Blood Born (The Dark Hills Series Book 1)

  Hana Blue

  Blood Born

  First published by Amazon KDP 2020

  Copyright © 2020 by Hana Blue

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Hana Blue asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Hana Blue has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  Cover created by myself using Canva, Pixabay images and Cool text PNG’s. All items used “No attribution required” This book has been edited by myself. Typos may occur.

  First edition

  ISBN: 9798648302013

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

  Find out more at reedsy.com

  To My Friends and Family…

  Thank you to my loving family and friends who have supported me on this journey that I have taken on. The love you all have shown me throughout my writing has been incredible and I couldn’t have gotten this far without you. I love you all more than words can even express.

  " Our greatest enemies, the ones we must fight most often, are within.”

  Thomas Paine

  Contents

  Acknowledgement

  1. Prologue ~ Run Away

  2. Aine & Caireen

  3. Dominic

  4. Excruciating

  5. What Are You?

  6. The Hunting Game

  7. What Have I Done?

  8. The Few & The Strong

  9. The Past is Gone

  10. Malicious Intent

  11. Eat Your Words

  12. A New World

  13. Warrior

  14. What Do You Want?

  15. Mine

  16. Haunted

  17. Demons

  18. Aine & The Baby

  19. Old Friends

  20. Evil Made

  21. Seeing Her

  22. Lilith

  23. Believe Me

  24. Family Curse

  25. His Angel

  26. Freedom

  27. Winds of Change

  28. Out of Hiding

  29. In Plain Sight

  30. Where It Began

  31. The Future Is This

  32. The Wage of War

  33. Promises Kept

  About the Author

  Acknowledgement

  Special thanks to Angie, Hayden, and Nikki for helping me in this process and playing as my beta readers for this novel. I couldn’t have gotten this done without your love and dedication. You are appreciated and loved dearly.

  One

  Prologue ~ Run Away

  Darkness filled the enormous home, a stillness looming over. Evangeline crept through the house, making her way to the upper floor. She knew of the horrendous scene that was unfolding nearby, and her only thought was to make sure her little boy was safe. She slowly opened the door at the end of the hallway to see her son fast asleep in his bed. Evangeline took a deep breath and approached him, dread building in her stomach.

  “Dominic baby, wake up.” She whispered close to his face. The boy didn’t move, leaving Evangeline to push on his shoulder gently.

  “Dominic, you need to wake up,” She muttered again, a little louder this time. Dominic brushed his wavy hair from his face and rubbed his eyes. Then he looked to his mother with confusion, taking in the worry that plastered all over her face.

  “What’s wrong mama?” Dominic asked her, sleep filling his voice as he rose from the bed to stand before her.

  Evangeline slowly got down onto her knees to look her son in the eyes.

  “I need you to listen to me Dominic, can you do that, baby?” She asked, desperately trying not to let her voice crack as she reached up to his face. He nodded solemnly, before dropping his gaze to the floor.

  “What’s going on mama?” He asked softly, recognizing that something serious had to have been going on.

  Evangeline let out a broken sigh before speaking again, slowly rubbing her thumb on Dominic’s cheek.

  “I need you to run Dominic, run far away from here.” Evangeline sighed again.

  “Run deep into the forest and hide, I will be right behind you.” She said, lifting Dominic’s chin up so he would look at her.

  “Don’t stop running till you’ve found a place to hide and do not stop if you see anyone with red eyes. They are not like us. They will kill you.” Her words came out with such pain.

  Evangeline knew sending him out alone was a risk, but she also knew it was an even bigger risk to have him stay. So despite the fear, she had him run, praying she could find him afterward. She pulled her little boy into her embrace and held him for a moment, realizing that this could very well be the last time she’d have the chance. With a long drawn in breath she basked in the scent of her baby boy, before pushing him to arm’s length.

  “Run, Dominic,” she said coldly.

  Without another word, Dominic ran out of his room and down the hallway, moving as fast as his legs could carry him. His heart was already trying to pound from his chest as he made it out of the house. That’s when he heard it. The sickening sound of gnashing teeth and blood-curdling howls in the distance. The sounds of war echoed around the trees, filling him with fear.

  “I need to run.” Dominic thought to himself, pushing his body to keep moving as he crossed the vast space between the house and the forest’s edge.

  A burning sensation flowed through his legs and chest as he kept running. The sight of the trees blurred around him as he weaved through them, the forest floor cracking and rustling underneath his feet. Desperately Dominic looked around him as he ran, searching for somewhere to hide, anywhere to hide. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, fight-or-flight kicking in the deeper he got into the trees.

  It seemed like hours had gone by as he ran, taking him far away from anything that was even remotely familiar, but he kept running. The sounds of the war ensuing becoming fainter. The surrounding trees thinned, and a gigantic mountain came into view.

