Sparkniversary, by assorted authors

SPARKS BY GOLDENCERES

LONGING

Rebecca glared at the screen of her cell phone. None of her so-called friends were ever there when she needed them. The same went for her family. She wished she could find someone completely reliable that would always be there for her, come hell or high water. Her wish came true when she met the vampire Brian Miller. He was sweet, attentive and she was the first priority in his life. Rebecca signed the turning papers he gave her without needing to dwell much on it. She had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

FIRST SIGHT

Hadrian blinked as the beautiful human got off the train that he was about to board. He wanted to stare at her forever and that desire made something go click in his brain. She was his mate, finally arrived in his life, after 834 years of waiting. He only had to quell her unexplainable fear of him and everything would be perfect.

DESIRE

Blake glanced at the three girls that entered the class and found himself unable to tear his gaze away. All three of them were beyond beautiful. One in particular, the blonde one, stood out to him. But she also was way out of his league. With a pang of sadness he looked dutifully to his book and tried not to sneak any glances at the lovely classmate. There was no way she would even look his way; after all, Blake was only human. And she was a goddess come to earth.

FRIENDSHIP

"So, how did your witchcraft emerge?" Andrea asked her hybrid friend. She had recently learned what he was. Not that she hadn't noticed odd things before. But she couldn't believe that the very beautiful woman that looked even younger than Andrea was Apollo's mother. When she came across the bizarre sight of the eternally eighteen woman berating the twenty looking Apollo after the boat sinking accident, Andrea thought she was a bossy younger sister or cousin. The fact that Apollo had been able to swim for three hours while carrying Andrea on his back had made her really suspicious but she had imagined he was taking performance enhancing drugs or something.

"Well, I was two days old and watching a documentary about arson and arsonists with my grandfather Philippe. Mom was not done turning and dad did not want to leave her out of his sight, so grandpa was looking after me until my parents could come."

Andrea recalled the smoking hot heartthrob that her friend called grandfather and felt surreal and rather dizzy.

"I thought that the flames were really pretty and made my mother's favorite cashmere scarf light up. Grandpa let out a screech that he to this day maintains was very dignified and masculine." Apollo shook his head as he smiled at the memory.

SINGER

The utterly mouthwatering, ambrosial scent hit him with the devastation of a newborn army. Civility and goodwill evaporated like water on a hot furnace and the animal took over. He sprang, heedless of everything else, his only objective to taste that heavenly elixir contained within her veins. Later, when the ultimate temptation was away, he was overcome with regret at his actions and relieved that she had not been harmed. He hoped she would not hate him for it.

FANTASY

Addy arrived to find the hybrid Apollo completely engrossed on a rather thick book and not acknowledging her presence. She felt like strangling the rude brat and thanked her lucky stars his ridiculously overprotective empath mother was not there. His force field father was escorting him instead. Tasty, intriguingly elusive Hadrian, with his peach pie flavor, one she had only sampled once, while the other vampire was distracted by his amorous mate. Well, the son with his still developing cinnamon roll taste was interesting enough to keep her fascinated.

"Hey dad, which Hogwarts House would Addy be in?" mockingly asked the brat once he'd finally finished reading the blasted book with his hybrid speed.

"Fine," Addy said with a false smile. "Slytherin!"

"You don't want to be a Slytherin," Apollo said. "No one wants to be a Slytherin."

Addy gritted her teeth, wishing that the little witch hadn't such an interesting and useful power, or that she hadn't indirectly read the books through Aro's power (she definitely wished that some of the horrid fanfiction hadn't been there too). At least she could've said that she knew nothing about it; but, of course, everyone knows how much she does.

"Maybe she would be a Hufflepuff, " Hadrian said.

THE HAZARDS OF KNOWING

Andrea was delighted when Apollo told her of 'things.' He was her best friend and she had always had the nagging feeling that there were huge secrets in his life. But after she was informed, the strains formed by the secrets disappeared and their friendship grew stronger. But there was a serious drawback. Every time she heard someone exclaim that magic and vampires were not real, she couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably, drawing strange looks. When it was her time to turn, she helped a few others with stories similar to hers write a pamphlet on the problems a human in the know had to face. It caused too much laughing.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, AND CAME BACK

Duncan had truly loved her. And he had been devastated when she'd left him for the rich boy with excellent prospects. His sister had told him that he should be glad to be rid of the shallow, materialistic girl that did not deserve him, and he almost yelled at his baby sister for insulting her. He knew her and how hard her life had been. He did not fault her for aiming for security and comfort for herself and her future children. But he never got over her. Occasionally he would see her about with her husband or her daughter and son. Often he saw himself in the place of her husband, but it was not to be. Then she went missing for several weeks after her neighbors had called his station due to hearing horrible screams from her house. Her son had been the most aggressive about his investigation; strangely defensive too, and to Duncan the boy looked guilty. It was not until she came back, lovelier than ever, that his worry abated. But fate also saw fit to reward him with her. Because she mated on him, not on her husband. His sister was disgruntled but eventually came around.

