* * *
At school the next day, Paige hoped to keep things as normal as possible. Noah would definitely always have a place in her heart, but she also had to open it for any other possibilities that might come her way over a lifetime.
That included Drew, who made no secret that he liked her. She liked him, too. With his chief competition no longer in the picture, she was free to see if things might work out for them.
She found Drew at his locker.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey."
"What's up?"
"Got a swim meet in two weeks," he said. "That means lots of practice."
"I was thinking that maybe we could hang out this weekend," she told him, "if you have time."
He grinned. "Yeah, that's cool. Fortunately, Coach Nicholson lets us do our own thing on the weekends—as long as we stay out of trouble."
Paige smiled. "You won't get into any trouble with me."
Drew chuckled. "I don't know if that's good or bad."
"Guess you'll just have to find out," she teased him, and slipped the strap of her back pack further up her shoulder. "See you later."
Paige walked away and could tell that he was checking her out. That worked for her, as she grinned thoughtfully.
# # #
The following is an excerpt from
GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY: A Young Adult Haunted House Mystery
by R. Barri Flowers
Prologue
Caitlyn shivered suddenly, which was kind of weird, since she wasn't even alive. At least not in the way most breathing, talking, walking, and laughing out loud human beings were. Yet her soul was very much alive and restless. Caitlyn longed to be free of the shackles that bound her to that house like a prisoner far longer than she should have been.
Soon she would have that freedom. And the peace Caitlyn's spirit had been denied would be hers at last.
She looked through dark, billowy curtains out her upstairs bedroom window. Maple and mulberry trees rustled in the wind, as if they also sensed the unrest in the air. Caitlyn could see the bay she fondly remembered swimming in every day in the summer. It was always a beautiful shade of blue. If only she could put her feet in just one more time. But that wasn't possible—at least not as things now stood. Spirits were incapable of such, no matter how strong the desire.
Maybe there was a way, the girl thought dreamily. Her gaze turned to the road leading up to the house. She saw the tall boy passing by. He stopped suddenly and looked up at the window, seemingly right at Caitlyn. Of course he couldn't see her. Ghosts could only be seen by those who were connected to them in some way.
It would be fun to get to know him. Too bad it wasn't possible.
Caitlyn frowned as he resumed walking. His dog came up behind him and the boy put a leash on its collar. They passed by the house and headed toward the caretaker's cottage.
The girl looked at the road again. Soon they would come. More specifically, she would come and rescue Caitlyn from the nightmare she had lived for so long now that it hurt to even think about.
Then she heard her father coming and grew frightened. She tensed when he entered the room. He was tall and sturdy, with raven hair and thick sideburns. A grimace contorted his face. He nodded to her in silence and she read the sinister satisfaction in his cold eyes.
It was about to happen all over again. She cringed at the thought.
But deep within, Caitlyn was optimistic that the time was near when her dreams would finally come true.
The two spirits vanished.
Chapter One
Peyton Delaney sat pouting in the backseat of her stepfather's Lexus. She doubted that her mother, seated in front next to the man she had married six months ago, cared. Otherwise she wouldn't have made her leave California and all of Peyton's friends to move across the country to Minnesota, of all places. But when her stepfather, Vance McIntyre, was offered a new job as sales director for an advertising firm, the decision was made.
She was about to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dead of summer and there was nothing Peyton could do about it, other than voice her displeasure through stone cold silence. And the occasional barrage of complaints. But even that could only last so long.
At sixteen, this was the second major blow dealt Peyton in recent memory. Three years ago her father was killed in a car accident.
I'll just have to find a way to deal with this unwanted move, Peyton thought. Dad would tell me that.
"I'm hungry," she complained, tossing back her long blonde hair. "Can't we stop at McDonald's or something?"
"We're almost there, Peyton." Melody Delaney-McIntyre glanced back at her daughter. "After we make sure the house is still standing, we'll find a restaurant."
Peyton rolled her green eyes. "Whatever."
When her mother and stepfather had twice come to scout the town of Shadow Bay, Minnesota and pick out a house to purchase, Peyton had chosen to stay behind and savor every last moment of home and spend time with her friends.
"You just might surprise yourself and like it here," Vance said. "The town has character, history, and plenty of open land one can only dream about in San Diego."
"Yeah, right," Peyton said. "This is your dream, not mine."
"It's our dream of a better life for all of us," her mother said. "Give it a chance, honey. Is that too much to ask?"
Peyton sighed. "I guess not."
She was acting like a spoiled baby instead of a girl less than two years away from adulthood. But Peyton wouldn't hide her resentment over a move she never wanted.
As the car turned off the main road to head down a winding lane, Peyton caught sight of the bay. It was wide, sapphire blue, and very inviting. She couldn't wait to dive in, imagining the water was a perfect way to cool off in these parts. The view disappeared and it was back to open land dotted with farmhouses and livestock.