  He got closer and closer to the enormous mass of land, finally seeing an end to the running. Nestled into the side of the mountain was a den of some sort, just hidden enough to keep humans away. He knew right away that was where he needed to go. Dominic picked up his speed as best as he could, pushing his body to unearthly limits.

  “Only a little farther,” he chanted in his mind for reassurance.

  Once reaching the mouth of the den, his legs turned into jelly, buckling underneath him, causing him to collapse onto the cold dirt floor. With all the energy in his body drained, he laid there. Clutching his chest and gasping for air as if there was none around him. Exhaustion flooded his body,
leaving Dominic to drift into a restless sleep.

  Slowly the night transitioned into day, leaving the horror of that night in its wake. Shining light on the land, now stained with blood and regret. The cool air around him warmed as the sun rose completely, lighting up the forest with a beautiful golden light. Dominic’s eyes opened slowly to the rays that crossed over his face, and dread filled his chest. Quickly he rose to his feet and searched around him.

  “MAMA!” Dominic cried out, his voice hoarse and cracking.

  They left him with no reply.

  “MAMA!” He screamed again, tears filling his eyes.

  Frantically he searched around him again, his eyesight blurred from the tears that were now falling at a rapid pace. A sickening feeling captured him as he realized she wasn’t there. His mother wasn’t there. The frighteningly daunting feeling of loneliness and loss crushed him. Sending him down to his knees in an instant. Pulling at his hair and screaming into the sky, he felt the burning fire in his body run wild; he felt the torture of cracking bones and rage. Unable to control it, he screamed out and gasped for air.

  Then a smooth voice comes from the opening of the cave.

  “Dominic Baby, I’m right here, stop. Please.”

  Dominic’s ice-blue eyes locked on the sight of his mother and he felt the rage subside, the change reverting slowly as his vision cleared.

  Evangeline stood her ground, waiting for her son to regain control before approaching him. Cuts and bruises covered her body, her hair tangled and windblown, matting around her shoulders. Her clothes ripped and covered in blood, one gash in particular, leaving her very pregnant stomach bloody and exposed.

  Dominic finally took a breath, the flame inside extinguished. He let out a whine and ran into his mother’s arms, tears flooding back once again. Evangeline cradled the back of his head, and wrapped her other arm around his shoulders, holding him as close to her as she could. Relieved to have the chance to hold him again.

  “We have to go now.” She whispered to him.

  Dominic looked up to her with confusion.

  “What about dad? We have to go back.” Dominic whined.

  Evangeline sighed, realizing the horrid truth she would have to share with him soon. The truth that he would never his father again, that now upon his shoulder laid the weight of the world. Expectations following it, expectations that an adolescent boy should never take on, especially not at his age.

  She knew her son wasn’t stable enough, wasn’t strong enough. But he had no choice now, by blood, by right, this was his path, and all she could do was try to help him embrace it and take it on with what strength he had.

  “We have to go, NOW.” She finally said again through gritted teeth.

  Grabbing his hand in hers, she pulled him out of the den, dragging him behind her as she ran. Remaining on two legs, fighting the weakness of her human form, she led him higher into the mountains. Pushing towards the territory border.

  “Slow down!” Dominic cried out to her, tripping over his own feet whilst struggling to match her pace, but found himself completely ignored.

  His arm ached, feeling as though it would pull right out of the socket. Then finally she released her grip. Dominic rubbed his shoulder in pain and watched as his mother approached the ledge. A large drop off on the edge of the mountain.

  He approached her slowly, till they stood side by side. He peered over the edge, looking at the over one hundred foot drop below them. A deep cavern littered with trees and rocks, an endless drop into a wooden abyss.

  “This is the line. The marker that separates our land from theirs.” Evangeline sighed, taking a deep breath in before looking to her son.

  “Beyond this gorge is a land, filled with darkness and magic, unexplainable by our kind. Land demons inhabit.”

  Evangeline straightened her back, looking out to the mountain on the other side. Covered in a thick layer of trees so dark it looked black, clouds looming around its peak like a shadow.

  “I told you to run from the monsters with red eyes. Once we reach the other side that becomes truer than ever Dominic. We are crossing into the land of the blood born,” Evangeline choked. The fear catching in her throat.

  “Who is the blood-born mama?” Dominic asked with worry, turning to look at the stoic face of his mother.

  “They are the demons of the forest. Wolves like us, but very different. They bare red eyes, a product of the curse on their kind. Red like blood spilled of our kind by their hands. Every blood born wolf is born without a soul. Born with blood-red eyes that glow with the purest evil that found on this earth. Their coats, their hair, and their hearts black as night, or maybe even darker.” Evangeline sucked in a ragged breath and looked down to Dominic with sorrow.

