Azriella

Atlanta

October 27th 2004

“Mom, my plane is almost here, I have to go. I love you,” I signed to my mom.

“I love you too sweetheart. Text me when you land. You can come home anytime you want,” she blubbered out with glassy eyes. I looked into her eyes, hazel and similar to my amber ones. As I looked into her eyes, I saw the warmth there. How could you leave her behind like this? I scolded myself.

I am flying to Atlanta where I will be with my dad for the next two years to finish high school at North Atlanta High School. 

I would miss living in Florida with mom but she had Paul now. I had never really taken to liking Paul but he made mom happy and seeing her happy made me happy.

The plane took around an hour to reach Atlanta. When we landed the sun was shining.

My dad picked me up at the airport. The car ride to my dads was a little awkward. He is very outgoing and talkative while I tend to stay to myself. 

I haven’t talked in almost 12 years and wonder if I will ever again. 

“I got you a car. It runs well.” My eyes lit up. I didn’t think I would have the chance to mess with a car here. At least not until I had been able to go shopping anyway.

“Really, what model and year?” I asked. Knowing my dad and his safety precautions, what he got could be very different from what I would have gotten.

“A Firebird. Not sure exactly what year. Maybe 1975? I got it from Mike Anderson. Thought you might like it since you took an interest in cars a few years ago.”

I knew the model. It couldn’t go above 100 mph. With how old it is I bet it couldn’t go over 70 without having some trouble. That meant no speeding through any local race tracks I could find.

“Thanks dad.” In reality it was thoughtful and that’s what mattered. I would just have to find a way to get a new car with a little more speed somehow.

I stared out the window as the car got quiet. The soft hum of the engine brought me a small amount of comfort. My thoughts began to float to my family in Brazil.

“Azriella,” my dad’s voice is weary, an odd thing because he is almost always confident in what he is saying. My head snapped up as I heard his voice, and I recentered my focus. “I know you don’t feel comfortable talking to people but please try to make friends. The only friends you’ve ever had here are Samantha and Sophia.”

“I know dad, I know,” I signed, sighing internally before continuing “I’ll try no promises just trying.”

“Thank you, that’s all I’m asking for.”

He turned the car off and helped me bring everything inside. We got everything and brought it upstairs. He left me to my own devices as he went down to the station. My dad is Jeff Kindhart, the fire marshal for the town of Atlanta. I flopped onto my bed and sighed. Time to text Brazil.

“Hey I’m here in Atlanta,” I texted them.

“That’s good, be careful. In the rare case you run into a vampire don’t tell them of your connection to us. Only use your gifts when you need to and keep us updated on everything,” Uncle Sorin reminded me.

Of course I already knew that but Uncle Sorin knew of my human forgetfulness. I’ve been trained since the age of five to never sign anything to give me away. Giving myself away to hunters could lead them straight to my vampire family. If hunters ever find them the vampire world would be in chaos as my family are the royalty of their world.

A world I had sworn to keep secret when I was five.

That wasn’t the only reason I couldn’t give myself away though. My secret is far different from the average human with a large secret. I had a secret that protected millions of supernatural beings all over the world. Their clandestine existence is in my hands.

My alarm woke me up at 7:30 am. I rolled over and got out of bed. I chose an outfit that would fit with the nice sweatshirt to fit the autumn weather. When I went downstairs for breakfast I saw that my dad had already left, leaving me a note.

Azriella,

I got a call to go down. There’s another fire on the outskirts of town. I made breakfast. Good luck making friends at school today. I should be home by 5:00 for dinner. See you later. I love you.

-Dad

I looked just to the left of the note and found a plate with hot pancakes. I ate and saw it was time to head out. I got in my car before driving to school.

When I got to school I hugged my only two friends, Samantha and Sophia. 

“Azriella!” They both screamed excitedly. 

“Sophia go get the gift,” Samantha hissed, likely hoping that I wouldn’t hear.

I rolled my eyes. “Just because I don’t speak doesn’t mean I can’t hear you,” I signed; annoyed.

“Sorry,” they said in unison.

