Chapter 1 Arrival
1996, Southwest USA
There was nothing special anyone could see about Sara. An ordinary seventeen year old, she has been on the road since the day before her sixteenth birthday. Sara was driving down a two lane highway, heading west to her new home. A F-250 pickup pulling a medium sized moving trailer, Sara had the look of one who could get along with just about anyone. What no one knew was that Sara has been trained as an assassin when she had been a child leading into her early teens. It was hard on the seventeen year old Sara, but when she emerged at the age of fourteen, Sara was the top assassin of her class.
Sara was generally outgoing and not afraid to do what is necessary to get the job done. She acted like she was not ready to settle down due to her constant moving from place to place, and Sara was just fine with that. With a height between five feet six and six feet, Sara was well built from being trained as an assassin. Sara has short brown hair with red highlights that changes to black when angry.
Her specialty included, the use of blades, two scimitars, many knives and daggers that could be hidden on her body. She graduated and began traveling with what money she earned from the assassin jobs taken in the area of the school until she learned how to drive. A few times she had to move due to having her power being discovered. Now, even after all the past years, Sara still held her well built assassin body.
When the sky began to grow dark, Sara began to look for an off ramp that could lead her to a motel for the night. It was not very comfortable sleeping in the cab's back seat, especially with Drake --her rescued Red Tail Hawk-- and his food supply on the floor and seat. After checking into a cheap motel -- the Paradise motel -- Sara dragged in a suitcase and some of Drake's supplies; the Red Tail on her shoulder.
"It's sure better than the truck," Sara said, looking at the room.
The room that Sara walked into was a standard room, and it suited her for the night; as she estimated she would arrive at the city by tomorrow night. Pulling out a change of clothes, Sara went to take a well needed shower while Drake began to preen. After the shower, Sara tossed herself onto one of the two twin beds and fixed the alarm clock to the time she wished to wake. She rolled off of the bed, grabbed the back of one of the two chairs that were at the small table, and went to the door. There, she propped the door open with the chair and sat in it to see if any others would pull in for the night.
From where she sat, Sara watched as what appeared to be a full size van pull into the parking lot with a moving trailer behind it. Two men, Sara judged them to be in their early twenties, emerged and each pulled out a duffel bag. One looked into Sara's truck bed then opened the two small side doors and Sara saw what appeared to be a pure white dog jump out. The same man then reached in and emerged with what appeared to be a Golden Eagle.
If Sara had been looking for that someone special, it might have been the one she had been watching. Nor the other man that rejoined the other at the van. Sara studied the two men now that they were side by side. One stood six feet with his shoulder length brown hair in a ponytail. The other, Sara would had to guess his weight at five feet ten inches, had jet black hair that appeared to be in that state in between it being too short to put into a ponytail, but too long to be considered short enough for hair gel.
Sara smiled in greeting when the two men, with their overnight bags and animals, nodded and smiled in greeting when they entered the room next to her own room. Sara stood and returned to her room, the chair in tow.
The next morning, Sara woke to the alarm and threw her things into the duffel bag she had brought into the room. She tossed the bag into the back of the truck cabin then went to gather Drake's belongings. At the truck, the two birds squawked at each other.
"Quiet, Drake," Sara told him when she shooed the Golden Eagle away.
"That over sized bird's…"
"That eagle's nothing; don't worry about it."
Sara had Drake get into his cage then walked over to the office from which the two men emerged. Again, they exchanged friendly nods and smiles when they passed each other. Sara handed the key over and paid what was due. Sara turned from the counter and saw another man, a different from the two from the previous night. She smiled when she stepped around him and left the office.
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Storm clouds were beginning to form when Sara drove past the city's welcome sign, posted before what appeared to be the main way in and out. The city was protected by mountains and had several mountain passes and countless hidden passes and trails. Sara drown down from the main pass and pulled out the paper that contained the home address. She could feel something within the valley, but could not place the feeling exactly; just that it felt dark and ominous. Sara drove through the city and saw that it was much like any other modern city she had driven through or stayed in for any length of time.
Although it was mid-afternoon, the city lights were beginning to turn on due to the storm clouds that gathered above. Those that made up the population of the city -- Wyld Nites -- dashed to their cars or attempted to race out the rain that threatened. Sara kept track of the addresses that she passed by when she entered the residential area and noticed that the address that she had been given led her to a Victorian styled mansion that seemed to stand on a hill that was high enough for the mansion to have a spectacular view of the city.
Once she stepped out of the truck in the drive way, Sara released Drake, who took off near instantly to hunt. Sara watched his flight for some minutes before she turned to see her new home. Inside the main door, which opened to a foyer that was bare with naught but a small round table in the middle under a small chandelier. The stair case hung to the left wall and circled around the wall opposite the main door, and around the wall to the right before it ended at the door that led into the second floor; a balcony at the doorway.
On the first floor, Sara noticed an opened French door that led to a dining room that appeared to be large enough to be for formal dinners. Sara followed the opened doors through the large dining room into a rather large kitchen.
