The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  I stepped out and dried myself off. I didn’t even know if I was patient enough to dry my hair. I thought about letting it dry on its own. I ran to my closet and almost tripped over my pre- packed suitcase. I grimaced at the toe stubbing that I just inflicted on myself. I opened my closet door and found the perfect t-shirt. I pulled it over my head and then the jeans followed. I sat down on my bed to lace up my tennis shoes. I clicked my red shoes together and grinned at them. I love these shoes; I do. I looked up when I heard a voice.

  “I can’t believe it,” Sara muttered to me.

  I grinned and interlaced my fingers and stretched them out to her.

  “Yep,” I said.

  She walked into the room and took a look around it. I watched her.

  Of course she would be sentimental, I guess I am too. She smiled and looked back at me.

  “I will so be there next year,” she said.

  I smiled and held my hand out to her.

  “You are going to love your trip to Europe, Sara. I am jealous, if that makes you feel any better,” I said.

  She smiled and looked at my shirt.

  “Gonna get my learn on,” she said as she laughed.

  I looked down at it and grinned.

  “Don’t want to give them the idea that I am a genius,” I said to her.

  “Well, you are… and that college is not going to know what hit it when you unleash your power,” she said as she stood up and smiled at me.

  I looked up at her and suddenly wanted to say ‘I love you.” I didn’t though. I wasn’t big on saying that. ‘I love you’ that is. She walked to my door and turned back, scanning the room with her eyes.

  “I wish we had one more sleepover to do,” she said.

  I grinned and shook my head at her.

  “We just had one,” I said.

  “I know… but.”

  I got up and walked to her. I stood there feeling all weird and girlie for a moment.

  She grabbed me and hugged me hard.

  “I am gonna miss my Ruebear,” she whispered.

  “I will miss you too,” I said.

  Sara left my room and I looked down at my suitcase. I took a breath and picked it up. I was so gonna do this. I had wanted to go to college for so long… In fact, I couldn’t even remember when I didn’t want to go. I was taking Lit and History, my favorites. My heart fluttered when I thought about how big the library there must be. Hoped they had comfy chairs. It would suck if they didn’t.

  I stepped to my door with my suitcase in hand and looked back at the room. The only room I had ever known. I grabbed the door and started to pull it behind me and then I swung it open to make sure that it would be ready for when I come home to visit during the holidays… right around my birthday. UGH!

  I walked downstairs and started to hear the chatter in my kitchen. It was Theo, me and Kai’s godfather. Thank god we had him… I mean really. Our parents had died when we were too young to remember. Theo had come to take us on at a young age and brought his sister with him.

  I looked over and saw Kai snuggling with Sam on the couch. Gross. I couldn’t remember when they became an item, but they had. Now I got to deal with the thought of my brother having a girlfriend. I didn’t even know if it was legal since we lived in the same house. Oh well. I didn’t have to watch it for a while at least. I was going to school and I got to get a break from it.

  I set my suitcase down. Kai leaned his head back and stared at me.

  “Hey, turd… you need to get to goin’,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes at him and walked to the kitchen. Theo turned to me and smiled.

  He read my t-shirt and looked in my eyes.

  “Do you think that is the first impression you would like to convey?” he asked me.

  I laughed as I picked up a bagel and bit into it.

  “Yes… as a matter of fact, I do,” I said to him.

  Theo went back to cooking and I turned when the front door opened up. Johnathan stepped in, looking all messy and cute. I smiled at him as he closed the door behind him.

  Johnathan Morris Graph. Okay. We were like together but not. It was kind of weird. We never kissed; we didn’t do anything that a normal couple would do really. We just hung out and talked… and laughed. I liked him a lot. He obviously liked me. I just didn’t know what the deal was. We found each other early on at the library. His Father funded it, as most things in this town. I didn’t even know how rich they were until later on. Johnathan never put out the snooty vibe. I just wished that I felt more. How selfish, right? He had been on his own since he was fifteen. His parents died in some strange accident and left him everything… the house, the cars, the business. Johnathan didn’t care though and that was why I liked him so much. He made me feel safe. We were normal, normal and safe.

  I held a bagel up to him and jiggled it back and forth in my hand as I grinned.

  He walked into the kitchen and took it from me.

  “So… are you ready?” he asked me.

  “Absolutely,” I said… trying to not sound like I hated my family, because I do not.

  In fact, I loved them… more than anything else in the world.

  “Well, we have two tickets burning in my pocket,” he said.

  I smiled and looked at Theo.

  “Pay the man, Theo,” I said.

  Theo turned to me and smiled.

  “I fear that Johnathan would not allow that to be,” he said.

  I looked at Johnathan and shook my head.

  “No… no. I said that I would pay for my train ticket, Johnathan. I didn’t work that crappy part-time job because I liked it.”

  Johnathan smiled and rubbed his neck.

  “You will need that money to get things,” he said to me.

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Don’t be like that,” Johnathan said as he leaned down grinning in my face.

