the divine redemption trilogy : her grace

7/31/2019 The Divine Redemption Trilogy : Her Grace

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The Divine Redemption Trilogy: Her Grace

Rhea Shakespeare had never truly belonged to Hallbrook, England. Even if she d live there since she was a little girl she felt out of place in the shut out town that still believed in the BritishMonarchy not that she thought there was anything wrong with being a princess. She wanted to

be a princess at some point. But maybe the reason she felt out of place was because there wasmore to Hallbrook then meets the eye. And as she meets two people destined for greatness the

truth of her being is revealed.

Could Heaven have a bigger plan set out for her? Could falling in love deny her from redeemingher divinity? The real question is, when the time comes for the Great War to begin again, will

she protect what she never knew, in place of the truth?

F A L L E N / I N F I N I T Y / B O O K S / C O P Y R I G H T / 2 0 1 2


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Part 1Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he

brought them out of their distress. Psalm 107:28


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Prologue

A single moment in your life can change the course of your future. Gramma Kelly always toldme that. She also told me not to go sticking my nose on other people s business because it wasn tgood for anybody especially the person that would get themselves involved, which she alwaysmeant as me. I would probably cross out all the bad experiences in my life, like when I was eightand Corey Brian who had cute brown eyes and a baby face threw dirt at my face apparently wewere going through a rough break and he didn t want anything to do with me since he metAnnabelle Allen who was by far the most perfect girl in Hallbrook Preparatory Academy. Butthat was the thing about Annabelle Allen she was a Duchess. And royalty was at the top of thehierarchy whereas commoners as myself were not. Not that it mattered. Seriously.

Hallb rook was one of those small country town s in England that was inhabited by blue bloods royalty. All my life, I ve lived in Hallbrook and it was pretty much all I knew. When I was alittle girl, I dreamed of being married to a prince who d sweep me off my feet and take me to hisblack horse. Black because to me, white was too pure, and that was what the prince was. ButHallbrook was the white horse, a place so pure of its originality that the younger generation hadwanted to escape it. There were medicine w omen described as witches or demoness despisedby the townsfolk because they lived near the edge of Paradise Pasture. They were scolded at fortheir beliefs in Angel and Demon folklore. Apart from that, Hallbrook was the only town thatknew about advanced devices like the iPhone4S but refused to get their hands on it. We had Wi-Fi but some things had to be ordered and delivered, or you d have to go to the city. And I didn t know anyone who d left Hallbrook. Yet.

Mum and Dad were scholars of literature. Mum was independent, who wrote about History andArts, she wanted to go to Hallbrook because of its rich history. No one could deny thatHallbrook which used to be Stratford the same Stratford that William Shakespeare grew upat, lacked history. Dad always lived in Hallbrook, but moved to study in London where he metMum. They lived in Hallbrook until twenty years ago, for reasons I couldn t fathom. But thereason was pretty straightforward. My life was full of literature because of my mother and father.

The Queen, Elizabeth s second cousinKing Raphael Old Man Raph to Hallbrookers wasappointed Hallbrook. But something was different about Hallbrook, instead of owning it as aDuke, Hallbrook became its own monarchy. And maybe that s why it was so ostraci zed from therest of England. Hallbrookers didn t complain, old man Raph was kind, and generous. Small asour town was, I never actually met him. Gramma Kelly used to tell me all the time that myGrandfather Vladimir, was friends with King Raph and they made a pact that his son will marrythe first daughter of my Grandmother and Grandfather s children. That meant it was me.

Every girl would want to be a princess at some point in their life. To own pretty horses, have abig room, own plenty of gorgeous, glittery dresses and have people adore you all the time. But Igot over the idea of being a princess when I was nine, because some things were just too good to


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be true. The thought of actually being a princess wasstrange. Hallbrook was a place of oldbeliefs. People believed in the divinity of the monarchy, of the power of God and the power youcould give to Satan. I was raised an atheist. Ironic, living in a town like Hallbrook. The churcheshad stained glass windows depicting the monarchy and thedivinity of blue bloods. Theybelieved so much in the monarch, of George the first handing down his bloodline to KingRaphael and his children. Royalty was the Authority . That was the cardinal law.

Somewhere in law, I thought that commoners people such as myself, shouldn t be able tointeract with royalty, apart from shaking hands and telling them about how thankful you are tothem. But the pact my Grandfather Vlad made with King Raph makes me think for all thenormality in my life, why was it that this year would have been different? Why the eighteenth

year of my life?

I never really realized why my Gramma always told me that one moment could change myfuture. Not until the day after my eighteenth birthday. Because at the end of the tunnel, when you

find the gates of the Kingdom, you meet the war.

1. Rhea.

Six thirty, seven thirty, seven forty- five. My alarm rang cuckoo loudly every time I tried to press the snooze button. I couldn t really sleep the night before, I felt myself tethered to a dreamthat I felt was so vivid but could hardly remember. Maybe because it was close to winter andwinter always left me restless. My windows were all foggy and a I breathed I could see the cold-almost-winter air, in front of me like smoke. The worst thing about Hallbrook was that when itwas close to winter, it wouldn t give you some little patches of sunlight, instead it would make

itself known with all the rain and cold air. I knew that if I looked into the mirror, I d see thesame thing I d seen before I went to bed, with little differences. Same pale kin, flushed grey eyesand annoyingly-wavy-bed-hair.

I couldn t complain with w hat I had. Maybe if I pinched my cheeks, my skin would look lesssee through. Because I knew that the thin blue veins would be slightly visible. Never did Icompare myself to the girls in Hallbrook which were partly royalty and could get away fromthe alte rations they d made to their uniforms to suit their body type. I used to love tiaras andglass slippers, but true royalty could apparently be horrid girls who talked about you like youweren t there at all. Gramma Kelly always told me, that if you had the right attitude, it didn t

matter what you looked like. She was always wise, so it would be wise to follow her advice. Ipinched my cheeks to add a little color in them, I knew it would work, the cold did that. I haddeep shadows under my eyes from my lack of rest and I wished for the millionth time that Iwouldn t be performing today that I mean, because I had to play the part of Juliet Capulet inShakespeare s tragedy. Gramma always told me that I got the artistic part of me from myfather s side of the family. I would have agreed to it completely if it weren t for the fact that my


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last name led to high expectations from my family, and low expectations from the rest of theworld who thought my last name was a lie a fluke.

Rhea Shakespeare. Whether anyone believed it or not, I was the first daughter in the line of William Shakespeare s family. So Will Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway of Stratford were my

ancestors. Ingrid my best friend s mother always said I was a big fish out of all the littlecommoner fish. Because of course, I was a Shakespeare. Mrs. Burton always told me that it gaveme an advantage especially because of all the blue bloods that went to Hallbrook Academy. Iwent to the same high school where his-royal-highnesses Prince Gabriel, Prince Michael twin s go figure, and Princess Helen, went to. The hardest thing about going to school withblue bloods was this the competition. I couldn t complain about it either. It wasn t their faultthat I d gone to school with them my entire life but never ac tually gone face to face andcommunicate with them. It wasn t their fault that they were born into royaltyjust like it wasn ttheir fault that everyone had such high hopes for me. I couldn t complain.

