Chapter 1-5 One Day at a Time

 

CHAPTER 1

One dreary Monday afternoon in October Trevor was hitting trick shots at an empty goal, as he often did after practice had finished. The feeling of letting loose and having fun on the pitch made him feel alive, no need to be the captain of the team, always striving for perfection, just pure fun. He lined up for one last shot before starting his warm down as his coach would be back in about 20 minutes to lock up the pitches and put away the rest of the equipment that Trevor was still using. Without thinking he slapped the ball so hard that it sounded like thunder when the ball collided with his stick, the ball took off into the darkening sky and soared into the distance. Frustrated, Trevor cursed under his breath, threw his stick to the ground and started to jog in the direction of the ball, silently hoping that no one would witness this superhuman feat.

Daniel was tending to the school garden and installing the new wildlife boxes he had built in technology. Here he truly felt peace, there were no jocks hassling him for being small and skinny, or giving him grief for being gay. He had his earphones in and was listening to his music when out of nowhere he felt the earth shudder beneath his feet. Daniel jumped up and pulled his earphones out of his ears. He turned to see a massive crater in the ground about a metre behind where he was knelt. He went over to the new hole in his garden to investigate and to his surprise he pulled a hockey ball out of the center of the hole. Full of confusion he looked around expecting people to be nearby with hockey sticks, but there was no one around. Daniel was drawn from his thoughts by someone calling out nearby. 

Trevor saw a small guy in the school garden holding his hockey ball, and looking around, he considered turning around and leaving the guy in his confused state but something pushed him to go over and introduce himself despite the consequences, Trevor jogged over to the garden calling out.

“Hey, sorry about that. Are you okay?” Trevor called Daniel. 

Trevor hopped over the fence and walked over to Daniel who was still holding the ball in front of him with a confused look on his face. Daniel watched Trevor walk over to him and everything slowed down as this specimen of perfection seemed to glide towards him. Trevor stopped and stood in front of Daniel and looked down at the ball that was now between them. 

“Hey, I’m Trevor”

“I.. I’m Daniel.”  Daniel asked, breaking the trance he was in “where did this come from?”

“Oh, um, I was just over there,” Trevor said, not breaking their eye contact, pointing in a vague direction in the rough area of the hockey pitch, hoping Daniel didn’t ask anymore questions.

The two stood for a few moments not saying anything, just stood in the feeling they didn't know they were sharing, with the ball between them before Trevor put his hand over the ball to take it off of Daniel. 

“I'll come back soon and fix the hole that my ball left,” Trevor said.

“It's fine you don't have to I can fix it, it won't take me long” Daniel said 

“I made a mess and I always clean up my messes” Trevor said with a small smirk, and a sparkle in his eye. “I have to return the ball and grab my stuff but I will be back soon, I promise”

Trevor jumped the fence and jogged back the way he came. His promise hung heavy in the air.

Daniel stood for a few seconds watching as Trevor disappeared around the corner. Daniel stood watching the way Trevor and went long after Trevor had disappeared from view. 

CHAPTER 2

When Trevor had finished tidying up after his practice he went back to the garden to find that Daniel had fixed the hole in the garden and was locking the gate. It was lightly raining Trevor couldn’t help but notice how the rain had settled like dew over Daniel’s hair. It looked like the stars sparkling in the night sky. Trevor looked down and noticed that Daniel’s hands were shaking as he fiddled with the lock. Trevor jogged over to Daniel and took the padlock out of his hands.

“Here let me” Trevor said as he looked at Daniel.

“Thank you, my hands are so cold and they won't stop shaking” Daniel said with a nervous giggle, tucking his hands under his arms in an attempt to warm them up. Trevor chuckled, turned to see Daniel tensed up.

“You were supposed to wait for me” Trevor said

“I was getting cold so I just filled it and was about to head home”

Trevor looked at Daniel who was standing shivering in the cold. He took off his hoodie and handed it to Daniel.

