Vampire Queen

Chapter 1: Ava

          “Ava, time to wake up!” Karter calls from the kitchen. I turn over and groan into my pillow. Maybe I can stay here long enough for him to think I left already. A knock on the door startles me out of bed and I land on the floor. “First day of school, get out of bed before I come in there and drag you out.”

            Karter is my big brother; he has been in charge of me shortly after turning 18. Our parents died two summers ago when our coven was attacked by drifters, they are the vampires who don’t follow a King or Queen within a coven. They do work together sometimes though when they have the same goal, which is usually trying to prove they are stronger than any King or Queen. Our parents died trying to protect all the children who weren’t of age yet. I was among them and saw as their heads were pulled from their bodies, one of the few ways to kill a vampire, I was only 15, almost 16. Karter has tried to take care of me the best he could ever since. He was 20 years old now, and ready to start his career path as a warrior at Knight College. Usually, you start as soon as you turn 18 and become a full vampire but he had to wait until I was ready as well, this means no more going outside during the day, which is where the myths come into affect. I turn 18 in two months, Halloween night.

            Before I go downstairs, I look in the mirror to make sure I am presentable enough for school. Black jeans, a red halter top, with black and white converse shoes and red shoelaces (you can probably guess what colours I like best). My Black hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, and just a thin layer of black eyeliner to contrast my brown eyes. With a nod of approval, I open my door and head downstairs as slow as I possibly could go, just to annoy my brother.

            As I walk into the kitchen, Karter is standing at the stove making pancakes and eggs while his mate Jessica is sitting at the table reading over her textbooks. She is attending Knight College to be a nurse so she can help in the hospital when needed. Sometimes even vampires can get injuries that need a little extra help. Most of the time, it is the younger kids who end up there since they can’t heal as fast as the adults can. Karter and Jessica are the complete opposites, yet they were destined to be together. His hair is pitch black like mine, but he has blue eyes; Jessica has pure white hair, with grey eyes. There are a few vampires born with white hair, usually from an ancient family but Jessica doesn’t know her family. She was abandoned when she was a baby and an older couple found her hiding in some bushes just off the river outside of the coven boarders. She has been living with us for a year since they found out they were mates. It was good because Karter didn’t like talking to me about girly things, if you know what I mean.

            “Thank you.” I say to Karter as he puts the pancakes in front of me. Now, you might be wondering why two adult vampires are awake and moving during daytime, well we have special blinds that cover the windows to keep out any light if we need to be awake during the day. As soon as I leave, they will both be going to bed until I get home from school. I’m sitting across from Jessica and she looks up at me with a smile on her face.

            “Morning sunshine,” she teases. “First day of the last year, are you excited?” She asks me.

            “No,” I tell her honestly. She gives me a look of confusion. Most vampires are impatient for this time of their life, but this means I have to decide my future. “It feels pointless since I will only be there for two months. That isn’t enough time to choose a career, and if I don’t choose, it will be chosen for me. I have no idea what I want to do yet.” I finish telling her letting out a huge breath. It was silent for a moment, so I ended up rambling some more. “Not to mention that Jade won’t even be there with me for very long since she turns 18 on Saturday. She has five days of her final year of high school than she will start her training. I will have no one there with me next week, so maybe it is best I don’t go.”

            “Everything will be OK, I promise.” She says as she gets up out of her seat to give me a hug. “I know it might seem scary, but you’ll be surprised at how much time that will give you to decide. It might feel like the day will be here before you know it, but in reality, it won’t. There is plenty of time, and your teachers will make sure you are prepared.”

            At that moment, a car horn went off; shoving the last bite of pancakes into my mouth and grabbing my bottle of juice with a tint of O negative, I said my goodbyes to Jessica and Karter by giving them both a kiss on the cheek then rushed out the door. Jade was waiting for me with James in the driver seat. Jade is my best friend, and James is her twin brother. Both with brown hair and blue eyes. Jade is wearing a pretty blue sundress with white roses on it, which really bring out her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, I noticed she has a twinkle of glee in them when I climb into the back seat.

            “This is going to be the best year!” she squeals while clapping her hands when she turns around to look at me.

            “Yeah it will…for you. You’re only going to be there for five days before you become a full adult vampire.” I respond rolling my eyes. James chuckled from the driver seat while Jade gives us both a tiny glare.

            “It is not just about being there for five days. It’s the start of our career path. I want to be a personal shopper!” She squeals again while bouncing in her seat.

