Authors Notes: I have never written a vampire fic before, so be kind. However you should know that these are different kinds of vampires. You`ll see what I mean. It is fanfiction and so I am free to change the rules. Also, this is done after The Turning by Lyndaura, but there are a few changes as you`ll see. Ummm, what else? Oh yeah, I need imput on this or this story could go on and on and on and on, so e-mail me and let me know what you think. If anyone is intrusting in analizing the charicters, definately e-mail me. And now, on to the story.
Embrace the Thorn
Chapter 1: The Dream
"Who are you," she shoated at the thing before her. It was a woman with long black hair, dark maroon eyes, and white skin. The unusual things about her though were the fangs that pertruded from her lips and the four dragonfly wings that grew from her back. All around her flowed black waves of fabric from her dress, which was little more than a huge piese of fabric wrapped around her stratigically.
She smiled at Raine, showing her teeth even more. "I am you of coarse Raine." Raine gasped but didn`t have the time to move as the woman pounced on her, sinking her teeth deep into Raine`s neck. It wasn`t blood she was after, just the life and warmth flowing through her victom. Raine began to shiver as her heat was sapped from her, her eyes began to close slowly but the woman growled, shaking her slightly to keep her awake.
Raine began to pry her eyes open and stare forward. "Wake up," she shoated at herself. This was a dream, if she died she was supposed to wake up. Her head fell backwards slightly as she stared at the darkened sky. Mourning, it should come soon. She winced against the bright light as it flooded the dream, but the woman smiled.
"I am not a full vampire my dear." She didn`t combust, she didn`t even wince. She just smiled with blood taunted teeth. "My name by the way, is Raine."
Raine shot up from the couch gasping and soaked in sweat. Her eyes were wide with fear and her heart pounded. Her hand fumbled around her nightstand looking for the small tape player and finally she found it. She held it to her lips, pushing the button that made the small microphone snap up. She sighed as she pushed the record button. "Entry number sixteen, begin. The dream that made me start this journol in the first place happened again. She says her name is Raine, but that isn`t possable. My name is Raine. I asked mother if she believed dreams meant something. She said only if they repeat themselves. I need sleep, the tornament is tommorow and I need to win. It`s my first co-ed tornament, so I will probably be fighting a few men. Well, that was all, end entry." She pushed the stop button and stared foreward. Glancing down at her shirt she sighed. The thin white tee shirt was clinging to her because of the sweat. She was also freezing, but to help her sleep, she flicked the fan in her room on and curled under the covers, falling back into a restless sleep within minutes.
"Raine, com`mon get up we have to go soon!" Raine`s eyes cracked open then flew shut again as her hand fumbled around above her for the pull string to the blinds. She closed them, then opened her eyes again. Much better. Abby stood over her, bright green eyes anxouse and face groggy. "Wake up now!"
Raine groaned and sat up, glancing at her clock. "Abby, we have to go at five o`clock tonight, it`s eight o`clock in the mourning, are you crazy or do you just have a death wish?"
Abby finally sighed. "We need to stretch, get dressed, shower, fill out forms, come up with plans, eat breakfast, practice...."
"Alright, alright! I`m up!" Raine swung her feet over the side of the couch and rubbed her eyes as she threw the covers off her. She glanced at her bare legs and frowned. There were long scratches spanning the length of her thieghs. What had happened?
"Good mourning Raine."
She gasped slightly, pulling the covers back over her bare legs and glancing in the door to see Josh, the third in their karate team. "Mourning Josh." She now stared at him, narrowing her eyes and clearing her throat. He chuckled a little bit as he left the door and allowed her to stand up and pull on her gym shorts. When she walked out to the living room she saw Mike, the forth in the karate team, sprawled out on the couch with his mouth hanging open and drool dripping out of the cornor. She grinned slightly as Abby shook her head in annoyance. "I`ll wake him up."
When she got close to him she leaned over and heard him whispering in his sleep. "Yeah, you know how I like it girl! Ohh yes!"
Raine chuckled, knowing it was her he was dreaming about. He had had a crush on her for years. She reached over and stroked the side of his face, leaning close to his ear and letting her breath trickle across it. "Wake up love, I`m waiting for you in the bedroom."
His eyes snapped open and he looked around, finally landing his gaze on her. She almost laughed at the disappointment on his face. "I thought you said we would be in the bedroom."
She grinned. "Not today, we`re running late and you know how I get when I`m tired."
He smiled charmingly at her and put his hands behind his head. "No I don`t, I`ve never slept with you before."
She clucked in annoyance and stood up. "And you probably won`t for a long time."
They were interupted when a man walked in the room. The four rose and bowed lowly, which made him smile slightly. "Save all the bowing and stuff for the ring, this is my house and I hate formal things." Everyone chuckled slightly and sat down. The man, Alden, pulled out a paper and sighed. "Well, unfortunately some formal things cannot be avoided. What`s the team name?"
Raine thought for a while about it. She had been studying colors for a while now and she had picked out the two she liked best. "Crimson Blue."
