Cardinal Devotion

Prologue: That Which We Call Destiny

The lyrics of some random song blared in Charlie's ears as she strode along the sidewalk, head bobbing to the tune. A forty-pound weight, bitterly named her backpack, was slung along one shoulder, bulging with textbooks and other papers that bore the malice of that night's homework. She had flunked her math test. Forty-nine percent…one measly tick away from a passing grade, and she had missed it.

And to top it all off, it was one hell of a bleary day outside. Gray clouds, yet no rain. Warm air, yet a biting wind. Horrible. Absolutely, positively awful…just like the rest of her day.

"Hey, Lee!" The voice came out of nowhere, and Charlie nearly leapt out of that forty-pound mass dangling from her back. Stifling a shriek, she plucked the miniature microphones from her ears and turned around. Great…just who I wanted to see.

She hitched a thumb in her jean pocket, "What is it, Geoffrey?"

"Oh," he shrugged, "nothing. Just wanted to see how high you'd jump." Grinning like one with a noticeably large ego (a statement that was not at all false), the rather attractive classmate hoisted his skateboard up into the crook of his arm and spun on heel, before waltzing back towards the school. Charlie glared knives after him, wanting very much to break that skateboard in two atop his head.

But she was too tired to do even that. Yup…even the thought of smashing deck and wheels across that arrogant scalp of his didn't thrill her like it normally did.

And that was truly saying something.

Not necessarily wishing to deal with her mother's reaction quite yet, she popped into Velvet's, a local ice cream parlor, for a quick treat. "Uh…I'll have the pina colada sorbet." She shrewdly eyed the little candy dispenser at the server's side. "With brown sprinkles…"

Damnit…did it again. She waited as the cashier punched in her order and scooped a large bulge of cold deliciousness into a cone, deliciousness that was sure to go strait to her thighs within the hour. Paying, she then went back outside, screwing up her eyes as the chilled gust whipped her sandy hair back behind her ears.

It was mere moments before she had jammed the headphones back in and cranked the volume up full throttle. In My Place, her favorite song by Coldplay, worked as a methodical salve to her angst, though still failed to rid her mind of everything that burdened her.

As she paced, passing random strangers on the 17th Avenue sidewalk, the wind slapped at her and the pack dragged at her shoulder muscles. After ten minutes or so of circling the block she finally decided to sake a seat somewhere. Somewhere quiet.

Sighting, she slipped in behind an independent movie rental place and leaned up against the dirty brick wall. "Mmm…" A groan issued from her rosy lips. At least here, in the depressing shade of the building, the wind couldn't thrash her. It was a pitiful thing to find fortunate, but at that point she would grab and claw at anything that could possibly brighten the atmosphere.

Her bottom hit the gravel road as she finished her slide down, and she drew her knees up to her chest, leaning her head back against the stone and shutting her eyes. She didn't hear the footsteps madly raging towards her, or the ferocious bellow of defiance that should have greeted her ears. No, because of damn Coldplay she almost didn't even notice as the guy leapt towards her. But, alas, as the gravel shifted unnaturally under the soles of her shoes, she opened her eyes…and what she saw terrified her.

A boy, perhaps a year or so older than she, had her braced against the brick, hands pressed, palm forwards, on either side of her, and a horrifying glint in his brilliantly grass-green eyes. Shell shocked, Charlie did nothing, only stared up at him with her own hazel gaze. It took a moment to register the fact that this wasn't quite a normal boy, though when it finally sunk in that what she was seeing was real, her reaction greatly revealed her thoughts.

"HOLEY SHIT!" Tearing arms thrashed to and fro at his face, nails scratching against his cheeks. However, he didn't even begin to fight back. Squeezing his eyes shut and grimacing, he only let his head fall forwards and clamped a hand over her mouth to quell her shrieks.

"Please, please be quiet," he pleaded, taking both of her hands in one of his and raising his intense stare.

This couldn't be real…he wasn't human. Charlie shook her head frantically, tears streaming down her face as she attempted to scream through his hand. It was a large hand, long tapered fingers wrapping around most of her jaw, and the cold palm calloused yet still soft to the touch. Had it been in any other situation, she would have liked that hand…but the situation was not different, despite her frantic, internal pleas. Oh god…what the hell is he?

His, or its, eyes softened at the sight of her fear, and at this Charlie's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Fuck," he whispered hoarsely, "Fuck…" Tears as red as a ripe poppy welled in his eyes, and Charlie stared back in horror as they ran down his pale visage, leaving twin trails of ruby stain along his skin. He is tall, she noticed within the daze she had become a part of, even crouched over me like that he is as tall as I would be standing… This realization both perplexed her and scared her.

For several moments, all the he did was stare at her. As if she was under a spotlight, those cold eyes, eyes that shouldn't be cold, took her in…drank her up into the pools of emerald ice. When he spoke, his voice was soft and sad. "I'm not going to hurt you." That frightening face shook ever so slightly, and more bloody droplets cascaded from his eyes. Charlie just stared back at him, her eyes intent on the fangs that gleamed into sight whenever he spoke, and the faint point of his ears that revealed themselves each time he turned his head.

"Wh-what are you?" she stuttered, voice small and insignificant in the chilly air. However, instead of answering, the boy clenched his fists and collapsed onto his knees, something between a sob and a groan fleeing his lips. His head dropped down onto her shoulder, and she stared down at its crown, the dark brown hair spilling over his scalp and sticking to his cheeks.

Utter shock. That's what she felt: raw, undeniable confusion. More sobs followed the first, and after a bit his hands clenched onto the front of her shirt, knuckles turning white. "Oh god," he moaned, the sound muffled by the fabric, "Oh god, I don't know. Damnit, I fucking don't know!"

((alright…I may or may not continue this story, depending on what people say. If I get five reviewers wanting me to go on, I most certainly will…if I don't within, say, a week, I don't know. Really depends. But please feel free to critique and compliment my work. I have to say I had fun writing this! D))

.-'Crypt'-.