Artemis the Chosen - M. Jade Glock (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📗

“Who's watching the club?” Erica asked, trying to distract Dan from directing his anger at her, it made her nervous that her own anger would escalate. 

As if remembering his duties he gave Erica a look that said 'this isn't over' and walked back out to the front.

Erica wasn't particularly fond of Dan's bipolar bursts. His condition made her vampyre instincts flare which made it that much harder to control. She knew that if she did not keep herself in check someone would wind up dead. It shocked even her when she decided to become a vegetarian, even though it was a precaution. She eliminated every temptation for the reason that she didn't want what she hated to reveal itself to the world. She kept herself from craving blood by not consuming it at all. Though everyone naturally assumed that she was a vegetarian to save wildlife and animals, but if she was completely honest with herself she didn't care enough about animals not to eat them. Though her anger was still an obstacle that she needed to face every day. Her vampyric DNA would flare along with her rising emotions, causing her to want to kill. The only remedy that she was able to find was actually searching out a yoga group which talked about finding her inner peace. She breathed in and out, calming herself through breathing exercises. Once finished she hung up her coat, putting her keys in the pocket, and entered the serving area with a big smile on her lips.

Erica was nothing but a blur for how busy Self Indulgence was. She wondered if there was some kind of party going on or something. To her knowledge there wasn't anything special going on. It was after Christmas but it wasn't New Year's either. Her curiosity was quenched when she found out what was going on from one of the guests.

“Wow, it sure is busy in here tonight, I wonder what the occasion is,” Erica began as an open line to a gentleman sitting at the bar.

“Yeah, it's kind of stupid really. The end of the world is suppose to be tonight because the Mayan calendar has run out.” The man said, staring Erica in the eyes as he talked to her, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“The Mayans? But didn't they go extinct ages ago? How could they predict the future?” Erica asked, a playful atmosphere surrounding her. 

The young man just shrugged his shoulders.
“Like I said, it's stupid, but you'll use any excuse to have a drink right?” He laughed and Erica chuckled along with him.

“Well, enjoy yourself, sir.” She poured him some rum, an unusual request, but he had been drinking it all night.

“Thanks. Here's to the end of the world.” He nodded in her direction and downed his drink in one swig. She just smiled his way as she filled his glass once more. He then walked towards a group that she assumed were his friends, leaving her at the bar by herself. Though it didn't last long.

Another man approached the bar, though he did not seem to have a glass. As he came closer she offered him a drink; which he refused quickly.

“Are you Erica?” Erica was surprised by this and immediately became cautious. She bit her lip to keep her canine teeth from growing into points because of the pending threat.

Inner peace, inner peace, she reminded herself. 

“Who are you?” She inquired, as politely as she could. 

“A man on a mission, are you Erica or not? If not, then I must be on my way.”

Just as she was about to tell him that she was not the person he was looking for, Dan came up behind her and answered for her.

“Yes, she is Erica.”

Erica scowled at her boss, giving him a deathly glare, but he ignored it.

“Now that you know, I would ask that you take your conversation outside, you're making the other guests uncomfortable.”

Erica was not about to leave anywhere out of the public eye with the man in front of her, she would rather spit. But the man grabbed her arm and nodded to Dan.

“We won't be too long sir.”

Dan just smiled mischievously.

“Don't be too rough with her.”

Erica's stomach began to churn with disgust. She was pulled, or rather dragged, from the bar and out the back into the alleyway. It was then that she wrenched her arm from the mysterious man.

“What's the meaning of this? I demand to know who you are! I warn you, I may look small but I can knock your high class tail on the pavement.”

“There's not time to explain. Here.”

He handed her a rather old looking book, thrusting it into her hands.

“This book holds everything that you need to know.”

He began to walk away but she grabbed his arm.

“Wait, you must be mistaken. I don't know who you are, where you come from, and I certainly don't know what this book is.”

“It's what will help you save the world, and give you your heart's desire.” He said simply.

Her grip loosened on his arm and he slipped from her grasp, turning the corner and disappearing into the darkness.
Dan swung the back door open, not happy in the slightest.

