CHAPTER ONE

The bar was full of creatures who stalked the night. Men and woman who were Vampires, Werewolves, Shape Shifters, Witches, Wizards, and even your daily dose of Sucubus's. Other creatures were among them and I've gotten use to being the only human in the bar thanks to my uncle who is enjoying life as a vampire and is now living the night as a blood sucking being. It's the way of life now and since I've been entrusted to him since I was 6, he's my parent figure. So why am I a 20-year-old human in a bar full of creatures that either hate humans, want to eat humans or the usual, want to put fear into humans? Why don't I start from the beginning.

[Flash Back]

My legs dangled off the chair that was built in the waiting room of Lenox Hill Hospital. At least that's what my uncle had told me the big red letters had read over the hospital entrance. Uncle Brody smiled down at me, not once letting go of my hand. His dark brown eyes had been red from crying and the swelling of it had gone down. He had picked me up from school earlier that day. We were making puppets out of paper bags when he arrived. My kindergarten teacher Mrs. Haney gave me an extra bow for my puppet. When he walked into the class room, I was so happy to see my uncle. He picked me up in his strong arms and hugged me tight. I asked him why he was crying and he kissed me on the cheek answering, "Because I get to see my favorite niece." I laughed, "Uncle Brody . . . I'm your only niece silly!" he couldn't help but place another kiss on my cheek.

Before we came to the hospital, he treated me to ice cream, my face was covered in chocolate. Mixed in with the chocolate covered face and colorful white shirt that was marked from markers, I looked like a 5-year-old. But when we sat down in the waiting room, my uncle stayed quiet. So now we sat here in the hospitals waiting room with my legs hanging down from the chair, not even close to touching the checkered floor of the building. Brody had quickly stood when a man in a white coat, the same kind of outfit my daddy wore to work, approached us through double doors that magically opened on it's own. The man in the white coat had a clipboard in his hand and a look of stress written on his face.

"Uncle Brody, daddy and mommy are coming too, right?" I asked, my deep gray eyes staring up at him. He didn't form a smile as his hand ruffled through my light brown hair. The man in the white coat looked down at me as I hid behind Brody's leg, now scared of the man. Something wasn't right and my little body could tell. The man gave a sympathetic smile to me but his attention had went back to Brody and the words,

"I'm sorry but they didn't make it," exited his lips. He stood their in front of Brody as Brody had went tensed and I pulled at his shirt,

"Uncle, can we go to mommy and daddy?" Brody looked down at me, his eyes now watery and than he bent down to my level, grabbing me in a hug,

"Baby girl . . . Mom . . . Mommy and daddy . . ." he sobbed the words. He couldn't say it. I shoo-shed him and told him it was okay but my heart hurt. I was 5 when I lost my parents in a car accident. My uncle signed the final documents to be my legal guardian when I was at the age of 6. He was only 22 and still single. He lived in an apartment and had to rent a condo with two bedrooms since I was moving in. He was a bartender at a small bar just a few blocks down the ways from the condo. Paying the bills was bearable.

He was my only other living relative that was close enough to be my father. After I settled in he enrolled me into a Elementary fifteen blocks from the condo and three blocks from his bar so after school, I'd walk over to the bar with a few friends who lived in the neighborhood and Brody and I would drive back to the condo. At the age of 13 I moved down to the Middle School where I played volleyball and joined the city soccer team. I'd have to stay later because of practice. Brody would pick me up after he was off, which was around 8 at night. Good thing I got extra practice in.

One night, when I was a 9th grader at the age of 14, Brody showed up at nearly 10 at night. He apologized for being so late but he was attacked exiting the bar and walking in the parking lot where his car was parked. Some drunk woman, who he seen that night eyeing him, jumped out of nowhere and attacked him, biting him on the neck in the process. He showed me the two bite marks, which sat an inch away from each other.

"Youch! That's ugly. She just attacked you?" I had asked. He kept scratching at it, nodding his head. He was normal when we arrived home but that night, I could hear his heavy breathing from my room. We were a wall away. The next morning, I had to wake him up and when I walked into his room, it was dark inside as the sun was blocked out by black duck tape over the windows. I found him, soaked in sweat, his dirty blond hair completely wet from sweat and his bed in a puddle as his breathing got fast and his body was heating up. I skipped school to watch over him but lucky for me, I didn't have to for long since his girlfriend came over to take over the task. My uncle was a handsome man, dirty blond hair, light brown eyes and a dimpled smile that any girl would of wanted so having a girlfriend wasn't new to him. Keeping one for at least a month, that was new. Xena was his girlfriends name, a pretty caramel complexed woman with piercing green eyes. She said she'd take care of him until he got better. I wish he would of because three days after, Xena and my uncle went missing. The condo had been torn to pieces as I dialed his cell phone number, which he left in his room and Xena's was going straight to voicemail.

