The Blood Will Run Read online

  He kissed Ericas’ cheek. “Beautiful babe, as always.”

  “Damn, you ladies look hot!” Bentley said, eyeing just Alivia.

  Bex elbowed her brother in the ribs. “Now Benny, control those wacko hormones of yours. You wouldn’t want to ruin a perfectly healthy friendship now would you? Besides, Alivia doesn’t really like boys. She’d rather stay at home and read her books.”

  “Seriously Bex, was that really called for?” Erica shot Bex a dirty look.

  “I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just stating the facts. After all Alivia has been through in the last couple of months, I don’t really blame her anyway,” said Bex.

  “Well let’s be thankful that Alivia is nothing like you. You party way too much. Maybe you should stay at home and read a book or two.” Bentley glanced at his sister sideways and grinned devilishly.

  “Right, always take her side,” said Bex in a heated voice.

  “I’m not taking anyones’ side,” Bentley said and then continued. “Just stop acting like a total bitch and we’ll be just fine.”

  “Okay, really? Wow guys. We’re all together tonight to have fun. Let’s not ruin Alivias’ first night out in months,” Erica said staring at Bex threateningly.

  “Fine,” Bex said and looked at Alivia. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to sound like a complete bitch. I usually just blurt things out. You know how I can be sometimes,” she said and then began to head for the door.

  ☼

  Devin sat in the padded wicker chair in the sunroom at the Casa De Luca. He stared out through the wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling window. A hazy shade of darkness began to fall over the courtyard. Devin looked beyond the trees and through the woods to where the sky was still blue.

  Then he wondered what he would have done if the moon and sun spell hadn’t worked. He shuddered at the very thought.

  He owed Mercy. She had given him an amazing gift. He could now walk in the moonlight without turning into a pile of ash.

  He would somehow find a way to repay her.

  “Are you ready?” Chace asked.

  Devin turned away from the window and stared at him.

  Chace smiled with that all knowing crooked sinful smile that Devin knew all too well.

  “Well, are you ready or not?”

  “Ready for what?” Devin asked, puzzled by his question.

  “There is a party down at the creek tonight. Wolfjack is playing a live concert on stage,” Chace said and then laughed. “Well, Wolfjack is really playing on the handmade stage built by a bunch of handy teenagers.”

  “That doesn’t sound promising,” Devin said.

  “They actually did a pretty good job. Anyway, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for you to get to know some of the towns’ finest looking females,” Chace said.

  Devin was about to tell him to go to hell, but then he remembered the gorgeous girl from the bookstore. Maybe she would be there.

  “Let me take a fast shower. I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes,” Devin said walking out of the room.

  “Well, I wonder what it was or who it was that sparked a flame under your ass,” Chace said following Devin to his bedroom.

  Devin walked off to the bathroom that was on the right side of his room.

  “My brother, willing to attend a drunken teenage party without a second thought. Come on Devin spit it out, what gives?”

  Nothing gives,” Devin yelled from the shower. “It’s just my first night out in the moonlight.

  A small town party to get to know the locals seems like a pretty good idea.”

  “Does this also mean I can persuade you to drink from the human vein as well?” Chace asked.

  Devin ignored him, turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He wiped the fog off the large mirror with a hand towel and then smiled.

  He squeezed a small amount of gel from the tube onto his palm and rubbed it through his dark locks of curls. He brushed his teeth and walked into his bedroom.

  He grabbed the can of ‘Axe’ body spray off his nightstand and sprayed it all over his body.

  Chace had already laid out his black jeans, white t-shirt, boxers, socks and his black leather jacket on his bed. Devin didn’t argue.

  If he wanted to see the green-eyed beauty again, he had to hurry.

  Devin dressed quickly and then slid his size eleven feet into his black ‘Adidas’.

  “My car or yours?” Devin asked as they walked down the wide staircase side by side.

  Chace grinned. “I plan on getting lucky brother. I believe that is an indication that you’re on your own tonight.”

