On one fateful day, all 666 pages of this cursed book disappeared. Sei, the heiress to the Shonagon Estate, must find the pages to restore her family’s pride and honor. But can she do it alone?

The Devil’s Order

Chapter One

            He stared me down hungrily, as a ravenous wolf does with its prey. I had no idea who, or what he was… I just knew that he wanted this book.

            In the moonlight, I could see that he had shaggy, black hair that covered his face perfectly, except for his eyes—his cold, blood red eyes which threatened to suck my soul. Damn, he was sexy, but I couldn’t say that, especially since he looked like he wanted to kill me!

            I asked firmly, “Who are you? What is it that you seek?” I was surprised that my voice didn’t shake.

            He grinned, no, more like sneered at me as he said haughtily, “I want that book you’re holding, Human! And if you don’t give it me now, I’ll just suck your worthless body dry!”

            “A vampire…” I thought in awe. I had always believed that vampires were fictional creatures to scare the village troublemakers. “Well, now I know!” I thought ever so dismally.

Today is my fifteenth birthday and I am going to be murdered by a bloodthirsty tick! Great, isn’t it? I guess it’s my fault.

I ran away from home as soon as I found out that I was to become Lady Sei, the sole protector of this dratted book. All my life, I learned about this loathsome book, which everyone calls preciously, The Devil’s Order. If, and only if, I spent my entire lifetime and four other lifetimes, could I explain the entire twisted history of this book.

Folks, let me be brief, since I also have to worry about this sexy, I mean, horrible beast that wants to eat me. Hades, the god of the Underworld, created The Devil’s Order. Hades decided to store most of his godly powers into a single book that contained 666 pages (Coincidence… I think not!).

Within these pages were spells that could summon horrible creatures of the dead, increase a person’s power, or make oneself immortal. After making this book, Hades soon became old and shriveled (since he lost most of his powers), and decided to pass it down to his faithful apprentice through a supposedly faithful servant.

The supposedly faithful servant somehow lost the book when he traveled between the Gates of Hell and the Gateway to Earth. Thus, the book landed on Earth, and a kind-hearted and brave samurai picked up the book, became super powerful, and was determined to protect the book from evil clutches forever. This samurai was called Horitomo Shonagon, and I am his great, great, great, etc. granddaughter, Sei Shonagon.

And to become Lady Sei, I was to chop off my long, raven-black hair, wear a man’s kimono, never marry or have kids, and single-handedly ward off all ugly varmints who want to steal this book. So, I ran away from home in order to burn this vile book, and of course, this beast decides attacks me!

“I shan’t give it to you!” I yelled, and turned around and ran like the dickens! Unfortunately, vampires can fly, and it wasn’t long before he cornered me to a tree. At first, I was going to punch him in the face, but I soon realized that I couldn’t move!

            My first thought was, “He paralyzed my body with his eyes!”

            “Great, now I’m dead meat, literally.” was my next grim thought.

            His face inched towards mine, and his ruby eyes seemed to engulf my vision, until all I could see was the color red. I could feel his cold fangs pressed against my neck, when I heard something swoosh above my head, and swords clashing together. Then, something hard hit me across the head, and I blacked out.

            It’s kind of weird; you know when you black out. You don’t just automatically black out, that would seriously be retarded. (AN: From my first-hand experience) You first see glimpses of red, then yellow, and all the colors under the rainbow, and then everything turns into black and gray. You also hear voices, but they’re fuzzy so you can’t decipher them that well. Then, all of a sudden, your vision clears up, and you wonder dimly, “What the hell just happened?”

            I awoke from my beauty sleep, expecting to see Prince Charming waiting handsomely to whisk me away to a splendid castle. But I was close; the first thing I saw was this breath-taking woman peering down at me. She had long, silver hair, deep, blue eyes, an appealing expression, and wore a very manly, teal kimono. Around her neck was a jade medallion tied together with a long, leather cord. Everything about her was noble, attractive, and graceful.

            I asked, “Miss, where am I? What happened to that vampire?”

            She laughed, and I was shocked to hear such a deep, male voice answer, “My name is Rikyu Hashiyumi, the prince of the Hashiyumi Kingdom. You’re lucky that I happened to be on my nightly patrol of the forests, or else you would have been vampire bait. May I ask, what is your name?”

