Ravana Clan Vampires: Complete Series

by Moore, E. M.

  Samuel nodded once, and everyone relaxed into their previous positions. He gave me a sparing glance and then looked back toward his group of young adults. “This is Ariana Stuart. As all of you know, she has been chosen to complete training here at The Fort. You will accept her as one of your own. I trust one of you will show Ariana to her room and I will come for her in the morning.” Samuel turned on his heel again and left the room.

  In the background, I could hear the front door opening and then closing, leaving me alone with the strangers. My eyes stayed locked on one guy, who sneered at me, his gaze narrowing by the second. I just glared back at him, knowing from the streets that you should never give up your ground. My stomach flipped.

  No one moved immediately. They were all staring at me, curious, the same way I stared back at them. At last, a slight girl with blazing red hair to the middle of her back stepped forward. She had on a strappy tank top that showed off the muscles in her shoulders and arms. And here I thought I was in shape from running. I didn’t look anything like her. Her face and body were all sinewy muscles, reminding me of a feline. She held out her hand and I stepped forward to shake it.

  “Shannon,” she said

  “Ariana,” I informed her.

  She smiled. “Trust me, we know. We’ve been talking about you since this morning.”

  I eyed her. “Interesting.” I didn’t know what else to say. They knew I’d be taken before I did.

  “It will all become clear,” she said, positively, even though the words didn’t provide me with any reinforcement. She turned and rattled off a few names pointing at guys and girls in turn while everyone settled back into their casual places. The only other name I remembered right off the bat was Zeke. He was the one giving me a death glare.

  “So,” Shannon said, “you probably have a lot of questions.”

  I nodded, but Zeke interrupted. “Doubt that,” he said condescendingly. “She’s been hooking up with one of the vamp princes. Don’t let her fool you, she knows all about this world and then some. Probably more than we do.”

  “Really, Zeke? Don’t you always say you know everything?”

  Zeke flipped her off. Shannon just shrugged and turned toward me. “Don’t mind him, he’s an ass.” She moved a little closer, conspiratorially. “He’s just mad because you’re being here screws up his plans. I know you don’t know much but know this. Zeke is not your friend.”

  I stared at the subject of the conversation from the corner of my eye. “I don’t even know him.”

  A small, sad smile flitted across her face. “It doesn’t matter. You’re being here changes everything for him and he’s not about to forget it.”

  A whole new level of frustration overcame me. How could I have made enemies when I didn’t even know these people? “Meaning?”

  “Long story short? All vampires have human guards. For some unknown reason, the Ravanas, the only royal family in need of a guard this year, have chosen you, a nobody.” She grimaced. “Sorry. Didn’t mean anything by that. No offense.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  Her shoulders deflated. “Those at the top of the class,” she said, hiking a thumb in Zeke’s direction, “get appointed to royalty first. With you here, Zeke’s position isn’t secure. The Ravanas are breaking all the rules.” Half admiration, half confusion filled her face.

  I looked around, the others were staring at me but when I looked back, they looked away almost immediately. I felt like an outsider, again. “I don’t know why they chose me. I don’t know them.”

  “Welcome to the club. The others you see here? They’re from a long line of vamp guards. Our parents are stationed with vampire families all around the world. Since we’re in the know, we’ve made it our life’s mission to follow in our parents’ footsteps. We’re here to keep the vamps safe.”

  I stood there shaking my head. It was a lot to take in. First, there were actual vampires. Second, these vampires needed human guardians?

  Shannon giggled, the sound off, disproportionate to her build. “I get it. It’s a lot to take in. I guess all you need to know right now is that you’re here. You’ll find your place. It isn’t as if there’s anywhere else to go.”

  She threw herself into the chair she was sitting in when Samuel first walked in. I stood next to her, unsure of where else to go. The others weren’t making a motion towards me, and I wondered if they all secretly hated me like Zeke. Maybe even Shannon did, too. It wasn’t the first time I would be unwelcome in a new home. She sat up and grabbed a newspaper from the table in front of us. It was like the New York Times or any other newspaper except it wasn’t. The font was much more Gothic, kind of what you would expect in a vampire world. She eyed me curiously. “You sure you don’t know the Ravanas?”

