Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One)

I woke up the next morning extremely happy. I only had one more day before I met James’s family. While I was happy, I was also nervous that they wouldn’t accept me. What if James had told them I was a vampire? What if they were expecting a pale-skinned girl with a thirst for blood? What would they even serve for dinner? Blood pudding? Blood sausage? Possibly some tomato soup with a hint of blood?

  I went downstairs to get breakfast and saw my father at the table.

  “Hey dad,” I said.

  “Hello, dear. I hear you have a date on Saturday,” he said.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t call it a date. I am just going to a friend’s house for dinner.”

  “Oh? And who is this friend?”

  I started to panic. I knew that if I told him I was going to see James and his family, he would want to meet James. I also knew that if he met James he might know what he was. After all, my father spent a lot of time with vampires and if given the opportunity up close, he would be able to put together the pieces.

  “Emma,” I spurted out.

  “So, no boy?” he asked.

  “I think she has a couple brothers, but nope, my friend Emma.”

  I tried giving a crooked smile to make him think I was telling the truth. I knew if I told him I was going over to Emma’s, he wouldn’t care about meeting her. It was true, also. I was going over to Emma’s house for dinner. It just so happened that James lived there too, and I would say hi to him if I ran into him there.

  Breakfast was a little tense. I could tell my father wanted to ask me more about Emma’s brothers. I didn’t know much about their family, so I tried making up names in my head so I would look truthful. Surprisingly enough, he never asked me anything more. He finished his eggs and toast, kissed my mother goodbye and went to work.

  I gathered my things and left for school. I was excited to see James. Just to think that tomorrow night I would be sitting in his house was enough to send me over the moon. Meeting his family was a big deal. Maybe someday I would even become Mrs. Juliet Sullivan.

  When I arrived at school, I noticed a few more guards than usual posted outside. I was escorted in, just like every other student, and saw a bunch of people gathered in the auditorium. I walked in to hear an announcement being made by Principal Trudy.

  “You all may be wondering why there are more guards here today than usual. You all may also be wondering why you were all escorted into the school instead of walking in by yourselves as you usually do. Earlier today there was a werewolf sighting outside Founders Park. Three werewolves were spotted in full form running the perimeter of the park until they disappeared from trackers.”

  As she finished that sentence, everyone in the auditorium gasped. Voices grew louder as everybody gossiped and panicked about what it all meant.

  “Now don’t worry, students,” the principal said. “We have extra security here today, and until we are able to deem the area safe. Don’t be afraid of the guards, they are only here to protect you and make sure nothing bad happens. Please go on with your normal classes as if this was any other normal day,” she added, exuding confidence.

  We were all shuffled out of the auditorium like a herd of sheep. As I was being pushed and prodded out, I saw Derek and Cara off in a corner talking. They looked scared and argumentative. What were they talking about? What could be wrong?

  I started making my way to my locker just as I did every morning. I saw James standing there looking distraught.

  “Hey you,” I said, smiling.

  “Are you okay?” he asked frantically.

  “Well sure I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I was just scared, because of the werewolf spotting.”

  “Why would you be scared?”

  “Because, Juliet, I don’t think you know what it means.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Werewolves are a serious matter. Especially three of them in their full forms. They get their power from their packs. The more of them there are, especially in full form, the more dangerous they are. They feed off each other’s energies and power.”

  “Well, why would you be scared for me, though?”

  “I just wanted to make sure you were safe. With your father being who he is, I wanted to make sure they weren’t targeting you or trying to kidnap you for revenge.”

  The bell rang and James put his hands on my shoulders.

  “If you notice anything weird, please tell me. I care about you a great deal and couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you. I would rather be dead than be without you.”

  “You already are dead,” I whispered into his ear.

  He smiled and turned away. I watched him slowly walk away as I dreamt of tomorrow night. All I wanted at this point was to be his. I would even let him convert me if it meant I was able to be with him forever.

  “Girl, what is up with you?”

  I turned around to see Ariel standing there with her hands on her hips, giving me a big grin.

  “You’re talking to James, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “A little bit,” I said, trying to contain my smile.