  “They are the hunters of our kind, they are stronger than us, powered by rage and bloodlust, they are manipulative and cruel, and they are the reason your father is not standing here with us. They are not just wolves, they are beasts, they take on a form that is wretched and marred. They will kill you if you ever come across one, so you either need to run, or try to kill it yourself.”

  Dominic swallowed the lump in his throat.

  “Why do we have to go into their lands?” He asked softly, staring out into the darkness before him.

  “Because there, Dominic, is our only chance to destroy them.”

  Evangeline filled her lungs slowly and cried out into the sky as she rapidly morphed before him, leaving a massive white wolf in her place.

  “Get on my back.” She commanded to Dominic through the family link in their psyche. Dominic scoffed at her crossing his arms in belligerence.

  “I want to change too, I don’t want to ride on your back.” He said fiercely.

  Evangeline turned her entire body to face him, her eyes glowing with anger and disappointment.

  “You are not ready, you can’t control it! Now get on, my, back Dominic!” Her voice ripping through Dominic’s mind as it left him face to face with the snarling teeth of his mother. His attitude changed from defiance to startled in the blink of an eye.

  He nodded slowly in defeat and took a step closer to the massive white animal that was his mother. He grabbed onto her fur with both hands, pulling himself up onto her back. He clenched a fist full of white hair in his grasp as she walked, slowly at first.

  In an instant, the slow walking turned into running, her shoulders straining underneath his weight, carrying the both of them closer and closer to the edge.

  Then she jumped.

  Their bodies almost weightlessly floating across the air beneath them, flying over the vast opening in the ground like a bullet fired from a gun. Time slowed as Dominic held on for dear life, his knuckles turning white as they clutched his mother’s fur that billowed around them.

  The feeling of the ground crashing against his body woke him from the surreal daze of the jump, his mother rolling onto the ground beside him, her body badly hurt.

  With broken and gurgling breaths she morphed violently next to him, slowly and painfully regaining human form.

  She pushed herself onto her hands and knees, spitting blood out onto the ground. Her body trembling in pain, struggling not to collapse.

  “Welcome to the dark hills, son” She muttered painfully, spitting out more blood, grasping her stomach tight.

  Two

  Aine & Caireen

  Aine~

  *15 years later*

  * * *

  “Fuck!” I muttered through gritted teeth.

  Staring down at the splattering of blood that now covered my palm. I coughed again, my throat burning.

  “When will this ever stop?” I groaned to myself. It had been months since I started feeling this way. My body aching, feeling as though it was shutting down from the inside, slowly killing me.

  I had only mentioned it to a few people, but they all seem to have a ridiculous notion what it could be. If I were to be honest, I was sure that I just had an ulcer, or it was my time to go. How could one b
elieve something supposedly magical or at least a beautiful thing would leave you retching and dying from the inside? I sure as hell don’t.

  I wiped my hands onto my jeans, smearing the blood along my thighs and sighed. I reached down to the brass handle of the window in front of me, pulling on it, hoping that some fresh air would help the torturous burning to subside. The old window creaked in protest as it opened, letting a cool breeze whip through the room. Taking in a deep breath, I took a step closer, letting the wind blow my hair around my face and the smell of the lavender planted outside to fill my senses.

  It didn’t help ease the discomfort, but it brought a sliver of peace as I stood there.

  I peered out into the forest that surrounded my home and tried my best to breathe methodically. It had been so long since I had gone out and ran, so long since I stepped foot amongst the trees I loved so much. But I couldn’t. For the last time I did, I felt the crushing weight on my chest with an intensity that stopped me in my tracks. That alone, the pain alone was more frightening to me than getting caught out in the open.

  “Are you in here?” I hear Caireen’s sweet voice call from the doorway.

  She slowly entered the room, light on her feet. Approaching me with a small skip in her step.

  Then she froze, looking at me. I didn’t even have to turn to face her to know that though. I felt her worried gaze travel over me. I knew she worried for me, if I truly was dying, it would leave her all alone. I knew that must have been a daunting thought.

  “Aine? You feeling sick again?” She muttered out, her voice small and calm.

  I took a lengthy breath and closed the window before facing her.

  Her raven hair danced around her shoulders, one side carefully tucked behind her ear. Her tiny frame standing awkwardly a few feet away from me. My beautiful little sister, eighteen years of age. A spitting image of our mother, her golden skin so soft and young, with no scars or marks to leave her disfigured, unlike me. And just like our mother, just like me. Under dark full lashes shined a pair of crimson red eyes, sparkling in the light. A constant reminder of what we really were, who we really were.