Prologue
Kelly
I filled up my tank, and could not believe the price of fuel. How was it possible that it had doubled since yesterday? Two vials?
Two vials had once been enough for me to pay the electricity in my apartment for a month, or a nice pair of shoes. Now, my hard-earned income seemed to go straight to gas or rent, and there was not much leftover for fun.
I shook my head in disgust and closed the gas cap tightly. As I ran into the station to pay for the fuel, it started to rain.
Behind the counter, a sullen, bored-looking teenager sat paying no attention to me as her fingers quickly worked her cell phone.
I cleared my throat to get her attention.
She looked up at me. “Pump number?” she asked, annoyed.
“Pump sixteen,” I said, mimicking her tone.
“That'll be two vials puh-lease,” she said, holding out her hand.
I reached into the cooling pouch inside of my bag and reluctantly handed over the two vials.
She smiled insincerely. “Thank you for shopping at Gas-N-Go. Have a nice day.”
Ignoring her, I grabbed the receipt from her hand, walked out the door, and then drove the short distance to my apartment building.
When I arrived, I unlocked the front door, walked in, and set my keys and purse on the counter. It was a decent enough place, but as I looked around, I had to admit that there were days when I really missed my expansive childhood home.
No need to start feeling sorry for yourself, I thought. You’re the one who made the choice to move away from home.
I’d wanted to prove to myself and to my parents that I could do it on my own. So far, I was doing okay, but if things continued and blood became anymore scarce, I wasn’t sure where exactly that would take me.
I sat down on the worn hand-me-down couch, kicked off my heels, and clicked on the television. As usual, the first five minutes of the news was about the latest Eternal death. There had been a recent string of them in the past few weeks, and in each case, the M.O. was the same. Obviously, someone or something didn’t appreciate us being here, and it was starting to worry me.
From what I’d been told, The Eternals had once been a dying breed, even just a few years ago. They’d been in hiding, and were only able to hunt for food at night. Then, a new leader had risen to power amongst them with a plan. A plan that would once and for all ensure the existence of their kind. Little had his race known what kind of cataclysmic chain of events he’d trigger by setting it into place.