  I gave her a stern look. “No, I’ve never met them before in my life.”

  She raised her eyebrows. Handing me the paper, she said, “You’re in for a treat then.” She left her finger pointing to a foursome of vampires on the front page. I strained my eyes to see them better through the black and white picture, wondering what they looked like in full color and standing right in front of me. I’d never met them before, of that much I was sure. If I had, I would’ve remembered. They were all strikingly handsome in their own way. They were like Samuel almost, but at the same time, incomparable. They still looked lean, perhaps a little bit more boyish than the only other male vampire I’d seen. A simple, unsmiling expression graced their faces. I could only fantasize what they looked like when they smiled. Their eyes were hard and uncaring as they stared back at the camera. I searched for the headline, or some other piece of evidence to find out why they would be on the front page of the paper, other than being vampire princes, but Shannon grabbed the paper back and dropped it in her lap.

  “Hot, aren’t they?” She didn’t need me to answer. She didn’t even look up to see the knowledge on my face. “Too bad the vamps are off-limits to us. Well, not that we can’t have sex with them, but we just can’t fall in love with them.”

  My eyes narrowed at her. As far as I was concerned, sex and love came hand-in-hand.

  She looked at me and smiled. “I’m really not that way, I promise. I just don’t know why they have to be so damn hot. It’s like torture.”

  Another female voice perked up. “Complete and utter torture.”

  On the sidelines, a guy, not Zeke who I noticed had already fled from the room, piped up. “Same for us. Probably worse.”

  Shannon laughed. “Definitely worse for you, Evan.”

  The more they bantered back and forth, the more I felt at ease. It probably helped that Zeke was no longer in the room and I didn’t feel as if I had to watch my back every second. I sat on the armrest of Shannon’s chair. “So, you guys can’t be with vampires?”

  “Nope,” the boy named Evan said. “They’re really big on keeping the bloodlines pure.”

  That sounded so Hitler-esque to me. “And if it does happen?” I asked, staring at the paper in Shannon’s lap.

  “The Council steps in,” Evan informed me. “No one wants that.”

  “Yeah,” Shannon said. “You definitely don’t want that.”

  4

  Hours alone in my room convinced me that I needed to get out of The Fort. It wasn’t that my new room wasn’t nice. It was clean, and there was no mildew and no broken mirror in the en suite bathroom. It reminded me of a posh dorm room. The bed was nice; the rooms were bigger, simple, and clean. As far as I knew, it was also free. At what cost though? I already had enemies here, and from what everyone had told me of the Ravanas, I was still unsure of their motives. Why would they choose me, an outsider, instead of someone who’d grown up in this world? It was my experience that people did things like that for bad reasons; reasons you wouldn’t want to know about. So, The Fort was just another foster home I needed to escape from.

  I hadn’t bothered putting on the slate gray pajamas that were left on my bed. I didn’t bother rummaging through the clos
et to look for the uniform Shannon told me would be there for the next morning. I knew I wasn’t staying.

  I waited until the very early rays of sunshine began to tendril through the sky. The window in my room overlooked the back lawn that led to the creeping wall surrounding the fort. I didn’t know whether the myths about vampires were true since the myths themselves weren’t true, but I figured I would give it a whirl. From what I knew about vampires, they didn’t like sunlight. So, once I noticed the first rays peeking through the clouds, I opened my door and walked silently through the hallway.

  I found my way easily to the front door and breathed a sigh of relief when it pushed open without hesitation. Because of the other reinforcements here, they most likely weren’t worried about safety. They definitely weren’t worried about anyone trying to sneak out. I went around the side of the building, staying close to the stone wall. I hurried past windows and streaked across the wide open grass until I hid in the shadow of a tree just on this side of the enormous perimeter wall. I looked upward, trying to find a path to make it up and over. I’d never rock climbed before, nor was I ever a good tree climber, but I had to try.