  ☼

  After the five of them piled into Tuckers’ minivan that he borrowed from his mother, Erica flipped on the radio.

  As they turned off Greendale Street and onto Killdorn Ave, Erica turned up the radio as the song ‘Almost Everything’ by Wakey Wakey began to blast through the subwoofers.

  Tucker drove up the steep hill.

  No one paid attention to the closed road-sign at the side of the dirt road.

  Minutes later, Tucker parked the van beside several other cars near the edge of the woods.

  “You guys know about the teenagers who were murdered not too far from where we are parked, right?” Tucker began as they piled out of the van.

  Alivia rolled her eyes.

  Tucker ignored her and pointed to the path that was across from the Whaling Bridge. “An old woman was said to have lured five teenagers to her house. She convinced them that her young boy was dying and needed to go to the hospital. No one ever saw them again after they went inside that house. Days later, Sheriff Hunter found shreds of bloody clothing belonging to the five teenagers under the bridge. They searched for days, but never found their bodies. They just seemed to vanish into thin air. Some people swear that they have seen five ghosts in a group wandering around these woods at night. They say that the ghosts follow you and try to lure you into the house so that they can take your soul.”

  “Oh, will you just shut up Tucker,” Bex said punching him in the arm. “We’ve heard these tales over and over again. There is no truth to them. Parents made up that story to keep us teenagers from having parties down at the creek.”

  “I agree with Bex, Tucker,” Bentley said. He jumped in front of Bex and began to walk backward as they hiked along the path leading to the creek. Bentley continued, “But the story that is true though, is the one where two teenagers were clawed to death by some sort of animal in the cemetery.”

  “I heard about that,” Alivia joined in. “They were making out in the Tarantino Ruins. The girl they found ripped apart was Jason Mannings’ sister, Betty.”

  “I remember her,” Erica said. “She was the girl who went around school telling people that a dark and handsome vampire was drinking her blood. I saw the puncture wounds on her neck with my own eyes. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how she really got those fang marks on her neck.”

  “Come on people, really, enough all ready with this crazy talk. There are no such things as animals ripping apart people or even vampires for that matter,” Bex said sounding annoyed.

  Bentley stopped to walk beside Alivia and put his arm around her shoulder.

  “Besides,” Bex said excitedly as they reached the end of the path, “It’s time to par-tay.”

  ☼

  Devin couldn’t believe how many teenagers were at this party. He glanced around and noticed the basketball jerseys from both Tarantino High and Coven Academy.

  He smiled and stared at Chace. Devin was patiently waiting to see the green-eyed beauty that he had met at the bookstore. He was certain that she was around seventeen or eighteen-years-old.

  But he was at the party now for over an hour and there was no sign of her.

  “Oh, I see,” Chace said and rested his hand on Devins’ shoulder.

  “You came to this party just to meet a girl, you sly devil. I was wondering why you didn’t put up much of a fight when I invited you. So, wh
o’s this green-eyed beauty?”

  “What have I told you about reading my thoughts?” Devin asked angrily.

  Come on. Chace spoke to him with his mind. I was just curious.

  Well, it’s really none of your business. Now is it?

  That’s when Devin spotted her walking toward the bonfire.

  Ah, I guess that means your green-eyed beauty has finally arrived.

  Devin glanced sideways at Chace. He was staring at the green-eyed girl, his green-eyed girl. But what was puzzling to him was the expression on his brothers face. Chace appeared to know the girl. When Chaces’ eyes darkened, Devin knew that his brother had strong feelings for her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alivia made her way to the bonfire. Connor, who was Tuckers’ private math tutor in school handed Alivia a beer. She twisted off the cap and tossed it into the recycling bin.

  She eyed a few of the people walking around and wondered if they were ever going to change. Growing up in a small town meant that there wasn’t much to do, except throwing a lot of after hour drunken parties. When she was sixteen the parties were fun, but now more than year later, she would rather be at home reading a good book.