A whole week had gone by, his manager called and asked where he was. Xena's roommate called and asked where she was but I had no answers. My heart was broken because I felt he was dead and I'd cried myself to sleep hoping he wasn't. Almost a month past when I got a call from him.

"Hey baby girl." His voice rung through my phone. The tears that flowed down my cheeks was like a river and I couldn't stop it.

"Brody! Where are you. I've been going crazy and calling the police. They put a missing persons out for you and Xena. Wheres Xena? I feel lost without you uncle." I said, sobbing and talking and trying to not sniffle through my sentences, it didn't work.

"I am so sorry I worried you but I can't come home. I can't ever show my face anywhere near you . . . I've . . . I've been . . . I don't know how to tell you this." He went quiet and I sniffed the tears back,

"Please don't say that uncle. I've just barely gotten over my parents death. Your all I have. You can't leave me. Please don't leave me. We're family." I could hear his words start to choke and he couldn't bare to hear me cry as he hung up. I stared at the phone,the dial tone echoing in through the apartment. I cried myself to sleep that night in a fetal position on his bed. The next morning, the day had been gloomy gray, no sun shown through and I didn't want to go to school. Then the smell of eggs and bacon hit my smelling senses. As fast as my feet could move me, I was out of Brody's bed and running through the hall to the kitchen, where I found Brody standing over the stove and flipping eggs and frying bacon. He quickly turned around and faced me a big smile on his face,

"Good Morning Eryn . . . I know how much you love bacon!" I stood in the kitchen, shocked.

He looked different almost radiant. Something about his skin was different, he looked lighter. Almost too pale. My mouth must have been hanging because it was dried and Brody's eye brow raised, "Eryn . . ." I didn't let him finish and ran over to him, throwing my arms around, "Don't you ever do that . . ." The tears started and I didn't care. His arms wrapped around me and chills ran up my exposed arm, he was cold. I quickly pushed away from him, "Wh . . . Why are you cold?" The mood changed and he watched as I took a step back.

"Eryn . . . Please . . ."

''Why are you cold? Why are you wearing the same clothes when you left? Why are you pale all of a sudden? What is that red stain on your shirt? Where is Xena?" the questions started to poor out as I actually stared at him, noticing how dirty he was and fear started to take over. He took a step forward and I took one back. The hurt in his face almost made me feel bad but the fear in me was stronger. He'd been gone for almost a month. Cops had no trace on him or Xena but he was here and different. So what had happened with Xena? He now was walking towards me as I backed up until I was trapped between him and a wall,

"Stay away from me." the words had exited my mouth unknowingly. He stopped, sadness in his eyes,

"Eryn, please. Let me explain to you what happen that night. Don't be afraid, it's still me, uncle Brody."

"No . . . I . . . I don't know what to believe. I . . . I" I didn't know what to say but the tears didn't stop. He started towards me but I didn't know what to do as he wrapped his arms around me and I knew than that something was different and my life wasn't going to be the same. He was my uncle, my father growing up, my only family. I cried for almost half the day as he explained to me what happened that night;

He'd woken up on the third day from what felt like a dream. I'd remember he was hot but I was gone most of the days Xena was watching over him. He said he'd died for about an hour and Xena tried to revive him. She'd given up but when she was about to call 911, he woke up and felt invincible but the biggest pain was the hunger. He was hungry and Xena thought if she made him something to eat it would help. She cooked a steak dinner but it tasted repulsive to him. Xena tried feeding him other foods, in which he rejected them all. He said he was craving something else, a strong taste. He stared at Xena for just a second and blacked out. When he came back to life, he'd been covered in her blood from his mouth to his pants. The apartment was in a mess and right next to him laid Xena, dead. He didn't know what had happened and panicked. Next thing he knew he was standing over the balcony with Xena's body in his hand and then jumping down the five story building, landing perfectly on his feet. He hadn't known how but the noise of the city stung his ear. He could hear from afar as if he was standing next to all the sounds. His vision could see farther then 5 miles and when he ran, his speed wasn't seen by others, making him almost invisible as he ran with Xena, cold dead in his arms. He had buried her body under an oak tree just outside of the state of New York. When he said the word, I didn't believe it, I didn't believe he was a vampire.

