Chapter 1- The Beginning

I’m sat in an oak tree. High above the world watching the people sleeping in the house across the street. They look so peaceful sleeping, dreams racing through their heads. I couldn’t help but smile at them, their was a little girl and a small baby, who I was sure was a boy. Their was no father but their was a mother, she was small and fair with bouncy red hair. Something about this place had drawn me here tonight. The street seemed so peaceful, the streetlights were bright and the road was silent. Not surprising when it was 3 am at night but still, it was quiet and maybe that was the problem, it was too quiet. I rested my head against the trunk of the tree, one leg hung over the side of the branch while the other was folded under my body becoming very numb but I had gotten use to uncomfortable positions. My arms were tightly folded over my chest, just as I closed my eyes for a quick nap when a scratchy sound woke me and nearly knocked me out of my tree trunk position, I regained balance quickly and looked round for the maybe threat. I stood up on the thick branch and looked around the tree, something dropped down onto the end of the branch, its too dark for even me to see, I reach into my back pocket for the pocket knife I had there, I flicked it open as the mystery noise got louder and louder and moved closer to me, I tensed and braced for the attack that might follow.
Then just as the mystery noise came into view I realised it wasn’t a threat but a small black cat. I lowed the knife and I exhaled, I fell back into a sitting potion on the branch when I looked at the new comer she too was also sitting looking at me. She knew why I was here, which was weird considering I didn’t even know why I was here. But she knew, every so often when she knew I was watching her she would blink slowly and turn her head to the house, I would follow her gaze and then return to look at the her wondering what we were waiting for. After ten minutes of us being in the tree together, she moved towards me, she stopped at my feet and lay down with her tail swinging from the branch, I cocked my head at her wondering what she was waiting for. Her fur was jet black and silky smooth, her tail was long and elegant. Her ears where small but sharp and on alert, her paws where also small but dainty and nimble, she walked along the branch on the thin end like a tight ropiest. The rings of her eyes where green but the pupil was large on unmistakably black, this was no house cat and she definitely wasn’t an ally cat, if she wasn’t either of these cats then she must be here for a reason, I needed to figure out that reason.
“Hey kitty, what you doing here then?” She looked at me, barely, and turned her face slowly to the house, blinked again and turned back to me and pierced me with those trance fixing eyes. I took a deep breath in and looked at the house to see what she was trying to tell me but I only saw what I saw before, a sleeping mother and two sleeping children. I looked closer encase maybe I had missed something, again I saw nothing wrong with the house or the occupants. I turned back to the cat who sat with her eyes closed mouth slightly ajar and was breathing lightly, I sighed some people could sleep in oak trees, I was sadly not one of them. I rested my head back against the trunk of the tree, I was quickly snapped out of my trance when I sharp pain shot through my leg, I shot up to see a small cat claw digging into my leg through my new black jeans, I almost screamed at the surging pain but I managed to disentangled myself from the claw and looked at the small creature now standing looking at me with intense eyes, this time her head spun quickly towards the house. I followed her gaze and I saw a shadow enter the small girls bedroom. It passed so quickly I could almost have sworn I hadn’t seen it at all, but I had and I squinted to get a better look and I saw a tall figure appear in the bedroom. I gasped and jump from the branch, staggering as I made the landing, I hadn’t realised how high it actually was. I cursed at the swelling pain in my ankle but ran towards the house, using what little power I had left I lifted myself to the window of the child and entered the room. I looked around the room looking for any trace of a shadow, there was none.
Maybe I had imagined it, I was about to do a sweep of the house when a cold chill went up my spine. I turned round, nothing. I went to open the door that led onto the landing when I heard it. Heavy breathing, I turned slowly in an attempt not to scare who ever was in the room with me. When I turned round I saw a tall figure, looming over the child’s sleeping body, I walked forward without making a sound along the soft cream carpet. I reached the two of them within seconds.
“What are you doing here?” The figure turned to face me slowly. Not scared or startled but amused slightly. He chuckled to himself slightly when he saw my face and posture: I was stood with my feet separate, my hands rolled into fists and my eyes narrowed with my head held high ready for any threat that may happen towards the little girl, who was still oblivious to the event taking place within her room. Once the shadow figure moved into the light of the window I saw his features more clearly. His eyes were deep blue and the pupil almost grey, his skin was pure white and flawless, his hair was spiked with gel, its ebony glow reflecting the moonlight. His brown leather coat hanging at his ankles and big mountain boots that probably had holes in the soles, they were that worn down.
I relaxed my posture when I realised the moon shone of the new shadow in the night but a shadow could not shine as bright as I did when I saw this shadow, it could only be Adrian.
I smiled when he did and walked confidently into his arms when he extended them towards me. I clung to his old coat like a child’s blanket, when we finally parted he looked at me like he hadn’t seen me in year, taking in my every feature and remembering the way he had left me over a year ago to how I looked now. I could tell in his eyes I must have changed so much, I hadn’t grown taller so I was still considerably smaller then him, my ash blonde hair had been cropped into a bob so it was out of my eyes, my eyes where still a light hazel colour but had grown large and knowing. My skin had tanned in the heat of summer but over all I was still noticeable as Riley Honeycutt. I steeped back to examine the shadow but the more I looked the more I noticed that he hadn’t changed all the much from a year ago or ten years ago or a hundred years ago, for that matter. But then he was a fixed moment in time he wouldn’t change all that much anyway. It was then that the little girl started to stir slightly so I motioned for him to follow me outside, he obeyed and made no sound as we departed that moonlit room.
