Gabriel’s Secret
A Vampire’s Obsession: Book 1
Stephanie Rylai
Copyright © 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents used are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:
A Vampire’s Obsession
Life In Between (Prequel): http://eepurl.com/ceaBvX (free)
Book 1: Gabriel’s Secret: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LQMZR30
Book 2: A Forbidden Temptation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYK0YRT
Book 3: A New World: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWPZHBX
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Prequel (“Life In Between”)
About The Author
Connect With Me
CHAPTER ONE
Olivia was elated as she took her apron off and crammed it into her work locker. It was the end of her first shift working the lunch hours. She was so happy to have her evenings back. Putting on her jacket and grabbing her bag, she dug out her phone and scrolled through it as she walked through the back of the restaurant towards the employee exit. Just as she stepped into the alleyway behind her work, the screen of her cellphone flashed to an incoming call from Kent. Her face fell at the sight.
Kent was her ex-boyfriend, having broken up with him a month and a half prior when she caught him sending nude pictures of himself to girls online—but that wasn’t even the worst part. As soon as Olivia broke things off with him, he became a vicious monster and turned it from a bad break up into a complete nightmare for her.
She stared at the screen, debating whether or not to answer it. Kent had been calling her all day, and she would have ignored it, but they had rented an apartment together and she was in violation of their lease by moving out without giving him a thirty-day notice. So instead of reporting her, Kent used it as an excuse to call her whenever he pleased, knowing she would pick up because she didn’t want to go to court.
Taking a deep breath, she clicked ‘answer’ and raised the phone to her ear, “Hello?” she sighed heavily.
“Why the hell haven’t you been answering my calls, Livie?” Kent asked, his tone even but she knew that his temper was like an active volcano—likely to erupt at any moment.
“Probably because I was at work, Kent. What do you want?” Olivia asked him snappily, her patience for him being very low.
He had called her every single day since their breakup, not letting her move on in peace.
“What do I want? Hmm… let’s see,” Kent began. “I would h-have,” he hiccupped, “would have liked to not w-waste an entire year on you. I mean really, Livie, did you really think I ever cared about you? You? I never cared, ever. The only reason I… I… The only reason I pretended to care and put up with your shit was because you put out regularly. But even in bed you were boring, just boring.”
There was a pause, and he made an ‘ahh’ sound before continuing, “I was the best damn thing that had ever happened to you, and the best damn thing you’ll ever have.”
Olivia should have just been able to roll her eyes and tell him to go to hell, but tears stung her eyes. The wounds were still fresh from all he had put her through for the past few months. They had been together for a little over a year, and had lived together the entire time. She and Kent shared many memories, and at one point in time they had been really in love; that was back before all of the secrecy and lying, though.
“Are you drunk, Kent? Jesus Christ, it’s hardly five o’clock…” she mumbled as she tried to blink away the tears.
“That d-doesn’t concern you,” he snapped, “That had stopped being a concern of yours when you decided to leave me. You know you’ll never find anyone else, right? No one is going to want to put up with you and all of your ne… neurrrr… neuroses. You were lucky to have me, but you had to piss that away because you were jealous. You get how childish that makes you sound, Olivia? You can’t handle an adult relationship. You—”
Olivia hung up the call as hot tears fell from her eyes, unable to take any more of his harsh words. She raised a sleeve of her jacket, brushing the tears from her face as she quickly made her way down the street. Olivia always told herself not to care about what he said, that they weren’t together anymore, but she simply couldn’t help it. For over a year, she poured her heart into their relationship, only for him to walk all over it by flirting with and sexting other girls. The young woman had truly loved him, making her heart ache at hearing him attack her so viciously.
Her tears continued to defy her, still slowly cascading down her cheeks even though she continuously wiped them away. It was actually kind of amazing how quickly Kent could bring her mood down. She had gone from being excited about getting off work, to crying in the span of about five minutes. It seemed to be a remarkable talent of his.
Olivia shook her head. She needed to get him off her mind before that drunken phone call ruined her entire evening. As she walked into the lobby of her apartment, she scrolled through her contacts and clicked Emily’s name before putting the phone back to her ear; Emily was Olivia’s best friend and roommate, and Olivia just prayed that she would be heading home soon.
But, much to Olivia’s disappointment, the phone went to voicemail. Getting into the elevator, she pressed her floor before going to call her again. Once again, it went to voicemail. Emily was probably with her boyfriend, Isaac; that was the only time her phone was ever off. Olivia’s head was racing with what she could do to get him off of her mind.
