The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

  I felt bad. I knew how important football was to him. "He could have warned me that he'd be there."

  "His mom took his phone and laptop away. He did tried to get them to change their minds, but your parents were really worried about you going so far."

  "You want to come with me? I need to get going before they leave the meeting spot without me."

  "You're going out snacking with common vampires?"

  "Basically, yeah."

  "No thanks. I heard that an old friend is passing through and I'm going to see if I can hook up with him."

  "What happened to that waiter from the restaurant?"

  "I was just having fun. There's no way that I'm getting serious with a human again. I'm not taking any chances at reliving the whole William nightmare again."

  "Okay. Well, have fun."

  "Yeah, you too. Let me know how the snacking works for you."

  "Ha, ha," I said sarcastically. "I'm not planning on making this a regular thing. Although it might be better than killing people. I still don't like that we kill people."

  "Then why do it? I thought you were glad to get rid of evildoers."

  "I am. I just don't like killing people."

  "Just wait until you live through a time when mobs of people want to kill you just because you're a vampire. You'll see what people are really like. You can go snacking with Tanner or you can even drink bags like the rest of the royalty, but you know it isn't the same."

  "Couldn't we take what we want and leave enough blood for them to survive?"

  "Then they've already seen us."

  "Not if we make them forget."

  "If they pass out, we can't make them forget. Or if they get away, we can't make them forget. It's too much of a risk."

  "You really think a human can get away from us?"

  "It's not a good chance, I admit, but it does happen on occasion. They run into a populated area or they scream and draw attention to themselves. It happens."

  I sighed. "There just has to be another way."

  "We're vampires, Alexis. It's what we do; it's a part of our nature that we can't get away from."

  "I know, and I definitely don't want to start drinking the bagged blood."

  "Besides, if you let them go, you know they're going to go out and continue to hurt people. We're protecting people by getting rid of these guys. If you'd prefer, we could start scanning the news to find real baddies to go after. It would even be more of a challenge."

  My mouth watered at the thought of a real challenge.

  "We can figure something out later. When you've lived as long as I have and seen what humans are really like, you'll agree with me that none of them are innocent. Get enough of them scared of vampires and you'll see what I mean. They won't fight to spare you. See you after your snack." She smiled and walked out the door.

  I ran the brush through my hair again, went through the wall and ran to the field. I hadn't been there since becoming a vampire; it brought back a lot of memories from when I had been searching for the truth. Not to mention my early feedings with Tanner.

  "You came," Tanner said from the edge of the field. He didn't smile or make any attempt to hug me like usual.

  "I said I would. Are the others coming?"

  "They'll be here. I'm surprised to see you, though."

  "Why? I said I'd be here."

  "You really have to ask why I didn't think you'd come? Really?"

  I suddenly felt bad about his seeing me kissing Cliff. "I told you I'd be here, Tanner. You're my friend, and I'm going to keep my word."

  "Funny, I didn't feel like you were my friend earlier. You kissed him just to get under my skin."

  "I kissed him because he's my boyfriend. The fact that you were gloating over his insecurity made me mad enough that I didn't bother to hide our affections from you. Normally, I'm careful to protect your feelings around him. That went out the window when your arrogance showed up."

  His eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't expect you to do something like that to deliberately hurt me. You of all people know that my arrogance is a coping mechanism."

  "So, what then? I'm supposed to say 'poor baby' to you when you get all high and mighty about my boyfriend knowing that you and I have feelings for each other? He doesn't like it, but you know what? He doesn't make me choose. He knows that my friendship with you is important to me so he tolerates it, even though it hurts him. That makes him a pretty big person if you ask me."

  "Apparently I'm not, then."

  "You sure weren't acting like it today."

  "I didn't even want to be there, you know."

  "That's what I've been told. Yet there you were." I raised my eyebrows at him.

  "My mom threatened my football! I may be a vampire now, but the team is still important to me."

  "Did you give my parents a good report about me?"

  "You didn't get into more trouble did you? I was tempted to tell them about your make-out session, but I didn't."

  My mouth dropped open. "Are you serious? You were going to tell them that? It was hardly making out; we were just kissing."

  "Right, just kissing. You two were all over each other."

  "Did you say the others are coming?"

  "Here we are!" Kayla called from the edge of the field, as if on cue. "Sorry, we're running late. Great to see you again, Alexis!"

  I gave her a hug. "It's great to see you too!"

  Tanner glared at me.

  "So, how do you guys decide where to go?" I asked.

  "We don't usually have to go too far. There are people sleeping in this town all the time. Not like some places where there's a huge night life. We walk around listening for beating hearts."

  "So this snacking really sustains you?"

  "As long as we go every night, we don't need as much. Then we don't have to worry about killing anyone."

  "Yeah, but you're still taking blood from innocent people. Doesn't that bother you?"

  "No, because it's not enough to hurt them. Remember when you used to feed off of Tanner? It never caused him any harm."

  "That was different. He was a willing participant."

  "Why do you care?" Tanner snapped. "You kill people to get your blood."

