Blood Moon Ch. 00

**Writer's Note: Hi you guys! I have decided to edit and resubmit this series. It's pretty much the same, but with some tweaking. I got the idea for this story awhile back through a dream and didn't start writing it until a few years back. Then I submitted it to LE when I turned eighteen and never really took the time to do research and editing. So now I'm going back and editing. Hopefully this will clear up some of my earlier, careless errors. Thanks for reading me. Enjoy!**

2007
Lilith Angela sat in her plush couch and dispassionately took another sip of her red wine. Staring blankly ahead, memories Lilith tried to bury began to reemerge. Her loneliness encouraged the memories to surface. That was the reason Lilith tried to keep herself busy all the time. In nearly 600 years one would have thought that Lilith had forgotten about her past life, her only life really, considering she was now dead. If not forget about it, at least gotten over it. But she couldn't let go and couldn't forget about that life. It seemed like centuries since then. It was centuries since then, Lilith corrected bitterly.

Trying to push out the face of a strikingly handsome man from her mind, Lilith took a gulp of her wine. But what hit the home run was that beautiful laugh of a child. He was so small and precious to Lilith. She missed the way he would cling to her legs and laugh up at her.

"Damn it all to Hell!" Lilith sneered to the empty room.

No alcohol could numb her senses. It was both a blessing and a curse that alcohol had no effect on her. At that very moment Lilith considered it a curse. She wanted to blur that achingly familiar face into an indistinct shape, something unrecognizable. But the harder she tried to forget, the stronger her feelings became. Maybe one day she'd be able to forget about him. But what she wanted to forget the most was the pain of losing her baby. Their baby.

Yeah, and maybe one day I'll be human again, Lilith thought sarcastically.

Scotland
1407
Lilith Caldwell just turned fifteen. It was the most joyous day of her life! Today, Lilith assured herself as she went about her chores. Today, she would tell the village leader's son, Roderick McElroy, that she loved him now that she was a grown woman. Of course, Roderick probably wouldn't be interested in her declaration of love, considering she was younger than him, but she couldn't keep it a secret any longer. She just had to tell him and by all that was Holy, it would be that very day!

She had first fallen in love with Roderick when he returned from abroad. Roderick spent most of his years with his mother's brother in Northern Ireland. When he turned thirteen, his father had sent for him to return home. Although Roderick still visited his uncle from time to time, he mostly stayed in Scotland to learn from his father and one day take his place as clan leader.

But it was when Roderick saved Lilith from drowning that her obsession with him started. Without any hesitation, he dived into the water to rescue her and got deathly sick for doing so. Lilith visited him every day for the next fortnight while he made his recovery. He had been so kind in reassuring her it wasn't her fault and promising to teach her to swim. As soon as he got better, Roderick had taken her to the river and taught her to swim.

Sometimes they'd sit on the bank and he would teach her to read. Lilith didn't know about anyone other than the village leader's children and children from the wealthier families who could read and write. It was around the age of thirteen Lilith began to notice her feelings towards him. Roderick had just turned seventeen and was spending less and less time with her. Instead, he would keep company with other boys from the village or spend his time charming village girls closer to his age.

But Lilith had faith. She would go to the river everyday with the sun high in the sky. Roderick's visits started to come less frequently until one day he just stopped visiting all together. It had been three weeks of waiting fruitlessly before Lilith finally understood that he wasn't going to meet her at the river anymore.

Lilith straightened her spine and dusted off imaginary dirt from her best dress. Although the dress was Lilith's best, she knew it wasn't better by a lot. She spotted Roderick ducking behind a cart and quickly made her way towards him with a huge smile on her pretty face.

Roderick saw Lilith before she saw him. Thinking he could escape her hawk-like vision, he foolishly hid behind a cart. He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand, congratulating his intelligence. A pair of dainty feet came into Roderick's downcast sight. He groaned in irritation as he looked up into the most captivatingly green eyes it was his displeasure to come across. Letting out the breath he was holding in an unsuccessful attempt not to draw her attention, Roderick stood.

"Milord." Lilith curtsied.

