Territory






















Chapter 1

The sky was a dark gray that looked like it was about to rain at any moment. Although rain was always a peaceful thing around here, today it seemed as if some kind of depression was coming down over the small town of Gardendale. West Texas was not known for being the raining type; each time it did rain it was like maybe god hasn’t left us after all. Rain always seemed to skip this town. Like literally skip over west Texas. Farming here has always been very hard to do, since everything depended on how much rain we got. This year has been very hard on us, no rain, meant no water; no water meant, no profits from farming. Gardendale, Texas was strictly about farming and ranching. And global warming was not helping us at all.

I have sixty-pecan trees’ that look like they are already ready to drop dead at any moment. Although I do have drippers on all the trees, rain has been making West Texas cut back on water. Cutting back on water has greatly affected the farmers all around West Texas and has caused all the grocery stores to up their prices. Meteorologists have predicted that next year will be the same maybe even worse. Now everybody is just now realizing that what he or she is doing is going to end up killing him or her. Everybody is now in a rush to create the most fuel-efficient cars they can, and make sure everyone has one. Me being in an American muscle car group didn’t really see the point of all the rush. To me the damage was done, just because we have made all the fuel-efficient cars possible that is not going to make the world suddenly go back to the way it was before all the global warming, it might slow it down but it is not going to stop it. Humans have ultimately screwed this one up permanently. There was no going back and everybody knew it yet they were on a mission to put the world back in perfect order.

The thought of all this put a type of depression over me, I closed my eyes, took a deep breathe, and took a moment to put my scrambled thoughts back in order. I had seen a lot in my three thousand years but this generation has messed up so bad that there was no going back. I sighed as I walked back to my house. It was about to rain pretty hard and I knew it would be best to just put off plowing for another day. Maybe, just maybe it would rain, long enough and hard enough that it would save the trees’ and help others. Lord knows that we needed it bad enough. I was hungry but I could put it off for another day, I considered going yesterday but things had to get done before the storm set it in.
Vampires were very tuned into the earth, and the spirit world. Being dead yet alive at the same time had its perks at times but at others it was just too annoying. Once a spirit realizes your not human and that you can actually hear, and see them its like they don’t know how to shut up. All they do is whine to you about how they died, and how annoying it is for them when people can hear or see them. But if you want to get by in life being a vampire you had to make nice with them. If you got on a spirits good side they would help you in return but get on their bad side and they would make your life a living hell, not that West Texas wasn’t already hell but it would make your life miserable.
Vampires once turned each got a gift each pertaining to their personality or just whatever fate decided to give you. Each vampire along with your gift is able to use the four elements. That included fire, water, earth, and air. My gift was being able to change into any animal I decided. My best friends gift however was fire and heat. Luke was a looker but that was not why we are the best of friends.
Vampires aren’t known for being very caring, or being able to show any emotion. When I was turned some three thousand years ago Luke was the only one to show any caring toward me, he was the only one who helped me through the transition. Usually your maker acted as a parent and was the one who helped you though the stages on becoming a vampire. But my maker didn’t really care weather I lived or died all I was good for was being a soldier. Luke and I decided to separate from our clan, which vampire laws can’t stop but if you so much as kill someone or something that can be noticed you get pulled back to your clan and have your meal given to you unfresh and almost bled dry by others who have already fed on your meal.
Luke was originally from early Greece while I on the other hand was from Egypt back when King Tut was around and kicking. Once we were both turned and went through the transition we both got shipped to the same clan. Although we both had different makers, both of them traded with each other and Luke was traded for some very expensive items. While his maker wanted me, my maker decided I was too much of a value to be given up. When Luke and I first met I didn’t trust him. Hell I didn’t trust anyone but myself. But he was the only one that saw me for me not for what I was capable of. Everyone always said we were “made for each other” but neither of us could see what they meant. There has never even been two vampires that were actually made for each other. Often the only reason vampires actually get married is to gain more land, and improve the clan.
“Liz? Are you almost ready we need to go.” Luke called from across the house. He sounded almost too excited either that or extremely angry. You could never tell Luke’s moods. He knew how to hide them all to well but I guess living for a few thousand years can do that too you. His Greek accent didn’t help try to tell what he felt either.
“Yeah hold on I need to get ready! There is a storm coming though. Can you feel it?” I was excited, and thirsty. It was beginning to burn my stomach and throat.
“Yeah I can feel it, it’s going to be here soon. Hurry up so we don’t get the worst of it when we are hunting. Besides I’m going crazy from the hunger”
“I thought you already were.” I mumbled.
“HEY! I heard that.” In the next second Luke was picking me up and throwing me to the floor. In a split second I turned and kicked him in the ribs, which sent him flying across the foyer. We both laughed and got up. “Yup, you have not changed in the least.” Luke said as he shook his head.
“Good then we both know who will win every time.” I turned and started toward my room. Which was the master suite, which included the master bath, that had a whirlpool and a huge shower. In that split second I was on the floor with Luke standing over me, that in turn made me laugh so hard I started shaking.
“What’s so funny?” Luke demanded. His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.
“You do the same thing all time. That’s what is so funny. You really need to learn new moves.” I ran to my room before I could do more damage to him, or before he could actually hurt me. I loved teasing Luke but too much teasing and you could end up dead before you knew it. I went to the bathroom its black tiled floors gleamed in the bright light, as did the granite counter tops. Rounding the corner I saw the tall shower and almost fell to my knees with relief when I got into the hot steaming water.
As I worked the soap over my body and my hair I just realized how big of a relief this new age stuff really can be. Back then you had to walk maybe a mile and get into a river or lake that was already dirty with parasites and muck all in it. What’s is worse about it is that there was no privacy what so ever. The only way for some privacy was when you went out in the middle of the night to go take a cold bath. Now that I was a vampire I never got to warm or to cold. I just stayed the same temperature all the time.

