Velvet Stars.

I crossed my arms and stared up at my dad, he was looking incredibly stony faced.
“I'm not joining your little pride club Farther!” I yelled. Why would I? Why would I want to go round killing Vampires? Gosh.
“Pride club?” He spat. “You really disappoint me some times! This is serious stuff. You are now 16. Its your duty to join!”
“Its not my duty to do anything for you.” I felt my body tremble as I said this, often when I answered back like this I would get a smack, but he was being unusually non-violent.
“ Yes it is. We are having a meeting later on, all of us. And I want to introduce you, make the five six.” I wanted to scream and close my eyes, but it was pointless to push everything away. How ever hard I could stomp my foot, however hard I yelled and pulled ever strand of my hair out, there was nothing I could do. Mike, oh sorry daddy, was the most stubborn person I had ever met. I had never met a vampire and never will! I didn't want to let him know he'd won. So I walked over to the sofa, curled up on the edge and picked up my French book.
“You will attend the meeting tonight as I have told you to do so, without fail. If you don't – well, lets not go there.”
“Yes farther.”
“That's a good girl.” my spine curled at the smugness in his voice. And anyway, if I didn't go it was more than likely he would just hit me. It was so incredibly painful to have a Farther who was in head of London's biggest know, only known (as I've tried telling him before), Vampire slaying organisation. I was doomed to it for the rest of my life. I put my head in my hands and tried to control my breathing. How hard was it to commit suicide?
“Oh and Rosalind?” I looked up into his empty, slate grey eyes. “I noticed you weren't paying attention in church earlier, ask the lord to forgive you.”
“I wil.” he left the room, leaving it so warm from his absence. I hated the fact this man can be such a strong christen yet kill? But I guess Vampires work for the devil. I sent the lord a quick message grimly. Yes I was christen, but I strong one? In fact I wasn't even sure if I was? No. Yes. The bible does not lead my life! We should depend on our selves to lead our lives than that dangerous little book. And church is so dull! A 16 year old should be out there exploring the world. Not fighting vampires and attending brilliantly long church services. I say my prayers each night, because I like to have some one to speak to after my troubles.
There is no mother when the mother is killed by the farther because she has changed into one of them, to speak to. And I do not have a farther to speak to unless that man who dominates my life is classed as my farther. We may have the same blood pumping in our veins, but in my view that does absolutely not make us related. I went to the kitchen and opened the sweet jar. Times like this makes me crave sugar. It was unbelievably shity that farther was to walk in at that minute and see me.
“Do you have any idea how bad they are for you? Once a week! Now get changed ready for the meeting!” I wanted to yell at him! I am not a child any more, I'm nearly an adult? Do I have to be told off for nicking a few sweets. I knew what I was going to do. I would slave away for money each day after the vampire hunting shifts are over, and then move out. And if he doesn't like it, than I'll run away. I ran up stairs and saw that he had laid out, on my massive four poster bed, my clothes he wanted me to wear.
What farther of a 16 year old daughter does that. I wanted to cry. I threw them in the wardrobe and picked out my own clothes. Then sighed again. He would only slap me, maybe a little harder this time, and send me back up. So I put on the little grey Jasper Conran jacket with the smart light blue jeans (yes you can get very smart jeans indeed if you pay enough), and a silver Alice band in my thick mahogany hair which was pulled up in a bunch, and slipped on some smart black pumps.
I felt so physically sick coming back down the stairs. When I got down farther looked at me and frowned.
“I want to dye your hair, not now obviously, a sunny blond. But soon. And can't you straighten it? Its so wild. I hate it layered. The colour is so unnatural!”
“Well I'm sorry for being who I am.” I knew what scared him, I looked to much like mum. And he was always thinking, would it happen to me too?
Farther knew everything. He insisted on reading my diaries, and letting me tell him everything! And I did. There was only one thing in the whole world that he didn't know. I let it run through my head from my very first memories as we road down the road in his MGB roadster.

