Shadowed kNight - first 5 pages, prologue and part of Chapter one

Opening scene- inner monologue to help set tone and foreshadowing the end of the book. Kept the prologue short in order to be able to switch perspectives and show the reader early on that they change with each chapter. 

Prologue

Jacqueline

The first five seconds are the worst. When you first turn out the lights, a moment of blindness follows where the world is pitch black, before your eyes have had a chance to adjust. You sometimes get the feeling as if you are not alone. That maybe there is someone else lurking in the darkest corners of your room. 

You quickly reassure yourself that you are crazy for even thinking that and try to make your way to either your bed or the bathroom. If you try to move during this blind phase, either you already know exactly where you are going and what obstacles you have to avoid, or you are walking in blind faith and can only pray that you don’t stumble. Once your sight has adjusted, you find yourself quite lucky that you avoided running into your shoes or a wall. In our darkest moments, sometimes something more is hiding beyond our vision’s reach, and just a simple trip to the other side of the room can cause us some serious damage. Though even if you can see or know exactly where you are going, you can still end up stumbling and stubbing your toes.

Sometimes when I walk blindly in the dark, I realize some time later that I got lost along the way. Even once my sight has returned, I can’t find my way back. Once I reach that point of being completely lost with no idea of how to get back, I wander around aimlessly forever, or until someone sees me struggling and comes to rescue me. Even now, some of us don’t realize that we need to be rescued because we are either unwilling or incapable of rescuing ourselves. I remain wandering around, waiting for my white knight. Though what we expect is not always what we get.

When I think of being lost, I can’t help but think back on this dream I keep having, wandering alone in the forest with no idea where I am. I keep looking around and I see all of these lights around me. I am wearing a huge white dress, the most exquisite thing I have ever worn; it looks like some sort of luxurious ball gown. I feel like Cinderella in the gown, except I doubt that Cinderella got lost in the forest. 

Even though the canopy of trees blocks out the night sky, a strange glow surrounds me. I see these strange shapes—no, figures. They are dancing around as if celebrating something, and there is a faint sound of music and singing. I wonder why they are rejoicing. I dare not come close to them, even if I am lost. They don’t look like they would know where I came from or really care for a girl lost in a forest. All I know is that I have to get away from these people. I did not come by them nor their party while entering the forest. 

When the sounds of their rejoicing are long gone, I realize that maybe I should have at least stopped and tried to ask for directions. All I can see around me is the dark forest. Trees and trees are taking over the entire landscape, and there seems to be no end to them. I will be lost here for eternity. I am getting so frustrated that I start to cry. I sit by one of the infinite trees. I wish I could fly above the trees to find my way out of here. Burying my head in my hands, I cry because I will never get out of this horrid forest. 

I hear something moving in the midst of my tears and jerk my head up. Another figure stands before me; he glows like an angel. He holds out a hand to me. I take it, relieved that someone found me, even though I can’t see his face and don’t know whether he is a friend or a foe. Just as I am about to thank him and can almost make out his face, I wake up.

Chapter 1

Christoph

A Chance Meeting

“What are you doing, Christoph?” A high-pitched voice rang out from behind me. Knowing instantly who it was, I remained fixed in my focus on the horizon before me, the moon had just risen in the night sky and I gazed down upon lights of the nearby towns.

“I am getting ready to feed. What does it look like I am doing?” I asked, not trying to hide my annoyance at the little creature that had tried but failed to sneak up on me.

“It looks to me like you are staring out at the world on top of a cliff, being as useless as ever.” The crimson pest snickered in a mocking way, her short, jagged, cherry-colored hair wafting in the air as she darted around me, flapping her blush wings.

“Regardless of what you think, all that matters is I know my own self and need not the approval of vermin,” I replied sharply. “Now, what brings you here in the first place? Did He send you here to spy on me?”

“No, nothing of the sort, now why would you suggest something like that?” she asked in her most innocent-sounding voice. 

Is it possible to sound sweet, innocent, and purely evil at the same time? I wondered. Sometimes I would just love to rip her wings off and see how she could torment me then. She is always the one that He sends to spy on me. He knows how much I despise her. If I did do something to get rid of her permanently, He would call it insubordination and probably threaten to have me killed as an example. I would just have to try to ignore the little monster for the moment. No doubt she would be running off to report back to her master soon.  

“I have no idea,” I finally responded after a moment of silence. “Perhaps it is because He has only ever acted using devious methods. It is exactly the sort of thing He would do. He seems to have some sort of fascination with me that I have never fully comprehended. He needs to learn to let things go. It has been over a thousand years now.”

“Maybe He just thinks you are bizarre and wants to know what you will do next,” she said, her red eyes twinkling while she giggled.

“You mean in case I decide to start an insurrection against Him or plot His demise? Is that what you mean by watching what I will do next?” I asked with my most agitated tone. I knew that was precisely what was happening. Hethought of me as His biggest threat mainly because I was one of the few people who declined to follow Him, unlike everyone else. I had broken away from His control and His demented way of living; I harbored no such desire to be comparable to Him and that had evidently made me a threat. I was not the first to leave the Kingdom, though I was assured I was the only one He still kept vigilant watch over.

“Now, if you are placated, could I please depart to dine now?” I asked sarcastically.

“Of course, don’t let me keep you from your dinner.” She snickered and flew away.

I watched her until I couldn’t see her little red body anymore.

            I put all thoughts of her out of my mind and likewise put all thoughts of Him out as well. The foremost thought on my mind was currently, “I must feed,” for there was no denying what I was and that was one of the so-called damned, the creatures of the night. I could truly only be a nocturnal haunt. I was not supposed to see the light of the sun for a very long time, until I had matured into enough power. Though that should not be for another few hundred years or so. I was a wretched vampire cursed to live in darkness, for the time being at least. I presumed there was another reason for my kind to be called damned, damned to live a cursed life. Feeding off the weak was a low thing to do, but it was something we had to do in order to keep from perishing ourselves. Some, like myself, found our own ways of reconciling and coping with the guilt or unease of what we were forced into doing just to survive. 

            The people of this town knew not of what was lurking in their midst, the dangers lying in wait at their doorstep. All they knew was that their quaint town was surrounded by desert and mountains. They had no awareness of the potential danger that had crossed into their lives and lay hidden in the depths of the mountains. They remained completely unaware of the things that most of them could not see. For every person who could see the other Unknown creatures, there were at least a thousand who could not. Though my kind had an easier time blending in with the mere mortals, which was beneficial since we had no glamour to conceal us. 

I admit I had grown weary of the same thing day in and day out. The years had passed swiftly at first, then they seemed to have slowed to a halt because it felt like I was repeating the same thing over and over. My “life” had no progression. The decades had blended together. When I looked at the world and thought back on the past century, it appeared to move so sluggishly but at the same time was a blur. All the trends and newfound inventions came and went so quickly. I remembered some things that stood out, such as when humans actually managed to make it to space. That was quite unexpected. I vaguely remembered the invention of film and when it first had sound and then color. So many things had been created in the last century alone, though most had seemed for the mere purpose of making oneself happy and for entertainment, not for the purpose of exploring new avenues or making new discoveries. The most creative inventions had happened a hundred years ago or more. Without those first groundbreaking inventions, they would not have been able to spark the hundreds or thousands that came after that seemed more like expansions or improvements on those that came first. These days, the inventions that the humans cared about most were the latest form of portable technology they could get their hands on and spent most of their lives absorbed by.