VAMPIRE:Vampire Guardian Series: Paranormal Mystery Vampire Alpha Male Romance (New Adult Contemporary Paranormal Royalty Fantasy Romance Collection))

by Rachel S. William

  Vanessa glared right at her. “Jessica, what the hell?” she yelled.

  Jessica just shrugged, hollered, “We’re going to the beach, bitches,” and shut the door behind her. She had just been metaphorically crowned queen of the hour.

  Chapter Three

  Jamie, the supplier of the group, somehow, found a way to score enough weed for all of them to have an incredibly fun and faded night at the beach. As Jessica predicted, they arrived as soon as the sun had started to hang low and glow crimson. She was the first to jump out of the bus, and practically ran until her feet touched the beloved sand below her. She sighed to herself, happy to find that Grace had caught up with her. “Oh, this is fantastic.” She muttered at her.

  Jessica shrugged. “What can I say? I know how to pick em’.” She murmured back as they stopped to wait for the others and take in the sights in front of them. There were other groups of college-aged people hanging around; the sand was dotted with towels and beer cans and the air held the heavy scent of cigarette smoke and cannabis. Jessica stepped out in front of Grace, cupping her hand over her brow-line and preparing herself to snag a bonfire pit. Luckily for all of them, she was able to spot one just off in the distance.

  Jack caught up with all of them first. “All right. Where to, guys?” he asked, swinging Madison’s beach bag over his shoulder.

  Jessica chuckled at this. “One lap dance and you’re already whipped?” she joked.

  Grace giggled at this, while Jack raised a questioning brow. “Wait, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied, in a confused voice.

  Jessica gestured at Madison’s bag. “Right, of course not. This is just the new fashion right?” she replied.

  Jack scoffed, instinctively taking it off from over his shoulder and putting it on the sand.

  Grace laughed, “Oh you better not do that. She’ll never dance for you again.” She replied in a mocking voice.

  As she finished saying this, the rest of eth group caught up and Jessica began to realize that everyone had already begun to pair up. One look at the group of singles she had come to Cancun with told her that her choice to exclude any remade couples from the excursion had been made completely in vain. Once again, she found herself as the third wheel to everyone else and she didn’t like the feeling. “All right! Let’s go!” she yelled as she charged through the sand, heading right for the empty bonfire to the far right. Once they arrive, Benjamin offered to help Jessica light the fire, and, seeing as she did not have a lot of practice with setting things on fire, she decided to put her complicated kiss with him in the past and allow him to help her. Luckily he was able to get it started quickly, which allowed her to cut her contact with him down to a minimum.

  By the time the smoke from the fire had mixed with the rest of the atmosphere, Jamie took her seat on a tapestry she had ripped off of her college dorm wall as a replacement for the beach towel she swore not to by and began to roll the joints for the party.

  Jessica sat next to her, watching as her deft fingers worked through the grass and the papers, expertly creating tight, funky cigarettes. As she rolled each one, Jessica went around handing them to the grateful members of the party. Lighters were share, the cannabis came to life, and alcohol was forgotten as people settled down to fly high. Jessica found herself sitting in front of the bonfire, its flames separating her from the ocean. She watched the red and orange light grow, glowing in the night, as the smoke slowly drifted up to the sky. As it disappeared the ash from the burning wood split the sand, covering it with its toxic carbon.

  It wasn’t long before clothes began to fall off and her friends darted at the water. Jessica laughed at this. They seemed to have completely forgotten the threats of losing their limbs to water predators. Jessica could hear the shrill laugh of Vanessa, growing louder and louder as she approached.

  She let out a low sigh, then looked up to find her, now no longer hating her since she had already secured her new lover, looking right down on her, a smile designed to execute her superiority on her face. “Why don’t you come out with us, honey?” she asked in a voice that suggested she really did not care whether or not Jessica joined the lot of them.

  Jessica shrugged. “Nah, it’s okay. You guys can brave the sharks without me.”

  Vanessa’s eyes went wide at this. She looked from the ocean, which was slowly filling with her friends, back to Jessica, who maintained an infuriatingly straight face. “You’ll be fine.” Jessica urged.

  But, all of the sudden, Vanessa wasn’t so sure. “Okay, fine.” She replied. “You can stay there if you want. I’m gonna go in the water.” She called as she turned to run on to the ocean.

  Jessica let out a blissful sigh. This was what she wanted all along; just her, the ocean, the fire and the moon. No sooner had this thought crossed her mind did she hear the sound of someone fast approaching. Her sigh quickly morphed into a moan.

  “Say, do you have a light.”

  The moan caught her throat at the sound of that perfect Australian, accent. She tilted her head towards the man with the curly blond hair, that came, uninvited, to sit on Jamie’s tapestry with her. “Well, all right then.” She replied. “Obviously.” She waved her joint in the air.

  The man’s lips folded into a crooked smile. “Is that a joint?” he asked in a profoundly curious voice.

