The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  “Oh my god! The baby!” I cried out.

  “Dude!” Kai yelled at Josh. Josh looked at Theodore.

  “Tell me that you have something to fix this,” he yelled at him. Johnathan stepped forward. “What? To get rid of the baby?” he asked him. Josh glared at him.

  “No… you ass! There is no baby! Rue is crashing from the cookie, she is all upset about this movie!” he said. Everyone looked at the T.V. and then at me. Kai laughed.

  Johnathan shook his head and Sam flashed to my side.

  “Oh honey,” she said, as I cried and laid my head on her shoulder. I pointed at Josh.

  “He doesn’t want babies,” I said, as I cried to her.

  “No, it’s okay. Trust me, one Josh is enough,” she said, as she rubbed my head and looked at Josh. Josh held up his hands.

  “How am I the bad guy?” he asked her. She shook her head at him and he looked at Theodore. Theodore ran in with a muffin in his hand. He leaned down to me as I cried and wiped my eyes.

  “Eat this, love,” he said to me. I dropped my hands.

  “Love? Ha!” I said as I took it from him.

  I took a bite and everyone leaned in, staring at me. I took another bite and another, until I had it gone. I sniffled and then started to feel much better. I looked at Sam and grinned.

  “Oh, I don’t know what the deal is,” I muttered. She grinned and kissed my forehead.

  “You were just emotional. It’s okay,” she said as she touched my face.

  I looked at Josh and grinned.

  “Wow… okay… awkward,” I said to him. He grinned and sat down on the chair.

  He looked down at his hands and then back to me.

  “It’s cool,” he said, as he leaned back and sighed.

  Chapter Twelve

  What Boys Want

  Elin stepped out of the tent and stretched her arms. She didn’t know where Caine had been all morning, but she didn’t really care. She had bathed and changed into a beautiful dress, bright pink. It hugged her body and she wanted to show off the transformation. Feeling beautiful was an addiction to her, didn’t detour her attitude, but it helped nail the ‘screw you’ vibe home. She stepped into the grass and felt her heel sink in a little. She looked down and sighed. She raised it and looked at the dirt.

  “Wonderful,” she muttered.

  She walked towards the large tent where everyone congregated for meals and meetings. She stepped up to the opening and rubbed the front of her dress. She stepped in and the chattering went down a level. She nodded to everyone and took her chair, next to Caine. He looked at her and grinned. He took her hand and kissed it, as Elin stared across the table at Sara. Sara rolled her eyes and leaned toward Caine.

  “So… when do I bring Rue here?” she asked him.

  He slowly took his lips from Elin’s hand and looked at her.

  “I will let you know,” he said to her.

  Sara sat back in her chair and played with her food on her plate.

  Caine looked at her and touched her chin.

  “Be patient,” he said. Sara grinned and glanced at Elin.

  Elin cleared her throat. She looked at her plate. Caine looked at her.

  “You look beautiful,” he said to her as he raised his glass to his lips. Elin looked at Sara.

  “It is amazing what a night in your bed will do,” she said towards her.

  Sara twirled her fork in the food on her plate and laughed under her breath.

  Caine stood up and raised his glass.

  “I would like to celebrate the return of this lovely creature, I would ask that you all show her the respect that she deserves.”

  Everyone raised their glasses and wicked grins popped up among a few of them.

  Caine lowered his glass and stared at them.

  “I will remind you all that Elin is important to me and if any of you feel the urge to eat her, go ahead and slit your own throats, to save me the trouble.”

  Glasses lowered and they looked at each other. Elin grinned and placed a bite into her mouth. Caine sat back down and took her hand in his. He leaned towards her.

  “I would like to speak with you after the meal,” he whispered. Sara leaned forward.

  “What do you want me to do today?” she asked him. Caine looked at her.

  “Go to town and see what is happening with your friend. Do not hurt her, or better yet… try to not hurt her.” Sara smiled and jumped up.

  “I’m on it,” she said as she headed for the door.

