At once, he ran back toward the old Viparado house, flipping open his switch blade. He didn’t see her. His mind focused in as his nostrils flared. Someone was on top of her. Leaves, branches… The forest—she must be in the forest. Rage burned within him. Without hesitation, he rushed into the woods behind the house. A hateful lust was overtaking him. He wanted to kill.
Now he could hear rustling in the leaves that had fallen to the ground and there was panting in the distance. His stomach twisted up inside. The idea of someone hurting Violet was torture to his restless mind. He ran as fast as he could, jumping over fallen trees and weaving around natural barriers. His senses were taking over. He felt like a wild animal.
The guy had ripped off Violet’s dress. She was kicking and clawing at him. “Let me go! Just let me go!”
“Calm down,” the guy growled. “I saw how much you wanted me when I was watching you from the pool table earlier as you sucked the rose juice.”
“I didn’t want you.” She kicked him off with her foot.
But he grabbed at her lace underwear and shoved his hand up against her. “Just hold still.”
Burning with a wrath like he had never felt before, Radley came at him from behind and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him off Violet as he flipped him over backwards. Damn! He felt stronger than ever. The guy looked at him with wide, dark eyes as he charged at him. He yanked Radley by the hair and flung him to the ground.
Everything in Radley’s mind went red. His body felt like a fighting machine. He jumped to his feet and rammed the Dirt in the stomach with his pocket knife. The guy gasped, looking into Radley’s eyes with disbelief. “Traitor.” But as he choked, Radley shoved his forehead back and sliced his neck open. Blood gushed out. The guy’s eyes closed as he fell limply against Radley’s arm.
Violet was panting and crying quietly, quick, short breaths of air filled and released from her lungs. She was shocked at Radley’s strength. When he turned to her, her heart tightened as she looked into his eyes. He saved her. She would never forget that. “I have to get to roll call.” She took up her torn dress and rushed through the forest before Radley could even stop her.
Chapter Twelve
When Violet entered the Fatals’ bedroom through the window, Su-Jin rushed over to her. “Oh my God! What happened?” Her jaw fell as she examined Violets dirt smudged, nearly naked body before her.
Violet shook her head keeping her arms wrapped over her chest.
“You’ll tell me later.” She blinked several times as she stared at Violet. “We were so worried about you.” Her voice faded a little as she spoke.
Violet looked over at the other girls who were at the vanity mirror curling their hair, applying makeup, and dressing for the day. “Yes,” she whispered. “They seem very concerned.”
“Never mind.” Su-Jin rolled her eyes and wiped some tears off Violet’s face with her hand. “There’s little time, so I’ll make this fast. I hoisted up your body downstairs. A young man, who originally, before he was skinned, had brown short hair and golden brown eyes. Claim the boy if asked.” She walked over to the bed and picked up a few sheets of paper before handing them to Violet.
“What’s this?” Violet sucked in a sharp breath. A warm sensation filled her heart.
“It’s your paper about the killing.”
Her hand flew up to her lips. “You did this for me?”
“Believe it or not, Destiny killed the guy and I wrote the essay.”
Violet touched her hand, her head shaking back and forth slightly. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything.” She half smiled, her eyes searching hers. “We are all sisters now.”
“Thank you.”
“We have to hurry.” She motioned her toward the bathroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up. The Viparado’s can’t see you like this.”
***
For the next few days Violet didn’t hear anything about Radley. It was for the best. She missed Radley so much. If she hadn’t broken up with him, Lord Dyson would surely kill him once he found out that they were a couple. But once again, he had saved her. If he hadn’t come when he did, Bulldog would have raped her. She kept wondering what he had done with Bulldog’s body. And she was still shocked at Radley’s fighting skills. He completely overpowered the guy and that rage in his eyes she had never seen.
The Fatals were all making conjectures about Bulldog’s whereabouts. Violet learned that the guy’s name was Roger. Whenever she heard the appellation she had to try to stop her body from shuddering. Just thinking about him and what he tried to do to her gave her much anxiety. She could still hear his creepy voice in her mind. How could he think she desired him? He was horrible. Now whenever she heard a sudden noise like a door slam or a window shut, she would jump with a start. The girls noticed that she was more restless than before, but they didn’t know why.
Word had it that Roger ran away. She was told that if he got caught, he would become a slave to the Viparado’s. He would be forced to quit school because that was a pricy venture that the Viparado’s were funding with the expectations that he would pay them back over an eternity of payments once he graduated and went to work. But now that he had run away, he would be viewed as a risk. They wouldn’t invest in someone who wasn’t committed to them.
Everybody said he was stupid because he had ruined his future. With the elite training in school and the Viparado’s connections, he could make a prestigious life for himself in the career of his choice, but on his own he would always have to keep looking over his shoulder for fear the Viparados or their people would find him and enslave him. And according to word of mouth, the Viparado’s always found runaways. He already owed them a lot of money and they would make sure he paid them back. In Violet’s opinion, they seemed much like the mafia. Once a vampire was in their coven, there was little or no way out.