“Erica, back inside. We've got customers and no server.”

I need a new job, She thought to herself.

Instead of replying to him she entered back into the establishment, hiding her new book under the bar.

She worked until dawn and never stopped thinking about her encounter with the strange man. As Erica left the bar, she took her book with her, tossing it onto the passenger seat of her car. She drove home and made it into her apartment, book in hand. She then set it onto the kitchen counter. She stretched her arms and yawned. It had been a long night and she was tired. She moseyed over to her wall of glass and began to close the curtains. The little bit of sun that peeked through the building sent a pounding pain through her skull.

“What a nuisance.” She said as she closed the curtains the rest of the way.

The pounding pain ceased as soon as the curtains were drawn. She crawled into bed and closed her eyes after changing into her sleepwear, not knowing that the book was open and emanating a force that would not keep her safe for long.

Chapter II

Erica could not admit to a peaceful sleep, not by a long shot. Only a few hours after she went to bed did she hear rustling in her apartment. Being a vampyre, all of her senses were heightened, much more than the average human's. It was one of the only perks that she actually liked about her race. She opened her eyes instantly, quickly scanning the room without moving. She saw that there was someone in the kitchen. Her instincts told her to bite the intruder and drain them of their blood, after all, it would be in self defense. But if she killed them that way, it would be an impossible task to explain it to the police. She slowly reached for her end table drawer which contained a pistol for situations such as this. She wrapped her fingers around the weapon without a sound.

“I wouldn't try that if I were you.”

Erica froze as the female voice resonated throughout the room.

Erica made up her mind within seconds. Faster than she ever moved before, she aimed and fired at the shadow that intruded her home. She knew the bullet connected, she saw it, but the woman seemed to have deflected it somehow.

“That's impossible,” Erica whispered into the darkness.

The shadow had her pinned down before Erica had the chance to react.

“Oh, but it is,” It hissed in her ear. It breathed on her neck causing Erica's vampyre DNA to flare.

“Leave, now, and I'll forget that you're breaking the law.”

All the while Erica was trying to remind herself to breath, to calm down despite her desperate position.

“And waste such a beautiful creature such as you? I think not.” Without warning the woman bit into the base of Erica's neck. She yelped in pain. Erica's eyes turned a glowing yellow that could be seen in the darkness. Her canines grew into points and she roared, releasing the monster withing her. She threw the woman off of her and across the room. She laughed, a maniacal sound leaving her throat as all sense left her body.

“You should have listened when I told you to leave. Now you won't escape with your life.”

Erica grinned evilly as she advanced upon the other vampyre. She was able to pounce onto her before she could recover. She dug her nails into the vampyre's shoulder, thrusting her against the wall. She grabbed her by her throat and closed her fingers around her esophagus.

“Time to say goodnight.”

With her air passages completed blocked, it wouldn't be long before she went limp as her life slipped away from her. But the vampyre continued to smile.

“I hope you know what you're doing,” she managed to say.

It didn't take much longer before she died. Erica released her and her eyes turned back to their light blue color. Her teeth sank back in, returning to their human state. Common sense flooded back into her and she realized what she had done. Her eyes widened in terror at the woman lying on her floor. Her eyes watered with tears.

“I am such a monster,” she cried into her hands.

She didn't care for the woman, she cared that she was capable of killing someone so easily and without restraint. Though the woman was a vampyre just like her, she didn't feel any sort of kinship towards her. She hated herself and everyone who was like her.

“You were stupid. So stupid,” she said to the dead body.

It was then that she began to wonder why her home was broken into in the first place. She remembered that the intruder was rummaging around in her kitchen.

“Why in the world would you steal something from there? There's nothing of value-”

She stopped mid-sentence and walked into the little kitchenette, wondering if her suspicions held any merit. She searched the counters and couldn't find the book handed to her by the man in the bar. Anxiety filled her chest, though for what reason, she didn't know.

“Where's the book?” She said aloud.

She rummaged through drawers and