Dark Beginnings (The Real World Series, Book Two)

By Elizabeth Lord

Liser is devastated by the murder of someone she loved deeply and is determined to seek revenge. Ellie is trying to come to terms with the trauma of her abduction and new, burgeoning magical powers. Cruel, sadistic killers are on the loose and The Coven decide to hunt them. A vindictive ghost is starting to raise his head again. Amidst the death and confusion that follows, love somehow manages to creep through and give strength to those who need it most.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Lord
• Release date: Jan 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310445071

Elizabeth Lord

I'm married with one son. I grew up on the outskirts of London and Kent but have subsequently lived in various places throughout England. I currently live in The Midlands.I have always been a real book worm and love nothing better than to escape into a story. I can remember sitting in my bedroom when I was about five years old, writing a story about a cat. I decided then that I wanted to be an author ... it just took me a few years to start!I read most genres but particularly enjoy Fantasy: there is something about that genre that challenges the reader to open their mind, to explore their imagination and to let go of the mundane.I'd like to take this opportunity to thank readers for their support. Please come and find me on Facebook: I love making new friends!Kind regards, Lizzie.

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Dark Beginnings

Book Two of

The Real World Series

Vampires have evolved … the Emotes are here

By Elizabeth Lord

Copyright 2013 Elizabeth Lord

Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to my wonderful husband and son, who have encouraged and supported me in chasing the dream …

My friends & family, I love you dearly.

My Dad and Nan … I miss you every day.

Elizabeth Lord can be found on:

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Or just follow the smell of coffee …

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents are products of the author’s own imagination. They are not real.

Any similarities supposed or real, to either real or fictional characters and/or stories are a total coincidence. Any deliberate references (i.e direct quotes) are stated as such. Any resemblance to people (alive or dead), circumstances, incidents or fictional works are completely coincidental and unintentional.

All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any way without the author’s express written permission. The author can be contacted through Facebook.

Please remember that the author has worked hard to produce this book. To read this story without paying for it (unless through an authorised promotion) would be like you going to work but not receiving a salary.

Dark Beginnings

Book Two of

The Real World Series

Vampires have evolved … the Emotes are here

By Elizabeth Lord

Copyright 2013 Elizabeth Lord

Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Charles Darwin

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

Martin Luther King Jr

Allowing ourselves to love is a dangerous gamble. We voluntarily trust our hearts, our mental and our emotional wellbeing to another person. Our happiness no longer depends just on ourselves but is interwoven with the actions and desires of another. We know that there is always a chance that we may lose our lover to another person, illness or death. Yet we continue to freely sacrifice our independence on the altar of love, reckless of our well-being and security … to look into another person’s eyes, to connect on a deep, spiritual level and feel the world blur into oblivion around us … if only for a short while …. It is something, considered by many worth any sacrifice needed to secure that bond. How big a sacrifice is too much though? How much pain and heart ache can be endured in the name of love?

Lizzie Lord.

01/11/13

CHAPTER ONE

Liser stood in front of the full length mirror, staring at herself, without really seeing her reflection. Idly, her slender fingers picked a miniscule piece of fluff from her otherwise perfect designer-label black suit. The form fitting jacket clung to her curves, the skirt sat mid-thigh … showing long black-stockinged legs, that ended in very high stiletto heels. She pushed long mahogany locks out of the way to insert jet earrings into small lobes and then turned to face the ordeal that waited downstairs.

The garden had been converted. Seating now crowded the grove that was unusually silent. All birdsong had ceased. The local wildlife sensed the over-whelming supernatural presence and had fled. Everywhere she cast her eyes she saw Emote and Vampire, Shape Shifter and Elves, Witches and Warlocks. They had all made the journey from afar, intent on paying their last respects.

Liser made her way numbly to the seats that housed her family, refusing to look at the huge portrait that was the focal point of the memorial service. There was no body … there never was. A body meant the possibility of regeneration. There would be no regeneration: the dvd had confirmed his tortured last moments. He really was dead.