  I shook my head and continued to munch on my bagel. I was so hungry 24/7. I had this thing. Theodore said when I was little I had an iron deficiency. I was sick all the time. I guess the doctors tried all kinds of experimental drugs on me. It, in turn, caused my metabolism to skyrocket. I eat all the time and on top of that I have to take these pills. Just as that thought entered my mind, Theo pulled out my Sunday through Saturday pill container. I grinned as he placed it on the table. Theo looked at Johnathan and pointed his finger at him.

  “You are in charge of making sure that she takes these every day,” he said.

  “Awesome, Theo… I don’t need a babysitter,” I muttered as I took my last bite of my bagel.

  Theo leaned up and kissed me on the top of the head.

  I looked up at Johnathan and rolled my eyes.

  “I mean it,” Theo said as he looked at Johnathan.

  “I will make sure she doesn’t get all rebellious. Besides, she may gain like a hundred pounds if I don’t,” he laughed and I hit him on the arm as I walked to the living room.

  I picked up my black jacket and started to put it on. Johnathan stepped up to me and helped me get it on the rest of the way. I grinned and looked at Kai.

  “Okay… I am leaving now,” I said.

  Kai just sat there and then he looked at me and grinned big.

  “Good, we will have some food in the house now,” he said.

  I looked at Sam and she hit him in the head.

  “Get up and hug your sister, you ass,” she said.

  Kai stood up and looked at me.

  “Alright fine… hug me. I know it just kills you that you won’t get to see me every day,” he said.

  I sighed and walked up to him.

  “Believe it or not, it will,” I said as I hugged him around the neck.

  He grunted and started to laugh.

  “Uh huh,” he said.

  Sam stood up and smiled at me.

  “You give them a what for… Okay?” she said.

  I loved Sam. My brother was so lucky that she liked him so much.

  I smiled and stepped
up to her. She pulled my jacket open and giggled at my shirt.

  “I will be wearing some of those famous t-shirts of yours while you are gone,” she said.

  I grinned. “That’s cool.”

  She hugged me. I was going to miss her too.

  I turned to Johnathan and nodded.

  “Ready?” I said to him.

  “Let’s roll,” he said to me.

  I smiled and picked my suitcase up. He grabbed it from me and I looked at him.

  He smiled as he weighed it in his hand.

  “Did you pack the whole house?” he asked me.

  I looked at it and shrugged my shoulders.

  “I wish I could have,” I said as I looked around.

  Johnathan walked to the door and I hesitated for a moment. Then I decided that it was time to do it… for real. I walked to the door and looked out into the forest through the screen. I watched the fog roll back into it. I blinked and started to rub my hands.

  “You will be late.”

  I turned and looked at Theo.

  “I know…” I said.

  I picked up my backpack and threw it on my shoulder.

  “Go,” he said as he waved his hand at me and smiled.

  I stepped out of the house and looked down at Johnathan in his black car. I took one step and then ran to the car. I jumped in and sank back into my seat. Johnathan turned the key and it started up. I reached over and turned up music. I looked up at my house and stared at the windows. I was so excited about going to school… same school as Johnathan, just as we planned. So why did I feel like I wanted to run back in and bury myself in my bed?

  We drove for an hour, no conversation… nothing. Johnathan never adjusted the volume. Maybe he knew that this wasn’t a “me wanting to talk to him” moment. I watched the sun continue to rise and the clouds forming. Black streaked the sky with the blue and I daydreamed.

  The car started slowing down and I looked out the front window to see why. Johnathan had pulled into a gas/grocery station and stopped. The music suddenly stopped and I noticed a ringing in my ears. I looked at him and he grinned at me.

  “Gas and food,” he said.

  I smiled and opened my door. I stepped out and stretched out my arms and bent over to bring the blood back into my back. I stood up and turned to see a little girl on the porch of the grocery store. She grinned and waved at me. I raised my hand to wave back but she ran in and slammed the door behind her. I looked back at Johnathan and he was watching me.

  “You repel children,” he said.

  I shook my head and pulled my backpack out. I started to search through it for my stash of no money. Johnathan tapped his credit card on the top of his car and raised his eyebrows at me. I bit my lip and continued to search in my backpack.

  “Take it… stop being so stubborn,” he said.

  I dropped my bag on the seat and took the card as I stood on my tiptoes, pulling it from his hand.

  “Please get me something to drink,” he said to me.

  I tapped the card on my fingers as I walked towards the door. I stepped up on the porch and stopped when I thought I heard a whisper. God, I hoped that my medication was not causing me to hear stuff. I had had a few side effects from it… hearing stuff, sleep walking… yada yada. The list goes on.

  I shook it off and stepped into the building. I looked around and saw no one. Kind of creepy. I started to browse the aisle, trying to make a decision on round two of breakfast. I thought I heard something and decided, from pure curiosity to investigate. I rounded the corner and there it was… a big brightly painted fortune-telling box… with all the bells and whistles. It had lights flashing on it, in red and black. It had old writing in cursive on the front of it that read “Fortunes: Read at own risk.” I smiled and bit my lip. Now, I was a carnival junkie. Anything that looked vintage and freak show was my thing.

  I stepped towards it and looked for a way to pay it. I continued to tap the card in my hand and realized that something this old machine would most certainly only take is money. I leaned down and looked at the front of it, no slots… no ‘put money here’. I crinkled my eyebrows and stood up. I sucked in my breath as a curtain was pulled back on the inside of it, behind the glass, and I leaned in to see the show.

