Part 2

Izaic Eztli

Ray breathed deeply inhaling the scent of the forest. It smelled like earth, wood, and freedom. The clean night air washed over her making her dizzy. She'd needed to get away, for the past month she'd been more or less caged inside and now that she was free there was nothing she wanted to do then spend the night in the forest. The lack of freedom had made her anxious, it felt good to be back in her element, running among the trees giddy with adrenaline.

..ƒ..::..‚..

Izaic sighed deeply and chucked a stone into the distance. He always came out to the woods when he needed to think. He felt trapped in his house, Izaic Eztli was the son of Lylyth and Kirian, he was heir to the Eztli Manor. Being heir meant he never got time to himself. He was suffocating from all the attention.

There was a noise from up ahead and Izaic paused and crept closer, it wasn't the noise and animal would make. A few yard ahead the trees gave way to a small field. Izaic sucked in breath sharply, a girl sat hunched over on a boulder, silhouetted in the moonlight that pooled around her.

He sneered in anger and his mind screamed trespasser, but he didn't move. He could recognize most of the people from the small town but he was positive he'd never seen this girl before.

Chocolate brown hair fell past her shoulder and created a curtain on the side of her face. This girl obviously wasn't a local, he could tell by the way she dressed. Not many people around these parts wore dark hooded sweatshirts, baggy jeans and skater style sneakers. She was oblivious to his presence, working diligently over a sketchpad.

He should chase her off. She wasn’t supposed to be here. If anyone else found her..., Izaic shivered at the possibility.

Izaic took a step forward and then another. The girl looked up quickly, alarmed when his foot snapped a twig. Her eyes met his in the startled way of a hunted animal, they were a soft brown flecked with gold.

He froze on the spot as she scrambled to gather her things before running off.

Izaic let her go and was about to turn home when a piece of bright white caught his attention, it stood out brilliantly against the dark leaves that carpeted the ground. One of the girl's sketches was left behind. He picked it up and cursed. It was a drawing of the Hylal crest, she was one of them, a wolf.

..ƒ..::..‚..

Two days later and Ray was riding with Eryk in his truck to school. She had all but forgotten about the boy in the forest. She'd ventured on to his territory, she was lucky nothing had happened, then or afterwards. She'd, of course, told no one about the incident.

A little disoriented she walked to her first class. A total of fifteen people were separated into several smaller groups, talking with friends before class.

A tall blonde girl drew the room's attention to Raina. "Hey, you must be new, I'm Odette." She stuck out her hand.

"Ray." She replied shaking it.

"Welcome to Winterbrooke High." She swept her hand around the room dramatically.

Ray looked around and felt her heart stop.

He was here.

The boy from the other night stood off in a corner surrounded by three others. He was staring at her intensely, his bright blue eyes burning right through her. He definitely recognized her, there was no way he couldn't, not with the way he glared at her with a mixture of confusion and anger. He had dark raven hair that contrasted with his pale skin. He watched her darkly, she glared back and an unspoken messaged passed between them. 'I know who you are.'

"Oh, stay away from them." Odette wrinkled her nose like she smelled something awful when she caught Ray staring. Raina turned to her confused. Odette picked Ray's necklace up and held it between her fingers, running her thumb over the pendent. "Specially since your wolf." She whispered.

Ray looked at her shocked, she thought there was only a small amount of wolfs. Odette winked and showed her, her bracelet baring the same sun charm.

"Why?" The dark haired girl muttered, but she already knew the answer. But she was new and shouldn't know who they were, having not seen them and all.

Odette giggled. "They're the Eztli, they're vamps."

"As in vampires?"

"What else?" Odette scoffed.

Ray's face fell a little. "Exactly who are they?" She prodded.

Odette gazed at them for a moment. "The tall one with dark hair is Izaic, he's the Eztli heir." Izaic, he was the boy from the other night, Raina made a mental note. "The lanky blonde girl is Taya, Bastion is the one with amazing green eyes, and the short one is Amos." The blonde continued.

Each one of the little group wore exceptional clothing and held a air of dignity and distant perfection that went along with their amazingly flawless looks. Not only did they seem off limits to her, but to the rest of the human population as well.

Ray was about to ask another question when the teacher entered the room. Everyone scrambled to get to their seats. Raina was left standing in the middle on the room clueless.

"Sit!" Barked the teacher.

Hastily she grabbed the closest empty seat. Tension grew thick in the room as she sat behind Izaic Eztli. Every kid in the room that was vamp or wolf glared at her in shock or anger. The human teens sensed something too and shifted uncomfortably in their own seats.

By the end of the day Ray was glad to get out of school, it never had been her thing. And she was reviled, yet slightly disappointed, to find out that Izaic was only in one other class.

..ƒ..::..‚..

Raina walked solemnly as she was making her way back to Eryk's truck when a movement in the shadows caught her eye. She stopped, Izaic stood twenty feet away, watching her. He looked like he wanted to talk, but before either could make a move Eryk appeared next to her. She turned tentatively to greet him. "What are you looking at?" He asked.

She looked back to the spot Izaic was standing only to see that he wasn't there. "Nothing," She replied slowly, "Just spacing."

"Well come on." He prompted leading her away.

Izaic watched the two from the shadows, a snarl on his face. What was it about that girl?

"What do you know about Izaic Eztli?" Ray asked as she and Eryk were driving home.

Eryk swerved violently on the deserted road, caught off guard by the question. "Why do you want to know about him?"

"Curiosity really. He's in some of my classes."

"He's bad news, just like the rest of them."

"Them?"

"All the vampires."

"What's the deal between us and them anyway."

"You mean besides the fact that werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies?" He sneered overly sarcastic.

"Then why do we live so close together?" Ray asked really trying to grasp the reason behind their closeness of the two clans. It was unheard of for them to live so close.

"That's part of the problem. Living and hunting so closer together only heightens the tension between us." He sighed, "Because of the old agreement we share the land and put up with each other. No one is allowed to attack the other with the exception of a territory breach, but it doesn't mean we're friendly."

"Oh." Ray breathed.