I’m sure you all have read some book about ghosts, vampires, and werewolves at some point, right? You know, the ones that make you wish that you could be a werewolf, or vampire? Well take it from my experience; it’s not as fun as you think. Yea, so you get some kind of awesome power, well, as you know ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ and yadda yadda yadda. Guess they weren’t too far off from the truth.

Chapter 1

Sorrento, Italy

I couldn’t believe that my best friend, Kari had dragged me out to a trip to Italy of all places! Here I was; young and youthful, touring the country of the Gods. The very handsome Gods.

“Told you this was a good idea,” Kari smirked as I rolled my eyes at her.

“Maybe, but I still have a while to go before I believe. I still have that feeling in my stomach.”

“You ALWAYS have that feeling in your stomach Lena!” she complained as I rolled my eyes. Well, she would too if she had to watch her back every moment of her life. Hey, being a witch wasn’t easy. And yes, I just gave away my secret. I’m a witch, whoop de freaking do. I throw lightening at people, and all other sorts of tricks. Fun you would say? Well your dead wrong. Try having to hide it for you whole life.

“Hello! Earth to Aleine!” Kari waved her hand in front of my face as I blinked.

“What?” I asked, as I looked at her. She, my normal, human friend, I might point out. So, of course she doesn’t know what I am. Shh… it’s a secret.

“You zoned out. Again.” she pointed. We were walking to this great party we heard about, and my feet were killing me in these heels Kari forced me to wear. A good thing to point out to you. Never wear heels in Italy, where the people have a thing for stairs. Lots and lots of them.

“Sorry, Kari. I was just thinking about the party. I’m super excited.” I lied to her with a dimpled grin. She smiled back brightly as she looped her arm through mine.

“I know, isn’t this great?! I can’t believe we actually got invited! I bet you Hannah is so envious at the moment!” she was talking about the big, rich cheerleader at school. You know the type, popular daddy’s girl who wears designer clothes, and has fake hair, and boobs? Yea, that girl. Honestly, I didn’t give a rats ass about Hannah, but I nodded for my friends sake. I may not have a super lot in common with Kari, but at least she was willing to talk to me, and hang out with me. I was lucky to find somebody so caring.

*.*.*

It didn’t take us too much longer to arrive at the beach where the party was being held. There was some rap music playing in Italian. Huh, guess teen culture was the same everywhere, no matter what continent you’re on, and what language you’re speaking.

Who must have been the host of the party; a tall, very good looking, Italian boy approached us with a white smile. “Benvenuti al partito, bella’s!” he told us. I must have looked confused, for a second later he spoke in an accented English.

“I said ‘welcome to the party, beautifuls.’ “ he explained and I made an ‘o’ of understanding with my mouth, as Kari smiled brightly at him.

“Thank you! This looks like a great party! Right, Lena?” Kari asked, looking back to me as I nodded. Yea… just like the parties in America. Yay.

“I can’t wait to start.” I told him as he smiled, before him and Kari ditched me, talking about something or another. I sighed as I slowly walked to where everybody was gathered, really not seeing what fun this was. Unless you watched the drunk people of course. Watching drunk people could be fun.

When I saw that nobody was getting drunk yet, I looked over at the ocean, and made my way to the shore. At least I wouldn’t develop a headache over hear from the loud music. I took my heels off so I could sink my toes into the cool sand, wriggling my painted toes in delight. I may not be a nature witch, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t love nature just as much.

With a bottle of some beer in my hand I smiled as I watched the oceans lap against the shore, moon reflecting off the water, which offset with the sand beautifully.

“What’s a beautiful girl like you, stand out here alone?” I heard a deep Scottish brogue from behind me. I practically jumped out of my skin with a scream as I whirled to find a tall figure with shoulders shaking with laughter. “Woah! Careful there, lass.” he spoke up again, my hand going to my heart.

“Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? Holy shit, you scared me.” I told him, looking up at him. Even without heels, I stood at a proud five feet ten inches. So looking up at him was actually pretty rare for me.

“Well, she did, but I also believe she told me that shit wasn’t quite so holy.” even in the dark I could make out his smirk, since his teeth were so white. I couldn’t help but laugh at his charming wit.

“Maybe not, but I believe that moment deserved some holy crap.” I nodded, red hair bobbing like a signal fire. He chuckled as he held his hand out for me.

“Braden McIntosh,” he introduced himself as I took his hand, only for him to kiss it. I rolled my eyes with a laugh.

“Aleine Callahan.” I told him back, taking my hand back with a smile.

“So Aleine, what brings you all the way out here to Italy? I can tell from your most beautiful accent that you are from America, no?” he smiled brightly at me as I laughed softly.

