vampires

Chapter One: New Beginnings, Red Sky

(Detailed Part One)

The clouds had dropped a little too low that evening on the hills of Dehradun. There was

moisture in the air, as if the rain was signaling its arrival. The lights of the city were dimming

in the mist, and somewhere in the distance, a faint line of lightning pierced the sky and

disappeared.

Ahana Malhotra looked out of the car window. The city was now his new home. New

school. New life. And maybe. New truths.

But the emptiness within him was not new.

His parents died in a mysterious accident two months ago. Midnight, hilly turn, broken car.

And no witnesses. The police called it an accident, but Ahana always felt — there was

something else that night. Something that cannot be put into words.

His fingers inadvertently touched the silver locket lying around his neck. This locket was

given to him by his mother when he was a child. Round shape, half moon in the middle and

a drop-like shape carved.

Never take it off, his mother had said,

It will protect you