  I flew right to him and got in his face before anyone could blink. "They are all menaces to society. By killing them, I'm sparing innocent humans from being hurt or even killed. I'm protecting the innocents. You're feeding off of them!"

  "Are we missing something?" Kayla asked. "I get the feeling that you two aren't really arguing about the best way to feed."

  "I'm outta here," said Tanner.

  "Wait, man. What's going on? We can help," Brad said.

  "I don't think so. I thought that Alexis and I could be friends, but it's not going to work."

  "What happened?" Kayla demanded.

  "She and her boyfriend wouldn't keep their hands off each other—just to spite me."

  "You're turning into the arrogant jerk that you used to be."

  "News flash, Alexis! I haven't changed. I only act that way toward people that I can't trust!"

  My jaw dropped. "What did I do to you that would make you not be able to trust me? I told you I was choosing Cliff."

  "You also told me that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me. You said that was the last thing you wanted. Yet you kissed him in front of me on purpose! You were trying to hurt me."

  "I was not trying to hurt you, Tanner! I was irritated at you because you were being—"

  "Okay, enough. Stop it, you two," Eric said.

  "No," Tanner said. "I'm done. I'm leaving."

  "No you're not," I said. "You need to feed and I don't. I'll go back home and we can reschedule for another time, when we're getting along again."

  "That's not going to happen." He glared at me.

  My anger melted into pain. "You don't mean that."

  He stared into my eyes. "Yes, I do. I'm done with you, Alexis. Goodbye."

  Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried to
stop my lips from trembling. I ran home faster than I'd ever run before. I threw myself on my bed and cried into my pillow. I hadn't wanted things to turn like they had. I really wanted to stay friends with Tanner. I loved him and didn't want him out of my life.

  Was I being selfish? I knew that we were both still dealing with wild emotions and I hoped that that was all our fight was about. I would make up with him, and then make it my mission to find him a nice girlfriend. Maybe Clara could find someone that would make a good match for him.

  ***

  When I got to school on Monday, I headed for Tanner's locker. I'd had all of Sunday to think through everything, and I was ready to apologize and work things out.

  I stopped in my tracks when I saw Emma and Hailey standing next to him. They were all laughing until Emma saw me and then she stopped laughing right away. She whispered my name to them, unaware that I could hear her perfectly.

  They all stared at me for a moment, and then Tanner closed his locker and put one arm around each of them. They each gave me a smirk and walked off in the other direction.

  My bag dropped from my arms and landed with a thud on the floor. I didn't bother reaching down to pick it up. What I felt went far beyond hurt. I felt like he'd ripped my heart out and stomped on it. I couldn't believe that he'd befriended my enemies. The same ones who had started those horrible rumors about me, the rumors that had brought us together in the first place.

  I started to feel dizzy and the edge of my vision went white. I began breathing very heavily, but it didn't help, because breathing wasn't a necessary function for me. It was a habit and nothing more. The whiteness slowly began to overtake my vision.

  People started whispering and a few people asked if I was okay.

  My knees felt weak and the whiteness had almost completely filled my vision. The brown and purple carpet came closer and closer to me as I fell to the ground.

  Everything went black.

  When I opened my eyes, I was laying on an uncomfortable bed. I looked around and saw that I was in the nurse's office at school. I turned my head to the other side and saw Amanda and Clara sitting next to me.

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  "You fainted," Clara said. I had to use mind control so the nurse wouldn't check your vitals. Luckily, I was nearby or things could have gotten complicated fast. I should be asking you what's going on!

  "I can't believe you fainted in the middle of the hall," Amanda whispered. "What happened?"

  I sighed as the whole scene with Tanner, Emma and Hailey came flooding back. I told them every detail.

  "That jerk!" Amanda exclaimed. "He knows how evil those skanks are to you."

  "Why would he do that?" Clara asked.

  "He's mad at me because I kissed Cliff in front of him."

  "You mean at the skate park?" Amanda asked. "You weren't just kissing Cliff—you guys were really going at it."

  "Thanks, Amanda."

  Clara looked shocked. "You and Cliff were all over each other? Seriously? I haven't seen two people so serious about staying pure in deca…uh, er, in decadence."

  Amanda gave her a funny look. "What does that even mean?"

  "Decadence is the decay of morality in a culture," I said.

  Amanda shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense at all."

  I coughed down a laugh. Nice save, Clara. Very decadent of you.

  Leave it to you to know what decadence means.

  "Did you really expect that you could be friends with him and date Cliff?" Amanda asked.

  "Yeah, why not?" I asked.

  "Sometimes your social cluelessness amazes me," Amanda said.

  "He loves you, so of course he's going to be jealous of your relationship with Cliff," Clara said.

  "What I need is to set him up with someone nice so that we can be friends."

  "Even if you do that, he'll still love you. Even if he likes the other girl, she'll just be a rebound. That never works."

  I sighed. "What am I supposed to do then?"

  "Just give him some space. He'll realize that he can't stand Hailey and Emma, and then you guys will make up and be friends again."

