Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology)

by Chrissy Peebles

  I was suddenly so nauseated that I feared I might throw up right there in front of everyone. “Oh, Mom, it’s so awful.”

  “I’m so sorry about Fred, honey. The officer said I can take you home now.”

  My hands still trembled. “But my car’s here.”

  “Don’t worry. Your dad and I will come up and get it later. Let’s get you home.”

  * * *

  At home, I sat on the couch next to my dad. “None of my friends have ever died before. I just feel so helpless, so bad.”

  My dad wrapped his arm around me. “I know, sweetheart. It was a horrible accident.”

  “I was walking on that trail. What if it had decided to attack Julie or me?”

  “I know. From now on, until they capture or shoot whatever animal is responsible for these attacks, I want you to stay off those trails.”

  “Dad, how can this be happening?” I yelled.

  “There was an attack yesterday too,” my mom said. “A tourist. It’s been all over the news. It might be beautiful here,” she said, “but I’m scared. It’s dangerous out there.”

  “It’ll be okay,” Dad said. “When they catch the animal, everything will get back to normal.”

  I looked up at my dad. “I think it’s more than one animal, Dad. I think it’s wolves.”

  “Honey, remember what I told you about wolves.”

  “Yes, you said they rarely attack, but these do.” I stopped and thought for a moment about what Fred had told me. “And Dad…”

  “Yes?”

  “Fred said…” I stopped to sob as I thought back on our conversation. “He told me he had evidence of, uh…vampires around here,” I said softly. “Do you think they found him?”

  “Honey, that’s silly. Trust me, it wasn’t vampires.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. I mean, when he told me, I laughed.”

  “Poor Fred was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” my Dad said. “He was such a good kid. I can’t believe this happened to him.”

  His voice wavered as he spoke, and I could tell my dad was completely shook up.

  “Taylor,” my mom called from the other room, “Julie is on the phone.”

  “Can you ask her if she can call my cell? I’m gonna go up to my room and lie down.”

  “Okay.”

  I hurried upstairs and picked up my ringing cell. “Hello?” I said.

  “Taylor, I’m freakin’!”

  “Do you think it was the curse or the animals?” I asked.

  “I don’t know anymore. Could there really be a curse?”

  “I don’t know either, Julie, but Fred is dead. Maybe there’s more to all of this than what we want to believe.”

  “Do you think we’re next?”

  “Maybe, but what can we do about it?”

  “We can start by digging up information, talking to people who have lived here for a long time. Maybe someone will know an urban legend that will help us figure out how to lift the curse.”

  “But it could just be the wildlife. There have been other attacks.”

  “Yeah. My dad just told me about that woman the other day.”

  “Do you think it’s the wolves?”

  “I don’t know. What I do know is that we’re lucky your blue-eyed Superman spotted that cabin in the woods.”

  “What if it was Jonathon? What if he’s some kind of crazed serial killer?”

  “But why would he kill his victims like an animal? I don’t think it’s him.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “I bet that pack of wolves demolished him.”

  “People can’t keep dying,” I said. “I love this place, but I’m terrified of all the bears, mountain lions, bobcats, and God knows what else. At least in New York City, I could walk outside freely.”

  “Right. As long as there were no muggers around and you didn’t wear the wrong gang colors.”

  “I guess I’ve still got some things to get used to around here.”

  “So what’s going on with you and Jesse?”

  “We have a date this Friday. I’m dying to see him, but I’m really shaken up.”

  “Just invite him over and watch a movie.”

  “Yeah. Well, I’m gonna go now. I want to take a nap, try to calm down.”

  “Me too.”

  “All right. Talk to you later, Jules.”

  “Bye.”

  I closed my phone and laid on my bed, then lay back and stared at my ceiling as I tried to straighten out my twisted thoughts. That cabin had been our sanctuary, and I was now sure that if Jesse hadn’t spotted it, we would have been victims as well.