At the age of five :
I had a gold fish. It would flash glints of gold across my room from its little bowl. I loved it so much, Mr Bubbles. One day I got in trouble. I ran from school, I didn't like the other kids telling me I was weird. I just kept my self guarded, I was mature for my age and did not trust anyone. I would stand in the corner with my lips pressed tightly. Mike killed my gold fish, my only friend to speak to apart form my mother, and not even her could I speak to all the time, he took it out the water and drowned it in the air. He left it laying by my bead as a reminder. It made me cry so hard. And one of my tear drops fell back onto it, hours after, and it was suddenly flapping over my desk.

At the age of 7:
My friend had a cat. A small tabby cat with adorable eyes and a cheeky smile. We used to play with him in her back garden. We were playing with him once and he lay down panting. We couldn't under stand what was wrong. We lay with him for a while when suddenly I sensed something. It was like I had sensed the air full of life of the grass, my friend, and the cat. And I sensed part of the puzzle was missing. I looked at the cat lying down and pressed my ear it its little heart. Nothing. The tears broke instantly and I gripped it by its small shoulders and told it to live before my friend had the chance to realise it had died. It sprang back to life with out a second. How?
Events like this had broken out through my life. I knew every time a person died and every time someone was born. In my head. It was horrible being crammed into so many places at once, but I learnt to block it from my head, but if you were to ask me how many people had been born in the last 10 minutes I would be able to answer in my head. I was the barrier between life and death. I could kill some one by just looking at them and thinking die. I could bring any lost life back to the miserable planet by just having a single tear drop on them or telling them to live.
This is why I was so scared of meeting a vampire. They were the living dead, the only ones who could probably defeat me. But my farther, or any one else for that matter, would not suspect a thing of me. The thing my farther hated the most about me was my eyes.
Purple. Yes, I may have not mentioned before. But ever since I was 16 they're incredibly more vibrant and obvious and different. My iris was a shimmering purple, my mother always told me was beautiful. It matched perfectly with my dark but bright mahogany hair. Little did mother knew that it was the colour of life and death together. I was also quite pale, a very light baby pink, with a couple of cute freckles.
I stared out the window, full of a huge back cloud. I saw tesco, a hair salon, and old ware house that looked inhabited (well the two lads playing cricket on the front lawn helped me with that), a couple of pointless trees and a antique shop. I stopped observing, sick and tired of everything. Why were we even located here when most of the time it goes on with London? Oh right, because this is where the vampires were located last.
When we arrived it just looked like a block of flats on top of a bank or something, but as we climbed up the steps on the inside, it got more and more business like.
The room was small and dull, the walls were grey and the carpet a mossy green. There was a long cheap table in the middle the group were spaced out on. Ryan, the closest leaned back and linked his fingers together,
“Your very first meeting as a vampire slayer!” he said loudly, making the quite mutter in the room, stop and heads turn to me. There was Ryan, with his limp long brown hair pulled back into a bunch, and his dark guarded eyes. He was probably late twenties, early thirties. I guess he was nice, but could make fun too much and sometimes offend, and he had a trail of stars expanding from the corner of his eyes and bursting out onto his cheek. It was just – well weird. Then there was Tara, with her dark chocolate skin, her braided hair, he vibrant green eyes and cheery but boring attitude. Then Tom with his skin- head and dark blue eyes and several piercings, yeah he's pretty tough – I don't talk to him much but he tries to.
Lilli, plump Lilli, with her shoulder length blond her pulled into a messy bun, her deep bags; bright ice blue eyes and spider fingers. She was nice, but very contrary and precious.
And then my dad. Well. Your get the gist of his character. We sat down quickly and Farther stood at the front.
“Every one this is Rosalind. My daughter. She will be joining us as of today. Now. Lilli, latest spy news.” she jumped a little at her name and shuffled some bits of paper together with fumbling fingers before taking a deep breath and rising smoothly. She looked like an 8 year old although she was twenty something. Flat chested and short.