Everyone knew there was a girl whose last name was Shakespeare and to them it was myparents changing my last name because they were literary freaks. There was no point in evercorrecting them I could show them the family archives, pull up the Shakespeare family tree oreven recite almost every given play Shakespeare had without fail. Through the doubt,theisolation of the town and the beliefs of the peopleHallbrook wasn t a place I was sure I dfit in. Ever. I hated being a Shakespeare and I would have changed my last name into mymother s which was Rivers, but I wasn t eighteen yet and wouldn t be eighteen for another twomonths. It wasn t the connection to the Shakespearean family that I disliked. His amazing, yetall-too-tragic tales of Othello, Hamlet, The Twelfth Night and of course Romeo and Juliet.

According to all the people I knew and that included my two best and only real friends as wellas the acting group I occasionally hung out with they all thought that whatever talent I had,came from my Shakespearean side. They were always giddy when we were doing Shakespeareanplays when we still went to Hallbrook Prep, they always thought I knew every single thing toknow about Shakespeare.

I sighed as I looked at the mirror and saw the same face, the same thick lashes and dark hair. Thesame pallid face. I reached inside my oak wood dresser and took Hallbrook Academy s uniform.Both the uniforms of Hallbrook Prep and Hallbrook High were fairly the same with just smalldifferences. Hallbrook Prep was a black checkered dress with a long-sleeved white shirt with a

peter pan collar and a silver ribbon to go with the under-shirt. Hallbrook Academy however,replaced the dress with a black checkered-skirt and the long sleeved shirt with a vest and ablazer, and of course, the ribbon for the under-shirt. Uniforms annoyed me because theyreminded me of a Correctional Facility, even if Hallbrook s uniform was a lot more posh, rather than those foul orange jumpsuits. Maybe ownership was the reason I disliked uniforms so much,because the emblem of the British Monarchy with the two lions and the unicorn wereemblazoned on the breast pockets of the uniforms. As well as the whole town. After I d gone to


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the bathroom, brushed my teeth and roughly combed my hair using my hands, I ended up facingmy full length mirror. I was about to tie the black ribbon around my neck when my alarm wentoff again making the irritating cuckoo-sounds. I finally pressed the snooze button when I realizedit was nine o cloc k. Crap I was going to be late to the performance. When I woke up thismorning, there was a slight feeling of recognition from my dream before. A dream that I couldn tremember. I would have thought twice about it but I remembered the reason why I couldnt belate for school. Ms. Brown was fond of me, maybe it was because of my last name or maybe sheactually thought I could act what she wasn t fond of waswhen people were late to class. Or even worst, when they were late for a performance.

Rhea! Oh, for crying out loud George, go check on her! She s going to be late again ! Ah , Isighed. There was the familiar voice of my mother. Of course she wouldn t be in the kitchenmaking me pancakes, she would be in small room with her computer whilst typing orbra instorming new ideas for her new book. Mum wasn t at all famous but she wrote simplehistory. She deciphered old sources for school textbooks and things like that. Her last name

probably got more Oohs then her writing did. Mary Shakespeare. Sometimes I t hought mumwould feel as bad as I did when people only recognized me because of my name.

Mare, I m cooking! My father screamed from downstairs. I could hear the sound of the metalclinking with each other the tongs on the stainless pan and the clanking of bowls as they reset on the table. If I opened my door I knew the scent which would engulf my nose, burnt baconand over-cooked pancakes. Dad was usually the cook, but when he had off-days , he would havethe occasional off-month. The Royal Library of Lo ndon denied him use to Hallbrook s privatearchives. He thought they d give him a break since his family line put some documents in thearchive. Ever since last month, he d been burning the bacon and over -cooking the pancake.

I wish Gramma was here. I thou ght steadily to myself as I walked out the door. Morning Dad Isaid and he was reading a black book with yellowed papers . The Taming of the Shrew. Henodded to me and I knew he wasn t about to talk to me at least not right when he was studying.

Mum and Dad wished I would be a Literature worshiper. I was the third in my year, from the tworoyal asses. Okay, they weren t asses. I just have never met them before, Prince Gabriel andPrince Michael kept to themselves and their circle of nobles. The royals were sent here, thechildren of Duke s and Duchess and Lord s would be sent to Hallbrook it was practically theepicenter of nowhere, tucked in the fringe of Britain enough that their children wouldn t have to

suffer from a media circus. That was why Hallbrook Academy was top-notch, because royaltywas about eighty percent of the student population.

George! ARE YOU STILL OUTSIDE? HAVE YOU TAKEN RHEA TO SCHOOL!? Mymother screeched loudly. I could her typing drastically. GEORGE!? My mother s chair did awooden screech like she just did and I could her heavy footsteps.


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Oh, fufor goodness sake. Rhea, sweetie you re mother s coming. Could you please pretendyou ve been ready. My dad s blue eyes winked toward me. Mum was never really angry at Dad,but he hated to argue with her especially when they were both stressed out. They got marriednineteen when they discovered each other in a Literature Convention in Hallbrook itself. They dbeen married for so long that I could call my forty-year old mother and forty-three year oldfather medieval. I looked at my father s tired expression, even if he had deep eye -bugs, he stillmanaged to look happy.

I nodded toward him, grabbed a piece of toast and swung my black messenger bag aroundmyself running lightly towards the front door.

George, I heard what you said to our daughter. I m not an idiot! Mum said playfully to mydad. I groaned. Mum constantly found ways to show me how much her and Dad loved eachother. She tip-toed towards him and kissed his lips. Ugh. I turned around before I saw the wholeshow and heard my mother sigh. I turned back to see what the fuss was about. Mum always

showed when she was upset or wanted people to notice her. She d make an overrated sigh untilthey paid attention. She gave me an enc ouraging smile. I know you re nervous. Meeting one of the Princes! Who was it again? Gabriel or Michael? Oh I don t care, just show them your normalcharm and be a Shakespeare!

I groaned but gave a weak nod.

Dad drove me to school on the normal pace an d it didn t take long but he had to slow down, theroad s were icy and I knew that it was about to snow. When I got off, Dad gave me the sameencouraging smile that Mum had, If not just bigger. Playing one of our ancestor s characters

(even if I d already done it numerous times) was amazing. Me, playing it with royalty. Well thatwas apparently special.

Half the girls in Hellbrook tried out for Anne Boleyn s role. I admit I was jittery. I d seen the prince s on T.V. and though they were twins, they looked nothing alike. Gabriel had sandyblonde hair and though there was barely sun in country England, he had color in his skin afamily trait from their Spanish side maybe. And that s what their mother Queen Esmeralda was,Spanish. Michael had black hair like his mother and the same color skin as Gabriel. They bothhad blazing blue eyes all the siblings had. Even Princess Helen, who was regarded as theyounger version of Helen of Sparta oops sorry, Troy. I began to feel myself shaking. I was

supposed to kiss one of the two Princes . Sure as hell that would ve got me going. They werehot no, no. They were beautiful. Every girl wanted to be with the princes even if It was a longshot.

I d finally gotten to the drama department when I bumped into something er, someone to beexact. I was holding my Advanced Lit and Advanced Arts textbook which fell into the ground,the rest of the notes which I d stuck in fell everywhere. I began to curse, knowing that I hadn tapologized to the figure I d bumped into. That person crouched beside me and I could hear him


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grinning at me, seriously. I was thinking to myself. Ryan Lawrence, if thats you Im about ten seconds close to donkey -kicking you straight out of Hallbrook to the damn Caribbean sea. Iprepared myself for yelling at the person when I looked up and locked eyes with the mostbeautiful creature in my life.

Again, I dropped my books and my jaw fell down. His blue eyes held mine and he wasgrinning no smiling at me, his cheeks were rosy enough to consider him blushing e ven if I drealized it was just because of the cold. Thank Heavens for this cold! I knew I would be blushinginsanely if it wasn t this freezing.

