“Yeah, we needed a break,” Shark responded as he hopped down off the top of the rock. “Are these kids from your high school?”
She laughed for no apparent reason and said, “Yes, we go to the river a lot. It’s the thing to do at our school.”
“So, these are my buddies.” Shark motioned to his gang and introduced them all, his voice shaking slightly. Everybody, but Radley hopped down from the rocks to mingle with Amanda and her friends. Radley just couldn’t care. He gazed out at the river looking at the streak of light from the moon ripple on the black water.
After a short while, Amanda climbed up on the boulders and sat down beside Radley. Lewis was watching them with burning eyes as a pretty brunette with big doll eyes chatted with him. Nathan found another girl to drink with. She had light brown hair like Ariel but her breasts were huge and exposed with just a small bikini top barely covering them.
“What are you doing up here all alone?” Amanda asked in her husky voice as she scooted up close to Radley.
“Not much,” Radley said and then guzzled down his beer, only to chuck it behind him. The glass shattered against another boulder.
She jumped a little in her seated position. “Angry are you?” Her voice lifted as she stared at him, searching his intense eyes for information.
He turned his head and stared at her. “Yeah, I’m angry,” he said sarcastically, a wild look in his eyes. Before she could respond, he popped another bottle cap and guzzled down that beer too.
“Thirsty, also,” she laughed as she leaned back with her hands behind her torso against the hard surface of the boulder.
“Why are you talking to me?” His expression was cold. “I can tell you’re just a little slut.”
“Oh, is that what you think?” Her eyes were probing. “I’m a virgin.”
He scoffed, chuckling under his breath. “I bet you are.” He stood up and threw that bottle even faster and harder right into the parking lot where it shattered.
Her eyes widened. “Boy oh boy. Fast pitch.” Her chin jutted back as her stunning face lit with amazement.
He took up another beer and let the contents slide down his throat, finally starting to feel a slight buzz.
“Looks like you want to forget something.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a flask. “Drink this. It’ll get you going faster.”
He took it from her hand. “What is it?”
“My daddy’s whisky.” She grinned as she fluffed her shiny blond waves of hair. Her long, shimmery legs extended from a short mini-skirt.
Twisting open the cap, he smelled it before guzzling it down. “I gotta get out of here.” He jumped down from the rock.
“Let me come too,” she called chasing after him as he headed for the parking lot.
Nathan called out, “You alright, bro?”
“I’m fine.” Radley waved his hand over his head behind him.
Amanda caught up to him. “You got a girlfriend?” Her smile was eager.
“Not anymore.” He climbed onto his bike and started the engine.
“You can’t drive like this,” she said pulling off her shirt and bra in front of his headlights.
“What you gonna do about it, little slut?” His eyes were steely as his nostrils flared.
“You’d be stupid to not find out. Nineteen and never been touched.” She slid her hand down the front of her mini-skirt into her underwear and walked over to the side of his motorcycle where she pulled her finger out and ran it over his lips.
“Get on,” he said.
She swung her leg over the seat grabbing his waist as she pressed her breasts up against his back. He revved the engine and drove away, the wind ripping through her long blond locks.
Chapter Thirteen
For the following months, he was on a rampage, every night a different girl. And then that escalated. He started missing school and clubbing it in L.A. Lord Dyson told him to take some time off and clear his head. “Sometimes newbies go through this sort of thing,” he said. Radley was glad to take the asshole’s money. With Lord Dyson’s cash, he stayed in Beverly Hill’s finest hotels and ate at five star restaurants. He was miserable, but he didn’t want to go back to Roseville Mountains.
When the money ran out, he took up one of his girl’s offers on a modeling gig which led to a contract with Swear Cologne. That only got him more women and a shirtless billboard on Sunset Boulevard. He started singing and playing the guitar at trendy spots like The Dungeon, Skye Hop, and Greatest Gables. By then everyone was throwing themselves at him. But no matter what he did, his heart felt like there was a knife forever twisting through the center.
***
Even though Violet suppressed her true feelings to not draw attention to herself, she was as angry as the devil. She missed Radley so much it made her sick. Every thought of him was like torture. Would she ever see him again? She understood why he left and he was better off for it. But she couldn’t help but yearn for him desperately.
If only she could leave this hell hole too. But she had heard that Lord Viparado was even more sadistic than she had guessed. One of the young maids had a crinkly face full of scaring. When she asked the girls what had happened to her, they said she used to be a newbie like them, but she ran away. Once she was found, Lord Dyson poured hot oil onto her face. Supposedly burns were the only type of ailment vampires couldn’t recover from.
Another thing that was agitating her was that this past week she had been kept so busy that she didn’t have any chance whatsoever to hunt in the woods. Though her hunger wasn’t as strong as it was on that first night after she converted, the cravings were steadily growing. She didn’t know for how many more days she could hold out. It seemed like the Fatals were purposely keeping her away from the forest. But why? She had a suspicion that they were concerned that she hadn’t killed a human yet.
