Beyond Our Grasp

Prologue

What do you do when there is a wolf the size of a bear chasing you? Just stand there apparently. At least that's what Charlie Raymond did, and that's how Charlie Raymond died. That was currently all the school was talking about. I guess it wouldn't be as big of a deal if she was the only body that was found. In fact, she wasn't even the first. After the cops found what was left of Charlie, they began to find more and more bodies. None of the others were from Little Creek. According to my best friend Julie, whose dad is a cop, all the people found were teenage girls with brown hair and between 5'5" and 5'10". Nothing above and nothing below. This may not seem all that uncommon depending on where you live, but here in Little Creek all we have here are basically blondes who are adorably short and jet black haired girls who are six foot and above. This town thrives on girls' volleyball and boys' lacrosse. Little Creek isn't very big, but a lot sure has happened here. When my mom and dad were still in high school there was a series of murders. The murders were part of a growing cult who praised Valerie, the Keeper of Dark Souls. Most people think that means that she protects supernatural creatures, but personally I think the whole Valerie thing is just something that crazy people get off on. Don't get me wrong, Valerie was a real person who lived in the 1600s, but she was basically just a Charlie Manson of her time. There is documentation from her days with accounts from members of her followers who claimed to have experienced changes in their bodies and to have seen things that weren't really there. To me it just seems like a bunch of people got together and did some potent drugs.

The history books say Valerie, at age 14, began to seduce young boys and girls to follow her with promises of special abilities. Their young minds would hear her stories and become enchanted, as we all did at young ages, to do whatever they could to obtain some magic for themselves. In order to gain favor and receive their powers, Valerie would require that they first kill and drink the blood of a young woman. Apparently, Valerie was crudely hurt by a boy two years older when he chose another girl over her. The girl was said to be between 5'5" and 5'10" and had brown hair. So basically Valerie started as a homicidal teen and grew into a powerful pagan idol.

What got people to thinking that she was affiliated with vampires was the whole drinking-the-blood-of-their-victims thing. Hence the supernatural followers. Personally, I think Valerie was just a jealous, power hungry blonde who had nothing better to do in her free time. But that's just me.