  “Wait,” Caine said as he raised his hand up.

  Jonah and Lily stepped into the tent and looked around the table, they took their usual spot at the end. Jonah sat down with Lily sat on his lap. Lily stared at Elin and leaned over to whisper in Jonah’s ear. He grinned and looked at her too. Elin nodded at the two of them and took another bite of her food.

  Sara walked back to Caine and he grabbed her arm. She looked at him. He pulled her down to her knees and pulled his blade. A light started to glow on the metal. He raised it to her face and she sat completely still, not knowing what he was going to do. He pulled her hand up and carved a symbol into it. She hissed as the metal cut through her skin. He let her hand go and she clinched it shut and stood up.

  “Okay… now you can go… I have refreshed your protection, to shield you from detection,” he said without looking at her.

  Sara looked at him and sighed. She stopped at the door and looked back.

  “It wouldn’t hurt for you to use your words. Maybe then I wouldn’t have to guess what you are doing.” Caine grinned and Elin laughed.

  Sara stormed out of the tent and walked towards the ticket booth.

  She glared at the boy behind the stand. He stared at her and grinned.

  “What?” she asked him.

  He shrugged his shoulders and leaned over to the girl sitting next to him.

  “I cannot wait until we are allowed to eat that one,” he whispered to her.

  The girl giggled and pet a bird, she had in her lap. He looked at the bird and then to her.

  “Where’s the kitty?” he asked her. She grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

  “I got hungry,” she said, as she looked back at the bird.

  The boy shook his head and went back to reading his magazine.

  Sara drove through town, it was still early. She swerved at a boy riding his bike, just trying to deliver his papers to everyone. He lost his balance and screamed out as he hit the curb and wrecked his bike. Fortunately, he had a doting Mother, who forced him to wear a helmet. He rolled over, and watched Sara speed down the road. She looked into her mirror and laughed at him.

  She rolled by Coffee, really slow and glared at the few people walking in to collect their ‘wake up’ drug. She bit her lip as her stomach growled and imagined snatching one of them up and driving them to a secluded spot. She would love to kill someone, she thought, maybe. So far, she had fed from Caine, only leading one boy to his demise. She glanced in her mirror and for a split second, had a weird feeling. Was that remorse? Maybe, she didn’t know.

  She sped up and turned her music up, just to drown out her thoughts. She rolled up to Rue’s house, music blaring, and stared up at Rue’s window. The memory flashed though her mind of finding her there, all glowing and trapped on her bed. She shook her head and shut her engine off. She pulled out her lip gloss and touched up her lips then grinned at herself, realizing that she most definitely looked better now than she ever had. She opened her car door and started to walk towards the porch.

  She leaned in and whispered, “Sleep, all but Rue Volley.”

  ***

  My eyes blinked a few times, before I totally focused. I opened my eyes up and wondered why I heard some god-awful music blaring. I yawned and rolled over to look at my clock. It was seven in the morning. I rubbed my head, remembering my roller coaster ride the day before. I heard a pounding on the door and stopped messing with my hair. I lay there for a moment longer, maybe I wasn’t awake yet. The poun
ding came again. I heard a voice yell out my name and I sat up in my bed. My head hurt, not an awful ache, but good enough to make me close my eyes.

  “Rue?” I heard yelled out again.

  I pushed off my bed and started to slowly walk to the stairs. I took the first step and again, the pounding. I blinked and walked down the stairs, toward the front door.

  “Ruebear?” I heard through the door.

  I opened it up and Sara stood there, looking like she just came from a modeling shoot. My hair was a mess and the circles under my eyes looked a little worse today. I looked at Sara and held up my hand.

  “Why so early?” I asked her.

  She grinned big and swooped into the house. I looked at her as she glanced around the room and then back at me. I shook my head and yawned again. Sara smiled, she looked amazing. I focused in on her. She placed a hand on her hip and bit her lip.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. I walked towards the couch and dropped down on it.

  “For what?” I asked her.