Violet knew the Viparados would never find Bulldog, at least not alive. With all the conjectures and suspicions, her mind was spinning. She was terribly worried that Radley would get caught. If Lord Viparado discovered that Radley had murdered the guy, he would likely take revenge against the Dysons. It wouldn’t matter that he was protecting Violet. That revenge would probably amount to killing Radley as payback. The idea made Violet sick.
Aside from that, these past few days Violet had experienced much difficulty in her classes participating and listening to the lectures. Her mind was on the boy she loved. Her music teacher made her lick a tile clean before the class when she played her guitar off note. It was so disgusting that she forced herself to concentrate as much as she possibly could after that.
Now that the Fatals and Dirts had fed on humans two nights in a row, their thirsts were quenched and they had much more freedom to do as they pleased. Aside from an extensive list of afternoon house chores and homework assignments, they were mostly free.
And due to Su-Jin’s encouragement, she and Violet spent a lot of their time practicing guitar, dancing, setting jewels, practicing flying, and sparing out in the meadows beyond the horse pastures. Sometimes they had a lot of fun, especially the day prior when they played their guitars under the brilliant red sunset making up silly songs about the gangs.
But a lot of the time, Su-Jin was quite serious. She was making plans for their successful futures and according to her that required diligent work. She was certain that with all the specialized training at Wicked Valley High, they could become stars and make millions. “If only they took their strengths to their highest potentials, they could do anything—sky’s the limit,” she said with a grin. They could pay back the Viparados and live the ultimate life away from his evil ways. But as much as Violet thrilled at the idea and enjoyed the female companionship and help with her classes, her mind was in another place and that aching feeling wouldn’t leave her heart.
Tonight when the Fatals and the Dirts went to Italiano’s to hang out, Violet hoped to see Radley, Ariel, and Drew, but none of the Night Ryders or Crimson Devils wer
e at the pizza place. Downtrodden, she sat off to the side while the others played poker, drank sodas, and ate pizza at the tables. Oh, how she longed to be with Radley. Every minute apart was like torture to her.
She excused herself to the bathroom where she climbed up to the flat edge of the stall and climbed out the window. For only a short while she would sneak away. Hopefully, nobody would notice.
Running through the woods, the night wind rushing though her long black hair, she made her way through a back route to the Dyson’s castle. She knew she was putting herself in grave danger, but she just wanted to see if the Night Ryders’ motorcycles and the Crimson Devils’ sports cars were there or if she could see them somehow through the windows. She just wanted to make sure Radley, Ariel, and Drew were okay. Then she would return to the pizza place.
As she hid behind a row of eucalyptus, she admired the castle with its monstrous beauty. It almost twinkled in the yard as the starlight shone down on its stone exterior. With her extra sensitive hearing, she thought she heard faint screams and crying coming from what she presumed was Lord Dyson’s bedroom; he was probably with one of his young virgins. The idea made her stomach roll with nausea and sadness. How could anyone be so horrible and selfish? For a moment, she thought about breaking into the castle and trying to save the girl from Lord Dyson’s machinations, but she knew he and his guards would surely overpower her and do the same to her as revenge.
She rushed behind a bush. None of the Night Ryder’s motorcycles or the Crimson Devils sports cars were in the driveway. They must be somewhere else. She racked her mind trying to figure it all out as she surveyed the yard. Where could they be? Really, she didn’t know so much about their routines. Supposedly, they lived on animal blood, so possibly they were in one of the forests hunting. Once when she went ice skating with Joaquin, the lead singer of her former band, Hell Razors, she saw them at the mall at the game center. Could they be there? Another time she went to teen dance night at “Blast on It” on the Indian reservation with Drew and both gangs were hanging out in the club, but she hadn’t heard anything about another dance night since she had joined the Viparados. They could be anywhere.
Time was running out. She didn’t want her coven to notice that she disappeared. Looking for Radley, Ariel, and Drew would have to wait. Another time. At once she ran back through the forest, the leaves brushing against her skin lightly. A funny looking animal she thought was maybe a badger or something cute and furry like that was sniffing around some rocks. With super speed she snatched up the critter before it even detected her presence. It squirmed and fought in her long fingers, but once her itching teeth elongated, she sunk her fangs through the fur into its thick skinned neck.
Oh, wow! She needed this, she thought as she sucked the heady, fresh blood. At once her body grew stronger and more stabilized. Dropping the carcass to the ground, she took off running with the swift grace that only a vampire could possess. Making her way along the backside of the parking lot, she returned to Italiano’s, climbing through the bathroom window, hopefully unnoticed, before she returned to the table.