Since his return, we've had to change our life around. After the night he told me he was a vampire and they weren't myths I had to wrap my life around the fact that I was now related to a vampire, they were real and so were other creatures we encountered. Brody was of course fired as a bartender but I thought he'd be better to start his own bar, which he did and I put money into it to help start it. At first he was going to make it for humans but being he was a vampire, he'd have to work in the sunlights so he made it only for the supernatural beings. He named the bar Wicked but I wasn't too fond of the name but then again, it wasn't my bar. At the age of 18, I was able to touch my trust fund left to me by my parents. The first thing I bought was a midnight black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. Perfect beauty to ride in the streets. I even bought Brody a 2013 Chevy Silverado. All white interior and black exterior. He loved it. I started fall semester at NYU and was enjoying every moment of it. At 19, I hadn't touched my trust fund because I wanted to earn money on my own so Brody gave me a job as a bartender at Wicked. Since 19, bar tending was my only job and it was okay for me to bartend since human rules didn't apply at wicked.

[Present Day]

So now here I am on a busy Friday night bar tending at Wicked. The regulars were always here and some new creatures showed. Since I was the only human in the bar and since the bar was just on the outskirts of New York City, the creatures liked to stare, mainly the vampires. I don't know how the senses of a vampire is done but Brody tells me that human blood is the most delicious smelling to vampires. Creepy, I know but since I live with Brody I have to watch him drink blood from a plastic catheter. No, he's not the type of vampire who stalk women and take them home and then drinking them until they die. The incident with Xena and him going missing was set into a Cold Case file. It was as if it didn't happen. We of course moved out of the city and near the bar. The only time I went into the city was for school. Brody bought a small house just outside of the city, a few blocks from the bar. It was a decent three bedroom home with 2 bathrooms so no fighting on who got the bathroom. It was on a 30 acre land and the house was a rusted white colored painting. My favorite part of the house was the enclosed porch that went across the front. It was a decent place and secluded for the most part.

Brody worked down the ways of the bar, where three vampire women flirted with him as he continued serving them. Vampires favorite drink in the bar was a Bloody Mary. Corny I know but it was a drink mixed with blood, three shots of Vodka and three shots of Captain Morgan. Guaranteed to knock a vampire on it's ass. I kept down towards the end where the werewolves liked to drink. They were drinkers, mainly beer. One regular sat in his same chair at the bar, the last stool where I served. He was a big man, almost 6'5 and his head was full of red hair that matched his eyebrows. He had a strong Irish accent. His name was Arty but I called him Big Red. Me and Brody were the only ones who can call him that unless you wanted him to tare you to shreds, literally. He use to be part of a pack when he stayed in Ireland but went off. He was now a Rouge, whatever the hell that was. He was a pretty awesome guy and tried to stay hip for being a 39-year-old man.

Another regular, who wasn't in tonight, who treated me like a little sister was Jared, a vampire who was suppose to be 102-years-old but looked to be 21. He was handsome, a tall man with piercing blue eyes and a head full of blond hair. His muscular built always showed through his too-small-for-his-chest shirts and he never failed to wear leather pants. Yeah, he thought he looked good but only to humans. As for other creatures and myself, he looked ridiculous. He never failed to flirt with me in which Brody threatened that he'd end his vampire life right there and then. So now he talked to me as if I was his little sister. All in all, he was a cool guy. Other creatures who walked in knew who I was. I was Brody's niece and I was hands off. Another bartender worked with us, Gina Brown. She was a sucubus but she didn't use her powers to seduce men, not all the time at least. She really didn't need it, she was gorgeous. Her light skin complexion and perm pressed dark brown hair only was half of her looks. Her curvy body, all in the right place, got most of the creatures attention and she got the most tips. She was beautiful and full of attitude.