            “Sei Shonagon.” I whispered, gaping at his gorgeous face.

“Ah, so you are the rebellious heiress to the Shonagon Estate, the one who took The Devil’s Order! Maybe I shouldn’t have rescued you from that vampire.” he said half-jokingly.

My first impression of this guy just decreased by like 5,000. I could not believe that he was not taking my side! Hello, Prince Charming?

  Then it finally struck me. “Have you seen the book? The book that I was carrying!” I asked frantically, as I tugged onto his kimono sleeve. Either I pulled too hard, or his kimono was too big, the top of his kimono came undone, revealing his chest.

            I turned away, but no use, I saw him half-naked. “Already, my purity has been tarnished!” I thought, “Oh well, that means I can’t be Lady Sei anymore! Yes! I mean, no, that’s terrible!”

            He coughed gently, pulled up his kimono, and said, “If you want your book, then come with me.”

            I nodded, followed him out of the room, and realized as we headed down the different hallways that I was in Hashiyumi Palace, the richest and grandest building in all of Japan. I looked down and saw marble floors, I looked up and around and saw golden tapestries, fine artworks, and hundreds of guards! Seriously, at every single corner, a guard stood formidably with a metal staff, sword, or a mace.

            As we walked pass them, they stooped like an awkward robot, murmured a “Good evening, Prince Rikyu” and stood up immediately into their former stance. It was rather funny the first few times, but after a while, it got really annoying, since there were guards everywhere! Finally, after about a half an hour of walking, we started to head down a hallway that wasn’t as grand as the others.

            In fact, it was grimy and dusty, with cobwebs and eerie shadows, and formidable doors with metal bars. And on some doors they were covered with dozens of metal locks and bolts.

“What could possibly be behind those doors?” I thought apprehensively. I did not like this at all.

            “Where are we?” I asked uneasily, while making sure that I was close to him at all times.

            Rikyu turned around with an unearthly grin on his face, grasped my hand firmly in his, and said, “We are in the dungeons. Don’t worry, I’m here to protect you, Sei.”

            I laughed with false confidence, as we continued down the hallway. We then went down a spiral staircase, and I began to hear someone shouting.

            It only took me a second to recognize the arrogant, stubborn voice. It was that vampire!

            “Darn, I thought Rikyu killed him.” I thought as we stood in front of a door made out of pure steel that was shaking, due to the vampire, who was beating it mercilessly, while screaming bloody murder.

            “Why didn’t you kill him?” I asked quizzically.

            “He has your book.” was the answer.

            “Great, now what do I do?” I thought.

            It was as though he read my mind, because he said with another one of his stunning smiles, “Why don’t we greet him?”

            I stared at him and asked, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if he tried to do something bad?”

            “Oh, he won’t.” and with that, he tapped the steel door with his sword, and yelled, “Now, Akito! I brought the girl here, so please try to restrain yourself!”

            The vampire stopped momentarily and growled ferociously, “BRING HER TO ME, SO I CAN GIVE HER THE THRASHING OF HER LIFE!”

            I glanced at my Prince Charming, who continued to smile and said, “See, no big deal.”

            Then Rikyu placed his hand on the steel door, and after a few moments, the door shimmered and then ever so slowly disappeared altogether!

            “Wh-what just happened?!”

            “This door was made especially for me. Whenever I touch this door, it will either appear or disappear, entirely upon my will. Fascinating, isn’t it?”

            “Yeah, fascinating, if you forget what you put into that room!” I thought gloomily.

            The room was completely dark, that is, except for his red eyes, which shone dangerously in the dark like headlights. Instinctively, I clung closer to Rikyu, who by the way, was still smiling. (Is my Prince Charming nuts?)

            Rikyu then said, “Now, Akito, remember our deal. You get to talk to her, but you must not harm her! Understood?”

            “Whatever.”

            “Good.” With that, Rikyu gently pushed me into the shadows of the dungeon. Alone. With a vampire…

AN: Sorry for such a short chapter! I promise to make the next chapter longer! If you guys have any questions or suggestions, you may e-mail me or ask me in a review! (E-mail- ) By the way…reviews are very valued and welcome!!! So, if you have about 30 seconds to spare, please write me a review! Thank you, and good night, that is, until the next chapter!