  “Just be careful, you know that Brittany has been trying to get together with him for a long time now. If she finds out the new girl snatched him she will come after you.”

  I didn’t even care what she did. I was never going to let go of James and nobody was going to take him from me. He was mine and I was his.

  We walked into math just before the bell rang. I sat at my desk, dreaming about the night that was coming soon.

  Math was never my greatest subject, but I got by. I always had trouble remembering all of the different rules and equations. When was I ever even going to have to use this stuff? I couldn’t think of many times in life I would have to figure out quadratic equations.

  Mr. Oliveri, my math teacher, was a very funny man. He tried to make us laugh and make math fun. He gave us all nicknames. Some got off better than others with theirs. He called me LaVoeAtory, trying to be funny and make my last name sound like “laboratory.” I never quite understood why he did this or gave me this name. Maybe he thought I was weird and would grow up to be an evil scientist, sewing rats and frogs together to make the dreaded ratfrog.

  “Ms. LaVoeAtory,” he said. “Would you like to come up to the board and show the class how to solve this particular problem?”

  I wanted to just shout “no.” I had no interest in getting up in front of the entire class and making a fool out of myself.

  “Oh, okay,” I said with hesitation.

  I slowly got up and made my way to the front of the room. He handed me the marker and I walked up to the board. Just as I was about to touch the marker to the board, the bell rang. That normally annoying bell now sounded like angels singing in my ear.

  “All right, class,” he said. “We will pick back up Monday. Don’t forget to do your homework this weekend!”

  I ran back to my desk and grabbed my things. I had been saved. I didn’t have to worry about this problem and I was one hour closer to tomorrow night.

  School went by fast. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was so excited about the next day, or the fact that I wasn’t really paying attention to anything my teachers said.

  When the final bell rang, I was ready. I pushed and shoved my way through the hallway and made it to my locker. I gathered my things and started to make my way through the school. I decided to take a different route through the school. With all of the students making a weekend dash for their lockers and buses, it was too hectic and I knew another way that would save me some time. As I started walking the empty hallway, I heard two voices talking. I stopped and started to listen.

  “What are we going to do?” It was Derek’s voice. They sounded like they were around the next turn in the hallway.

  “I don’t know,” Cara answered. “With that wolf sighting we have to be careful.”

  “But tomorrow is a full moon,” he said. “We aren’t going to be able to control ourselves.”

&nbsp
; “Baby, yes we can. We will keep each other in check. We have to control it. If we get caught again it won’t be good.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Were Derek and Cara werewolves? Were they involved with the ones that were found today? Were they planning something big? I quietly and carefully made my way back down the hallway the way I’d come. I couldn’t afford them knowing I had heard them.

  I made my way outside and to my waiting car. I had to tell James tomorrow. I had to stop them from hurting anybody else. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if somebody got hurt because I was too scared to say what they were planning. They had already been caught once for doing something bad, and I wouldn’t let it happen again.

  When I got home, I was pleasantly surprised. Nobody was home. I ran upstairs and started raiding my closet. I had to pick out the perfect outfit to wear tomorrow night. I wanted to blow James’s socks right off his feet. I was going to go all out on this. I had one chance to make a great impression on his family, and I wasn’t about to blow it with ugly clothes and bad hair.

  As I started daydreaming and dancing around, I remembered something. James never told me where he lived. In fact, nobody knew where he and his sister lived. He didn’t have a phone, and I had no way of contacting him. I started to think the worst. Maybe it was all a trick. Maybe he didn’t really like me and was just trying to trick the new girl. Maybe Brittany made him do this to put me in my place.

  No, I thought. There was no way he would do that to me. Why would he save me from the thugs and let me fall asleep in his arms if it was all a trick? He loved me, and I knew he wouldn’t ever do that to me.

  Just then, I heard a door close. I went downstairs to find that my mom had come home.

  “Oh hello, sweetie.”

  “Hey mom, how was your day?”

  “Oh, it was wonderful sweetie, and how about yours?”

  “It was good. I was just picking out an outfit for tomorrow night.”