I just roll my eyes and motion for them to get the gift out of their car. They are so predictable but it’s something I like about them. The Bell twins are known all over town. They both have bright blue eyes and straight, platinum blonde hair. In fact, they are so in sync that even their movements are identical. They are beautiful by human standards. We are all petite but my amber eyes and caramel blonde hair stand out due to the rare combination.

Of course they had nothing on your average vampire. Comparing a human to a vampire would be laughable.

"Open it!" They both squealed excitement coloring their faces and the tone of their voices. 

I opened it to find one of the bracelets we made as kids. We turned five in the summer of 1992. I remembered the day well. September 7th, 1992 was a day forever in my mind. I disappeared only eight days later.

"You guys remembered this?" I signed astonishment clearly in my expression.

"Of course we did. How could we forget we made these barely a week before you disappeared then stopped talking," Samantha said, obviously reminiscing on when we would talk and laugh together. 

"You never told us though. Why did you disappear and then stop talking when you came back?" Sophia asked tentatively.

I flinched remembering. "It's complicated," I signed. I rushed because my hands were trembling.

They saw my hands before I was able to reach them into my pockets. "Ari we're so sorry we didn't mean… to upset you. Are you ok?"

I looked away and just headed to the office to find out what my classes are. When I walked in, the secretary's head popped up. I read the name tag, Mr. Mena.

"Who are you?" He asked

“Azriella,” I signed.

“Oh Fire Marshal Jeff Kindhart’s famous daughter. You know he hasn’t stopped talking about your arrival since you said you were coming,” he paused before asking, “Are you talking again yet?”

My throat closed up, and I shook my head no in response, before the inability to breath set in. He gave me my schedule and I headed for class. On my way to Calculus people started to walk up to me. 

“You're Azriella Kindhart right?” someone asked. I didn’t know her but she seemed to know me. That seemed to be the pattern today. “I’m Arianna, your new translator.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you,” I held my hand out to shake hers but she surprised me by hugging me.

She stayed with me during every class. Helping when I needed to answer a teacher or when some who didn’t know American Sign Language attempted to speak with me.

American Sign Language also known as ASL has been my primary way of communication since I was taught it at age five.

The day went quickly, and in what only felt like minutes, lunch approached. Across the cafeteria I saw five beautiful people. They were all heartbreakingly perfect. I also noticed a strange piece of jewelry on all of them, day jewelry. That could only mean one thing. They were vampires.

“Who are they?” I asked, confusion in my eyes while gesturing to them. I had to play my part. I never met very many vampires so I had genuine interest.

Arianna’s gaze followed my hand. “Oh they are the Verta’s. Nora, Ivy, Liam, Leopald, and James.”

“Which is which?” I asked with false curiosity. I felt relieved; I had heard that the Verta’s are a relatively calm coven.

“The tall, platinum blonde one is Ivy, the short one with long brown hair is Nora, the blonde body builder is Liam, Leopald is the lean dark-haired one, and James is the redhead. Be careful though James has a bit of a temper. I don’t think you will have to worry much about that because they only really talk to their family. I wouldn’t waste my time on them if I was you. Nora and Leopald aren't technically part of the Verta family but they might as well be because they are both dating one of them.”

“I won’t.” I assured her knowing that the truth and my words are opposites. 

Good thing I had already blocked my mind in case of situations like this. I'd been told of the powers of many vampires and who I should shield myself from, and James was included on that list.

I got my lunch and headed over to them to escape the other students. I knew from my years with my Brazilian vampires that humans often shy away from vampires; that would make being alone 

easy. They seemed shocked when I walked over to them alone. I had left Arianna in the line. Leopald looked at James with concern in his eyes.  

My confidence didn’t fade as I sat down next to them. “Do you know sign language?” I asked.

Nora quickly answered, "Yeah. Our whole family does. Our mom is a speech therapist. Do you speak?"

"No. My name is Azriella. What are your names?”

“I’m Nora and these are my brothers Leopald and James and my sister Ivy.” Nora’s eyes darted to the seat next to her. “This is my Liam. Ivy and Leopald are actually a couple.”

No one dared to approach us. Obviously everyone was shocked that I approached them.