Sorry. He finally said, breaking eye contact with me.

This was the first time I d probably realized it. The twin Prince s shared the same facial features,the same straight nose and full lush yes, lush lips. They both had high cheekbones and lookedso friendly, they also shared the same blue eyes. Hypnotizing blue eyes that were as blue or

bluer than Gramma Ke lly s sapphire stones.Iuh, no, no. I mean, yes. I cursed again then realized he probably wasn t used to swearing.Sorry, pardon my French. I picked up my books and he was grinning again. Wouldn t he stopgrinning! The first time I d actually been fa ce to face with pure royalty and I look like an arse!

Oh , je crois que ce n'est pas franais he said when I finally stood my ground. My hand s werestill shaking. In front of the most gorgeous or one of the two most gorgeous guys in this part of England! (Not that English boy s weren t totally acceptable). I made a note to myself that Iwould compare both American Boy s to English boy s later on.

Sorry? I began to think about what he said. He said something in straight French. Shit. Shit.The fact that he spoke to me and in FRENCH! Made my knees tremble.

I said I don t believe that s French. He laughed and put his hand through his black hair,ruffling it. This was Michael. I m Romeo. He put his hand out to mine obviously for me toshake it. He was still smiling at me. STOP SMILING! I wanted to shout at him.

Suddenly I began thinking about what he said again. I, umthat s not your name. Are youokay? Do you want to go to the infirmary? I asked, I felt my worried tone coming on so Idecided to stop talking.

I meant I m playing Romeo. I ve seen you around. He smiled again, a lot more widely if thatwere even possible. I helped pick you as Juliet. You re perfect, especially for her role. Youre

perfect. His word s echoed through my ears.

Shit. Shit. Don t pass out, or spew all over him. DON T EVEN HYPERVENTILATE! I wassaying to myself over and over again.


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Michael s smile began to fade and I wondered why. He was about to turn away when he saidquietly Careful, you re friend s finding the right time to scare the mickey out of you. Hesmiled sadly. It made me sad too. Obviously idiot. I told myself. Sad people made me feel sadtoo. He whispered, so quietly that it might not have been true See you later.

2. Rhea. Ingrid you re such a bloody psycho! I squea ked at her for the last time. Youre friends

finding the right time to scare the mickey out of you. Prince Michael s voice echoed in my head.Ingrid wrecked our moment, pathetic as it was. But I was laughing now; she scared me so badthat I almost forgot about my encounter with the prince. At least now I understood what PrinceMichael meant.

Ingrid laughed psychotically, But I got you didn t I!? And you always get me Rhey! Won t youlet me have a little fun once in a while?! she wiped a tear from her eye and began to laugh more.

Ingrid Burton was my best friend. She had really blonde hair and really blonde curls. She wasalso the cutest person in the world. She always had rosy cheeks, pretty hairstyles and awesomeBarbie dolls. Now that we were grown u p obviously, her having the most awesome Barbie scame to an advantage, she could dress herself as she would ve dressed Barbie and knew exactlywhat made her look bloated or too skinny. She was a goddess. She was also going to playRosaline, who was Romeo s also known as Prince Michael s first love who just mingles, while Iplaying Juliet, will be heavily infatuated by an encounter which begins the beginning of a star-crossed-lovers-affair.

We have to hurry though, Holy Crap! You scared the mickey out of me! I said, still shocked by

my best friend. I realized that I had also repeated what Michael said about Ingrid scaring theMickey out of me. I smiled at the thought.

Hmm, Ingrid slowly said, Speaking of anything holy. Might I say, it was about time t hatPrincey walked away. I think he might ve seen me waiting around. He probably thought Iwanted his autograph. she said jokingly.

Ingrid s family believed in the monarchy. And old magic, and boy did the royal family knowthat. Her father had gotten a restraining order from the London Court to never be able to enterthe sanctity of Hallbrook Palace to prove how serious it was. Neither Ingrid nor I knew why her

family had a restraining order from the palace but we assumed it was because maybe one of herfamily members wer e stalkers. But Ingrid wasn t like that. She didn t believe in the old magic .It was the reason we were best friends.

But still, judging from the hot -eye-to-eye contact that I, Ingrid Burton, witnessed that theremay be something goi ng on there. She winked at me and nudged my shoulder. Is theresomething going on there? Are you gonna let ol Grandfather Vladdie s pact to take place? You


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get Michael and I get the big brother and we ll rule side by side? She gasped, and for a momentstopped laughing then the hysteria returned, You gotta admit, Rhey. It s a pretty brilliant plan.

I didn t say anything. It was a cute plan but it was also just one of those Ingrid -Rules-The-World plans. She always tried to lure me into one of her new b oyfriend schemes. Ingrid always

had a different boyfriend. She got bored easily except for the past few months. She d beendating one of my ex-boyfriends and as weird as it was it was one of those things that neverworked out in the end so it never actually felt weird. It was only weird whenever he d flirt withme in front of her. L uckily for me, she didn t mind because she always told me: Honey, two can

play at the same game.

What about Ryan, you gonna ditch him for Gabriel? His pride will be so hurt. I joked back,nudging her elbow.

She waved her hand off and stopped laughing, somehow, I entered an unwanted topic. We

broke up, don t ask.

Again? I asked, and cursed myself silently. I probably shouldn t have asked, but then again,her and Ryan had been breaking on and off for the past two months, which probably was hers and his most serious relationship.

Look, let s get back on topic, my point is

I tried not to groan, I hated it when she brought it up. For a while, it was flattering, but now itwas like a continuous buzzing noise that was on repeat in my head. Ingrid, you know that was

just a stupid joke Gramma Kell tells me to joke around. When I said the words aloud, I lookedat my friend, and saw that she was looking back at me.

Ingrid had creases on her forehead and she looked as if she were trying to add something up inher head. It was disappointing, how my whole life my Gramma always told me I was destinedfor a sort of royal redemption. I felt my back bone tingle, sort of like a small electric wave of recognition, but it was gone as soon as it came.

Hey, from the look plastered on your face before, you were as infatuated with Prince Michael as my dad is with Johnny Walker. Again she joked around, but her dad literally was adrunkard ever since the incident with the restraining order.

He seemed nice. I said, shrugging.

I guessed. she said, You looked hypnotized. Ingrid winked.

His eyes kinda got to me. I said shyly, hiding my face with my hair. It was true, I couldn treallyre act, properly to a Prince especially when he looked at me with those eyes

Ingrid sighed. I know what you mean. Grace Williamsyou know Gracie?


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The fifth former? I asked, wanting to know if it was the same girl I thought of.

Yeah, her. I heard from Sammie that she confessed to Prince Gabriel yesterday. He turned herdown and you know, Id be pretty sad but she was furious afterwards. You know how theWilliam Sisters can get.

Ingrid was right. The William Sisters were: Charity, who d left the schoo l. Faith, who was asixth former like Ingrid and I and their notorious little sister Grace who was by far Hallbrook s

biggest boyfriend changing girl ever. Their parent s came from a long line of noble s which waspretty much another way of saying they were filthy rich, and the sisters were just filthy mean.Their minds were as twisted as they were beautiful. Which they were.

It s not like she can do anything about that. What s there to get angry about? She asked, he saidno. Life goes on.

Exactly. I knew you d say that. There was a long and quiet pause as we turned right towards the Auditorium. It was raining out

again, the heaviness of the rain weighing down on the plants making soft thudding soundswhenever they met.

I wrinkled my nose. I hate this weather. I told my best friend, whose thoughts seemedelsewhere.

