Never Back Down

Vampire Story

Prologue

Age: Eight Years Old

"Aidan! Get back here!" The high-pitched voice of my mother screeched at me. I laughed and ran faster; my long, wavy, dark brown hair trailing behind me. My small family and I were at the local park, and I was having the best time I've had in a long time. I mean, sure, it was freezing, but I was wearing my nice, warm scarf, so I could care less! "Aidan!" My mother screeched once again in that tone that made my ears hurt. Ignoring her, I chose to run faster onto the trail that led into the forested woods that bordered the park.

Slowing to a walk, I admired the leafy trees and colorful flowers that grew along the edge of the trail. They were so pretty! Crouching down next to a pretty purple flower – purple was my favorite color – I smiled and stroked the soft petals. "So pretty…" I whispered. Jumping up, I skipped down the path with no care as to where I was going. To my surprise, while I was doing a spin I ran into something very hard and very solid, and it wasn't a tree.

Gasping, I looked up at the tall man that I had run into. He was way taller than I was; I was guessing around six feet or something. He was a giant! He had long black hair that he had pulled back into a ponytail, and the bottoms of it were an orange color. It looked really cool! He was dressed in all black, and his clothes looked kind of funny. I hadn't ever seen clothes like his before. He also wore a lot of necklaces, and his ears were pierced, which I thought only girls did.

"Oops! I'm sorry mister." I told him, smiling up at him widely. He silently stared back at me with cold black eyes.

"It's perfectly fine my dear. How old are you?" He said, smiling but showing no teeth.

"I'm eight years old!" I told him proudly. He chuckled deeply and kneeled down to my height.

"Really now?" He grinned at me, showing off what looked like fangs. My eyes widened and I took a step back. "That's perfect." He muttered, taking a step towards me. I screamed and started to run away from this strange man, but he appeared in front of me. "Now, now, where do you think you're going?" He murmured, grabbing my wrist. It would certainly leave a bruise tomorrow.

"MOMMY!" I shouted, struggling.

"Aidan? Where are you?" I heard my mother yell. She couldn't have been too far.

"MOMMY! HELP ME!" I screeched. The man glared at me and slammed a hand over my mouth, lifting me up so that my head was level with his own. Opening his mouth, he growled at something behind me. Turning my head, I saw my frantic mother standing there with my father, eyes wide and hand held up to her mouth in a silent scream.

"Put her down!" My father demanded. The man chuckled a dark laugh and widened his mouth, touching his sharp fangs to my neck slowly. "Don't you dare!" My father shouted. The man continued to laugh like a lunatic.

"Why not, hmm?" He purred, putting more pressure on my neck. I whimpered, my eyes pleading with my parents. My mother was crying. He put even more pressure on my neck, breaking the skin and making a trail of blood drip onto my scarf. My mother screamed and he bit down, drawing a loud scream from me and then all was black.

---**---**---

The newfound vampire greedily drank from her neck, blood spilling onto her scarf and his clothing. After a few moments of his eyes closed in bliss, he abruptly drew back, stormy grey eyes now wide in fear.

"What…what have I done?" He whispered, shaking his head and gently putting the girl down. Looking up into the faces of the girl's parents, he bowed low. "I…I am terribly sorry. You have no reason to worry, she will remember nothing of this event." He told them quickly before vanishing.

---**---**---

"What are we going to do Greg? What if she turned into one of those…those monsters?"

"Don't worry dear…You know that won't happen. Besides, she was no good anyway."

"Greg! How can you say that? She's our daughter!"

"Not by birth! This is just what we needed; she's going to ruin us!"

---**---**---

Groaning, I blinked open my eyes. "Mommy?" I muttered sleepily. "Where am I?" I asked quietly, sitting up from the small mattress I was lying on. I didn't remember ever going to sleep. I didn't even remember coming home from the park.

"You're in your room, honey." My mother said gently, kneeling next to me. Looking around, I noticed that we were in the basement of our house, not the room I was used to.

"My room? Isn't this the basement?" I wondered. Why would my parents keep me here? Had I done something bad, and was this my punishment?

"Yes, it is dear. We figured that you might…like the space." My mother said unsurely, almost like she made it up on the spot.

"Really?" I asked her. She nodded and smiled at me, although then it looked more like a grimace.

"Cool!" I said, just to pacify her. I didn't want her thinking that I was ungrateful. I mean sure, it was dingy and dirty, but still, it was a lot bigger than my old room.

"You'll stay down here from now on. We'll bring your food to you. You ungrateful, little brat." My father told me before marching up the steep stairs that led to the first floor of our two story house. I just sat on the mattress, very, very confused.

"Mommy?" I questioned. She turned to look at me. "What did I do wrong?" I asked innocently. She sighed sadly and shook her head.

"Don't worry darling, you've done nothing wrong. Your father is just worried." She told me, stroking my hair. I blinked at her.

"Why?" I asked. She laughed softly.

"It's nothing for you to worry about dear." She said before standing up and walking over to the stairs. She shot me a small smile, but there was a strange glint in her eyes, and it lacked the usual warmth it had. "I'll see you in the morning." She whispered before retreating up the stairs.

"Okay…" I muttered to myself before lying down and going to sleep.

I wanted to know what had happened to me.

I wanted to know why, all of a sudden, my mommy and dad weren't acting nice to me.

I needed to know.

Because I was scared to death of what was going to come next.

(A/N: Okay, well here it is. I hope that you guys still like it! Please review, whether it is long, short, good or bad, I reply to all of them! Let me know what you guys think, and any changes you would like. Ideas are also much appreciated!)

--Ren--