Pure: A Paranormal Romance

by D. L. McKinsey

  We weren’t the type of friends to give each other compliments. It was more likely for them to point the areas in which the other could improve on.

  “Where have you been? It’s been almost two weeks with no word. We thought you pulled a piggy stunt.” Josie said, referring to Ana’s disappearance two years ago.

  Too bad she didn’t stay gone.

  “How do you like my new look?” I asked, intentionally ignoring Josie’s questions; preferring to get my enjoyment from the envious look in my supposed bestfriend’s eyes.

  Josie distracted herself by readjusting her pink Prada bag from her left shoulder to her right.

  “It’s okay. A little too edgy for you in my opinion. What’d you do? Run off and get liposuction?” Josie sniped in a friendly tone even though her words were anything but.

  I laughed. It was all the proof I needed that I looked good and Josie was pissed about it.

  Before more words could be exchanged, a few students left, but the football team rounded the corner. My eyes lit up in excitement. Josie’s sparked with panic. We both were aware of Bobby and his friends approaching. I couldn’t wait for him to see me, but Josie didn’t want to risk the competition. She still didn’t know Bobby and I had already been hooking up secretly for months.

  I used to want Bobby to be my boyfriend. After Jace epically dumped me and then rejected his popular status, Bobby became the hottest guy at Mercy Heights. He was popular, attractive, a jock, and a bit of a jerk. But Josie already had him; publically, anyway. Now, as we watched the jock with the messy blonde hair and dull green eyes stroll down the hallway, I realized he no longer held the appeal he used to. I had moved on to better things, to Talon; my maker, my lover…my soul mate.

  Still, why not take pleasure in watching Josie squirm a little bit longer. Just as expected, Josie darted in front of Bobby right before he caught sight of me and planted a forceful kiss on his lips. It was her shallow way of asserting her claim to him. It didn’t bother me the slightest.

  “Whoa! What’s gotten into you today?” Bobby asked, breaking off the kiss before a teacher gave them a PDA detention slip. Josie batted her eyes, trying to make herself look sexy but he didn’t even notice. Due to Josie’s short stature, Bobby was able to see over her head and lock eyes with the new and improved me.

  “Hot holy damn!” He quipped, adding a high whistle like the way construction workers do when a sexy girl walks pass. Josie tried to keep his attention on her, but he merely pushed her aside until he was only inches away from me.

  “Look at you, Walker! Wow! I’m impressed.” He gave me a cheeky grin and folded his arms while his eyes roamed every part of my body.

  The lust in his gaze was undeniable. Somewhere behind him, Josie huffed.

  “You know me”. I purred, stepping even closer. We were almost chest to chest now. “I like to keep you on your toes.”

  “I see.” He replied, not hiding the way he was gawking at me. “You’re almost as hot as your sister. What is it with you, Walker Girls?”

  Bobby was oblivious to the red hot rage that he just invoked in me. The fact that he compared me to Ana and basically said my sister still beat me had my blood boiling and fangs exploding. Bobby’s eyes were making their way back to my face and I quickly dropped my head. Talon told me to never expose myself unless I planned to kill the witness. Now wouldn’t be a good time for that.

  Most of the students were gone, but still, a few trudged through the hallways or stopped at their lockers. I focused on easing my fangs back into my mouth before someone saw.

  “Miss Walker!” An angry male voice yelled. From the tone and the way he said my last name as Wau-kur like he had a hard time enunciating “e’s”, I knew it was the scrawny vice principal. Mr. Clay grabbed my shoulder and whipped me around to face him. We had spent a lot of time together since I began high school, mainly because I was always in trouble for skipping class, bullying, drinking, and completely disrespecting school officials.

  Mr. Clay’s angry eyes trailed my skimpy outfit, and his face turned a shade of red. He was probably having inappropriate thoughts and was trying to hide it. He adjusted his toupee and regained his former angry state. Luckily, I was able to put my fangs away, but now, I felt the need to pull them back out. This was the man that held me back a year, making me the only nineteen-year old senior. I wasn’t planning on continuing high school now that I was a hot vampire, but it was the principle of it.