“Well,” she gathered her words excitedly, “I think I know where the vampires are hiding!” everyone sucked breath and stared at her.
“What!” Tom yelled.
“Yeah, I used some equipment and obviously I've been watching that road they last disappeared down, and I listened into a conversation the two lads playing on the lawn were having. Obviously we've been suspicious of that old ware house for a while, due to past events as we have with that little house next to the antique shop because we know the general area they went into. And well,” she was almost jumping around and I found I wasn't the only person leaning in to listen,
“THIS!” she pulled up a piece of paper that was scribbled on roughly, “is the exact words. I had my note book ready so I just scribbled them down what I herd. Then I typed them up,” she pulled up another piece of paper in the other hand with neat printed text, “so you could read it.”
she gave a sheet to each person and I read it steadily,

“Can you believe that goal last night? It was a joke.”
“yeah.”
“You okay Adam?”
“Yeah.”
“Your worried ain't you.”
“Yeah. Its just... oh I dunno,”
“You can tell me mate,”
“Its just, how long do you reckon they can hide? And Jimmy cant go out getting their dinner all the time, its only a matter of time before they turn on one of us.”
“Adam, shut the hell up, you can't talk about this out side.”
“Yeah, what ever.”

“Its obvious what they're talking about.” Sarah squeaked as we all looked up from our papers. “And they used the word they. So there's two of these people there hiding. But then they say Jimmy, who ever this is, cant get them dinner all the time, its only a matter of time...”
“Before they turn on us,” I whispered, “which means before the vampires eat us, from blood lust from lack of food. So the ware house place is hiding two vampires.”
Tom pointed at me and simply said, “yes.” and then it was all silent.
“What are you lay abouts waiting for, GO GO GO!” every one sprung into action and my dad rushed over to a large suitcase in the corner of the room.
“What - so suddenly?” I yelled at him, slightly breathless.
“That's the way things roll, so just do as your told and watch okay. Don't touch or do anything. Just watch. We have to go before they change their hiding place, crafty little buggers they are.”
“Dad!” I shouted, he was such a hypocrite, he used the words I got spanked if I ever used them.
“Who are you, my mother?” he said nastily.
Every one was ready by the door with all sorts of weapons, from cross bows to guns. I hated this. I hated it so much. I didn't want to run round shooting vampires!
“Out! In the cars!” he yelled. We ran down the steps full of urgency and out onto the side walk where people recognised us and spurred out our way.
I climbed into the metallic black Mitsubishi Cult and the engine roared into life as we sped down the road. I glanced at Tara to my left who was peering out the window and balancing a cross bow on her lap.
“Do you enjoy this.” I asked her hurriedly, she stared at me at my sudden rush of words.
“There's a difference to what people enjoy and what needs to be done. Like most jobs.”
“You get paid to chase Vampires?” I asked bluntly. She nodded and went back to staring out the window,
“Its very hard to get into this business as you may of well imagined.” the tone to her voice told me she was jealous I got in with out any effort. Ha. Jealous of me and my crappy life.
We carried on speeding down the road, my heart beating so hard I couldn't hear myself think. We parked down the road and loaded out. As the six of us gathered together Daddy did a little pep talk. Well, you could call it a pep talk.
“We're not going to give them time to run, we're to burst in, taking them by surprise and grab the vampires. Got it?” all heads bobbed up and down.
“Take a back seat please Rosalind.” he spoke to me like I was a mere acquittance not like he knew me. Not like a farther to a daughter.
We ran up the path, I lagged behind in so much fear. But there wasn't many of us so I could still see everything, there wasn't anything to block my view. We paused very briefly to look up at the huge ware house before running down the little path. I nearly tripped over a cricket ball.