***
After school, the Night Ryders rode their motorcycles out to the desert river east of Roseville Mountains past the shade of the orange groves where dreams faded into emptiness. The day before at Roseville Mall, Shark met some attractive girls with pretty little lips and blood that smelled like wine. The teenagers, admiring his friends from across the mall invited him and his buddies to their campground to hang out.
For Radley it was a long ride through the lonely desert roads without the girl he loved, but he was determined to let go. He wanted to be glad that she had found another boyfriend, but as much as he tried only rage filled his heart. If he ever saw the guy, he feared he would kill him.
Tires spinning, kicking up dirt and gravel, the wind rushed over their leather jackets. The sun was low in the sky casting a warm golden glow on the flat dry land that rose in the distance to high sand dunes and mountain ranges, the cities broke up, gone and wasted. Radley wished Violet was with him, hands clasped around his waist watching the arid landscapes fly by. I don’t know where the road ends or where it begins; all I know is the bleeding in my heart of fear for my true love.
His face, a shadow of agony, Radley waved his hand toward the exit. The Night Ryders followed behind, engines growling as they left the dusty highway and drove through a cave of trees down to a glistening stream that sparkled where the light cast through the overhead leaves and branches. Familiar with the place, they cut their engines.
Nathan helped Radley untie the body bag strapped to the back of his bike. While Shark and Henry chucked rocks at the stream and Lewis cracked a beer, Radley and Nathan carried Roger to the cave and dumped him in the dark pit of bones. “Shit, that stinks,” Nathan scoffed, tousling his dark short hair.
“We’re off,” Radley said, walking out of the cave. He motioned the boys and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he got back on his motorcycle.
At once, they were off and on their way back on the open highway under the blue canopy of sky. Radley’s mind swirled at the painting come to life around him. As the sun set, pink and lilac hues perfumed the valleys. He was at the bottom of the world, echoes bouncing off the rust colored mountain ranges. Was it his mind or something demonic? Purple flowers scattered among the weeds and cacti.
As a cluster of clouds crowded the grey sky, they drove down a bumpy gravel road over an old bridge and past the train tracks and came to the dusty riverside town sprinkled with a tackle shop, a rundown diner, gas stations, a corner market, and a trailer park. After refilling their tanks and stocking up with beers, they turned into the campsite to meet the girls.
By now the hills in the distance filled with purple shadows. A weedy graveyard with stone crosses was set off to the side of the RV lined parking lot where they shut off their engines. Laughter, music, and talking rang in the distance from the shore of the river.
“Get the beers,” Radley said to Henry who was picking his buck teeth with his thumb nail.
Radley took his motorcycle jacket off and tossed it over the seat of his bike. A group of girls walking by in their bikinis, heading toward their cars, giggled and whispered when they saw Radley. Even though he couldn’t give a shit about how he looked, they thought he looked hot as hell in his torn baby blue sweater and faded jeans.
The Night Ryders ignored the girls too. They were cute, but not as attractive as the girls from the mall. The guys headed down the bank in rowdy banter and made their way over to the party. There were about thirty teenagers hanging out by the shore of the river and maybe ten hanging out in the water with rafts and inner tubes. Some people were dancing around the bonfire playing music. And some others were drinking and playing games at the adjacent picnic tables.
They walked over to some boulders off to the side and climbed up swiftly to just sit back and watch while they drank some beers. Looking around, Shark scratched his black curly head of hair, his dark skin aglow in the night. “Lots of hotties here.”
“Where’s the girls from the mall?” Lewis asked, his tall, lean body tense. He was hungry and uncomfortable near crowds.
Shark shook his head as his eyebrows and lips pulled together. “There’s Amanda, standing there before the fire.”
“Shit, that girl is fucking hot,” Nathan said in a low gravelly voice. His dark eyes widened.”
“Don’t you even think about it,” Lewis said as he ran his fingers through his disheveled blonde hair. “She’s mine.” He was eager to forget about Angie, his ex-girlfriend. Even though she was dating Spider at the time of her death, he still had secret feelings for her and was planning on asking her to prom.
Henry teased, “What about, Drew?” His voice trailed off as he noticed the pretty red head with bright green eyes beside her.
“Drew—right,” he smirked. “Outa town rule.” Lewis raised an eyebrow as he stared at the beauty with pale blue eyes, her ash blond hair blowing in the gent
le breeze. “That girl is so fine it hurts.”
Radley was ignoring them all. Being near all these people made the empty hole inside of him grow wider. For a moment, he considered leaving his buddies and returning back to the castle. But what good would that do? He just wanted to get as drunk as hell and forget about it all. But no matter what, he kept seeing Violet’s beautiful face in his mind.
Amanda spotted the Night Ryders on the boulders and gathered four of her girlfriends before walking over with them. “Hey, you made it,” she said to Shark in her sultry voice that excited the vampires even more.
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