  “Oh,” she said. “And why would you need to do that if you are just going over to a girlfriend’s house for dinner?”

  “Oh, you know me, I just want to look nice.”

  “Are you sure there won’t be a boy there?” she said, smiling.

  “Well, she has a couple brothers that will probably be there.”

  “Oh honey, you can tell me the truth. I’m not like your father.”

  “I know. Okay, yes, there will be someone there that I like. Emma’s brother.”

  “See, was that so hard? What is his name?”

  “His name is James. He is in my grade and we have a few classes together.”

  “I see. Well, just be careful. You know how boys at this age can be. I don’t want to see my little girl getting hurt.”

  “I know, mom. I won’t get hurt.”

  Being able to talk to my mom was nice. I never really got that close to her, but I was always closer to her than I was with my father. He was always hard and emotionless. The fact he was rarely around when I was a kid hadn’t helped things either. My mom, however, was there and made an effort. I just hoped she wouldn’t slip the information about James to my father.

  I blew off my homework that night. Usually I was the type to get everything done and study, but not tonight. I had a big night tomorrow, and everything had to be planned. I turned on my computer and decided to try to learn more about vampires. I had never known another vampire besides James, and I barely even knew him. If I was going to have any chance of fitting in with his family, I had to at least know my facts so I didn’t look stupid.

  I found a historical site devoted to vampires and their ancestors. I started reading:

  “Vampires are an ancient species of sub-mortals. They first started appearing in literature and art in the year 273 AD. Nobody knows exactly how they started, but how they rose up is all but too well known. Vampires today are mostly created by the bite. There are two main forms of bites: the hunger bite and the love bite. They are different in nature and purpose, leading to debate about them. A hunger bite is when a vampire or group of vampires needs to feed. They grow restless and thirsty. Their hunger is only quenched by the taste of fresh blood. They can receive it from humans or animals, but humans provide a much more quenching taste. A love bite, however, is produced when a male or female vampire wants to turn a mortal into a vampire for love purposes. Both partners fall in love with each other, and the bite secures their fate as lovers for all of time. You can tell vampires from their pale skin and cool touch. They are undead, and can be killed only by the removing of their heads. Be wary, though, for vampires are incredibly fast and cunning foes. They do not take lightly to battle and will fight to the death, with their foes usually ending up on the side of death. If you ever meet someone you suspect to be a vampire, be wary. Their powers of seduction and manipulation are great, and even the strongest minds can wither in the presence of a strong vampire. If you are ever be caught with a group of vampires, you can kiss your life goodbye.”

  Wow. I couldn’t believe it. Was James going to feed on me? Was he inviting me over to meet his family because they needed to feed? He did invite me for dinner. Maybe I was the main course.

  I started thinking about what I read. The website did mention a love bite. A bite made by a vampire on a mortal to lock their souls together in everlasting harmony. Maybe that was what he wanted. Maybe that was even what I wanted. To escape this cruel, oppressive world and lock hands with James and a new family, a family that would love me forever.

  As the night started coming to an end, all I could think about was what was written on my computer.

  I started drifting away to sleep a different person. I wasn’t the same shy, innocent girl anymore. I was different. I wanted to be bitten.

  I woke up the next morning feeling enthusiastic. Today was the day. Today was the day I finally got to meet James’s family.

  There was only one problem. It was eight in the morning and I wasn’t going over there until tonight. I had the entire day to sit around and obsess and worry about what was going to happen tonight.

  I decided to kill some time online. Maybe Marcus was online and I could share the great news with him.

  “Hey, how is your day going?” I asked him.

  “Oh hey. It’s good. Just hanging out. How about yours?” he replied.

  “It’s great! I am going over to someone’s house later for dinner and I am super excited.”

  “Oh, is it that guy you were talking to?”

  “Yeah! I’m so excited. I’m hoping he will ask me out tonight finally. I feel like I have been waiting for forever.”

  “Oh—yeah—that’s cool. I hope he will be able to make you happy.”

  “He does!” I said while typing a smiley face.

  “Cool.”

