The Ruby Read online

  The Hidden Gems

  Book One

  The Ruby

  R. M. Getsee

  -To my mother,

  For always believing in and supporting me,

  For inspiring my creativity,

  And for never giving up on me.

  The Hidden Gems copyright © 2017 R. M. Getsee

  ISBN: 9781973274704

  Work protected from plagiarism on www.patamu.com with registration number 73326

  Text © 2017 R. M. Getsee

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

  GLOSSARY

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Epilogue

  The Sapphire, book two in the Hidden Gems Series.

  Coming soon.

  Authors Note

  Acknowledgements

  GLOSSARY

  The First: The first being to exist, he created the universe the races live in. he was overthrown by the Jet.

  The Ancients: Five of the six immortal entities that were created by the First, created from the stones of power, the original Gems and the first in each of the supernatural races.

  The Jet: The sixth and most powerful of the entities, used to be one of the Ancients before he overthrew the First and trapped himself in a dark plane of existence.

  Stones of Power: The ruby, sapphire, emerald, amethyst garnet and jet, the stones the Ancients were created from. Held the immense power that created the Gems.

  The Gems: Five women that carry the power of the Ancients, each of the races they were fathered from.

  Vampires: Unable to walk in the sunlight; age far slower than humans, drink blood rarely, only small amounts from animals, cold and disinterested personalities, each has an affinity for one of the four elements.

  Elementals: A cold dangerous vampire cult, who craves only power and immortality, can control at least two or more elements.

  Affinity: An ability to control and be connected to one of the four elements of the earth, fire, water, earth and air. It is very uncommon to have an affinity for more than one and impossible to have it for more than three.

  Dampier: Half vampire, half human, complete intolerance to sunlight so they have either died out or gone into hiding to protect vampires’ secret existence from the humans.

  Prologue

  In the beginning there was the First. An all-powerful being, He created the universe.

  The universe was divided into separate planes of existence, the earth for the mortals and creatures that He had created, and the heavens for himself, as the creatures of the earth aged and died while he remained the same. But as time passed he grew lonely, and wanting companionship He created the first beings to roam the heavens.

  Strong, powerful, immortal entities, They were forged from six powerful stones of the earth, the ruby, the sapphire, the emerald, the amethyst, the garnet and the jet.

  They were referred to as the Ancients. Each of the stones created a different race with special powers, and their vibrant colors were reflected in each of the entities personalities.

  The ruby stone created the Vampire, a passionate creature that craved life itself, drinking blood of the creatures that roamed the earth to sustain itself and its powers, the sapphire created the Angel, compassionate and calm, it healed and nurtured life, protecting the earth from harm, the emerald created the Fae, sweet and kind it nurtured the earth and the heavens, caring for all that grew in each plane, the amethyst created the Shifter, balanced and sharp it could reform its body into anything it wanted to become, a warrior of all the first created, the garnet created the Siren, and although all of the creatures were unearthly beautiful, this was by far the most exquisite of all the beings; driven by lust it could bend the will of any mortal creature that lived with its song, though it could not control the other immortals, and finally the Jet.

  This was the most powerful of all the entities and was referred to only by the name of the stone it was crafted from. It craved power and was cold to all mortals, believing it was better than all, even the First.

  All of the creatures, though very different in every way, worked together sharing their power with each other to maintain the universe in peace and harmony in each of the planes of existence.

  They were forbidden to take partners from the mortal plane by the First, in fear that the power of the Ancients would be tainted by mortal desires and destroy the peace that the First created.

  As centuries passed, the First grew ever fonder of the mortals of the earth and told the Ancients of his decision to gift them with the powers of the stones so they would be equal to the Ancients.

  But when the Jet, whose cold soul grew darker and more selfish with time, found out, he flew into a rage. Believing that he was superior to all, he decided that the First was no longer needed, and struck him down.

  Gathering his power he channeled it into the darkest energy that had spread in sparse amounts throughout the earth, allowing it to infect him so that he was able to poison the First’s light with his final blow.

  The shock of this act twisted his dark soul into something monstrous and evil, reflecting the hard black stone that he was created from, and shook the very universe to its core creating another plane.

  This was not peaceful like heaven, it reflected the monster he had become and was just as cold and twisted.

  In the final moment of its existence the First cast the Jet into the plane he created and trapped him there. He then had a vision and spoke a prophecy to the Ancients.

  “The evil has been cast to the hell he created but he will not remain trapped forever.