Once out of the shower I went to my walk-in closet that still held clothes that dated back to middle ages. Some things you just couldn’t let go of. Before my mother died some three thousand years ago of an unknown illness, she gave me a necklace that had midnight blue stone in the center of a gold ring. My mother promised it would protect me from any danger. It was the only thing I had left of my mothers. I had never lost it and had never damaged it.
For some reason it seemed as if I was the only vampire that still had a connection with her human side. Even Luke seemed to lose that side of him every once in awhile. Vampires after their first couple of years as a vampire are supposedly supposed to lose that side of them. All humanity leaves them and leaves behind the dangerous predator that all seem to fear.
I picked out a silky midnight black nightgown and went to my queen size bed and plopped down on the newly washed sheets. Luke must have washed the sheets and blankets. The smell of lavender was everywhere throughout the house. A human couldn’t smell it but to a vampire it was so strong it was annoying just to be around. Luke was naturally a clean freak and living with him was like living with a very, very strict mother who demanded you to obey her.
I rubbed my aching feet. Just because you were dead didn’t mean you couldn’t have sore feet. Working all day today and yesterday trying to get everything ready before the storm set in had finally gotten to me. Extra vampire strength had helped with setting up everything for the upcoming season. I knew this years pecan season would not do well but in order to help pay bills I had to do everything I could to help boost the possibility of a better pecan season.
Just because we were the undead didn’t mean stress and exhaustion didn’t affect you any different from being a human. I feel back onto the feather pillows and feel into the blackness of sleep.
I dreamt I was back home with my mother and father in ancient Egypt and carrying a bucket of water back home. It was around midnight and the night was quite peaceful. The stars were bright and shining brighter than ever. My long black hair gleamed in the full moon’s light, my blue eyes concentrating on trying not to fall. As I was walking on the cool sand I heard the ruffle of clothes behind me I turned to look behind me but when I looked there was nothing. I shrugged and started walking again I got to my home I put the water bucket in the in the sitting room and went to my room. Everybody was asleep besides me and I rarely slept except when exhaustion over took me but tonight felt different it was as if sleep was awaiting me. I was almost asleep when I heard someone moving around my room at first I though it was my little sister just moving about the house and I decided just to go back to sleep I heard the ruffling noise again and jumped out of bed to go see what it is. The noise eventually brought me into the far hall away from any bedrooms or people in my big house. I turned to go into study when a dark shadow came out of the dark corner of the hallway. I ran back into the main hallway but the thing from behind grabbed and threw me into a near by statue. The force of the impact knocked me out and the last thing I heard was the crashing of the statue.
When I woke back up all I felt was a pain so indescribable.
I woke up with a start and looked around and all I saw was Luke standing over me with his eyebrows raised.
“What in the heck were you dreaming about? From the movements and whimper’s you were making I think it was a nightmare. You want to tell me about it?” I looked into Luke’s green eyes and all I saw in them was curiosity. I couldn’t really tell if he was sincere but Luke rarely ever cares what people feel and much less want to know what’s bothering them.
“It was the same as always but this time it had him actually going through with the change. It never goes this far. It usually stops when I get to the house.” My breath was shaky and I never ever let anything scare me much less show it around anyone besides Luke. I never knew why but every time he was around me I instantly calmed down.
Luke sat next to me and pulled me into his lap with no effort at all. I drew myself closer to him. The smell of him surrounded me and within a minute I stopped shaking and regained my composer. “Thank you Luke. You’re a good friend I couldn’t have a better one.” I smiled at him. He nodded got up and started for the door then turned around.
He hesitated a moment before he spoke with his hand resting on the doorknob, then said “I am always here for you, no matter what.” Then turned around and closed the door softly behind him. I smiled at the door, not really thinking at all. For what seemed like forever I finally gathered enough brains to realize I needed to get up and get my day started. I had slept a full day, which was unusual for me. I very rarely slept, much less slept for a full day.
I got up and went to the big window moved the heavy curtains aside and looked outside. The ground damp but appeared to be dry enough. The sky was cloudless blue and the sun was bright and already out. Since one of my gifts was earth I could tell the time and estimate the temperature and from my estimation it was already eighty degree’s and was maybe nine in the morning. Gosh it really was hell. Going to the closet I picked out a skin-tight AC DC shirt and skinny jeans. Below the hung up clothes was my sandals, boots, high heels, pumps, and my sneakers. I grabbed my black Combat boots and got dressed. The shirt and jeans was a new outfit Luke got for me this past week and I had not tried it out.
When I walked out of my room Luke was standing in the hallway staring at me. Amazement gleamed in his eyes and he smiled.
“What does it look that bad on me? I can go change if you don’t want me going into town like this with you.” She glanced at the full-length mirror that hung on the bathroom door. She didn’t think she looked that bad. In fact she thought she looked like some dark biker chick. Her straight black hair fell around her shoulders and her bangs fell in front of her eyes. The girl in the mirror smiled slightly almost dangerous looking, I turned around and looked at Luke, “Alright you ready to go into town?”

