[Anthology] The Paranormal 13- now With a Bonus 14th Novel!

by Dima Zales

  "We'll see you at home," Mom said. "Natalie, are you going to ride with Alexis?"

  "Of course!"

  Once we were out of the sight of my parents, I floored it and asked Natalie if she wanted to take a scenic route.

  She stuck her arms way up, as I'd removed the top, and said, "Woo-hoo! Let's go."

  I smiled, heading for the freeway heading opposite of our home.

  "I love the new Alexis," Natalie exclaimed.

  "I guess I am more fun than before," I admitted.

  "How do you do that?" Natalie demanded.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You hear my thoughts as if I'd spoken them," she complained. "I know that sisters can have a tight connection, but this is crazy."

  I sighed. What kind of an explanation was I going to give her that she would buy?

  "Maybe we just have a special connection." I didn't sound very sure of myself.

  "Yeah, but if you're adopted it makes even less sense," she said. "I'm really curious about the adoption and why it's such a secret."

  Guilt stabbed me in the heart and stomach. I wanted to tell her, but I knew I shouldn't and that it was probably in her best interest that I didn't. I didn't want the Morettis to go after her.

  I hoped that someday I would be able to tell her. Instead, I asked if she wanted to go to a super greasy fast food place our parents always said would kill anyone who ate there.

  "Oh…that sounds so good," she exclaimed. "We could also go to that bargain mall that's near there. They always have fun stuff that we can't get closer to home."

  "That's a great idea. I got a gift card that I can use there today."

  I was in my room putting all of my new stuff away when I suddenly got the feeling that I was not alone. I could feel the hairs on my neck standing up, and all of my senses were on alert.

  I whipped around to see who was there and saw Brooke sitting on my bed.

  "Did you have a fun birthday?" she asked with a kind smile.

  I let out a breath that I wasn't even aware I had been holding in. "It was incredible. I can't believe that I had forgotten about my birthday. Well, actually, I can. This has been the craziest week of my life, and I doubt that many others have had a week even close to mine."

  "I'm glad that you enjoyed your special day," she said. "But we need to talk about our disagreement. I don't like feeling like we're on the outs."

  "I don't like it either," I admitted. "But I also don't appreciate being locked up like an animal or a criminal."

  She sighed. "Why don't you understand that we were trying to protect you?"

  "I guess when you wake up in locked in a strange room all by yourself, you will figure it out."

  "You don't have any idea what it's like to be a vampire or what's involved with the transformation process. We couldn't risk you running off and escaping when you woke up."

  "But that is exactly what happened. If I had woken up on the couch or in your room, I probably would have stayed in the house. Instead, I was so desperate to get out of that prison of a room, I figured out a new skill."

  "Look, Alexis. You're our princess and the Sonnast. It's our job to keep you safe at all costs."

  "I may have 'no idea' about being a vampire, but I am still your future queen. You might want to keep that in mind. I can't imagine any queen taking imprisonment by her own people lightly."

  She glared at me. "Are you really going there? You're not even a vampire yet, and you're definitely not the queen yet."

  "What's going on with you?" I asked. "You were so bubbly and excited about us being friends again and now you're acting all high and mighty."

  "High and mighty?" she exclaimed. "I'm irritated that you don't trust us. It's our job to keep you safe, and your parents expect it fully. Believe me; I am much more fearful of what your parents can do to us than I am of you."

  "I hadn't thought of that," I admitted. "What will happen if you don't keep me safe?"

  "We could end up imprisoned or banished…or worse."

  "Worse?" I asked. "You mean…?"

  "Exactly."

  "Oh," I whispered. "I didn't want to put any of you in danger. I really appreciate everything that you've all done for me."

  "I know that the transformation process is crazy and that it's even worse for you, but you need to know that whatever we do is for your own good. If you have any questions, just ask. There is so much that we haven't even had time to tell you yet. Most of us grow up and learn everything over the span of our entire childhood. You've only known about this for a week."

  "Are my parents really scary?"

  She smiled and said, "Not unless you get on their bad side. They are the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world, after all."

  "The oldest?" I asked. "I thought that they were descents of the Fyrsturae, not one of them."

  "Right, your parents are descendants. That's what makes them the so powerful."

  "What I mean is that I don't understand how they can be the oldest vampires if vampires don't die. Where are the Fyrsturae now?"

  "Vampires die if they are killed," she said. "Remember wooden stakes and werewolves. There are some other ways to kill a vampire as well."

  "So no other vampires are older than them? How old are they?"

  "Your parents are about eight hundred years old," she said, as if that was the most normal thing to say. "They were both born in the 1200's."

  "That's insane. Why did they wait so long to have a child?"

  "That's something that you're going to have to ask them yourself," she said. "Not all vampires choose to procreate and it's not an easy process to accomplish. From what I hear, anyway."

  "What about…?"

  "Let's take a break from all this vampire talk and let me measure you," she interrupted. "It looks like your figure is impro…changing. I'm going to need to make sure that your clothes fit just perfectly."

  "Sure," I said. "Honestly, it's not like I need a new outfit every day."