Stepping off the elevator, she walked to their apartment and let herself in. Olivia walked through the living area of the apartment and headed into her room. She tossed her bag and jacket onto her bed and quickly pulled off her work clothes.
She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she knew she couldn’t just sit around their apartment all alone—she would end up sobbing and staying bed. Even if Emily couldn’t hang out, she needed to be around people, which was tricky since she didn’t know anyone in the city except Emily. After the messy break up, Olivia had been dying to get out of her hometown.
Emily had been her best friend in high school, and when they went off to college, Olivia had picked a local university and Emily went to one many states away. Despite the distance between them, they had remained best friends—and it hadn’t taken a lot of convincing on Emily’s part to talk Olivia into moving in with her.
>
Olivia needed distance from Kent and had been itching to get away for a while at that point. So Olivia packed up her things and moved states away to live with her and start fresh. It had been exciting at first, but the anxiety of having to meet new people and make new connections was really starting to sink into Olivia after being there a month and still not having any friends. But she needed to get out and be around people.
Olivia could feel the tears coming back to her eyes as her mind kept slipping to Kent. She didn’t even need to interact with anyone, she just couldn’t be alone. She quickly pulled on a black skater skirt and an olive green button up, tucking the hem of the shirt into the waistband of the skirt. She then pulled on her black Vans and grabbed her navy blue cardigan and bag before walking into the bathroom. She fussed with her hair for a moment before coming to the conclusion it wasn’t going to do what she wanted. So, she just tied it up into a ponytail, two strands of strawberry blonde hair defiantly falling from the elastic hair tie and framing her face.
Olivia fixed her bangs before deciding she looked presentable enough for public before hurrying to the door. Getting outside, she looked around the bustling street, still not having decided where it was she was going to go. Picking a random direction, she just started walking. Maybe it would just be nice to walk around for a while, exploring the city without her enthusiastic tour guide, Emily.
Olivia tried her best to get her mind off of Kent, trying to be optimistic as she made her way through town. Her eyes scanned the neon signs and store front windows as she passed by the buildings and shops. It was such a large city compared to her hometown. There were so many shops, concert halls and restaurants—there was bound to be something for her to do.
Olivia walked a few blocks from their apartment, keeping count of how many and what turns she took so that she could find her way back. Getting to a corner, she aimlessly walked to the right, figuring it didn’t matter which way she headed.
As she made her way down the street, a particular sign caught her eye. It was a sign for a bar, the place being called Highboard Dive Bar. It was a rather whimsical name, Olivia finding it clever that they had worked actual diving into the name for a dive bar. Bars had never been her thing… But, she couldn’t think of anything better to do and drinking would help her cleanse her mind of Kent. Without another thought, Olivia made her way over to the bar.
CHAPTER TWO
The inside of the bar wasn’t as whimsical as the name had made it sound. It looked just like all of the other bars she had been to—poor lighting, pictures of sports teams hung on the walls, and a slight smoky haze over the room. The only thing that even suited the name was a large framed poster on the wall of a fat old man getting ready to leap from a high board. It didn’t matter to Olivia though.
Her eyes scanned around the room; it was quiet but there was a small crowd in the establishment. Making her way to the bar, she sat at a stool at the far end of the bar. Her eyes looked over the massive wall of liquor on display behind the counter, not even recognizing most of them.
“What can I get ya?” a voice called to her. Olivia looked over to see a middle-aged woman with dark hair and tattoos covering her arms looking at her.
Thinking for a minute, she looked to her, “Can I get a rum and Coke?” she asked.
“Sure thing, hon,” the woman said, reaching below the bar and grabbing a glass.
The bartender made the drink and then slid it across the counter for her. Olivia smiled weakly and mumbled a thank you before raising the thin black straw to her lips. Her eyes looked over the bar as she sipped her drink. Only a few people sat at the bar, most of the patrons were scattered among the tables and booths. Everyone seemed to be in their own little groups, chatting among themselves. She people-watched for a bit, unable to help herself.
Even though she worked customer service, it felt like it had been years since she had actually interacted with anyone that wasn’t Emily. While Olivia had never been an extroverted type of person, her breakup with Kent left her wanting to get back out there and attempt to be a little more sociable. Going to that bar to drink alone was just the first step, getting herself around people.
A while went by, Olivia finishing her first drink and ordering another. She sat by herself, just looking around the bar and occasionally playing on her phone. Even though it would have probably seemed boring to anyone else, Olivia was actually having a nice time. She liked the fact the bar had people in it, but it wasn’t overly loud. It was just mellow.
