Chapter 1 (1/2)

When I was little, I never understood why. Why things had to be the way they were, why things couldn't change.

I could never grasp why time travel was impossible or why you couldn't put glitter with glue and create a glitter bomb.

When I got to highschool, everything changed. The impossible became plausible and there was no filter between fantasy and reality.

Vampires and monsters entered our world, claimed it like it was theirs' all along.

Now people were just treated like other animals. Kept like pets for all kinds of creatures. I had thought, at first, that my family had the worst of it. But now, seeing the world as it is, I see that we were lucky.

"Ava," I whispered through the thin air. It looked like I was alone on these mountains, but I knew better.

"Ava!" I hissed again, louder.

A shadow crept out from behind a worn out barrel.

"Max? Is that you?"

"Well, duh."

"Just checking," she said, rolling her silver-grey eyes. "Well, come on. My dad's going to be looking for me if I don't get back soon. "

We walked through the empty streets. There were only a few vendors open until we got downtown; namely, big chain-stores that never seemed to close anyway. Downtown was required to be open. Vampires were the ruling race, and as such, most shops around the center of town were open 24/7.

Ava went ahead of me.

"You need to be as inconspicuous as possible," she said, handing me a pair of plastic dollar-store vampire fangs. Reluctantly, I popped them into my mouth, preparing for the inability to speak properly for the next few hours.

We walked through the mildly crowded streets; most monsters had their shopping done by one or two in the morning. I checked my watch; it was a quarter to four.

I tapped on Ava's shoulder.

"Hey, we need to get moving," I whispered, pulling my fleece jacket a little tighter around my chilled torso. "It's almost four, your dad's getting home at five, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. We'll be fine. The first thing he does when he gets home is take a shower. If we're running late, we should be able to get through the window."

"Don't the windows have security alarms on them?"

"We can avoid them by disrupting their signal with my phone."

I felt uneasy.

"Well, if you're sure.."

We turned the corner into a darker back street. Ava suddenly shoved me against the rough, grimy brick wall of a building, flattening herself out as well.

I heard the voices of two men talking, although I could hardly even see their outlines. A deep, humid fog had set in to the lower part of the city, it'd seemed.

"The arrangement is set?"

"There won't be any trouble, sir."

"I should hope not. I'd hate to have to kill you if things don't go as planned."

I recognized the first voice, smooth and cruel at the same time.

I didn't know the second man.

Ava discreetly pulled me out of the alleyway, nearly stumbling over my clumsy feet.

When we were at a far enough distance, we ventured to speak again.

"What was your dad doing there?" I asked her.

She shook her head, not having much of an answer herself.

"I don't know. He was supposed to be at a meeting right now."

"We should go home then, in case he saw us."

"But we're already here !" She protested with an exaggerated expression.

"We can go another time. Besides, your dad might have seen us. If he finds us asleep, he'll think it just his imagination and it must have been someone else.

She was silent for a moment.

She finally let out a tired sigh. "Well, alright."

...

I was currently working at the window latch leading into Ava's room. We didn't dare go through the door in case her father had come home earlier.

I had just shut the window after a hasty crawl-through when Ava looked back at me with alarm.

Mr. Acxis was sitting in a chair placed by the corner of Ava's suddenly dark-atmosphered room.

"So, daughter. Servant. Is there a specific reason you two were out, or were you just breaking the rules for the hell of it?"

"N-no, father," Ava stuttered, giving away her guilty disposition. "We were out buying gifts for mother's birthday."

"Really?" He asked in a falsely curious hissing voice. "Then perhaps you don't mind showing me these.... gifts?"

I paled as Mr. Acxis reached for the bag on my shoulder. He roughly took it, ransacking it like a piece of trash that could be easily discarded.

After thoroughly searching, he threw the bag aside.

He smiled cruelly.

"And you have these gifts somewhere else, I suppose? Maybe being held by the vendor?"

Ava tried to speak, but her voice faltered and no coherent words came out.

His smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of disappointment amd deep disgust.

"I expect more from you, Aveline. And sneaking out with a servant? A human one, at that." He looked past her; his gaze fell squarely on me.

"You disgust me," He said feverantly, strings of spit flying from his mouth. 1/2