“Blood Bound”
2011 © All Rights Reserved
Chapter 1
It was well after dark when ten year old Shelby Tanner had started her journey home. She had no doubts that her mom and dad were going to be very angry with her for waiting so long to leave. Time after time they had warned her to be home before the sun made its final decent.
It wasn't her fault though. Her best friend, Chris couldn’t handle the fact that a girl had beaten him not twice, but three times at the Super Mario Brothers game. It was Chris that insisted she play that third game therefore making her late. He said that it was only fair to give him one more shot at beating her. But now, with the darkness firmly set in, she was going to be the one in so much trouble.
'Bad things happen when the sun goes down cupcake, you must always be home before the sun sets, no exceptions’ Shelby recalled the stern words her father had told her just before she left home earlier that afternoon.
With that warning in mind she pedaled her shiny new pink Barbie bike down the old dirt road as fast as her little legs would take her, her blond pony tail swinging with the wind. She was almost home, she thought to herself, just a little more. If she was lucky maybe she could sneak in and her parents wouldn’t even know that she stayed out past sunset.
With her plan set Shelby put all her focus into getting her self home. She was making fast tracks down the road and was so intent on her final destination that she didn’t even hear the rev of an engine coming up from behind her. One minute she was huffing and moving her legs in perfect synchronization and the next she was hearing the yell of screeching tires closing in on her.
Shelby glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the large black truck barreling in her direction with the speed of a bullet. “Oh no” she screamed letting go of the handle bars on her pretty new bike just in time to cover her face.
Pain. Shelby was hurting all over. Her toes, her fingers and even her skin hurt. Small whimpers escaped her tiny mouth as she lay there in the grass with her face tilted up to the darkened sky. Daddy had told her. Daddy warned her that bad things happen and sure enough, something bad did.
She was a naughty girl and now she was going to die. Shelby could feel it in her bones and she didn’t want to die. There were so many things that she hadn’t done yet. She wanted her first kiss. She wanted to be able to go to an R rated movie. She even hated the fact that she hadn’t had her first period yet. Now, she would have none of those things because Shelby was feeling weaker by the second. Her life was slowly draining from her as she lay so still in the grass and writhed in pain.
“Sssh, little one” a distant voice spoke from somewhere above Shelby. The voice was deep and melodic and strangely enough, calming. She didn’t feel scared or threatened of whom ever was near her, she just felt safe.
Shelby desperately tried several times to open her eyes and see where the soothing voice was coming from but her small broken body had long since stopped cooperating with her.
“Who..who…are you?” she managed to spit the words out between panting breaths.
A cool finger pressed against her mouth silencing her. “I am going to help you my sweet” the heavenly voice spoke again. “I am going to make you feel all better.”
Shelby didn’t know who this man was and for a moment she briefly remembered her parents telling her how dangerous it was to talk with strangers but this man said that he was going to help her; surely her parents wouldn’t consider him a stranger if he was going to help her.
Weakly, she tried to nod her head but that little movement caused her a tremendous amount of pain. She cried out in her little girl voice as the pain radiated though her small body.
“Hush, little one” the man said again and pressed his hand against her forehead. The touch was cool and soothing once again calming Shelby instantly. “It will be over very soon” the deep baritone voice crooned while lightly brushing back the stray lose hairs that had fallen across her face.
The man removed his hand from her face and Shelby could hear him rustling around beside her. She assumed that he was probably reaching for his cell phone to call 911 and in her small mind she started to get excited at the prospect of riding in an ambulance with all of the bright lights and sirens being turned on.
“Here we are my sweet” the man said softly.
Shelby was confused; she didn’t understand what the man meant by ‘here we are my sweet’. What about the ambulance she wondered and at that very moment something cool touched her lips. It was cool and then it was wet.
“Drink” the voice cooed again. “Drink this sweet and you will hurt no more”.
Shelby was hurting really bad and at this time she would do anything to make it all go away. She tried to open her mouth but her strength had deteriorated to almost nothing. Frustrations were finally starting to get to her. Tears slowly tracked down her cheeks as she tried once more to open her mouth.
It was useless. She was going to die.
“Here” the voice spoke again and helped to prod her mouth open. With the nice mans help the liquid started to pour easily down her throat. The taste was salty and bitter causing Shelby to gag but she was determined to get it down. He had told her it would make the pain stop and she believed him.
After several minutes of the liquid draining down her throat Shelby couldn’t take any more. The taste was awful and she felt like she was going to be sick. Her strength was starting to come back in earnest and as it did she tried to move her mouth away from the source of that putrid drink.