  The campus was usually silent. No scuffling of chipmunks, no birds in the trees, as if nature knew what was here and was too scared to come around it. That in and of itself told me I needed to leave. To leave and never come back. I didn’t want to think too much ahead of myself, but I knew I couldn’t even go back to my apartment. They knew where I lived. If they wanted me back, they would follow me there. I had to get away from here, and go somewhere, anywhere else.

  Staring up, I noticed a small limb that branched out over the wall. It may have not been the best way, but it was the only way. I started up the trunk, notching my left foot into a small foothold and grasping the first branch with my outstretched fingers. I tugged, noticing how weak I was in the upper body. My legs, I knew, had been getting stronger due to the running habits I’d started recently, but that didn’t mean anything for my upper body. It felt like Jell-O as I tried to pull myself up the tree. It didn’t help that the sun hadn’t come out in full force and dried away the dew from overnight. My hands slipped, and I fell back down the tree, scraping my knee in the process. Exasperated tears threatened my eyes. I kicked the tree, and then started again. This time, I jumped for the first branch and tried to use my legs to swing up and over the first branch. As soon as my hands grasped the branch, I swung my legs up as high as they could go, but they just came crashing back down. Not able to support my body weight, I fell on all fours.

  Much to my horror, my hand fell on a black boot. I closed my eyes, unwilling to look up. I was sure it was Samuel, or some other head guard I hadn’t met yet. What was the punishment for trying to escape The Fort? All these questions hit me at once, my mind spinning out of control. I took a deep, leveling breath, and finally stared up. When I did, I shuffled back. It wasn’t Samuel or some other guard. It was one of the Ravanas. I recognized him from his picture in the newspaper. This was one of them, in the flesh. The ones who wanted me here. The ones who no one could figure out why I was so important to them. Other than the fact they speculated they only wanted my blood. “Y-you?”

  He nodded once. “Where are you going?”

  I stood up on shaky legs, my knees wobbling. It wasn’t so much from fright at being found out, but I was literally weak in the knees as the full force of his glare powered into me. I was struck by how handsome he was in person.

  His voice wasn’t hard or angry, neither was his face. In fact, his expression was open, very unlike the picture I’d seen in the paper. He looked merely confused, one eyebrow higher than the other as he regarded me. “Escaping?”

  I didn’t answer. It was obvious, wasn’t it? I didn’t know anyone who would stick around in a world full of vampires when they didn’t even know they existed a few hours ago. Maybe he wasn’t up on human pop culture, but vampires were the enemies. Well, unless you’re Stephenie Meyer and write about sparkling ones. The one in front of me wasn’t sparkling. Still in the shade of the tree, I couldn’t test my theory about the first rays of sun shining through to help me escape even if I wanted to. I forced my chin in the air. “Why am I here?”

  His expression remained the same. His blue-gray eyes searched mine. “Because we summoned you here.”

  I bit down the retort on my tongue. He was a vampire prince after all and everyone I’d met so far seemed to regard them as special. Somehow, I knew it would behoove me not to be sarcastic to him. “I don’t understand.”

  “You aren’t meant to yet.” He stared up at the tree and then at the limb that crossed over the stone wall. “I’m sorry you missed your chance at escape.”

  I couldn’t help the distrust that crept into my thoughts or the way my forehead creased at his words. I searched for falsities somewhere in his words or even sarcasm but didn’t find any. He stepped closer, reaching for my hand and I took a step back.

  The corners of his lips tipped up, a minute difference to his normal expression that it barely even registered. “Do not fight this, Ariana. I need to take you back to your room.”

  He took a step forward again, I mirrored him, walking back a step. “I need to understand why I’m here,” I said firmly.

  He was silent, staying where he was. His gaze traveled over me. His expression softening as he spied the scar on my forearm from the car accident. He was quiet for so long, I knew he wasn’t going to answer.