And aside from that, she was angry about her life at the Viparado’s. It was insane and horrific. Everything about that couple made her skin crawl. She hated them.
Though she didn’t know why she was being targeted specifically, Madame Viparado seemed to have some sort of extreme problem with Violet. She inundated her with so many more chores than the rest of the gangs. It crossed Violet’s mind that maybe Madame Viparado was jealous of her because of the rumors that Lord Dyson had planned to take Violet as a second wife. But as far as she knew, now that she was a Viparado, Lord Dyson couldn’t do that. So why did she hate Violet? The stupid, petty bitch!
Now it was Violet’s sole duty to skin, chop up, and jar all the human bodies as they came in. More than anything she wanted to chop up Lord and Madame Viparado. It was terrible that so many innocent humans had to die. And on top of that, after school, she was required to come home immediately to clean the house: mopping up human guts, unclogging and cleaning backed up toilets, scrubbing blood splatter, shit, and urine off the walls, etc. The boys in that house were animals. And now that Violet was cleaning up after them, there was no end to their depraved ways. It was disgusting work. Her only reprieve, if you could even call it that, was homework time.
After all of her chores were finished, she usually went off with Su-Jin to do homework and develop their skills. She was really growing to care about Su-Jin, but she wasn’t sure if she could trust her yet. It would take some more time before she could be straight with her and reveal her secrets and true feelings. She could use a friend now, so she hoped those barriers would come down soon.
“You must make light of everything we do out here in the fields,” Su-Jin cautioned Violet as she kicked the sides of her horse with her heels and yanked up the reins to pull its head up out of the tall grass as it tried to snatch a bite.
Under the bright orange and pink sunset, the two girls rode side by side on Viparado’s horses. “What do you mean?”
“As we improve, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves and cause jealousy amongst our peers or teachers or anyone else for that matter.” She was thinking of Madame Viparado at tha
t second. “Anyone of them might target us for fear that we would gain a better lot in life than them.”
Because of all her struggles and inner distractions, Violet couldn’t pay much attention to her. Instead, her mind turned to other thoughts as she looked for deer out ahead toward the open pastures. Usually, she loved to see them grazing in the late evening as the radiant golden light of the setting sun illuminated their fine coats. Somehow that imagery eased her aching heart if only just for a moment before the torture and pain reignited. But right now she so desperately wanted to pounce on one of them and suck its blood dry.
If Su-Jin wasn’t with her, she would hunt. She sensed that if she tried now, Su-Jin would stop her. In the Viparado home drinking animal blood was as disgusting as sour milk is for humans. Violet didn’t feel comfortable explaining herself. It would be better to wait for an opportunity once she found time alone.
Violet swatted away a cloud of gnats before her. The horse swished its tail and blew out its mouth causing its lips to make a funny sound. “You’re right—we should keep a low profile,” she finally said as she sighed and then clenched her jaw. “At this point, I’m just hoping I improve enough to not make a buffoon of myself and to keep the teachers from punishing me for playing off key or falling on my butt during combat.”
“Believe it or not, Violet, you’re getting better.”
Violet scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Yeah right.” Her voice was sarcastic as she thought about how the teacher had yelled at her for five minutes straight when she knocked someone over during their dance routine. Not used to her own strength, she had turned the wrong direction and side swiped a girl in the chest knocking her clear across the room. The instructor went crazy and the girl hated her now.
“You’re thinking about dance class today—aren’t you?” Su-Jin tried to suppress a smile as amusement played on her lips.
“Something like that.” Instead of looking at her, Violet’s eyes blazed off to the side at the forest.
“You’re not that bad at dancing—you just seem preoccupied. It’s Radley, isn’t it?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Have you heard anything about him?”
“Rumor has it that he is in Beverly Hills and partying every night.” Su-Jin looked at her. “You broke up with him, right?”
“I don’t know—yes.” She tried to keep her voice steady. “What about you and Eric?” It was easier to change the subject because all her pain really wasn’t about the Viparados even if she did want to kill them.
Su-Jin swallowed and then bit the side of her lip. “Don’t tell anyone.” Her face turned red. “Last night when we were at Italiano’s, he grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me.”
“Oh, my gosh!” Violet’s eyes widened. She was truly happy for her. If only she could have such a turn around.
“I know.” Su-Jin jutted her chin out as she looked at her. “I don’t know what that means. He hasn’t shown any signs of interest since, but considering he did that, he must like me, right?”
Her eyes scorched a bright blue. “I’m sure he does. Don’t worry—I won’t tell anyone.”
“After a male vampire has sex, his body weakens for a couple of hours before regaining his normal strength.” Su-Jin twisted a strand of her dark hair with her fingers. “I wonder if he has been avoiding me because he doesn’t want to experience that kind of weakness.”