            “You’re the vampire princess, they won’t let you choose that career,” James points out.

            I let them banter back and forth over careers, James has a point, they are the children of the King and Queen of the Midknight coven. Each coven has their own King and Queen, Clifford and Lilith were ours. Usually, the oldest child will take over, but since Jade and James are twins, they both have to step up once their parents step down and rule together. Although, if one of the siblings find their mate before that time comes, that sibling will rule, while the other can do what they want or they can stay as an advisor to the new King and Queen. I know Jade hopes that James will find his mate first, she never liked the idea of being in charge, unless it was being in charge of someone’s closet.

            “I have no intention on becoming the Queen, James, now drop it!” Jade says rather loudly in a way that means the conversation is over.

            James didn’t respond knowing it was no use trying to get her to realize the reality of the situation. I took this time to study him from the back seat. He was wearing a dark grey hoodie with black jeans; his brown hair is short and messy with a few spikes sticking up in some place. He looked handsome. I’ve had a crush on James since I figured out that boys didn’t have cooties like my parents told me. I eventually learned all parents say that to their kids to keep them away from the opposite s*x. I know it would be difficult for me when he finds his mate. I just hope she can make him happy. He clears his throat with a soft cough making me come back to earth. I see his eyes looking at me in the rear-view mirror; he caught me looking at him. This is just perfect. I noticed we arrived at school, so I try getting out of the car as fast as I could before he saw my flushing cheeks, but he gets to my door first and grabs my hand to help me out.

            “You look beautiful with flushed cheeks.” He says before walking away. He has no idea how I feel about him. I’ve done my best to keep it that way, but now I think he might be catching on. He did call me beautiful though, could he like me too? Jade was waiting for me at the entrance of the school, I walked to her side so we could in together. The school had specialty windows to let the light in but made sure that light would not burn our teachers to death. Our lockers were right next to each other, something she made sure of when we started school. Being the princess had its perks I guess. All the seniors were gathering in the gym for a career assembly that was supposed to go all morning…this was going to be a very long morning.

            Jade and I find seats close to the back, she already knows what she will be doing, and what she wants to do, I however don’t know and don’t care at the moment. Maybe I will take time off before going to college if Karter lets me at least. I can do some traveling to find my mate, maybe that will help me decide a career path. As if she knew what I was thinking, “Have you decided what you want to do yet?” Jade asks me.

            “Not yet,” I sigh shaking my head. “It isn’t that easy for me as it is for you. You have had your life planned out for you by your parents, and even have a back-up plan. I have nothing.”

            “You like to write, maybe you can choose a career with the newspaper.” She suggests. “Or you can work in the daycare, you’re great with kids!” I know she wants to help, so I only nodded because the teachers were getting ready to talk to us, and I noticed James walking in with his best friend Chase. They chose seats a few rows ahead of us, before sitting down, James was looking around the gym, probably looking for Jade. Although when he looked back towards us, his eyes locked onto mine. He had a smirk on his face and gave me a wink before sitting down to face forwards. I quickly looked over at Jade to see if she noticed, but she was busy watching Chase. She had a far away look in her eyes, does she like him? If she does, she has never told me before. I think they would be cute together; he has reddish blonde hair with blue eyes, and like Jade, his favorite color to wear was blue as well. Wearing a blue sweatshirt and blue jeans, he looks like he walked off the runway. He won’t be 18 until New Year’s Eve though, so even if he ended up being her mate, she wouldn’t know until they were both considered adults.

            The teachers were talking about the careers we could choose from within the coven since we can’t work in the human world unless it was a night shift. There was being a warrior, a cook at the palace or at one of the few restaurants we have within the boundaries, there was working in the daycare, working in the hospital, working retail, grounds keeper, construction worker, and of course being a teacher. There was a lot to choose from.

            None of these choices really sparked my interest. I did like kids, and they didn’t even mention the newspaper. It isn’t really something that anyone read anymore. I decided that if I haven’t made up my mind by the time my birthday came around, I will go with the daycare. It seemed like the safe choice, that’s what my mom did, while my dad was one of the top warriors. Karter chose to follow in his footsteps, maybe following my mom will be good for me too. As I decided this, James turned to look at me, with an emotion on his face I couldn’t pinpoint. I see Chase lean over and whisper something which makes James go stiff. He snarls at whatever Chase says and turns his attention back to the front. Chase takes that time to turn back to me with confusion clear on his face. I shrug my shoulders and face the front again too. I wonder what he said to make James angry.