  “Your clothes violate school dress code and you have unexcused absences. In my office now!” He yelled.

  Spit flew from his mouth and landed on my jaw. Mr. Clay stormed away, missing the irritated expression on my face. This was going to end today. I had had enough of Mr. Clay giving me crap. I gave Bobby a quick wink before following behind my next victim.

  Once inside his familiar small stale-smelling office, I flopped down on the plastic chair across his desk. One could barely tell what color the desk was because it was covered in mountains of papers and manila folders.

  “Now,” Mr. Clay began moving some stacks around so he could see me when he sat in his slightly more comfortable chair, “You haven’t attended school in almost two weeks. Did you know your parents filed a missing persons report on you?”

  He asked like I cared. I only rolled my eyes. My dad screwed anything with legs, and my mother was a depressed mess. Going home didn’t ring as a fun thing to do. That’s why it wasn’t done.

  “Who cares?” I deadpanned, snatching a snow globe off his desk. I shook it hard until the tiny white flakes surrounded the Eiffel tower.

  Mr. Clay let out a slow breath of frustration, once again moving his hair piece around his head.

  “What do you care about, Miss Walker?” Mr. Clay asked with growing impatience.

  I tilted my head as I thought about his question. Did I really care about anything anymore? There was Talon, but what else?

  The quiet in the room made it all too easy to hear his steady, strong beating heart. The sound lulled me into a trance. I tuned my ears even more to listen to the sound of his blood flowing through his veins. The mere thought of the hot, sweet thickness pouring down my throat had my fangs itching to lower.

  “You know what I care about, Mr. Clay?” I said, slowly getting to my feet.

  The globe dropped from my hands and shattered on the hardwood floor. Mr. Clay gasped, startled by the sound it made when it crashed. But he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. I began pushing stacks of papers off the desk to make way for me, seductively crawling on top of it

  “I care about all the blood running through your body; keeping you alive. And me, I am so, so hungry.” I purred.

  Now I was halfway across the desk. Mr. Clay’s eyes danced with confusion and fear, and his heartbeat quickened. My eyes went completely black from the anticipation of my next meal. The older man practically fell out of his chair as he tried to get up; finally realizing he was in true danger. But I was too quick. In a second, I was off the desk and standing in front of him, giving him a fang-filled smile. A scream attempted to leave his lips, but I swiftly pressed him to the wall with a hand over his mouth.

  “Shusshh… Don’t worry, Mr. Clay, This won’t hurt….much.” I taunted.

  The man’s eyes bugged out of his head, and the smell of urine hit the air as he wet himself. I ignored the piss pooling around my stilettos and pushed his head to the side, preparing to feast.

  Out of nowhere, Mr. Clay’s body went slack in my arms. I stepped back, and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He was still breathing so my first assumption was he fainted. That was until I heard the collective sound of five heartbeats standing behind me. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I turned on my heels to face the intruders. At the sight of them, I was only mildly surprised.

  “Well, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

  ***

  Jace

  We had made it back to Mercy Falls just in time to prevent Kim from killing anybody. And not just anybody, but the
vice principal of our high school. When we arrived, a few students told us they saw her being taken to the principal’s office; not that it was a surprise to me. Kim stayed in trouble.

  We quietly entered the office to the sight of Kim inches away from sinking her fangs into Mr. Clay’s neck. I promptly reached for my natural magic and cast Mr. Clay with a sleeping spell. I knew I shouldn’t be using my natural magic for something so simple, but it was too late for a spell. I just hoped when the vice principle wakes up, he would forget everything he saw. Kim turned gracefully on her heels to face us.

  “Well, to what do I owe this pleasure?” She snarled. Her anger at our interruption was clear.