  Desperation fueled my next move. I conjured Old Joe and one of the many tactics he’d taught me. “I’m sorry,” I said. I pulled my arm straight back and aimed for the vampire prince’s eyes. I closed my own, not wanting to see what would happen to him. Though it was ridiculous, I couldn’t bear to hurt him. I merely only wanted to escape this place, go back to the enemy I knew.

  My fingers slammed into something rock hard. They curled in on themselves with the force of the movement until my wrist snapped. I cried out in pain, my eyes wide open as I cradled my wrist in my hand. Looking up, the vampire held his palm in the air, right in the place my finger jab was headed.

  He frowned as he stared down at my cradled wrist. “I’m sorry, too.”

  He moved so quick it barely registered. Then it was black.

  5

  A thunderous knock sounded on the door. “Ariana, you must wake up now.”

  Eyes snapped open. My wrist still cradled in my hand, I moved it around gingerly, expecting the same pain I felt last night. Weird, I thought. I put my hand in front of my eyes and twisted my wrist this way and that. There was nothing, I didn’t feel a thing.

  The thunderous knock came again, and I sighed. Placing my hands on the bed, I stood. Still no wrist pain, I realized, incredulously. Could I have dreamed everything from last night? Not likely. I was still dressed in the same jogging clothes I wore yesterday. The gray pajamas I hadn’t bothered to put on in my haste escape were crumpled at the foot of the bed.

  A knock started to come again but I whipped the door open. Samuel stood on the other side, his face pulled back into a tight smile. He eyed me from head to toe, his lips turning into a smirk. “You have five minutes to get to the cafeteria. After breakfast, you start your training.”

  As I was used to by now, Samuel turned on his heel and left, a large blur on the edge of my peripheral vision the only evidence he was ever there at all. My heart slammed against my rib cage at the unworldly sight. Looking down the hallway, there was no sign of him at all. Nothing. Could all vampires move that fast?

  I slammed the door closed and locked it behind him. Even though I’d stayed up far too late last night “escaping”, I felt bright and chipper this morning. I found the clothes Shannon told me would be in the closet and stalked into the bathroom. I took a shower, then dressed in the all-black training uniform, and braided my long hair and pulled it over my shoulder. I’d taken longer than five minutes, but it would have to do.

  I left my room and headed back to the large open area at the center of the building. I
wasn’t exactly sure where the cafeteria was considering I’d only been here less than twenty-four hours. Turned out I didn’t need to worry. The smell of bacon wafted into the common room where I’d met my new training buddies. Following my nose, I walked to the back and sure enough, through a glass door, was a small cafeteria. Others I’d met last night were already sitting at tables, little bits of food left on their trays. Hurrying forward, my stomach suddenly gnawing, I helped myself to the food that was there for us. Unlike school cafeteria food, these options looked appetizing. Once I had a full tray, I spotted Shannon and walked up to her table. She looked up at me, her bright red hair pulled into a bun. She smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Surprised you’re still here.”

  I set my tray down and sat opposite her. I wanted to say, ‘not for lack of trying’, but I figured if anyone else knew I’d tried to escape, I would be in for a punishment. Since Samuel never mentioned it, it was possible the prince I’d met last night didn’t tell anyone else that he had to, well, I didn’t really know what he did since I blacked out. All I knew was that I ended up back in my room last night. My wrist, still completely void of pain, was working fine. I shook my head. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with me.”

  She snickered. “Probably best. I have a feeling they wouldn’t let you out of here if you tried. It’s not all bad, really. Once you get past the fact that there are vampires, and that they use humans as their guards, it’s not so bad.”

  I stared up at her, her cheeks blushed right to her ears. I couldn’t figure one thing out for the life of me. Yes, I’d been brought here against my will, but I hadn’t felt fear like I should have. “Can I ask you a question? Do you like the vampires?”

  Shannon placed her fork back down on the table in front of her and moved her hands to her lap. She seemed to take my question seriously, which I appreciated. I meant it seriously. Was she happy here? Were all these people happy here? Their parents, too. They pledged their lives to protect vampires, it all just seemed so surreal.