  Cool? That’s all he says? Why was Marcus always weird with me when the subject of James was brought up? It was as if he didn’t like the fact I was talking to him. Maybe he was just jealous because I couldn’t talk to him as much as before. Whatever it was, I didn’t let it get me down. I was hours away from my date and I was ready.

  As the hours grew near to my date, I started to worry. What if they were expecting me to show up somewhere? What if nobody shows up? I’ll look stupid in front of my parents if I get dressed up and tell them I am going to a friend’s house and I never go. What would I even tell them?

  Just as I started to get scared, I heard the doorbell ring. I looked at the clock: it was exactly five.

  I rushed downstairs. Maybe I would get to the door before anyone else and be able to rush out the door without them meeting James. As I grabbed my bag and busted out of my bedroom door, I heard the door start to open.

  Oh no. Someone was opening the door and everything was about to go wrong. I went down the stairs to see my father standing in the doorway, with the door open. This wasn’t good.

  Looking past him, I could see Emma standing on the porch.

  “Hi, Juliet. Are you ready to go?”

&
nbsp; “Y—yeah,” I said. “Dad, this is Emma.”

  “Well, nice to meet you, Emma. Juliet has said wonderful things about you.”

  My father reached out to shake her hand. I didn’t even think about that. What if he shook her hand and felt her icy-cool skin? What if he started to get suspicious? I turned to see Emma was wearing gloves. It was late August and she wore gloves, as if that wasn’t suspicious.

  I saw the look on my father’s face. He saw the gloves and had a confused look, as if he was trying to figure out why someone would wear gloves in August. He didn’t question it and I walked out the door.

  “Be home by ten, sweetie,” he said.

  Emma and I walked to the car, both grinning from cheek to cheek.

  I got in the car to discover James was behind the wheel. I went to give him a kiss and he pushed me back.

  “What was that for?” I asked.

  “You father is still at the door. If I kiss you, it will only give things away.”

  I hadn’t even thought of my father still standing there. James was always looking out for me and keeping me safe. I waved to my father as we pulled away. Things were starting to look up.

  The drive was a fairly long one. James and Emma lived in an older part of town that most people had abandoned years ago. We finally arrived at their house. James and Emma lived in an older style Victorian home. It looked fairly updated, but still had a lot of older charm. As we pulled up, I saw lights on and movement inside. This was it. I was about to meet his family for the first time. I just hoped they would accept me.

  We got out of his car and made our way to the front door. I started getting chills and strong butterflies in my stomach. I hadn’t been this nervous since the spelling bee disaster of third grade. As we approached the door, it opened. There they were: his family.

  “Oh, come in, come in,” a woman said. “My name is Rosa and this is my husband, Remey,” she said. “We are James’s parents.”

  Rosa was a petite, slender woman. She had dark black hair, not a single strand out of place. Her blue eyes and warm smile made me feel welcome.

  Her husband, Remey, on the other hand, was her complete opposite. He stood six foot tall. His dark hair was slicked and parted as if he was straight out of the 1920s. His piercing brown eyes were overshadowed by the cigar hanging out of the side of his mouth.

  “Well, how do you do, ma’am?” he said with an accent. “It’s a pleasure to meet such a fine young lady.”

  “Why, thank you, sir,” I said, trying to calm my butterflies. “My name is Juliet, it’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

  That wasn’t so bad, I thought. I met his family and they were nice.

  “Come down here and meet our guest,” Remey yelled to the top of the stairs.

  After he yelled, I heard talking and footsteps before seeing more faces make their way down the stairs. They were politely arguing with one another. There were five of them, all very different.

  “This is our guest for the evening, Juliet,” Rosa said. “Juliet, this is Michael, Maria, Lucas, Elsa and Troy.”

  Michael and Maria were an obvious couple. Their playful banter and affection clearly showed their love and commitment to each other. Michael was of average height with rich brown hair. Maria, a shorter girl, had bright red hair and piercing green eyes.

  Lucas and Elsa were another story. Lucas was obviously in love with Elsa, but she didn’t seem to care. She had a look to her. Like she didn’t mess around and didn’t need anyone but herself. Lucas was a smaller man. His love, Elsa, was a 5’9” girl who towered over him. It didn’t seem to matter to him, though.

