Unlike others I have never been an ordinary mortal, a person who came to the world for some time and not forever, unlike relatives, friends and acquaintances, of course if they are not sharers of my fate.
Wearing dark colors is a distinctive part of my attire. I love the color red which is an integral part of routine life. In the city where I live the rays of the sun are rare and generally in my opinion no one here is happy.
Ryland, the place where I grew up and was born, if you ever plan to come here, I just recommend you turn the car around and go back. You will either die of boredom here, as partying, drinking, and just having fun with friends are generally forbidden, and after ten o'clock if you make some noise you will usually be arrested and will have to stay in a jail for three hours with some crazy psychopath. How exciting is not it? Or the second option which is more realistic, maybe someone will greet you for life, for example me or some other beast. As for mobile phones, we do not use them here in general. reason? I personally do not know, I have never wanted to buy but even if you find Sirville hardware store you will not find it. Our town is small so there is only one ancient school here which we call the Tiberius School, it is not only a school but also a residence where you have to study away from relatives up to 19 years old. I was about 8 years old when I was sent and I am still locked up here, of course it is possible to meet my parents but only on vacations that last 2 weeks. The only reason why I have not yet escaped from this ruthless place is my best friend, perhaps I would never have met a person important to me if not for this school. Fate is still fate.
It's time to introduce myself, I'm Hazel Gray, a seventeen year old teenager, why Hazel? You know, perhaps fortunately my name does not have a long history, nor did my parents think much of it, because Hazel's color-eyed girl came into this world. While stealing a baby was commonplace at the time, my disappearance was soon to be understood, and it would be a shame to lose a brown-haired baby that was like an aloe plant. Now, fortunately, I am no longer as helpless as I was as a child, but if not for one case, I can not imagine how my life would continue.
A year ago, on vacation, I well remember the day we went to a family reunion with grandparents, an annual tradition that has existed in our family for centuries. You will never get bored there, there was always a lot of fun. My grandparents used to greet me with their appetizing dishes, and my relatives often greeted me with gifts. The ancestral home was not a simple cottage where one relative was coming, no, it was a huge and frightening building in which members of our entire family were visiting from different countries, why the fear? Painted in black, disintegrated on the outside, with a ruined effect, surrounded by fences, and hearing strange noises from the windows was a common occurrence, as if someone were being tortured. I always asked my father what sounds were coming out of the house, and he would just smile at me and tell me that I was not so curious. Strange, because as soon as we stepped in, these sounds would disperse. The ancestral house did not really lag behind the museum. The interior of the living room was in the style of Grandpa Albert's favorite Renaissance era, the furniture also looked accordingly. A timeless classic that will never go out of fashion. I remember from last year's visit that the walls were decorated with carvings, gilded elements, columns, and pictures hung everywhere in the carved house. Parquet flooring, which was decorated with carpets. Classic story murals, ornaments and gilded details on the ceiling. Talking about the beauty of the bedroom is generally superfluous for me personally, as I am a big lover of Baroque as Grandma Eleanor. Wealth in everything - this is the motto for the Baroque style. Luxurious decor on bedroom walls, ceilings, furniture. Sculptures and thematic drawings. The room is decorated with tapestries and velvet and most importantly all the materials are natural. Parquet made of red wood. The bed is wide and richly decorated. All of this was embellished by Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea of Galilee. From the outside you can not even imagine this beauty that is inside the house itself, because of the ivy and black-painted walls, which no one bothers to get rid of and shoot. From the top floor of the cottage where my bedroom is, there is a beautiful view. When you look out the window, you have a completely different emotion when you look at the dense forest from the top of the mountain. The rays of the sun falling on the turquoise lake make it more attractive. In cloudy weather the mountains are covered with gray fog which makes this place more mysterious. There was a time when I loved going out to our garden in the evenings and listening to interesting stories from the youth of my grandmother sitting in a starry sky, and hearing dangerous stories from her older cousins by the fire. How ideal is not everything? But unfortunately all this is a thing of the past, and now I realize the fact that not a single second will be repeated, as Jeffrey Chaucer said: "Everything good must end" and it is over. It was not the end of my life, although many things paid off, pain, frustration, stress, failure and many other things, but I was able to stand on my own two feet. I gathered strength, realized that life was not limited to fun and happiness and followed a completely different path. Before I start this new life I need to tell you about the case that caused this radical change in me. As I have already mentioned, visiting the ancestral home was an annual tradition, and I was looking forward to this day. Holidays that year were scheduled for winter, instead of summer, and that's why we had to move the meeting to December.