Brody had made his way towards the end of the bar, where I was serving. He wore a white plain T with dark blue jeans. His dirty blond hair was slicked back into a comb over as his muscular body shown through his shirt. He was always a handsome man and since he was technically 36, his look was still his 30-year-old self from when he got bit. Now that he was a vampire, he got the ability of being even more gorgeous and not having to age forever. He was stronger, almost too strong and fast. I hated when he did the whole batman disappear act. He handed me a glass mug, "Beer for the lady down the ways please." he asked, tilting his head to point at a blond hotty vampire at his end of the bar. I set the Coors beer hose into the mug and held the lever, letting the dark yellow liquid fill almost to the top, letting the rest fizz into bubbles.

"Thanks baby girl!" he thanked walking away. Okay, it was cute that he called me baby girl when I was still 16 but now that I was 20, I hated that damn name. Even when I told him to stop, since he liked to say it in front of everyone, he didn't care. He still looked at me as if I was that 6-year-old. I grunted under my breath, walking over to a few guys who sat at the bar and asked if they wanted anything else. They shook their heads in a no gesture. After wiping down the tops of the bars and rinsing out glass cups, either empty or not so done and setting them up in a stack like position, I had time to check the clock over the bar shelf. It was almost mid-night and since I started when the sun goes down, around 5:30 p.m. I normally left at 12:30. The night was so busy though so hopefully it was going to die down soon. Gina set a bottle of Gin on the bar and called over to me,

"Eryn . . . You and me, one shot girl! Need some liquid pleasure in my body." she made a sexual move with her finger trailing down her stomach. She wore a belly cut shirt that hugged her boobs and tight skinny jeans that made her ass protrude even more.

"No, you can take a shot for me. I need to drive home sober." I denied the offer as I made a Bloody Mary for an older vampire.

"Girl . . . You need more liquid pleasure than I do."

"No she doesn't. How about not trying to get my niece drunk tonight Gina. Plus, drinking age is 21. She doesn't turn 21 until next month." Brody interrupted. Gina schussed him off, "Boy, you is a cock blocker!" she said and I laughed. Brody chuckled,

"Get back to work Gina and take the Gin off of the counter." Brody walked back down to his end of the bar. Gina rolled her eyes, took a shot glass and poured some Gin in it and quickly shot it down as she slammed the shot glass on the counter,

"Hit the spot!" she said as she rinsed the cup out and dried it off.

"What would I do without you Gina?" I asked, setting my elbow on the counter and resting my chin in my hand. She set her hand on her hip,

"Hell, I don't know but you better help Arty out over there. It looks like he's had enough." She answered as I turned around to find Arty with his head on the counter and a full beer of mug still clenched into his hand. I sighed and walked over to him, shaking his heavy arm,

"Hey Big Red, you okay?" I asked as he tilted his head up high enough for me to see his green drunken eyes. He nodded his head. He then laid his head back down. Brody had walked over,

"He okay?" He asked me and I nodded,

"Yeah. Just totally wasted." I answered as Brody just sighed, walked over to the other side of the bar and lifted Arty by the arm, making it look as if Arty was light weight. Damn his super strength, comes with being a vampire. Arty let him do so as Brody walked him towards the exit but stopped to say something to Gina as she nodded and then continued outside. Gina walked over to me,

"Your uncle said for you to watch the bar for a bit, I've gotta head out."

"Alright Gina, see you tomorrow night. It's suppose to be pretty crazy."

"Okay girl and you know I love crazy. I'll let uptight know I'm taking off." She said, referring to Brody as the uptight. I watched as she grabbed her purse from under the bar and waved me goodbye. I waved back as she walked out of the exit door. I started clearing off the bar knowing I'd be here longer than 12:30. Just as I was about to set the Gin away, since Gina forgot it, a group of guys walked in. I counted five total as they looked to be around my age. Some of them had lettermen jackets with Penn State Cougars on them for football. Two of them had the letters AXP on them. I knew they were fraternity greek letters but I didn't know what fraternity. I didn't even know what they were doing in the bar and in the State of New York. For there sake I'd hope they were creatures. One of the guys, the tallest of the group, walked over to the bar as the others followed. He was handsome, a dark skinned man with light brown eyes and a handsome smile to go with it. He wore one of the fraternity shirts as he sat at the stool in front of me. The other guys filled four of the other stools. The man smiled at me,

"Hey sweet cheeks." he said. The other guys gave me a confused look as I let out an exasperated breath,

"It's Eryn. How can I help you?" I asked being to use to idiots like him.

