The Blood and Light Series (Six Books Boxed Set)

by Rue Volley

  “Yes… yes I did, and you will do as I say,” she said.

  “Don’t think so; I don’t like you,” Johnathan said.

  Lizzy looked at her dress and touched her face.

  “What’s not to like? I am beautiful.”

  “Ha...! Please, you look like a cheap knock off.”

  Lizzy shook her head and felt a vibration in her hands.

  “No… no you like me,” she said.

  Johnathan took a step forward and grinned.

  “In fact, I hate you… everything about you. You are a fraud, and a pathetic excuse for a demon. Tell me, why are you stuck in purgatory...? Shouldn’t you be running around, blowing up shit, and eating people?” he asked.

  “I do… I eat people as often as possible.”

  “No, no you don’t. I think that you needed me to do it. I think that you are weak, and you need me to make you strong.”

  Lizzy stumbled and placed her hand on the side of her head.

  “Stop,” she said, as her voice started to change back to that of Lizzy’s.

  Johnathan looked around the room and realized that he had no weapon. He suddenly flashed towards the kitchen, hell bent on grabbing a knife from the drawer. Lizzy cried out, as she watched him flash from the room, and followed him, flashing in spurts and stumbling. Johnathan reached the kitchen and started to rummage through the drawer. He found a large butchers knife and turned to see Lizzy standing there, swaying a few feet away from him. She cleared her throat and turned her head, making a cracking noise.

  “You need to want to be with me,” she said to him.

  “No,” Johnathan said, as he raised the butcher’s knife.

  Lizzy followed it with her eyes.

  “Oh… I am so game for that; you want to play?” she said.

  “I am going to kill you big time, you freak,” Johnathan said, as he gritted his teeth.

  “This has gotten out of hand, Johnathan… We need to be friends; please, tell me that we are friends,” Lizzy said, as her voice splintered.

  It sounded as if four people were talking at once.

  Johnathan narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Come over here so I can stab the shit out of you,” he said.

  Lizzy laughed. Her head fell back, and she leaned to the right. Her body started to look contorted, and Johnathan took a step back. Lizzy opened her mouth, and a terrible noise came out of her. It sounded like screeching, or nails on a chalkboard. Johnathan covered his ears, as the volume of it filled the room, and the crystal light hanging overhead started to vibrate. He looked up, and it shattered, sending chards of crystal all over the room. He leaned down and covered his head to protect himself from it. He looked up, and Lizzy sat in front of him, on all fours… panting. Her head started to turn, and then it twisted upside down. He slowly rose up, as she kept her eyes on him. He tilted his head and bit his lip.

  “That looks uncomfortable,” he said.

  Lizzy nodded and stuck out her tongue and bit into it. The blood started to run up her face, splitting around her nose and headed towards her eyes.

  “Shit,” Johnathan said, as he stepped to the right.

  Lizzy moved too and hissed at him. He moved to the left, and she moved again, still keeping her eyes locked on him. He raised the knife in his hand and smiled at her.

  “I told you that you were a freak,” he said, as he lunged towards her.

  She moved quickly out of his way. He slammed the knife into the floor and started to tug on it, as he glanced up at her. She flipped her body over and started to crawl towards him quickly.

  “Shit!” he yelled out, as he jumped and suddenly found himself on the ceiling.

  He looked down at her, and she grinned as she licked her lips.

  “See… you can do as I do,” she said.

  Johnathan looked at the ceiling and raised one of his hands.

  He was mesmerized by the fact that:

  1. He had jumped that high…and

  2. That he not only jumped, but he was stuck to the ceiling, like an insect.

  He thought about it too much, and he felt himself start to lose his grip. He started to fall and waved his arms and legs, as he flipped over. Then he stopped… hovering right above the floor. He stared at it and tilted his head.

  “What the hell?” he said, as he felt himself drop.

  He hit the floor and rolled on his side.

  Lizzy laughed and took a step towards him.