  Troy looked like the brute of the group. He was tall, big and ready to rumble. He looked as if he had just come out of the backwoods of Canada just for this dinner.

  “Why don’t we head into the dining room for dinner?” Rosa asked.

  As we made our way to the dining room, I couldn’t help but look at the grandeur of the house. Scattered on the walls were mementos from over the years. I had never seen so many old things in my life.

  As we started to sit down, I looked at the table. Every plate but mine had raw meat that looked like it just came off the bone.

  “Don’t be alarmed,” said Remey. “I know it probably looks strange to you, but we just suck the blood out of these steaks.”

  “Oh,” I said in shock. “Is this how you usually eat?”

  “Not at all,” interjected Troy. “Vampires usually feast on live prey or sacks of blood. You know, the typical.”

  “Now Troy, don’t scare her off,” interjected Rosa. “We want to make her feel welcome and invited in our home.”

  “I think what Troy is trying to say is that we do this only when having company over,” said James. “We don’t need to feed often, but when we do, we like to get it from places like blood banks.”

  “Yeah,” said Michael. “This way we can have the human blood without actually having to hurt anyone. Everyone wins.”

  I started to think about my Internet search. The page said nothing about blood banks or bags of blood. It said that they get it from live animals or by stalking and taking it from humans. Were vampires misunderstood? Were there lies going around to try to scare people away from these peaceful people?

  “I’ve never heard of getting blood from there before,” I said.

  “Most people don’t,” said Elsa. “Everyone likes to paint us as some kind of savages that stalk old ladies on their way home and suck the life out of them. That stuff was big back in the old ages, but now that we have hospitals and blood banks it isn’t needed.”

  “Well, how do you get the blood then? Do you break in during the middle of the night and steal it?” I asked.

  “Not at all,” interjected Lucas. “I actually work at the hospital and get the blood that way. Every now and again I’ll take some and bring it home for everybody.”

  “What do you do at the hospital? Are you a doctor?” I asked.

  “No, he’s a male nurse,” Emma said, snickering.

  “You know, it is very common and respectable to be a male nurse, Emma,” he shouted.

  “Now, now, you two, calm down,” said Maria. “We all respect Lucas and what he does for us as a family. Stop teasing your brother.”

  “Did you see the werewolves in town?” asked Troy. “We need to do something about this, Remey.”

  “Now I’m sure we will figure something out in good time. We can’t just go and attack them because they were out. We are under lockdown anyway after that attack on Juliet,” Remey said.

  “You guys know about that?” I asked. “I’m so sorry if I caused you problems,” I said apologetically.

  “Not at all,” said Rosa. “James did the right thing and we stand by him. If he hadn’t been there, who knows what could have happened to you. We are just happy you are safe, dear.”

  “I overheard two people talking yesterday about the full moon tonight,” I said.

  “Was it Derek and Cara?” asked James.

  “Y—yeah. How did you know?”

  “We’ve known about them and them about us for a long time,” James said. “We keep eyes on them, especially at school, to make sure they aren’t a threat.”

  “Yeah,” interjected Michael. “Werewolves can be a major threat. When it is a full moon, they can’t always control themselves. They have primal instincts that can kick in and take over. Some can control themselves better than others, but most can’t at all.”

  “There were three full wolves spotted the other day,” said Troy. “Those two wouldn’t be rolling with another wolf. They haven’t even hit the point to fully transform anyway. They aren’t currently too big of a threat to us.”

  “So they won’t be a problem?” I asked.

  “I didn’t say that,” Troy answered. “Younger wolves that haven’t hit full maturity yet can still be a threat. They can still transform, but most of their speed and strength isn’t there yet. These two don’t seem rogue, though. They seem to follow
a different path. Most likely if you leave them alone they will leave you alone.”

  As we ended dinner, James told me he wanted to talk to me outside. I started getting butterflies thinking of being alone with him. We walked outside underneath the full moon and twinkling stars.