Violet shook her head. “I doubt that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s only for a short while that his body weakens. I doubt if that would stop a guy from being with a girl he’s into.”
“Yeah—I get the feeling, he wants to keep us a secret.”
“Maybe he wants to protect you from Lord Viparado.”
At that, Su-Jin’s thin black eyebrows drew together. “Why would Lord Viparado care if we were together?”
Violet thought about her relationship with Radley. “I’m not sure, but Viparado is brutal and Eric gets in trouble a lot. Maybe Eric is afraid Viparado would take out his beatings and punishments on you just to hurt him.”
Su-Jin’s hand flew to her small mouth. “You could be right. I was just so upset that Eric was ignoring me all this time that I automatically assumed that he didn’t want me anymore. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
By the time they arrived at the pastures, it was dark and the deer were gone. The girls tied up the horses at a tree. To Violet, even the horses smelled like food. “Mind if I go off by myself for a while?”
“What?” Su-Jin looked at her with surprise. “We don’t’ have time. It’s essential that we get to work immediately.”
Violet nodded as she squeezed her hands together. For the time being, they sat side by side on a log and discussed combat strategies. “Let’s take this a step further,” Su-Jin suggested.
They got up and sparred for a while. Su-Jin was so swift and agile that every time she caught Violet off guard and sent her flying to the ground. But the last time, Violet startled her with her strength and pinned her down until she gave in.
“That was fun,” To her surprise, Violet laughed.
“That’s because you won.” Su-Jin said playfully as she side swiped her sending to the ground.
They were both laughing at that.
Su-Jin helped her up and they sat back down on the log. Getting back into their studies, they discussed fashion designs they thought would allure men. Su-Jin sketched a beautiful gown that looked like something out of a fairy tale and Violet tried somewhat awkwardly to draw a dress that looked more like something you would see on an Amish woman at church. “You gotta go sexier.” Su-Jin laughed when she saw the drawing.
“Okay,” Violet mumbled with a scowl on her face. She erased the puffy sleeves, drew a long slit up the thigh, and plunged the neckline. “Here.” She showed Su-Jin the paper. “The dress is navy polyester with white ruffles along the plunge neck and along the hem and up the slit.” She pointed at the center line of the dress that ran up from the hem to just above the waist to meet the plunge. “Those little circles are a line of pearl buttons.”
Su-Jin’s eyes widened. “That’s good.” She laughed. “The sketch is horrible, but the idea is fantastic. It conjures up a sexy taboo.” She shook her head. “Wow—I could see a daring movie star wearing this at the Academy Awards.”
“You’re just pulling my leg. I think it’s really rather demented.”
“No, I’m serious.” Su-Jin stared at the paper. “But you shouldn’t turn this in. Hide it and save it for the future. We don’t want anyone to steal your idea. Just draw a princess dress like I did, but make the skirt straight instead of full.
Violet drew the picture as lousy as ever and handed it to her.
“Yeah, that will due.”
After putting their papers away, they got their guitars out of their cases and sat up against some boulders to practice. After sometime, they lay back resting their heads on their instruments and gazed up at the black sky watching the white fluffy clouds as they drifted over the full moon.
“You know,” Su-Jin said. “We’ve been covering for you for months now. The girls have been talking about it and they wanted me to tell you that tomorrow night when we go out to feed you need to bring home your own body.”
Violet’s throat tightened as her face paled under the moonlight. Anger rose up within her. And that sickened feeling she had over Radley rushed back into her chest. “Okay.”
Chapter Fourteen
Again Violet was embarrassed with the way the Fatals dressed her for the nightclub. She couldn’t wait until she was allowed to pick out her own clothes. If Su-Jin hadn’t gone so gaga over the daring risqué gown, Violet would have thought Zeta was trying to set her up for a night of humiliation. It was a mesh skin-colored dress that covered very little of her body with dazzling jewels that twinkled in the light. The dress gave the illusion that, aside from the intricately designed arrays of diamonds, nude colored beads, and sequins, she was completely naked.
�
�You look magical,” Su-Jin sighed as her eyes grew wide with wonder.
Violet shrugged, her fingers curling into her thighs. “As you know, it’s not my style.”
Su-Jin couldn’t help but giggle. “How do I look?” Her lips pursed together like she was trying not to laugh as she waited for Violet’s response.
Heat rose to Violet’s cheeks as she tried to find the right words. “Um, you look dangerous.”
She burst out laughing. “Go ahead, say it—you think I look like a whore.”
“Not any more than I do—just a different type.” Her molars clamped down on the inside of her cheek as she backed up against the bedroom wall. She was as hungry as hell.
“She looks classy in that black leather mini,” Zeta chimed in. “You two don’t know anything about fashion.”
Heavenly Blood (Roseville Vampires, #2) Page 12