  “You see?” she asked him.

  He looked over at her and shook his head.

  “I am a protector… I am not like you at all,” he said.

  Lizzy brushed her dress off and smiled at him.

  “That was simply an exercise to test your ability. You didn’t really think that I was upset… did you?” she asked him.

  Johnathan rolled towards the knife, and she flashed and jumped on his hand. She twisted her foot, as he cried out. He could feel and hear the bones snap in his hand.

  Lizzy looked down and smiled at him.

  “Oh… I am sorry. Does it hurt?” she asked him.

  He gritted his teeth.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  She laughed and jumped off his hand with one last twist and landed on her feet. She did a ‘tada’ with her hands out to her sides. Johnathan looked at her and pulled his hand to him, cradling it.

  Lizzy looked at her nails and grinned.

  “You have to admit; my acting is amazing,” she said.

  Johnathan rolled his eyes and tried to push himself up.

  “Oh… you are in pain. Here, let me help you.”

  Lizzy grabbed his hand and jerked him up, as he cried out.

  She smiled and let his hand go.

  “Ooops, was that the broken one...? I apologize,” she said, as she stared him down.

  Johnathan shook his head at her.

  “You are a bitch.”

  “No… no, I am a dick,” Lizzy said, as she leaned in and touched his forehead. Johnathan fell like a rock to the floor.

  Lizzy yawned and sat down in front of him.

  She rubbed his head and placed her chin in her free hand.

  “You will like me… you will,” she whispered, as she stood up quickly.

  She grabbed his hand and started to drag him out of the room behind her.

  She looked down and crinkled her eyebrows at him.

  “What do you eat?” she said, as she grabbed his other hand and drug him to the door.

  She stopped when she heard something and grinned. She raised her chin and opened her mouth, wiggling her nose. Then she closed it quickly and looked back at Johnathan.

  “I smell a meal that I have waited on for quite some time,” she whispered to Johnathan.

  She dropped him, letting his head slam against the floor.

  “Excuse me a moment,” she said, as she flashed from the kitchen.

  ***

  Jonah stood on the lane looking up at the Graph house. He sighed and pulled his blades out to his sides. He looked at them, as they started to pulsate in color. He looked back up at the house and grinned, his lips curling up to one side.

  “Elizabeth… I am here,” he whispered, as he started to walk up the lane.

  Lizzy opened the front door and leaned out, pulling her one knee up and pulling the dress up a little. Jonah stopped and looked at her, as the smell of her rolled down the lane. He covered his mouth and coughed.

  “Your stench is overwhelming!” he yelled out to her.

  She frowned and lowered her leg.

  “I find that funny coming from you,” she said.

  Jonah stood there and tilted his head.

  “Who are you?” he yelled.

  Lizzy smiled at him.

  “The one you love of course.”

  Jonah shook his head at her and placed his feet apart.

  “You are not Elizabeth,” he said.

  Lizzy straightened her shoulders, grinning as her color faded and a pasty white replaced
it. She tilted her head down and looked up at him.

  “So smart… you will be a lot more fun than this idiot that I have in the house.”

  Jonah cried out and flashed towards her, as Lizzy jumped down from the porch and started to run towards him. Jonah jumped into the air and twisted, with his blades out. Lizzy rolled into a ball and went over him, extending her hand and cutting his face with her nails. Jonah cried out and hit the ground, rolling over and coming back up, gripping both of his blades tightly. He reached up and touched his cheek, pulling his hand back as he saw the blood on his fingertips.

  Lizzy landed in front of him and crouched down, tilting her head at him. She stretched out her arms and yawned. Jonah stared at her and gritted his teeth, as he flashed forward and sliced his blades at her. She moved effortlessly out of the way, and he lunged forward. She hit him on the back of the head, and he stumbled. He caught himself by slamming his blade into the ground and looked back at her quickly. Lizzy stood there looking at her nails.

  “I knew that I would see you,” she said.