Luke smiled then nodded. He turned on his heel and started toward the garage door with me on his heels.

“Where are we going to get blood this time?”

“Well there is always the hospital, or even the blood donation trucks that drive around.”

“You want to steal from a blood donation truck?”

“Well you got any better ideas Ms. Know it all?”

“No I don’t. I hope this works because I am hungry and I don’t think I can take much longer without food.”

“Well we could always just hunt. We haven’t done that in awhile and it is always fun as well!” I could see the wheels in his spinning as he imagined it. His fangs elongated as the thirst for blood quickly overtook him.

“Yeah, I guess so. But this time don’t make to much of a mess!”

“Yeah we will see who is the better hunter. Mostly me because I am hotter and my beauty triumphs your brains.” I rolled my eyes and walked to my car. The 2001 Trans Am was everything to me, and I didn’t know what I would do without it. Luke on the other hand had a 2011 Camaro.

I started up the car and backed out of the two-car garage leaving Luke to find his own hunt. We sometimes hunted together but we were too competitive to hunt in a pair. Once upon a time we almost killed each other over a hunt that we had both been trying to get too first. When vampires fight they don’t do fists they fight with teeth and magic. The fights aren’t always fair either.

I decided to try for Odessa. If I searched in the right places I could always find a drunken guy that wouldn’t remember a dang thing when he woke up. I never killed just stopped after they passed out. Luke would never kill someone intentionally but if he starved himself for weeks then the blood lust will over take him completely and he would kill not just one person but however much blood it took sate the blood lust.

It took an extreme amount of control to keep the blood lust down. Not every vampire could control it. The only ones that could were the Elders. The first created vampires. Nobody knows how old he or she actually is. The Elders are the ones that make the rules and watch over all of us. They are something of parents to the vampire race. There are two female Elders and two males. The two females names are Tasha and Felicia. Tasha is an olive skinned woman with brown eyes and hair to match. Her high cheekbones give her a look that makes her look thirty but she is actually in her mid-twenties in her human years. Felicia is blond and blue-eyed pale skinned but stunning with her looks she is eighteen in human years. Felicia is nicer of the two but also the most dangerous. She has powers that no one has ever seen before. Her extent to her powers is unknown but not one vampire has ever tired to make her mad enough to see. The two male Elders names are Eli and Nicolas. Eli is has the darker personality of the four. His face doesn’t give much away, one minute he could be nice and polite then the next minute he could be something feared. His black hair and hazel eyes make him almost intoxicating. Nicolas is the stuck up one out of all them. He was hot and he knew it and he used that against everybody he met. He had dirty blond hair with green eyes with broad shoulders and a six-pack to go with it. Eli is around his early twenties and Nicolas looks to be eighteen. Not one vampire knew the exact age of the Elders.

