Title: The Huntress

Prologue

Author Paige Knightly

Notes:I posted the prologue a while ago, but when I was reading it over I didn't like the tone so I decided to change it a bit and wow it really did change... hehe... right now I'm going back and re-writingthe first few chapters and I'll post the chapters once I finish going through them. As a warning the story isn't beta-ed so there might be some grammar and spelling mistakes. Anyways hope you enjoy the story!

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Have you ever gotten the feeling that the world isn’t what it seems? Like there was something people aren’t telling you? You know that eerie feeling that we’re not alone when the room’s completely empty or that mysterious little noise that makes you turn your head only to see nothing.

Adults are blind and ignorant people. They believe that they understand everything when in reality they know nothing. It is the children who can understand the world around them the best. They may be young, but because their innocence is untouched by society’s negativity and rules they can see things that no one else can. There is a secret that has been hidden from human ears - the things that go bump in the dark… they’re real. The closet monster, werewolves, vampires, the boogeyman, anything and everything you can imagine, exists.

You probably don’t believe me and I don’t blame you. I know it sounds like a bad 80’s horror flick, but the truth is that monsters do exists and it doesn’t matter what you want to believe, most monsters aren’t the happy and preppy, let’s sing Elmo you see on KCET. No, monsters are vicious, flesh eating creatures that will torture and plunder no matter how many times you turn a blind eye. They will scare you. They will hunt you. And they will kill you.

It might surprise you when I say I don’t blame the monsters for my misfortunes. No, they’ve been with us since the earliest days of human life. The problem is people, specifically people’s blindness to the things that don’t fit into their world. It never ceases to amaze me the things that people choose to see and not to see. You can go through your entire day without anyone noticing your existence. It doesn’t matter what you say or what you do, people might glance at you one second, but the next you’re forgotten. People are very good at remembering only what they want to… selective memory and all.

Did you know you can have blood splattered all over your clothes and everyone will just assume that’s the latest fashion trend? People might even categorize you as a rebellious teen trying to piss off her parents by dressing as a Goth. I guess ignorance is bliss. People don’t seem to understand that the monsters are just around the corner. Didn’t they learn anything from Jack and the Bean stock or Hansel and Gretel? It is a fact that all myths are based on some truth.

While society chooses ignorance over knowledge I do not have that comfort. For the last two hundred years my family and the Upir have been at a blood war. Upir, otherwise known as vampires, have hunted my family one by one until they all fell.

For the last seventeen years the only thing I knew was the hunt. Instead of playing in the sandbox I was taught warfare. Instead of holding batons I held a sword. Almost before I could even walk I learned to hate. My duty was to avenge my family and this has been my motivation my entire life.

But now when I am at a crossroads I can’t help but wonder how different my life could have been. What would it be like to wake up without fear? How would the anxiety of a first kiss feel rather than the anxiety of death?

Instead of peace and kisses I am surrounded by death and destruction and too many questions. How many comrades will fall before the war is over? How many times must my hands be covered in blood?

I do not have the answer to my questions. There are so many possibilities and too many uncertainties. For now I will hide my troubled thoughts behind a mask and continue my duty. But behind the mask, the coldness, the obligation, I will pray. Pray that I can win the war before it is too late. Pray that I can see the day that I can live without fear and death.

But I wonder.

How many days must go by until I can finally feel peace?

Journal Entry:

06/26/06

Signed,

The Huntress