  I went to my laptop and looked up everything I could about vampires. One article even said that sprinkling salt in windowsills and doorways would help to ward them off. What if Fred really was killed by vampires? Will they come for me next? The thought had my heart racing and my hands shaking. The whole thing sounded absurd and nutty, and I hoped I was just taking things way out of context. But would it hurt to throw down a little salt? As lame and stupid as it sounded, a few minutes later, I found myself grabbing the shaker from the kitchen. When my parents weren’t looking, I inconspicuously sprinkled the white stuff around, hoping to create some supernatural barrier.

  After tying garlic up around my room and around the house, I took a deep breath. I wondered again if I’d lost my mind. I overheard my name being used in conversation, and when I opened the door, I could hear my parents talking about me.

  “She’s put salt and garlic everywhere,” my mom said.

  “She’s just grieving over Fred, coping with it in her own way. Just let it be.”

  “There’s no such thing as vampires!” my mom hissed.

  “If it helps her feel safe, who cares? It’s psychological. So our house smells like dinner for a while.”

  “Fine. I’ll let it go for now, but if this nonsense goes on, I’m going to have to take her to talk to someone.”

  I shut the door. “Even my parents think I’ve lost it,” I whispered to myself as I fingered the silver cross on my neck. “Maybe I have.” With that melancholy thought on my mind, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter 19

  Fred had died a violent death, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Tears ran down my face, and I was constantly tormented by the vision of his dead body, and the words he’d spoken haunted me. I couldn’t eat or sleep. I was a mess.

  I also couldn’t stop thinking about Jesse. I had to wonder if his family had anything to do with poor Fred’s demise. As much as I knew about Jesse, and as long as I’d hung around him, he was still a mystery, and I was struggling to put the pieces together. Vampires, wolves, serial killers, and curses? I wondered if I should keep it all to myself. I knew I couldn’t confide in my parents, and Julie was the closest friend I had in Big Bear Lake, other than Jesse himself. Taking a big, deep breath, I gathered the courage to spill out what I was thinking. I only hoped she wouldn’t laugh at me and try to have me committed.

  “I’ve been thinking,” I began.

  “Does it hurt?” she questioned, trying to cheer me up.

  “Very funny. Anyway, I’ve got this crazy hypothesis. Well, it’s not all figured out, but I’m trying to…um, it’s really crazy, so please don’t laugh at me.”

  “Nothing shocks me, girl.”

  “This might. It’s really out there, but just bear with me.”

  “Before Fred was killed, he told me he had solid evidence that Jesse is a vampire and that I should stay away from him. That’s why he gave me this cross,” I admitted, holding the pendant up for her to see.

  “Whoa. And then he turns up dead with two bite marks in his neck?”

  “Yes.

  “Hmm. I don’t believe in vampires, but something’s going on. What if some horrible hex was placed on us when we accidentally treaded on sacred land?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ve been searching the Internet for info on hexes and curses.”

/>   “We can hope it’s not true, but I’m not sure. Fred mysteriously died days after we entered that forbidden place.”

  She swallowed hard. “I know, and that scares me to death. What if I’m next?”

  I stared at her hard, and I could tell how worried she was.

  Her mouth pressed into a grim line. “I don’t wanna die, especially not like that. Maybe we could make amends and take some flowers back without crossing the line.”

  I shook my head. “No way. I don’t ever want to go back there again.”

  “But it might be the only way to keep us alive,” she said, her voice trembling.

  “Try and keep it together, all right. I have info that’s a lot worse than curses.”

  “Yeah right. Back to the vampire thing,” she said. “What else did Fred tell you?”

  I sighed. “Not much, and I didn’t believe him at the time. In the end, he got mad and walked away.” I pointed to the silver cross again. “He gave this to me to protect me from the undead.”

  She softly fingered the cross. “Hmm. Maybe he was being overly dramatic.”

  “I thought so, too, but he really seemed to believe it.”