  “I hope you are having a good time,” he said.

  “Of course. I love your family. They are way better than mine anyway.”

  As I finished, we heard a faint howl in the distance.

  “Oh no, a werewolf,” I said.

  “Don’t worry, my love,” he said, smiling. “Werewolves have a howl that can be heard ten miles away. That one was also faint. We’re safe.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about you,” I said.

  “As have I about you. I think about you every second of every hour. Thoughts of your beautiful, glowing face radiate through my mind as if I was looking right at it. I love you, Juliet LaVoe.”

  Was this happening? Did he just tell me he loved me? A thousand thoughts and emotions rushed through my body as I tried to not to scream out loud.

  “I love you too,” I said as my cheeks turned as red as the blood he had just drank.

  He put his arms around me and whispered into my ear.

  “Will you be my girlfriend?”

  Finally. The moment I had been waiting for. The man I was in love with had just asked me to be his. In this moment, nothing else mattered. I was on top of the world, and my smiling face was proof of it.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  We kissed under the shining moonlight. He rested his forehead against mine and whispered in my ear.

  “Forever.”

   Soon after, we walked inside to see everybody standing there, smiling.

  “It’s about time,” said Emma.

  “Oh now, Emma, be nice. We are just glad he finally did it,” said Rosa.

  “Welcome to the family,” Rosa said.

  I was a part of their family. They accepted me and weren’t pushing me away as I had feared. It made me think of my own family. They hadn’t accepted me as much as James’s family had. I couldn’t remember that last time my father gave me a sincere, true hug.

  I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost time to leave.

  “Oh, look at the time,” I said. “I have to get going soon so my parents don’t freak out.”

  I was sad. All I wanted to do was go get all of my things and come live with them. I wanted to run away and never have to hear my father talk about how horrible vampires are and how they need to be exterminated.

  “We better get going,” James said.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Maria said with a smile.

  “Please come back soon. You are welcome here anytime,” Michael said.

  I smiled as I said my goodbyes. James, Emma and I walked out to the car. Clouds have moved in and now it was very dark outside. The pitch-black darkness shadowed the other houses and objects all around. We got in the car and I looked at the front door. They were all standing there smiling and waving at me. We pulled out slowly. They got smaller and smaller the farther away we got.

  “I hope you had a good time,” Emma said. “We don’t have many visitors.”

  “Oh? Don’t you have family anywhere else?” I asked.

  “No, all of our families died a long time ago. You know we aren’t all related, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, vampires aren’t really ever related. The only rare time is when a vampire has a baby, but that doesn’t happen often. Other than that, the only new vampires are from the bites. You have to leave your real family behind, if you have any.”

  “That sounds horrible, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It actually works out pretty good. It would be too hard to be around your real family anyway. With the ages we live to, also, having a vampire family makes sense. You don’t have to outlive them.”

  “Well, when were you born?”

  “1985,” she said.

  “Well then that makes you 45 years old! You don’t look close to that!” I exclaimed.

  “Well, duh. I was bitten when I was 15. I pretty much will stay looking like this forever,” she said. “It can be a drag, though. I still can’t get into R-rated movies. I tried telling the guy I was 45 but he didn’t believe me,” she said, smiling.

  “Well,” I asked, “when were you born, James?”

  Did I even really want to know? If Emma was 45 years old, I couldn’t imagine what James was. He seemed so much more mature than she was. He seemed as if he had been like this a lot longer.

  “I was born in 1846, bitten in 1863,” he said. “I was bitten during the Civil War. I was a soldier in the Union army. I was badly injured when I got bitten. I didn’t know who it was or where he came from, but I was able to heal and try to figure out this new life.”

  I couldn’t believe my boyfriend was 184 years old. I might as well have been dating my great-grandfather.

  Just as I was about to ask him more, something ran across the road ahead.

  “Juliet, get down,” James said.

  The figures stopped in the road as they saw our lights. It was them: the werewolves from earlier. They were staring straight at us.

  Just as they were staring us down, the sound of a semi honking its horn around the corner scared them off. Did they have any idea who James and Emma were? Had they smelled me and stopped to have a bite to eat? Whatever they wanted, it didn’t matter anymore.