  Seeing her so close with crazed pitch black eyes and white fangs that seemed to gleam in the dimly lit room, I wondered how on earth I was supposed to reason with her. Kim was never easy to bargain with. We had many fights over the time we dated. It was all over Ana and it always ended with her threatening to expose me. Thinking back about those days had me clenching my fist. But I had to push aside my personal dislike for Kim. This was about finding Ana. I didn’t spend hours last night convincing the others that this was the right decision only to get here and change my mind. No, that couldn’t happen. We came here for Kim, and we weren’t leaving without her.

  Last night, Simon, Marie, and even Lily gave me hell about this. None of them trusted Kim and thought this was the worst idea ever. Lily even said someone else’s spirit must have hopped into my body because I sounded crazy. I explained that we needed a vampire to find the castle, but that still didn’t convince the others Kim was the one we needed. Luckily, Seb stepped in and agreed with me. It surprised me that Seb was actually on my side, but I realized it was only because Seb was the only other person as desperate as I was to save Ana.

  “We come to offer a proposition.” I began, not really knowing how else to approach her.

  Kim only stared at me for a full minute.

  “And what do you have to propose that would interest me?” She inquired; her eyes still black and her fangs exposed.

  I took in a deep breath, preparing to put it all out there.

  “We know where Talon was taken.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Based off of the little bit of information I was able to get from Ana, we had narrowed down the possible location of the King’s palace. Too bad, none of us could see it even if they were right about where it was.

  Kim’s eyes widened briefly, but she tried to keep her cool. I already knew what was coming.

  “What do I have to do to get that information from you?” She asked, glancing at each one of us. The others stood silent behind me while Seb guarded the door. I had to prove to them that this could work and I could get Kim to agree to the terms they’d set on the car ride here. Of all the people, Simon doubted me the most. Simon was certain Kim wouldn’t agree or would double cross us as soon as she could.

  “Come with us to the King’s palace and we can call it a truce.” I didn’t want to tell her just yet that she was the most important part to finding it. Kim knowing she had that much power would be dangerous. Her eyes sparked a little at the mention of the King, and she looked around at all of us again. I could tell that she had caught on when the slow smirk began to stretch across her face.

  “Those men that took Talon took Ana too, didn’t they?” She hypothesized proudly.

  This was what I didn’t want to do; convince Kim to put aside her hatred for Ana and help find her. But I stayed silent for a little too long.

  Kim began laughing.

  “They got her! Perfect. So be honest, dear Jace. Why do you really need me?”

  She may be a horrible person, but sometimes, she picked up pretty quickly. My mind scrambled for a response that would not let out the truth. But I couldn’t find anything believable.

  “Strength in numbers. You did pass basic math, right?” Simon jumped in; his voice full of hostility.

  It even shocked me how mean he sounded. It was very unlike him. Next to him, Marie gently took his hand and that relaxed him a bit.

  “Very funny, nerd boy.” Kim snapped.

  “This is a temporary truce. After we get there and save Ana, and you save Talon, it’s over. So you’d better run fast because I’ll be after the two you.” Seb added with cold determination.

  Kim’s eyes trailed over Seb as if she was assessing him. Something about him must have gotten to her.

  “How do I know this isn’t a trap to kill me?”

  It was a good question, but before I could answer, Seb yanked the door open and the last person I wanted to see fell to the floor. Bobby Kennedy scrambled to his feet, dusting off his football jacket. My ex best friend looked at everyone in the room and almost screamed when he saw Kim. The whole time, she kept her fangs out; a vampire defense mechanism.

  “Hey, Bobby.” She chirped “It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”

  “Holy sh!... Wh-what’s going on here?!” Bobby’s voice shook a bit as he continued to stare.

  “Oh, it’s easy. I’m a vampire.” Kim announced as easily as someone saying their name.

  “Kim!” I reprimanded.

  “Thompson? Dude, where have you been? Are you-you a-a vampire, too?” He questioned, cautiously stepping further into the room.

  Seb’s hand on his chest stopped him in place.

  “No. Just get out of here now” I said.

  Bobby glanced at everyone for a minute, only pausing on Simon and Kim. He rolled his neck and squared his shoulders, making himself taller.

  “No.” He stated firmly. “Some crazy shit is going on around here, and I want in.”