Don t we all?

~ * ~

Rhea! Ingrid! You re both late!

Miss Emily Clarke, our drama teacher looked frantic as Ingrid and I entered the back entrance tothe Auditorium. Hallbrook Academy was a massive school with plenty of different buildings foreach department. The worst part was, how far each building was from each other. The main partof the school was an old building, the Great Library was there along with the Great Hall whereall special functions were held. It took Ingrid and I all of seven minutes to get to the Auditoriumwhich was the furthest away from the main building than any of the other departments.

Miss Emily Clarke, who preferred us to called her Emily or Miss Emily had her handsmotioning everywhere. She wore an eggplant colored headband that made her curly brown-greyed hair go everywhere. She wore less of her eccentric-clothing and changed to a more apinstripe suit that matched the color of her headband. Apart from the different clothes, her eyesthat were usually a calm icy-blue were popping out, making them look dull and less appealing.

You both need to change! Especially you, Rhea!


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Ingrid and I scattered but Miss Emily caught up with me, telling Ingrid to go and she had bothhands on my shoulders.

I m really sorry Miss Em. I said, knowing she d already forgiven me but I hadn t ev enapologized. One thing she hated most was when people were late to performances, and I hated to

have such a thick head, but she never said anything when it came to me.

Rhea, will you promise me that you ll put a hundred -and- fifteen percent today? Miss Emily svoice was shaky and it was one of those off- moments when anyone would see her nervous. Thisis a very important moment in the history of Hallbrook s Performing Arts Department and I

believe, for you. She smiled at me nervously, I just wanted to hug her but I didn t.

I ll do my best, as always Miss Em. When have I failed you? I asked her, giving her my bestI m -not- nervous smile. Inside, my stomach filled with butterflies flitting into an empty abyss.

She returned my smile, unnerved now, and clearly glad to hear what I d said. I didn t want to failher. She believed in my talent even before I put my last name on the sign-up sheet. I hadeverything to return to her. She let me off, shedding a little tear. I was the second act.

Romeo & Juliet, one of Shakespeare s most famous plays was the performance at hand today.The performance was cut into three sections. Yesterday it was played by Faith Williams who justhad to show up, young, innocent and free. Today was my performance, the part where Romeomeets Juliet and they begin their sad love affair. Tomorrow would be the finale, which wasanother Juliet entirely, tomorrow would be the death of Romeo and his Juliet. The performanceswere broken into three parts because of the exams and each part was about an hour long so it wasgood. I guess.

I let out a long breath. I signed- up for the play, even if I d already done it a couple of times inNursery and Primary but they wouldn t have counted for the End -Of-Term Exam. The teacherscontemplated on giving us a written exam until a certain Prince also signed up.

The fancy script on the parchment against all the other messy and un-aligned writing shone it itsown way: Michael of Hallbrook.

And so a star was immediately born. It was the first time the Royal Family had participated insomething that would form a media circus, but of course, the Performing Arts Department were

ecstatic. I was confident in playing Juliet until I learned he would be Romeo. But of course I already knew hed get it.

It was troublesome, trying to tie a corset on your own. My costume was a long, blood-red dressmade of velvet. It was the dress for the costume party that Juliet s family would host. Where of course, she d meet Romeo.


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Ingrid ran to my aid, tying the corset tighter than I could wish. I had trouble breathing by thetime I wanted to tell her to loosen it up. Great, I thought to weakly. When Im in front of the

prince itll be so obvious that Im about to faint. I put both my hands into a fist, and tried to takea deep breath. Bad idea.

You okay there, Rhey? Ingrid said, laughing. She stopped playing around with my dress andwas now adjusting her wig. She d pulled her pretty blonde hair up and now wore a big wigwhich was about two shades darker than her natural hair color. The wig had ribbons everywhere,pulling together the intricate braids that made the wig big. The wig, about ten inches in height,would have looked ridiculous on everyone else but looked good on Ingrid.

When I d finally gotten over the fact that th e corset was not going to loosen up making a noteto myself that I d have to throttle Ingrid for tying a Gordian Knot on the corset s back, it wasimpossible , to break I decided to slip the blood-red dress on, not even working on my hair. Iwas losing time.

I ran no, tried to run, having trouble breathing with the corset towards the long stretch of fulllength mirrors that hung back in the change rooms. The only thing that separated the girls and theboys was a big wooden wall, we could still hear them talk and I heard Ryan joking aboutsomething stupid. I shook my head, not wanting to break my concentration of keeping calm.

There were a lot of other girls, some dressed as maids and some dressed in pretty and quirkyoutfits. All the clothes were bright and suit each of the girls. They all looked at themselves in themirror with awe. I heard someone gasp, and then there was a unison of gasps. It was like achorus!

What? I asked, What happened?

Aw, Rhey you look like a princess. Like not Princess Helen or something but you know, those princesses we see in movies and such. Ingrid gave me a smile.

I hadn t looked at myself yet but when I did, I gasped with surprise too. The thick velvet of thedress was heavy and plainly annoying, the corset pressing into the back of my spine making itfeel itchy but my skin was whiter than it had been any other time and my freckles stood outscarcely and looked silver in the dim lighting. My grey eyes didn t loo k as crap as they did in themorning, they looked ready. It was what my eyes looked like whenever I was about to perform.

My hair against the red velvet stood out darker than it always had it was glossier and if it werepossible, reflected the faces of tho se who looked at me almost that I didn t even need to turn andsee who they were. The golden specks that came out of the dress were bright as I moved and thelong sleeves made my arms look long and elegant. I shook my head and turned to everyone whowas still staring at me.


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Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn .

Michael s voice was soft and alluring. So alluring, that I couldn t get away from my seat fastenough. When I d met the Prince in the morning, he sounded so friendly and utterly normal

besides the fact that he spoke in a language that I couldn t. But as Michael performed, his voicewas focused and balanced but still managed to make a girl run up and kidnap him. I felt like Iwas in a trance and I imagined half the girls felt the same.

Ryan Ingrid s on -and-off boyfriend, was playing Mercutio. He looked pretty good, his dark hair flopping over hi s forehead. Jarrod was wearing tights, something I thought I d never see.Looking at him, It seemed clear that Miss Em got her way. Ryan was smiling the sweetest smile,it was the kind of smile that robbed girls of their undies before they had a chance to even sayHi . Jarrod was grinning, his brown eyes inviting. Damn Players .

Well, I slowly thought to myself whilst staring at the three actors, there goes my dignity!

If love be rough with you, be rough with love;Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.

The crowd applauded Michael, Ryan and Jarrod s performance and the lights went dim. Thestudents behind me were all excited from seeing Michael all the girls and some selected guys,and they were awestruck. I wouldn t have known that it was my turn on stage That it was thetime for Romeo and Juliet s meeting. I took a deep breath and ruffled my hair. It was time toenter.

The background music Claude Debussy s Rverie played in the background. The hairs on myarms began to stand, though they were covered. I was always nervous, even if I knew that Dramawas my strongest subject. I sighed, covered in a mask were four boys one of which wasMichael.

The boys were gaping at me it was a look I knew well. Whenever I dressed up for a play theystared at me like they couldn t believe I was there. I had to admit I actually looked good likethis so I felt a little smugeven when Michael began to talk and my knees began to shake:

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiopes ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.

As yonder lady, oer her fellows shows. The measure done, Ill watch her place of stand.

And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.


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Did my heart love until now? Forswear it, sight! For I neer so true beauty until this night.