  "Okay then. I'll let you repeat an outfit on Sundays."

  I laughed but then stopped when I saw that she was serious. "I seriously don't need a new outfit every day, do I?"

  "Of course you do. You're royalty."

  "Why is it that I had a favorite dress as a child?" I asked.

  "It was a play outfit for one thing," she said. "Also your seamstress used that pattern a lot since you loved it so much. I'm told that you didn't often notice you were wearing a different dress if it had that pattern in it."

  She pulled out her measuring tape and started measuring. "Your skin is really starting to look good. Just wait until you complete the transformation. It will be soft and perfect like a child's skin, and it will heal almost immediately."

  "Every teenager's dream."

  Amanda was over to spend the night, and we were in my room talking about everything under the sun. Of course, I couldn't talk about anything vampire related. Luckily, there was enough on her mind that we were able to discuss while eating a full pint of ice cream, a bag of chips, a liter of root beer, and some candy, too.

  "I still can't believe Emma," she said. "She is so focused on becoming popular, and she thinks that Hailey is her golden ticket. She tried to get me to ditch you and join them. I told her that she made her choice, and I'm done with her."

  "I don't know why she would choose Hailey over us, but it's her loss," I said.

  "We've got Brooke now, and she's so nice," Amanda said. "She didn't really know me before, but because I'm your friend, she's been a friend to me since the other night at the game."

  "See? We don't need Emma."

  We decided to watch a movie, and shortly after starting it I heard a strange noise. I paused and closed my eyes trying to focus on it. It was a kind of thumping noise that I couldn't place.

  I pretended to adjust my position but was really trying to figure out what the barely audible noise was. I couldn't tell, and it wouldn't let up. It was beginning to drive me crazy.

 
; Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

  It seemed to be coming from the direction of Amanda, and I leaned in closer to her. Apparently, the movie was at a scary part, and she thought I was leaning close because of that. She wrapped her arms around me.

  Then suddenly I heard the noise very loudly. I instantly knew what I was hearing, but didn't know how it was possible that I hadn't heard it before. It was the sound of her beating heart.

  As I sat there in her arms, the rhythm began to sound like a song. It reminded me of one of those romantic songs that causes your own heart to long for romance.

  Only it wasn't romance that I desired.

  An aroma entered my nose that smelled so heavenly that I thought it was the most delicious dessert ever created. I breathed in deeply, taking in the smell and the sounds.

  It was as if she was romancing me into giving her blood a taste.

  A tight, burning sensation developed in the pit of my stomach and radiated up to my chest and throat and finally to my mouth. My mouth began to water, and I could feel my teeth growing bigger in my mouth.

  I jumped up and declared, "I need to go to the bathroom." I ran to the bathroom at normal, human running speed and locked myself in there and sat on the toilet breathing heavily.

  I forced myself to think about anything except blood. I pictured dog feces, dead bugs, and any other gross thing that I could come up with to kill my hunger.

  Eventually, I felt my teeth return to normal, and the burning sensation dissipate. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and texted Tanner to be ready later. He returned the text saying that would be no problem.

  Once I felt that I was under control again, I went to watch the rest of the movie with Amanda. It was very difficult to not think about how succulent her blood smelled. It seemed to be calling out to me.

  I will not eat my friend. I will not eat my friend. I repeated to myself in my mind.

  As soon as the movie was over, I pretended to be exhausted, so we went to bed pretty quickly after. I listened intently to her breathing until I was convinced that she had fallen asleep. It was pretty easy, as it seemed that my hearing was able to pick up on the even the quietest noises of the human body.

  I texted Tanner to meet me at the field went through my wall and ran as fast as I could to the field. I was getting even faster, and bolder too. I ran near people that I saw along the way, and they didn't even see me.

  Once I was there, I climbed up the tree and waited impatiently for him to arrive. I needed to find out where he lived and just meet him there next time. It would mean a lot less waiting for me.

  When he finally showed up, I moved right in front of him in the blink of an eye.

  He jumped a mile and grumbled, "You vampires really get a kick out of that, don't you?"

  "I don't care about scaring you," I told him. "I need some blood before my best friend becomes my next meal."

  "Let's go sit by that tree," he said. "I would rather sit down than stand."

  "Fine by me," I said, and was next to the tree before he could say anything else.

  He shook his head and took his sweet time walking to the tree before finally sitting down.

  "Are you comfortable?" I asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.

  I didn't wait for a response. I just sat down and instead of going in for the bite I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I listened for his heartbeat and allowed the burning sensation to build to the point that I didn't think that I could take it much longer. I could feel my teeth growing again.

  "What are you waiting for? You were so impatient a minute ago."

  I ignored him, found the spot and bit down. The warm, delicious blood flowed into my mouth, and I couldn't get enough. I was feeling very greedy.

  "Stop. You promised you'd stop when it—"

  "Quiet," I whispered and took in a little more before stopping. I licked the wound, and it healed completely.

  Desire continued to flow through me.

  "Why didn't you stop?" he asked, rubbing the place the wound should have been.

  "Shut up," I said and grabbed his face. I looked into his eyes and forced my lips on his.