  “I can’t stand those feral dogs,” Emma said angrily.

  “Why do vampires and werewolves hate each other so much?” I asked. “Wouldn’t you guys get along since you’re both hunted by humans?”

  “Vampires and werewolves have a long history together,” said James. “There used to be a time when we all got along. Emma and I weren’t alive for that. In fact, nobody that I know of was. It was an ancient time. There were no problems between any of the races. It all changed when the wolves killed one of our own. We went from living together in peace to killing each other when we had the chance.”

  I had never seen James so angry before. It was something he was very mad about, and I knew I shouldn’t have asked anything. He scared me when he was like this. It made me wonder if he could control his temper if something really bad ever happened.

  As we pulled up to my house, I saw my father looking out the window.

  “9:57,” I said. “Right on time.”

  “Thank you for coming over tonight,” James said. “I hope you had a good time.”

  “I had a great time,” I said, smiling. “I hope I can come over again sometime soon.”

  “Anytime,” said Emma as she hugged me.

  I got out of the car and waved goodbye as they drove away. I smiled as I turned around and realized where I was.

  “Well, back to reality,” I mumbled.

  I walked in to my father standing right in front of the door.

  “Who was that boy in the car?” he asked.

  “Emma’s brother. He drove me home.”

  “Well, I want to meet him,” he said while puffing out his chest and pulling his pants up.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “If some boy is driving you around places, I think I should be able to meet him.”

  “Emma is 15,” I said. “She can’t drive yet. You guys won’t let me drive so her older brother had to drive me home. It’s bad enough he has to take time out of his day to drive me around, but now you want to harass the poor guy?” I shouted, trying to throw him off the trail of wanting to meet James.

  “Well—uh—fine then,” he said as he stomped off into the kitchen.

  I went up to my room and lay on my bed. I sat there thinking of everything that happened tonight. Now, I had a boyfriend and a second family. I was in love. I had not only a second family, but also people that understood me and accepted me. Things were just now starting to fall into place. I started to yawn and drift asleep. My mind was still racing from what
had happened. As I fell asleep, thoughts of James filled my mind.

  I woke up to a beautiful day. The sun was shining through my window, birds were chirping, and the same smile that was on my face the night before was still there. Today just felt different. I felt like a new girl.

  I decided to clean that day. I always clean when I’m in a good mood. I don’t know why, but the smell of wood cleaner always makes my day better. I turned on the radio and my favorite song was on. I couldn’t help but feel that today was my day.

  “We interrupt your previously scheduled radio programming for a special news bulletin,” the announcer said. “In the early hours of this morning, werewolves were spotted in North Cherryton. We have a witness to describe what happened.”

  “Yeah, um, well, I was getting ready for work,” a man said. “My boss keeps making me come in early even when I say I don’t want to and I really don’t understand it. Why do they think they can—”

  “Sir, please stick to the facts of the story,” the narrator interrupted.

  “Right. Anyway, I was outside loading up my truck when I saw them,” the man said. “There were four of them. They were mighty big creatures and I hadn’t seen anything like them before. They were in their full forms, and they looked right at me. They stared at me for a few seconds before they took off, like they had somewhere to be.”

  “You said there were four?” the narrator asked.

  “Yup, four of em,” the man answered. “One didn’t look like he belonged, though. Kind of like he was the new guy and he was being pushed around a little.”

  “Interesting,” the narrator said. “If any more reports come in, we will broadcast them here first. Now we continue with your previously scheduled programming.”

  As the music came back on, I started worrying. There were only three before. Even last night in the car, we only saw three. Was this a whole different pack of wolves, or did they recruit someone? My mind immediately went to Derek. What if James and his family were wrong? What if he was able to transform fully and he was a threat? I had overheard him talking, and it seemed like something he might do.

  I had to talk to James about this. I knew that when I saw him at school tomorrow, I would have to talk to him about all of this. I was just hoping that he wouldn’t think I was crazy. After all, I am dating a vampire.

  Chapter Five

  Death