Chapter Text
Volume I
"We have come too high for history.
Where we are now deals only with tomorrow,"
First Flight
- U. A. Fanthorpe
22nd April 2009,
Soft glow of early morning illuminated the surroundings, casting a serene ambiance over everything it touched. I swore it was night and I was…
I couldn't remember and every time I tried to remember, my mind would turn blank. Maybe I was dreaming. A strange sense of calm washed over me while I tried to make out where I was.
Chirping birds in the distance with flutters of insects nearby muffled by the sound of the leaves shaking with the wind. I could smell the damp earth underneath my feet. I was outside in the woods. I could've sworn I was inside before.
My thoughts cut off again when I saw a strange delicate butterfly. Its wings bathed in iridescent hues of pale golden-violet. It danced gracefully through the air before me. Entranced, I followed its flight with my gaze before trying to reach out for it.
The moment my fingers touched its wings, it dissipated into the air and I was left alone. My attention shifted, I became acutely aware of myself. My headphones rested lightly on my shoulders and I was dressed in running clothes—running clothes? Yes, I did go for runs in the morning. It was morning? Not night. I could've sworn it was night.
I could hear two voices. Two very familiar voices in the distance. I wasn't alone. Relief flooded my senses. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I recognised them.
Max and August.
The two sounded like they were in a heated discussion that was bordering on an argument. Pausing near the wooded area outside where I was sure where my two friends were, I debated whether or not to make my presence known and intervene. Was it my place? Probably not. I hated getting involved in things that didn't concern me.
But I needed to know where I was or what I was doing here. I wasn't supposed to be here. I didn't know where I was supposed to be.
Letting out a breath, I placed one of the speakers of the headphones in my ear before pausing again when I heard a third voice.
"Something's not right." A feminine silvery voice that I knew more than well-enough.
I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I couldn't help it at that moment. The person whom the voice belonged to was supposed to be in bed at the lake house that was about a thirty minutes walk away and I had only been on my jog for ten minutes.
Maybe I was wrong.
Or maybe not.
"June." I heard August address the third voice in a gruff voice. A tone, I had never heard him use before. He didn't sound pleased. "You're worrying too much." He added. I heard some rustling as I slowly backed off. I was listening to something I was not meant to. "Everything will be fine."
I heard June scoff. "Easy for you to say, considering you're too busy pretending." Pretending? I frowned and took a step forward.
Again, I didn't mean to listen in but something about this was making me curious. It was making me go against my own nature. Though I hated it, I couldn't stop.
"Max. Come on. I know you feel it too." She seemed to have turned to Max now.
"Leave me out of this, Lavena." Max said with a rough voice. He didn't want any part of this. It seemed he could sense the on-coming argument between the two.
But that wasn't what caught my attention. He called June 'Lavena'. Who was Lavena? Or was June not June? I didn't understand. June didn't have a middle name.
"I don't have the 'sight' so I can't tell." He added.
The sight? Last I checked, Max had twenty-twenty vision despite his video game addiction, he had the best eyesight in the group.
Both of the twins let out a groan at the same time. "Neither do we, Emrys." They both chorused, calling Max 'Emrys'. It was clear they were annoyed by an apathetic Max or Emrys.
"Please, I wish I had the 'sight', life would be so much easier." June or Lavena remarked.
"No. It really wouldn't." Her brother shot her down. "The sight is a curse and a blessing. Everyone knows that." He seemed to remind her. "Those with the sight don't know what's past, present or future. They're lost."
I was more confused than ever about what they were talking about. Maybe this was a lesson that I should never eavesdrop on other people's conversation.
Lesson learned, I turned away from the trio.
The foliage of trees and shrubs still hid my presence from the small group because of that, I was still undiscovered. Lucky me. Now I just needed to leave before they found out. It didn't seem like their discussion had anything to do with me or the rest of the group. I didn't need to know more.
"Yet it's the most sought after gift for us." I heard Max say distantly as I started putting some distance between myself and the group, being very careful not to alert them of my presence. I felt strange and a little guilty at that too.
"Ava has the sight and she's fine." Swiftly, I turned my head to look at the wall of foliage that hid my three friends. I debated wanting to go confront them but at the same time I didn't feel brave enough to do so. "If anything she's excelling in life. Seems like a gift to me."
"That's only because she hasn't reached her full potential, Lavena." Max countered.
"She won't. She's not…completely like us."
I was getting more and more confused by the minute. What were they talking about? 'Not like them?' Well, I knew I was different. How could I not?
I came from a long line of supernatural vampire hunters whose ancestor was the first to be chosen for the deadly task of killing vampires. I vaguely remembered reading that the progenitor of my family was granted a marking as part of his initiation along with various abilities. The mark was not ordinary by any means, it was magic. I remembered reading that the mark would grow with each vampire killed.
It was a unique gift.
I knew I wasn't fully human and I guess they did too.
Emrys or Max carried on. "She's not fully human but she's not like us."
"And yet she still has the sight that neither of us do." June cried out.
"Because Kamilah had the sight—"
"I think Ava's ability is stronger than Kamilah."