  “You think he saw something?” she asked.

  “He said he did. He said he had solid proof, but he stormed off before we could get to that.”

  “Maybe he saw one of them murdering someone.”

  “Stop being so morbid. I’m sure he saw something, but it couldn’t have been that. If he’d seen something that vile, he would have told me and begged me not to meet up with Jesse. But I’m sure he saw something. I just don’t know what.”

  “Somebody had to kill Fred to prevent him from revealing their awful secret.”

  I nodded. “Exactly. I hate to say it, but maybe it was a vampire.”

  She bit her lip hard and didn’t say anything.

  I knew it sounded crazy, so much so that I’d debated telling her about it, but she believed the curse, so I’d presumed vampires wouldn’t be such a far stretch. I placed a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Do you remember when Jesse was shot?”

  She arched a brown. “Yeah. How could I forget?”

  “How was he able to throw that bodybuilder around like that?” I asked. “He was weak and losing blood fast. He was burning up with fever, and his face was pale, whiter than a ghost.”

  “Have you ever heard of adrenaline? That stuff can make guys strong enough to lift a car.”

  “I know, but there’s more to it than that.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Like what?”

  “Think about it. How did he find us in the woods in the complete dark? Not even a skilled tracker could’ve done that.”

  “Hmm. Now that you mention it, that was weird. Then again, how did that psycho shooter find us in the complete dark too?”

  I shook my head, thinking the same thing. “You’re absolutely right. And why didn’t he come in when the door was ripped off its hinges? He just stood there, staring.”

  “Maybe he was still dazed from the punch Jesse gave him.”

  “Or maybe he wasn’t invited in,” I said in a dramatic tone.

  Julie laughed. “Oh please! Are you trying to tell me you think he was a vampire? Next thing I know, you’ll be claiming those wolves were werewolves. And you think I watch too many horror movies!”

  I let out a long breath. “I’m just saying…well, maybe there’s something paranormal going on here.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not denying that. You heard that voice, and I believe you, but I think this is about ghosts and spirits—hauntings.”

  “I don’t think so,” I said.

  “Look, vampires are everywhere—in books, movies, magazines, online, and on television. It’s a popular craze that’s not gonna go away anytime soon. Let’s face it. Women want to be bitten and swept away by a sparkling, 100-year-old, handsome vampire. They want a hot bloodsucker in their life, and they don’t care if he’s a walking, murdering corpse. If he’s hot, they’re willing to put aside a little thing called age.”

  “This is different from all that pop culture nonsense, Julie—way different. This isn’t Hollywood. It’s the real deal.”

  I met her gaze. “Put the pieces together.”

  “Are you saying you now believe Jesse is a vampire?”

  “He has immortal strength and vision. He saw that cabin in the dark woods long before we did.”

  She glanced away, as if in thought. “Sure, but he also walks in the daylight, eats, and feels warm.”

  When she said that, my mind flashed back to my interactions with Jesse. In the woods, when we’d first met, he’d gone to great pains to remind me of predators, and he’d actually mentioned them pouncing on their prey with a fatal bite to the neck. He’d told me that Max had a natural instinct to hate him. The mountain lion had been frightened away by him, and he’d told me it was because of his scent. Likewise, the night of the party, he’d mentioned that there were many dangerous predators prowling around, and the party, he’d mentioned the other guys claiming us.

  Thoughts of the party suddenly snapped me back to the present. “Julie, do you think you were bitten at the party?”

  “No. Why? I just got hurt from the vase, when the glass broke.”

  “You assumed that. We all did. Can you remember anything?”

  “No. I was too wasted. It’s all a blur.”

  “Try to think.”

  She suddenly gripped my arm tight. “Are you trying to say we walked into a party of vampires?”

  My bottom lip trembled. “Maybe.”

  “Then why didn’t they kill us?” she asked, her voice rising an octave.

  “One of them obviously fed off you.”