BLOOD FEUD

Sik watched the vampire Joham and his progeny. Among them was the tiny hybrid that had killed his beloved sister coming into the world. He had told Hie-Min to stop seeing the strange white man, but like always, she had thought he was being overprotective and had disregarded his sound advice. Killing Joham in revenge was out of the question. The Golden Empire would find out, plus he almost always had a bad feeling that it was a horrible idea, like he was guaranteed to lose that fight. His witchcraft was useful in that regard, he always knew what he should avoid doing. But he could get his revenge through his sister's daughter. Iseul, she was called. Joham dearly valued his children and it would be a deep blow to him to lose her affections, at least in part. He would contact the hybrid and show her pictures and mementos of the mother she never got to know due to her father's selfishness, disregard and cruelty. After all, the hybrids born under the Golden Empire had both their parents. And a young girl would long for a mother.

ETERNAL RIVAL

Duncan did not say a word when he learned of the choice that his stepdaughter had made. His mate was practically spiting nails, remembering all too well the heartache her cheating former husband had caused her. To Duncan he had been an obstacle, the rival that had won. Until fate had decided to throw Duncan a bone. He could not take her from him again. The mating bond was absolute. But he could rob Duncan of the affections of his family. His stepchildren were unlikely to forgive their biological father, but their children had not truly known him. Duncan feared that his precious grandchildren would prefer the other.

OBSERVER

People-watching was one of Justina's hobbies. The more interesting someone was, the less likely it was that she would eat them. After more than twelve centuries of being alive, Justina had mastered her instincts and civilized herself. She always fed on a schedule to enforce discipline and clear-headedness, and she always fed on boring or rude people.

For several days she watched the grandson of the richest landlord in the area. He was intriguing, with his flawless swordsmanship and the books he read. But there was something else as well in the way his opponents sometimes became slow around him. Maybe there was witchcraft. Interested, she decided to watch a little more. The human’s avaricious relatives who pushed him out of a window to fall to his death on the sharp rocks below irksomely interrupted her observation. Again, that slowness appeared. Glad she had fed on a stringy, ill-tempered innkeeper earlier, Justina took off like a shot in his direction, after having made sure no one was watching. Gently and carefully, she bit him and carried him off to a cave nearby where he could scream himself hoarse without disturbing anyone. When he was two days into the transformation, she left him for a while and went to grab the two treacherous relatives. Her creation would need to eat once he was done turning and who better than the people who had caused the event?

CHANGE

As a human, Hadrian longed for change and adventure. His life had been planed for him from the moment he had come out of his mother. He was to master the arts of learning and war and to succeed his grandfather when the time came. Then his aunt decided that she wanted her idiot son to inherit their family lands. The attempted assassination was so very sudden; one second he was talking to his aunt and the next he was airborne. He barely had time to be surprised. But he was surprised when, while he was lying broken on the ground waiting for the gates of Heaven to open, he was bitten by a stunningly beautiful woman. He thought she might be an angel at first, but her devilish smile quelled that hope. The burning pain that followed almost convinced him that he was in hell, except that he could feel the change in his mind. When he was done and was given a quick explanation of what he was, Hadrian could not be sad that he had to leave everything behind. Justina then presented him with his aunt and cousin as his first meals. Due to his rage and newborn thirst, their deaths were far too quick.

SPARKS BY BLUELANTERN2814

DECISION

Alice saw Suzie's life.

She was about to get married, they wanted a short engagement and to soon have children.

Alice saw Suzie's life.

Disappeared under mysterious circumstances; the police would blame her fiance. Their families would become enemies, blaming each other.

Alice saw Suzie's life.

And decided not to drink her blood.

(UN)LIMITED

"So... my dear quarter-vampire friend," Clarice said teasingly, "what is so weird about the rest of your family?"

"Remember that I said I have many brothers?" Radamantes asked rhetorically. "It is... very complicated."

"How so?" Clarice asked.

"My mom was married 3 times before her current husband..."

"Well she must be long lived..." Clarice said.

"She is," Radamantes said, "but each husband was from a different species."

"Wow."

"Yeah, they were a half-half, a wolf, a vampire and finally my dad, human."

"How did that happen?"

"Well, Thor the hybrid was a regular dating then marriage case - until Simon imprinted on her..."

"She divorced Thor?"

"Not right away, they lived together for a while... My older siblings were born during that period."

"Okay."

"Then she went through some hard times emotionally."

"I imagine."

"Then Carlito the vampire came and mated on Mon, and Thor decided to live with his twins."

"Simon didn't have a choice."

"No, and while they stayed like that for some time, it ended badly."

"How much?"

"Bruno was born after Simon and Carlito's funerals... He is Carlito's son."

"Okay... I am sorry."

