Twisted

I didn’t even flinch. “Very funny.” My voice was still flat. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I just wanted to scream at myself, Rayna! There’s a creepy guy in your room and he just freakin’ told you you’re not human! When exactly are you planning on getting him out of your room? But I didn’t reply to the voice in my head because Blayze had just leaned forward and opened his mouth.

“If you think this is such a joke,” he said with an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before, “then tell me one thing. Has anything weird happened to you lately? You don’t even have to tell me what. Just say yes or no.”

I didn’t answer. My head was swarming with memories, simply from today. Hallucinations. Smudgy dark voices. Unconscious sister for no apparent reason. Finally, I said, “What am I then?”

He gave me a half smile. “That’s the scary part. You’re part vampire, part witch.”

I actually snorted. “So, my dad was a vampire and my mum was a witch? That’s...yeah. Not likely.” My dad didn’t drink blood and he didn’t kill people. I was damn sure he didn’t have fangs either. As for Mum, well, I honestly could see her as a witch. She was into superstitions and herb remedies and all that kind of stuff that was associated with witchcraft. So, if Blayze had said I was part human, part witch, I might have even considered that. But part vampire too? Don’t make me laugh.

“Liar,” I hissed, realising he was accusing my dad, my dad, of murder.

Before I knew it, I was slammed back into my bed. It didn’t really hurt but it knocked my breath out. My eyes widened when I saw Blayze above me, staring down with fury in his eyes. He leaned down and hissed in my ear. “Don’t ever deny my blood. I get that enough from stupid, ignorant humans.”

My heart sped up, beating my own blood into a rushing stream of nonsense. Did he...? Is he...? Did he really say...? “I...” I choked out, still pressed into my mattress, with a very warm, very beautiful man over me. A very warm, very beautiful man who just admitted to something very dangerous. My mind didn’t want to wrap itself around what Blayze had just said.

He lowered his head to my neck and chuckled softly before opening his lips and then – oh, god. Sharp teeth pressed down onto my breakable skin, teeth that could only be described as fangs. Fear turned my vision blurry and I cursed myself for not making him leave when I could. Now he was going to bite me and drain my blood from my body and oh, god, vampires are real –

He pulled away from my neck, concern flitting across his features, which I found absurdly funny for a moment. Vampires weren’t supposed to feel concerned. “Deep breaths,” he murmured, stroking my hair from my now-sweaty forehead. “Wow. They really didn’t tell you. I thought your parents would at least hint at it or something.” My frantic heartbeat started to slow and I realised this man was just trying to prove a point. Maybe scaring me into admitting fantasy creatures were real. He even thought my parents would have let me know something, even something small.

I shuddered, my mind still struggling to come to terms with something so unbelievable – but those teeth, those fangs had felt real enough to convince me.

A choked sob wrestled its way from my throat and I turned my face into my pillow. I was not going to let myself cry. And I also didn’t want to make any noise that could wake Alexandria or Brian up. But before I fully turned away, I told Blayze to leave for the second time that day.

And he did, without a word of protest.


The next day was my birthday. My eighteenth birthday and all I felt was confused and scared. I didn’t know whether yesterday was real, let alone the late night visit Blayze had so kindly paid me. But Alexandria’s face said it all when she entered the room in the morning. Kalista was definitely in hospital.

She told me I could stay home from school even though it was only the second day, both because it was my birthday and my sister was in hospital. Alexandria then handed me three wrapped presents and four envelopes. One present and envelope had been from Alexandria and another present and envelope from Brian. The last present and envelope was from Kalista which made my heart hurt more.

The last envelope only had my name scrawled across it in a dark script, a really old fashioned kind of handwriting. Alex said she’d found it just outside the door and it was clear it had been delivered by hand because there was no address. She asked if I had any idea who it was from and I just shrugged.

She left the bedroom and I read the cards from her and Brian. It simply told me to have a good birthday with lots of love, from Alex/Brian. Pretty much the same kind of thing.

The present from Brian was just a new journal, even though I hadn’t kept one in years. It was leather bound and absolutely gorgeous, and the pages smelled like it wanted me to tell it a story.

From Alex was a beautiful blue dress that looked as smooth as water but was as dark as the evening sky. A note fluttered out and I read it quickly:


My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the stunning dress. It was floor length with a wide neck and had black lace down the sleeves. Black lace also covered the skirt. The bodice was similar to a corset and laced up the back with black ribbon.