She noted a guy about her age playing in a grassy field with a German Shepherd. Beyond them was a cottage, where Peyton assumed they lived. When he heard their car, the boy looked up, seemingly in a straight line at her. Peyton thought she detected a smile on his lips and smiled back.
He's really hot, she thought. Maybe life in Shadow Bay has promise after all.
Vance pulled the car in the driveway of a big white Victorian that stood on a hill.
"Well, this is it!" he said as if they had won the lottery. "Our new home."
Peyton wasted no time getting out, if for no other reason than to stretch her legs after they had driven nonstop for several hours. She peeked in the direction of the guy with the dog. Both were gone.
She hid her disappointment and turned to her parents who were patiently waiting.
"Do you want to see inside?" her mother asked.
"Or we could just camp out here on the lawn and make it our home," her stepfather joked.
At six-four, he towered over Peyton's mother.
Peyton sneered at him. She glanced at the house before zeroing in on one upstairs window in particular. Peyton saw a girl standing there. She took an involuntary step backward and shivered.
"What is it, honey?" Melody asked.
"There's someone looking out the window."
"Where?"
Peyton pointed to the bedroom window, but the girl had vanished. "I could've sworn there was someone—"
"I'm sure it was only your imagination, moving to a new house and all."
"Either that or the caretaker's inside and heard us drive up," Vance suggested, digging a key out of his pocket.
Peyton was inclined to agree, all things considered. But she had a bad feeling about the place. For some reason it reminded her of the Amityville Horror movie that she and her friends had rented and watched one Saturday night. She'd had nightmares for a week afterwards.
Peyton was thankful that evil spirits and wayward ghosts didn't really exist.
* * *
The movers arrived later that afternoon with the furniture and other household items. Sudde
nly the place began to look like a home someone actually lived in.
Peyton sized up her room. It faced the front of the house and was painted a pretty shade of violet. She sat on the loft bed as if for the first time and felt a sense of comfort when looking at her computer, television, and beanbag chair. If only her best friend Erica had also relocated to Shadow Bay, it might actually be livable.
Peyton sighed and resigned herself to having to make new friends locally.
She stood up and looked out the window. It occurred to Peyton that this was the same window where she thought she'd seen the girl looking out at her. But when they had gone through the house, there was no one to be found, to which Peyton breathed a sigh of relief.
Must have been the light or shadows, she thought. Or maybe it was the gothic nature of the old house and atmosphere that spooked her.
She headed out of the room, wondering what secrets a house that was probably a hundred years old or more had buried within those walls.
Peyton wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
* * *
Caitlyn watched with interest as Peyton left the room.
She's so pretty. I wish my hair was golden like hers.
Though wanting to follow her, Caitlyn realized she couldn't yet. Her father would be very angry if she did and make trouble for all of them.
She drifted to the window and looked out. Peyton had sensed her there earlier, just as Caitlyn had sensed that Peyton would arrive here to save her.
I knew you would come one day and rescue me from decades of solitude, pain, and regret.
When that time came, she would be as light as a feather and ready to feel her spirit released and soul at ease.
Caitlyn smiled at the mere notion, replacing the perpetual frown that had seemingly been etched on her face forever.
* * *
Read the entire GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY, available in print, eBook, and audio.
# # #
The following is an excerpt from R. Barri Flowers' young adult vampire novel
COUNT DRACULA'S TEENAGE DAUGHTER
Prologue
They stood on Lookout Hill overlooking the valley. It was quaint and peaceful. Most of the people living there were generally happy and went about their business like any other day. No reason that should change, even though changes were coming. How it would affect the landscape was anyone's guess.
"She'll be here soon," the tall, dark-haired teenage male said confidently.
"I know," the petite, red-haired female teen responded.
"You think she has a clue about who she is?" he asked.
"I doubt it," she said. "There's no reason for her to suspect. And the changes haven't begun to take effect yet."
"I guess you're right," he said. "It's our job to help her get comfortable with her legacy—and her future as one of us."
"Not to mention keep her out of harm's way," she reminded him.
"Yeah, that too."
"In the meantime, there's no reason we can't have fun as part of this community," she said.
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
She looked at him. "This..."
He watched as her eyes turned red and her mouth opened to sprout fangs. Then she turned into a bat, flapping her wings. Smiling, he concentrated on bringing out his own fangs before changing into his bat form too. They flew over the landscape, enjoying the scenery and the freedom afforded them when they were cut loose from their human forms.
* * *
She watched from the hilltop as the two bats took flight as if they didn't have a care in the world. Little did they know they had plenty to be concerned about. She would personally see to it that they and others of their kind were eliminated from the face of the earth for all time. Only then could humans be at true peace from their inhuman enemies.
Once she lost sight of the hideous bats, she sucked in a deep breath to control her hatred and walked away.
Chapter One
Kula Lockhart was admittedly a bit nervous as she sat in the passenger seat of her mom's Subaru Legacy. Yeah, she would have been nervous even under the best of circumstances. After all, this was her first day at a new school, Transylvanica High, in the town of Harbor Heights, Michigan. They had relocated there from Wyoming when her mom got a new job in the admissions office at the local university.