  “Well, when I ran into you at Coffee,” she said.

  I looked up at her and pulled my messy braid over my shoulder.

  “That was a little weird Sara,” I said as I played with a tangle in my hair.

  She looked at me and then came over and sat down.

  “I don’t think that Josh is a good choice for you,” she said.

  I stopped messing with my hair and looked at her. She looked different somehow. I hoped that Josh wasn’t right about her. Sara and I had promised each other that if we ever decided to go all the way with a boy that we would talk to each other first. She grinned.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I said as I glanced at my hands. Sara leaned up to me.

  “He is a bad boy, Rue. I love you, you are my BFF. I don’t think that he is good enough for you.”

  I pushed off of the couch. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable with her for the first time ever… really. I walked to the kitchen, just hoping that someone would get up and come in, interrupting her odd assumptions. I stopped at the fridge and glanced at her.

  “Well, I appreciate the concern, but I think things are more than fine,” I said to her.

  I leaned down and opened the door up. I looked for anything that would look appealing. I don’t know why, it all tasted the same. I stood up, after I made a meaningless choice then closed the door. I flinched. Sara stood right there, just looking at me. I didn’t even hear her move. I looked at her and half-heartedly smiled. She watched me walk to the table and sit down, with a whole jug of orange juice in my hand. I opened it up and she walked to the cabinet and grabbed a glass for me. She turned with the glass in hand and set it down in front of me. I looked up at her.

  “Really… I am a big girl, Sara,” I said.

  She sat down across from me and leaned forward on her hands.

  “I think that you are in denial,” she said to me.

  I had placed the glass to my lips and stopped when she said it. I raised my eyebrows at her and took a drink. I placed it in front of me and rolled it in my hands then looked up at her.

  “About what?” I said to her. She leaned back and sighed.

  “Josh called me,” she said to me. I blinked.

  “What?” I said to her. She held up her hand and waved it around.

  “Yea, he called me, like weird, right?” she added. I shook my head.

  “What did he want?” I asked her.

  “Oh… you know, same thing all boys want,” she said as she glanced towards the living room.

  “I don’t… I can’t believe that,” I said to her as I watched her face. She turned back to me.

  “Oh Ruebear… you just don’t know, do you?” she said.

  “What am I supposed to know Sara?” I said as my heartbeat sped up just a tad.

  “He wants to do terrible things to me, or at least that’s what he said,” she said, as she looked me in the eye.

  I flinched. I don’t know if I’m dreaming, or if that damn cookie has warped my sense of reality.

  “No he didn’t,” I said, trying to sound like I was maintaining my panic.

  She laughed, quietly. She reached across the table.

  “Well, it’s a secret. He did not want me to tell you, but he said that you are nothing but a tease and he is tired of messing around with a child.”

  I stood up and looked down at her. I didn’t know whether to cry or run up to his room and go in with my palms flashing. She shook her head. She reached at my hand and held it.

  “I love you Ruebear… You mean the world to me… Just stop talking to him, he doesn’t care about you. He wants the same thing all boys want,” she had whispered it to me.

  It sounded like Sara, it really did. The Sara that had been with me since the third grade, the one who always had my back, no matter what. I didn’t know what to say. One of the few times in my life that I didn’t just open my mouth and let crazy fall out. Sara kept her eye on me.

  “You know, we could team up here and teach him a lesson, really let him know that he can’t mess with us,” she said. I looked at her.

  “What?” I said. I had leaned against the table and felt kind of nauseous.

  I couldn’t believe it. The thought of him being with Elin and then his googling Sara at Coffee flashed in my mind. I also remembered Micah… Micah, a ‘girlfriend’ who he so easily killed in the woods. I shook my head.

  “Come with me,” she said. I looked up at her and blinked.

  “Where?” I said. She looked around, and then grinned at me.

  “Road trip,” she said.

  “I… I’m not supposed to leave, Sara. Did you see the carnival outside of town?” I asked her.

  She had a calm look on her face and then grinned.