"Must be where the formal dinners are made," Sara assumed out loud.
Through yet another open door that had been hidden by the stairs from the main door, Sara just entered the foyer again when she heard a knock at the front door. She looked between the door opposite her and the main door before she made for the main door. Sara answered it, slightly confused. On the other side of the door stood the two men she had seen the night before.
"We must have the wrong house," one said. "We're looking for 481."
"This is it," Sara said.
"I wasn't aware that we'd have a roommate," the other said. "When did you get here?"
"Not fifteen minutes ago. I was just going to check the left side of the house." Sara pointed to the side of the house she had not explored yet.
"Then let's go."
The man with the jet black hair began to move inside, but was stopped by Sara.
"I don't know you two. You could be murderers for all I know."
"I assure you, madam, we're not murderers," the other said, the one with the ponytail, answered; a hand on his chest and the other motioned to his friend.
Sara studied the two men for some time before she stepped aside. Drake flew in and landed on one of Sara's shoulders as the trio entered what appeared to be a ball room. It had been converted into a large living room. Large furniture and aerial rugs covered most of the floor; with many forms of entertainment filling the room. From a pool table to the available game consoles that were on the market. It was quite much for Sara to keep herself busy with.
The two men had found yet another opened door and went through it. From what Sara could see, it appeared to be a kitchen one would find in any urban house. Instead of following the men, Sara decided to take the main stairs up to the second floor.
Doors lined both sides of the hallway that was the size and a half larger than a normal household hallway. She began to walk down the hallway and turned into the first door on her right hand side and saw that she had found the master bedroom.
The bed, a king size, had a matching dresser. The feet of both bed and dresser came to a three toed claw resting on a ball. The bed was a four poster bed with an opaque veil hanging over the bed. The headboard was an intriguing carving of a tiger in a protective stance. The foot board was of the same intriguing carving, but it was of a Dragon in the same protective pose. Perhaps a premonition of what was to come.
Sara shrugged it off when she was drawn to the master bath. A two sink counter with a mirror the same length of the length as the counter above it; situated next to the toilet. Across from the toilet was a walk-in shower large enough to rival that of a handicapped shower. What had Sara's attention was the two person Jacuzzi.
Satisfied with the room, Sara left it and went downstairs and outside to begin to unpack her trailer and truck. The two men were already outside and unpacking the van. The wolf approached Sara and the two men tensed up. Sara gave the wolf a good pat and promised a good bath later. When she looked up at the two men, she saw shocked looks on their faces.
"It's a cursed blessing," Sara explained. "An old Witch place a curse on me…"
"Talking with animals," one asked, which received a nod from Sara.
"Which would have replaced my own ability to speak with Humans."
"And the blessing," the other man asked.
"I was mute; always was until the placing of the curse."
A few hours of unpacking, the trailers and vehicles brought the new friends on the verge of being caught in the storm. Sara and one of the men took their trailers to the storage yard and made it back to the Victorian mansion before the rain began. Inside, the other man was unpacking his boxes into his chosen room.
He had used his Dragon powers, for he was a Black Dragon; one of the eight different contemporary Flights, to make the room appear as a cave.
The other man changed his room into a believable version of the redwood forests of Northern California with the use of his Witch powers.
In Sara's room, she had found a closed door that led onto a shaded balcony that looked out over the city. It was well into the night by the time the trio moved into the everyday kitchen with their own set of kitchenware that now became a mishmash of all the sets.
By the time each were ready for bed, each paid little mind to whether or not their bedroom doors were open. Sara was unaffected by keeping her door open with the two men just down the hall. After all, she was the only female to attend, survive, and graduate from an all male assassin school. So, when the one with the jet black hair passed by, Sara did not rush to close the door. She heard a knock and saw him looking at her.
"Brandon and I are hungry," he said. "Want anything?"
"A good burger."
The man nodded and continued on his way. The new friends had arrived at the beginning of spring, the last day of February, and they did not need a heavy coat or extra layers of clothing. Sara opened up her windows and balcony doors; allowing the cool breeze to enter the room. She pulled out a black tank top, being dressed in baggy black sweatpants and a black sports bra, and headed downstairs; bare feet padding on the tile and carpet. Outside, she sat down on the semi-circle covered steps and enjoyed the peace and quiet the city had.
She did not hear the full grown white tiger approach her until she heard what would sound like a growl to everyone else. Sara heard: "Welcome to Wyld Nites."
"Thank you."
"You…understand me?"
"Sure can. It's an infernal boon."
"Infernal … boon?"
Sara watched at the tiger padded up to the top step and sat down next to her. Sara shifted her body to be more comfortable in telling her tale.
"A Witch found me trespassing in her house; playing with her cat. To punish me, she cursed me to be able to speak with animals and lose the ability to speak with Humans," Sara explained. "Thing is, I was mute and the curse allowed me to speak with both Humans and animals.
"What's your name?" he asked after a few moments.
"Sara Williams. Yours?"
The tiger took several minutes before he answered with: "Bane."