“Won’t you be cold?”

“The cold doesn't really bother me.”

Daniel took the hoodie and put it over his head. He couldn't help but notice how Trevor's shirt clung to his muscular torso, and the sleeves stretched to fit over his arms. The shirt was wet with a mixture of sweat and rain. It didn't seem to bother Trevor at all, he just stood and smiled as Daniel fixed the hoodie which was about two sizes too big for him, the hood hung over his forehead and covered his eyes. 

“Thank you” Daniel replied as he moved the hood away from his eyes.

“It's no problem, it looks better on you then it does on me anyway.”

“I should probably go home, I can give you back the hoodie tomorrow” Daniel said as he started to blush, unsure if Trevor was flirting or if it was all in his head.

“Do you have to go home now? I was going to get a coffee if you wanted to join”

“Umm… I’d have to let my parents know”

Daniel pulled his phone out to call his parents but it had died.

“Do you want to borrow my phone?” 

Trevor handed his phone to Daniel. Daniel typed in a phone number and lifted the phone to his ear, and walked a few paces away. After a few minutes he handed the phone back to Trevor with a shaky hand and a small smile on his face.

“Where are we going?” Daniel said as Trevor took the phone.

“There's a small coffee shop nearby that I always go to after practice.”

The two of them walked away from the garden and out of the school gates. Neither were aware of the journey they were about to embark on. Neither were aware of the shitshow coming their way. Neither were aware of their importance.

The two boys sat in the coffee shop while the hours slipped away talking about nothing particular. They were completely absorbed in the moment with each other and oblivious to the world around them. They were pulled out of their conversation when Trevor's phone rang. A deep look of concern ran across his face as he looked at his phone screen.

“What's wrong?” Daniel asked.

“I should get going, it’s late.” Trevor said as he got up abruptly.

“Oh I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then”

“Yeah, sorry about this, I had a really good time.”

Trevor stood up, picked up his bags and hurried off. Leaving a very confused Daniel in the coffee shop. 

CHAPTER 3 

Trevor hurried out of the coffee shop and turned round the corner to the side alley of the coffee shop. He dropped his bags behind some bins and looked at his phone, he had 12 missed calls covering his lockscreen.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Trevor exclaimed.

He redialed the number and held the phone to his ear. As the phone rang Trevor paced the alley. When the call connected Trevor was met by shouting.

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?” 

“I’m on my way home now, what's wrong?”

“A family meeting has been called. We were expecting you over an hour ago”

The phone hung up and he put it in one of his bags, he then left his bags in the alley. The owner of the shop would pick up the bags for him, as he often did when Trevor left his bags in this alley. Trevor was not your ordinary 18 year old. He was a vampire and shapeshifter, he would leave his bags in this alley so he could shift. This evening he chose the shape of a raven, as he needed to get home as quickly as possible. He felt bad for leaving Daniel at the coffee shop like that, he had wanted to at least offer to walk him home, dark and mysterious things walk the street in the dark. 

Trevor landed at the front door and returned back to his true form, he took a deep breath to steady himself before reaching for the handle. The door in front of him flew open and a large dominating figure loomed over him in the door frame.

“Sorry I’m late father, I lost track of time, it won’t happen again.'' Trevor said as he knelt at his fathers feet.

“It doesn’t matter now son.” his father replied in a stern solemn tone. “We have received news that a powerful witch family has become active in the area. We all need to keep a low profile. We have enough blood harvested to sustain us for a couple of months as long as no one gets greedy, and NO shapeshifting in public.”

“We haven't had any issues with the witches in a while, why are they active all of a sudden?” Trevor asked, still knelt at his fathers feet. 

“We will talk about that later, for now go shower and change, your mother and siblings have waited for you long enough” his father commanded as he turned to the side to let Trevor slink past.