  “What?!” Simon and I said at the same time in the same disbelieving tone.

  Bobby tried to move around Seb, but it wasn’t working at all.

  “You heard me. I want in. First, piggy comes back all hot and then Kim does the same thing. Now, I find out she’s a vampire. That’s cool, and yeah, I want in or else I’m going to the police.” Bobby tried to sound tough, but it was easy to see that he was still a bit scared.

  Seb growled at his words, but Bobby ignored it.

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  I said no at the same time Kim said yes.

  “I think it’s a great idea. I’ll agree to your stupid proposal if Bobby joins. That way, I have one person in this jacked up Scooby gang that doesn’t want to kill me.” Kim wasn’t going to budge on this. I could tell from the look in her eyes.

  Turning to Simon, I could see that Ana’s closest friend wasn’t on broad with this, but what choice did we have? Time was ticking and we needed to move.

  “Fine. But Bobby is your responsibility, Kim.” I snapped.

  I was over this situation. Now that Bobby was joining, I was even more irritated about the upcoming events.

  “Sweet! When do I become a vampire?” Bobby asked, excitedly.

  I sighed and brushed past him and out the office. This didn’t go as planned at all, but at least, I’d gotten Kim to come. If this is what it took to get Ana back, I would just have to deal with it. Nothing meant more than saving the girl I loved. But Bobby and I hadn’t been friends in two years, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.

  The seven of us walked out of the school’s main doors. We only had a few minutes left before my magic wore off and the office staff woke up. In order for them to forget what happened, we all needed to be long gone. The ugly van was sitting patiently in the parking lot waiting on our return. But, as luck would have it, another screeching interruption wouldn’t allow us to leave

  “Hey! Hey!” Josie screamed, running out of the front doors after us.

  I gave Kim a pointed look to handle the situation quickly.

  “Where you guys going? Bobby what are you doing?!” Josie’s high-pitched voiced had everyone wanting to plug their ears.

  Bobby, on the other hand, looked like he’d been caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

  “I, uh-uh, we, uh, were, uh…You look hot in that pink dress, babe.
” In true Bobby fashion, when he couldn’t think of a lie quick enough, he just threw out compliments.

  Josie didn’t buy it. The short girl narrowed her eyes at him, anger rolling off of her in waves. Kim chuckled a little before stepping in front of Bobby.

  “Let me make this easy on you, Jos. I’ve been screwing your boyfriend for months and he’s leaving with me. But if it makes you feel better, I’m over him now.” Kim confessed without a hint of remorse.

  Josie’s eyes widened in utter disbelief. I was surprised she didn’t have a clue. The whole school pretty much knew. But, sometimes, people see what they want to see. And she, apparently, didn’t want to see her cheating boyfriend and evil best friend for what they were. I felt bad for her, almost. Josie wasn’t exactly a saint herself.

  “Is this true?” She asked Bobby with a strange calmness.

  Bobby grimaced and shrugged in response. Not much regret on his part, either. Josie’s eyes glossed with unshed tears, but the hatred in her expression couldn’t be mistaken.

  “I’ll bury you for this, Kim Walker; you too, Bobby Kennedy.” Josie’s threat was clear as a crystal. The finality of her words almost gave me the chills. I didn’t doubt she could do some damage. Josie’s father practically ran this town. But I didn’t care. Kim and Bobby brought her wrath on themselves.

  “That little girl is going to kill you guys!” Lily broke out laughing. “This is just like a soap opera.”

  And with that, we all packed into the van and headed for the ocean. I took the wheel and Seb sat in the passenger seat. We locked eyes. The unspoken words between us were clear. We would work together and do whatever it took to save the girl we both loved.

  Chapter 38

  True Story?

  Ana

  The King must have seriously lost his mind. A moment ago, he said my mother broke his father’s heart and destroyed his family. To say I didn’t believe him was the understatement of the century. He hadn’t given me one reason to trust him, and that person or whatever it was standing behind him was starting to give me the creeps on top of everything else.