Roderick wryly eyed the ridiculously huge smile on Lilith's face. "Lilith, I 'ave known ye since ye were a 'lil lass, ye needn't call me milord," Roderick said with the Irish burr Lilith loved the moment he asked her if she was alright after dragging her out of the river.

"Roderick." She whispered shyly.

Groaning again, Roderick rubbed a hand over his face and looked around skittishly. He was vainly wishing one of his friends was nearby so he could politely get away from Lilith. He knew this day would come. Although he did not like to admit he very much liked Lilith, there could never be anything from their mutual interest.

Roderick knew his father needed him to marry well and be a good leader for their clan as the eldest son. Marrying well did not include marrying the blacksmith's daughter. Not only was she a blacksmith's daughter, but her family was outsiders. Wanders who came with another clan and decided to settle with the McElroy clan. Also, he couldn't dally with Lilith then forget when the time came for him to marry.

"Can I talk tae ye please? It willna take long. I promise."

Opening his mouth to say he had to be somewhere at the moment, Roderick hesitated when he recognized the pleading look in her eyes. With another sigh Roderick nodded and began walking towards the river. The short walk was a quiet one as Lilith followed three-steps behind him. The only sound heard was the crunching of dry leaves and small twigs breaking underfoot.

They reached the river and Roderick turned around suddenly, wanting the moment to be over with. Lilith had been studying the dying autumn leaves and did not notice Roderick's quick move until she had bumped into him. An embarrassed flush tinged her cheeks as she pulled out of Roderick's steadying hands.

"Do ye remember when ye saved me from drowning?" Lilith started off as she looked up into his face.

"I canna forget. I almost died when I got sick."

Lilith looked away guiltily and Roderick felt like kicking himself for his rudeness. Not attempting to continue, Lilith bit on her lower lip and began twisting the rough material of her dress between two tight fists. Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about her admission of love going horribly wrong.

Roderick held his ground even when he saw her bite down on her trembling lip. He wanted to soothe her, but he knew doing so would give Lilith the wrong impression. So as an alternative to comforting her, Roderick began tapping his foot, pretending to grow impatient.

"If ye got none tae say lassie, I canna be standing out here all day. I 'ave things tae do, ye ken?"

Nodding mutely Lilith took a deep, shuddering breath to calm her turbulent feelings and started again. She opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to say anything. Roderick bit back a smile. The adorable opening and closing of her mouth reminded him of a fish. He could tell she was becoming frustrated and he almost pitied her.

"Aye. I'm still young and not as pretty as Maggie or Caledonia. Ye prolly think me foolish, but I had tae say it." Lilith took a deep breath, "I love ye."

Nervous, Lilith waited in agony for his reply. The silence grew deafening and Lilith dared to glance up to see Roderick's expression. He looked unsurprised by her declaration, bored even. Lilith searchingly gazed into his dark brown eyes, hoping to see a flicker of some kind of emotion. There was none. His eyes had turned hard and cold. The look was that of a predator. Lilith shivered at the thought.

He couldn't accept her feelings and he couldn't return her feelings. He was going to marry the girl his father wanted him to; a girl who would know what he really was and be a dutiful wife to him as his mother was to his father. His family curse. How could he be with Lilith and not tell her his horrible secret? He did not want Lilith to learn about what he was. He didn't want to look into her eyes and see the disgust, or worse, fear. Roderick cared too much for Lilith to marry her. Hardening his resolve, Roderick looked at Lilith with a pseudo smirk.

"I doona ken whit tae say tae that. Did ye think I were gonna say I loved ye tae? Lassie, yer father's the blacksmith. Ye should set yer attention on some common village lad. I'm the next leader of this clan. Whit makes ye think I'd be interested?"

Tears fell silently down Lilith's cheeks as she listened to Roderick's words. Her admission of love did go horribly wrong. She somewhat expected being the blacksmith's daughter made her unworthy of Roderick. But she did not know how painful the truth was until Roderick told her in that patronizing way of his. Roderick answered her with a slightly condescending voice that Lilith had suspect he was more than just irritated with her declaration. She guessed he was seething that a common girl such as she would even have the nerve to think her feelings might be returned.