  Jonah flipped his blades in his hands and turned to face her.

  “I would ask that you leave Lizzy’s body,” he said.

  Lizzy looked at him and smiled.

  “I would think that you would be impressed with me. I mean, I was only able to take her body because you killed her.”

  Jonah stood up straight and stared at her.

  “What?” he asked.

  Lizzy laughed, and then her voice changed.

  “Jonah… she loved you, trusted you. She jumped time to get back to you, and how did you repay her... by taking her and sucking the life out of her like the animal that you are?”

  Jonah stepped back and looked at his blades.

  “No… no it can’t be.”

  Lizzy shook her head ‘yes’.

  “Uh huh… you did this to her, and I will tell you that I thank you because she has been just fabulous a host. I really mean that.”

  Jonah watched his hands start to tremble, and Lizzy watched him.

  “You know if you really feel that bad about it, just let me drain you of your energy, and then you can be at peace.”

  Jonah looked at his blades, and then raised his head to stare at her.

  “No love, I believe that tonight you leave Lizzy and return to the hole you live in.”

  Lizzy stepped back and hissed at him.

  “All of you protectors are the same… so righteous… for no reason. I would tell you that I was impressed, but that I am not. I expected you to be a demon, and here, I get a weak pathetic excuse for a vampire,” she said.

  Jonah lunged at her and swung his blades across, with every intention of cutting her head off. Lizzy leaned back and then shot up, taking her fist and hitting him in the heart. Jonah stumbled back from her, and she grinned again.

  “Is your heart broken?” she asked him.

  Jonah tried to catch his breath, and she jumped up in the air, coming down on him causing him to fall on his back. She jammed her knees onto his arms and leaned forward in his face.

  “Why don’t you come in?”

  Lizzy leaned forward and bit into his cheek, tearing off a chunk of flesh.

  She started to chew it, as Jonah cried out.

  Lizzy spit it out and tilted her head.

  “You taste awful,” she whispered to him.

  She slammed her head against his and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  She stood up and placed her hands on her hips, as she stared down at him.

  “I should have kicked your ass in the house.”

  She reached down, grabbed his hand, and started to drag him towards the house.

  She looked back at him.

  “Seriously… what do you all eat!” she said, as she grunted.

  Lizzy pulled him up the steps, and then kicked the door shut behind her.

  Chapter 12

  Anger Management

  I must have fallen asleep at the table. I leaned up, a puddle of drool under me, and smacked my lips. My mouth tasted dry, too much to be normal, and I didn’t see anyone in the house. No one at all. I sat up quickly and remembered that everyone… minus Lizzy and Jonah had returned, Josh most of all. My heart fluttered, and I stumbled from the kitchen chair and walked into the living room. Peeking in before I entered it, just in case the real Josh was waiting to ambush me. But no one was around. I scratched my head and looked at the clock on the wall, and three hours had gone by. Three, always three… I thought to myself.

  I turned when I heard a light tapping on the front door. I walked to it and hesitated, as I touched the doorknob and then opened it up. There she was… Sara. Holy crap. The last time I saw her she was holding her stomach and telling me that I killed her, well… in my head I guess. Sara stood there, with her arms behind her back, and we had that awkward moment. I knew her so well, and yet I didn’t.

  She tried to grin, but it didn’t look like her to me. She looked anxious and unsure of herself and in turn it made me feel nervous too. Sara was a social beast and for her to stand there on my porch and not know what to say, well it was beyond bizarre to me.

  “Sara?” I finally said, as I leaned forward.

  Sara tilted her head at me and slowly pulled her hand around to reveal the blade in it.

  My eyes narrowed, and I took a step back.

  “Invite me in,” Sara said.

  I looked at the blade and then into her eyes.

  “Ummm, wanna tell me why you have a blade?” I asked her.

  Sara looked down at it and smiled.

  “Because, I need protection,” she said.

  “Protection from what?” I asked her.

  “From everything, you won’t protect me,” she said.

