Raven Saga 01 - Raven

surprised you do not know about me, but yes, I am 435 years old. I am what people call, a vampire,” he smiled.
    It made sense. From the research I had done, I understood that vampires were usually beautiful people and Carmelo certainly was that. As I looked at my surroundings, I wondered how many other vampires lived in the caves and I shivered involuntarily.
    “Please do not be afraid of us here, Lilly. We are not the kind of vampires you should be frightened of. In fact you should not be afraid of anyone that lives in these caves. You can trust everybody here. Although they are not all Elders, some live here because they have nowhere else to go. You can probably imagine how difficult it is to blend into the crowds when you look like Theodore over there,” and he pointed to the ape man, “or Carla,” and he pointed to the lady with the webbed fingers.
    I nodded and asked why he had created the Elders in the first place.
    “After two hundred years of having nobody to go to for advice, or nowhere truly safe to go to when I needed to hide, I decided to create somewhere myself. I searched for a few years to find the right place and the right kind of people and creatures and we slowly built this place here in these caves. Our kind know this is a safe haven of peace.”
    “Wow... that's impressive,” I uttered as I took in more of the surroundings, amazed that this was created because of one man's, or should I say one vampire's, dream.
    “That's absolutely amazing,” said Jo dreamily.
    “Thank you, Jo,” he said, smiling as she sat staring at him.
    “Perhaps I can show you around when we have finished dining,” and he looked deep into her eyes as if he was looking right into her subconscious mind. Jo nodded gently and that was the moment I realised that Jo had fallen head over heels in love with a 435-year-old vampire.
    A vampire and a raven? Anything could happen in this world.
    After the majority of us had eaten (the vampires just kept us company), Carmelo and Jo headed off for a walk together and I went to check on Gabriel. As he was still fast asleep, I quietly tiptoed out and went to explore a little bit.
    “Oops, sorry Tabitha. I was just having a wander around,” I said as we had rounded a corner and, both deep in thought, had bumped straight into each other.
    “Sorry, I was in another world there for a minute. I was actually looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about something,” she said as we found a comfy old leather sofa to sink into.
    “What is it?” I asked, seeing that she was preoccupied.
    “I was thinking about what you mentioned on our way up here. When you spoke about your transformation you said that it had all started happening with the strange dreams.”
    I nodded, wondering what was bothering her.
    “Well, it's just that a few weeks ago I started having really bizarre dreams, a bit like yours.”
    “Everyone can have strange dreams and nightmares. Mine were only significant because of my blood relatives. Well, my genes I guess. Why are you worried?”
    “I've been dreaming that I am an animal too, a lynx, actually. Oh, it's probably silly. It's probably nothing.”
    “No, go on, what else?” I asked.
    “Do you remember Zoltan's reaction to you when he touched your hand?”
    I nodded.
    “When he first touched me he had the same reaction. Apparently that only ever happens whenever he is very close to cats. He didn't tell me before because he didn't think it was relevant but after having met you, I just wondered whether, somehow, I have the same ability.”
    I was intrigued so we decided that we would speak to Gabriel the following day. It sounded like something important was going on deep within her.
    I told her about what Charlie had seen at Christmas – that he had thought she was a witch.
    “Charlie was there?” she whispered and I nodded. “And he saw our fight?” She laughed. “Zoltan and I are always at each other's throats. We fight like cat and dog... oh...” as she said it, she realised what she was saying and we both began laughing. “Maybe you really are then,” I giggled.
    “But a witch? He got that wrong,” she insisted.
    “He said you appeared to be casting spells,” I said and this time she nodded.
    “Yes, that's right. I always try to do the right thing and then find out that it wasn't the right thing. That's why I've come back to the Elders now. I want them to teach me where I'm going wrong.”
    I didn't have a clue what she meant and so