  “Oh yea...! I saw flyers for it at Coffee,” she said as her excitement kicked in.

  “Well, it’s bad news… Don’t go there,” I said to her. Sara lost her grin.

  “Oh,” she said. “I thought that you were gonna say ‘let’s go’… Remember when we were little and we’d beg to go every time it got close?” she asked me. I nodded.

  “I do… but not that one. There are monsters there, Sara, real ones,” I said to her.

  Sara stood up.

  “Okay… get a bag… let’s go,” she said to me. I looked at her and glanced at the living room.

  “I am not supposed to leave, Sara,” I said as I rubbed my hands.

  “What? Is that some crap Josh said?” she asked me. I bit my lip and looked at her. I nodded.

  “Unbelievable Ruebear! Screw him.” I nodded.

  “You know he kissed me,” she said, just pounding in the last nail.

  I shot a quick look at her and shook my head.

  “Give me a minute,” I said.

  I ran to the stairs and looked up them. No one had moved since Sara showed up. I was kinda shocked. I walked to my room and then stepped up to Josh’s door. I peeked in and he lay there, dead to the world, looking all innocent.

  “Ass,” I whispered to him.

  I turned and walked to my room and grabbed a backpack. I started to stuff anything I could grab into it. I looked down at my battle gear on the floor and shrugged off the urge to grab it. I ran out of my room and down the stairs. Sara stood there, looking at the movies on the shelf. She turned to me and looked sad for a moment. I tilted my head at her.

  “What?” I asked her. She ran her fingers along the movies and sighed. She turned back to me.

  “I really did love ‘movie night’,” she said.

  I felt bad for her for a moment. Josh had ruined it for her, I just knew it. Who knows how long he had been eyeing her. Maybe she had more to tell me, I wouldn’t know until we got out of here. I smiled at her.

  “We can have our own ‘movie night’, Sara,” I said, trying to sound like it would help make her feel better. She grinned.

  “Yea… sure,” she said as she turned to the door.

  I followed her outside and got into her car
. She turned the key and her music came on blaring so loud I hunched my shoulders. She turned it down and winked at me.

  “Ooops,” she said.

  I leaned back and stared at my house for a minute. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing, but I don’t want to rot here. I sighed and rolled my head to her.

  “Let’s rock.” I said. She lifted her arms and “Woo-who’d” as she sped out of my driveway.

  I closed my eyes and tried not to cry.

  ***

  Elin rolled over on the bed and looked at her nails. She sat up deciding to change and maybe explore the carnival a little bit. There really wasn’t anything there that interested her, she was quickly getting bored. She walked across her tent and looked at all the costumes. She ran her hand along the sequined dresses and feather boas and stopped on a black dress with white pin stripes running vertical. It looked like something from the forties. Maybe, it came from some poor girl who got lured into the carnival and never made it out. She started to look at all the dresses lined up. It looked like a time machine.

  She sighed and went back to the black dress. She pulled it and slipped it on. It fit perfectly. Such a pretty dress, such a shame, it looked like it had hardly been worn. She found a matching hat, with a small veil and placed it on her head then looked into the mirror. She stepped up to it and looked at herself, she looked as if she may be going to a funeral. Well, in fact she felt like it.

  She saw movement behind her and she turned around. Lily stood there, looking like a living doll, her hair golden blonde in big curls hanging almost to her breast. Elin grinned and held a hand out to her.

  “You are Lily correct?’” Elin said to her.

  Lily looked at her hand and stayed right where she was.

  Elin lowered her hand and tilted her head.

  “You have come for one of two reasons, curiosity or kill. Tell me Lily, which is it?”

  Lily grinned and walked to the bed and sat down, showing that she may be less of threat than Elin guessed. Elin walked to her and looked down at her perfect face. Lily had large blue eyes, long lashes, and pale white skin. She had full pouty lips, tinged with red. Elin placed her hand on her chin and Lily flinched. Elin crinkled her eyebrows and stood her ground.