Roderick's blasé expression faltered when he saw her crying silently. But Roderick held his ground, even when Lilith wiped the tears from her eyes with a delicate sniffle, even when she bowed and apologized for her insolence, even when she turned to head back home and out of his life.

1410
"Lilith! Wait for me!"

Lilith turned around with a smile at the voice. She placed both hands on her hips and gave the approaching boy a teasing smile. Danny stopped right in front of Lilith with his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. Looking up into the most enchanting green eyes he had ever seen, Danny resisted the urge to kiss the beautiful girl in front of him. He still cringed at the memory of the last time he tried to kiss her.

"Whit do ye want Danny Boy?"

Danny straightened and smiled at Lilith. He was the most handsome boy in the village. All the girls tried to get his attention. His family was well off and they owned quite a bit of land. The mothers in the village encouraged their daughters to snatch up such a fine man for a husband. But Danny was only interested in Lilith ever since they were both children.

Danny hadn't always been considered handsome. As a child he was a short thing with twig-like arms and legs. A few years ago he grew quite tall, but still looked awkward with his thin frame. Eventually, he filled out and the married women in the village constantly made remarks about his appearance that would cause Danny to blush.

"I'm no longer a boy." Danny complained.

Lilith's answering musical laughter filled the air as she shook her head in amusement and continued towards the fields that the McElroy owned.

"Ye'll always be Danny Boy tae me."

"As long as none else calls me that. And yer father was looking for ye."

Shrugging as though she was used to her father wondering her whereabouts, Lilith continued to walk towards the fields. She reached the enclosed pasture and climbed over the high gates with ease. Danny followed as he smoothly pulled himself up and over. He dusted himself off and looked to see if Lilith had seen his great leap over the gate. When he finally located her distant figure, Danny noticed a gigantic black horse galloping towards her. Looking on in horror, Danny began to run towards Lilith, intending on saving her.

With a warm smile on her face and welcoming, open arms, Lilith turned and greeted the horse that suddenly stopped in front of her. She kissed the horse's nose affectionately as she held his head. The horse nudged his head against her. Bending his head, the horse sniffed Lilith's dress as his nudges became more insistent. Lilith rolled her eyes and laughed as she pulled out the snack she brought for the horse. She stroked the horse's mane lovingly while he greedily ate the sweet treat she brought. Danny reached Lilith, out of breath once again.

Noticing the stranger, the large horse began to grow skittish. Lilith continued to pet the horse and whisper reassuringly. As if the horse could understand her words, it became calm, but still distant from Danny. When Danny tried to draw near to the horse or Lilith, it would try to bite him as it retreated.

"Is this whaur ye go during the day?"

Lilith nodded. "I used tae watch the McElroys ride. They had a wee foal. Stubborn thing." The horse snorted indignantly, but Lilith continued. "He let only me close enough tae touch. I bring Midnight treats."

Lilith wiped her hands on her dress and kissed Midnight's nose. She turned to head back out of the pasture and Midnight followed alongside. Midnight's ears twitched and he snapped his head in the other direction. Lilith followed the horse's gaze and saw a man atop a horse, riding towards them. Groaning as she recognized the rider, Lilith contemplated running back home quickly. The cowardly decision didn't appeal to Lilith as much as she hoped it would.

Roderick rode up and looked down into the two faces. The boy he knew as Daniel. Their fathers worked together sometimes. The second face he could never forget. Lilith tilted her beautiful face up at him with a blank expression. Gone was the admiration and adoring looks.

Roderick turned towards Danny and spoke curtly, "Find elsewhere tae conduct yer flirtations."

Lilith tensed at his accusation and ran off before she openly cried.

"Milord, Lilith came tae see Midnight. I followed 'er ." Danny explained hurriedly before he turned and chased after Lilith.

He watched the both of them leave and thought about Danny and Lilith marrying and having a family together. But when he tried to envision it, he saw himself in Danny's place. Roderick shook the thoughts out of his head as he decided to ride for a bit before returning home.

