Lucian

CHAPTER ONE

13 years later

The nightmare was always the same.

I couldn't remember this desolate place, but it felt so very familiar, as though I had been here before; as though I had lived through something truly horrific...

Stuck in the middle of a raging blizzard, I recognized a horde of bloodthirsty monsters in the distance. Vampires. The terror that took hold of my system was so powerful it rendered me paralyzed. A tall, slim woman in a white dress sobbed as she covered my body with her own in an attempt to protect me from imminent death. The illusion of safety crumbled within seconds. She was slaughtered, and the veil of her protection was swiftly lifted off of me.

I struggled to open my mouth and scream, but no sounds would come out. All I could do was dry heave with my eyes widened in horror as hundreds of thirsty leeches advanced in my direction. Suddenly, everything around me vanished in a split second and blended into complete darkness. For a few breathless heartbeats, nothing happened. It was just me, drowning in this ominous silence. Then, a pair of glowing, icy cold, grey irises flashed before my eyes and made the panic a thousand times worse because I knew I was in the presence of a man who represented absolute evil. I fell on my knees, as though by command, and waited for him to hurt me and devour me alive, only he never did... Instead, he laughed and disappeared without a word, leaving me all alone in this pitch-black darkness. The second he was gone, the right side of my neck exploded in maddening pain and I finally cried out for help...

"Raven...Raven...wake up...wake up!" A loud, persistent voice called my name, encouraging me to snap out of this hellish place. "Open your eyes. You're having another nightmare."

My eyes shot open to the blurry image of my stepmother, Sarah, who sat on the edge of my bed, holding onto my shoulders as I violently convulsed in her grip. I drew in a couple of shaky breaths and leaned my hand against the painful, throbbing spot on my neck, waiting for my feeble mind to adjust to reality.

"Raven," Sarah whispered, removing a strand of hair from my sweaty face.

I slowly lifted my eyelids and froze at the sight of my stepsiblings, Jacob and Rachel, who stood in the doorway, staring at me as though I was some kind of freak. The depth of mortification that took hold of my system every time this happened was impossible to put into words. Sometimes I just wished the ground would swallow me up so I wouldn't have to deal with this constant sense of dread and embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," I choked out, still disturbed by the haunting residues of my nightmare.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Sarah's lips. "It's not your fault, darling. Don't worry about it. Come. Let's eat some breakfast and make you a big cup of warm chamomile tea. That will make you forget all about your bad dream."

"Thank you," I whispered through my croaky, dry throat.

"You're welcome. Don't worry about it. Now make yourself ready. We'll wait in the kitchen."

I nodded and gently squeezed her hand. She stood up and escorted Jacob and Rachel out of the room, closing the door behind them. Drawing in a deep breath, I got off the bed and ambled to the small lavatory in the corner of the room. Groggy and dazed, I splashed some cold water on my face to jolt my body awake from a half-conscious slumber that still ruled my system. After that, I spent a good couple of minutes brushing my long hair with slow, mechanical strokes while gazing at my reflection in the mirror. The girl who stared back at me resembled a ghost. Her skin was as white as snow, her aquamarine eyes vacant of any emotion, and her high cheeks sunken and hollow. She was so thin her bones almost poked through her skin...so fragile...so weak...