I held my breath as I slipped it on and stared down at myself. It was a little loose in the bodice but that could be fixed by lacing it up tighter. It should have looked horrible with my hair but it just didn’t. And the dark blue made my pale skin stand out in a good way.

I closed my eyes as I imagined my mum in it and she looked even more beautiful than I did at the moment. This dress could turn anyone into something beautiful. I almost wanted to cry as I stood there, dressed in something Mum had once been dressed in too.

Without changing back, I opened the next envelope and present, the one from Kalista. It was just another card stating Happy birthday! with lots of x’s and o’s at the bottom. It made me miss Listy even more than I did before. If this was a normal birthday, I would’ve been woken up by a phone call from her instead of from Alexandria. We would have spent most of the day together, no matter what Carly said.

When I opened the present, I was shocked to find another leather bound journal. It looked more worn than the one from Brian, but maybe it was meant to be like that. And it wasn’t exactly the same. The one from Listy was even more gorgeous.

I set it aside and returned my eyes to the other envelope, the one that was sent from someone unknown. Though I did wonder if it had anything to do with a certain green eyed man.

When I opened it, I found a handwritten letter with the same dark, swirly kind of writing. And it was written on yellow-ish, thick paper, like it came straight from an expensive letter-writing kit.

But even after that, my mind was still completely dumbfounded as I read it.

Dear Rayna,

cccccIt’s your birthday today, which means I can finally contact you. I know others shall already have tried to talk to you; perhaps you already have their stories stuffed down your ears. They probably found out some other way to break the rules.

cccccYou’re probably scared and miserable already and I’m sorry for that. But I know you’re able to handle this because you have proven you’re strong.

cccccSince it’s your birthday, let me tell you a story.

cccccOnce upon a time, there was a man and a woman. These two people shifted homes too often to be normal but in their minds, it was. They had grown up like that, lived like that for the entirety of their short lives, just sixteen years.

cccccThe woman was one of beauty, both outside and in, with a fiery heart that, while passionate, was not angry. She knew of the world, not of dresses and tea parties, but of spells and the power in names. She was raised by a mother who owned a Witch’s heart without broomsticks and the fantasies of the modern world. And a father who spoke in riddles and responded to any kind of command in the ways the commander was stunned by. He was also the most beautiful man his daughter had ever met.

cccccAnd the man was one of complexity. At first he did not know why he was different to his father’s friends, who came by often, even after moving halfway around the world. He became bitter after learning about his mother’s end. His mother, the fragile woman he did not even remember but loved anyway. Loved more than his father even.

cccccAfter living on the run for years, the man’s family returned to the town they should have always been welcome in, the Paranormal town. And they were welcomed back, if coldly, but the boy not at all. It was determined that he would have to prove himself to the Blood-Takers. So, with nerves and fear, the man stepped forward on his Maturing day – his eighteenth birthday.

cccccBut he stumbled with shock as he stared upon a beautiful woman who was not a human but held a Mixed scent, kind of like his own but different in so many ways. This woman looked frightened, as she should be, since she’d been stolen from her very own parents, as they stood by and watched as the Blood-Takers led her away. There was nothing they could do to stop her from becoming one of the Taken.

cccccAnd the man couldn’t do it. He could not take the sad woman’s blood. He lied and lied to buy time until he finally found an opening to grab the woman and flee. So they returned to their forever running life, with a new secret: An Immortal Drink they’d stolen from a Blood-Taker’s cupboard. They broke it down into separate ingredients and then began living on it.

cccccHowever, they eventually found something stronger than the Immortal Drink. So they gave it up for love and decided to grow old together, the way life was supposed to run. They even had children, even though that was even more looked down upon than two different Breeds being involved romantically.

cccccThey grew tired of living a constantly changing life and instead returned to the Paranormal town, claiming they had become human. Many asked how and when and why but they gave no answer. Their scent of humanity was what convinced the Paranormals of their words. They were not, however, human – the scent upon their skin was love.

cccccSadly, not everyone was convinced. The Spirits and the Unknowns banded together and brought an old curse back to life. Their daughters were to live, though it was rumoured that the Eldest Daughter was one of a kind, full of a magic that could possibly conquer the one rival all Paranormals have – the Darkness.

cccccBut not until she was Matured and trained.

cccccOne day, one day, all will fear the line that brings coldness to your heart. All will chant under their breath with respect and a healthy amount of terror. All will admire she whose eyes hold the fire of the present. And also the past and future.

ccccccccccccccccccccccccc- The Shadower.