“No, no more” Shelby whined aloud trying to close her mouth and get away from it.
“You have to drink a little more” the man told her, “Come on my sweet, just a little more and it will all be over” he encouraged.
Shelby didn’t want to drink anymore. “No” she yelled out again and the man had to hold her head still while forcing just a little more of the liquid down her throat.
“Good girl” he cooed once again as she took the last drops. “You’ll be better in no time” he said pulling the source of the liquid away. “You will never be sick; you will never get hurt my sweet. You shall lead a healthy life. When you turn twenty one, I will return to you my sweet. I will come and take you home.”
Shelby stilled as she slowly opened her eyes. It took some time but when she was finally able to focus on the man who had been so nice to help her she gasped. It was her Knight in Shining Armor. He was very handsome with his raven black hair and dark midnight eyes. He also sounded funny too she thought to herself, like he wasn’t from around here.
“But who…who are you?” she asked him scratching at her head. She was still a little dizzy but amazingly she felt almost as good as new. At least until she glanced down at her own clothing and Shelby could only scrunch up her nose in disgust. Her new jeans were ripped clear up the side and her shirt was covered with blood and dirt. Mommy and daddy were going to be really mad now, she mused.
“I am Leonardo Risso but you may call me Leo my sweet” he said to her with his lips curling up into a hint of a smile.
Shelby wasn’t sure what to make of the handsome man standing in front of her. He had helped her just like he said he would. Then he told her that he was coming back for her when she was twenty one. That was a really long time from now; a whole eleven years and she would be really old by then. And how would he even find her after all that time?
“I have my ways” he answered her aloud as if he had just read her mind. “You are mine now my sweet. You are mine forever and always because we are blood bound. When you are of age I will complete the ceremony and gift you with something greater than life itself”.
Shelby stared back at the nice man. Even though he was friendly enough she had a funny feeling that maybe he was a little loco as her mom would say. He wasn't making any sense to her and that was just a shame because she really liked the nice man.
“Would you like to come home and have dinner with me?” Shelby asked suddenly remembering her manners.
As soon as the question was out of her mouth bright headlights appeared as another car was heading in their direction.
“Not this time my sweet” he told her and kneeled by her side. “Soon though, very soon” and with those words he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Shelby closed her eyes enjoying the way his cool lips felt against her warm skin. When she opened her eyes he was gone. Just vanished; no where to be seen.
Shelby jumped up in her queen sized bed and gasped loudly for air. Her night shirt was soaked clean through with sweat and her hair was stuck to her face in complete disarray.
“That damn dream again” she muttered under her breath. It was the same dream that she has had night after night for the last eleven years. The accident, the mysterious man and his promise. His promise to take her to his home. It was a bunch of crock she had surmised over the years since then and she held no illusions that this man would really show.
She had long since moved away from her childhood home and there was no way this Leo character would be able to find her now. She was in another country for Chris sakes. So why did she continually have that God awful dream?
Knowing that it was useless to try and go back to sleep Shelby threw the covers off of her and got out of the bed to stretch. Rolling her neck and hearing the satisfying cracks she moved towards the balcony and stepped out into the early morning air. It was still dark outside and the city was oddly quiet. In just an hour or so the City would come to life. Paris, the City of love.
She moved to Paris instead of going the typical College route. Shelby took the money that each of her now divorced parents had saved for her higher education and flew to a whole new continent in order to start a brand new life. She never did quite fit in back at home. She always felt different somehow and none of the boys ever showed the slightest bit of interest in her. Shd didn't understand it; she knew that she wasn't ugly but yet she had never even been asked out on one single date.
Shelby had hoped that by coming here she could start fresh and maybe even finally have that little love affair she had yet to experience. She wanted to be kissed, to be held and pleased in every way that a woman could be pleased. Was that really to much to ask?
With only two days until Shelby’s twenty first birthday her future was looking pretty dismal. No handsome man in her life, no warm kisses to greet her when she walked in the door. All she had that was certain was those damn dreams. The dreams that involved her incredibly good looking Knight in Shining Armor and an empty promise that he made to her. It was a stupid little girl promise that she knew better than to hold on to, but it was a promise none the less.
Blowing out a breath in aggravation Shelby turned on her heel and stomped back into her apartment. Promises were to be taken with a grain of salt. Her parents had made her all kinds of pretty promises about how much they both loved her. They loved her alright, they both loved her so much that after the divorce they both completely ignored her. She was left to go through her adolescent and teen years alone. Yea promises, she snorted at the thought of the word just plain out suck.