the baked goods from miles and yellow meant to the Academy where she taught braille. Of course, she knew her way around even without Rusco but it was better to be safe than sorry. But, today, something didn't seem right to her, the fact that the streets were eerily quiet and hardly any cars were passing by only fueling her suspicion. She decided not to act stupidly and pretend to be brave and heroic,like all those girls who got themselves killed in movies and chose, instead, to go home and ask Raphael to accompany her. She wasn't a spiteful person, never had been, nor did she like to hold grudges, life was too short for that and life was also too short to make difficult for yourself by not asking for help when you needed it. She walked back home carefully, her excitement for the baked goods that she was soon going to eat still intact, going home again was a minor set back and let's face it, she would much rather go with her brother than alone.

"Aurelie, c'est toi?"Raphael frowned upon hearing the front door suddenly open, she had only been gone for about five minutes, why would she return so soon? He stalked carefully to the entryway, Rusco's loud and cheerful bark only confirming his suspicion. "Why are you back already?" He asked confused before walking closer so that his sister would be able to hear his voice and identify his whereabouts.

"Would you like to come with me? I didn't have a good feeling being out there alone and I thought it would be nicer if you came with me anyway, besides, you're yet to try a proper New York bagel." Raphael smirked as he crossed his arms, kissing his teeth as he shook his head.

"Finally decided to listen to me, huh, Aurelie?It's about time you knew, your older brother knows best." He teased his little sister, reaching over her to grab his own coat. However, as he put it on, he could see the excitement and happiness she once had disappear into an expression of slight sadness and discontent.

"Actually, it seems like it might rain harder, let's just stay inside. I'll make pasta." Aurelie didn't know why she was so upset all of a sudden, normally her brothers teasing didn't bother at all but for some reason she couldn't help but feel sad that she had to ask her brother to come with her in effort to be safe. A small wave of guilt washed over Raphael as he stared into his sister's eyes, there were light shades of grey, her irises milky white. They weren't always like that, he could remember distinctly when Aurelie was first born, they were a beautiful shade of blue not that they weren't beautiful now. In fact, he preferred the grey colour, it added a certain mystery towards her that only made you more inclined to get to know her. Aurelie had been born prematurely, five months to soon and spent the next seven months in an incubator. As a result, she developed retinopathy of prematurity which the doctors were able to treat before she could go completely blind. Sadly, she was still left visually impaired, limited to only seeing shadows and even that was difficult.

"Desolé, Aurelie, I shouldn't tease." Perhaps, he shouldn't make fun of her like that, she was never the type to gloat, always admitting when she needed help so why should he make her feel worse about it when she did. He couldn't help teasing her because that's what siblings did, they teased and they argued and they fought but they always ended up making up in the end.

"It's ok, we can always go tomorrow morning. I'll go get started on the pasta, would you like to help?" A mischievous smile made its way to her lips and she knew that they would end up arguing about who's pasta was the best before finally getting drunk on two or more bottles of wine. Raphael let out an excited cheer as he followed his sister into the kitchen, Rusco wagging his tail happily as he followed them.

Aurelie was wise to go back home that day,however, she had only delayed the inevitable because unbeknown to her there was a hidden danger awaiting her; a danger that would be all-consuming, a danger that was wicked, a danger that would change her life forever, and a danger in the form of a vicious, blood-thirsty and perilous man with dark brown hair and a devilish smile.

A/N First ten chapters will be out soon, please vote and comment to let me know who's reading. I'm so excited!





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