  He will rise again and when he does he will not be stopped but for five beings, the very mortals he despises will be his downfall.

  Mortals infused with the power of the stones, they will have the power of the Ancients and will rid the universe of his evil.”

  And with that he let go of his final breath and ceased to exist.

  Time passed and the Ancients grew weary for they did not have the knowledge of where the stones were or how to infuse a mortal with the power.

  Eventually they gave up and fell to earth to be with the humans they had been forbidden to mate with. They fathered children and created their own races that had some of the powers of the Ancients, but diluted a hundred times. They waged war on each other.

  After centuries apart the Ancients met with one another. To stop the wars that had ravaged the earth they decided that they would wipe the memories of their descendants, making them forget that the Vampires, Fae, Angels, Shifters and Siren’s existed to each other, and forcing them to live separately from one another and in secret to the mortals.

  They left one mortal with the knowledge of what had happened and with the prophecy in the hopes that he would tell his descendants and eventually discover
how to do what they had failed to. With that they dissipated from the earth and spread their power through the universe to heal it.

  What they never knew was that the First had seen all of this in his vision and had wanted them to fall and mix their bloodlines with the mortals.

  The Ancients were the stones they were created from and the power of the Ancients would grow with each generation until finally, as the Jet started to break free of the chains that held him, the power of the stones would awaken in the chosen five, the most powerful of each of the Ancients descendants, the hidden gems.

  This is their story.

  Chapter One

  I opened my eyes and groaned as a sharp throbbing pain reverberated in the back of my skull. I sighed as I tried to recall the weird dream that I’d had. I could only remember distorted and blurred shapes and muffled voices.

  This had been happening for the past few months, I knew that I’d been having the same dream at least two or three times a week and yet whenever I woke up I was met with an intense pain in my head and a blurry memory instead of being able to recall what had happened in it.

  My brow furrowed as I concentrated hard on trying to remember what had happened in it, and I was rewarded by the ache in my head intensifying.

  I threw back my heavy duvet, untangling myself from the blanket that had twisted around my leg as I slowly stood and shuffled towards the windows.

  Opening the curtains a crack, I flinched as the last rays of sunset crept through, sunlight falling on the plush carpet that lined my bedroom floor. Inching forward, my curiosity getting the better of me, I held out my hand until it was in the glow.

  I marveled as it didn’t smoke or burn.

  I had first noticed that the sun didn’t hurt me a few weeks ago when I had woken up to get a drink from my kitchen. It had been dark as I re-entered my room; my thick purple velvet curtains had been drawn to protect the room from the sun, and I hadn’t seen the suitcase that had been lying on the floor waiting to be unpacked.

  I had tripped, fallen forwards and I had gotten tangled in the curtains; they had been ripped away, filling my bedroom with sunlight. As the rays had touched my skin, I had frozen in fear and I had waited to turn to charcoal. But it hadn’t happened.

  It just didn’t make any sense. I was a vampire, and vampire’s burn in the sun, so how was it that I hadn’t? I hadn’t told my family about this new quirk yet. In their eyes I was already less than a vampire because I didn’t have any of the special powers that were gifted to my lineage and I didn’t want yet another reason for their disappointed glances.

  I looked at the clock resting on the heavy oak table beside my bed and shook my head, trying to clear my head of fuzzy thoughts. It was only six p.m. but I had been standing in the sun for over half an hour.

  I was about to turn and get back into bed when I remembered that summer break was over and it was my first day at a new school. I had been overseas studying and I had completed my second year early, so my parents had moved me back home to finish my last year and graduate in America.

  It was also my final year at high school and I would be learning elemental magic, which was something that I had been looking forward to since before I could even walk.

  Striding over to my walk in closet I searched through all the clothes my mom had bought me for the new school year, my hands drifting over the soft fabrics and the cold rails until I came up with something that I felt comfortable wearing, and shuffled to my bathroom.

  As I turned on the faucet for my shower my headache kicked up another notch and I grabbed for the sink, accidentally knocking over a bottle of perfume on the counter in my sleep-induced clumsiness.

  I turned with the lightning fast reflexes that I could never get the hang of and caught the glass bottle before it could spill on the pristine white of the marble.

  As I did, the same blinding pain swept through my head and I was overcome by a wave of dizziness. I clutched the counter and ground my teeth as images began to flood my mind:

  Blood red splattering on white lace, a ball flying out of nowhere towards me, and a face so perfect it could have been carved by a master sculptor from the renaissance.