As in the play, Juliet, meaning I wasn t supposed to do or say anything except for play ca t andmouse with Romeo the gorgeous Prince Michael himself. My legs were shaking but I felt theside of me that took over whenever I was in a group of large people. I didn t know what it was

but as soon as I saw the crowd my subconscious called a bet with me, practically saying Gameon to Michael with my eyes.

Michael wore the lion headed mask. I could see the lustful look in his eyes. It was the samegorgeous shade of blue electrifying and magnifying. Like there was some sort of secret behindthose eyes. I stared at him for long enough before he winked at me, I m sure he was alsogrinning behind the mask. I felt a shiver run up my spine. Focus, Rhea. Focus!

I was in a group with Corinth a pretty girl with red hair who was playing Rosaline, Grace

who was an extra to her dismay, Ingrid my ladies maid and of course, Mamma Capulet,Sammie. We all moved in the stage, gliding in our dresses I was serious now. No more games,or bets. Even my subconscious stayed out of my head. For all I was concerned, Gramma Kelly,Mum and Dad would already be there, watching their daughter playing cat and mouse with aPrince.

Then it was my turn to shine. The spotlight would head over to me whilst the music would beginto fade. The light moved to me, making me squint at the sight of it. Remembering theembarrassment that came with the role if I failed tugged in the back of my head, I stood straightand began to act shy, secretive. The Montague Boys who gate crashed the Capulet Party were

mucking around. I took a deep breath and readied myself for my lines.

Tybalt who was played by Donovan Jacobs, the Earl of Hunts, had to take his mask and cloak off and began to argue with an over-pillow-stuffed boy who had thick pink blush on his cheeks tomake him look like the obnoxious Master Capulet. It was Jeremiah Toms. Again, it surprised mehow much of Great Brit s royalty would a udition for the roles as soon as one of theirs entered thelimelight.

Donovan played Tybalt pretty well. The anger in his face was actually believable. He then spokehis lines:Go to, go to;

You are a saucy boy: is't so, indeed?This trick may chance to scathe you, I know what:You must contrary me! marry, 'tis time.Well said, my hearts! You are a princox; go:

Be quiet, or--More light, more light! For shame! I'll make you quiet. What, cheerly, my hearts!


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My father Jeremiah looked ready to pounce at Donovan s orders but he did nothing except forsay his lines aloud:Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting

Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw: but this intrusion shall

Now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall.

The lights went off and became two spotlights, one at me and one at Michael. He nodded so thatonly I could see and I took a small breath of air as I heard him speak. My subconscious decidedto come back now and began to swoon at the sight of him. Oh, shit!

If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

When Michael said tender kiss I wanted to immediately put my hands to my lips, to touch thosefull, lips. Ohmigod ! I was just standing there like an idiot!

Rhey! You re up! Sammie whispered harshly though I cou ld barely see her. She was rightthough, I looked to the crowd that was waiting for me. I knew I could never forget the lines. Notthose lines.

Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,Which mannerly devotion shows in this;For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.

Michael gave me a shining million-euro smile. I was sure that if I was a Williams sister whowore thongs, mine would ve fallen out by now. He stepped towards me and grabbed both myhands. His hands were warm and soft. For a second I felt like what was that in my head?Recognition? Something tugged at the back of my mind. It was likeI shook my head inwardlyand decided to forget it. Paying all my attention back to the play.

Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? Michael said, it was almost like a whisper. His blueeyes were locked on mine and I could feel the stare of a hundred people.

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. I didn t know if my voice was loud enough for himto hear. But I saw it, myself, in the shining blue reflection of his eyes. They burned deeply and I

could see me my cheeks burning brightly pink. He grinned a little and put his acting face back on. Does he like to see me almost hyperventilating? I literally have just met this guy and healready finds me amusing!

O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.


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Let lips do what hands do; In Romeo and Juliet, it had meant that they were to kiss. But seeing ashe was the Prince someone I guessed it was someone from his family had put their footdown and said that because he had three different partners for the three different times for theplay the closest they would get was a kiss on the cheek or on the hand.

I held his warm hands, twining my fingers with his. As soon as we let go, he picked up my palmand kissed the back of my hand. The gasps from the crowed was priceless! I saw Michael s facebefore he turned to face them, he found this amusing. Like it was just a little game for him.Maybe it was but the feel of his hands on mine, his lips on mine sent a spark to my head.

The feeling of a memory retreated into my mind. I saw tall white spires a gorgeous meadow,the sky a gorgeous shade of blue edged with pinks and purples. Feathers Wait Where wasthis!? I snapped back to reality before letting out a big sigh: Had Michael just created a

fantasy!?

Sigh.

3.

Rhea.

Everyone got off the stage. This very short intermission would be my last scene untiltomorrow the last Juliet s part of the play. Romeo, meaning the prince would be off sulking,showing everyone how depressed he was because his love for Juliet was like a big universal jokeon them.

I had to change dresses again, but the dress was much better and easier to breathe in the first timeso I guess it would be easier for me not to pass out from those deep blue eyes. Ugh! Are youswooning over him again?! I caught myself thinking about the Prince and stopped, adjusting thedress for the final time. It was a beautiful thing, soft and made of satin with no sleeves and a V

plunge. It flowed beautifully every time I moved and I couldn t help but think that it looked likea wedding gown. I wondered if Miss Emily would have gotten married once I mean, duh, shewasn t married now but what if she was about to be? It was her exact frame type. I shook thethought out of my head it was a stupid thought.

As I came out of the little cubicle for where girls changed clothes, I felt my legs begin to shake.It was dumb he s just...he s just another boy. Right? I mean, I ve been around tons of boysbefore I ve had tons of boyfriends. Not. I ve had three actually Koby, who was a uselessboyfriend as he was a useless cook, Ryan who now dates Ingrid and Leonardo DeCaprio. Mygod, I have nothing to say about him. He s just all around awesome!

I was putting the dress from the party scene back on its hanger soon the Drama Departmentwould finish setting up the balcony and Michael would already be getting ready to come out andbegin acting.


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Mhmm. Someone moaned from behind me. I nearly gasped because I was so surprised. I was by myselfat least I thought I was. I made my way to the covered area behind me, it was dark and there were all kinds of drapes around the place. I pulled them down and there were twobodies, twisted together and moving in unison. The girl had her hair in a messy ponytail it wasprobably neater before, she had one hand down his pants, the other I think, was clawing his back.

The guy had his hands wrapped around her waist, carrying her over him and they were kissinglike ma niacs. The light couldn t let me see their faces even when I pulled the drapes downthere weren t enough lights for me to see who it was. All I knew is they weren t part of the play.I was about to step back when I stopped hearing the moaning. Stop. Whoever you are, stop right there.

The voice was familiar strangely, a part of me felt...alight...like it found something important but I hadn t heard the voice before so I shrugged the thought out of my head. It was dark wherethey were and if you were a simple passerby you wouldn t even r ealize they were there unlessyou listened to their ragged breaths.

Who are you? the husky voice asked.Rhea. Was all that could come out of my mouth.

Rhea Shakespeare? a really high girly voice asked. As in Juliet Capulet, Rhea? she waslaughing now, amused somehow.

Yeah, that s me.

Be quiet . The guy said to the laughing girl. He didn t sound too amused by her. I heard awhiny humph and she didn t say anything for a while. I just stood there like an idiot.

UmI have to go, because I m going on stage soon. Sorry for I didn t really know what tosay? Sorry for walking in on you while you guys were about to do it? Sorry for walking in onyou guys while you were hooking up? Sorry for disturbing you. Great. Short, simple. I liked it.