"Well, how about your best beer." he said. His eyes seemed to wonder anywhere else but my eyes. I raised an eyebrow,

"And your friends? The same?" I assumed eyeing them. He nodded. I wanted to ask what they were but if I asked the question and they were just humans it wouldn't be good. As I was pouring five beers into a glass mug one of the guys, who wore the letterman's jacket, leaned up against the bar,

"Your human." he said as I looked up at him. He was pretty easy on the eyes. Not as cute as the other guy who called me sweet cheeks but he wasn't too bad looking. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. His scruffy hair that covered his cream colored face was a darker color than his hair. He wasn't big but pretty tall. I scrunched my eye brows together,

"How . . . How can you tell?" I asked not throwing the secret of the bar. The other guy, the handsome dark skinned man, answered, "Well your smell definitely gives it away." I hadn't noticed he was now standing next to the brown head. I looked to the other three guys as they nodded.

"So your . . ." I was going to ask but one of the guys who was smaller then the rest but looked a little older answered, "Werewolves!" he said as his eyes darted to a sucubus woman that walked by.

"Of course. But why are you here in New York?" I asked referring to the Penn State clothes. I was now passing each of them mugs filled with beer. The handsome dark and tall man answered,

"An early birthday party for a friend of ours. He's turning 22 tomorrow. He's running a bit late though but we heard of this place from a few other packs so we decided to come here." He now took the stool in front of the beer cannel where I stood. The other man, a dark haired man with light green eyes and a handsome smile, with the fraternity shirt then asked,

"Why are you the only human here?" I'd almost forgot he was talking to me because of his baby face. He was a cute guy.

"My uncle owns this bar." I answered.

"And I am happy we've got new faces here." Brody said, appearing next to me. I was the only one surprised of his appearance. I hated the fact he did that appearing and disappearing act. I jumped a bit,

"I hate when you do that." I said, taking a deep breath. They looked at him as the dark skinned man had a side grin,

"A vampire! That's a shocker. I'm Drayden, Beta of the Lunar Pack in Pennsylvania. These guys are part of the pack." He said holding his hand out. Brody shook it,

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Brody and this is my niece Eryn. So your the Beta, where's your Alpha?" he asked. Drayden gulped his beer down as he answered,

"Late as always." Brody was always happy to have new faces in the bar so he let them feel like they were at home and talked a bit with Drayden. It was nearing to 1 as I checked the time on my cell phone.

"Uncle, I better get out of here. I've got homework to finish up. You think you can handle this on your own?" I asked, wiping down the counter again.

"Yeah, I've got it from here. Drive home safe. I'll be home in a few hours." I nodded as I reached under and grabbed my back pack. The guys said bye to me as Drayden winked at me. I rolled my eyes now walking towards the door.

The night air felt great against my cream colored skin. I set a piece of my light brown hair behind my ear. I let the door to the bar close behind me, blocking in the rap music trying to escape from it. From where I stood I could see my black beauty in the distance. Before I took a step forward, the door opened as a few girls walked out almost running me over but I quickly stepped to the side, holding the door open. They were all drunk, some sucubus and vampires all together. As the last one walked out, I peeked in as the music played louder and closed the door, quickly turning back around but accidentally bumping into a man in the process.

"Sorry . . ." I said, backing up and staring up at the young man. He was a handsome young man. His beautiful eyes were two different colors one a light green and the other a light brown. I've never seen such beautiful eyes before. He stood tall, compared to my 5'6 height. He looked to be almost a 6'2. The light brown high lights of his dark brown hair could be seen under the light we stood under. His eyes had widen as I raised an eyebrow,

"Sorry again." I repeated, now walking around him. I started towards my car but he stopped me, "Hey!" he said, his silky deep voice hypnotizing and hard to resist. I turned around as a dimpled smile spread across his face,

"Your . . ." He didn't finish as his eyes quickly darted to the door of the bar and out stepped Brody. He looked at the man in front of him a glare in his brown eyes as he said,

"Get home Eryn." Still not staring at me.

"What's going on-" Brody interrupted me, "I said get home. Now!" after that said I knew he was serious. Why was he just glaring at the man, who just had a smile on his face. I didn't argue I've learned not to argue with Brody when he was serious. I could feel something was wrong though and it had to do with the stranger standing in the front of Brody. I turned around and headed for my car but turned back around just in time to see that both Brody and the young man started into the bar but was caught off guard when the young man looked back at me and smiled, a devilish smile.