Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

            Demons, blood, exhaustion, pain, was all I thought as I ran down the corridor of an old chapel; the colors of the depressing place filled the air. Blood splayed across my bruised face, but I still ran as fast as I could. I heard a scream from down the hall as I stopped to catch a brief gasp of air. I ran toward the noise. The hallway had the scent of blood and dirt and the scent grew stronger with every pace I made toward an open door at the end of the hall.

            Bursting in the room, I caught a glimpse of a dark figure bent over in the corner with two dead bodies in front of it. The creature turned to me, its face was a dark shade of grey and it didn’t have a nose or eyes. It opened its ungodly mouth, the sound it made was like a buzzer--I jumped up gasping for breath, my long light brown hair was stuck to my sweaty neck. I hit the alarm clock as I fell back on my bed and looked at the ceiling. Not that dream again. I thought to myself. It was a decade in the past that I saw my parents being murdered before me and yet my mind shows it as just yesterday.

             My name is Lexie Nash, and I was born into a family known widely for one thing. Demon Slaying. The tradition started many years ago, dating back to the early 1500's, but I won’t bore you with all the details. Demon slaying is a major tradition in my family, so at a very young age I began training. In many if not in all demon slaying families, each generation develops their own skill. My father's generation was brilliant at battle weapons and strategy. He taught me everything I know about strategy in battle and what to use when in a fight with a blood thirsty demon.

As soon as I was able to hold a weapon, my parents began numerous tests to determine what my new generation’s skill was. I am the only one in my generation so far, so all seemed lost when I wasn’t able to produce my new skill. Until one day I was placed into a surprise battle with an Eidolon Demon, or shape shifter demon. I was able to sense the demon before its true form came to the surface. My parents thought it was an odd skill to hold but they were happy all the same.

            The day my parents were murdered I realized that I had another skill. While at home preparing to go see my first demon slaying, I sensed something odd down in my jut. Chills ran down my spine, and every hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I found my mother and told her my feelings that a demon was near. She quickly got my father and I was told to hide in the cupboard in the kitchen. I left a crack in the door to see out, and I witnessed the attack, unable to remove my eyes from my parents being slaughtered right before me. After the demons were finished with my parents, they began looking for more humans. (Demons can smell when a human is near.) However they couldn't seem to sniff me out. That’s when I knew I had another skill. To this day I've had many people envy my skills, but I've never met someone else who could do what I can.

I swung my legs over my lumpy bed and stretched my tired bones. I looked over to see that my roommate, Rayne, was already up. My eyes took a scan of the room around me. On Rayne’s side of the room it was clean, the walls where colored with light blue and white spots here and there to express clouds. However, on my side of the room the walls where a depressing shade of black. Getting out of bed I walked to the closet, the doors creaked as I opened them. “Black or black?” I asked myself, as if I really had a choice.

Fair leaf, that’s the name of the boarding school I am attending. More formally it’s called Fair Leaf Academy for Gifted Young Adults. However the name is really just for show. All the kids that come here are gifted with Sight. We are able to see the side of the world most mundane people ignore. Granted there is very little about us that is special, other than we can handle ourselves with a sword. Anyone, if they are willing, can receive the gift of sight, they just need to open their mind to it. Sight, or Vista as some in my region would say, is just another way of saying, the ability to see. Now this is not just the idea that you have eyes and aren’t blind. Vista is the concept that you are able to push past the ordinary complexities of the world and see that which is hidden from the standard eye. In simpler terms, you can see demons, you can talk to demons, and you can fight demons.  

At Fair Leaf, students are separated into three different levels: level 1 is white, level 2 is grey, and level 3 is black. Kids who end up in white tend to have a very high GPA and get A’s in all their classes. Grey, is where all the kids with headstrong attitudes go. They typically have their best grades in Self-Defense and Weapons Strategy classes. Black is the level above all the others, they are intellectually skilled and can kick some major butt when in a fight. My level is black; however we also tend to get most hate from the other levels because we hold both traits instead of just one. Blacks also almost always get recruited into the high levels of our “military”, while whites and greys usually go into secretarial positions and infantry. The color of our level also indicates what color our uniform is and our uniforms also coincide with our level traits. Whites wear one-toned white raglan t shirts and white jeans. Greys wear skin tight, light weight, grey jump suits. In the black level we wear loose V-neck t shirts and black cargo pants.                         

 I slipped my outfit on and walked to the mirror near my desk. Combing through my hair a little bit, I yanked it up into a ponytail then applied some dark eyeliner to my eyes, and a little lip gloss to cover my pale lips. I shot a glance over at the clock near my bed; it was nearing time for class, so I grabbed my boots and slipped them on.

            “Come on Lex, we’re going to be late for first!” yelled Rayne from across the room. Rayne is in the grey level. She’s headstrong and can use a sword just as good as any boy, however she is also the most girly person I know. Just a glace and you would assume she was in white because of her appearance, but when you get to know her, she is as tough as anybody. I sighed as she yanked my arm toward our first period, Demon Bio.

 

Reviews

[Mr_M]

I think this is a very good start to a book. I like the way you compared her skills to something like being good at swimming or playing a sport. This element makes a fictional subject seem real. I have a feeling we will be coming back to the attack of her parents later on in the book. The dream at the beginning is strong and sets the tone. I am interested to know where you will going with this book...

[Stenson]

stay gold pony boy, stay gold