“She has absolutely no fear of us. She’s more comfortable with us than she was with all those humans. It’s incredible. She’s completely calm. I don't feel even one ounce of fear.” Leopald whispered. The whisper was so soft and fast that I knew without my years of listening to the fast whispers of vampires I wouldn’t have been able to hear him.

After she got over her shock Arianna began to come our way. 

I sighed, “Here comes my party crasher.”

Nora, who seemed the friendliest, giggled.

I saw how Arianna seemed a little shy compared to when she was near anyone else.

“Azriella I’m supposed to be with you at all times.” Arianna looked as if she were upset by my actions. 

“Well right now I’m fine and they know sign language. Besides, my dad said I need to make friends. I think I will do just fine on my own.” I sent her to go back over with the other humans before she noticed anything strange about the Verta coven.

As princess my duty includes making sure no one ever finds out about any vampire. That means making a cover story for any vampire who needs it.

As Arianna got out of hearing range I heard Leopald say, “That was a little weird. She sent the other human away so she could try to become friends with us. Do you think she might know the truth about us?” 

James answered him, “No I don’t think she knows. She would probably try to stay away from us if she knew the truth. I can’t be sure. For some reason I can’t hear her mind.”

Pretending not to hear their conversation, I reached into my bag. I grabbed one of my magazines. Years ago, my vampire family had gotten me magazine subscriptions, after realizing that I would not be able to keep up with my studies while in America.

From the corner of my eye I saw two more students enter. The only two students I knew barely anything about. I knew something was off though. They kept to themselves, never speaking unless spoken to. They were some sort of supernatural creature but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what.

At least I knew their names Lucian Valerious and Brutus Arlovski. I made a mental note to ask Uncle Fane about them.

I chose the first one I grabbed. When I opened my copy of the “Car and Driver” magazine. I saw Ivy’s face light up.

“Is that this month’s issue?” Ivy asked.

“Yeah, one of my private school teachers got me a subscription when I was around eight.” My reply must have caught her off guard.

It didn’t take long for us to begin a conversation about cars. Ivy may have been a beauty queen but I could easily tell she was the one with a passion for cars.

The bell rang. We all got up and threw our trash away. I didn’t need to look at my schedule to know what my next class was.

Nora and James walked to class with me since we all had AP Chemistry together. Walking in I saw that there was only one open seat, between Nora and James.

I walked up to the teacher and gave her the same paper I had given every other teacher that day.

She looked at my paper and sent me to my seat.

When everyone was seated class began. After the lecture on the lab, we started. I sighed internally, rolling my eyes, I had done this lab with Aunt Odeta when I was nine.

We were in groups of three and I worked with Nora and James. We worked quite well together and got done within ten minutes.

Surprised, the teacher came over to our table. 

“Nora, James” she addressed them, “don’t you think Azriella should have a chance to work as well.”

James spoke, “Actually Mrs. Lowet, Azriella identified five of the twelve substances.”

Mrs. Lowet’s surprise seemed to grow yet again. “Well then, in that case I’m quite impressed,” she turned to me, “have you done this lab before?”

“Actually, I have. I went to a private school.” No need to mention the fact that my “private school” was in fact run by my family in Brazil. 

My Aunt Odeta was in charge of my studies in math and science. Every vampire knew who my aunt was. It would be a shameful thing for them to not know their queen.

“Well done,” Mrs. Lowet said, “that goes for all three of you.”

“Azriella?” Nora asked.

I turned and signaled for her to continue.

“I know you're new and might not know this but not many people talk to us. So I wanted to thank you and also invite you to go shopping with me and my sister. We are going to Edmonton for the weekend.”

I knew what she meant and also knew not to let her brother in on the secret of there being a large amusement park in the mall. The West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America.

“Sure,” I accepted her invitation for four reasons. One, to please my dad by making friends. Two, to figure out why she would invite a human to shop with her. Three, I love shopping. Four, I needed to get close to them to keep an eye on them.

“Do you want me to pick you up after school tomorrow?” Nora’s question was careful. It was obvious she was going to go crazy with shopping just like my aunts and cousins.

“I can’t go tomorrow after school because I have speech therapy. Can you pick me up after? I should be done a little before 5 o’clock.” 

“Yeah, that works. Our mom has a new client anyways.”