Wait. Rhea, do you know who I am? he asked . His voice was far from husky now, hisbreathing slightly more even.

Not really...er, I won t tell anyone that either of you are here. I said putting on a promisingtone.

Daughter of Heaven and Earth. The voice said, when he said the word Heaven , God...I feellike it could be right there. His deep voice was so darned alluring!

Sorry? I asked. Okay...what did Daughter of Heaven and Earth mean? With a sad sigh Irealized how much I paid more atte ntion to his voice than what he d actually been saying. It feltdifferent to be watched and it made my curiosity rise. Of course I d be curious as to who he was!I couldn t see him yet he was obviously staring straight at me.


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I was thinking of your name. That s what It means right? Daughter of Heaven and Earth.

Oh, wow. Uh, I actually didn t know that. You sure about that? Wow. I must be the mosthorrible person to converse with.

Google it. He laughed. Crap. Even his laughter was sort of melodic and gorgeous in a weirdsort of way.

Rhea!? Are you back there? It s time!!!! Someone screeched. If she weren t my best friend Iwould have wringed Ingrid s neck by now. I didn t know why but I was pretty ann oyed at thefact that I couldn t see my stranger wait? My? Never mind. I looked plainly towards thedarkness.

Go. He said, and as I turned away but I d heard him say this: Don t forget to Google it.

Prince Michael was already hiding behind one of the pillars and I was already in the balcony.Why stupid Juliet didn t see Romeo before, I wouldn t have guessed, but I could see Michael sblack hair shining in the light. Originally this is the scene when Romeo and Juliet hook up. Iwasn t sure what I wou ld do, because the play is split up in three different days because of ourterm exams, and I was Juliet today while Gracie to my great dismay, was Juliet tomorrow. Igroaned. I wanted to be Juliet just because of Michael.

Ay me! I said. Juliet was supposed to be thinking about her hatred for the fact that Romeo washer enemy.

She speaks :O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art

As glorious to this night, being o'er my head As is a winged messenger of heavenUnto the white-upturned wondering eyesOf mortals that fall back to gaze on himWhen he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds

And sails upon the bosom of the air.

Michael looked from the crowd to me. This would be our first sighting the dress change musthave worked wonders because he looked... what would be the right word ? Awestruck.

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name;Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

For once I didn t hate the words. It was true, for me I guess. If there was a guy who could takeme out of Hallbrook, Prince or no Prince I would deny my father and refuse my name, and Iwould give up being a Shakespeare for just that thought. I sighed. We spoke the next few lines,


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me being in love with someone I d just met, and then Romeo forgetting all about Rosaline as if the girl never happened. As if Juliet were the only light that ever existed.

Sweet, so would I:Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.

Good night, good night! parting is suchsweet sorrow,That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

Because of Michael s situation on being a Prince, there were a few precautions. Instead of uskissing the way we were meant to, he just kissed my hand. Which tingled like crazy and I knewthat my cheeks burned brighter. He gave me the sweetest smile, not a grin not one of thosesmiles boys give you when they know something you don t know it was the sweetest smile.Wow.

To think that I didn t w ant to get out of bed early for this was beyond me! Shakespeare for once

I actually love you!

Michael began the end of our act, which would be completed by him and Gracie tomorrow. Atthe moment, I was looking at him from the drapes behind the balcony. I could feel the bloodrushing through my veins and pumping through my body into my chest making my heart beatfast. I couldn t possibly like Michael...I d just met him in the whole seventeen years we d been atschool together for crying out loud! But what s not to like? He was so gorgeous it almost hurt tolook at him.

Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!

Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell, His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell.

The spotlight dimmed. And the crowd raised into an applause. Ms. Emily came out and Michaelwas gone. Before I knew it, she was about to give her speech. The crowed still unsettled clearly, they loved what they saw.

Thank you so much Hallbrook! The seco nd half of Romeo and Juliet is now over although asyou may very well know, the final act will be held tomorrow at the same time. Parent s who areyet to purchase tickets please do so at the school office and if you ve any further inquiries pleasedon t hesitate to see me. She smiled sweetly before continuing, Now, I announce the actorsand actresses for this morning s acts!

She called the names out and I had to wait in line. The main characters would be called last.

Ryan Lawrence who played Mercut io! Ryan walked to the front, a massive grin stamped onhis face. Bastard. Samantha Evans for being Mother Capulet ! Sammie sighed and put a smileon her face before walking to the st age. Ingrid Linton, for playing the Nurse! There were wolf whistles followed by Ow s when Ingrid came out.


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Here we go. Moment of glory. I finally knew I was next so I waited my turn patiently until I felta light tap on my shoulder.

You were great out there. The voice sounded exactly like the voice in the back of t he stage, I

turned, he was closer than I expected. All I could see were his blue eyes staring into mine.

I gasped a little out of breath at the sight of Michael. He had thick black lashes, longer than mineand his thick eyebrows were ruffled together as i f he were trying to figure something out. Th Thanks your highness. I bowed my head down, I did I little curtsy thank goodness I didn ttrip, I would have...those eyes were so...hypnotizing.

Michael frowned. Michael.

Yes, Prince Michael. I kept my head down, jeez. If he looked at me any longer I d die of utter humiliation. Why was he still looking at me?! Was there something on my face?

They re calling you up. He said finally.

Rhea? Rhea Shakespeare as Juliet? Ms. Em sounded like she was about to have a heart attack.She hated two things: lateness and people who disobeyed her. Much as she liked me, if I didn tget up there she d surely be pissed and I d be royally screwed.

Shivers. Shivers. I stood up not m eeting his gaze but his arm tugged mine back. His handwas still warm and ever so soft, I didn t have time to put a cardigan on even if it was fr eezingcold. But he still held me back. I was aware that I was just looking at him and I could feelgoosebumps rising on my arm.

He smiled a little and let go of my arm, for a second he looked as if he were going to turn andleave but he stood there and shrugged off Romeo s jacket, it was navy blue with gold buttons andgolden swirls on the shoulder. He put it ov er me, his breath was close and warm. Go.

Hmm...why was his voice so...familiar? Crap...Rhea, of course its familiar, youre talking tohim My thoughts were trailing off, damn!

RHEA SHAKESPEARE! Ms. Em was having a breakdown. I ran to the stage nearly tripping, Iheard a girly voice snicker. I bowed down, and mouthed Sorry to Ms Em. She smiled though Icame lat e, Michael , Prince of Hallbrook . Michael came out, the white tunic was bigger for himbut its bagginess made his arms look broader, more muscular even, the light was so bright thathis black hair made his skin look pale white. His blue eyes stood out most, he was smiling. Hehad a dimple.

Huh, whod wouldve guessed? I thought to myself.

This is the cast of Part 2 of Romeo and Juliet. I hope you all would come to the next following parts! Bravo! Bravo!


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Everyone stood up and looked at us all. I looked at Ingrid and her jaw was open wide, she lookedat me with disbelief Sammie too. Huh? What did they know that I didn t? Everyone else wasoblivious but looked at the crowd, I could feel someone just staring at me their gaze burninginto me. I looked at Prince Michael but it so clearly wasn t his eyes still, even if it were for a

fraction of a second, Michael caught my gaze and before I could look away, he winked at me.

I sighed. Next period I had Trigonometry.

And I thought my day was going so well.

Her Grace will be out on most e-Reading devices onDecember 12 th 2012. This will be the final preview until it srelease date, I hope you enjoy and purchase the book when it

finally comes out! Thank you!