Alden smiled at her. "Good, crimson is the color of battle and blue the color of mystory. Any objections?" No one objected and so that was the name of the team. She stood up finally, deciding to get breakfast, which was toast with green tea, slightly sweetened. It was light so that she wasn`t weighted down. As she sipped at the tea she stood outside, feeling the cold mourning air as it whipped across her bare arms and legs. Alden`s house was situated over a small valley. In the early mourning sun the sight was enough to take her breath away. Fog settled into the valley and sparkled in the light. Everything seemed frozen in that moment and everything was perfection in that moment. She sighed as she tilted the mug back and drank the last of the tea. She had to get dressed.
She walked into the guest room she had slept in and opened up the small closet, pulling out her uniform. this tornament was free style, and so the typical pajama looking uniforms weren`t nessisary. Alden had taken full advantige of this. Her outfit was a black cat suit with a series of silver scarves drapped over her. She pulled her black waist length hair back and braided it then she smudged black lipstick over her plump lips. She wasn`t tall, she was actually quite short but compact and very well built. Her outfit only made this more apparent. She also put her swords across her back which gave her a worrior appeance. She was ready. The group would train all day and practice, then they would go.
************
She looked out at the crowd the same way she did every year, but this time she felt their stare almost as a pressure on her back. She turned around quickly and saw who it was. A fighting team called "Midnight Stalkers". They were all men, and all overly handsome. They also wore traditional gi`s, which fell open slightly to reveal musclear chests. She turned back to her fighting team, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. The music started and she gracefully drew out her swords and swirled them in complex circles. She closed her eyes finally, focusing on the feeling of the swords in her hands, the blades slicing through the air, the floor beneath her feet, and the power she felt as she danced. The music stopped and her eyes opened as the crowd roared in cheers for her. A perfect one hundred percent flashed on the board, putting "Crimson Blue" second only to "Midnight Stalkers".
When freestyle came up she was the one selected to fight against a member of the "Midnight Stalkers" team. She stepped onto the mat and tried not to consintrate on the man in front of her. She tried instead to consintrate on the sound of her feet against the mat as she walked gracefully to the center. The only reason she had been chosen was because all of the other members of her team had been beat, by a member of the Midnight Stalkers. She didn`t like to fight, she was much better at dancing. True, she was a black belt and she could fight, but to her karate was an art, not a wepon. The man stared at her, but not in mockery or arrogance. It was more or less curiosity.
She stood in front of him and consintrated on keeping her breaths even and deep, going through her diaphram and filling her lungs to the limit. The referee stepped in between them and she held out her gloved hand. His knuckles tapped her and she gasped slightly, seeing him pinning her to a brick wall and tenderly pressing his lips to her neck, then pressing his canines into her soft skin. She ducked quickly, avoiding a punch he had thrown in her moment of distraction. She tripped over her own feet and landed on her back, then rolled away just in time to avoid his attempt to jump on her. She spun her leg out suddenly, catching his shin and tripping him. He laid next to her for a moment and caught her wrist. She gasped at the images he sent to her. "I know who you are Raine."
She stared at him gasping with her eyes wide as her dream was replayed over and over in her mind. "Raine finish him!" She felt the vibration on the mat as Alden slammed his fists into it. It brought her to reality and she quickly flung her leg over his stomach, making him gasp in pain. The referee counted off three seconds and she was pronounced the winner. She recieved the trophy and stepped out of the ring. Alden meant her and gingerly touched ehr face. She stared at him in confussion as he tilted her face back and forth in front of him. "Boy he really socked you didn`t he."
She blinked at him. "What?" Her hand went up to her face and touched her lip. She gasped when she felt a thick liquid there. She looked at her hand to see it smeared with blood. Not only that, but now pain ripped through her entire body. When did this happen? She glanced at the clock and gasped. She had been in the ring for ten minutes yet she hadn`t remembered any of it. When she looked back in the ring she saw a medical team carrying her opponent out of the ring on a stretcher. His other teamates were watching her with mounting intrust.
*************
She stepped out of the car that night and tossed her duffel bag over her shoulder. "See ya later Raine, thanks for winning for us."
She smiled at Abby. "Sure, anytime - really." Everyone laughed as they drove off and she turned to the apartment building she lived in. The light in her appartment was on and so she sighed, slowly walking up the steps. When she got to the second floor she unlocked her door and opened it up. Her father was sitting on a recliner chair watching TV like always. She sighed, knowing that niether he nor her mother cared about the tornament. "We won." He simply bobbed his head slightly and she sighed. "I was raped on the way here and my period is a few days away, might be pregnant." He only nodded again and she growled slightly, walking to her room and throwing her bag on her bed.
"Hey Raine, that you?"
She sighed and slumped her head when she heard her mothers voice. "Yeah mom."
"Could you go out ot the store and get some milk? I wanted to make fudge." Raine sighed in annoyance. They lived in a city, it was dark, and the nearest store was three blocks away. She sighed and walked out of the appartment, stuffing three dollors in her pocket that she had gotten out of her bag.