  She practically knew every person here. She glanced around and shook her head. That’s when she spotted Devin. He was never at any of the other creek parties. She usually had only seen Devin at the Grand Coffin Cafe in the mornings for breakfast or at school when he was teaching drama class. Then she averted her gaze to Chace. He was staring at her and he looked angry.

  Chace was a regular at the Cafe. He ordered the same thing every night for the past few months. He spent hours sitting at table nine reading a book or playing games on his ‘iPhone’.

  It was not long after Erica started waitressing at the Cafe a few months ago, that Erica began to pester her into talking to Chace.

  Finally, three weeks ago, she caved in and started talking to him. They talked about different novels that they read and realized they had almost the same taste. He was a nice guy and was incredibly handsome. The more they talked and the more she heard his hypnotic voice, the more she found herself looking forward to their nightly conversations. He was such a beautiful person on the inside and she couldn’t help but feel attracted to him.

  Within seconds, Erica was beside her and hugged her close.

  “I’m so happy that you decided to come, Livy.”Alivia nodded, never once taking her eyes off Chace.

  He was muscular, tall and his eyes were a bright blue. She could stare into those dreamy eyes and completely lose herself. Chace was the most handsome guy that she had ever seen.

  When Holly Fletcher put her arms around Chaces’ waist, she felt an unexpected pang of jealousy rise up inside of her and she looked away.

  Erica looked at her and frowned. “Come on Livy, the night is young and full of wonder. If you just loosen up a bit, you just might have some fun. Just like the old days, remember those?”

  She remembered when her and her friends laughed and joked around.

  They had fun doing just about anything or nothing at all. But fun wasn’t part of her life anymore. She had somehow managed to make herself feel guilty, if she were to have too much fun.

  Erica had that concerned look on her face just as she had many times in the last several months. Alivia didn’t care. This was who she was now, she had changed and Erica just had to accept it.

  A few minutes later, Tucker grabbed Erica around the waist, lifted her off her feet, and swung her around.

  Alivia saw her chance to escape.

  She swiped a six-pack of beer from the cooler and headed to the edge of the water, glancing back at Erica.

  Gratefully, Erica hadn’t noticed, her attention was solely on devouring Tuckers’ lips.

  “Hey there stranger,” said Miles smiling as he plopped down beside her. “Hiding out from the rest of us crazies, are we?”

  It was abundantly clear from the sound of his voice that he was well on his way to having one too many drinks.

  He put a casual arm around Alivia and pulled her closer.

  “I’ve missed you darling,” he said.

  “Oh, sure you have,” Alivia elbowed him and giggled.

  “No really, all these girls are such snobs and they’re all way too easy, if you catch my meaning. But not my darling Livy, my sexy hot goddess is nothing like these other girls.”

  She laughed. “You’re such a flirt Miles.”

  “Come on Livy.” Miles waved his hand over his body and grinned. “You know you really want a piece of this action.”

  Alivia cringed at the very thought of being intimate with Miles.

  “You’re one of my oldest friends, let’s not go there.”

  “Okay Livy, have it your way, but you really don’t know what you’re missing out on. I’m quite a catch.”

  “I’m sure you are Miles. But, I just want to be your friend, okay?”

  “Okay,” he said. He reached out, grabbed the six-pack and took out a pint of beer.

  She noticed the white gold ring gleam in the moonlight as he twisted the cap off and handed it to her.

  “I love this ring,” Alivia said.

  “Yeah, on my sixteenth birthday my dad gave it to me. He said that his father gave him the same ring on his sixteenth birthday too.” Miles took another sip of his beer. “My dad said that my ancestors were slaves. He said the wolf shaped ring represents our familys’ freedom.”

  “That is so incredibly cool Miles.”Alivia glanced at her own moonstone ring.