But this wasn't just an ordinary school. It was one of several integrated pilot schools across the country where humans and teenage vampires peacefully coexisted. The theory was that attacking one another over the centuries was counterproductive and a new order was necessary for all parties concerned.
For her part, Kula was cool with the human-vampire bonding because she had always believed in equality among the living, and the living dead for that matter. She'd known a couple of vampires at her last school in Cheyenne, though they had done a pretty good job of hiding their identities from school administrators.
From what she understood, the vampires had given up their blood sucking ways for powdered human blood mixed with water and blood drives to satisfy their cravings. And they no longer had to sleep during the day due to special contact lenses that protected their sensitive eyes from the sun's powerful rays.
It would be a whole new experience for her at Transylvanica High and in Harbor Heights, where everyone could be anyone. She just wanted to fit in, be herself, live and let live, and anything else that would help her make a smooth transition to her new surroundings.
"You'll be fine," Mary Lockhart said as though reading Kula's mind.
"I know." Still, the words were reassuring to her coming from the only mother she'd ever known. She was adopted as an infant and was grateful someone had wanted her when her real parents obviously had not. Kula brushed a lock of her long brunette hair from her face. "I'm just a little worried that because I'm starting almost two weeks later than everyone else, I'll be hopelessly behind."
"You're an honor student, Kula. It won't take you long to catch up and excel."
Easy for you to say, she thought. "I guess." Seriously, she was confident she would be able to keep her grades up. But she wasn't as confident about making new friends, both human and vampire. She was friendly enough, though some had described her as aloof. Just two months shy of her sixteenth birthday, Kula welcomed the opportunity for a new beginning and whatever that brought with it.
Her mother pulled up to the school. It looked pretty much like any modern day high school, a series of buildings with one central structure. Of course, Kula knew that what made it different was its student body.
"Enjoy your first day," Mary said.
"I'll try." Kula gave her a quick peck on the cheek, a longtime habit she was trying to break, while hoping no one was watching. She grabbed her backpack from the back seat and got out. "See you later."
She watched her mom drive off before heading toward the main building. She had a few butterflies, but attributed them more to first day jitters anywhere rather than here in particular.
"You must be new," said the voice from behind her.
Turning, Kula saw a girl her height with wavy, short dark hair. "How did you guess?" she wondered.
"I didn't recognize you," she said simply. "I can usually pick out the new faces from the old ones."
Kula smiled. "Same here, except when I'm the new one."
The girl giggled. "I'm Heidi Stewart."
"Kula Lockhart."
"Nice to meet you," she said.
"You, too." Kula wondered if this girl was going to be her first friend. If so, was she human or...
"I'm not a vamp, in case you were curious," Heidi said.
"Neither am I," Kula said, somehow feeling it made her seem like she had something against vampires, which she did not.
"It's kind of weird that we humans can't tell if someone's human or vampire by appearance alone," Heidi remarked.
Kula hadn't given that much thought, but was glad that vampires didn't look dead. That would be way too weird. "It's probably bette
r that way," she said. "No reason for anyone to stand out, unless they wanted to for some reason."
Heidi nodded. "That's true."
"By the way, it wouldn't have mattered to me if you were a vamp," Kula told her. "After all, isn't that the purpose of this school—to come together?"
"Yeah," Heidi said. "In fact, I'm dating a vamp. And he's sooooo cute."
Kula smiled. "Cool."
"I can show you how to get to the office," Heidi offered.
They went inside.
Immediately, Kula felt as if all eyes were on her. Or was she just imagining it?
She pretended not to notice, including the tall hot guy with short black hair and stunning dark eyes.
Then they passed by a group of gorgeous, shapely girls. The one in the middle had long black hair and incredible green eyes. She peered intently at Kula, forcing her to turn away.
Heidi noticed. "That's Jacquelyn Brossard," she said lowly. "She and her friends are cheerleader vamps. And she's like the Queen V here. I'd stay out of her way, if I were you."
"I'll try to remember that," Kula said, not interested in getting on her bad side or anyone's bad side, for that matter. Certainly not on the first day, she thought.
They reached the office.
"Maybe we'll be in some of the same classes," Heidi suggested.
"That would be nice," Kula said.
"Later," Heidi said and walked off as Kula went into the office.
* * *
After orientation and assignment of her classes, Kula found her locker and then made her way to her first period world history class. The teacher was Ms. Oxford. She was in her twenties and slender with short blonde hair in a blunt cut and blue eyes.
Kula had hoped to just sit down and not draw attention to herself, but the teacher had other ideas.
"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Kula," the teacher requested.
Oh great, she thought.
Facing the other students, some who seemed curious about the new girl, Kula was determined to keep this as brief as possible. "I'm from Cheyenne. I moved here because my mom lost her last job and was able to find a new one in Harbor Heights. I miss my old friends, but we text so..."
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