I eventually got on to Andrews Highway and headed into downtown Odessa. Once I reached Second Street I pulled off to the side of the road and put my car in park. Cars passed by and honked at my sudden stop but continued on. I checked my mirrors and made sure there wasn’t a car about to come up from the side and got out. People passed by and gave me strange looks as started walking towards a back alley. About halfway down the alley I saw a man in a dark blue cloak. He didn’t seem to notice me and if he did he ignored me. I waited till he turned the corner and started following him. I usually stalked my prey until night fall just so that way I knew how they moved and what people the talked to and were close to. It was a wonder what you could find out about people just by watching them. As I turned the corner the man walked into a warehouse and stopped at the door looked around then bent down and picked up a key from under a place mat and unlocked the door. He rushed inside then closed the door.

I stood there and waited. I listened to see where he was at, I found him on the second level. I started walking towards the huge run down building. I jumped the link fence and ran to the back of the building. The door opened then slammed closed. I was hiding behind a stack of wood that looked like they had chopped recently.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” The man kept on mumbling this. I could feel his fury wash around him in a tornado. I walked out from behind the wood stack and slowly walked towards him. I didn’t want to scare him so I called out to him.

“Hello.” I smiled making sure it looked genuine. The guy jumped.

“How in the hell did you get in here? This is private property!” His anger was at a boiling point and I walked closer to him. My blue eyes connected to his and I let his anger over take me and replacing it with a calmness. “Look mis I’m sorry, today’s been rough. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. Would you please accept my apology?”

“Of course. Look my name is Lilly. Or Liz for short.” I raised my hand then he took it. His hands were kind of warm. More warm than most humans. He was an interesting creature.

“Excuse my manners. Would you like to come in? I really insist.” He smiled and started walking to the door. He was expecting for me to follow and he was right. We got to the front of the building and he opened the door for me and motioned for me to go in.

“Thank you sir.” I knew he would be looking so I played it up a bit. “Do you have anything to eat, I’m like totally starving.”

“Yes of course. What would you like? I have some chicken fajitas’ that I can heat up for you.”

“That would perfect.” My voice purred and I smiled. “So what are you doing living here? Living on Second Street isn’t exactly a place you want to live. A lot of danger goes on around here you know?”

“Oh my family used to own this as a storage unit. Then after they passed away I didn’t really need a storage unit so I threw away everything that was in here and made in to my own home. All I need to do is work on the outside. It’s not a great house but it’s the best I can do right now. This house has a lot of memories for me.”

“That’s amazing. How sweet of you. So how old are you? It’s kind of weird how we met like this. I was just kind of walking by and I saw how mad you were and I just had to see if you were ok.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue. Was I ashamed for it? Not really. But I needed him. I needed his life essence. So what better way to do that than to earn his trust?

“Oh I’m twenty-three. Still in College and all that. I’m studying to get into the law enforcement. But not real sure what branch I should get into. I’m hoping I’ll figure it out soon though.” I got up and started investigating the house. It had red brick walls in the outside giving it that nice warm homey feeling. There was a fireplace in the far wall off to the sides with recliners facing it and a TV above the fireplace that hung on a mantelpiece. The kitchen was right beside the living room with an open floor plan. The was a hall going off from the kitchen led to a bedroom at the very end and what I was guessing was the master bath and bedroom off to the side near the kitchen.

“You have a lovely home,” I exclaimed in admiration. “What is your name again?”

“My name is Cody Lovington…. I’m a witch from Salem and everything I’ve thought to be true just flipped upside down.” I froze, we were told that witches were killed out and are extinct. That’s what seemed weird about him. I had to tell Luke but did I want to get Cody in trouble did I want to see this man that I seemed to like so much killed? No I couldn’t do it… What was I supposed to do? As Cody just said my world just totally flipped upside down.