  “Why would you say that? You know that I would,” I said.

  “No… no, you wouldn’t Ruebear.”

  I looked at her and stepped back, I knew that the house was protected… but why doesn’t she just come in? I crossed my arms on my chest and stared her down.

  “When did you get back?” I asked her.

  She narrowed her eyes and grinned a little. It looked fake.

  “Today,” she said.

  “And did you have fun?” I asked her.

  “Lots,” she said.

  I waited… if this is Sara, the flood of info is sure to come. She cannot be quiet about anything that she does… It is beyond her control, and I truly believe that it is genetic.

  “Well?” I said, as I tapped my foot on my wood floor.

  She looked down at my foot and sighed.

  “Well, what?” she said.

  I slammed the door shut and stepped back from it.

  “Rue!” Sara yelled out.

  I shook my head and flashed to the kitchen.

  I rummaged through the drawer and found the nastiest knife I could find.

  “Rue...! YOU ARE SOOOO RUDE!” she screamed at the door.

  I turned when I heard a thud on the door and realized she must have kicked it.

  “You can kiss my ass!” I yelled out.

  She didn’t reply, and then I heard a thud on the side wall, near the kitchen. I slowly walked to the window over the sink and took a breath, as I leaned up and looked out… I couldn’t see anyone at all. Then another thud, only this time it came from the back of the house, near Kai’s room. I flashed to his room and ran to the window. He had left it open as usual, and the curtains were moving from the little bit of wind that was blowing in. I grabbed the window and shut it quickly, as I heard a thud on the other side of the house, and that is when I got pissed. I mean come on! Stop kicking my house’s ass… it did nothing to you, whatever you are.

  I flashed back to the front door and decided to open it up. I reached for the doorknob and swallowed hard before I jerked it open with the knife raised in my hand, like some serial killer on the march. I screamed and jumped and brought it down when Josh stepped in. He “whoa’d” really loud and ducked my attempt at stabbing him. I stoppe
d and almost lost my balance, as he came up to the side of me and started to laugh.

  “Wow,” he said.

  I dropped the knife and looked at my hand, then over at him.

  “I almost stabbed you!” I said.

  He nodded and looked at the knife on the floor.

  “Big enough?” he asked me.

  I didn’t get at first, but then I glanced at the knife and realized that it was enormous, bigger than a regular knife, and I straightened up and looked out the door.

  Josh leaned in and grinned at me.

  “You know, if you are all about the kinky stuff, I am so down with that.”

  I nudged him and tried to hold back a laugh.

  I shook my head and closed the door.

  “No…no. I uh… Sara was here,” I said.

  “And you were like… ‘I am so stabbing that bitch’… right?” Josh said.

  I looked at him and crinkled my eyebrows at him.

  “No… no, I would never stab her,” I said.

  Josh laughed.

  “I would, if I was you,” he said.

  “What?” I said, as I crossed my arms on my chest.

  “She is a pain in the ass… look at all the crap she caused,” Josh said, as he walked towards the kitchen and set a package down on the table.

  In my craziness, I didn’t realize that he had anything in his hands at all. I looked at it, and he walked to the fridge and opened it up. He leaned forward, and I watched his back muscles flex through his t-shirt and bit my lip. He glanced over at me.

  “I am lookin good, right?” he asked me, as he stood up with a drink in his hand and started to chug it.

  I shook my head and sighed.

  “Oh yes, Josh… you standing there drinking at the fridge is just hot,” I said.

  He lowered the drink and smiled at me.

  “Go on,” he said.

  “Go on about what?” I asked him.

  He looked down at his shirt, and he had dribbled some of his drink on it.

  “Oh, shit… look at that,” he said.

  I watched him set the drink down, and then he slowly started to pull his shirt off over his head. I watched him until his head popped out, and he peeked at me, holding his arms up in the air for a moment. His stomach was perfectly flat, with muscles… but not the gross ones. Just enough to make him look… well, ahhh.