"But…it wasn't…"
"It's okay," the woman said. "What's done is done. We are fixing this now. And to get you properly initiated, we will let you have the first drink. Now, satisfy your thirst. But remember, from now on, you don't feed on anyone from around here. At least not anyone who will be missed. We have our ways, son. We'll show you."
"Sometimes, we get a load full of illegal immigrants. Those are the best of times, son. You can look forward to that. No one ever misses them. Their families back home think they made it, the authorities don't know they're here, and we keep them—in a safe place, of course, where no one can find them—and feed off them till their bodies can't take anymore. We should get one of those again soon, right honey?"
The woman nodded. "Until then, we can have our own little feast with this delightful creature."
She grabbed Melanie's arm and looked at her vein, pressed it down a little with her thumb, then let go. "She still has a lot of human blood in her. Enough for us to stay fed for a few days."
Melanie stared at the three creatures circling her. She still didn't really believe that she was fully awake. It wasn't until she saw the son open his mouth and try to bite down on her arm that she realized she was awake. Very much awake indeed.
Chapter Forty-Nine
"They're going to bite her!"
I looked back at my friends who were on the stairs with me while mouthing it to them.
"What do we do?" Amy mouthed back. She looked down at the stick in her hand, then shook her head.
I felt the panic spread. Those sticks wouldn't help us much. I looked over the edge of the staircase when my brother leaned down, blotting his crazy fangs, ready to bite down when something truly amazing happened. Realizing Adrian was about to bite down on her arm, Melanie suddenly swung her legs upward, grabbed him around the neck, and somehow—in a manner that in my opinion should be physically impossible, she now held him clenched between her legs, then twisted him around, causing him to spin in the air. There was a loud crack as she broke his neck and she dropped him to the ground. Less than a second later, she was on her feet, spinning through the air, kicking both of my parents, moving so fast even they were taken by surprise.
I gaped as I watched Melanie take down all three of them, placing a kick so forcefully in my mother's chest it made her fly through the air and knock into the wall. Adrian woke up and cracked his neck back and forth, and Melanie realized it was time to get away. She set off into a sprint and was surprisingly fast, but not too fast for my brother, who moved faster than the wind and soon was in front of her, knocking her back with a blow from his fist. Melanie tumbled backward, blood gushing from her nose. Adrian then approached her. I was certain I could hear him groan in lust for the blood he saw. He reached down his finger and wiped some of it off, then tasted it, closing his eyes, then squealed in what sounded like pleasure. Both of my parents were back on their feet again now and soon approached her as well, thinking Melanie had passed out. Adrian then bent down and licked blood off her upper lip, but Melanie bit down onto his tongue and pierced it.
Adrian's eyes grew wide and he fell backward once she let go of it. "I have teeth too," she said and showed off her fangs. Claws had grown out of her fingers and now she swung them at him and at my parents. My mom hissed, then stopped like she had suddenly realized something.
"You're…you're…"
"That's right," Melanie said. She exploited the fact that my mother was defenseless for a split of a second, then kicked her in the face so hard she slid across the stone floors and knocked over her husband as well. Melanie then jumped up on the wall and clung to it with her long claws. Adrian immediately followed her, doing the same, but as he grabbed her ankle, she kicked him in the face so hard he slid down.
Jumping from wall to wall, Melanie reached the ceiling and ran above me and my friends toward the exit.
I looked at the others and soon we all stormed outside without being seen, hopefully, while my mother yelled after Melanie, "I'll get you. Run all you want, Melanie Peterson. I will find you and kill you!"
Chapter Fifty
"That was craaaazy! Did you see that? Did you see what she did?" Amy was completely blown away as we ran into the driveway of the abandoned house, following Melanie, who soon stopped by a tree, not even panting from the huge effort.
"Melanie?" I asked and approached her.
She turned around, startled. In her eyes, I saw loads of despair. She hid her fangs by closing her mouth, but they could still be seen.
"What is going on with me?" she asked.
I sighed. "Come with us and I'll explain. But please. You must come now before they come out of the house."
Melanie looked at me, scrutinizing me. I couldn't blame her for feeling the need to be cautious after what she had just been through.
"Don't I know you?" she asked.
I nodded. "We all go to the high school."
Melanie nodded. "I’ve seen you around. And you I know from Taekwondo," she said, pointing a claw at Jayden. "You never were any good at that, by the way."
Jayden chuckled.
"Where do I go?" Melanie asked with a great sadness in her voice. "I can't go home. They know where I live."
"Come to my house," Amy said. "My parents are away till Monday. Business trip down south. You can stay with me. They'll never think to look for you there."
Melanie nodded cautiously.
"We'll all go to Amy's," Jayden said.
"Then we can explain it all to you," I said.
As we left the yard, rushing away, I could hear my mother's voice coming from inside the house. She was yelling at my father for letting the girl get away. I sighed deeply, wondering if anything in my miserable life would ever be good again.
At Amy's house, we went to the kitchen and closed all the curtains. We sat for a long time, no one saying a word, while Melanie stared at her claws in the sparse light from the moon outside.
"It started a couple of days ago," she said. "I didn't really know what was happening to me."
"You're becoming a vampire," I said and got up. I received a look from all the others. "What? I might as well tell her straight up."
"I’m what?" Melanie asked.
I sat back down. Jayden stood by the window and looked out into the street, keeping an eye out. Amy started cooking what looked like a roast, walking around her kitchen, mumbling to herself, as she found the meat and the spices. I wondered who was going to eat all that food when it was three o'clock in the morning, but that didn't seem to be the purpose of Amy's cooking. It wasn't to feed people, more to keep her hands busy while she speculated about something. At least, that was how she had explained it to me. In many ways, Amy was the complete opposite of me. I preferred to sit still and worry about a problem, ponder about it in complete silence. I also preferred and functioned best in a clean and neat environment. Messes made my problems seem worse, whereas Amy seemed to function better the messier it was around her.