  It was a boy around my age. His dark hair was a stark contrast to his pale complexion, and he was unnaturally handsome, even for a vampire, but his eyes were what really struck me. The electric blue irises captivated me and held my attention.

  And just as suddenly as they had come, the images left my mind. I was shaking, clutching the counter so hard my knuckles were turning white. Gasping for breath, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

  My face, framed by dark lose waves, was even paler than usual and my eyes seemed to sparkle a darker emerald color. Looking closer I could have sworn that my eyes had flashed with a different color for a second.

  Shaking my head clear of all the weird thoughts running through it, I stepped into the shower and rolled my head around on my neck, bending it back, and letting the hot jets ease the tension coiled in my shoulders and wash away the last vestiges of my headache.

  *********

  Half an hour later I was dressed in plain black jeans, a vest, hoodie and boots. Frowning, I tugged at my damp hair, tangling and curling as it dried; it was getting really long now, almost reaching my waist.

  I looked about as plain and indistinct as I could. Good, I thought to myself.

  My mother was always buying me flashy clothes, most vampires tended to wear revealing, tight clothes in gothic colors and mom thought that my fashion sense was what was standing between me trying to fully embrace my vampire heritage.

  Truth was, I liked all those clothes, but I preferred to remain anonymous to everyone, blending with the shadows.

  Eventually, people would notice that I didn’t have any of the special talents, and couldn’t get the hang of the natural abilities of a vampire, and they would mock me for it.

  And the longer that took the better!

  There were very few vampires in the world who were actually decent and there were even fewer of those who would show it.

  I looked at my clock again, it was only six forty-five and no one would be up for at least another half hour. Picking up one of the elemental textbooks I would be studying and laying back on my soft large bed, I decided that if I was going to suck at magic I would have to get a head start at the theory.

  I smiled grimly as I skimmed the index, looking for an interesting chapter title.

  Chapter 1: An introduction to the elements.

  Chapter 2: Fire.

  Chapter 3: Water.

  Chapter 4: Earth.

  Chapter 5: Air.

  As each chapter went on about what kind of powers came with which element you specialized in, and how powerful you could be if you used your full potential, I started to get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  I had never been any good at controlling any of the elements and I was starting to worry if I would actually have an affinity for an element or if I would be even more different to my family.

  Taking a deep breath, I told myself to relax. I would have an affinity for something, I had to. Even my brother Derek took time to master air and he’d had the perfect academic record when he had attended the academy. And at least I would be studying with my older sisters.

  I was still trying to decide if it would be a good thing to be joining Rhea and Torah’s school when a chapter title caught my eye.

  Chapter 19: The fifth element?

  I had never heard about a fifth element, I thought, as I flipped to the last page of the book and read:

  Of all the elements the fifth is the rarest. It is of great speculation that this magic even existed as no one in living memory has seen proof of it. Little is known about the powers and talents it provides.

  Some of the traits are said to be able to glimpse into future and past, mind speak and many other mental and physical traits.

  I was startled by a knock and jumped up, letting the book go flying and fall with a sof
t thud somewhere in my darkened room as my mom poked her head around the door.

  “Alexia, it’s time to get ready for school.”

  “I’m already up mom,” I said, waiting for my mom to start her usual argument.

  My mother stepped into the room fully and appraised my outfit. “Alexia Morgan, you cannot leave this house dressed like that.”

  I rolled my eyes. My mom, Nyssa, was lucky; she was stunning. She had the perfect figure and flawless pale skin that was accented by the beautiful black silk wrap dress she was wearing, dark thick hair that flowed down her back, and eyes so dark they were almost black.

  Every vampire was perfect but my mother was even better than that. And that just made me even more conscious of how plain and indistinct, and how different I really was from my family.

  My attention snapped back to reality as I realized my mother was still in the middle of her rant.

  “Mom, please I feel more comfortable in this,” I said.

  “But you need to start dressing right, sweetheart, you’re so beautiful, you have so much potential.” I knew that my mom was only trying to be nice but it just made me feel even worse.

  “I’m already nervous about my first day so can you please just drop it.” I almost felt like pleading but I made sure to keep my tone firm.

  “Fine, but I wish you would at least try on some of the things I buy you.” I gave my mother a pointed look and Nyssa just shrugged, obviously defeated by her daughter’s strong will. She left the room muttering under her breath. I caught words like “so pretty” and “looking like a human”

  I turned my back on my mother, fighting with the unexpected tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I knew my mom loved me but I also knew that my family viewed me as little more than a human and they all expected me to fail in my elemental training.