Page 1 of Those That Are Lost
CHAPTER 1
AURORA
4 MONTHS LATER
Jump and it’ll be over.
The breeze sweeps my long dark hair off my shoulders, blowing it out behind me as I stare down over the side of the bridge. It would be easy to climb the railing and soar into the valley below where the turbulent waves crash into the jagged rocks of the islands I stand between.
The Northern Isles are as rough and wild as I’d read about. Especially at the change of the season. Autumn is fighting to take hold as the last of the summer clings on. Today’s skies are full of thick grey clouds and, although it’s not rained, the winds promise it soon.
Just jump and you’ll be with him.
The ache in my chest ricochets off my ribs. It's a living, breathing thing, beating me from the inside and leaving me cold. My hands grab the rope running the length of the steel bridge providing passage between the two islands. The one I’d come from was uninhabited, bar a few species of wildlife. The one I was heading to was larger, my destination a village nestled deep in the mountains. It was isolated and with a small population. The perfect place to hide.
That's if I didn’t change course.
Would the sea below be enough to kill me? That’s the question making me pause. The power with which the waves break over the land, sending spray halfway up the cliff faces, suggests so. But it's no guarantee. I need my body to not only shatter but be ripped apart. Broken limbs and torn flesh wouldn’t be enough anymore. Not now that I was a vampire.
Even if you are broken, at least you’ll be suffering like you deserve.
I squeeze my eyes shut against the onslaught of these thoughts. I know they’re bad, but I can’t stop them. They’re right.
He’s dead because of me. He’s dead because I couldn’t trust him.
My breathing becomes painfully slow as my jaw locks tight enough to make my teeth ache.
Do it.
My grip tightens on the rope. I open my eyes to take in the view once more.
I want to see him again, be with him. Even though I left him to die. The guilt of every mistake I made when it comes to him eats at my flesh. I’d have no guarantee that he’d even forgive me, but as he was the one who told me to run, I have hope.
I lift my foot to the railing but something stops me. A tug. I place my foot back on the wooden slats of the bridge. A shadow has formed behind me, the sun having peaked out from a break in the ominous clouds.
It's there for a second and then gone as the sun disappears once more.
“Promise me, Red.”
I exhale and straighten, taking my hands off the railing and turning ninety degrees to face the land ahead. Rage and relief wash through my system as I take a step.
I don’t remember the rest of the way across that bridge. Idon’t remember the first steps of feeling land beneath my boots again. The worn travellers path snaking me up the hillside and away from the ocean. I don’t take in the new view as I cross the ridgeline. I simply keep putting one foot in front of the other until I’m far enough away I can no longer hear the waves crashing anymore.
“I promise,” I mutter, lifting my head to the thunderous looking sky.
CHAPTER 2
AURORA
Taking a deep breath, I force the smile back onto my face. I lift the tray filled with empty glasses as I swing to face the crowds, balancing it between myfingertips and left shoulder. Making my way back to the bar, weaving in and out of the packed tables, offering pleasantries to the patrons as I go. The flowing knee length skirt I’m wearing sways and swishes round my legs as I duck and dive through the crowd.
It's heaving in here tonight, busier than the last three weeks combined since I started working here. The tavern had been the first place I’d stumbled into after walking off the bridge and the mile or so into town.
I’d been warned by the owners to expect the intense crowds tonight it but was not prepared for the level of revelry around me. It was the last day of winter preparation for the farmers who worked this valley, the final livestock having been herded in for the winter.
Wintica is the twelfth island I’ve been to in the last four months and the one I’ve stayed on the longest. From Froan Bay I travelled to West Scotia, but we won’t talk about that right now. Then I headed here, to the Northern Isles. It's colder, the nights are longer, and on the whole, sparsely populated. But the people are friendly and I’m the only vampire in the region that I know of. Some residentshave weaker magic with low levels of Fae blood in their veins but the population is vastly human.
It's not so bad. I’ve found I’m good at waiting tables. It requires a mask of unfaltering happiness and charm. One I’ve perfected to a masterpiece. I can smile and flirt and most importantly, stay anonymous. I haven’t stayed working at one tavern, or in one town, for more than a couple of weeks. In most places getting work has been easy. If not, I’d stay a night or two before moving swiftly on. And with each new place I give myself a new name and a new look. I’ve perfected my story of the graduate, seeking the thrill of travel, needing to earn in each stop to get myself to the next adventure.