Also, a very Happy Birthday to Marisol Diaz, who s awesomeand the reason why I ve released another sample of Her Grace!

Because it was her birthday I decided to release yet anothersample from the spin-off series of The Divine Redemption titled

The Dark Alliances. The book s release date is yet to beannounced but here s a sneak -peek of the first book in the TDA

series: Awakened.These sneak- peek chapters from The Divine Redemption Trilogys: Her Grace as well as The Dark Alliances: Awakened and any associatedcontent is copyrighted under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1968. All rights are reserved by the owner of this work [Hilda Reyes and

Fallen Infinity Books] and any unauthorized copying, manipulation, distribution or selling of this work constitutes as infringement of copyright.Any infringement of this copyright is punishable by law.

Punishments include but are not limited to:A fine of up to $150,000 for each work infringed where Infringer pays for attorney s fees and court costs.

The court can and may issue an injunction to stop infringing acts and the court will impound illegal works.The infringer may also go to jail. All Rights Reserved 2012.


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T H E D A R K A L L I A N C E S

Awakened.

Theresa Mansfield has lived a life of loneliness. Not knowing what it was to have amother and losing her father to his work, she strives to live independently. Butwhat she doesn t know that she isnt supposed to be alone. Because there is moreto Tessa than meets the eye. When she decides to take a wrong turn one night, she

is awakened by the world she was meant to live in.

But the wrong turn may have just cost her that life because she becomessomething completely different from what she was born into. A whole new worldopened to her with countless opportunities and she is hunted. With her new allies,

the feelings in her heart and the pain of losing someone important.

Can Tessa trust her new allies?Will a single person stop her from making the right choice?

And out of all the questions the biggest is: Will love be her strongest weakness?

F A L L E N / I N F I N I T Y / B O O K S / C O P Y R I G H T / 2 0 1 2

Prologue

I was being chased. I was seriously being chased.


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My footsteps were hard on the cold ground and I was quickly losing my breath. I knew that Ive been running for more than ten minutes without stopping, and I really neededto stop. My vision was blurring but I knew whoever was following me was fast on hisfeet, it was actually an unnatural sort of fast but I that was just a quick thought. I wasstill running from around the corner and I saw a church ahead. My instinct told me torun towards it but I didnt, instead I took a quick left into a dark alley way. That was astupid mistake, because up ahead were just bricks. I stepped back until my own back was pushing up the brick wall, the street lights were flickering on and off making my stupid situation even harder.

Why in the hell would you stay out after curfew, Tessa?! Why didnt yo u just go home!? I asked myself, though I knew what the answers were.

There were quick noises in the surrounding buildings a snickering and then a lightthud that hit the ground before me. The man was cloaked in black from head to toe, he

even wore a fedor a hat making him scarier than he actually looked, he wasnt actually running. I didnt think he ever was, panicked, I started to look for an escape that I knew would never be there. On the painted blue bricks, I saw my shadow, but I saw nothing of the person before me.

I have dreamt so long of meeting one who looked like our creator. She was a vision insight. he said, his voice mysteriousand slightly nice, in an odd sort of way. You arehuman though, and young. This will be hard to explain to my maste r.

Whwho are you? I ask, when I finally manage to find my voice.

It matters not, Miss Mansfield. he says, and looks up. I see a flash of white teeth, andeyes so blood shot that it wasnt anything any normal person would see every day.

When he walked towards me and I took steps back, he smiled even more. It wassomething seriously wrong and justnot right.

How do you know me? my voice said, I was surprised I didnt squeak, but my legs wereshaking and for some reason, the weird guy could see it. Grinning wider, scarier.

I didnt think that the essence would be so tempting. Im afraid I must break my Masters order. Just now. In all my two hundred years Ive never dreamt of feeling likemyself again.

Within a split second his hand was on my neck, the other on the small of my back. I gota closer look at him. His pallid skin was almost the colour of white paper, his blood-redeyes turning black all over, his veins coming out of his face, the sharp, shark-like teeththat grinned through his thin, pink lips. He was otherworldly . He was demonic.

And that was when I tried to scream.


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But that was when he bit me, cutting of my scream because of the pain.

One.Some things scratch the surface while others strike at your soul.

Gianna Perada

We should save her. a soft -but powerful voice said.

Id tried to open my eyes. Flutter them a little, but when I tried, I winced in pain. I was bleeding, I was cold and It seriously hurt to move. But it was sort of beginning to numb.For a second, it was all dark, but the darkness was soon replaced by a tunnel of light.

It is not your time yet, young one. A voice said. Whoever said it or whoever I thoughtsaid it had a voice as soft as the strum of a well-tuned harp. I loved harps.

Were definitely saving her. Did you just see that? Jase, pick her up. She obviously cant move and Don here looks just a little squeamish. the same powerful voice ordered.

The numbness was actually gone now, and what it was replaced with was adrenalineunlike anything Id ever imagined before. I was lifted up. I knew, not because I couldsee. But because I felt nauseous, dizzy and about to hurl. I used the last of my strengthto open my eyes. I didnt see much. More like a shadow, and a sor t of halo-of-light thatsurrounded the shadows head. I felt muscles tighten around me, holding me far from

them but holding me enough that I wouldnt fall.Wh? I try to say, but was cut off by a big voice, deep and growling.

We should leave it to die. Shes been bitten, shell be one of them in a few hours and well end up having to kill her or send her to another Coven. What we need to do know isto find out why that Night Walker was following her in the first place. The voice said,even in my worst state I knew that this was the voice of someone who tried to get power,even when the orders had been sent.

Isis said that we have to save her, so we save her. End of story. the second voice was

kind of nice. In a weird way, he sounded kind of protective. No not protective, moreguarded. Safe. And his order seemed to shut-up the other guy.

I pressed my lips together and let the numbness take over.

~ * ~

Hey, are you awake? a voice said. Familiar, but I didnt quite remember where.


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Fluttering my eyes open, first my vision was blurry. I couldnt see anything but a dimlight, then when my vision started to clear, I saw a heart-shaped face of a girl with paleskin, gold eyes and honey-blonde hair. She was smiling at me with her small teeth and bow- shaped lips. She couldnt have been more than fifteen or sixteen, but when I lookedcloser she had deep circles under her eyes and creases on her forehead. This made herlook older, and somehow powerful.

Where am I? I asked, silently cursing myself because I sounded like some sort of confused patient. But maybe that was what I actually was.

Youre in St. Johns Cathedral. We helped you after youpassed out.

She seemed to be thinking of something else and I tried to remember what had gottenme here. Wherever here was. I wanted to ask her a million questions but Id first wantedto adjust my sight and try to remember where I last was. The room was small, cold and built with grime stone, the ugly dark ones that reminded me so much of cemeteries.There were no windows, two doors and about three pieces of furniture. A small vanity table, a side table and a really small dresser. The only thing that was taking up so muchspace would have been the bed, but then I returned to my thought

Hold upno Windows!? Am I underground? I ask her, I notice that my voice issuddenly shaky.

Yes, you are. Is there something wrong? Are you feeling different?

Hell yeah! Im a claustrophobic -asthmatic-semi- psychotic seventeen year old! I cant

stand underground! I wanted to scream to her, but I just nodded. I feel veryenclosed.

Hmm. Thats not good at all. She says, not sounding pleased, like she didnt get theinformation shed wanted. She was pretty, like really pretty. She wore plain black clothesfrom top to bottom and the top was sort of a leathery-type of armour that kind of lookedlike a glittering vest. Somehow, she looked both dangerous the type of girl youd see with biker guys carrying pocket knives and the type of girl who was just rocker chic. ImIsis Archer. she finally says after a moment of awkward silence.