The streets were quiet, more so than usual. She was trapped in her own thoughts. Ten minutes, where had they gone? Where had the busted lip come from? Where had anything come from? She shouldn`t have been able to beat him but she had. She looked up suddenly when she heard a noise to her left. They stood there, staring at her with smirks. She took a step back, away from him. He stepped foreward. "Great job in the ring today Raine." She stared at him as he began to walk in slow circles around her. Her breath was knocked from her when the brick wall slammed into her back. She remembered the image she saw in the ring and she she tried to scream but he pressed his hand against her mouth. "Shhh, quiet love, we won`t hurt you." She screamed through his hand and the finally her body obeyed her comands and her leg went up between his legs. His eyes crossed and he slumped in front of her.
She turned, facing the other three. "Get out of the way." They glared, not moving at all, but also not moving towards her. This cncerned her, they weren`t seeking revenge for their leader. She dashed foreward, elbowing two of them in the kidneys and then tripped another by slapping a can in his path. She went deep into the ali, not knowing where it lead but knowing it was better than being raped, attacked, or whatever it was they wanted to do. That was when she saw the girl, the woman from her dream standing in front of her with a look of serenity on her face. "You can`t outrun them darling." Raine screamed finally, plugging her fingers into her ears and sinking into a cornor against the wall, humming a short tune as she did. She felt hands against her bare arms as she was lifted. She didn`t bother to open her eyes. She winced when she felt teeth break through her skin and the cold overtaking her, but then she felt incredable warmth flow through her.
As soon as it had begun though, she was released. Her eyes opened and she looked around. The four were in the front of the ali facing five other people. "Let her go now Clint!"
Clint, the man who had bit her, wiped his mouth of a small trickle of blood. "I was just increasing our numbers friend."
"Run, you can escape." Raine looked up to see the woman from her dream. She looked untroubled by the chaos. Raine didn`t know why, but she sprang to her feet and took off at a dead run. No one seemed to notice her go. The woman from her dream followed her at a steady walk and when Raine finally collapsed from exhauston, she walked up next to her. "You can`t escape who you are Raine."
"What`s your real name?"
The woman smiled at her. "Raine is my real name, but you may call me Crimson. Go to the library, look at the book on mythology. You`ll see me there. Also, go to sleep soon, you`ll need it." Crimson vanished into the air suddenly, leaving Raine alone.
Raine stood up, making her way down the ali in a direction which came to her out of nowhere. Soon she was in front of a dimly lit library. Raine sighed. "They`re locked." Somehow though, her hand moved in front of her, touching the door lightly and almost as though by magic it flew open. She stepped inside, walking slowly down the isals until she came to the section on mythology. As she set one foot in front of the other, the windows were smashed in by a powerful wind. She felt something in the air but she was unsure what it was, it felt almost like electric. A book was knocked from the shelf and it lay on the floor. The pages began to turn rapidly in the wind and then, all was suddenly calm. Raine looked at the book and gasped. Staring back at her was a picture of Crimson. There was only one paragraph or so of information, but it was enough to scare Raine.
Viary
These winged creatures are said to be fairy/vampire mixes. It is thought that one of the original vampires bit a fairy by accident and thus they were born. They are said to raise once every thousand or so years and with them they bring death, war, and yet also hope. They normally live in the mind of a mortal, existing as a hallusination until the time comes for them to become one with the mortal. When that happens the mortal becomes a Vairy and has powers beyond those thought possable. There are one of two outcomes to this possetion. The mortal could work good, but they could also cause a great deal of harm. For more information on Vairy`s, see p.360 "Vampire prophecy"
Raine picked the book up with shakey fingers and flipped the pages to page 360.
The Vampire Prophecy
Vampires normally do not have a good relationship with Vairy`s, however, a vampire prophecy said that one Vairy will arise that will be soaught after by all vampires. This one is said to be the most powerful vairy alive, one named Raine, but she will also respond to Crimson. It is unknown what the outcome of this prophecy is.
The book dropped and a pale Raine stood over it. Disbeliefe was foremost in her mind but also wonder. What if.....no, it wasn`t possable. But why not? Weren`t vampires suppsoed to be impossable and yet she had just seen them. She shook her head and turned away from the book. A gasp escaped her when she saw the man that had been standing behind her. He glared at her and took a few steps toweards her, pressing her against thw wall finally. His hand reached up and snapped her head to the side before he turned and walked away, leaving her breathless. When she regained her composure she reached down and picked up the book, tucking it in her jacket before running out of the library and deep into the night. She didn`t know where she was running to, all she knew was that it was away from there.
Authors Taunts......uh......notes: DUN DUN DUN!!!! Kinda leaves ya hanging doesn`t it. Who was that guy huh? Who really is Crimson? Who really is Raine? What has she become? Well, in order to find out I need a few e-mails. I`ll be posting ASAP. Also, if you are reading this on Fanfiction.net go to my site and use the links page to go to Lyndaura`s site. She has the story this was inspired by posted there. Anyway, ta ta, hope you don`t loose sleep wondering about this story. Hee hee -__-