  She gasped, then glanced down to think. “Probably the blond chatting me up.”

  “Maybe your blood tasted so good that he followed us that night to finish you off.”

  She gasped. “That’s a horrible thought, but while we’re talking about it, why didn’t the werewolves kill us? They coulda jumped through the glass and ripped us to shreds.”

  “I haven’t figured that part out yet, but I’m starting to put the pieces together.” I swallowed hard. Could my crush be a vampire, or am I just blowing things out of proportion? As I thought about Jesse, something else dawned on me. “What if Jesse won’t take his shirt off at the lake because there’s no scar?”

  “There has to be some sort of scar. He was bleeding all over the place,” she said. “I saw the wound. It was real.”

  “I know, but he healed.”

  “Don’t vampires heal right away?” she asked.

  “Maybe he’s different, not like a normal vampire. If he can walk in the light and eat regular food, maybe it also takes him longer to heal.”

  Julie slowly touched her chin. “I bet that’s why he didn’t want to go to the hospital or tell the police.”

  “When he was shot, he so sure he was gonna be fine. Anyone else would have been worried, thinking they were on their deathbed, but he knew better. He knows he’ll never die.”

  She clutched her heart. “This is all so weird. Just listen to us. We sound like lunatics.” She gripped my shoulders. “Give me more. Give me something I can sink my teeth into…uh, no pun intended.”

  “Do we really sound like lunatics? I don’t think so. Jesse’s mom tries to keep him isolated for a reason. That’s why he’s homeschooled.”

  “Maybe that’s a flat-out lie. If he’s hundreds of years old, he doesn’t have to be schooled at all.”

  “That would be beyond weird.”

  “What if you’re his bonded mate, like in vampire lure?”

  “I don’t believe in that. We just have an awesome connection.” I tapped my chin. “It can’t be forced or contrived. It’s real. I can feel it.”

  “Are there any other hints we’ve overlooked?”

  “Hmm. Well, he did compel a mountain lion. I watched him do it.”

  “You mean when he saved the kid at the zoo?�
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  “Exactly. Also, there’s an ankh in his tattoo. Do you know what those mean? I know the Egyptians used them a lot, and Jesse said every symbol in his tattoo has a meaning.”

  Confusion crossed her features. “I don’t know, but we can Google it.”

  Julie jumped on her computer and quickly typed the word in the search engine. I peeked over her shoulder and was stunned when I read the screen.

  “Immortality,” she said in a stunned voice.

  I swallowed hard. “I need to see him.”

  “Are you kidding? What if he compels you to forget everything? He compelled Max and that big cat. What if he’s dangerous, Taylor? You can’t just waltz in there and tell him you know his secrets. What if he kills you?”

  “What do you think I should do?”

  “Break up with him before he a, sips on your vein for a nice, warm drink, b, makes blood your next drink of choice, and c, just flat out kills you.”

  “I can’t give him up like that.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t vampires use telepathy or something to control their victims?”

  “I’m not a victim.”

  “You’re letting him take drag you down a slippery slope, Taylor.” She gripped my arm. “What if these recent attacks were him and not some wild animal?”

  A chill shot down my spine. “I can’t imagine him hurting anybody. You should see him with the animals at the zoo, especially the injured ones and the babies.”

  “Does any vampire really want to be the way they are? They’re bloodthirsty and can’t help themselves. We need to go to the sheriff.”

  “We can’t.”

  “Why? Because you’re trying to protect Sir Sucks-a-Lot?”

  “Because they won’t believe us.”

  “Still, we gotta try.”

  “They’ll laugh at us. All it will do is make us look silly and alert any vampire living here that we know they exist. If we go to the cops, we might be putting ourselves on a hit list—just like Fred was.”

  She bit her lip. “Hmm. I didn’t think of that. You’re right. We can’t let anybody know about this, especially when we don’t know who is a vampire and who isn’t.”

  “And we don’t know who the werewolves are either.”