"Then 23 years later Mon met my dad. She says that she is happy with a relationship that won't last forever."

PAIRING.

After Jacob's decision that Elspeth was old enough to date, it took him a year to convince her to go out.

Eslpeth dressed simply, but stunning as always, with a plain dress and a necklace, rare on her. She walked out of the bedroom and Jacob smiled at her.

Walking over her, he kissed and hugged her.

"Have fun tonight," Jacob said, "and be safe."

After she was gone, Jacob sat in his lazy chair and read a book.

PRANKS.

When Franklin was 40 he realized that he had just a few decades left before the Masquerade was off.

So he decided to pretend he was a robot.

When else would he get the chance?

UNIMPORTANT MOTHER

It was weird growing up with an unimportant mother.

Orlan didn't realize this at first, of course, he simply couldn't due to the sheer lack of reference.

Everyday in the exact same hour he was taken and locked in his bedroom/cage. It wasn't uncomfortable but it was small and he couldn't get out. Then, mother unfaded and said it was time to sleep.

It wasn't until their visits to civilization got longer than a quick meal that Orlan started to notice.

Everyone's mothers are always important.

UNIMPORTANT DAUGHTER

It wasn't important how but Johan knew that half-vampires were possible, they were.

Sometimes he did remember that he had a daughter when Allirea was unfaded. Not always, and still she wasn't important enough to make him care about her.

But it gave him hope to continue his work.

UNIMPORTANT PARENT

Ella preferred it when her mother was faded. It wasn't like she didn't love her non-human parent. She did.

But remembering her mom was also remembering what she ate.

Ella never knew the victims, and if she did most of time she wouldn't care.

But that only made the moments when she did care all the more intense.

UNIMPORTANT SISTER

Nahuel never liked talking about his family, much less so after their first visit. His aunt couldn't remember Allirea, or maybe she did, but it was like trying to talk about a specific grain of sand in the desert.

Knowing that he had sisters... half-sisters, because Nahuel's mother was taken by the demon, but knowing about his family all the same, almost made Nahuel's life feel less of a tragedy.

GATHERING.

"I have been working with private investigations for 34 years," Cole said. "I have seen the bad, the very bad," for effect Cole corrected himself, "and more importantly, the Empire has seen it too."

That made much of his "audience" move uncomfortably. The term audience didn't seem fit for a group of 20 people, half of them his friends, even if they were that indeed.

"They are overworked," Cole said. "The Golden Empire has an important job to do, I am not going to lie, keeping our kind..." one of the werewolves narrowed his eyes, "under control is important, but there is a lot to be done."

ALBUM

There are half-vampires, three-quarters, one-quarters, one-eights, three-eights, five-eights, and many other fractions; there were the "no longer one-eights" and full vampires now; there were their mates, or their imprinted wolves, or their own imprints: some were human, while others were hybrids, and there were of course the wolf-hybrids, much more welcoming than the full wolves.

There were witches, and the merely gifted; there were the ones that excelled in a field, and ones that were masters of all trades.

Marriage, birth, lines and blood.

And finally, a family reunion in Natal. The year was 2100 and it was a really big event, with lots of pictures, including the biggest family photo since the invention of photos.

Joham smiled all the time and was finally happy, his dream of siring a master race finally come true.

Lucy was mildly amused at him and very glad to be the matriarch of such a large family.

NAMING

With immortal families cropping up over decades, naming was bound to become more and more complicated. Even when one carefully avoided repeating names or naming someone after someone else in the family, repeated names weren't uncommon. Additionally, not everyone took such care, even when that caused many Juniors, II, III and IV in the same family reunion.

So with such task and so little time it shouldn't come as a surprise that many parents asked the hybrids themselves to decide.

STUCK

Marietta wanted to cry; her skin was hard and cold, no make-up would hold onto it, her body would stay on that shape forever, only her hair would change... by growing very slowly.

She wanted to kill her creator, even if he'd saved her life by turning her.

Rather, Marietta looked in the mirror again, and Adolfo's reflex looked back, beautiful like any other vampire, but not matching what her soul really was.

THE UGLY AND THE BEAST

Sometimes Christian was just surprised at how rude people could be with their staring. Eventually he grew accustomed with the averting of eyes; his scars were pretty bad, and he could only be thankful that he hadn't lost the use of his eyes or any of his parts, even if his nephew wouldn't look at him.

But that brunette was truly rude, staring at him with that obviously faked admiration and awe. What could a creature like her want with a war veteran like him?

SHIPPING.

"I think he is perfect for her-" Eva started saying to Mariella.

"I can't believe that you're still talking about this!" Mario shouted suddenly to his classmates. "'Should she get the elf or the dragon? Or both?' Or any insanity! Just grow up! Go read a good drama book! Magic isn't real!"

At that point Eva the human witch and Mariella the hybrid just looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter so uncontrollable they had to leave class.