  It belonged to her mother. Alivias’ sister Jules gave it to her a few days after their mother died. Alivia remembered the stories that her mother used to tell her about the ring and how it reminded her mother of Alivias’ father. Alivia didn’t really remember him much because he died when she was two-years-old. Her mother told her that just before her father passed away, he said to look at the ring when she was missing him and always remember that he would be watching over her from heaven.

  Alivia glanced up and stared at the sky.

  Seconds later, Miles bumped her with his arm.

  “You don’t have to worry Livy,” Miles said, slurring his speech. “Your secret is safe with me.”

  Alivia blinked and glanced at him sideways. “And what secret is that?”

  “You know the secret that must be kept very hush hush.” Miles brought his finger to his lips and made a shushing sound.

  Miles leaned in closer. “You know the one where you blame yourself for the death of your mother and brother. I’d blame myself too if I were you.

  If you didn’t have to go to the bathroom that night, they would probably still be alive.”

  Alivia was on her feet in an instant glaring down at him.

  She was about to tell him off, but then decided against it. Instead, she bit down on her lip and stared at him angrily.

  “Relax Livy, I didn’t mean it quite the way it sounded,” Miles said, quickly scrambling to his feet.

  “What I meant was that I watched that awesome gas explosion from across the street. The whole town shook when those pumps exploded. It was a sight to see, man. Who would’ve thought something like that would’ve happened in the small town of Newgrave. Actually, I’m surprised that you even survived. No one should’ve survived that.”

  Rage entered her eyes. Her nostrils flared as her anger boiled to a terrifying almost inhumane high. She clenched her right fist tightly and with every bit of force she had, she punched Miles hard in the mouth.

  Miles stumbled back and fell onto the ground.

  Alivia was trembling. She forced back the angry tears.

  Miles rose to his feet as he wiped the blood from his mouth. He brought his hand up and smacked Alivia hard across the face. Alivia fell to the side and landed face first on the ground.

  Jason Borden and Chace grabbed Miles and pulled him back.

  “I would not think about laying another hand on her if I were you,” Chace said in an angry voice.

  Miles
’ face turned blood red. His eyes widened as he glared at her angrily. “I’m going to kill you. You dumb, crazy ass bitch.”

  Miles struggled to break free, but Chace twisted his arm up behind his back.

  “Do I have to remind you again,” Chace said furiously.

  Miles struggled even harder and became more enraged when Chace wouldn’t let go of him.

  “When I get my hands on your pretty little ass?”

  Chace interrupted Miles. “You touch her, my friend and I promise you, I will end your life right here and now.”

  Alivia got up and skimmed the ground around her.

  She picked up an empty bottle and broke it against a large rock.

  She held the bottle out in front of her. She planned to use it to cut him if he decided to attack her again.

  Miles snickered. “Oh looky looky, here folks. Do you see this?

  Little Miss Thang thinks she can take me on all by her pretty little self.”

  Alivia didn’t care if she could take on Miles or not. All she wanted to do was hurt him. She wanted to rip him to shreds with the bottle that she gripped in her hand.

  “Come on you nasty bitch, do your worst!”

  Miles was fuming.

  Alivia wasn’t afraid of him. All she wanted to do was make him suffer.

  “Because let me tell you,” Miles said as he glared into her eyes. “If you don’t do anything about it right now, I will hunt you down and make sure you suffer.” Alivias’ mind was blank as she began to move toward

  Miles.

  ☼

  Devin watched Chace as he restrained the guy who hit the green-eyed girl. He couldn’t believe that such a bony girl had that kind of power inside of her. He was aware of the girls’ sudden switch in emotion. He cringed when he felt the hatred that she now felt for the human.

  He sensed that the girl was about to do something terrible. Devin moved quickly and stood directly in front of her. He knocked the bottle out of her hand.

  He grasped her by the shoulders.

  The second his hands touched her, he felt an electrical surge of energy rush through his body.

  Devins’ muscles tensed. He stared directly into her eyes and suddenly he began to feel strange. He couldn’t explain why her mind was blank. It was as if there was something or someone controlling her every move, causing her to act differently.