"I know. It's not supposed to be possible unless…"
"Unless what?" June countered. "Kamilah died a human."
"You don't think—"
"It's possible."
"Doesn't make sense." June cried out. "Her daughter would've taken her gifts and we've met Aveline's mother—she doesn't have any of Kamilah's gifts. Aveline is an outlier—she is Kamilah's heir and it's only fair that she pay for Kam—"
Hearing my friends talk, I wanted to chalk it all up to some dumb roleplay June had roped her brother and Max into. She was an actress. Still the irrational and wary part of me told me that maybe I should keep this in my mind, remember it well for whatever reason.
"Enough!" August hissed furiously at the duo.
The trees swayed in the wind as the sky became eclipsed with dark clouds for a brief moment before it all faded. The two immediately ceased their bickering. He didn't seem happy at all from the way he spoke. That odd weather phenomena seemed strangely in-sync with his outburst.
"...We have somewhere to be, remember." I caught myself hearing before I curiously turned back around to face them.
The moment I turned around, there was a bright flash of light that almost blinded me. I shut my eyes firmly in an attempt to protect my vision and counted to ten before opening them again. I blinked a few times and looked around.
There was no sound around me. Not even the harmless chirping of birds or the leaves swaying in the spring wind. Nothing. The soundlessness of my surroundings went on for only five seconds before birds started chirping again and leaves lazily swayed in the wind.
I gripped the handle of the old dagger in my pocket and ran into the foliage. "Hello?" I called out to my friends. "June? August? Max?" I called out to each and every one of the trio.
No answer.
Frustrated, I dodged a few branches and jumped over a few boulders to get to where I roughly thought my friends to be. "Where did they—" My words were cut off abruptly when I clumsily tripped and fell onto the floor. I was fortunate that I fell onto my back and not face front into the grass floor.
I let out a sigh and shook my head, then checked the status of my MP3 player, phone, and headphones. They all seemed to work fine. Good. I had just gotten a new iPod recently, and I wasn't due to get a new phone until my birthday in August. Even though I could definitely afford to get a new one, I still didn't want to get in trouble with my parents.
Most importantly, I didn't want to sit through a twenty-minute lecture from mom about being careful with my things.
I let out another tired sigh and checked my watch for the time. It wasn't time for breakfast yet. I still had an hour to kill. Debating whether to head back then and inquire into what I witnessed later or stick around and dig into the mystery. I chose the latter. I just wanted to go back.
With my phone in my hand, I unconsciously started going through my contacts. My fingers stopped when they reached a familiar name, Bonnie. It was then I wondered how long it had been since I last called or checked in with any of my childhood friends.
Over a year or two.
No. That wasn't right. I could've sworn that I talked to them.
…What did we talk about again?
I paused, taking a moment to really notice my surroundings. I hadn't moved since I fell and got up, but it was only then that I truly observed the woods around me.
The grassy floor was glittering with silver dew with moss-covered rocks and boulders scattered about, except for where I had fallen—there was a perfect circle of untouched grass there.
Despite tripping and falling just moments ago, the grass seemed undisturbed, as if my impact hadn't affected it at all. It appeared greener than the rest of the foliage around me.
Stepping back, I realized I was standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees forming another perfect circle. But that wasn't the strangest part – there was a ring of mushrooms encircling the pristine grass.
As if things couldn't get any stranger, a small butterfly appeared out of nowhere and landed on my shoulder. More followed, their pale blue and black wings shimmering in the air. They looked too beautiful to be normal.
Without thinking, I reached out to touch one. As my fingers brushed their wings, they illuminated one by one before disintegrating into silver dust before my eyes.
I recoiled in fear and apprehension, scanning the area for anyone else, but there was no one in sight.
Everything around me seemed unnaturally bright and vibrant. The trees had an iridescent sheen of gold on their bark, and the leaves shimmered like emeralds in the wind.
Even the sky looked different—a blend of pale blue, ochre, lavender, and hints of orange and white, with an iridescent sheen.
The butterflies suddenly reformed and swarmed around me, causing me to stumble backward and fall into the circle of mushrooms. I covered my face protectively until they disappeared, and when I looked up again, the sky had darkened, resembling a sunset.
Blinking rapidly, I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Did I hit my head too hard? I couldn't tell.
My breathing grew heavy and I felt eyes on me. In the midst of my panic attack, I swear I saw faces on the trees nearby. It was then that I noticed the trees—they were looking at me. They were alive.
With a startled gasp, I fell backwards a tall willowy tree with cherry flowers extended on one of its branched hands towards me, whispering in a broken melody. I landed straight in the middle of the circle of mushrooms and a bright flash enveloped me, blinding me.
When I opened my eyes, those trees were gone. The sky had returned to its normal hue but it was tinged with pale orange, the clouds had moved and so had the sun. Time had passed by far quicker than I'd realized.
It was nearly sunset.
"Ava!" The scared and desperate voice of August echoed through the woods as I heard rustling nearby.
Colors around me were ripped apart by darkness. I was plunged into nothingness, being pulled and pushed apart by my memories and consciousness.