Olivia pondered coming there more often on evenings like this one, where Emily was out and she had nothing better to do. Although she considered herself to be a relatively social person, Olivia was never one of those ‘popular’ girls who had thousands of Facebook friends and who went out partying regularly. In fact, she generally avoided goings to venues or events where the music volume would overpower any possibility of holding a decent conversation. Olivia was more of an introvert at heart, a girl who enjoyed spending time with small groups of people in relaxed settings. She started daydreaming about making new friends and taking them to this place in the future.
Then, as if some cruel spirit had sensed Olivia feeling better, the door to the bar burst open with the sound of a man letting out a loud howl. Her eyes flew to the door to see a massive group bikers file into the bar. They weren’t the typical biker crowd, not particularly looking like a tough group of middle-aged guys. They were young looking, none of them appearing to be over thirty-five, and there were females mixed into the pack of guys.
The group was loud as they made their way to the tables and booths, filling each one that wasn’t already taken while the remaining just stood around the tables. There was a sudden shift in atmosphere as the level of chattered increased significantly around the bar.
Olivia let out a sigh, knowing a quiet bar for the entire night was too good to be true.
“Hey there,” a male voice sounded over her shoulder.
Olivia looked up to see a man hovering over her. He was skinny with dark brown eyes and messy chestnut hair, and looked to be around thirty.
“Hi…” she mumbled back, not entirely sure as to why he was speaking to her.
“You drinkin’ alone tonight, little darlin’?” he asked, his arm going around her shoulders.
Olivia immediately shrugged his arm away, “Yes, and I’m sorry but I plan to keep it that way.” She looked away from him then, turning back to her drink.
The man huffed and walked away from her, mumbling under his breath ‘fucking bitch’—but at least he was leaving her alone. Olivia nursed her drink, trying to tune out the rowdiness of the bar.
She texted Emily, asking her when she was going to be home. Olivia still didn’t want to go home to an empty apartment, but she knew her patience for the noise level in the place was wearing thin. She took out her phone and started searching for other bars or lounges in the area where she might be able to relocate to. To her disappointment, she could not find any decent looking places within walking distance.
Olivia stared at her phone screen, hoping for Emily to text her back as she raised her glass to her lips and took a gulp of it.
“Oh, we can’t have you running dry. Let me buy you another,” another voice called from the side of her.
Olivia’s seafoam green eyes reluctantly drifted to her side to find a man, looking around her age, with blonde hair and blue eyes looking at her with gleaming eyes. He had on a jean vest with a band’s t-shirt on underneath it. He had come in with the bikers.
She raised a brow to him, her eyes glancing back to her still half full glass. “No, that’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Nonsense!” he exclaimed, turning to the bartender, “Hey doll! Get me a beer and one of whatever the lady is havin’!” he yelled, gesturing to Olivia when he said ‘lady’.
“No, really, I don’t want another drink,” Olivia persisted, shaking her head at the man.
“It’s alright, I got you,” the man grinned, winking at he
r.
The bartender walked over and handed the man a bottle of beer and sat Olivia’s next drink next to the glass she already had.
“See? We got some drinks, we got some conversation going, now all I need is your name. I’m Amalric,” the man greeted.
And I’m not interested, Olivia thought sassily to herself.
Why couldn’t she just be left alone to drink and pass the time?
She looked to the man, “I’m flattered, but I really am not looking to talk to anyone,” she then scooted the drink he had ordered her to him.
Amalric looked to the drink and then back to her, pushing it back towards her, “No, I bought you that. That’s your drink.”
Olivia inched the drink back towards him, “And I tried to tell you I didn’t want it. I really don’t want any company.”
“Everybody could use a little company,” he grinned, clearly not taking her rejection very well. “Now, you need to give me your name. It’s only polite since I already gave you mine,” Amalric added, still grinning at her.
Olivia was growing agitated with the man, just wanting him to go away. “I don’t need to give you my name. It’s none of your business. Please. I don’t want any company.”
“Well I’ll just have to call you baby, then,” Amalric chuckled, putting a hand on her hip.
“Don’t touch me!” Olivia barked at him, being louder than she had wanted to be but she was really growing tired of the pest.
There was suddenly a man towering over the blonde, grabbing him up by the back of the shirt and forcing him to his feet.
“She said she wants to be alone, so leave her the fuck alone,” he growled, his voice gruff.
Amalric glared hard at the man before jerking away from the his hold.
“What the fuck ever, man. I was being nice,” he huffed. He fixed the collar of his vest and grabbed his beer and the drink he had bought Olivia before storming off.
Gabriel's Secret: A Vampire's Obsession: Book 1 Page 1