  It had a stage with a mirror on it. All tiny and doll-like. A small boy scooted across the tiny red and black stage and bowed as he tipped his hat. I smiled as the light lit up my face. A tiny figure of a girl scooted across the floor and stopped by the mirror. I watched the boy move to the front of the mirror and then he passed through it. I blinked; so I think I must have missed when the silver mirror split and let the figure pass through it. I smiled and music started to play… old violin… all happy and warped. Something dinged; I looked down and there was a folded card lying on the floor. I started to lean down and Johnathan scared the crap out of me.

  “Hey,” he said.

  I jumped and held my heart.

  “Don’t do that,” I said to him.

  He smiled and looked at my discovery.

  “That’s cool,” he said.

  I looked back at it and smiled.

  “Right?” I said.

  I looked back at him and grinned.

  “No… I know what you are thinking, Rue… We do not have any time to go searching for a carnival,” he said to me.

  I frowned and he took my hand.

  “Theo will kill me if you go AWOL now,” he said.

  I leaned down and picked up the fortune and shoved it in my pocket as Johnathan pulled me from my newfound toy. We stepped up to the counter and Johnathan had the snacks on lock down. I looked at the pile and then at him.

  “Did you grab enough?” I asked him.

  He looked at it and then grinned.

  “You eat a lot,” he said.

  I hit him on the arm and a boy came out of nowhere and stepped behind the counter. He looked at the pile of snacks and then at Johnathan. Johnathan pointed at me and I hit him again.

  “$18.88,” the boy said.

  Johnathan looked at me and I handed him the card.

  The boy ran it and then waited for it to clear.

  “So, where did the fortune teller machine come from?” I asked him.

  He looked at me and grinned.

  “Why, you wanna buy it?” he asked me.

  I laughed and looked at Johnathan. He shook his head at me.

  “No… we don’t,” he said.

  I frowned again, although we had no place to put it.

  “Well, it doesn’t work anyway.”

  I looked at the boy and tilted my head.

  “What do you mean?” I said.

  “It has no cord… you know, pluggy thing,” he said as he made a plug in motion in the air.

  I pointed back at it and started to open my mouth up. Johnathan grabbed the bag, and my hand, pulling me along with him. I glanced over at the machine and it sat there with no lights on. We stepped out and I pulled my hand from his.

  “It totally works,” I said to him.

  Johnathan stopped and turned to me.

  “I know that; it’s just, we don’t have time to chat with complete strangers,” he said.

  I sighed and started to follow him.

  He was right as usual. I just need to let it go. I don’t always have to state the obvious to people. The boy back there just doesn’t know that it works. I sat down in the car and Johnathan started it up. I leaned back and looked out the window. He placed a red liquorice in my face and I bit it. He smiled and put the rest back in his mouth. I chewed and looked over at the front door. The little girl stepped up to the screen and it freaked me out because she looked like a ghost. I blinked and looked back as Johnathan pulled the car out.

  I placed my hands on my lap and felt the paper in my pocket. I totally forgot to open it up and read it inside. I pulled it out and Johnathan kept his eyes on the road. I sighed and opened it up. Please say ‘all A’s’, I repeated in my head. I really, really want for school to go
well for me. I looked down and saw two words. I blinked and crinkled my eyebrows.

  It read…“WAKE UP”

  What?

  Chapter 11

  Hope

  Sometimes you cannot bury anything. Sometimes you have to face, accept, and learn to live with decisions made. Sometimes you can be faced with the harshest of realities, and you can either meet it head on or you can keep running, hoping it will never find you.

  This was one of those times, and Theodore knew it. He had lived for thousands of years… through war, famine, bloodshed. He had faced everything, everything except the reality that immortality had a price… regret.

  Regret is one of the ugliest of creatures. It eats away at you like a snake… slow and relentless. It is a poison that rots your most precious of resources, even to an immortal… and that is hope.

  Theodore had sat in his room for two hours, flipping through the black book… hoping to find a reason, one glimmer of hope… to alleviate the situation at hand. He had too much to attend to and too little knowledge to control it. He had watched Rue and Johnathan leave… sending them into exile. He wanted things to be different, but could not think of any other way.

  He only wanted for Rue to be safe and it pained his heart to glamor her. He had seen her want for college when she had shared her thoughts with him, and he knew that it would be a safe place for her to go. Something that would ease her mind… less complicated then the truth. Perhaps he should have reached out to Sam. Well, then again, he knew that she would be more than happy to go to Valon, meeting death head on. He had felt the painful loss of one sibling and could not bear another. He stood up and turned when he heard a familiar voice.

  “You seem to be wrestling with a demon,” Jonah said to him.

  Theodore smiled and nodded his head. He placed the book on the bed and looked at Jonah. Jonah and Lily had been gracious enough to leave the house while he glamoured it. Sam and Kai were easy to control, but rogues were not. He stepped to the bedroom window and looked out into the forest. He turned back to Jonah and had a strange look on his face. A look that was not normal for Theodore to have… worry.