“3, 2, 1” Farther said with no warning before he kicked the door down and we piled into the house. Everything happened very quickly.
Two boys, one weedy and white, one bulging and black jumped up from there TV screens to stare. A slightly older man dropped a whisky glass he was carrying to a door near the back of the room, a girl curled in the corner with long naturally black hair slammed shut the book she was reading, and every one froze. But the thing that drew my attention the most was two people who had been making out in the corner (the boy was very good looking indeed), broke apart and the girl was the most beautiful, heart braking creature I had ever seen. But she made every nerve in my body shrink.
She had long, thick dark chestnut hair, skin so pale it hurt my eyes, and blood red pulsing eyes. She was wearing a very simple black satin dress. As she broke from her boyfriend (or dinner), she curled into a crouch at blinding speed. A snarl ripped from her throat, it made my heart miss a thud, and she bared her long pointed fangs at us. Some blood dribbled form the corner of her mouth.
It happened so quickly, another vampire flew into a room. Her hair was do dark it had blue and purple streaks in it. Her eyes the same bright red, her skin the same pale, her fangs the same pointed, she she was smaller. Her eyes were huge in her head, and she was just as beautiful as the other one, just as night mare hauntingly stunning.
“NO!” she shrieked, her voice was a peel of bells in the air before she disappeared again.
Farther fired a bullet into the crouched vampires head (I knew this would no way kill her, just knock her out for now), with one ear splitting shot, if the vampire hadn't been in so much shock I could see she may have been able to dodge it. She collapsed into a heap on the floor where the boy she had been kissing collapsed beside her and started shaking her shoulder, absolutely terrified. It didn't seem right taking her. It was like they were family.
“NO! STOP.” one of them abandoned the glass that had shattered from their whisky glass and started to run to the crouched vampire, but Tom got there first. He knocked the good looking guy out the way from the vampires body and threw her into a sack over his shoulder. The boy he knocked crashed into a little coffee table which collapsed onto his head, the cry of pain made me want to run over and help him. Before I could see if he moved again, there was a scream from Tara behind as the other vampire landed next to her (she must have been crawling across the ceiling), and placed her mouth round her neck, ready to rip her throat out, but a cross bow that fired missed her by inches. She span on her feet forgetting her pray before hissing and disappearing again.
“Out, Out, OUT!” Farther roared as a girl with light brown hair in a bun and gloves on ran into the room. She had a small knife in one hand and some paper in the other. She screamed when she annualised the scene and started to run towards us. The boys from the sofa ran towards the bag over Toms shoulder to, and the one with the book. There were a lot of tears from them as we escaped just in time and sprinted down the road. Ryan slammed the door in there faces so we had disappeared round the corner before they managed to get out the house. We were in the car and speeding down the road, they had no idea where we had gone, and we had one out of two vampires in the boot.
I lent back on the seat and put my head in my hands, letting my breath escape my lungs. I was trembling so hard.
“Why on earth are you crying?” Tara hissed under the hum of the engine.
“Who's crying?” Ryan said on my other side then looked at me. “What's up kiddo?”
I knew it was wrong what we had just did and all through my life I was taught to do the right thing. I pulled the hair band out my hair and let it fall over my shoulders.
“Just a shock, that's all,” I lied through the thickness in my voice.
“You got to toughen up kid.” I guess Ryan and Tara were nice, but they were here to work, not cheer me up. So they didn't bother doing anything else. As we parked round the back of the HQ (which was only one floor of the apartments), we all loaded out. My legs were jelly under my body as I stepped out. Tom walked very casually to the boot and picked up the body (in the bag), in his arms like a baby. He juggled it on one arm as he closed the boot with the other. Shifting it back into both arms we walked up the door to the flats.
At the top we went pass the office/study room into a room with looked like a hospital bed and a table together in the middle and a very odd large box in the corner. Everything was pretty simple, I guess because we change HQ all the time, depending where the mission was. The missions could go on for months at a time, trying to track the same vampire.