"A vampire," I repeated. "Those people—or those vampires—back there were my family."
"Your family?" Melanie asked, eyebrows lifted.
I smiled sarcastically. "Yup. That was mommy and daddy dearest and the last one, the one eager to bite you, was my beloved big brother. Nothing like family, right? You don't have to fear me, though. I’m nothing like them."
Chapter Fifty-One
It took awhile to explain it all to Melanie, but eventually, it seemed that she understood how it had all happened and what was happening to her. It filled her with a lot of anxiety about her future and what it contained, especially since none of us knew exactly what was going to happen next. None of us had gone through it ourselves.
"Will I never die?" she asked.
"I’m pretty sure you're already dead, but I’ll have to get back to you on that," I said.
We had been eating the roast after Amy had prepared it and hunger had hit us after all. The sun was beginning to rise in the distance and Melanie now saw her claws
withdrawing along with her fangs retracting.
"It seems that it only happens at night," she said. "During the day, I am very much myself." She paused, her eyes anxious. "But what if…will I be like them…like those three creatures—no offense, Robyn—but will I be like them at night?"
"Probably," Jayden said.
"But…but doesn't that mean I will be...that I might hurt someone? Will I feed off them and drink their blood?" Melanie gasped and held her mouth. "Oh, that poor cat. I killed it, didn't I?"
They all looked at one another, then at me. I shrugged. "I don't know anything."
"I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to be…that…" Melanie said.
"We’ll help you," Amy said and grabbed Melanie's hand in hers. "The best we can. You'll stay here in my house for now."
"How do we make sure she doesn't go out at night?" Jazmine asked. "How do we keep her here when she…changes?"
Amy's face lit up. "The basement."
"Of course," I said.
"What?" Jazmine asked. "What's in the basement?"
"My parents are terrified of a nuclear war, so they’ve made this shelter that is completely safe in case this world's crazy leaders decide to blow everything up. If we lock her in there, she won't be able to get out at night. It can be locked from the outside by a key. If we put you down there every night, then there’s no way you can harm anyone."
Melanie's face lit up, though it was still concerned. "It's really nice of you guys to…"
"No problem," Amy said. "It's what friends are for, right?" She looked at me, Jazmine, and Jayden. "Now, you three need to head home before it’s time to get up for school and your parents realize you’re gone."
I looked at my watch. It was almost light outside, so my parents had to be human now, or as human as they got, right? And that probably meant they were sound asleep. At least, I hoped they would be. They had to sleep at some point, right?
"We all go to school as usual, okay?" Amy said. "We act normal, and Robyn? For all you hold dear, don't let your parents sense that you know what they really are. Do you hear me?"
I bit my lip, thinking about the upcoming homeschooling, then nodded.
"And what if they do?" Jazmine asked.
"What do you mean?" Amy said.
"We should have a code word, something she can text all of us in case she realizes that they know, that the earth is burning under her feet. Or something we can text her if we find out that they know."
Amy nodded pensively.
"How about we simply write RUN?" Jayden asked. He looked at me, deep worry in his eyes. "Because that is what she’ll need to do. That’s the only thing she can do."
Amy nodded. "All right. Now, get out of here, all of you. And remember not a word to anyone. You hear me? Lives are depending on your silence."
We agreed and scattered into the cul-de-sac, each of us realizing that the neighborhood didn't look the same anymore, that our lives had just been changed forever.
There were still nine months until the Halloween Block Party.
Afterword
Dear Reader,
Thank you for purchasing Flesh & Blood (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #1). I hope you enjoyed reading this little story. I had tons of fun writing it. Now, it is the first in a planned series, so if you feel like you have many unanswered questions, that is only natural. This is only the beginning of the story of the teenagers and their strange parents living in Shadow Hills.
If you continue, I have attached an excerpt from Beyond, the first book in my other paranormal romance-series, The Afterlife-series.
Take Care,
Willow
Books by the Author
Mystery/Horror Novels:
What Hurts the Host (7th Street Crew #1) - Grab your copy today
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One, Two... He is Coming for You (Rebekka Franck #1) - Grab your copy today
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Better Not Cry (Rebekka Franck #8) - Grab your copy today
Edwina - Grab your copy today
To Hell in A Handbasket - Grab your copy today
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Cross your Heart and Hope to Die (Emma Frost #4) - Grab your copy today
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Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Emma Frost #6) - Grab your copy today
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Chain Letter - Grab your copy today
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About the Author
The Queen of Scream, Willow Rose, is an international best-
selling author. She writes Mystery/Suspense/Horror, Paranormal Romance and Fantasy. She is inspired by authors like James Patterson, Agatha Christie, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Isabel Allende. She lives on Florida's Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. When she is not writing or reading, you'll find her surfing and watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. She has sold more than two million books.
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[email protected] Part One
Beyond, Afterlife Book 1
Excerpt
For a special sneak peak of Willow Rose's Bestselling Paranormal Romance Beyond turn to the next page.
Chapter One
How do I say this? Well, the thing is … I am a spirit. Before you close this book because you don’t believe in a life after death, just take a deep breath and listen to my story. It might be interesting to you. You might want to know that death is only the beginning of the next great adventure. I know I would have liked to have known that when I was still alive.
Maybe you do believe that there is an afterlife, maybe you have even seen us, or at least seen what we can do. Either way I am sure you will enjoy my story.