  He tried speaking and even pushing me away, but I was too strong for him.

  I shoved him against the tree and said, "I told you to shut up." I began kissing him again. He quit fighting and we continued to kiss until my feelings of desire went down to a manageable level. I pulled away and fixed my hair.

  "What was that all about?" he asked, breathlessly. Then quickly added, "Not that I'm complaining."

  I sighed. "It must have something to do with the blood. It seems to create an intense desire in me."

  "Maybe you should start taking some of your boyfriend's blood too, if mine isn't enough."

  Suddenly my heart sank to my stomach.

  Cliff.

  What had I just done?

  14

  I paced frantically around the park, waiting for Brooke. I had to talk with her. I was riddled with guilt over the night before. I knew the blood lust was strong and made transforming vampires act crazy, but I couldn't believe that I had kissed Tanner.

  Cliff was such a gentleman that he had only kissed my hand and head a few times. I had thrown myself at Tanner, when in my heart I loved Cliff. When I looked into Cliff's eyes, I knew every time that he was my destiny.

  What if I had just ruined everything? What if I had broken the blessing? What was going to happen now? What if he decided that I wasn't worthy of him anymore?

  I sat down on the bench, trying to compose myself. I thought for sure I would start crying.

  Where was Brooke? I told her that I needed to talk to her, and she was taking so long to get here. I told her that it was serious and that I needed to talk to her privately.

  I could feel the agitation building, so I got up and started pacing again. I passed under some large lamps, and they exploded as I passed underneath.

  "What's going on?"

  I turned around and saw Brooke. "What took you so long?" I demanded.

  "I was in the middle of something, and came as quickly as I could," she replied. "I'm guessing you're not happy since I followed a trail of broken lights."

  "I really need to talk to you. Right now."

  "Do you want to talk here or somewhere else?"

  "Let's just find somewhere secluded here at the park. I don't feel like having to wait any longer."

  She looked at the broken glass along the path and said, "I can see that. Let's go over there by the woods. It looks nice and quiet."

  "Let's go," I said and ran as fast as I could.

  "You need to be careful not to do that around people," she said when she sat down. "Remember that we want to blend in."

  "Look, you'll have plenty to lecture me about after I'm done talking. Can you lay off me for now?"

  "Uh-oh, this doesn't sound good."

  "You know that this desire for blood is severely overwhelming for me. I didn't have the luxury of being introduced one drop at a time so I could acclimate myself to it, like you did."

  She nodded, looking worried.

  "Well, I couldn't take it that first night, and that's how I figured out how to go through the wall. I ran and ran, hoping that would help, but it didn't." I went on to tell her about the murderous farmer, Tanner offering me his blood, how I wanted Amanda's blood, and finally what happened when I drank from Tanner instead.

  "Lecture me, yell at me, or whatever you want. I deserve it all, but I doubt you could make me feel worse than I already do," I buried my face in my hands.

  She didn't say anything. Nothing at all. That was worse than yelling at me.

  "Please say something," I begged.

  She turned to me her eyes ablaze. "Do you really want to know what I'm thinking?"

  I felt about two inches tall. "I can probably guess."

  "I'm trying to find the right thing to say because what I feel like saying isn't the right thing. I could tell you that I told you so, or I could yell a
t you for not telling me about all of this yesterday when I thought that we were having a heart to heart. I could yell at you for how much it's going to hurt Cliff when he finds out. Where do you want me to start?"

  I sighed. "What am I supposed to do? Is there anything that I can do to make this right?"

  "I certainly hope so," she said. "You're going to have to tell Cliff pretty soon though, because I can't hide it from him."

  "You would tell him before I could?" I squealed.

  "I wouldn't have to tell him. You guys can read my mind, remember?"

  "You can't block certain information?"

  "I can with you because you're inexperienced with mind reading. I can't with him because he's experienced and so powerful. Anyone descended from the Fyrsturae has much stronger gifts than any other vampire."

  "Does it help that I have never felt worse about anything in all of my life?"

  "It doesn't matter what I think," she replied. "Cliff loves you with a love like no other. He will undoubtedly be crushed."

  "That's the worst part of this whole thing." I burst into tears. "As soon as I realized what I did, I felt completely horrible. I can't stand it, and that's why I called you."

  "Since you want my opinion, here it is. I think that you should tell Cliff as soon as possible. The worst thing you can do is to hide it from him. Show him that you want to do the honorable thing and let him know that you will do anything to make it right."

  "That's probably the best thing to do," I admitted.

  "I'm going to go purchase some fabric for my next round of clothes for the rebellious princess. Why don't you use that time to go talk to Cliff?"

  I nodded, as more tears ran down my face.

  Heart pounding, I knocked on the door, and Cliff answered. His face lit up when he saw me. "I didn't know that you were coming over. What an excellent surprise."

  I looked into his eyes for a second, hoping that I would be allowed to look into them again.

  "Can we talk?" I asked.

  His eyes filled with concern. "Is something the matter?"

  I bit my lip, took a deep breath and nodded.

  "Come on in. We can talk in the backyard where it's quiet."