Tessa Mansfield. I say, offering my arm to her. She just looks at it and after threeseconds, I drop it feeling awkward in my presence. I couldnt take it anymoreSo, whathappened to me?

What do you think? she asked, like she was waiting for me to explain to her whathappened.

I thought. And then thought. And then thought again. But nothing came, and I took adeep breath. I dont remember.


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Touch your neck. She commanded me.

I did. I actually didnt know why she wanted me to touch my neck, but there was nothingthere. The feel of my skin was smooth with the occasional bumps from my baby moles.Theres nothing there?

She looked surprised then she ran over, and looked from me, back to my neck, then back again. She didnt say anything after that, but Isis simply ran out and left me alone. Iguess I was somewhat happy. But there was also that big part of me that wished that shestayed and told me what was going on. After four minutes hey, I know it wasnt long Iclosed my eyes. I was still pretty tired anyways. For a moment my body felt so heavy and I mean like a ton of bricks were sprawled on top of me, I felt beyond coldlike I wasnumb and frozen at the same time. And then I felt warmwarm and happy. Andfloating, in blackness.

She only looks normal because she was human once, yknow? Shes like them now. Wecant do anything about that. I remembered the voice. This voice in particular, was the voice that said that I should be left for dead.

When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded. There were six figures surrounding me. Oneof six, smiling. One of six, I recognized immediately. The me that was claustrophobicdidnt stop with the underground and the small room. I started to p anic. Of course Ididntor tried not to let them see what was going on with me. I didnt want to makemyself seem scared. I wanted to show them I was bravebut they were making it pretty hard. They all had the same expression, though they all looked completely different andunrelated. I was thinking of a million things to say, Isis looked at me like she was waiting for me to actually say something. Hi?

It speaks. Someone said. I hated that they said It, because it was so rude. I furrowedmy brows together and looked for who said it. It was a pretty girl with shoulder length blonde hair.

Be quiet, Ame. Isis said. So that was the girls name. Ame. Everyone, this is Tessa.Tessa, this is everyone.

Why introduce us to it? Tell us why we even have to come? That was the voice that Iremembered. The mean one that told them to let me die. He had a brawny body and atough looking face along with a deep tan. You, he says, nodding his head towards me,why did she make us come here, since she wont tell us?

Dont make it speak again.

I was about to speak but I realized there was a crossbow behind one of the teenagers.The tip of the arrow the blade, looked sharp and it winked at me as if it knew what


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would happen if I spoke out of place, so I pursed my lips and kept my mouth shut. Ilooked for answers from Isis, who nodded.

I didnt know what her nodding meant. Tessa, can you tell me what you rememberlast?

I thought. The last thing I remember waswalking home. Walking home. But there wassomething there, a sort of mind block. I thought harder, and knew that if there was stillsomething wrong with me, Dad would get me to see Dr Altman again and take doubletherapy sessions for my ASB (Anti-Social Behaviour), Parasomnia and Dyslexia werehitting up again. The anti-psychotics were horrid and I did not want to go back to them.I was just walking home. I say to them, but none of them believed me. I could say thatI saw it from the disbelief of their faces but it was the weapon that made me realize thatI was somewhat a threat for them. I stayed out past curfewmy father would havegotten mad but thenI dont remember.

Its clearly lying.

For the sake of all things holy, Brandon will you shut up? someone says. He soundsgrumpy, but it was the voice of the person who carried me. It was a nice voice, calm andreassuring but he did sound a little cross. If she were lying do you think Isis would havelet her live this long?

I felt my eyes narrow at the boy called Brandon. His eyes were glassy full of anger.Isis, you asked us here. Why?

Because I want everyone to know that the mark that makes her one of theirs isnt there.She doesnt bear it, therefore she is my guest until I say otherwise. No one touches her,and you all must treat her as you requal. Cross the line and Ill strip you of your runicmarks. She turned to look at all of them but whatever runic marks were, they all lookedscared out of their faces and give a straight nod. Brandon was the last to comply andfinally Isis sighed. You can all leaveexcept you Jason.

I get all the baby sitting duty, dont I? it was the voice again. So there as his name.Jason. I saw a slight shift in the corner of the room. He was standing there just waitingin the darkness. Ill bite. But not literally. He said, grinning.

Close your eyes. Isis commanded. Imagine a tunnel of extravagant light. Find yourself.

I had no idea what sort of yoga-meditation she was doing. Truth be told, Isis looked farfrom a hippie, so I didnt know why she wanted me to meditate. Meditating was the lastthing on my list. I hated to meditate. It was Dr Altmans favourite thing to do onThursdays, just after our pep -talk. But I did what Isis said, closed my eyes and though


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of light. And then it blinded me. I had literally needed to squint to get past everything,kept walking, unaware of my real self. Then I saw me well sort of me and I had tothink that I actually didnt look like an idiot for once.

My skin was luminous, my hair waswell it was glossy, the nice and glossy that Id

wanted it to be. But my eyes scared me because I didnt have eyesthey were like whitesockets, empty of their contents. I nearly screamed but another figure came to but bothhands on my other, ethereal selfs shoulder. She was looking at the other me with suchlove and pain that I didnt know who she was cause I was still blinded by the fury of thelight. It kind of hurt for a little while a lot more than I thought possible. But the womanlooked at me the frame of her body, her face. Her eyes. They were the mirror of mine.This woman was my mother.

Mom? I ask, and then became surprised. I didnt speak! I opened my mouth butnothingnot a word came out. But she seemed to understand, and she just smiled to

me. It occurred to me that she was pushing the blind Tessa Mansfield towards me. The blind Tessa put her hand up, as if to hi-five me, I put my hand on hers, and then she wasgone.

And I was back with Isis. Mom? I whispered.

I saw Isis shake her head with sympathy. Is she what you saw?

I saw myselfand my mother I was still confused, but I remember every detail. Thegracefully steps of the monster, the sharpness of his teeth when he bit into my neck, theeuphoria I felt until I went numb. And the voicesnow I understood what the y

meanthow they meant it. I remember everything.

That was the point of the exercise. Isis said calmly.

Are you seriously kidding me? I saw my mothera woman Ive only seen in pictures! Iremember being bitten by some cannibalistic freak! Tell me what the hell is going on! Ishouted at her but she still stands calmly. The shadow before me shifts, but Isis turns asif to stop him. I wonder how dangerous Jason is if he was as armed as the rest of thosepeople who looked at me like I was a monster. Maybe I was, maybe I was a monster because I practically survived the bite of a cannibal.

Relax, please. Iwe saved you for a reason.

Ill relax when you tell me what the hell is going on!?

You were attacked by a vampire. she says. Her face like s tone, serious and unmoving, just staring at me with the same glass eyes as Brandon had but with no, or littledisgust.


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I dont want to believe her, I want to think that shes insane, but I remember how it felt.It wasnt painful at least not at the end. I did think of it as euphoric like I was cut off from the world. I was gone from my mistakes, from the paranoia, the anti-depressantsand anti- psychotics. The visits to Dr Altman, my fathers constant forcefulness on me becoming a proper lady and not following my mothers footsteps. All the expectations were gone and I felt light and floating. Until I felt like I was dying. Her story made sense but a sane person wouldnt exactly accept that. She could be crazy like me, or she could be pretending to know what she was talking about so that she could trick me into sayingI was crazy so that I would be sent to an institution. But Isis was serious. And she wanted to help me.

I wanted to help me.

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