“Yea, Florida. My friend decided we needed a vacation to remember this summer, so she planned this elaborate trip, and voila. What about you? Scotland I hear. What are you doing all the way down here?” I asked, placing a hand on my hip. Braden let out a chuckle as he flicked his head of what looked like dark brown hair, which got rid of the strands hanging in his… blue I think they were? I couldn’t really tell. Hey, being a witch doesn’t mean I have super vision. Actually, my vision was pretty crappy.

“Aye, that I am. I came down here for a warm vacation. It never gets really warm up in my home land. Have to work on my tan somehow.” he teased, winking at me as I shook my head in amusement.

“Very nice,” I chuckled, before sitting down on the sand, smoothing my jean skirt out. Hey, I had the legs to wear it, why the hell not? Braden came to sit next to me, and I noticed he was wearing a pair of tan carpenter shorts.

“Do you like the ocean then?” he asked as I nodded, leaning back onto my hands, a smile curving onto my face.

“I do, I love nature pretty much.” I admitted with a blush that he probably couldn’t see in the dark. I took a sip of the beer in my hand as he looked at me.

“Ahh, a nature loving lass then? I like that. It’s not often you see people willing to see the beauty in front of their faces.” his voice was alluring, sounding like flowing honey to my ears. His brogue making his voice just the slightest bit rough, and sent chills down my arms. Oh, he was good.

“Yes, a nature loving lass.” I laughed, taking another sip. We stayed quiet as we stared at the ocean, until I heard a giggled, and an Italian voice.

“Lena!” I heard a drunken scream, and winced. Damn, she was drunk already?! I was still nursing my first beer!

“Kari! What is it sweetie?” I asked, getting up off the ground, Braden do the same think. The guy who had greeted us earlier was holding Kari upright by her arm as she grinned, waving at me with another giggle.

“Lenaaaaa! Luca was wondering if you wanted to go on the boat with uuuus. You can bring your neeew friiiiiend! He’s invited a couple more veeeery cute guys. Come oooon Lena!” I winced at the way she sounded, but knew what would happen if I said no. I know I shouldn’t accept getting onto a boat with a drunken friend, and a bunch of strange guys, but hey, I was stupid and young. That counts as an excuse, right?

“Alright, alright. Let’s get on your boat.” I offered a smile as Kari squealed in delight, clapping her hands together.

“Yaaay! Come ooon, Lena!” Kari stumbled forward to snatched my hand up, and drag me to the boat. For being drunk, she had a pretty firm grip on my hand. I shot an apologetic glance to Braden as I was tugged forward, the Scotsman following along behind me, because I could feel his presence just behind me, making my hair stand up on the back of my neck.

We finally came upon a boat at the dock, and I couldn’t help but smile. Boating made me happy. When I wasn’t sea sick that was. It was why I wore those patches. At the dock, two other really tall guys were standing there. One was actually barely taller than me, six foot maybe. The other had to be at least six five. He was huge!

Luca led us onto the ship, as we all sat at the prow of the ship. Braden at on my left, the black guy on my right, Kari on the other side of Braden, and the huge guy sitting in front of me. Well this was… fun. We sat there quietly for what seemed like hours as Luca steered the boat.

Finally, he laid anchor far enough away from the shore, but close enough that I could still see the bonfire light of the party.

“So… who are all of you?” I finally spoke up, looking to the two new guys.

“Gregory,” the giant guy grunted, Russian accent recognizable even to be. Ok, that was not a guy I wanted to piss off…

“I am called Kamau.” the black guy introduced himself, his accent thick, and soothing actually. He seemed like a sweet guy.

“I’m Aleine,” I introduced myself, as Braden told them his name, and Kari let out a snore. Well, guess she had too much.

“You’re friend is asleep.” Gregory announced as I rolled my eyes.

“No really? I thought she was dead.” I quipped dryly as Braden cracked up. Gregory simply scowled. I’m sorry, but I can’t help but be sarcastic when people point out the most OBVIOUS stuff ever.

We sat in quiet for a little longer, this boat ride a lot more awkward than I thought it would be. Not only was it awkward, but something felt… off.

The hair on the back of my neck was standing up, and I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Goddess, I hoped I wasn’t the only one, I looked to Braden, but couldn’t tell if anything was out of the ordinary. Looking around at the others, I finally stood up, and moved to the railing of the ship, looking over the edge. Maybe it was just my sea sickness acting up…

“LOOK OUT!” I heard a shout as I was suddenly knocked to the floor by… a black leopard? Just as I felt my head hit the floor, a gun shot rung out. What was I saying about sea sickness?