Dark and mysterious, Bane had a weakness for women and did not like to talk about his past that much. When not in his white tiger pelt, for Bane was a Shape Shifter, he had black hair, yellow eyes, and a nice tanned body. Trained by Lena a long time ago, Bane was made her first Silent Slayer and they were close like siblings. When his parents were killed when he was but a child, Lena found and raised him. At the age of fifteen, Bane had been devoted to Lena ever since then. He acted as her familiar in Wyld Nites and served his goddess faithfully. He did not like to let people know who he was, so he stayed in his tiger pelt most of the time.
Sara nodded and allowed the silence surround them.
No wonder I can talk to him, Sara thought.
He's a Shifter.She had learned in the assassin school that a Shifter was one who could shift into any animal pelt they wished. The other man pulled up, which signaled to Bane that he should leave. Sara walked into the mansion with the unknown man and the door closed behind them. Inside, the trio sat down to eat.
"Well, I'm Brandon," the Witch said when Sara suggested true introductions. "From Northern California originally. I left after an accident I caused."
"Accident?" Sara asked.
"Yeah. Can't say anything about the rest of my family though."
"You had one," the other said a bit harshly. Then he turned to Sara. "I'm Raven. Unlike Brandon, and yourself I imagine, I was orphaned by a gang of Dragon Hunters. What about you?"
The two men looked at Sara, who was chewing and thinking of how to introduce herself.
"I'm Sao," she finally said. "I was an assassin school when I was eight. When I graduated at fourteen, I was on my own."
Sara had used the name she had used in the assassin school as part of her disguise. Sara also used it in any city she moved into to throw anyone off her trail; mainly her step-mother if she found out Sara was still alive. Why she used it with Brandon and Raven and not Bane, she did not know. Brandon and Raven looked at each other. They had heard of parents leaving their children and moving on; but not at an assassin school. It was a miracle that Sara survived as young as she was.
A knock at the front door had the new friends look at each other with confused looks. Brandon stood and left the kitchen to answer the door. Sara watched Raven out of the corner of her eye, he looking her over. She then turned her head and smiled. That caused Raven to blush and look away. For some reason, ever since Sara graduated from the school, she had been able to entice men from all walks of life.
"Sao, Raven," Brandon called. They got up and made their way to the foyer. There they saw two other people standing with Brandon; the two outside. "This is Hoshiko and Reynaldo. Apparently they want us out of their house," Brandon explained.
"Hate to tell you, but this is our home. I'm sure there's good apartments in the city," Sara said.
"We will not accept a mere apartment," Reynaldo said in near anger.
Sara looked at Hoshiko and saw a look that said that what Reynaldo said did not apply to her.
"Then find a house being rented out," Brandon said.
Sara felt a sense of power from Hoshiko, it felt like what she felt what she felt from Bane, yet could not question her at the moment. Reynaldo on the other hand had a similar power to Raven's. She motioned the two men into the foyer as not to have their guests overhear their conversation.
"I say we give 'em a room for the night."
"Why? The one's demanding that we leave," Raven said. "I don't know about you, but I don't leave for a stranger on the doorstep."
"I never said we should leave. I gave you two the benefit of the doubt; give those two that," Sara said.
Brandon and Raven looked to the door as Reynaldo entered.
"Get back outside," Sara said the second her dagger left her hand. It embedded in the wall; even with Reynaldo's head. The looks on everyone's faces told Sara that they did not even know she had the blade on her. Reynaldo's eyes went wide in fright, not knowing if Sara would charge him and attack. So, he stepped back outside.
"I will not have a man who thinks highly of himself living here," Sara said. "I've had enough of that where I came from. We'll allow you two to live here for the time being."
The two walked inside, followed by an orange Bengal tiger. Brandon and Raven remained silent until the new arrivals disappeared on the second floor before speaking.
"When you said you went to an assassin school, I didn't actually think you went," Raven said.
"It's true," Sara said, pulling her dagger out of the wall. "I may look like any other woman my age, but don't let that fool you."
By the twilight hour, everyone was in bed sleeping. The two newest roommates still had unpacking to do.
Little did these five people know, the God of Blood and Vampires -- Hadrian -- was planning a war in Wyld Nites; given the chance when Lena left. Hadrian had planned for this war for years and now waited for the opportune moment. Through the Vampire coven in Wyld Nites, who would obey his every word, Hadrian would fight the war. The leader of the coven -- Bara -- had taken control of the coven when she killed a high priest of Hadrian who had attempted to get her in his bed. That was nearly two hundred years ago. Now Bara was the matron of the same clan. She had been waiting for Lena to slip once and take control of the city. Whether that went along with Hadrian's plan, the matron did not know.
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Bane walked the streets, his thoughts about Sara and why she was cursed like she was. She seemed a bit too young to be where she was; but she had roommates now. Yet for all of that, Bane felt drawn to the woman. Perhaps if he spoke with Lena about Sara, he would not think that much about her. The Shifter padded towards Tavern de la Noche where he could find the city's goddess.