When Roderick arrived home his baby sister ran up to him with a disapproving frown. She jabbed him in the ribs with her finger and opened her mouth to speak. Since she was the only female in their family after their ma passed, Jenna took it upon herself to scold all the males about any little thing.

"What did ye say tae Lilith?"

Roderick raised a brow. "Nothing."

Jenna eyed her brother suspiciously. "I passed 'er sometime ago, coming from the direction ye said ye were goin' and she was crying."

The memory of Lilith silently crying three years ago came into Roderick's head. Jenna began scolding Roderick about not understanding women's feelings and him being a fool. Sometimes he wished Jenna didn't grow up. She was twelve now and would prattle on about love and boys and how boys were too stupid to figure girls out.

Jenna defended Lilith all the time. Lilith was the mother she wished she had. Their mother died giving birth to their younger brother Haden, when Jenna was four. Lilith was compassionate, understanding, kind, sweet and loving. She could cook, clean and stitch. Sometimes Jenna would go over to Lilith's house for long talks or to help Lilith make medicine for the sick in the village. Jenna wanted one of her brothers to marry Lilith so they could be sisters. She often pestered her two eldest brothers, Roderick and Rowan, to marry Lilith.

"She's the most beautiful girl in the village!" Jenna would often point out.

Kieran would laugh at his younger sister and say he'd marry Lilith, but she'd turn him down like she had turned down all other's wanting to marry her.

"I ken why she'd turn ye down. Yer like a babe! Only Roderick and Rowan are full grown. Ye, Tristan, and Haden are still wet behind the ears!" She'd reply, much to the amusement of all the brothers.

Rowan would often pat his little sister on her head and say, "If anyone in this family was tae marry her, it would be Roderick, but Roderick canna marry her because she isn't a laird's daughter."

"Whit does that have tae do with anything?" Jenna would cry out and no one bothered to explain things to her.

Roderick was reminiscing about those conversations when he heard Jenna's voice bringing him back to the present. By the tone of her voice she asked the same question more than once because she was beginning to grow irritated.

"Doona ye agree?"

"Whit about?" Roderick asked exasperated with Jenna's constant stream of questions.

"That Lilith is tae old tae marry."

It was true. Most girls got married before they turned sixteen. Lilith was eighteen now and still unmarried. Lilith's mother had died a couple weeks after Lilith's fifteenth birthday. Since then Lilith had been helping her father and turned down all the offers of marriages she had received. Lilith's father didn't mind because he wanted his daughter to marry someone she loved. Love was something Lilith's father and mother had in abundance. But still, her father was worried about her total lack of interest in men. All of Lilith's friends had already gotten married and started families.

"Her own fault." Roderick snorted.

Jenna gave her brother a sly look before answering. "Well, I 'eard that Lilith was in love with this lad some time back, but he didna accept her love. And I 'eard that he told her verrah cruelly that he didna feel the same. Lilith, being her first love and all, was so hurt she didna want tae marry anyone if it couldna be him."

Roderick watched as his sister flounce back to their house. He finished rubbing his horse down before he followed. He couldn't possibly be the reason Lilith refused to get married.

2007
Lilith blinked a couple times as if to chase away the wisps of memories that haunted her. How foolish she had been. She had loved Roderick to her dying day. Literally. But he had betrayed her and from that day, she hated him with unrelenting passion. Maybe one day she'd find him and kill him.

Seattle

2007
Derek woke up, tangled in sheets. He yawned before inspecting the two naked, female bodies on both sides of him. With a tired groan, he got out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. By the time Derek was finished with his shower, the two women were just getting up. They tried to get him back in bed with them, but he offered that charming grin of his and said he had to leave. The women whined for him to stay. Derek was growing annoyed with their antics and brushed them off as he exited the rented room.

He got into his sleek ride and drove off. Picking up his cell, Derek looked at the 9 missed calls and dialed his brother. The call was answered after a couple rings.

"Damn it Roderick! I've been trying tae reach you all last night. Where the hell are ye?" The voice on the other line yelled at him.

"I got busy. What crawled up your ass and died, Rowan? And remember, I changed my name to Derek." Derek loved poking fun at his brother.