Once outside the home, I focused my attention on the big oak and cursed it with my mind, Adrian following my gaze and seeing my expression gave an amused cough that drew my attention back to him. I smiled then noticing the withdrawal in his posture automatically noticed something to be wrong.
“What’s wrong?” He looked away from me, avoiding my burning eyes. His focus was found back on the house, he sighed and returned his sad eyes to my face. He would not look me in the eye but neither did he completely blank me.
“Something’s wrong or something wrong is going to happen.” His gaze averted back to the old oak and the last thing I wanted was to look at that horrible tree. While Adrian surveyed the tree I scanned the area looking for something, anything. My eyes found the house once more.
“Like what?” Adrian snapped to attention once more and looked directly at me, his face was blank. Something was on his mind, something that had been there for a long time. As if by coincidence both sets of eyes, mine and his, found the house.
That house.
What was it about that house?
Adrian knew, or if he didn’t he had a idea. Adrian knew I would be here, Adrian knew something about the house.
I stepped towards the house but Adrian caught me and pulled me back with such force it sent me stumbling into the old oak. My back hit the trunk and within seconds the tall figure was in front of me, looking down at me blue eyes piercing my own hazel eyes. He trapped me by placing both arms on either side of my head, I scowled at him and he looked sternly back at me.
“Its not the house.” I tried to move out of his grasp but it only tightened. I tried to kick him but his feet were firmly planted on mine. I tried to scream but I knew if I did he’d find some way to shut me up. I looked back at the house and it seemed quiet as it had been since I had arrived. Maybe I had been paranoid to assume it was the house.
When I looked back at Adrian he was still staring at me, I sighed and relaxed back against the tree at the restraint holding me in that position relaxed as well.
“If its not the house then what is it?” Adrian looked up and stepped back slightly, I found myself looking up but had to look away as I started to feel dizzy. I noticed that the moon above me was a full moon but I had to double take when I first saw it, the moon was turning red, slowly but surely it was turning a blood red colour if it wasn’t pitch black I would have sworn the sun was rising on the moon.
“Is that a…”
“Yes it is, Blood Moon.” I stared at it in awe. Adrian too seemed to be mesmerised by it. A Blood Moon only come round every one hundred years, it’s a moon that holds a lot of power for us. The power maintains our immortality. It was no coincidence that me and Adrian met tonight of all nights. The last time I had seen Adrian was a year ago, it had been in California. It hadn’t taken much to trace me Adrian’s talent was tracking. I had been doing my own tracking but had turned up dry again.
Just as the night air went quiet, a new sound filled the atmosphere a sound that I had heard before. My head lifted to the branch where I sat only moments ago, a small black shadow looked back down at me, the shadows of the branches shielded the creatures shape but two green pebbles shone back down at me. Blinking slowly. I smiled up at it, the small shadow jumped down from branch to branch till it landed in front of us. All four small paws landed perfectly on the wet grass, its long tail swaying slowly as if trying to mesmerise the on lookers. Adrian starred in awe at the new comer. I watched as the small cat made its way towards us.
“What is that?” Adrian breathed heavily down my neck.
“A cat.” I ducked to avoid the hand that would have hit my head. I spun round and giggled at the expression Adrian had on his face, it reminded me of when a puppy does something wrong and the owner confronts them, it remained me more when Arian started shaking his head.
“I know it’s a cat I meant….I don’t know what I meant, but it-”
“She.”
“What?”
“The cat she‘s a she.” Adrian raised his eyes brows at me but passed it off and continued.
“But she seems odd. Almost different then the other cats.” I didn’t need to ask what he meant, I knew. When I first saw the cat on the old oak, she seemed different: definitely not a house cat but too clean and well kept to be any ally cat. I hadn’t known what she was. When I tuned round I saw she was sat in front of me, looking up at me with emerald green eyes so deep you could drown in them. I knelt down so I could be at her level and she stood up so she was on all four paws, she was within inches of my face, her whiskers was brushing the surface of my cheeks. I held out my arms, she looked at them then without hesitation jumped into them, regaining my balance I straightened up and turned back to Adrian to show him the new comer. Adrian eyed her with cautious and suspicious looks. I rolled my eyes at him and sighed, I moved past him nearer to the road. I only stopped when I was within the light of a street light, the orange glow shone of my blonde hair giving it a tinted red look. I waited there till Adrian joined me, when he didn’t, I called into the darkness, the outline of the tree was just visible in the dim light of the almost red moon.
“Adrian? What’s wrong?” I called into the shadows, I tall darker shadow moved into the light. He did not come into the light but bordered on the edge of the dark shadow of the old oak.
“Before I had a feeling of something was going to happen because a power was pulling me here, then I found you here as well. At first I thought it might be in the house, but it’s a very weak power inside that house. Well the only thing left out here was this tree, I thought something bigger must be out here.” I looked at him, from what I could see, and he was bracing himself for something else to say or maybe waiting for me to figure it out, he didn’t need to wait long I had already figured out that it was he was trying to say.
“The cat? The cat is the power that drew us here.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Adrian just nodded and all I could do was avert my eyes to the cat. The cat had made the old oak its home and had obviously used the nearest home as a source of food, leaving behind a clear imprint of its power. I laughed, this cat had averted two immortals of it power and had done it while watching us from a tree, I had to admire her for that.
“Kara, her names Kara. She’s a guardian cat, she was protecting someone….someone in that house” Adrian stepped forward almost squashing the ball of fur between us.
“How do you know that?” I looked up into his eyes.
“She told me.”
“What else does she say?” I looked down at the ball of fur and she looked up at me. I nodded and she settled back in my arms.
“He’s back.”
“The count down begins again huh?”
“Eighteen years count down begins tonight.”