  "What am I supposed to do when he's walking around with those two?"

  "Pretend that you don't care," Clara said. "Smile and wave, act like you're happy for them. If he really is an arrogant jerk, they all deserve each other anyway."

  "He's not; it's just an act. Or at least I thought it was."

  "I would just ignore them," Amanda said. "You're going to have a hard time pretending that you don't care. The whole school is talking about you fainting. I'm sure he'll put two and two together since you fainted right after they walked away from you."

  I sighed. "Of course everyone's talking about it. Why wouldn't they be?"

  The bell rang.

  "What hour is it?"

  "Third period just ended."

  "I was out that long?" I exclaimed.

  Amanda nodded.

  "I'm sure everyone will be talking about that, too. I give them no end of topics to discuss."

  Clara laughed. "So, I guess I'll see you at home."

  When I got to Mr. Foley's class, he asked me if I was okay.

  "You heard about me fainting?" I asked, embarrassed.

  "Teachers talk too, you know."

  I groaned. I was eager to move to a different topic of conversation. "I met some of your friends over the weekend."

  He raised an eyebrow. "What friends?"

  "I was at a skateboard competition in Jackson Falls and afterward some of them came up to us and told us to leave their territory. They weren't being very nice, but when I mentioned you they changed their tune pretty quick."

  "That doesn't surprise me. They're not particularly eager to become friendly with your kind around there. They're definitely not part of my pack. You say they left you alone once you mentioned me?"

  "Yeah, I told them I would talk to Mr. Foley if I needed to. Why?"

  "You didn't mention which Mr. Foley?"

  I raised an eyebrow at him. "No. Does that make a difference?"

  He chuckled. "My family is very well known throughout the state amongst the werewolves. I've got some uncles and cousins who are very tough and want nothing to do with making peace. If they thought you meant one of those Foley's, it's no wonder they left you alone. I'm surprised they didn't take off in the other direction as soon as you said my name."

  The rest of the day was filled with questions from kids about why I had fainted in the middle of the hall. It was enough to make me eager to get back home, where I was grounded.

  ***

  That evening, my parents and sister had gone to Tanner's house for dinner. I refused to go because I didn't want to face him. I felt betrayed that he'd go to such lengths to hurt me. Yes, I'd kissed Cliff in front of him, but he knew I was with Cliff. It wasn't like I was trying to string him along. I still wanted to be friends, to keep him in my life. Maybe it was for the best if I completely let him go. I probably should have let him go before it got to the point where he hated me.

  My parents weren't going to let me stay home alone because I was grounded, but Clara offered to stay and babysit me. They thought she was the shining light of responsibility, so they were more than happy to go along with her plan.

  "Where do you want to go?" she asked. "There's no way we're sticking around here."

  I smiled. "Anywhere! Do you have someplace in mind?"

  "How about that French restaurant? It was pretty good, and actually quite authentic."

  "Sounds good to me! Let's go."

  When we got there, Clara started flirting with the waiter in French.

  "You speak French?" I asked when he left.

  "You'd be surprised how much you can learn when you have lived centuries of life."

  "That sounds extremely decadent."

  She laughed. "I'm never going to live that down, am I? At least I didn't actually say 'decades' in front of her."

  "That would have b
een pretty weird, since you look like you just turned sixteen. I'm sure you would have thought of a good comeback, though. Hopefully it would have been better than decadence." I snickered.

  "Just you wait. One day, you're going to say something that I'll be able to hold against you forever. Then you'll—" she stopped mid-sentence. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

  My stomach dropped. "What? What's wrong?" I was afraid that my family and Tanner's had shown up at the restaurant.

  She only stared past me, not saying anything.

  I started to feel sick. "Please say something. You're scaring me."

  She continued to stare without even blinking. I'd never seen her look so frightened.

  "You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "I think I'm looking at one," she whispered, still not moving her stare.

  I turned my head to look in the direction she was staring. There was a fire crackling in a fireplace and next to it was a table with a handsome guy a little older than me. He was sitting with who I guessed to be his parents and a sister who looked just like him.

  "That guy in the blue vest?" I asked.

  "Yes."

  "He's a ghost?"

  "He's the exact, spitting image of my William."

  I gasped. "Your one true love?"

  She was still staring and I didn't think that she had blinked even once.

  "Go talk to him."

  She looked at me and finally blinked a few times. "Are you joking? I've been burned by that family. I would literally have been burned alive by William's idiot great-great (times whatever) grandson if he'd had his way. That guy over there has to be their descendant. He looks exactly like the two of them. I mean, exactly." She turned to stare at him again.

  I couldn't resist the temptation to stare also. I tried to be more subtle than she was, though.

  The sister leaned over and whispered to the William-clone, "That hot blonde over there is checking you out."

  He shoved her. "Shut up. No she's not."

  "Yes, she is. Look, she can't keep her eyes off you!"

  "Leave me alone. I saw her when we got here. She's way out of my league."

  "I know, but she's totally checking you out. Go talk to her."