As Trevor rushed up the stairs to get into the shower his mind was consumed with thoughts of Daniel, how cute Daniel looked in his hoodie, with the sleeves covering his hands and the hood falling over his eyes every time he moved his head, the way the rain rested on his hair, the way he blushed every time Trevor made a flirty comment or the half smile that took over his face that let Trevor know he liked the flirting.

 As Trevor stepped out of the shower. He was hit by an unimaginable pain like nothing he'd ever felt before. He grabbed at the shower door to brace himself, but due to the condensation he couldn’t catch a grip. He fell to the floor and the last thing he remembered was a sharp pain as his head smashed through the sink.

CHAPTER 4

Daniel sat in the coffee shop and finished his hot chocolate, before leaving the table and heading for the door. As he walked down the path he glanced down the side alley he noticed a heap of bags partially hidden behind the coffee shop. Daniel wandered down the alley to investigate, when he got closer he recognised the bags, they were Trevors, why would Trevor leave his bags in an alley? Daniel turned around and walked back to the main path. 

Daniel walked home and forgot about the bags, instead his mind full of thoughts of his afternoon with Trevor. When he returned home he called out for his mum to let her know that he was home, but he received no answer, he dropped his bag at the foot of the stairs and went to the kitchen to see if his mum was there, he found a note stuck to the fridge. The note read:

“Hi darling, your father and I are in an urgent meeting in the office. We should be finished soon. Xoxo”

Daniel's mum and dad worked for some big company, Daniel wasn’t sure what they did, they never really explained it to them. They worked from home so they had an office room that they had soundproofed so that Daniel could walk around and not risk disturbing them.

They were often in meetings when he came home, so Daniel was used to them being in the office. He poured himself a glass of orange juice, picked up his bag from the bottom of the stairs and went up to his bedroom. He put his phone on charge and grabbed his towel and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. He turned on the water to let it heat up and began to undress. As he stepped into the shower he got a piercing headache. He doubled over and screamed in pain.  His vision went blurred and he lost feeling in his limbs. He barely felt it when he hit the floor.

CHAPTER 5

When Trevor woke up he was in the den of his house, his mother was standing over him. 

“What happened mother?”

“You passed out Trevor. I found you on the bathroom floor. You lost a lot of blood and need to rest.”

As Trevor started to move and look around he noticed that he had been hooked up to a blood bag. The cut on his head had already healed. He felt very weak, the blood was helping but he knew he would need more. He removed the needle connecting his arm to the blood bag and drank the blood straight from the bag. As he did he felt a rush of energy. His eyes turned pure black as he drank. 

“I need more,” he gasped.

 “NO! You have had your fill, we have to make our human stock last. If you had bothered to come to the meeting you would know that.” his father said in a stern voice “if you need more blood you will have to go on a hunt for some animal blood.”

“Now simon that's harsh the poor boy needs it to heal” his mother pleaded

“Mother it's okay”

His mother turned to his brother in the corner “Jason go and get another blood bag from storage.”

His brother rushed out of the room and returned in seconds with a fresh bag of blood and handed it to their mother, who pressed it to Trevor's lips. Unable to resist his urge Trevor latched on to the bag and drained it, feeling another surge of energy. 

“What a waste” his father muttered under his breath as he turned and left the room.

“Don’t worry about him, he's just worried about the witches.”

“What's happening with the witches?”

“We received reports that there are witches in the area and there is immense power coming from them.”

“We haven’t had any issues with witches in centuries, why now?”

“They have had a diminished power after the last war, but we’ve had reports that they have been grouping in this area, and we don’t know why. We have to be careful. Even with diminished power a witch can still be dangerous.”

“I understand mother, I’m sorry I missed the meeting I got caught up at practice and then I went for a coffee and I lost track of time”

“It's okay, he’s just stressed, he lost many friends in the war and he doesn't want to lose us as well.”

Trevor looked at his mother and saw pain in her eyes, she hated it when Trevor fought with his father.

“I will go and talk to him,” Trevor said. He hated to see his mother upset.