His mate sat to Liser’s left, her shoulders shaking in grief, as she tried to contain the sobs building within her. Their coven leader had his arm round her shoulders, attempting futile comfort.

Ellie looked across at Liser, her face streaked with tears, eyes swollen and red. Liser looked coldly back at the human. Her face was a carefully schooled impassive mask and yet Ellie still flinched in obvious fear. Ellie had always been frightened of her … as well she should be! It was her fault! They had lost someone they loved … someone Liser had loved for many years … and it was Ellie’s fault. Liser cursed the day James had met Ellie and wished yet again that they had never stumbled across this God-forsaken, backward little town.

Liser’s gaze slid away, looking for something to focus on that was away from the portrait of his beloved face … away from the sympathetic stares that threatened to bring forth her own sobs of despair. She felt the carefully constructed walls of protection crack around her heart.

She felt Bobby grip her hand in a sign of solidarity and she fought an internal battle, wanting to wrench her hand from his grasp but knowing that it would be cruel to do so. Her physical attraction to him was waning already. Her original desire to taunt James with Bobby’s obvious desire was now irrelevant.

Her eyes slid back to the painting against her will. Her heart felt heavier than it had in her entire existence and her eyes prickled with unshed tears. She hadn’t realised that she could love someone this much.

Her mind slipped to the W.H Auden poem ‘Funeral Blues’ and one particular verse kept repeating in her head:

‘The stars are not wanted now;

put out every one,

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;

For nothing now can ever come to any good."

Nothing would ever be the same again. She had loved him, totally and irrevocably.

And now he was dead.

A single tear escaped its restraint and slipped down a face that was otherwise expressionless and devoid of emotion.

He was dead and she had to face the rest of her existence without him. The Ice Queen removed her hand from Bobby’s, crossed her long legs and began to build more walls around her heart.

Liser watched Jared move his arm from Mimi's shaking shoulders and walk confidently to stand next to Gareth's portrait. Even burdened with grief, her new coven leader oozed quiet confidence, his presence commanding attention from everyone there. He cleared his throat and glanced briefly at their family, before addressing the general sea of mourners.

A sudden panic filled Liser. The thought of listening to him talk about the only father figure that she'd ever known made her heart beat uncomfortably, making it difficult for her to breathe through the sudden tightness of her chest. She stood abruptly and strode back to the house that she’d only just left, seeking solitude and needing to escape the feeling of being smothered by the emotions bombarding her.

Emotes fed on emotion. It wasn't a conscious action. Their bodies absorbed emotions for sustenance, as automatically as their lungs sought oxygen. They were usually pretty calm themselves, not prone to emotional highs and lows. Jared had previously claimed that they were more Vulcan than human.

Certain circumstances released their suppressed emotions though. Love ... bonding with their life–mate ... was one. Grief was another. This was magnified in situations where many gathered, as they not only had to deal with their own grief but were bombarded by the grief of everyone around them. This was a step too far for Liser. It was hard enough coming to grips with losing someone that you loved. Knowing that they had been horrifically tortured. Knowing that they'd been punished for someone else's sin. She couldn't endure the weight of everyone else's grief too. She literally felt like she was being suffocated by the thick blanket of negativity surrounding her. She strode past mourners as though the devil himself were on her heels, barely noticing their startled glances.

James started to stand, intent on following her but Bobby reached over and placed a restraining hand on his arm. He quickly shook his head, a clear warning ... before rising to follow her himself. He loved him like a brother but even he couldn't deny the awful truth ... that the blame fell mainly on James' shoulders. Yes, they'd all played a part in the events that had resulted in today’s service but ultimately it had been James' decisions that had led them to this point. Only Liser had been blameless, due to her refusal to participate in Ellie's rescue attempt: her refusal to involve herself in a mere human’s concerns.