  Jessica giggled. “My cigarette is better than yours!” she teased, looking pointedly at his Marlboro.

  He shrugged. “I really can’t argue with that.” He replied as he graciously took the lighter from her.

  “You here on vacation?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Is it that obvious?” he replied.

  She shook her head. “Oh no, you blend in perfectly.” She replied.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, well it’s not very much of a vacation.”

  “Oh? What makes you say that?” she asked.

  “I’m bored as hell.”

  “Tell me about it.” Jessica replied. “You have any ideas for an excited day?” she asked.

  He scoffed. “It just so happened that I was researching this patch of rainforest, just a couple of miles away from the all-inclusive.”

  Jessica raised an eyebrow. “Oh were you really?” she asked. “And what’s so special about it?” she asked.

  He narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to think it’s silly.” He replied.

  Jessica laughed. “At this point, I’m desperate. You could tell me money falls from the sky at the top of a certain hill and believe it or not, I would be at the top of that hill tomorrow morning with selfies to prove it.” She replied.

  He laughed at this, then lounged back onto his elbows, an action that brought him closer to her. She could smell his Calvin Klein wafting towards her in the evening air. “So, apparently, the natives used to make sacrifices to something called the Dragon-God.”

  Jessica chuckled at this. “I’m sorry, are you high?” she asked. “Because there is no way you are enjoying this as much as I am.” She replied.

  He shook his head, joining in her laughter. “I can’t lie, I am a little bit inebriated.” He replied.

  She shrugged. “Aren’t we all? So, this dragon God….”

  He nodded. “Right. He’s rumored to still be there.” He replied with a raised eyebrow. “So, I’d love to go find him. The natives say that he has been sighted on many occasions.”

  “That’s really exciting.” Jessica replied, but before she could say anything else, Jamie came running, half naked back towards her with Grace in tow. “Jessica!” she yelled.

  Jessica rolled her eyes. “You better go. This sounds like a crisis.” She replied.

  The man’s lips folded into a frown. It was only then that Jessica realized he assumed their conversation was going to go somewhere semi-permanent. She couldn’t help but to roll her eye. “Look, it was nice meeting you.” She replied. She turned back to face Jamie as he stood up and left her tapestry. “What’s up?”

  As soon as they got to the t
apestry, Grace collapsed onto it. “Grace is cross faded. She just vomited in the water.”

  Jessica raised an eyebrow. “And they’re all still out there?” she asked. It was more of a rhetorical question anyway.

  “I just really need you to take her back to the house.” She explained.

  Jessica was all too happy to. She stood up, helped Grace up and began to get her things together. The fact of the matter was that she could not wait to get back to that she could research this dragon god the man had mentioned.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, she awoke to find most of her friends sleeping. She tiptoed out of her room and through the hallway into the main area, where Jack and Madison had passed out on the carpet, obviously unable to make it to their respective bedrooms. Much to her surprise, she found Benjamin in the kitchen, staring intently at the coffee machine. He looked up at the sound of her approach. “Oh hey. Glad you’re here. Could you help me make this?” he asked.

  Jessica shrugged. “If you’ll do one thing for me.” She replied as she joined him in the kitchen and proceeded to brew each of them a cup of coffee.

  He shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

  A mischievous smile spread across her face. “You’re going to regret you said that.” She replied.

  ***

  Three hours after having left, a note for the others, explaining that they were going exploring and that they should go on their own adventures without the two of them, they found themselves standing in front of a huge clearing, effectively in the middle of nowhere.

  “What the hell, Jessica?” Benjamin breathed as he turned about himself, gazing at the small, eerily symmetrical clearing in the middle of the forest. The soil looked like it had been burnt to s crisp, while the trees surrounding the clearing had oddly black trunks.

  Jessica smiled. It was just the kind of adventure she needed. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “But this is amazing.”

  “Where are the birds?” Benjamin asked as he titled his head back and stared at the sky.

  Jessica furrowed her brow. He was right. Where were the birds? The forest, which was usually brimming with sounds was completely silent. Just when she was beginning to think that the Australian beauty had not been bluffing, the ground began to shake. She stared down at her feet, which vibrated before her eyes. Her stomach lurched as the shaking began to increase. “Do you feel that?” she screeched at Benjamin, but when she looked up, she could see that Benjamin had already turned his back to leave. “Benjamin!” she screeched.

  He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. “Did you not hear me? I said, ‘let’s go,’!” he yelled back at her.

  Jessica nodded. She had exhausted her adventurous streak for the remainder of the day. However, as soon as she tried to take another step, she felt the ground lurch beneath her. She came crashing down, her hands, which she threw in front of her to catch her fall digging deep into the muddy center of the ground. She grunted at this, wincing at the scabs on her exposed knees. But when she looked up, she found that Benjamin had already made it three yards ahead of her. “Wait!” she screeched.