Tom slipped the body out the bag onto the table and ripped her clothes off so she was naked. I didn't want to look at her perfect body.
“Okay so the head will start healing the minute the bullet is out, so we take it out and put her straight in the corpse cage.” and with that he dug the tweezers into the hole in her head (where blood should have been oozing out), and started fiddling about.
In the mean time Lilli called my name and gestured me over to her side of the bed. I guess Lilli was the only one I get along with here. In fact I really liked her, we've been good friends for a while.
“Touch her arm.” she pointed towards one of her slender arms lying next to her body. I took a step forward unsure what to think. For starters I didn't want to do it, secondly I wonder if it would be like those movies when the human touches the monster it springs to life. But I let my finger tips trace over her hand. I pulled my hand back immediately like I had gotten an electric shock. Her skin, was, was, was diabolical. It was hard as a diamond but colder that ice. It was like touching a dead man's skin, it sent a little shiver up my arm through my body, but at the same time it was a magical, beautiful skin of an angel. Even though there was nothing angelic about this girl.
“Why is she so cold?” I gasped.
“Because they are literally dead. She has no blood in her body. Your learn more as you get deeper into all of this.” Lilli answered.
I paused for a second and closed my eyes. I could feel all the things that were living. There were 5 other living objects in the room. All the spaces were full of life, and then in the middle of it all I sensed like an empty cold space. Normally if no life is there I just feel the empty space, if its dead life then its a black hole, but I felt her deadliness was cold and bitter but amazing at the same time, there was life there to. And it made it a white space, mingled with death. It was like white feathers splattered in blood.
I let them flutter open again and shivered. Lilli was looking at me from the corner of her eyes, “what did you just do?” she asked suspiciously, but thankfully quietly.
“Nothing.” I replied way to fast. She sighed and looked back just in time and the bullet was pulled out of her head. I wave ran through the vampires body and her eyes fluttered open quickly full of pain, anger and sadness. If she had strength she would of attacked every one of us. She looked up at my dad and whispered,
“Please,” before the roughly picked her up, opened the door to the Corpse Cage (talk about grim nick names), and chucked her in with a sickening thud.
“Just in time,” Top gasped, “she was just about to get blood lust.” every one was breathing heavily.
“Cant she just break out that cage?” I asked stupidly.
“That,” Ryan said proudly, “is the only material a vampire can't break through. Now it probably can with full strength, but the fear would of made it weak because the vampire delivers the energy in one big rush ready to fight when it feels fear. That rush passed whilst it was knocked out from the bullet. Now it will be striving for blood. Also the inside is plastered in crosses so she wont' touch the sides if she can help it.” suddenly I herd a sicking scream from inside but wondered if they knew that only blessed crosses created the energy. Where had I picked that up?
“Lets go.” Tom said and we walked out.
“So what, you leave her to dye.”
“We leave it to die, yes. And then we set it on fire.” Tara still looked a bit shaken up from her near death experience.
“What about the other one boss?” she asked.
“That's what we plan tomorrow, if we have any news to where it has gone..” he replied. “but you can go home now, our work for the day is over.”
Lilli clapped her hands excitedly. “Thanks a million, I've got so much to do when I get home.” everyone else murmured in agreement and I felt the relief spread over me. I went to the coat hook to retrieve my coat but an arm whacked in front of me preventing me to step any further. I spun around to snap at who ever it was but it was dad so I gritted my teeth as said, “yes farther?”
“Apart from you. If your joining it means research, so you can perform to your beat standards. I wont be able to pick you up later so you can sleep here tonight, there's a camp bed or air mattress, what ever you prefer, in the cupboard and plenty of sleeping bags, don't ask why. You under stand?” No? I wanted to go home and relax. But that wasn't an option. I had dropped out school so it would mean spending more time with him. It would be better to be alone here. Apart from I wouldn't be alone, I'd be with a dying vampire. He laughed at my face with cruel humour.