Bobby sighed as he walked slowly after her, unsure of his reception. Their relationship had been brief and incredibly intense but he felt the flame waning already. She was as sexy as fuck but far too high maintenance for his taste. He hoped desperately that she ended it before he was forced to. The family had already been fractured by one love affair … he didn't want to add to that strain.

She was the most gorgeous creature he'd laid eyes on in his very long life. It was like looking at a male fantasy brought to life. She was also the best lay he'd ever had ... sex with her had blown his mind. She'd been insatiable and willing to try anything.

However, he'd hoped that their intimacy in the bedroom would encourage her to be more open and communicative outside it. It hadn't. She'd been as closed off and reticent as ever. It wasn't possible to bond with someone who never shared their thoughts … unless it was through screaming in temper ... and she had one hell of a volatile temper on her. He knew what turned her on but didn’t have a clue about her past or what she was ever thinking. Their kind were always able to read the emotive state of other beings, even each other. It was un-nerving that she was able to hide her feelings so well.

She stood in front of the study window, her back to him, as she stared resolutely outside. Her back, her shoulders ... all were stiff ... held ram–rod straight. She'd come straight to Gareth's favourite room ... his refuge. It remained unchanged. Exactly how he'd last left it.

It hurt to be here.

It hurt to see the half-drunk glass on the table, where Gareth had placed it. A book lay open on his desk, a leather marker holding his place: the place that he would now never return to. Bobby fought back tears, finding it suddenly hard to swallow or breathe. Gareth's presence was palpable here. Bobby could even still smell his lingering scent.

What do you want Bobby? Liser snapped at him. She didn't turn but she didn't need to. All of an Emotes senses were as keen as their eye sight.

I was worried about you he said quietly. We're all grieving but ...

"But you forgive them! James and the human should be shunned ... banished from our coven. Gareth's blood is on their hands! Yet they are still accepted by the family, still allowed to attend today! Even Mimi fails to shun them! It's sickening!

Leave me alone Bobby ... I need to think ... need to decide whether I want to stay in a family where loyalty is disregarded and travesties are accepted".

Liser ...

I said leave me alone Bobby ... NOW!

Bobby sighed. The shit pile just kept getting deeper and deeper. They'd lived in relative peace for many years, until James had finally bonded ... with a human of all things ... instead of another Emote as he should have. Things had gone tits up since then.

Mark had turned up: a vampire James had spurned in his youth and who’d consequently held a grudge against him. He'd kidnapped Ellie, so the four male family members had rushed on a rescue mission, leaving Mimi behind in case of any new leads arising. Liser had refused to get involved with a lowly human. Bobby liked Ellie but now wished that they'd all listened to Liser.

Instead they'd tracked Mark down … taken out several of his human pets and his dark Emote. James had beheaded Mark and set fire to his remains. The rescue attempt had been too late though, as Ellie had already been released by the Elves, who'd healed her and revealed her true nature. She was Witch.

They’d involved themselves needlessly.

They hadn't known that Mark belonged to a group of Ancients. All Hunters. All of whom believed that the new laws forbidding them to hunt were unnatural: Their government had decided that with a surplus of Bleeders ... voluntary blood donors ... hunting was unsustainable, cruel, unnecessary and no longer acceptable. The Hunters hated the new order of the world. They hated Emotes and what they represented.

The Hunters believed that Vampires were naturally at the top of the food chain. They saw the creation of the Emote race as an attempt to topple them from that position: Emotes were, after all, Vampires that had chosen to undergo a physical change, one that meant they no longer needed to drink blood to survive. They regarded themselves as evolved Vampires but The Ancients saw them as an unnatural regression: A perversion of nature.

The male Emotes of the coven had killed one of their own. Mark had been one of the oldest of the surviving Ancients. Therefore, they decided that the coven leader should pay for the transgressions of his family. They'd captured, tortured and killed Gareth. His terrifying and horrific last moments had been filmed and sent to his family.

It had been a cruel parody of Jacques demise. Jacques had been Vampire. He’d