BOOK TWO fear•less (adjective) without fear; bold or brave; intrepid. ••• I fight with myself, somewhere in my head, there's that one voice that says 'Ignore it. Ignore it all. You don't mean any of it.' But I do, I mean it all. Every single devastating and destroying thought. It's true. I feel it, I believe it, I am it, whatever it is, that's me. I disgust myself, everything I do or say or think, I hate. I live in the past, I live in regret, I live in this, this hole, this confining, darkening hole. And I can't get out. ••• August disgusted herself. All she ever wanted was a hero. But he wasn't what she had in mind.

BOOK ONE scar•less (adjective) tending to leave no scar or blemish ••• I don't remember when it started. I don't remember how, where or why. But it started. This war. This never ending conflict. But it's me. Just me. 'It's inside your head, it's not real, you're imagining it.' That's what they tell me. But they don't know. They don't know how it feels to look at yourself, your life, and hate it, hate it all. I'm not fighting with anyone, but I'm filled with hate. Not for you or him or her or anyone. But for me. I.. I.. I hate myself. There. I've said it. And I mean it. ••• Riley was in a never ending battle against herself. All she ever wanted was a hero. But he wasn't what she had in mind.

The world had gone to hell long ago, taken over by the vampire race. In order to keep some sort of peace in our land, the Vampire Lords made a consecutive agreement. The rich and powerful humans could survive just as they had been, untouched by the vampires save for the occasional blood collections, or so they thought In reality, we were all under their control. Castles spread out throughout our land, one landing in each city. Each castle varied in the number of vampires residing there, but all of them carried a Lord. The Lords were the ones in charge in every city, whether we liked it or not. The vampires often roam through the city, making sure that everyone was in order and no one stepped out of line. If you stepped out of line, you died, end of story. Even if the rich were still under their control, their lives were still better than the poor. The poorest lives held a much worse fate. The men were to be put to work as slaves, whether that meant serving a specific vampire, or just building their castles, they were slaves. The women were to be pets. Pets were the lowest rank you could have. They were forced into cages that were too small to stand in with collars around their necks. They spent their lives in pet shops, just waiting for the dreadful day that they'll be bought. They were treated like animals, trained into what their master wanted, and punished if they misbehaved. Those who were lucky enough to live through that, we're to be slaughtered for their blood at age twenty-five in an act to make sure that our population would stay steady. I was born into this world. Born into this world full of blood-sucking monsters. Except, I was one of the lucky ones. Was. It all ended for me when I was 12, when I was taken away from the last bit of hope and family that I had left. Ever since then, I've lived in a cage, just rotting away, waiting, dreading for the day that some monster would make me his. This is my life. I am a pet. ~~~ Cover by: @mshacake