“Don't worry about the vampire, three days and she'll be dead.” I nodded trying not to cry at his harsh words. Things became so real.
“Good girl.” he hissed before following every one who had left and slamming the door with out a single good bye. The sound of the lock clicking finalised it and my legs gave way beneath me. I slid onto an office chair. I knew what I had to do – I had to work out how to get out of here. But as I sat there something inside me squirmed and twisted, I wanted to be sick. I sat there for hours in silence, so invoked in my thoughts the next thing made me jump so much.
“Human?” the beautiful voice cam clearly form the room behind. It made me jump so much I hit my head on the wall behind.
“Human?” the voice repeated. It was the vampire. Speaking. To me. My heart started thundering in my chest so hard I felt it heat up my systems. I slowly stood up, I had no idea what I was doing. My head was screaming, no, no, don't do it. My heart was telling me to follow my instincts.
I dragged my head to the door an placed a hand on the cold door handle. Slowly I opened the door.
“Yes.” I whispered into the emptiness. A human wouldn't be able to hear from in there, but she was a vampire.
“Help please.” I knew what she was doing, she wanted me to open it so she could rip my throat open and drink me till I was empty. I shivered.
“How.”
There was a loud bang ,that made my heart stutter, against the metal cage - like she was punching the inside. She was frustrated. And so she should be, I should know, I did know, what she wanted. Blood.
The opening of the front door made me shudder so much I tripped over my own feet.
“Rosalind?” a voice from the study room and I hurried from the room I was in, only glancing once over my shoulder at the cage that had now gone silent.
“Lilli?” she looked a little different. Her clothes were more young and fashionable and her hair was straightened to frame her sweet but plain face. She was only two years older than me.
“I felt for you when you when I herd you were staying here the night alone, studying. So I came and bought some girly stuff for a sleep over.” she held up a couple of bags of sweets and some films. I ran towards her and gave her a hug.
“Thank you so much!” I squealed. It was odd. I like her. But I wasn't best friends with her. I'm never going to proper friends with any one. I can't trust people, but I don't count myself as a person. In a way there's something about me that isn't human, which is why I can relate to the vampire a little. And any way, as I said earlier, every one here is here for business and Lilli can be rude and precious.
The rest if the night I forgot about the vampire. We changed into our Pjs and watched Twilight. Then hot fuzz. We indulged on sweets and told secrets, we even did truth or dare. It was a classic 11 year old sleep over, but it was good fun. I realised I had done no research but shrugged that worry off. I was having... fun with Lilli although she was starting to be slightly annoying. We skated along the floor in slipper socks and had caterpillar wars (you go in mummy sleeping bags and tighten them so much we couldn't see out the hoods, and see who could knock who down first).
We did karaoke and just plain chatted. It was brilliant, in Lilli's perspective. I found it hard I think, and uncomfortable. Alien. And not me, like I was suited for more... lest childish things. As we drifted to sleep that night, Lilli had given me a new experience, whether or not I liked it.
We had known each other for years. I think because dads friends with her dad and she used to come round mine when we were younger to play when ever he came round, or they met up. I think farther always saw potential in her so it was no coincidence when she went to the interviews to join.
The alarm woke us up at 8. If it hadn't I could see us sleeping in for hours and hours. We had gotten five hours sleep and I felt absolutely rubbish. Did I regret it? I'm not sure. It was the most, I guess I could call it fun, I'd had since mum died. It was thoughtful Lilli doing it for me and with that thought we tidied up quickly and showered and changed, just in time for people to start arriving. It was Ryan first who hardly spared us a glance.
I turned back to Lilli. “do you like doing this?” I asked nodding my head behind me. She shrugged, “Its good pay I guess. Sometimes it can be fun.” I nodded. No one here, as far as I knew, didn't want to be here.
What the hell was I going to do?