  At the sound of that, he turned, his frightened eyes widening at the sight of her still sitting in the mud. “Jessica!” he screamed, his voice barely carrying over the sound of the dress swaying dangerously severely on either side. She looked up, her stomach churching at the sight. It looked as if the very skies were going to crash down onto her. Her heart leapt into overdrive, her frighten blood boiling, the thin liquid passing quickly through her veins, as she tried her best to stand up.

  Yet, before she could take another stop, the ground lurched once again and she tripped over her own feet. A yelp slipped from her lips as she crashed onto the ground, blood oozing from the wound on her knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked up to find Benjamin rushing towards her. “Jessica!” he roared.

  “Don’t worry. I’m fine.” She grunted as tied to stand up again.

  “Wait, watch out!” she heard Benjamin yell.

  She instinctively turned her gaze up to the sky just in time to witness a trunk snap in half. The sound of it echoed through the forest, mixing in with the low rumble of the ground lurching beneath her. “Oh my God!” she screamed as she turned in the opposite direction and leapt into a run, her legs propelling her forward so quickly that her feet flitted above the ground. She pushed through the trembling to get away from the tree.

  Just when she thought she simply could not run anymore she jumped, throwing herself as far out of its path as she could possibly get. Her stomach slammed against the mud just as the tree crashed down behind her.

  The trembled continued, lightly, only for a moment longer, before it eased to a halt. Panting, she sat up to assess the damage. “What is all of this?” she breathed. She found herself completely holed in. Massive trees, branches and unearthed roots were strewn all over the ground. She stood up, but could barely see over the barrier. “Benjamin!” she called. “Benjamin, are you all right?”

  There was a long, heartbreaking pause, before. “Yes! Yes I am!”

  Jessica let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.” She breathed. “Okay, but I’m stuck. You have to go find someone to help me.”

  “No, I can-“

  “Ben!” she snapped. “I am stuck between about a billion branches and trees. You are not going to be able to get through this yourself. Go get help.” She ordered.

  There was another pause, during which Jessica imagined he was mulling over the idea of leaving her there without anyone to keep her company or make sure she stayed safe. She decided to crack a joke in order to urge him on. “Seriously, I’ll be fine. I’ve got some cigarettes and a lighter.”

  “Okay,” he reluctantly yelled back. “But don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He replied.

  Jessica listened to the sound of him leaving as she began to pace back and forth. Now that the earthquake had ceased the normal sounds of the forest resumed. She could hear birds calling, snakes slithering and the leaves rustling from the movements of countless insects. She did not think of the fact that there were going to be animals when she encouraged Benjamin to leave her completely alone. Yet, now that it was too late, the sound of nature happening around her, all but drove her insane. Just when she thought she would scream out in frustration, she decided to take a seat and about a million deep breaths.

  When that wasn’t working she took out a pack of cigarettes and inhaled until she had smoked so many, she could barely keep her eyes open…

  Chapter Five

  Jessica’s eyes flickered open to the sound of the wood in front of her being moved around. She immediately sat up, countless cigarette butts sliding off of her cargo pants. The forest had gone eerily silent again and she feared it might have just been because there was about to be another earthquake. Her brow furrowed as her stomach began to flutter nervously. If there was another earthquake, it would up set the ground even more and there would be no guarantee that Benjamin would be able to find his way back to her. The wood continued to move, the sound of it echoing throughout the silent air, but the ground did no begin to tremble.

  Jessica pressed her back against the trunk that walled her in, staying as far away from the moving wood as possible, and murmured. “Ben?”

  No one responded. She huffed out a deep sigh, her heart pounding against her chest and thin, reactionary tears of fear streaming down her cheeks. She was stuck in the middle of nowhere and now she was sure that a tiger was investing the effort to get through all of that wood just so that it could eat her alive. “Is anyone there?” she asked in a whimpering voice.

  Just then, the final piece of trunk, lurched violently away from her, the wedge opening a space between her little nature-made cage and the rest of the forest. Yet, it wasn’t Benjamin, or the tiger that she had been expecting. It was a man.

  Her eyes went wide. “Am I dreaming?” she whispered as she found herself standing face to face with one man. He was tall; almost
seven feet and impossibly burley. He was like a giant, his taught, tanned skin, somehow glistening in the high afternoon sun. He looked more like a bronze statue than a human being as he stepped through the small walk-way that he had made with his bare hands, and approached her.

  He shook his head. “There are no dreams here.”

  Jessica found herself mesmerized by him. She gazed into his violet eyes, her heart fluttering in her chest. “What are you?” she asked.

  “Did they not tell you of me?” he asked.

  She shook her head.

  At this, his chest expanded as he sucked in a deep breath so harsh that the leaves began to rustle because of it. Then, a roar escaped his lips, echoing out into the air as, right before Jessica’s eyes, two scaled wings forged their way out of his back and towered above his head, becoming almost as tall as the centuries-old trees. “Oh my God. This isn’t real. You’re not real.” She breathed.