Excerpt Monday- October!

October 11, 2009 at 6:00 am (Excerpt Monday)

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just a writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site or click on the banner above.

Anyways, this will be my third Excerpt Monday, and soon I’ll be doing the Halloween Short Story… edition. Anyways, if you haven’t heard. Excerpt Monday will now be doing short stories for several holidays, and I can’t be more excited. Moving away from my boring chit-chat, here’s the excerpt!

~~~~~

Things were not going as planned. Not at all.

            The little witch standing before me smirked, raising her perfectly trimmed brows in mockery. Fury rippled through me and the world took on a red tint as I bared my teeth. Fangs erupted from my canines and a wild hiss escaped my lips as I glared at Rayovin.

            “Don’t throw a fit, vampire. You knew this day was coming,” Rayovin Marcelone’s lips twitched with dark humor and a glint of mischief reflected in her shimmering yellow eyes. “My great-grandfather saved you’re life and it’s about time you paid him back for his kindness.” Rayovin swept her arrow-straight black hair over her shoulder, her pale skin glowing under the streetlamp. “Don’t worry, little girl, we won’t be cruel.”

            I snarled and threw all of my weight forward, my instincts screaming for me to attack. But my efforts were wasted.  An invisible wall halted my strike and I slammed to the ground, letting out another mangled roar. “How dare you,” I screamed in frustration. No matter how I hated it, everything the witch had said was true. I was at the service of the Marcelone family, whether I liked it or not.

            Rayovin made a tisking sound and stepped forward, bringing her heel-clad foot up to rest on my leg. Though the movement seemed harmless, I knew it wasn’t. With just a little more pressure, my leg would snap. I was now at her mercy.

“So, would you like to come home with me? We can party, just like old times. Or, you can do as I say and move on with your little mission.” Rayovin’s expression betrayed her sick excitement. Inside, I had no doubt that she was rejoicing, relishing in the feel of owning another’s soul. “Time’s a wastin’, Veronica. It’d be in your best interest to decide now.”

            “She’ll complete you’re mission, Rayovin. I’ll make sure of it.” A man stepped out of the shadows and came forward. His voice was gruff with annoyance and anger, but strong too. The man had dirty blonde hair that was mussed in a heap on his head and a muscular frame that rivaled that of a linebacker. The aura that radiated from his being emanated power and strength.

            “Ah, Andrei, it has been too long. Let me see, almost fifty years now?” Rayovin cocked her head to the side and laughed.

            “Yes,” Andrei grumbled, “Not nearly long enough.” His eyes flashed over to meet mine and I shivered. Andrei was not just another man, he was another vampire. The newcomer’s chocolate brown eyes appeared normal, but with the enhanced vision of an immortal, I could see the red pools of ink that drifted beneath the chocolate exterior.

            He’s won his freedom.

            “Now, my friend, must we really sound so saddened by this chance encounter?”

            Andrei turned back to Rayovin and shook his head. “Stop playing your games and let the girl go. I’ll make sure she completes whatever crazy-ass mission you gave her.”

            “Are you sure? Veronica here is quite the rebel, and I’d hold you responsible for the outcome of said task.”

            I could feel Andrei’s glare bore into my skull, drilling holes through my brain with their intensity. “You better be worth it, kid,” he mumbled under his breath. Andrei coughed and met the witch’s gaze. “And what is this impossible task?”

            “So you accept?”

            “I asked what the task is, didn’t I?”

            Rayovin pondered for a moment, her gaze creeping over me as she thought. At last she let out a malicious chuckle and lifted her foot from my leg. “Veronica, stand before me as a child of the night, born from the very spells of the Marcelone family.”

            I wanted to spit on the witch’s feet and remain on the ground. I wanted to ignore the words she spoke and pretend as if I hadn’t heard a word. But even then, it wouldn’t be enough. The spell she had spoken was binding, and without the will to do so, I found myself rising from the ground and bowing my head before Rayovin. Bowing my head before my master.

            “Veronica Amelia Ramone, I hereby declare you’re quest of impossibility. Shall you find a way to complete it, immortality is yours. Yet, if you fail to do as I say, you shall remain an eternal blood servant, bound to the loyalties of the Marcelone family and those that we serve. Do you agree to this challenge, or will you forever be stuck in a state of in between?”

            My lips felt dry and cracked and I struggled to stay standing as adrenaline spread through me as if weaved by spiders. A will that wasn’t my own urged me to agree, and venom began to trickle through my veins as I fought the urge to say the word that could very well be the end of me. Agony rippled through me, tearing everything within me to shreds, destroying the little dignity that remained mine.

“Yes,” I choked, my voice brittle with pain. “I accept my mission, master.” Slowly, everything that had tortured me to agree slithered away, leaving a hollow emptiness in my wake. I fell to my knees and clutched my stomach, cursing the witch for all that she had stolen.

            Rayovin’s lips curled with pleasure and she continued the ceremony. “Very well. With you’re consent, I shall now reveal the task that awaits you yet. Veronica Amelia Ramone, I sentence you to hunt down and drink the blood of the vampire lord, Sir Delius Armedeo of Italy, the oldest of the vampires. You have exactly one month to complete your assignment.”

            Horror swept through my being and I nearly collapsed onto the ground. Pride kept me on my knees, and then allowed me to stand and face the she-devil before me. Hatred blazed like a wildfire within me and a hiss rose from my throat. I took a step forward, my fangs bared and my legs coiled to strike.

            A hand grabbed hold of my arm and the feral snarl that ripped from my throat reverberated in my ears as I struck the intruder. The hold on my arm tightened and Andrei came into view, his fangs on display as well. He glared at me and pulled my arm so that I stumbled away from the witch. Rayovin watched the display with morbid fascination her lips trembling with a contained smirk.

            “Don’t take too long, my little darlings,” Rayovin whispered as she watched us leave. Her hand pulled up in a little wave and the certainty that we would fail reflected in her eyes.

            Andrei dragged me forward, past the park and under the main bridge. I kept my eyes on the little witch, trying to convey my hatred for the creature, but soon lost sight of her as we rounded another corner. I let out a sigh and turned forward. I couldn’t change what had happened back there, but I could try to make it right.

            How did everything go so wrong?

~~~~~

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