It's exactly December 5th My father and mother are already sitting in the car and as always they are waiting for my arrival. I was a very clumsy girl, so it was simply impossible to get out of the room without even looking for a lamp. It was raining terribly that day, but we still decided to leave because we knew everyone was waiting for us. It was as if my mother was feeling something, telling us to try a little before it rained, but my father and I still agreed.
We passed the city, the rain increased, fog appeared. I could only see the branches of the trees that were already bare and the leaves were also falling from the unbearable cold of winter. We had already entered a dense forest, at least, and were heading to the ancestral home. I was watching the road, suddenly I got a call of fear, because of the terribly wet road my father could not turn the wheel and we drove into the rock. I woke up unconscious. I do not remember anything further. The only thing I felt was a sore throat that was unearthly as if it were a sting of a needle but was more severe and excruciating. Probably a few hours passed after the accident, I opened my eyes and found myself in a room unknown to me, the interior of the old house was also made of wood, no one was around. In front of the bed stood a huge mirrored closet. I got up to sit down and looked in the mirror. I found myself in a state of uncertainty, shocked. It is impossible to describe the emotion I experienced. And here's what I see, no scratches, red eyes, big runs, perfect face. I cried out in fear at the last sound. An unknown man rushed into the room with instantaneous speed, confused in a polytheistic manner.
- who are you? - I asked in a frightened voice
- Calm down, don't afraid of anything.
- Where are my parents !?
- They are no more
- What does it mean they are no more ?!
- It means they died Hazel
- Lie! It's impossible my parents could not leave me they are alive!
I analyzed everything well, but I did not want to believe it, the tears were slowly coming down my cheeks and I kept repeating that they were alive. It was as if a knife had been inserted into my heart and I was completely powerless, completely alone and completely helpless in this big world.
- I can imagine what you are experiencing now ... but time will pass and this wound will heal, believe me
- And so it does not happen
- It will definitely happen, Mr. Albert Gray is really lucky to have such a granddaughter
- How do you know my grandfather?
- Albert and I have been friends for a long time, about 200 years. You inherited the power of your ancestors, which is why you grew up running Hazel!
- vampire? Are you running What silhouettes are you talking about?!
- When you calm down, I will explain everything in detail
- How should I calm down ?! When I am in a room strange to me, someone with a stranger tells me that my parents are no more and I turned into a vampire ...
- I will not talk much! You will be my student from today, and you will hide this secret from your mortal friends! Otherwise you will die and you will have to kill them. I know you are confused now, you do not know what to do, but I have to trust you. I had no choice but to save your life. You will stay in this house for 6 months, learn how to manage and use your abilities. Now it is better to rest a little ...
Of course I was not going to stay there because I considered him a psychopath. I tried to escape that evening. In vain.
- I will not leave the solution - whether he said that or put his hand on my head and I lost consciousness.
When I came to my senses, I was more relaxed, but I could not forget my parents. My heart ached terribly, but I could not cry. One week has passed. Oliver, as my so-called savior was called, explained the laws of the "blood drinkers" from beginning to end. I could not leave this house until I learned to disguise my face and use force. So about 6 months passed. During this time I met my grandparents, they told me in detail about how they got married secretly because my grandmother was mortal and according to the law this relationship was punishable by death, they told me that my father was not a vampire and that is exactly why I was not. Eventually they decided to close the house and move to another city because being here only hurt them. I declined the offer and chose to stay with Oliver, I spent my whole life in Ryland, it was in this city that I had friends whom I did not want to leave. I heard that a miracle saved me ... Everyone was talking about me when I returned to school. Perhaps vampirism has its ashes and I am powerless in the face of it. Even my best friend Hailey has not seen me in these 6 months. It's time to dump her and move on.